**1/2 Howe Gelb

HISSER

(V2)

The Southwest certainly attracts its share of unexplained phenomena with those UFOs and all, but what are we to make of Howe Gelb, the region's oddest entity? The Tucson guitarist and vocalist has murmured his way through 20 legit Giant Sand albums, a handful of self-released bootlegs, dozens of side-project collaborations (OP8, Blacky Ranchette, etc.), and now this homespun collection of laconically strummed ditties and quasi-philosophical piano dirges. On Hisser, he undertakes a mission to commemorate and connect with his friend Rainer Ptacek, a little-known bluesman who died of cancer in 1997 (and who received tributes from Gelb, Robert Plant, PJ Harvey, and other well wishers on last year's The Inner Flame). But this hasn't altered Gelb's favored approach: he rappels downward, bouncing off sparse, dusty guitar hymns ("Temptation of Egg," "Shy of Bumfuck"), spooky piano and organ jaunts ("Creeper," "Thereminender"), and fragile song fragments ("Lull," "Intro Speak"). It all concludes with a reminiscence about getting drunk with a friend that cuts off like a poorly timed end to a mix tape.

-- Richard Martin