The deadpan Howe Gelb spent a large chunk of 2002 in Denmark, which must have been culture shock par excellence. While his wife prepared to have a baby, Gelb dived boldly into the local music scene, playing gigs and meeting local musicians. The resulting album features guest appearances by such leading Danes as Henriette Sennenvaldt (who gets Bjorkish on Tango de la Tongue) and Marie Frank (who croaks rakishly through the cantina-swing of Blood Orange) - and still sounds like it comes straight from the Mexican border. Gelb's oblique mindset moves in mysterious ways, as the auteur does sly Neil Young impersonations in Cowboy Boots and Now I Lay Me Down, and delivers a perfect facsimile of Lou Reed in Felonious, one of several tracks made in Arizona and featuring old buddies like Calexico. Weird, but give it time.
