Rolling Nels Cline Thread

Immolation/Immersion, with saxophonist Wally Shoup and drummer Chris Corsano is awesome free jazz/improv. Absolutely ferocious opening salvo gives way to intense but quite varied excursions.

I have a mostly unlistened to copy of Coward in my bedroom right now! Will pull it out and come back here with thoughts.

sonderangerbot, I'll check out Destroy All Nels Cline, also.

Guess this doesn't really fit the "not jazz" bill, but the record of Interstellar Space covers w/Gregg Bendian is pretty fire..

The first time I really met Nels (had seen quite a few gigs by that time) was at a Scarnella show. We had a friendly argument about Yes vs Sabbath. He thinks Sabbath is garbage.

Insanity.

Saw Nels the other week at the Sky Saxon tribute show. He was easily the most 'out of place' performer, given who else did perform, but I liked his set for that reason.

Am I alone in loving Draw Breath? (Haven't heard the new one or many of the others that are mentioned here.)

I wouldn't say I love it but I definitely wouldn't turn my nose up at it. "Squirrel Of God" is aces.

The Coward samples on iTunes sound good. Will I be losing much (in sound quality) if I download from iTunes instead of buying a CD? It's $4 cheaper and I don't have to wait. I'd buy a CD if it sounds a lot better though.

"if it sounded"

Coward is only $8.99 on Amazon MP3, fwiw: http://www.amazon.com/Coward/dp/B001R64H8W

Quality on iTunes & Amazon MP3 is 256 kbps, which is not as high quality as a CD but is usually good enough for most people's purposes. If I were you, I'd buy the CD if you want a hard copy or want a digital copy that's better quality than the mainstream digital stores are offering.

I've pretty much just given up on MP3 stores, though, because I've discovered I can find most CDs cheaply priced locally or on Amazon.

It's about $4 or $5 more for the CD on Amazon.

I understand. I just wondered if this particular album sounds especially good on CD. The difference is far more noticeable with some albums (usually less-compressed, well-produced recordings with a wide dynamic range a great deal of detail) than others for me. Honestly, though, on my stereo, 256 is probably about as good as a CD. Hm, I think I've convinced myself.

Although Frisell does generally seem better on CD...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5139xfjzGiL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

new Nels Cline/G.E. Stinson album Elevating Device out in a couple weeks, whole album is one improvised 44-minute track. excerpt here: http://soundsareactive.com/nels-cline-ge-stinson-elevating-device-saa1150/

On first listen now, and I like it so far:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/acousticguitartrio

been meaning to ask if anyone had heard that, still need to check it out

i haven't really gotten into the new Evangelista record too much yet, but a while back Nels said on his site that he plays on 3 tracks on it...anyone have a physical copy w/ liner notes that say which 3 tracks? i got it on eMusic so i have no idea.

Listening to some of Vignes (the new Acoustic Guitar Trio album) last night, with headphones on helped a little. I liked hearing the distinct places of the three different guitars. Much of this is on the somewhat mellow side, which is one reason I wanted to check it out, but that may put off other potential listeners here.

I'm not loving this. The first part is pretty nice, but the third part definitely sounds like what I'd be afraid acoustic guitar free improv. would typically sound like. (Still, I have not sat down and listened to the whole thing with the attention it might require; but at the very least it's not drawing me in.)

'Grow Closer' is beautiful.

London Wilco gig just announced at the Royal Festival Hall Sept 14th.

http://pitchfork.com/news/38076-wilco-the-sandwich-shop/

http://www.nelscline.com/images/initiate-CD.jpg

COMING APRIL 13, 2010!

THE NELS CLINE SINGERS - "Initiate" (Cryptogramophone 2 CD set)

Recorded in Berkeley (Fantasy Studios) and San Francisco (Cafe Du Nord), this is a heapin' helpin' of The Singers: a studio and a 'live' disc. The studio disc sees us moving into some decidedly different terrain. I actually use my voice (wordlessly) on some tracks, Devin plays bass guitar... All hell has broken loose! There are special guests, even! The studio disc features David Witham and Yuka Honda on keyboards. The 'live' disc features Satomi Matsuzaki, Greg Saunier, and John Dieterich (AKA three fourths of Deerhoof) on percussion (on a blazing and/or totally indulgent version of Weather Report's "Boogie Woogie Waltz"). Produced by David Breskin and recorded and mixed by Ron Saint Germain, this is either the most friendly Singers recording to date or the most antisocial, depending on who you are and what you expect. The package features beautiful photographs of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN by Simon Norfolk throughout (as well as some 'live' shots from the Cafe Du Nord gig by Peak), so all in all you know this is another Cryptogramophone production of visionary packaging excellence. And you might like the music, too.

super geeked about this, forks mentioned on another thread that he's already heard it

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61AE3RToAIL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Initiate is obviously killer but somehow it totally passed me by that the Singers also released a collab album with a sax quartet in March, anyone heard this!?!?

i need to buy some of this stuff, for real

This is exciting. I love Rova. Cline played an intense solo on this project BTW: http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Ascension-Rova-Orkestra/dp/B0007XT7QI

Nels making some all-too-rare East coast appearances starting tonight:

http://www.nelscline.com/calendar.html

07/06 NYC | Le Poisson Rouge
The Nels Cline Singers
2 shows: 7pm, 9:30pm

07/07 Philadelphia, PA | Johnny Brenda's
The Nels Cline Singers
8pm

07/08 Washington, DC | Black Cat
The Nels Cline Singers
8pm

07/13-18 NYC | The Village Vanguard
Jenny Scheinman's Mischief and Mayhem

07/19 NYC | The Stone
Nels Cline "Stone Seminar #29"
Nels speaks about music, guitars and life
7-9pm / $20 / All Ages

08/15 North Adams, MA | Solid Sound Festival
The Nels Cline Singers

I'm only going to the D.C. show but that Stone Seminar thing sounds awesome

needs to come to Boston imo

you mean you're not gonna drive a couple hours away for that last date which appears to be a festival headlined by Wilco?

if I had the extra money and more enthusiasm than I currently have ATM for music, I probably totally would

I probably should just go anyway but \(O_O)/

yeah i can empathize. you have to realize how much you're disappointing the whole of ILM by not going to a festival curated by Wilco in your own state, though. xp

yo, it's ksh

Nels says Wilco's starting their own label:

I don't know the name of it. Jeff [Tweedy] was basically not wanting to be on a record label for a while-- he didn't renew his contract with Nonesuch-- so we're striking out on our own, our own label.

http://www.nelscline.com/images/dirtybaby-news-cover.jpg

the new Nels album Dirty Baby came out last week and I've only just started listening to it but it seems like it's gonna be a real doozy -- double album with a ton of interesting backing players, the whole backstory is explained on nelscline.com so i won't get into it here.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61ukRrxOfTL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

also out in the last month or so is the self-titled debut from Floored By Four, which is Nels, Mike Watt, Dougie Browne and Yuka Honda. it's 4 tracks/40 minutes and is only 4 bucks on Amazon MP3! awesome record, really digging this ensemble. this has really been a banner year for Nels between these albums and Initiate, and I still haven't checked out the album with Rova or some of his other sideman things.

oh and I also meant to mention in that post, I reviewed the SIngers D.C. show over the summer and it was awesome: http://blogs.citypaper.com/noise/index.php/2010/07/six-string-superhero-the-nels-cline-singers-at-the-black-cat-july-8/

FYI, in case you missed this info on the Low thread: Nels is playing on their next album.

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=4792941&blogId=539853661

oh cool. Nels hadn't mentioned it on his site and I don't really follow Low so I had no idea, but I could totally see that being an awesome combination.

i need to buy some of this stuff, for real

― http://bit.ly/Bfu2p (ksh), Friday, May 7, 2010 9:42 AM (5 months ago)

one of my favorite things about having a subscription to eMusic is every few months i scroll down the new releases and see something Nels Cline-related and can be like hey awesome and grab it right away. i didn't even know about Dirty Baby until this morning.

Floored By Four is Mike Watt (Minutemen, the Stooges) on bass and vocals, Nels Cline (Wilco) on guitar, Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto) on keyboard, bass, and glockenspiel, and Dougie Bowne on drums.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14936-floored-by-four/

wait, some dude posted about this months ago . . . i guess this is just a "late" review then

and glockenspiel

the Nels Cline Singers and the Rova Saxophone Quartet just did a few dates together playing cuts from their 2010 collaborative album -- last night's show in Baltimore was awesome. i also just learned, looking over wikipedia entry, that apparently Nels and Yuka Honda got married in November. that's so awesome, congrats to them!

Initiate may be the best album I've heard in a while! All the best things about his other work I'm familiar with comes together with a little more groove. The live versions of some of the Draw Breath and Coward material are actually more energetic and effetive than the studio versions, especially "Thurston County".

we went to see wilco in the tempodrom in berlin last night. there was this guitar player who did some amazing things with his instrument. besides some otherworldly lap-steel playing where the steel guitar almost sounded like a theremin he used lots of reverb and echo effects. at the end of several songs he seemed to shred his guitar, played the strings with a speed which seemed to be faster tha sonic speed, his body moved like he was electrocuted, very weird. he had a four to five minute solo on one song where he melded melody, rhythm and improvisation in a unique way. absolutely gorgeous. as i found out later, the name of the guy is nels cline and he is 55 years old. from far away he looked like less than 40.

awesome! i always wonder if people are REALLY getting turned onto nels and recognizing his talent if they're exposed to him via wilco, but i guess they are, at least sometimes.

I've been listening to Macroscope a lot on Deezer. It might be my aoty so far. It doesn't necessarily break new ground for Cline but everything comes together really well: beautiful solos, psychedelic noise, a noisy garage rock tribute even. I think he might be one of the best living electric players. These reviews seem to sum it up:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-nels-cline-singers-macroscope-by-matt-marshall.php#.VCtHyildWe0
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/04/the-nels-cline-singers-macroscope-review.html

It might be my aoty so far.

Not a judgment I usually make based on Deezer to be clear. Also, I'm listening to Tanya Tagaq's Animism for the first time now so this statement may def be subject to change.

nels cline has really big hands

even great wealth can't buy you really big hands in the US, it seems.

some are born to big hands, others have big hands thrust upon them, but no-one achieves big hands

makes u think

This latest Cline 4-tet is decent but, for me the latest Dan Weiss project Starebaby is much more "out there".

Marquee Moon feel to this: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/04/the-nels-cline-4-full-session.html

We've talked about it a bit on the jazz thread. Predictably, I'm a fan.

I've seen and enjoyed Nels in a bunch of different settings, but one of my favorites was at this year's Big Ears with Jenny Scheinman's Mischief & Mayhem. It was the two of them plus Todd Sickafoose on bass and Scott Amendola on drums, and they were just rollicking. Four equals all having a good time impressing each other on stage. One reason I love Nels is that he so clearly loves playing, there's always this little-kid glee in what he does.

xp
You heard the latest Dan Weiss Sund4r? The band includes Craig Taborn + Matt Mitchell, and it's an excellent lp as well.

That's the one with Monder on guitar? It's definitely on my list.

yeah that's the one, Starebaby.

This is what I like, yeah.