Steve F.
www.waysidemusic.com
www.cuneiformrecords.com
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“Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin
Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]
"Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"
please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.
I should add that I first saw him about 25 years ago, in a tiny Eugene, OR art gallery, playing with the Vinny Golia Quintet. And what I wrote was what hit me right away back then: That this guitarist - wearing a Sonic Youth t-shirt, playing a Fender Jazzmaster through a Hiwatt amp and a dozen pedals, and occasionally banging or scraping on his axe with kitchen utensils - fit perfectly into a free-jazz group, clearly had as much command of his instrument as any of them, and used "noise" playing as an extended technique in the same way Vinny used his four-octave range on bari sax.
Initiate is wonderful, for a double album there is no shortage of compelling material. Easily my favorite of the Nels Cline Singers' stuff. (Although I think any of them would be a good buy.)
Destroy All Nels Cline is another favorite. And one I haven't seen mention...The Veil...with Jim Black and Tim Berne.
Please don't ask questions, just use google.
Never let good music get in the way of making a profit.
I'm only here to reglaze my bathtub.
Just worked my way through Macroscope, nice.
Now on to Coward, and then Initiate.
This I am enjoying...Heh, Heh, Heh.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
So far. Destroy All Nels Cline is my favorite.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
Saw Wilco last night. They tore it up, bigly.
Nels Cline is a monster, and the crowd really responds to his off the wall solos.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
I bet. I was never a huge Wilco fan, but I'd go see them with Nels in the band.
The live show is very different than the recordings. Very amped up energy wise. Tweedy is Tweedy, but all around is barely restrained chaos.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
Thanks all for this thread.
I've been bored to death with most music recently and the conversations I've seen at Progears have seemed tense and combative, but I've spent the last 48 hours listening to Nels Cline after reading this and my mind is thoroughly blown.
Wilco's one of my favorite groups--I've been following them since A Ghost is Born came out my freshman year at college. I saw them in '09 and Nels Cline was the best part of the show by a country mile. At one point about 4 songs in a row ended in a shower of hot noise. (I think it was "Bull Black Nova", "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart", "Wishful Thinking", and "Via Chicago").
I haven't been as enamored with Wilco's recent compositions, though I still love their sound.
More than once I've listened to that brief guitar solo from "More..." off of Star Wars and thought, "man, why can't someone do that for a whole album".
And it turns out Nels has...about 10 or 15 times over.
It's amazing how supportive a player he is while still maintaining his identity.
I'm really liking what I've listened to from Lovers, Destroy All Nels Cline, and pretty much all in between.
I saw Lovers the other night but did not grab it.
Silly me, did not make the connection at the time.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
The Nels Cline/Gregg Bendian Interstellar Space project is monumental.
I like it so much that its led me down the rabbit hole of free-r jazz: Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Coltrane's late work. Incredible stuff. It's making me wish I could play sax.
For years I liked a lot of those avant-prog and RIO bands but couldn't understand why they would devolve into an odd sax freakout every record or so.
(Two examples: Hobart Got Burned by the Muffins and one of the tracks from the Proto-Kaw archival release)
Now I get it.
(I still like it when Ornette does it about 700 times better, though)
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