Nels Cline Singers

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

I got my copy, too. It's going to be my reward tonight for finishing my second cycle of paper grading for the semester. The packaging is very nice (as it always is with Crypto releases), and something about the color scheme has me expecting the sort of accessibility and friendliness you described.

 

Also, I came across another show, at the Dazzle Supper Club in Denver June 30. More info is here. It seems like this, the High Sierra Festival, the NYC/Philly/hopefully DC dates in early July, and the appearance at the Solid Sound Festival will probably be it. It would be nice to see them in Chicago, too, though I haven't heard that as a possibility. They'd no doubt get a good crowd, though, so I hope it might pop up later. Plus, I have free places to crash in Chicago

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

RELEASE DAY!

 

[jff]

RELEASE DAY!

 

 

This is the only thing I've listened to since I got it on Saturday. Amazing stuff!

 

Hopefully part 3 of the oral history will be posted today.

 

I suppose if that doesn't happen, the announcement of dozens of new tour dates in the southern USA would make a pretty good consolation prize.

[jff]

YAY, part 3 is up:

 

http://www.downbeast.com/

 

[bböp]

It seems like this, the High Sierra Festival, the NYC/Philly/hopefully DC dates in early July, and the appearance at the Solid Sound Festival will probably be it. It would be nice to see them in Chicago, too, though I haven't heard that as a possibility. They'd no doubt get a good crowd, though, so I hope it might pop up later. Plus, I have free places to crash in Chicago

 

Nels is scheduled to join On Fillmore in Chicago as part of a free show at Milennium Park on June 28. It's billed as On Fillmore featuring Nels Cline, so I guess that wouldn't be a Singers gig. But anyway...

 

And congrats to Nels, Scott and Devin on the official release today! I was at the shows in SF they recorded at Café du Nord last fall for the live disc of Initiate and they were awesome, so it's nice to have a document of that. Hooray for "Boogie Woogie Waltz" with Deerhoof!

[Preferred B]

I will buy this on Record Store Day! I'm excited.

 

I also loved that there was an email from Nels' Crypto mailing list today that began, "OK, everyone, don't freak, but I am actually writing something like this for the first time ever..."

[choo-choo-charlie]

"If Daydream Nation had been a jazz album, this is what it would have sounded like." Read Pitchfork's 7.2 review here.

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

A Washington DC show has finally been confirmed: Thursday, July 8 at 9 p.m. in the Backstage room of Black Cat. Tickets are on sale Friday. Considering Nels starts his stint with Jenny Scheinman's band at the Village Vanguard the following Tuesday, I'm guessing this and the New York and Philly shows will probably be it for that week. Also confirmed: 7 and 9 p.m. sets at Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge in Denver on Wednesday, July 30.

 

I finally had the time to give Initiate the attention it deserves this weekend. It's even better than I was hoping it would be. I'll have more to say once I've spent some more time with it.

[Preferred B]

Nels will also be playing with Yuka Honda on May 14th at the Sacramento Jazz Festival.

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

You beat me to it! I was just coming over here to post that. That weekend he'll also play with a reunited L. Stinkbug (w/ Scott Amendola, G.E. Stinson, and Steuart Liebig) at the same festival.

[jff]

Part 4 of the Oral History is up:

 

http://www.downbeast.com/

 

“Hot For Teacher.” That’s the official song of the Nels Cline Singers. We’ve played that at almost every single sound check.

[jewess_jeans]

That makes Nels all the cooler in my book

 

 

Part 4 of the Oral History is up:

 

http://www.downbeast.com/

 

“Hot For Teacher.” That’s the official song of the Nels Cline Singers. We’ve played that at almost every single sound check.

[Preferred B]

Some new California shows (Oakland and SF) for next month are up on Nels' website. I wish his various projects came to Wisconsin more often. (More often than once, two years ago.)

 

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

[Vacant Horizon]

Is Nels playing keys on You Noticed? love that rhodes, or whatever. just diving into this. jff, we may be the only folks in atlanta or even georgia who listen to nels

[Vacant Horizon]

i have this in digital, but i feel like i'm missing out without a physical copy. i might order through indiejazz.com. seems like a really interesting site.

[jff]

Is Nels playing keys on You Noticed? love that rhodes, or whatever. just diving into this. jff, we may be the only folks in atlanta or even georgia who listen to nels

 

There are two guest keyboardists on the album. Yuka Honda and David Witham. I don't recall which one of them plays on that song. Witham, I think.

 

You may be right about Nels/Georgia. It'd be intersting to see how many people showed up if he played here. He came to Atlanta twice when "Instrumentals" was out. The first time, most of the audience seemed to be there for Carla's "Red Headed Stranger", and the second show was a festival show, so it's hard to say who was there specifically to see Nels.

 

Actually, now that I think of it, the second time through Atlanta was with Carla's band and not the Singers (it was the same lineup that opened for Wilco) with an unscheduled Nels solo improvised set (Two Foot Yard was supposed to play, but they had to cancel due to a family emergency, and Nels filled their slot by improvising for 20 minutes). Nels seemed to have at least a few fans at that one. Some people standing next to me were obviously into it. Maybe you were one of them?

[Vacant Horizon]

There are two guest keyboardists on the album. Yuka Honda and David Witham. I don't recall which one of them plays on that song. Witham, I think.

 

You may be right about Nels/Georgia. It'd be intersting to see how many people showed up if he played here. He came to Atlanta twice when "Instrumentals" was out. The first time, most of the audience seemed to be there for Carla's "Red Headed Stranger", and the second show was a festival show, so it's hard to say who was there specifically to see Nels.

 

Actually, now that I think of it, the second time through Atlanta was with Carla's band and not the Singers (it was the same lineup that opened for Wilco) with an unscheduled Nels solo improvised set (Two Foot Yard was supposed to play, but they had to cancel due to a family emergency, and Nels filled their slot by improvising for 20 minutes). Nels seemed to have at least a few fans at that one. Some people standing next to me were obviously into it. Maybe you were one of them?

 

i wish i would have been! nels jamming for 20 minutes sounds pretty awesome. so, were you a nels guy before wilco? is alex's stuff any good? i find myself really interested in the avant stuff these days. i think melody is over-rated

[jff]

i wish i would have been! nels jamming for 20 minutes sounds pretty awesome. so, were you a nels guy before wilco? is alex's stuff any good? i find myself really interested in the avant stuff these days. i think melody is over-rated

 

Yeah, it was badass. I remember I kind of pissed off my bandmates at the time, because we were offered a pretty good slot at the same festival, at the same time Nels/Carla were scheduled to play, and I turned it down so I could see Nels.

 

I got into Nels from seeing him with Mike Watt in 1995. I assume the first time I ever heard of Nels was from the track listing to Watt's "Ball-Hog or Tugboat" album. Nels is on a few of those tracks, but it took seeing him live before I became a fan. I think "Ballhog..." came out in '94.

 

I have an album of Alex's solo percussion pieces, which is pretty cool but I rarely listen to it. I don't know much about the albums released under his name. I like him in bands, though. Probably my favorite thing he plays on is Tim Berne's "Fulton Street Maul" (also featuring Bill Frisell). He's good in Gregg Bendian's Interzone and on "Destroy All Nels Cline," too.

[Vacant Horizon]

Yeah, it was badass. I remember I kind of pissed off my bandmates at the time, because we were offered a pretty good slot at the same festival, at the same time Nels/Carla were scheduled to play, and I turned it down so I could see Nels.

 

I got into Nels from seeing him with Mike Watt in 1995. I assume the first time I ever heard of Nels was from the track listing to Watt's "Ball-Hog or Tugboat" album. Nels is on a few of those tracks, but it took seeing him live before I became a fan. I think "Ballhog..." came out in '94.

 

I have an album of Alex's solo percussion pieces, which is pretty cool but I rarely listen to it. I don't know much about the albums released under his name. I like him in bands, though. Probably my favorite thing he plays on is Tim Berne's "Fulton Street Maul" (also featuring Bill Frisell). He's good in Gregg Bendian's Interzone and on "Destroy All Nels Cline," too.

 

need to check out some of those recommendations. i first found out about nels on Watt's records too. are you a frisell fan?

[jff]

need to check out some of those recommendations. i first found out about nels on Watt's records too. are you a frisell fan?

 

Yeah, my favorite album of his is probably "Gone, Just Like a Train." I got to see his trio in Athens a few years ago. I think that was around the time he was recording the East/West live cd, which is also very good.

 

Unfortunately I missed him last year when he came through Atlanta.

[Vacant Horizon]

Yeah, my favorite album of his is probably "Gone, Just Like a Train." I got to see his trio in Athens a few years ago. I think that was around the time he was recording the East/West live cd, which is also very good.

 

Unfortunately I missed him last year when he came through Atlanta.

 

 

love Gone Just Like a Train. i need to get East/West. been meaning to for a few years. i do prefer him in a jazz combo context. his other 'stuff' is a bit boring to me. i went up to see him at the 5 spot, but couldn't get in. it was the Disfarmer stuff i believe. i tend to like him on other people's records too.

 

i like pat metheny too. a bit cheesy, but good. also john abercrombie and kurt rosenwinkel. speaking of jazz, i like the idea of ECM, but damn if it's so samey and a huge catalog. this new nels is getting me to take a look at the crypto label a bit closer.

 

btw, i think it would be cool if glenn kotche and nels did an album

[Vacant Horizon]

i think it's ironic that wilco's music has gotten less experimental with the addition of nels. the most experimental was AGIB i would say. interesting to think what nels would have added to the drone. at the same time, it's great nels has a steady gig and has resources to continue his own thing. would love to see a Loose Fur II with nels, tweedy, and glenn.

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

Listening to Nels' non-Wilco work has made me really fall in love with the noisiest that experimental music can get. But what I think I love most about the new Singers album is the way that they show that experimental doesn't have to be just noise. Out of all of their albums, this one best showcases the way that electronics and effects can blend into a song rather than interrupt or detract from it. The layering throughout the studio disc is exquisite.

 

At its best, I think experimental music is music at its most adventurous, and that's what I'd love to hear Wilco try on the next album. Not necessarily noisy or "weird" (though chances are I'd love an album like that), but creating a sound that only this lineup of Wilco could come up with, really pushing the boundaries of what they've already done. That's been my problem with the last two albums--neither of them surprised me very much. Let's face it: Nels is 10 years older than the other guys, and he's probably not going to play in Wilco forever. I'd love for him to get a chance to show off his full range to the larger Wilco audience instead of just to those of us who go off in search of his other work.

 

I'm hoping these Singers shows this summer have a great turnout. These guys are probably the best live band I've ever seen, and I want to see them get the attention they deserve.

 

Incidentally, Good for Cows has been added to the lineup of the Philadelphia show. I couldn't be happier, because I was supposed to see them in New York last month and was too sick to go. It's Singers' bassist Devin Hoff with Xiu Xiu and sometimes Evangelista drummer Ches Smith. I saw/heard/FELT Ches play with Evangelista back in February, and it was some of the most powerful drumming I've ever experienced. I can't wait to finally get to hear these guys live.

[jff]

 

 

 

Incidentally, Good for Cows has been added to the lineup of the Philadelphia show. I couldn't be happier, because I was supposed to see them in New York last month and was too sick to go. It's Singers' bassist Devin Hoff with Xiu Xiu and sometimes Evangelista drummer Ches Smith. I saw/heard/FELT Ches play with Evangelista back in February, and it was some of the most powerful drumming I've ever experienced. I can't wait to finally get to hear these guys live.

 

If you like Good for Cows, you might like Redressers, which is Devin and Ches, plus Carla Kihlstedt (violin) and Marika Hughes (Cello).

 

http://www.myspace.com/redressers

[jff]

love Gone Just Like a Train. i need to get East/West. been meaning to for a few years. i do prefer him in a jazz combo context. his other 'stuff' is a bit boring to me. i went up to see him at the 5 spot, but couldn't get in.

 

I take this to mean it was sold out?

 

I'm glad it sold out, but I'm kind of surprised since it was not advertised very well. Sorry you couldn't get in.