Nels Cline Singers Draw Breath (2007)

Nels Cline – Guitar
Devin Hoff – Double Bass
Scott Amendola- Drums, Live Electronics
Glenn Kotche – Percussion (On “Squirrel of God”)

When this trio comes together insane things happen. Throughout this whole album one can hear influences from jazz names like John Coltrane and Bill Frisell, and rock influences like Jimi Hendrix and Sonic Youth. I would call the sound a free jazz/noise rock fusion, because Cline has a knack for playing rock guitar with the musical complexity of jazz. The second track “Attempted” is the most jazz sounding tune on the album. The opening swings and bassist Devin Hoff plays a walking style bass line. Eventually the track turns into a very noisy rock sounding section, but when Hoff plays a solo it sounds like it could be taken from a straight ahead jazz tune. The track transitions into another very noise based section after heavy rock hits interrupt Hoff’s solo. “Confection” on the other hand starts out with blaring, cool, prog rock guitar from Cline, accompanied by somewhat surf style drumming from Amendola. When Hoff starts playing his bass with a bow in a very pretty section someone listening will be surprised, and come to realize how wide a range of music this group can play. The track ends with a rock feel, and is one of the coolest moments on the album. Fearing that his music maybe too catchy, I think that Cline includes tracks like “An Evening at Pops’” which is fairly standard noise jazz, but does contain some of the best soloing from Cline when the tune peaks. At the end of the track there is a very impressive, drudgingly slow yet heavy rock section, which cleverly precedes a pretty, quiet ambient portion that closes the track. Amendola is the only member of the trio that I don’t know much about, but his use of live electronics is really essential to this group’s impact. At one point in the tune “Mixed Message” Amendola drives the tempo without his drums, but a with his electronics which pan from left to right and bend pitch up and down. Another great moment in the album is on the track “Squirrel of God” where percussionist Glen Kotche plays some very dark, yet beautiful bells to accompany some more bow work by Hoff. Later on he adds to eeriness of the track by making all sorts of clicks and dings while Cline and Amendola make frightening ambiance with pedals and knobs. But oddly enough the album ends with a fairly uplifting sounding unison moment. This album, and group, is really fantastic and even though the noise is heavy at portions, I think it has something that everyone can like.

Points of Interest:

Nels Cline is in Wilco, and has also played with Sonic Youth and Mike Watt

Glenn Kotche is the drummer from Wilco

Devin Hoff recently rejoined the band Xiu Xiu