Nels Cline is probably best known for his weirdo axe wielding in Wilco, though prior to his dalliances in alt country he had already made a name for himself via his idiosyncratic electric guitar work.
The Singers is his trio, where he is joined by percussionist Scott Amendola and bass player Trevor Dunn (Mr Bungle/Fantomas/ John Zorn). It feels like jazz, but Cline is not willing to limit himself, unleashing a withering rock and roll solo as a statement of intent in the opening salvo Companion Piece. It’s this kind of refusal to be genre specific, or fit into neat pigeonholes that characterises this album. The closest link would be John Zorn’s work with NYC downtown musicians, many of whom appear here including Zorn mainstay percussionist Cyro Baptista, and electric harpist Zeena Parkins. There’s an exploratory adventurous feeling here, and whilst you can draw links way back to the likes of Wes Montgomery’s work, with loops, mbira, congas, electric piano and vocals, Macroscope feels like an extension, or a development upon the form.
The Singers fifth album is definitely influenced by rock music, it’s at times quite bombastic, quite musical, quite harmonic and vaguely jazzy. It’s also at times quite composed as evidenced by the precision of Red Before Orange which features a guesting Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto) on electric piano and possesses an exacting riff vaguely reminiscent of Tortoise. It’s probably the highlight of this set, a tune which exists above a bed of sparse electronic instrumentation.
There’s a certain simplicity here. It’s not dense. Just odd. Which is probably what you get when you enlist some of NYC’s best improvisers to flesh out your tunes. Guitar is often the driver, yet it’s never excessive, Cline’s touch is exacting yet tasteful, and the music manages to be emotive rather than academic. Cline’s experiments feel less exhibitionist and more like mechanisms to further the music. Even his periodic vocals are more like textures buried in the mix, decidedly non virtuosic, yet still contributing.
Strange yet beautiful Macrocope is a multi genre oddity that manages to reveal more unexpected moments of sublime genius with each listen.
