Search - Nels Cline :: Coward

Feels bigger than a solo record.

Etan Rosenbloom | Los Angeles | 02/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There's little in the way of technique or style on Coward that we haven't already heard from Nels Cline, but never before has he collected such a variety of questing guitar exploration in one place. He does the electric drone thing, the detuned rock instrumental thing, the lyrical acoustic thing, the cut `n paste improvised bramble thing. Cline's improvisation is typically fascinating, but he's at his best here on extended compositions like "Rod Poole's Gradual Ascent to Heaven," a complex, difficult work dedicated to the complex, difficult microtonal guitarist Rod Poole, who was killed in 2007. Also important: this record represents Cline's first true solo outing. Coward is Cline in the most introspective and unfiltered of settings - one man alone with his vision, a whole crapload of different instruments and pedals, no collaborators, just overdubs. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Cryptogramophone's typically gorgeous packaging. This one's essential for Cline-o-philes and anyone interested in envelope-pushing guitar music."

The gentle giant

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 02/21/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Introspective and spacious (but not spacey), Nels Cline's Coward at times seems to pull from nearly everything he's done previously, while also perhaps pointing to some of the places he'll take us in the future.



At one point, we get the most north Indian thing he's done since the jugalbandi alap section of The Red Headed Stranger. Whether you come at Hindustani slide guitar more from the Vishwa Mohan Bhatt perspective, or my preferences, Debashish Bhattacharya (Debashish Bhattacharya and Raga Saraswati / Mishra Kafi / Mishra Pahadi) and Brijbhushan Kabra (Call of the Valley), Nels plays a rippling acoustic solo that seems to be on a Dobro rather than the Hindustanified guitars of Bhatt, Bhattacharya or Bob Brozman.



What about Coward works so well? Though it largely feels like 2 long pieces of music, there are vignettes within the 2 wholes with such distinct personalities that it makes for a beautiful, sprawling journey. Track 7 is some of the best Derek Bailey-inspired music since Wireforks: Guitar Duets (Sidenote: The review on that page was written by me before I had this account! Back when you could review without having a login name. That may be the first review I ever wrote. Ahhh, memories), though I'd never tell someone that this is a Baileyish album.



There are the Just Int...entions of Rod Poole's Gradual Ascent to Heaven. I know the title is influencing me but every time I hear it, I can't help but notice how beautifully nearly every note is allowed to ring out and decay slowly and peacefully. It's the aural, metaphoric antithesis to the violence of his death.



Coward is a pensive, lonely album that places great importance on timbre, tone and voicings. It's an organic feeling, one-man marvel of orchestration, arrangement and improvisation, both acoustic and electric. The introspection of the whole makes the more extroverted moments that much more fulfilling.



Aside from my dominant obsession of the past month, Bulgaria: Music of the Shepherds Tradition, this cd has ridden around and around my player more than any other so far this year. Surprising and beautiful, this is why we listen to Nels."

Brilliant

Curious Skeptic | New York CIty | 07/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"God I love this recording!! There are loads of good guitarists out there, loads of talent, but few have the creativity and integrity of this man. Go Nels Go!! This record will certainly not sell well, which only further underscores the integrity. But its wonderful (but also challenging) guitar music. Bring it on"