Macroscope (album)
Macroscope is the fifth album by The Nels Cline Singers led by American guitarist Nels Cline which was released in April 29th 2014 on the Mack Avenue label.[1]
Macroscope | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 29, 2014 | |||
Recorded | January 2014 | |||
Genre | Rock, jazz | |||
Length | 58:29 | |||
Label | Mack Avenue MAC1085 | |||
Producer | Nels Cline, David Breskin | |||
The Nels Cline Singers chronology | ||||
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Nels Cline chronology | ||||
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Reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
The Guardian | [3] |
All About Jazz | [4] |
Premier Guitar | [5] |
The Allmusic review by Sean Westergaard awarded the album 4 stars out of 5, stating "while the Nels Cline Singers may have a new bass player and a new label, fortunately their sound has not changed. They're still making some of the most interesting, adventurous, genre-smashing music of the early 21st century. Guitar nerds need to check this out, but it's got wider appeal than that too".[2] The Guardian's John Fordham rated the album 3 stars out of 5, saying, "Macroscope is a blast through warped Latin music, Hendrix freakouts, double-taking George Bensonian smoothness, electronica and grunge".[3] Writing for All About Jazz, Matt Marshall stated "Since this is a Nels Cline album there are, of course, guitar solos of blistering beauty. But these moments are but part of an organic progression of an ever- roiling music, a highly reactive science experiment that might generate searing fuzz guitar from undulating beats ("Red Before Orange") or rise in a back-spinning psychedelic echo ("The Wedding Band") that replicates into an annihilating vortex of amplified noise".[4] Premier Guitar's Jason Shadrick noted "This isn’t easy music to get into—and it’s not supposed to be. Cline’s musical trick bag is always surprising, but never excessive".[5] Paste Magazine's Robert Ham called it "one of the best jazz releases of the year to date".[6]
Track listing
All compositions by Nels Cline.
- "Companion Piece" - 5:37
- "Canales' Cabeza" - 4:23
- "Respira" - 4:19
- "Red Before Orange" - 4:11
- "The Wedding Band" - 8:18
- "Macroscopic (For Kusama-San)" - 4:01
- "Climb Down" - 3:20
- "Seven Zed Heaven" - 11:16
- "Hairy Mother" - 7:10
- "Sascha's Book of Frogs" - 5:54
Personnel
The Nels Cline Singers
- Nels Cline – guitar, vocals, effects, drum programming
- Trevor Dunn – bass, effects
- Scott Amendola – drums, percussion, electronics, mbira
Additional musicians
- Cyro Baptista – percussion
- Yuka Honda – electric piano, synthesizer
- Josh Jones - congas, percussion
- Zeena Parkins – harp
References
- Crypotogramaphone album entry, accessed August 14, 2014
- Westergaard, Sean. "Macroscope - Nels Cline Singers". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
- Fordham, John (2014-04-11). "Nels Cline Singers: Macroscope". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
- Marshall, Matt (2014-03-08). "Nels Cline Singers: Macroscope". allaboutjazz.com. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
- Shadrick, Jason (2014-04-02). "The Nels Cline Singers MACROSCOPE album review". premierguitar.com. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
- Ham, R., The Nels Cline Singers: Macroscope Review, Paste, April 15, 2014