The Nels Cline Singers
Initiate

Writing about an album after just one listen has its risks, but in this case, I'm ready to take them all because The Nels Cline Singers with this "Initiate" (2010) have already managed to deeply engage me.

A classic trio of bass, guitar, and drums, moving with extreme ease between post-rock, improvisation, jazz, fusion, math-rock, and other genres one doesn't know, without resorting to typical Zornian collage structures or mixing genres haphazardly, but rather allowing everything to flow naturally, constructing and deconstructing without disorienting the listener. Listening to the album in its entirety can be compared to the fluidity of a river that sometimes appears impetuous and murky in steep descents and other times clear and calm on flatter stretches.

To successfully achieve such a result without forcing, The Nels Cline Singers work magnificently on their sound, alternating delicate and crystalline tones, almost ECM-like, with others that are raw and distorted, also leaving room for moments of effects, almost special, while always maintaining perfectly intact the identity of their proposal.

A double instrumental CD that alternates studio tracks with live tracks performed flawlessly, and to my great surprise, does not bore for a single instant, thanks to the attention to detail and every single particular that makes every note precious, immersed in this unstoppable flow of music.

A challenging yet not difficult or daunting listen, I would say it lends itself very well to being appreciated by anyone who identifies with the aforementioned genres, a work to be considered very suitable for the average user of the site.

A special mention undoubtedly goes to guitarist Nels Cline, the standout musician of the trio, endowed with a superb technique and enormous personality that allows himself to deliver surprisingly original solos, often quite electric and at other times restrained, whispering chords with great control and calmness.

And so I already conclude these four lines, for a review written in the heat of the moment riding the wave of enthusiasm, the only force that now drives me to put my modest thoughts about music in black and white.

"I try to do things that resonate emotionally. My greatest connection with sound is that it has a certain kind of feeling. Sometimes virtuosity is too boring." Nels Cline