Eleni Mandell - "Salt Truck" (mp3)
Nels Cline/Andrea Parkins/Tom Rainey - "Downpour 2" (mp3)
This might sound odd considering that I'm, like, a critic, but I almost never buy an album based on nothing more than a positive review, nor have I done it much in the past. Honestly I'm a bit mystified by the idea that there are people that actually do that regularly, both relatively free thinking individuals as well as the zombies roaming the aisles for Pitchfork's "best new music" picks. One of those rare occasions where one of my purchases was prompted by a review did occur, though, after reading the City Paper writeup of Eleni Mandell's Miracle Of Five, mainly because I'll buy pretty much anything with Nels Cline on it (the big exception being Wilco, but who knows, I might hear their new record at some point and actually like it), but also because I hold Matt's opinion in high esteem. Plus it's got Cline's former Geraldine Fibbers bandmate Kevin Fitzgerald on it, and I've always wanted to him play drums on more stuff outside of that one great, short-lived band.
Mandell's voice is beautiful in an unassuming, almost calming way, rougher and and more unique than Norah Jones but smoother and more controlled than, say, Cat Power, and she's a really sharp lyricist. But what I really love about the album is the gorgeously recorded atmosphere of it, almost a dozen musicians working together to make such a quiet, delicate sound. Bassist Ryan Feves comes very close, on a few tracks, to replicating one of my favorite sounds of all time, the upright bass on John Coltrane's "Naima," the way it cuts through all the other instruments with a creamy mid-range while dragging just barely behind the beat. Right now the song that I'm hooked on most is "Salt Truck," a short pretty hymn about winter that I'd probably love even more had I heard it a couple months ago, when the city of Baltimore was dumping a metric ton of salt on every city block each time it snowed half an inch. Cline's guitar floats above the song like a trebly vapor, but even when he's more noticeably audible on other tracks, his contributions are restrained and suited to their surroundings.
The other album featuring Nels Cline that's in my top ten of the year so far is Downpour, a recording of an improv session he did with Andrea Parkins and Tom Rainey. I wrote on here back in '04 about the first album by that trio, but I haven't listened to it in a while to compare to the new one. One thing I will say is that I kinda wish that CDs like this were cut up into more seperate tracks, rather than the only 3 on Downpour, even if they were divided up at arbitrary intervals. Then, I'd probably be able to pinpoint with greater accuracy and in more detail what moments or 'movements' are my favorites when writing about it, plus I'd be able to post tracks that aren't 18 minutes long, like "Downpour 2" is. Sure, there's a four minute track, but all the good stuff happens in the long ones.
Nels Cline/Andrea Parkins/Tom Rainey - "Downpour 2" (mp3)
This might sound odd considering that I'm, like, a critic, but I almost never buy an album based on nothing more than a positive review, nor have I done it much in the past. Honestly I'm a bit mystified by the idea that there are people that actually do that regularly, both relatively free thinking individuals as well as the zombies roaming the aisles for Pitchfork's "best new music" picks. One of those rare occasions where one of my purchases was prompted by a review did occur, though, after reading the City Paper writeup of Eleni Mandell's Miracle Of Five, mainly because I'll buy pretty much anything with Nels Cline on it (the big exception being Wilco, but who knows, I might hear their new record at some point and actually like it), but also because I hold Matt's opinion in high esteem. Plus it's got Cline's former Geraldine Fibbers bandmate Kevin Fitzgerald on it, and I've always wanted to him play drums on more stuff outside of that one great, short-lived band.
Mandell's voice is beautiful in an unassuming, almost calming way, rougher and and more unique than Norah Jones but smoother and more controlled than, say, Cat Power, and she's a really sharp lyricist. But what I really love about the album is the gorgeously recorded atmosphere of it, almost a dozen musicians working together to make such a quiet, delicate sound. Bassist Ryan Feves comes very close, on a few tracks, to replicating one of my favorite sounds of all time, the upright bass on John Coltrane's "Naima," the way it cuts through all the other instruments with a creamy mid-range while dragging just barely behind the beat. Right now the song that I'm hooked on most is "Salt Truck," a short pretty hymn about winter that I'd probably love even more had I heard it a couple months ago, when the city of Baltimore was dumping a metric ton of salt on every city block each time it snowed half an inch. Cline's guitar floats above the song like a trebly vapor, but even when he's more noticeably audible on other tracks, his contributions are restrained and suited to their surroundings.
The other album featuring Nels Cline that's in my top ten of the year so far is Downpour, a recording of an improv session he did with Andrea Parkins and Tom Rainey. I wrote on here back in '04 about the first album by that trio, but I haven't listened to it in a while to compare to the new one. One thing I will say is that I kinda wish that CDs like this were cut up into more seperate tracks, rather than the only 3 on Downpour, even if they were divided up at arbitrary intervals. Then, I'd probably be able to pinpoint with greater accuracy and in more detail what moments or 'movements' are my favorites when writing about it, plus I'd be able to post tracks that aren't 18 minutes long, like "Downpour 2" is. Sure, there's a four minute track, but all the good stuff happens in the long ones.
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on Friday, April 06, 2007 at 3:50 PM.
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