Nels Cline Singers

Jazz-rock fusion, freely improvised tunes and rock with a hard and fast edge, the Nels Cline Singers traverse sparse, brooding pieces, touching contemplative melodies and overwhelming, almost punk, sonic bombardments with Instrumentals. Instrumentals is just that, with Devin Hoff on upright bass, Scott Amendola on percussion and some very artfully put together loops and effects, not to mention Nels Cline's inspired yet precise guitar playing. Though there are only three members in this band, the Singers sound like a much larger ensemble. A songs like "Harbor Child" is a solitary stroll along a waterfront early in the morning, while "Cause for Concern" is a heart pounding run from a powder keg of trouble. Better still, the raunchy "Lowered Boom," with its swaggering rhythms and hormone-driven guitar work, is a musical trip to a New Orleans bordello with a pocket full of jack. The Nels Cline singers are solid musicians and Instrumentals displays a spectrum of directions radiated from a prism of talent tempered with flair.