****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
As strange as it may seem, I've been searching for this sound for I don't know how long. It's as though it existed in my unconscious mind, or perhaps in the limited area in the Akashic Records to which I have any access. Perhaps there exists a Jungian archetype that I've been unwittingly attuned to. To finally hear it realized in the real world is nothing short of revelatory. I first heard what folks call "free jazz" through local musicians, and I was intrigued. Subsequent performance experiences turned me on to the full power of this expressive music, music that strives to transcend any and all limitations. Nels Cline (and by extension, I imagine, Mr. Coltrane as well) succeeds.As an amateur musician myself, one with a fairly developed ear and moderate, innate sense of musicality, it's obvious that the more you understand music itself, and the more your mind is open to all forms of musical experience, the better equipped you are to "hear" this properly. I would argue that a disco purist may not like it, but anyone who enjoys progressive rock, metal, electronica or passion in general can get into it. If you don't like skronky music, you won't like this recording. However, for fans of skronk, this is a monumental work. My familiarity with the specific Coltrane recording on which it is based in very limited, so I can't speak to comparisons or contrasts.I don't know much about Nels Cline, but he's obviously an ingenious musician. He possesses the fluid technique of Joe Satriani or Steve Vai, but this music is light years beyond the clichéd rock of those two fellows. I don't know if he ever listened to much heavy metal, but the influence sounds like it's there.I'm also amazed at the level of novelty found on this recording. You know, regardless of the players, six or seven pieces comprised of nothing but shifting, tricky, cathartic percussion and overdriven guitar duets could get repetitive after some time, but this doesn't. Perhaps that's because the source materials comes from one of the 20th century's great musical genuises.Check out Jim Black's first "AlasNoAxis" recording if this item appeals to you. It's similar in the sense that it's like free jazz with metal/rock overtones.
