An Update
There are lots of things going on in the life of Mike these days. Sorry I haven't given you much to read in recent days.Today I'm discovering the joy of a day off after a rocking concert. I took a car full of friends to Dallas last night for a They Might Be Giants show at the House of Blues- an awesome venue in which to see musical heroes of mine since way back in my high school days. So, today I'm enjoying a sabbath.
This is truly one of my best musical weeks ever, as I will go to Tulsa on Saturday to see current musical heroes Wilco. Having already seen them live before, I am about to spurt with excitement!
More later as time permits...
posted by Mike @ 10:49 AM
6 Comments:
I'm not speaking to you. You'll go see them but not Radiohead?!!! Sacrilege!
I bought my Wilco ticket before a Radiohead show was even a myth upon your lips, my friend.
Don't you love Nels Cline's guitar playing the newest Wilco record? man, I love that guy!
Dude-
Remember "Clapton is God?"
I've gotta change my theology, because Nels is one of the most amazingly original players around, I think.
He's got technical skills up to here, but doesn't really use them in an Yngwie way. He always adds something necessary to the songs, even if it's just a texture.
You could say I have a non-sexual crush on the guy!
I wish I could play in Wilco! They would kick me out pretty quickly for just standing there and listening to the rest of the guys, though. :-)
Ha! Yeah, what distinguishes Cline to me, is that he has the chops to play jazz, but the sentiment to play Wilco's neo-classic rock explorations. He can move beyond the ole blues scale. He could easily just "rock out" but instead he fills his solos with melodic hooks and interesting textures.
Plus he uses a narrower, faster classical vibrato instead of a the wider blues version. a man after my own heart.
Enjoy the show! let me know how he plays live.
I agree with you. That is a rare vibrato style. I've never really explored that technique before. It's probably more natural for you due to the cello experience. He also uses the vibrato bar for its intended purpose very subtly.
But you're also right about his playing outside of the blues idiom, which is probably THE thing I find most interesting about his style.
He was already playing with them on the Ghost Is Born tour so I've seen him live before. So intense. He does tremolo picking at the height of the noisiest parts of songs and it just looks painful! His picking hand is at a weird angle that makes it look robotic or something! :-)
I also read an interview where he talked about his "science experiment" table on stage where he has all kinds of weird gadgets to get the really textural sounds.
Anyway, today is Nels Cline appreciation day on the blog!
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