Nels Cline - Dirty Baby download mp3

Sometimes it's hard to keep up with all of the great, new music being created in the world... great artists such as Nels Cline are constantly recording new music of their own and making appearances on countless other artists albums.Dirty Baby is the newest album of material from Nels, and it is pretty amazing. Nels, commissioned by David Breskin (producer), composed this music as the "soundtrack" to the book of artworks by renowned artist Ed Ruscha and ghazals by David Breskin. The artwork and accompanying discs are split up much like an old record format: Side A (disc 1) & Side B (disc 2), each with a separate booklet with the corresponding artwork that inspired the music. Also in the actual disc-casing (double-blisterpak) there is another booklet with liner notes from Nels Cline, full track listing, and personnel.Side A features 33 pieces of artwork in the booklet, and is split into 6 parts, somewhat resembling an Avant-garde suite with no breaks. The music and artwork tell a story of sorts about the development of America, and moves from a somewhat acoustic beginning to a more electric modernity and back to acoustic at the end (representing the land being reclaimed by nature). The music moves seamlessly from track to track, and if you are looking at the artwork, you will definitely feel a connection. Musicians featured: Nels Cline (guitars), Bill Barrett (chromatic harmonica), Wayne Peet (organ), Jon Brion (electric piano, EMS Synthi, voice), Jeremy Drake (guitars, banjo, ukelele), Glenn Taylor (pedal steel), Devin Hoff (bass), Scott Amendola (drums, loops/electronics), Danny Frankel (percussion), Ed Ruscha (artwork).Side B features another 33 pieces of artwork, but this time each piece has a song to accompany it individually. The result is 33 shorter compositions (most around the 1-minute mark), which show Nels Cline's genius as a composer and arranger. The artwork has titles like "Agree to Our Terms or Prepare Yourself for a Blast Furnace," of which the musical representation actually sounds like a blast furnace (and someone possibly being put in one!) I also find "Don't Threaten me with Your Threats" and "You and I are in Disagreement" two more cool pieces. The music on this second disc is almost a complete juxtaposition of that from the first. Instead of being a long, continuous piece of music, this disc is a varied and eclectic smattering of acoustic & electric guitars and basses, other string instruments, wind instruments, and electronic effects/loops. It is, as Nels says, "a total mash-up of free jazz, hard rock, grindcore, Morton Feldmanesque swaths of indeterminacy, blues, Ellington/Evans references, spy music, and more..." There are some quite beautful moments, some scary, some humorous, some that are just discomforting. Featured on this disc: Vinny Golia (flutes, clarinets, saxes), Dan Clucas (trumpet, flutes), Jeff Gauthier (violin), Jessica Catron (cello), Brad Dutz (vibes, xylophone, bongos), Alex Cline (percussion), and Nels, Jeremy, Devin, and Scott from Side A.This music, recorded in January 2008, is some of the most adventurous from Nels Cline to date. It features some of the best Avant-garde/Structured improvisation/conceptual art that has been presented in the modern Jazz idiom. The musicians, picked by Nel, from the L.A. scene show amazing talent and versatility, and make these compositions come to life. If you enjoy this type of music, I might also suggest you check out Bill Frisell's "Richter 858," also commissioned by David Breskin.