Coward
Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, recently named a “Guitar God” by Rolling Stone, presents a brilliant solo CD on which he plays all the instruments. Covering an extraordinarily broad range of musical styles, this CD has a luscious acoustic feel, yet features a wide array of Nels’ wild electronic sounds. The title Coward is misleading as this intensely personal album exhibits a fearless musicianship and a willingness to take musical and emotional risks. Coward blends improvisation and composition with a huge and constantly changing sonic palette. Coward is a musical tour de force.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Feels bigger than a solo record.
There’s little in the way of technique or style on Coward that we haven’t already heard from Nels Cline, but never before has he collected such a variety of questing guitar exploration in one place. He does the electric drone thing, the detuned rock instrumental thing, the lyrical acoustic thing, the cut `n paste improvised bramble thing. Cline’s improvisation is typically fascinating, but he’s at his best here on extended compositions like “Rod Poole’s Gradual Ascent to Heaven,” a complex, difficult work dedicated to the complex, difficult microtonal guitarist Rod Poole, who was killed in 2007. Also important: this record represents Cline’s first true solo outing. Coward is Cline in the most introspective and unfiltered of settings – one man alone with his vision, a whole crapload of different instruments and pedals, no collaborators, just overdubs. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Cryptogramophone’s typically gorgeous packaging. This one’s essential for Cline-o-philes and anyone interested in envelope-pushing guitar music.
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