Chest

Nels Cline | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 4, 1996)
• Original Release Date: July 23, 1996
• Label: Little Brother Records
• ASIN: B000005DJK
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #332,428 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Intro: Chant for the Road

2. Beardism/Call Crouch

3. Coastal Scrub

4. Power Ballad for Woodward A.

5. The Rite

6. Bath

7. Sister Hotel

8. Min Tao

9. The Gamine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Strange record, June 30, 2001

By 

Stephen (Virginia Beach, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chest (Audio CD)

Jazz Times just called Nels Cline the most dangerous guitarist in the world. The trio records show Cline building the foundation for such an assessment. The trio records are probably more a group effort, more of a result of gigging on aregular basis than the music that was/is to follow. It would be interesting to see where the trio might have gone given Cline's ever increasing confidence. Perhaps his new Nels Cline Singers group will pick up these pieces.

This one is very strong- get it!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars some Nels, May 26, 2007

By 

Pharoah S. Wail (Inner Space) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Chest (Audio CD)

I guess I usually look up specific Nels Cline albums here, because today I didn't. Today I searched only "nels cline" and found that this and Sad are now here! I swear I went to review these in the late '90s and found they weren't carried by this site. Oh well.

This is an album by the trio of Nels, Bob Mair - electric bass, and Michael Preussner - trap drums. In the wake of Nels' new Wilco fan base, this is a little-known band but make no mistake about it... for us Nels fans 10 years ago, this band was it. You can totally use the Trio albums to find out when/where/how someone became a Nels fan. Everyone who was into him in the '90s and early '00s knows these albums. Most of the Wilco-era Nels fans seem to think he's a god but have very little experience with any of his work before and/or outside of Wilco.

Missing out, they are. My review of Chest could be much the same as my review of Sad. As much as I lived for these at the time, I do feel he went on to release better albums later. Interstellar Space Revisited (The Music of John Coltrane), The Inkling, Destroy All Nels Cline, etc... when those came out, they all knocked the original Trio albums down a couple notches, as does the new, amazing Downpour. Still, there are reasons why the Nels Cline Trio albums were and are loved. The centered, attention-sculpting tight freneticism of track 4... or track 6 which features some totally gorgeous playing by Nels.

This album does still have some of the proggy, herky-jerky changes in direction that I've never loved... as well as some smoothy bass sections that I've really never loved... but overall, it still holds up as a piece of the picture of where Nels was at just prior to the real unleashing of his powers. Also to really compare it to some of his later work... this kills The Giant Pin, which I still think stinks.

On a packaging note: I've also always felt this album is notable for having what must be the most disgusting person (or people?) to ever grace the back of an album cover and the cd itself. Wow that guy (or guys... I've always avoided looking too closely) is revolting. You never get used to it. I just had this out and listened to it again this morning and found him just as putridly nasty as ever. Good lord yuck!