Scarnella

Scarnella | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 10, 1998)
• Original Release Date: November 10, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smells Like Records
• ASIN: B00000C2ID
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #348,321 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With the supersonic alt-country prog-rock band the Geraldine Fibbers on (permanent?) hiatus, husky-voiced singer-guitarist Carla Bozulich and six-string torturer Nels Cline have resurfaced as Scarnella. Bashed out in a week's time in the summer of 1998, Scarnella picks up where the most extreme of Fibbers material leaves off--as an experiment in narcotic din à la Sonic Youth and the Velvet Underground before them. It's a potentially room-clearing effort, ranging from the strung-out "Release the Spring" to several superaggressive swaths that may be the aural equivalent of flesh being pulled slowly and methodically from the bone. Some more-structured moments--the torchy "The Most Useless Thing" and the giddy noise-pop workout "Dandelion"--do recall the Fibbers, but ultimately Scarnella is for those fans whose limits must be challenged even further. --Neal Weiss

About the Artist

Scarnella is the errant brainchild of Carla Bozulich (The Geraldine Fibbers, Ethyl Meatplow, etc.) and Nels Cline (The Nels Cline Trio, the Fibbers, collaborator with Mike Watt, Thurston Moore, Charlie Haden...the list goes on). Those who have seen and heard these two on stage won't be suprised to learn that they have tried on every single item of each other's clothing and have arrived at a full repetoire - with a look to match. Their upcoming album is set for a Fall release on Smells Like Records

Scarnella draws on an array of styles/instruments/methodologies to express itself. Carla still plays guitar and works her mighty pipes, but also adds bass and her sampler, which had been collecting dust too long. Those who heave heard Scarnella's version of Hot Pants on the James Brown tribute album on Zero Hour may be expecting her to bring her trumpet to the shows, but since the two have played multiple instruments on their new LP, the logistics of a live representation of their sound is already wierd enough...Nels wil, predictably, concentrate on his guitars, many effects, and toys, toys, toys!

In early June of this year, the duo traveled to the Pacific Northwest and, playing their first shows as a duo along the way, recorded their debut album. By 6/14 the four shows, the six day recording/mixing session and a breathtaking coastal drive were behind them. With the album (mostly consisting of material written along the journey or live in the session) complete, they became fully immersed in dissecting the treacherous creature we cavalierly refer to as: the future.

Scarnella is a Magna Carta of sublime sonic intricacies. It's about two sensibilities in high mutual respect and perfectly interwoven. Imagine Lorca-era Tim Buckley covered by Throwing Muses circa '86. Largely-improvised 'scapes sailed upon by bright but heavy melody, the likes of which have never been heard to such stunning, profound effect.

Look to Scarnella for everything from intimate ballads to extended moments of improvised mayhem. Scarnella is a work in progress that will probably never be finished, never easily defined. Risk and High-Dramamine. Puzzled animal crackers soaked in lighter fluid and licked clean by a sympathetic flame. If you can relax your toes long enough, it will all make sense.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible Album!, June 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Scarnella (Audio CD)

I'm listening to the first song of this album now. It starts off with about 2 minutes of the same beautiful minimalistic guitar part, adds Carla Bozulich's incredible, deep voice, builds to a fever pitch and then back to the original guitar part. Remember, this 8 and a half minutes of brilliance is just the first song! The other nine songs range from noise excursions (which I love), almost-pop, beautiful long songs ("Snowy" might just eclipse the first song as the best on this album), and acoustic pieces. Just an amazing album--might be the best in my collection. And my collection includes Sonic Youth, Velvet Underground, Sebadoh, and Blonde Redhead. Serious indie rock fans out there will know that those groups have produced some of the greatest rock ever. And this debut from Scarnella might just top them all. I highly recommend this album--and can't wait to see Scarnella in concert on July 4th.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Carla & Nels Give A Great X-Mas Gift, December 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Scarnella (Audio CD)

Have You Ever Listened To The Geraldine Fibers? Or Better Yet The Nels Kline Trio? Well Nels Kline and Carla Bozulich are from the former; she the singer, he the guitarist. Maybe you don't like alt. country. That's Fine. But you have to love Carla's Voice, that transparent beauty that you can't quite be sure if it's growling or soothing. And Nels is of course one of the most brillant guitar players on the planet. This is a simple duo that expands beyond the sounds of both of the afore mentioned bands. Where Geraldine Fibers have that downhome-louisville sound Scarnella does not. And where Nels Kline Trio drops more into the abstract instrumental indy-jazz sound, this does not. Scarnella (which is spelled with 2 L's, not like up above) is a quiet scream that holds your hand tightly through the depths of hell and the beautiful darker times in heaven's history. Sound like alot for a side project by an indy act? That's because it is so much more than that. And we would expect no less from any release on Steve Shelley's SMELLS LIKE RECORDS label. With Carla's Man/Woman voice and Nels' encircling guitar etc. you will frown with pleasure and quit buying records on other labels (atleast until you listen to this 30 or so times).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ummm, why isn't this album famous?, October 30, 2007

By 

MRSCRY (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scarnella (Audio CD)

There's so much I could write about this unf**kingbelievable, diverse, original, and goodie-packed record. I'm hoping that one of you Wilco fans happened to fall upon this Amazon page when looking up Wilco guitarist Nels Cline. Folks, Nels and Carla are so musically intelligent and so full of emotion, and when they compose music together, there is no better pair of musically-inclined (no pun intended) adults. Carla is most famously known for her band The Geraldine Fibbers, which, in many ways, is a better listen than Scarnella, but when it comes down to it, Scarnella's only studio album is much more of a masterpiece than the two Fibbers records. There is so much going on here musically that it's impossible to believe Carla/Nels when they says this album only took a week to come up with. Every song on this album has so much to it that each can be isolated and studied for a Master's thesis.

Even though Carla's voice reaches pure bliss on this album much more than once, my favorite track is the instrumental entitled "Improvisation #1", and when you hear it, you'll very much realize there's no f**king way this was an improv. No way.

Support Carla's music career. And tell Nels to start making music with her again, even if it means he drops Wilco.