Matt Nelson – Underhill Lounge

“Shattered Dimension” by the Flying Luttenbachers; Bancamp Link: Shattered Dimension

The Flying Luttenbachers are Weasel Walter’s long running chimeric band. Stretching back to its earliest incarnations, in the early 1990s, many great players have participated in various incarnations of the Flying Luttenbachers.

This new iteration of the group is particularly potent, with Walter on drums, Saxophonist Matt Nelson, bassist Tim Dahl, and guitarist Brandon Seabrook.

Generally, the only constant is that the band explores the jittery febrile ground between edgy art rock and noisy improvisation.

A lot of times I’ll find myself listening to an album by an allegedly “edgy” group. Listening to insipid song after insipid song, with lyrics about “my girlfriend”, “my lover”, “my red solo cup”, or “my good dog watermelon wine”. Eventually, the band will get around to some sort of jam, and I’ll think, “Jesus, finally! They are kicking their shoes off and freeing themselves!” Only for the jam to fade out disappointingly in a few bars, just about when it seems like they are getting warmed up.

There are no songs about dogs on “Shattered Dimension”. Girls are not referenced. There are no lyrics at all.

Instead, what you get are 4 players freeing themselves of their hangups and pouring their guts out onto the floor of the recording studio.

#ShatteredDimension #FlyingLuttenbachers #WeaselWalter #MattNelson #TimDahl #BrandonSeabrook

Lower Bottoms by Matt Nelson.
Bandcamp Link: Lower Bottoms

Matt Nelson is a member of the sax quartet Battle Trance and also a member of the rather noisy, (and Google resistant,) group Grid. In Grid, Nelson has been using effects and amplification with his Sax.

Unlike the electric guitar, (where you only hear the amplified sound), with amplified Sax, you always hear both the amplified and acoustic sound (at least in a live setting). For all practical purposes, adding amplification and effects to a sax, means you are playing a duet with your amplified self.

On the first track Nelson explores this interplay between amplified and acoustic sound in a very interesting manner. On the second track, the amplified sound is isolated in the studio. As a sax player, I found this track a bit less interesting, as I was always thinking about what was going on with the sax to make the sounds. Radical soundscape, nonetheless. The third and fourth track are solely solo acoustic Tenor Sax, and quite impressive. I am always listening for artists who explore and expand the sonic palette of their instruments, and Nelson, (and other his compatriots in Battle Trance,) is among the modern pioneers of expanding the possibilities of expression on the Tenor Sax.

#MattNelson #LowerBottoms #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack #TenorSax #TenorSaxophone