The Nels Cline Singers - Macroscope (2014)

'Macroscope', the fifth album and Mack Avenue debut by the adventurous trio The Nels Cline Singers (led by guitarist Nels Cline), provides a measure of the long-running group's staggering range. Captivating and continually surprising, the album finds the instrumental trio with the slyly deceptive name veering in one off-kilter direction only to suddenly be overwhelmed by another drastic stylistic shift, often within the space of a single tune.

Serrated psychedelia becomes consumed by soulful Brasiliana, blissed-out electronica overwhelmed by garage-rock skronk. Then there's the wholly unexpected "Red Before Orange", where a howling Hendrix-inspired solo suddenly erupts in the middle of a slick lounge-jazz number, Cline unleashing the inner George Benson that few of us expected he even had.

One of the most inventive and original guitarists across a wide range of genres, Nels Cline has worked with members of Sonic Youth and Deerhoof as well as artists including Tim Berne, Charlie Haden, Julius Hemphill, Carla Bozulich, Mike Watt, and The Geraldine Fibbers, and is the lead guitarist of Wilco. Cline has recorded an album of duets with guitarist Julian Lage and has toured in a free-improv meeting with jam/jazz trio Medeski Martin and Wood.