CHRIS SPEDDING: SONGS WITHOUT WORDS

"Songs Without Words" is an interesting pre-Nucleus work from guitarist Chris Spedding. This 1969 recording wasn't released till 1972, quite some time after the first batch of stellar Nucleus album, and it pales a bit in comparison. But viewed from a 1969 context it's an album that was well aware of the most recent developments in jazz. It just lacks the energy and superior songwriting that Nucleus would develop. Next to Spedding, the line-up also features future Nucleus drummer John Marshall.

The 15 minute "Station Song" is the best part, starting with quiet jazz piano, bass and drums, it gets wild in the middle when Rutherford's trombone and Spedding's snappy guitars engage in a violent dialogue. The acoustic "Plain Song" is quite different, folky rather then jazzy, with acoustic guitars and bowed contrabass. Nice piece. "Song of The Deep" returns to the style of the opener: relaxing jazz mixed with abrasive and slightly dissonant trombone. "The Forest of Fables" is entirely different again, atonal and experimental, something you'd rather expect on an early Kraftwerk album. "New Song of Experience" brings this experimentation in jazzier territory again, it goes near chaos at time and doesn't entirely thrill me, a failed experiment for me. The closing track is an experimental guitar solo from Spedding.

While there's very deserving music in the first half of this album, the second half is much of a hit and miss with me, containing deserving experimentation but without solid grooves or memorable songwriting that could bring these pieces alive. Nevertheless, interesting for Nucleus fans.