Slipped Discs December 2016

Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd

Star Slinger

Star Slinger

Initial Thoughts

Making our way to the end of another year, December albums mark each step with titles illustrating stages of development plotting platforms for progress. Whether mad mercurial R&B maestro STAR SLINGER’s, divine bump-and-grind designs for dreamy, glitch-enriched nouveau-soul in the encouraging, “We Could Be More,” or Hoops’ guitarist KEVIN KRAUTER’s lofty bossa-nova whispers among florid pastorals in the splendidly gentle, subtly wonderful, “Changes,” it’s turning into quite the defining assignment.


Disc Reviews


Eat the Apple - A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light

Eat the Apple - A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light

Eat the Apple

Album title: A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light
Record Label: self-release

A daring, darling musical revue featuring punk-goth operas topped in macabre cabaret arias barging into off-Broadway ballads, “Glimmer,” dazzles in rapid costume changes applied with stylized guile. Sprung from the collective consciousness of KT Niehoff and Ivory Gray-Smith, Eat The Apple’s soundtrack to their unpredictably original 2010 project is stunning fun-house philosophy sporting dark carnal happiness from smart melodramatic radicals.

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Soviet Soviet - Endless

Soviet Soviet - Endless

Soviet Soviet

Album title: Endless
Record Label: Felte

Frenzied cadenzas bend in hyper-kinetic descents, writhing in spiked Molotov pleads and driving serrated stampedes; Soviet Soviet’s sinister dissidence unhinges Pandora’s sordid wardrobe of contorted buzz-saw gauze laid over restless hornet’s nests. Pedal-box rock wrought with electro-shocked sonics, “Endless,” ties live-wire funeral-pyres mired in corrosive moments to warehouse samurai wearing razor-sharp armor tunneling under nervous tournaments with terse, furious focus.

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Ash Borer - The Irrepassable Gate

Ash Borer - The Irrepassable Gate

Ash Borer

Album title: The Irrepassable Gate
Record Label: Profound Lore

Torn in scorn, slow-core roars and turgid fury, “Irrepassable,” snarls with devilish embellishments dredged from vicious contrition supporting virulent conspiracies. Pulverizing pile-drivers trapped in pyroclastic blasts lashed to growling undertows grown from breakneck rage and pitch-black malice, Ash Borer’s glorious torrent dredges force-fed pledges, gouging monstrous preponderance between muscular clusters crushing relentless eruptions and irrefutable grinds etched on anvil canvases.

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Jordan Burchel - Vowel Sounds

Jordan Burchel - Vowel Sounds

Jordan Burchel

Album title: Vowel Sounds
Record Label: self-release

An unmoored troubadour bobbing in pop-rock folklore, Burchel turns openly emotional stanzas into post-romantic mantras stashing breezy bittersweet reprieves inside waggish tragedies as jammy dynamics meander around soft-spoken poetry. Pining over hindsight’s tempting redemption while honing soul-seeking beacons with riff-lifted missiles, “Vowel,” powers searing sincerity, lobbing polished thoughts with profound lovesick deliverance covered in ragtag sadness and slowly burning yearning.

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I Like Trains - A Divorce Before Marriage

I Like Trains - A Divorce Before Marriage

I Like Trains

Album title: A Divorce Before Marriage
Record Label: self-release

Zen chemists blending sage New Age into post-rock solace, I Like Trains’ passive magic courses through ambient moods in fog-bound grooves consuming buoyant clairvoyance from narcotic robotics. Like dawn breaking over rolling thunder, “Divorce,” aches in graceful cravings stretched over colossal, docile, trembling telemetries; translucent nuance generating and infiltrating cloudburst landscapes swimming in shimmering horizons while steadily treading deep waters. 

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Maria Taylor - In the Next Life

Maria Taylor - In the Next Life

Maria Taylor

Album title: In the Next Life
Record Label: Flower Moon Records

Home-grown odes doting over spiritual growth, bewitching submissions enlisting lazy persuasions for flirtatious equations, “Next,” connects relished recollections to fetching speculations circled by maternal murmurs and cool, coddling coos. Set against simple, sturdy pop ideas highlighting playful warmth and tender friendship, Taylor’s rich, welcoming voice nurtures beloved coupling with sultry, colorful lullabies; savory daisy-chain play-dates dipped in swampy honky-tonk stardust.

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Final Thoughts

The year ends with a sense of uncertainty. Conveniently, December albums understand perfectly, from bobbysox retro-rockers REBEL KIND’s leather-jacketed trash-talk, “Just for Fools,” to arena-careening cyber-spirits TEAM GHOST’s robust synth-encrusted muscle, “Team Ghost,” While others might prefer iconic chamber-rock song-interpreter JOHN CALE’s reissued concert document, “Fragments of a Rainy Season,” some assure themselves with meta-twitchy whiz-kids TELEFON TEL AVIV’s chill robo-soul, “FahrenHeit Fair Enough.” Others still will gather around slick pivoting prog-choreographers ENEMIES’, electric pirouettes, “Valuables,” before diving into one-man band TIM CARR’s rustic comforts, “The Last Day of Fighting.”