Slipped Discs - Rökktober 2008
Discs you may have missed | by John Noyd
Even as our nights get longer, October is filled with talk of brighter days ahead. Perhaps as darkness descends perception becomes keener, seeking illumination. Appearances can be deceiving, especially during pre-election autumn, but politics aside, keep an eye on these six brilliant discs. Focused around an optical theme, the following plastic platters reflect the times they frequent, drawing from the past to bolster the future, shedding light on our world.
Fujiya & Miyagi
LightbulbsRecord Label: Deaf Dumb and Blind
Review published: October 2008
Switched-on digi-rock swings in glistening grooves and super-agent cool. Quietly enunciating hip, intimate jungle come-ons, “Lightbulbs,” turns machine-tooled algorithms ultra-sexy. Lip-licking lyrics cling to galvanized shotgun funk, cross-wiring prog-Afro punk to cybertronic pop. Bristling precision sneaks, creeps and floats - ticking like a time-bomb, seducing futures through dance-floor politics and patented syncopation.
Giant Sand
proVISIONSRecord Label: Yep Rock Records
Review published: October 2008
Shivering guitars and rattling pianos haunt twilight flights from frontier sorrows as, “pro,” lassoes graveyard campfires, stirring up the ashes, peppering desperation with electric peyote blues. Twang with fangs, Giant’s prickly myths and flickering metaphysical fiction unleash tumbleweed tangos scornful and forlorn, avant-jazz roots-rock teetering toward Aussie goth, perched over sly, savvy alt-country snickering.
The Wedding Present
El ReyRecord Label: Manifesto
Review published: October 2008
Reunited after eight years TWP makes, Rey,” shine. Showy, sour chic gets fleeced and flogged as, “Rey,” lines up jaded and dejected sophisticates; unraveling insolent romance and radiating rebellious charisma. Antihero love songs usher carousing sideshows of rifling riffs and withering wit as TWP’s thorny lyrics become smarmy balm for love’s restless jesters.
All Girl Summer Fun Band
Looking Into ItRecord Label: AGSFB Music
Review published: October 2008
Beach blanket beats surround bee-hive harmonies as Portland, Or’s reassembled super-group hits the ground running. Peering past polka dot pop into boppy alt-rock, “Looking,” sneer and revere bubblegum party girls, making over ass-kicking battleaxes for a post-punk pajama party full of wicked good fun and swooning super-sonic pillow talk.
Portugal. The Man
Censored ColorsRecord Label: Equal Vision
Review published: October 2008
P.tM’s gloriously organic guru-rock casually marries slippery symphonies to orchestrated heavy metal outbursts. Cryptic and ambitious, seething with reverb-soaked psychedelia P.tM’s glowing tapestry of hippie hallelujahs parade grand gestures in brutally naked waves and splendid otherworldly promise. Lofty and solemn, heavy and serene,”Censored,” startles, bending conventions and resurrecting epic, howling, hurricane-flavored salvation.
The Present
World I SeeRecord Label: LOAF
Review published: October 2008
Rippling tranquilly then mounting musical monsoons, “World,” sculpt electro-static passages into disembodied audio odysseys and rambling ambient jams. Reveling in eerie atmospheres, tempting chemistry in magical distractions, the Present’s gurgling births evolve from thundering avalanches to scurrying monsters - scraping escapees lost in a field of alien heartbeats breathing and breeding spidery silences.
Final Thoughts
Happy to herald the call to Rocktober, this year vies to being OKtober with agreeable releases in every genial genre. Brooklyn’s SPRINGHOUSE stretches its galactic indie-rock guitars, “From Now to OK,” while LA ROCCA’s sweetly insistent, “OK Okay,” turn universal truths personal. Energetic AC artist JON MCLAUGHLIN offers, “OK Now,” even as bouncy bohemian INGRID MICHAELSON tosses up the wise, “Be OK.” The smart funky folkie visits Madison Nov 18th.
