Slipped Discs - Rökktober 2008
Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd
Britain's Fujiya & Miyagi
Initial Thoughts
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.
Disc Reviews
Present - World I See
Present
Album title: World I See
Record Label: LOAF
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.
(2529) Page Views
The Present online:
• Purchase World I See on Amazon
Portugal. The Man - Censored Colors
Portugal. The Man
Album title: Censored Colors
Record Label: Equal Vision
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.
(2425) Page Views
Portugal. The Man online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download Censored Colors from Amazon
• Purchase Censored Colors on Amazon
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Looking Into It
All Girl Summer Fun Band
Album title: Looking Into It
Record Label: AGSFB Music
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.
(2366) Page Views
All Girl Summer Fun Band online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download Looking Into It from Amazon
• Purchase Looking Into It on Amazon
Wedding Present - El Rey
Wedding Present
Album title: El Rey
Record Label: Manifesto
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.
(2473) Page Views
The Wedding Present online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download El Rey from Amazon
• Purchase El Rey on Amazon
Giant Sand - proVISIONS
Giant Sand
Album title: proVISIONS
Record Label: Yep Rock Records
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.
(2518) Page Views
Giant Sand online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download proVISIONS from Amazon
• Purchase proVISIONS on Amazon
Fujiya & Miyagi - Lightbulbs
Fujiya & Miyagi
Album title: Lightbulbs
Record Label: Deaf Dumb and Blind
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.
(2974) Page Views
Fujiya & Miyagi online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download Lightbulbs from Amazon
• Purchase Lightbulbs on Amazon
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.