Slipped Discs - May 2009
Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd
The Crystal Method
Initial Thoughts
May invades - from the creeping weeds to united workers of the world, from birds returning to a flood of sharp, new music – winter has been vanquished and revolution is in the air. Therefore May’s ruling theme this year is manifest destiny. The following half dozen titles migrate towards ideas of conquest and exploration, exploring concepts from enslaved hearts to empires toppling. So venture forth and assimilate, resistance is futile.
Disc Reviews
Cracker - Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey
Cracker
Album title: Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey
Record Label: 429 Records
Audacious anarchists, geeky stoner romantics and sci-fi rockers party and parlay, distilling alcoholic logic into swaggering guitar licks dipped in dirt farmer harmonies. Cracker’s roughshod rodeo diplomacy is administered in blunt, abrupt, wild-eyed, country-fried punk as, “Sunrise,” bashes, bops and berates accepted social ills and civilization’s backwards loopholes.
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Cracker online:
• Website
• Download Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey from Amazon
• Purchase Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey on Amazon
Polly Scattergood - Polly Scattergood
Polly Scattergood
Album title: Polly Scattergood
Record Label: Mute Records
Raw and personal, Scattergood’s doe-eyed poetry steps quietly among floating, glowing electronica while phantom beats build towering tempests from breathy confessions. A frank parade combating life’s charades, slithering in whispers and bathed in fluorescence discotheques, Scattergood’s debut revels in intimate revelations; dire diaries recounting adamant adventures through fiery sirens, chamber arrangements and hissing synths.
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Polly Scattergood online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download Polly Scattergood from Amazon
• Purchase Polly Scattergood on Amazon
Apostle Of Hustle - Eats Darkness
Apostle Of Hustle
Album title: Eats Darkness
Record Label: Arts & Crafts
Swinging from a labyrinth of kitchen sinks into thrilling trills of tropical thunder, caffeinated cacophony tumbling into apocalyptic rumbas, AoH’s devilish dance dissects opposing slogans, crafty commotions subverting nervous diversions. “Eats,” dines on bouncy grooves, found sounds and overloaded imaginations whose hip-swiveling impulses divulge lunatic snickering, renegade wit and cyber-mambo voodoo.
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Apostle Of Hustle online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download Eats Darkness from Amazon
• Purchase Eats Darkness on Amazon
Paleface - The Show is on the Road
Paleface
Album title: The Show is on the Road
Record Label: Ramseur Records
Honky tonk honesty fuels train-yard yarns turning contemporary issues into dustbowl hobo narratives; Paleface’s earth-bound wisdom croons rollicking acoustic tunes, weaving a deeper, understated understanding from everyday aggravations. “Road,” rolls with the punches, unfolding stolen moments over bare-boned anecdotes, uplifting skiffle and friendly encouragement; heartache and hindsight blending into folksy hopefulness.
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Paleface online:
• Website
• Download The Show is on the Road from Amazon
• Purchase The Show is on the Road on Amazon
BrakesBrakesBrakes - Touchdown
BrakesBrakesBrakes
Album title: Touchdown
Record Label: Fat Cat
Rock solid cynicism burns past corrosive pop-rock and beat-heavy intellect. Rallying around the hoi polloi in invigorating hooks, ironclad chords and an uncanny knack for suspiciously enigmatic phrases, “Touchdown,” pounds out its paranoia with passionate panache. Sparking flames in the face of modern ennui, Brakesbrakesbrakes’ riff-ripe sing-alongs are wise and innocent, brilliantly jaded yet ultimately undefeated.
(3264) Page Views
BrakesBrakesBrakes online:
• Website • Wiki
• Purchase Touchdown on Amazon
A Camp - Colonia
A Camp
Album title: Colonia
Record Label: Nettwerk records
Flushed with lush, vampish nuance and lean, taunting lyrics, “Colonia,” wraps its political sting in leather and lace symphonies, a sage cabaret translated from level-headed, globe-trotting memories. A shimmering coronation of enchanted melodies, glamorous ironies and seductive intimidation; Cardigans singer Nina Persson portrays a post-modern Mata Hari, cool, coy sniping hiding inside her conniving metaphors.
(3739) Page Views
A Camp online:
• Website • Wiki
Final Thoughts
Despite the longer days – darkness overshadows techno-czars THE CRYSTAL METHOD’s mind-bending, alternative multiverse, “Divided By Night.” Psychotronic sonnets and groovy kraut-funk ballyhoo populate madcap savage craftsmen SUPER FURRY ANIMALS’, “Dark Days/Light Years,” as THE PARLOR MOB’s black-feathered obsession ignites the dark, rawkin’ blues-bomb assault, “And You Were A Crow.” Finally, wiley and woeful electric folk coquette, SAMANTHA CRAIN AND THE MIDNIGHT SHIVERS tear into the heart-wrenching, “Songs in the Night.”