Slipped Discs March 2013

Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd

Karl Bartos - Off the Record

Karl Bartos - Off the Record

Initial Thoughts

March gathers musical titles focused on more than meets the eye. Whether electro-folk rocker CARMEN VILLIAN’s dreamy punk-gothic shocker, “Sleeper,” or sleek beat-master HELADO NEGRO’s trigger-happy dance-fusion, “Invisible Life,” what you see is not always what you get. Uncover cyber-savvy symphonist KARL BARTOS’ fine-tuned studio doodles and intrepid Krautrock epics, “Off the Record,” plus ambidextrous Lambchop guitarist WILLIAM TYLER’s breezy, breath-taking tapestry, “Impossible Truth,” and early spring spins worthy reversals.


Disc Reviews


Low - The Invisible Way

Low - The Invisible Way

Low

Album title: The Invisible Way
Record Label: Sub Pop

Celebrating twenty years as a band, the Jeff Tweedy-produced, “Invisible,” amply demonstrates the Duluth trio’s powerful minimalism; deft, sympathetic harmonies welded to singular lyrical clarity. Robust and heart-wrenching, introspective yet invincible, Low’s glacial pacing opens honest reconnaissance, straight-forward voyages exploring transparent compassion, splendid revelation and elusive beauty. Artists of deep solace and sorrow-drenched strength, Low plays Chicago’s Metro March 22nd.

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Purchase The Invisible Way on Amazon



Johnny Marr - The Messenger

Johnny Marr - The Messenger

Johnny Marr

Album title: The Messenger
Record Label: ADA

Casually dapper and happily passive, the legendary Marr struts in curt, cavalier choruses; animal grace fueled by roaring Britpop guitar-rock tastefully embracing crash-car guitars slashing through thick, steel forests. Bright, hook-filled arena-pleasers dispensed in hot electric helpings mix all-consuming cool into boisterous joys while, “Messenger,” revels in clever head-bobbing abandon; sketchy espionage drawn in bold, soulful bravado and talented gallantry.

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Girls Names - The New Life

Girls Names - The New Life

Girls Names

Album title: The New Life
Record Label: Slumberland

A dock-side revisionist’s dissertation; shimmering six-string fidgeting scrawled into psycho-swirling jangle, glittering post-punk propulsion and squealing alleyway urgency, “Life,” swipes in riveting dissonance and swoons in fluid moves stirring dark melodic furies in oddly upbeat sweeps. Inspired pariahs, hungry ghosts in high-voltage potions, GN’s wiry white-cap magic bolts and sparkles, undaunted doomsday dancers enlisted in luminous maneuvers cornering stormy performances.

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Girls Names online:
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Fol Chen - The False Alarms

Fol Chen - The False Alarms

Fol Chen

Album title: The False Alarms
Record Label: Asthmatic Kitty

Stalking exotic beats through fawning time-bomb cons, L,A,‘s Fol Chen upends modern dance-floor conventions in fearlessly delirious weirdness. Come hither synths with back coated in moody seducer’s detachment and playful tasered tact, “False,” waxes and collapses; a close-circuit circus wired to sci-fi funk crunched by leather-clad coquettes issuing illicit robo-pop operas decked out in teasing beliefs and slippery digitized charisma.

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Suuns - Images du Futur

Suuns - Images du Futur

Suuns

Album title: Images du Futur
Record Label: Secretly Canadian

Spell-bound and bubble-wrapped, rendering menacing chemistry between hypnotic electronics and sluggish mumbles, half-starved guitars stitch twitchy riffs to shivering rhythms; “Images,” pulses, drives and scrambles, steeped in slow strobe-light aerobics, creepy industrial-rock hydraulics and thieving, deviant dervishes. Drainpipe arias dredged from rubbery presumptions, Suuns’ jittery pictures paint narrow escapes from plastic caskets and tense, high-beam seizures from throbbing, zombie fevers.

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Suuns online:
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Caitlin Rose - The Stand-In

Caitlin Rose - The Stand-In

Caitlin Rose

Album title: The Stand-In
Record Label: ATO

Smart and sassy songbird Rose hands hard truths in tasty occasions and wry asides. Rockin’ cocktail pop salted in modesty and brimming in wisdom lasso sumptuous country wonders. Muscular slide sidled alongside sweet, uplifting strings and tuneful tales regale as; “Stand-In,” stands tall in thoughtful propositions, kind reminders carrying poetic medicine guaranteed to rouse tarnished hearts and soothe calico souls.

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Caitlin Rose online:
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Final Thoughts

Oblique treats yield to grounded sounds as March holds several releases tied to specific locations. An all-star cast assists smoky vocalist BOZ SCAGGS’ voodoo grooves slow-roasted over funky soul covers in, “Memphis,” while occasional crooners infuse polyrhythmic instrumentalists BRANDT BRAUER FRICK’s deliciously skittish, syncopated-flavored, “Miami.” Rural muralist WATER LIARS’ barbecued ballads transport whiskey-soaked solos into rustic scuffles and poignant portraits with, “Wyoming,” as devilish intellect-leveler ROBYN HITCHCOCK rocks cock-eyed alt-pop kiss-offs with, “Love From London” and corrosive blues-grunge promoters PURLING HISS sizzles via the greasy diesel getaway, “Water on Mars.”