Slipped Discs
Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd
Patty Larkin - Watch The Sky
Patty LarkinWatch The Sky
Label: Vanguard
World music and American roots blend into a heavenly choir of musical hybrids as PATTY’s talented imagination turns art emotional and emotions artistic. Whether conjuring spooky Delta blues, thoughtful folk or exotic gospel vamps, Sky bewitches as it whispers. Wistful and mystical, PATTY pits sambas against mantras, instilling educated mojo into cultivated raves.
• Patty Larkin Website • Patty Larkin WikiLightspeed Champion - Falling Off the Lavender Bridge
Lightspeed ChampionFalling Off the Lavender Bridge
Label: Domino Records
Shining folk-soul pop washed in unabashed confession, acoustic fragments sprinkled over dreamy lyrics and warm, twangy arrangements - Champion’s charming inventiveness spins personable homespun theatrics that conjure honest and palatable feelings. An easy-chair and sunlit window, Bridge spans intimate inspirations and open invitations, mixing universal moods over laid-back grooves taking flight.
• Lightspeed Champion Website • Lightspeed Champion WikiDawn Landes - Fireproof
Dawn LandesFireproof
Label: Cooking Vinyl
New York based Kentucky native Landes tweaks conventions on her combustible Fireproof. Throwing odd instruments, pop afterthoughts and the occasional alt-rock muscle into her skewed waif folk, Dawn draws from both country and city sources. A recording engineer as well as singer-songwriter, Dawn’s refreshingly low key approach makes Fireproof, intimate, quirky and wonderfully brazen.
• Dawn Landes Website • Dawn Landes WikiLos Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster
Los Campesinos!Hold on Now, Youngster
Label: Arts & Crafts
Youthful exuberance propels a head rush of sneaky cacophony, revved-up ridicule and snappy, hip-swinging bravado as Canada’s Los Campesinos produce tub-thumping beats and ambulance-chasing playfulness. Syncopated shout-outs and tongue-twisting lyrics produce frenzied fits of pep rally rock as, “Youngsters,” bleat and shriek for an energetic free-for-all. LC plays two nights at Chicago’s Empty Bottle starting May 26th.
• Los Campesinos! Website • Los Campesinos! WikiLili Haydn - Place Between Places
Lili HaydnPlace Between Places
Label: Nettwerk records
Drawing from her Philharmonic upbringing to a blossomed activism, P-Funk sessions, Page and Plant reunions and Herbie Hancock face-offs, Haydn’s violin and voice soar over ghostly poked solos and feather bed productions. Patience, playful and predatory, “Place,” adds gypsy mystery, oriental weaves and industrial steam to cosmopolitan lullabies, evocative fantasies and slicked-back jive.
• Lili Haydn Website • Lili Haydn WikiLittle Pieces - Little Pieces
Little PiecesLittle Pieces
Label: One Eleven Records
Clever, well-executed jangle, Little Pieces’ full-length debut springs to life with good-natured bounce, injecting wit into a driving mix of solid chops and gentle persuasions. LP’s refreshingly invigorating tunes patiently accelerate into riff-filled rampages, offering smart takes on familiar themes and updating the subtly twisted pop of Seattle with deceptively wholesome shenanigans.
• Little Pieces WebsiteJenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
Jenny LewisAcid Tongue
Label: Warner Bros
Dishing out an inspired buffet of bent Americana, modern songbird Lewis’ song-writing skills turn classic formats into formidable platforms, launching alt-country gospels, weepy folk ballad blues and raging rockabilly toe-tappers. Couched in cameos and chameleon changes, “Acid,” waxes and wanes, openly hopeful then wickedly sinful. Powerful pipes aid adventurous exercises in Lewis’ adept adaptations.
• Jenny Lewis Website • Jenny Lewis WikiLhasa de Sela - Lhasa
Lhasa de SelaLhasa
Label: Nettwerk records
Acoustic tapestries grace a tranquil, confiding voice; mid-tempo meditations, slow-moving harvest songs and phantom shanty waltzes float over fluttering melancholy. Lhasa’s beating dreams, reasonable realism and twilight candor snakes in a long, winding fuse igniting folk-blues blossoms among withering prophecies. In her first all-English album, the globe-trotting artist quietly embellishes clear-eyed feelings into beautifully serious poetry.
• Lhasa de Sela Website • Lhasa de Sela WikiLos Cenzontles with David Hidalgo & Taj Mahal - American Horizon
Los Cenzontles with David Hidalgo & Taj MahalAmerican Horizon
Label: Los Cenzontles Records
A bump and grind banquet of sumptuous Tex-Mex, spooky barrio blues, joyful party tunes and soul-searching serenades, this hearty collaboration proudly parades squeeze-box cumbias, spicy folk-rock and intimate audio scenarios. Detailing the migrant worker’s plight, “Horizon,” is anchored by tradition but flowers through invigorating rock-blues fusions.
• Los Cenzontles with David Hidalgo & Taj Mahal Website • Los Cenzontles with David Hidalgo & Taj Mahal WikiLocal Natives - Gorilla Manor
Local NativesGorilla Manor
Label: Frenchkiss Records
Beach Boys blessed, L.A.‘s Local Natives engage the ears in genuine rhythmic ingenuity - spirited hoedowns equally inviting, intriguing and entertaining, spiraling barbershop chops integrated into tightly-knitted drum circle blissfulness. A hook-filled ride smoothly somersaulting into playfully cosmic pop; uplifting enthusiasm bathes, “Gorilla,” in campfire choirs, irresistibly jubilant licks bobbing around cheerfully twisted lyrics.
• Local Natives WebsiteLindstrom & Christabelle - Real Life Is No Cool
Lindstrom & ChristabelleReal Life Is No Cool
Label: Feedelity Recordings
Sequined sequences and programmed pandemonium yield funky disco struts, swooning grooves and intoxicating non-stop dance-pop. Nordic maestro Lindstrom’s machine-tooled moxie finds a soul-mate in Christabelle’s sensual vocals to make luxurious flirts slink, sweat and sashay. Flippy, trippy, club-dizzy fantasies, “Real Life,” turn relentlessly inventive dimensions into an audio odyssey.
Little Boots - Hands
Little BootsHands
Label: Atlantic Records
Unabashed yet subtle, upfront but elaborate, “Hands,” is a perfectly delicious guilty pleasure. Commanding an army of musical machinery, Victoria Hesketh’s frothy wink, slither and thrust eroticism tempts and teases, unfurling come-hither fictions and sharp, empowered bravado. Dolled-up disco meets electro-pop fairy tales in a heart-pumping collision of techno-baroque tangos and strutting electric drum majorettes.
• Little Boots Website • Little Boots WikiView More
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