Slipped Discs

Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd

Reviews From: Jazz
Joe Jackson - Rain

Joe Jackson - Rain

Joe Jackson
Rain
Label: Rykodisc

Despite a stripped-down sound of voice, piano, drums and bass, JACKSON nevertheless concocts an immaculate universe of sour sages and bittersweet sentimentalists. Sorrowful soliloquies brush against steely social indictments as Rain broods smoothly over classy jazz piano, fires up pounding Memphis soul and turns new wave sophisticated through cutting lyrics, clever irony and consummate razzle-dazzle. Joe is slated to play Milwaukee’s Pabst on April 21st.

Joe Jackson WebsiteJoe Jackson Wiki

Rupa and the April Fishes - Extraordinary Rendition

Rupa and the April Fishes - Extraordinary Rendition

Rupa and the April Fishes
Extraordinary Rendition
Label: Cumbancha Records

A collective of multi-lingual flings, teasing beats, pouty polkas and tangled tangos – Rupa’s basket of salty and sultry mingles the sad with pizzazz and elegant despair with can-can chicanery. Novelties surrounded by melancholy, hot jazz laced with sad fiddles and muted trumpets, “Extraordinary,” hops, skips and tumbles into the heart.

Rupa and the April Fishes WebsiteRupa and the April Fishes Wiki

Joan As Police Woman - To Survive

Joan As Police Woman - To Survive

Joan As Police Woman
To Survive
Label: Cheap Lullaby

A patient ghostly glow hovers over, “Survive,” as bohemian folk-soul gossamer meets simmering astral-jazz.  Joan’s honeyed homilies and tasty acoustic accompaniment swing from sensitive and solemn to magically inviting. Further lifted by wonderfully groggy electronics and Earth mother harmony, “Survive,” naturally unfolds as it joyfully explores.

Joan As Police Woman WebsiteJoan As Police Woman Wiki

My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Shark’s Teeth

My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Shark’s Teeth

My Brightest Diamond
A Thousand Shark’s Teeth
Label: Asthmatic Kitty

Wrapped in lush, celestial robes, MBD’s latest shattering palate of sweet and sour, worldly and unearthly erupts with volcanic lust and soars into nesting banshees. Sumptuous eloquence enshrined in fluid cat-like stealth, “Teeth,” cuts through the clouds with swift, invigorating rhythms and bold, seething leaps writhing in splendid seizures.

My Brightest Diamond WebsiteMy Brightest Diamond Wiki

 - Who Killed Harry Houdini?

- Who Killed Harry Houdini?


Who Killed Harry Houdini?
Label: Mute

Sprawling odysseys circling innocence and adolescence with shirtsleeve hearts and underlying pining, the English-singing Swede’s sophomore effort befriends and amends. Timid and torrential, the thirty-member band offers a spicy musical minestrone in a gaily painted Galapagos of banjo, tympani, clarinet and brass as IMB’s kindergarten rock whispers wistfully and roars sympathetically.

Website Wiki

Burnt Sugar - Making Love to the Dark Ages

Burnt Sugar - Making Love to the Dark Ages

Burnt Sugar
Making Love to the Dark Ages
Label: LiveWired

Scats pitter-pat past cool animal bop frosted in electronic blips, found sounds and willfully meandering ambience. Galactic atmospheres cushion hep-cat vibes, after-hours sessions pitting astral brass with cosmic guitar, gypsy jazz and bluesy gospel. Buzzing between Avant Theater and Night Club Improv, Burnt Sugar’s exceptional love-making scenarios are carnal caramels.

Burnt Sugar Website

Horse's Ha - Of The Cathmawr Yards

Horse's Ha - Of The Cathmawr Yards

Horse's Ha
Of The Cathmawr Yards
Label: Hidden Agenda

Sheathed in courtly attire, Chicago’s THH moves through progressively spiraling circles, encompassing chamber-jazz maneuvers, baroque pirouettes and sweeping, gypsy incantations. Snappy pastorals trot pass calculated counterpoint spiced in enchanted parables. Cooing Canterbury blues fleshed out in Persian accents, “Yard,” blends together familiar sounds in friendly settings, quietly re-inventing nobler histories


Elizabeth And The Catapult - Taller Children

Elizabeth And The Catapult - Taller Children

Elizabeth And The Catapult
Taller Children
Label: Verve Forecast

Anchored by cozy vocalist-songwriter Elizabeth Ziman, EATC navigates breezy jazz, ska and country hybrids - gliding past a catalogue of lilting pop concoctions. Snappy, savvy craft turns the beautifully boppy, “Taller,” into smart, sharp ear-candy coated in sultry cynicism, balancing edgy and amiable admirably; its kittenish bitterness sophisticated, charming and buoyant.

Elizabeth And The Catapult Website

The City Champs - The Set-Up

The City Champs - The Set-Up

The City Champs
The Set-Up
Label: Electraphonic

Getting up and under the brash, downbeat sound of a cresting, cooking Hammond organ with side-swiping, chicken-pickin’ electric guitar and kickass trap kit drumming, Memphis’ TCC shoulders ferocious restraint, buttery souls and sizzling swing. Augmented with occasional bass, horns and Latin percussion, “Set-up” remains powered by three equal talents trading interplay tucked inside velvet waves, cool nuance and rooted grooves.

The City Champs WebsiteThe City Champs Facebook

Notekillers - We’re Here To Help

Notekillers - We’re Here To Help

Notekillers
We’re Here To Help
Label: Prophase Music

Caustic hostages sorting through clustered squalor; surfing curling furies and polishing purring pandemonium, Philadelphia’s Notekillers burn through a blur of microtonal moments, pelting the ears like sonic grommets. Fine-tuned noise rock ruckus plus bluesy snaggled-tooth groovin’, “Help,” hosts vice-grip commitments to colossal oscillations washed in kamikaze tsunamis, wordlessly streaming careening frequencies in an onslaught of stuttering staccato and hemorrhaging tremors.

Notekillers WebsiteNotekillers FacebookNotekillers Wiki

Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside - Dirty Radio

Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside - Dirty Radio

Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside
Dirty Radio
Label: Partisan Records

Whack scats, romping bop and whip-smart jive straddle bawdy shotgun operas drawn from washboard boogie, barn-stormin’ rock-a-billy and smoldering back-alley soul. Ford and company’s vivacious revivalism injects contemporary perspectives into swinging traditions, pairing hootchie-cootchie come-ons alongside waltzing walk-on-bys. Channeling Patsy Cline, Big Bill Broonzy and Bessie Smith, “Radio,” radiates raw, feisty geek-girl charm for tasty raves and brash maverick ballads.

Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside WebsiteSallie Ford and the Sound Outside Facebook

Grand Pianoramax - Smooth Danger

Grand Pianoramax - Smooth Danger

Grand Pianoramax
Smooth Danger
Label: Obliqsound

Machine-gun runs of skittish drums maneuver through arched arpeggios erupting from prattling Moogs and palpitating pianos. “Smooth,” beautifully moves lively prog-rock robotics, shifting tangled tangents into methodical madness. Interwoven explosions cushioning savvy raps, GP’s sophisticated cat and mouse bouts pit dynamite keyboard flights against ground-pounding percussion, scattering frazzled scales behind diligent rhythms and railroading classical backgrounds into hyperactive jazz acrobatics.

Grand Pianoramax WebsiteGrand Pianoramax FacebookGrand Pianoramax Wiki

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