Slipped Discs

Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd

Reviews From: Jazz
Kacey Johansing - The Hiding

Kacey Johansing - The Hiding

Kacey Johansing
The Hiding
Label: Night Bloom

Bright, feathery jazz pirouettes spun in curious flurries from gossamer longing and carefree teases, Johansing’s creamy coos and rippling guitar bask in masterful afternoon-cafe dream-pop as airy arrangements sweep caressing suggestions into thoughtful possibilities. Immersed in warm massaged chords , “Hiding,”  guides and confides; ethereal sun-bleached weariness gliding and aligning gentle sentimental melodies, transparent romantic semantics and blushing, air-brushed pageantry.

Kacey Johansing WebsiteKacey Johansing Facebook

Karl Blau - Out Her Space

Karl Blau - Out Her Space

Karl Blau
Out Her Space
Label: Bella Union

Bright, infectious island vibes bob between bouncy Tex-Mex boogie and sweet Memphis soul for a beautiful bouillabaisse brewed in the chill, accommodating, “Space.” Original, well-informed, generous and modest, multi-talented Blau’s cavalier curios, impertinent excursions and lyrical larks fall together in jazzy, imaginative patchworks; liberating songs graced with natural logic backed by spry observations, sassy brass, gypsy strings and ambidextrous guitars.

Karl Blau WebsiteKarl Blau FacebookKarl Blau Wiki

Ralph Heidel - Moments of Resonance

Ralph Heidel - Moments of Resonance

Ralph Heidel
Moments of Resonance
Label: Kryptox Records

Germany’s Heidel leads the collective Homo Ludens into knitting-needle cathedrals housing sharp scissoring rhythms, spacious chamber-music infusions and crashing cinematic windfalls. Fashioned from brooding jazz, sweeping classical bombast, collapsible ballet and Geiger-counter trance, “Resonance,” pounces in pondered reconnaissance; intuitive movements chasing break-through conclusions through enigmatic rapture, heralding swelling peril lurking in prog-rock preludes and trick-or-treat suites livid in devilish relish.

Ralph Heidel WebsiteRalph Heidel Facebook

Modern Nature - How to Live

Modern Nature - How to Live

Modern Nature
How to Live
Label: Bella Union

Combining the creative forces behind Ultimate Painting and Beak, Modern Nature deploys calm post-rock opuses, embroidered maps hosting python sax and whispers draped over ubiquitous bass swimming in rambling trance; jazz-dappled appetizers bobbing in Krautrock punchbowls. A fluid, nuanced fairy-tale, “Live,” lives in backwater bliss, minimalist Zen head-trips circling feudal fields and pagan forests with unflinching mystery and intuitive moods.

Modern Nature WebsiteModern Nature Facebook

Samuel Rohrer - Continual Decentering

Samuel Rohrer - Continual Decentering

Samuel Rohrer
Continual Decentering
Label: Arjunamusic

Percussion-driven visions blissfully enlisting plastic crackles, tubular infusions and placid splashes, Rohrer plops, plots, waxes and scratches; modulated shape-shifting impatience planting ambient trance in palsied palpitations from triggered kicks. Future grooves powered by deep African roots and free-jazz imaginations, “Decentering,” tends towards abstracted happenings born from magical fragments and energized through the drummer’s intuitive moves, minimal symmetry and burning curiosity.

Samuel Rohrer WebsiteSamuel Rohrer Facebook

Badge Époque Ensemble - Self Help

Badge Époque Ensemble - Self Help

Badge Époque Ensemble
Self Help
Label: Telephone Explosion

Smooth intuitive jazz attached to stark noirish sizzle, “Help,” melts sinister synergy cushioned in tentative melodies to woke hope lit in smoky solos and palatable collaboration. The immensely talented Toronto seven-piece restlessly caresses contorted chords exploring wind-tossed improvisations into scorching detours subtly touching on fleeting feelings before launching into schooled cool from modern boppers drawing hip traditions into post-millennial splendor.

Badge Époque Ensemble Website

M. Ward - Think of Spring

M. Ward - Think of Spring

M. Ward
Think of Spring
Label: ANTI-

Fragile magic casting mellow spells, Ward turns Billie Holiday classics into discerning interpretations for voice and acoustic guitar, spotlighting hesitant regrets and pressing confessions through timid insinuating minimalism. Hip, cool, and wise while pining, lost in lover’s limbo, “Spring,” swings in sighing hindsight and fond farewells; intricate, sophisticated blues left at the altar dressed in nuanced truth and warm regards.

M. Ward WebsiteM. Ward FacebookM. Ward Wiki

Mind Maintenance - Mind Maintenance

Mind Maintenance - Mind Maintenance

Mind Maintenance
Mind Maintenance
Label: Drag City

Dancing trances for pleased yogis, Joshua Abrams and Chad Taylor, the intuitive world-jazz gurus behind Mind Maintenance’s self-titled debut pair North Africa’s guimbri and Zimbabwe’s mbira bridging cross-cultural gulfs through a subtle lulling touch marked by undeterred curiosity and flickering rhythms. Playful patterns clatter down phased staircase-mazes lifting Mind Maintenance’s shifting riffs with subliminal consistency; dissolving designs fostering modulating hypnotics.

Mind Maintenance Website

James Ilgenfritz, Brian Chase, Robbie Lee - Loss and Gain

James Ilgenfritz, Brian Chase, Robbie Lee - Loss and Gain

James Ilgenfritz, Brian Chase, Robbie Lee
Loss and Gain
Label: Infrequent Seams

Hesitant measurements chart darting cartography with bewitching minimalism as bassist Ilgenfritz, drummer Chase and woodwind multi-instrumentalist Lee tease intangible submarine frequencies, abrupt percussive ruptures and prowling predatory explorations into disconnected suggestions waking unfettered expression. Convulsive hovering coupled in drained chaos, impending ambushes and hazardous fascination, “Loss,” operates under cryptic rules where the nervous converse and broken silences breath tonal cacophony.

James Ilgenfritz, Brian Chase, Robbie Lee Website

Katy Rea - The Urge That Saves You

Katy Rea - The Urge That Saves You

Katy Rea
The Urge That Saves You
Label: self-release

Recorded live, the sensual sophistication exhibited in the uninhibited, “Urge,” merges bookish piano-ballad casualties into compassionate unscripted madness, bold episodes holding thoughts at bay before searing lyrical outbursts burn carousing lounge into the ground. Accompanied by flexible specialists, Rea unleashes sinful incantations with animal grace and grand humanity, rendering scathing impatience in exquisite visits to dark hearts and slithering suspicions.

Katy Rea WebsiteKaty Rea Facebook

Anna Mieke - Theatre

Anna Mieke - Theatre

Anna Mieke
Theatre
Label: Nettwerk

A flagship talent, Anna Mieke’s polyrhythmic wishes conjure cantering banners gently rendering rippling sympathies with placid pageantry, twisted mystery jigs sprinkling baroque jazz-folk riddled in enchanted images.  Mirthful verse carried by squirrely chamber-pop whirlwinds, mercurial urges stirring soothing acoustic nuance, “Theatre,” skips, hops and pirouettes with textured speculations etching breathless wallflower waltzes in flitting dragonfly whimsy and articulate ballroom curtsies.

Anna Mieke WebsiteAnna Mieke Facebook

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