Slipped Discs

Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd

Reviews From: Reggae
Babylon Circus - Dances Of Resistance

Babylon Circus - Dances Of Resistance

Babylon Circus
Dances Of Resistance
Label: Mr. Bongo

French Rastafarians concocting klezmer cabarets, high-stepping ska and hard-hitting horns, BC’s happy madness conjures politics and polygraphs around a roadrunner’s bar mitzvah. A frothy, funky frenzy of zany syncopation and mellow patois, “Dances,” is a high-octane carnival of concern juggling jungle fevers and spiraling calliopes, gypsy sunshine, festive traditions and revolutionary spunk.

Babylon Circus WebsiteBabylon Circus Wiki

Earthrise Soundsystem - The Yoga Sessions

Earthrise Soundsystem - The Yoga Sessions

Earthrise Soundsystem
The Yoga Sessions
Label: Yoga Organix Records

Mystical hypnotists courting karmic charms and suggestive messages, ES’s international aesthetics provide twinkling syncopation and slippery inspiration between breathlessly mellow trance, spiced-up Western pop and swinging multilingual meditations. While cutting-edge DJ reggae hawk slinky trinkets, tabla jazz turn vixenish and, “Yoga,” uplifts and liberates; multiple personalities blended together for divinely dynamic tranquility.

Earthrise Soundsystem Website

Sean Bones - Buzzards Boy

Sean Bones - Buzzards Boy

Sean Bones
Buzzards Boy
Label:

A supernatural marriage of big hooks soaked in friendly chemistry, “Buzzards,” brims with polished tropical obstacles trapping crafty afterthoughts. Upbeat outbreaks and laid-back ransacks beam beat-sweet hippie trips grooving to savvy showmanship. Rafter-crashing bedroom pop, slippery indie-rock and revved-up modern reggae contribute to the blue sky vibe hatching fissionable visions Bones knits together with daring flair and festooned savoir faire.

Sean Bones WebsiteSean Bones Facebook

Teni - Afrodisiac

Teni - Afrodisiac

Teni
Afrodisiac
Label: House of Mekeda

Afro-Cuban fusions dipped in seductive percussion, midnight horns mournfully cornering soul-jazz labyrinths, “Afrodisiac,” matches soothing coos to tempting tempos for cool musical jewels swayed by reggae and bathed in highlife. Generous, spirited and softly persuasive, Teni’s Nigerian roots and London birth bridges global traditions with feminist wisdom, an earth-mother enchantress doling bold, lavish mantras through bewitching sophistication and sultry funk. 

Teni WebsiteTeni Facebook

Donna the Buffalo - Tonight Yesterday and Tomorrow

Donna the Buffalo - Tonight Yesterday and Tomorrow

Donna the Buffalo
Tonight Yesterday and Tomorrow
Label: Sugar Hill Records

Bouncing between Cajun-baked hoedowns, bayou squeezebox teasers and calico mountaintop jamborees, DtB’s roots-riddled country-rock hops, skips and boogies, roasted and bolstered by smokin’ blues organ, slippery hillbilly fiddle and funky electric-guitar. Lively, laidback swamp-water blossoms arranged around frisky epiphanies, “Tonight,” plants home-grown peace and love in flower-powered honky-tonk whose rockin’ good-will two-steps between groovy patchouli zydeco and tasty jam-band reggae.

Donna the Buffalo WebsiteDonna the Buffalo FacebookDonna the Buffalo Wiki

Chris Berry - King of Me

Chris Berry - King of Me

Chris Berry
King of Me
Label: Kanaga System Krush

Washed in frisky polyrhythmic bliss, “King,” crowns Afro-funky punches and nimble, bi-lingual chants extolling solid social conscience carried by humane refrains. California-born and Zimbabwe-educated, Berry, a multi-talented rhythmist, singer and international activist swims and swings in vigorous tropical pop drenched in contrapuntal wonders, spreading communal grooves between sun-roasted truths juggling tumbling drums, voracious vocalists, liquid bass and thundering thumb piano.

Chris Berry WebsiteChris Berry FacebookChris Berry Wiki

Meshell Ndegeocello - Comet, Come To Me

Meshell Ndegeocello - Comet, Come To Me

Meshell Ndegeocello
Comet, Come To Me
Label: Naive

Melted stealth poured over trickling riffs; Ndegeocello’s tasteful, playful forays into cozy soul, regal reggae and magical jazz conjure microcosmic blossoms inside pristine improvisations for celestial struts cast in smoky vocals and frisky apparitions carved from cyber-funky jams. Delicate senses tinted in textured menace, “Comet,” slinks, sinks and out-thinks buffed lust and supple mistrust; delicious mischief from exquisite art-pop pixels.

Meshell Ndegeocello WebsiteMeshell Ndegeocello FacebookMeshell Ndegeocello Wiki

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

Hollie Cook - Vessel of Love

Hollie Cook - Vessel of Love

Hollie Cook
Vessel of Love
Label: Merge

Pulled by shore-bound waves, Cook’s blazed reggae bobs and drifts in tranquil tropical awesomeness providing shaded sanctuary to supple supplicants rockin’ narcotic positivity with destressed treasures tethered to spiritual pleasures. Freedom squeezed between sun-baked melodica and dub-soaked trap-kits, “Love,” liberates minds, hearts and bodies in suggestive festival caresses from hemp-temptress’ beckoning questions offering sensual sea-side redemption through prime island unwinding.

Hollie Cook WebsiteHollie Cook FacebookHollie Cook Wiki

Lee

Lee "Scratch" Perry - Heavy Rain

Lee "Scratch" Perry
Heavy Rain
Label: On-U Sound

Rock-steady grooves moving beneath phantom chants, haunted harmonica and sad brass, “Rain,” rains, “Soldiers collecting souls,” and “Children of the Night,” over slippery redemption days blazing in faith served by curdling serpentine certainty. Karmic shaman Perry’s scrubbed dub companion to this year’s revelatory, “Rainford,” welcomes mothership liberations; baptized night-walker trance channeling blessed messages through loose, echo-chamber complacency and studio-proven juju.

Lee "Scratch" Perry WebsiteLee "Scratch" Perry FacebookLee "Scratch" Perry Wiki