Slipped Discs

Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd

Reviews From: Year 2009
Bats - The Guilty Office

Bats - The Guilty Office

Bats
The Guilty Office
Label: Hidden Agenda

A peaceful student riot organized into reasonable demonstrations, the almost indifferently literate Bats’ unique bounce and jangle sparks and tranquilizes, urges, encourages and informs. A cool, muted tapestry of unassuming anxieties; “Guilty,” processes overloaded guitars, sentimental missives and sharp drums into mesmerizing compositions of shimmering indie innocence swung around frenzied, art-punk thunder.

The Bats WebsiteThe Bats Wiki

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Grizzly Bear
Veckatimest
Label: Warp Records

Named after an isolated island off Massachusetts, “Veckatimest,” overflows in ethereal wanderings, pondering solitary flights of folk-pop benevolence in dynamic synergy, stirring tender lyrics into explosive musical complications that culminate in lavish stews of ghostly alchemy. Both sunny and spooky, Brooklyn’s GB inflicts rural Americana with disarming carnival overtones, metaphysical melancholy and reverberating group vocals.

Grizzly Bear WebsiteGrizzly Bear Wiki

Builders And The Butchers - Salvation is a Deep Dark Well

Builders And The Butchers - Salvation is a Deep Dark Well

Builders And The Butchers
Salvation is a Deep Dark Well
Label: Gigantic Music

Seductively sinister, TBAB’s hangman’s requiems creep and crawl then pounce and preach for exhilarating alt-folk accusations. Sawing fiddles, flaming brass accents and brittle banjos expose twisted desert confessions of demonic dirges and eloquent exorcisms as, “Salvation,” indicts, smites and incites through ruthless acoustics and menacing melodies.

The Builders And The Butchers Website

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

Fritz Helder And The Phantoms - Greatest Hits: Platinum Edition

Fritz Helder And The Phantoms - Greatest Hits: Platinum Edition

Fritz Helder And The Phantoms
Greatest Hits: Platinum Edition
Label: Last Gang Records

Pimping PRINCE, PARLIMENT and PET SHOP BOYS, Fritz’s self-effacing Phantoms’s Euro-tooled glitteraria produces superior haute couture. Ripping shiny robo-disco, “Hits,” parties into mirror-ball mania par excellence, groovin’ to DJ voyeurism, synthetic sexuality complete with answering machine interludes; Fritz’s rapid-fire fun works the runway insidiously replicating a club-crazy night out.

Fritz Helder And The Phantoms Website

Hoots And Hellmouth
 - The Holy Open Secret

Hoots And Hellmouth - The Holy Open Secret

Hoots And Hellmouth
The Holy Open Secret
Label: Mad Dragon Records

Delivering rollicking honky-tonk, twisted mountain music jive and sweetly impassioned ballads, Hoots’ tight, bluegrass flashes and funky country-gospel revivalism weave traditional pickin’ through omnipresent social issues to produce relevant, toe-tapping Americana. “Holy,” rolls foot stompin’ razzamatazz around ironclad narratives shouting out injustices, suspended by suspicions and slathered in talented fretwork.

Hoots And Hellmouth Website

Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey - hERE and nOW

Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey - hERE and nOW

Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey
hERE and nOW
Label: Bar/None

Eighteen years since their debut and decades since they co-founded indie-icons THE DB’S, H & S gently jangle hearts and minds, churning chiming Everly Bros. shindigs laced with Marsalis sax. Wholesome and upbeat, the duo’s lifetime hindsight serves up soaring choruses and sighing sentiment, fortified memories seasoned with sympathetic regret.

Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey Website

Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below

Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below

Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros
Up From Below
Label: Community Music/Fairfax Recordings

IMA ROBOT’s Alex Ebert’s alter-ego gathered dozens of friends to help form a perfect storm of high brow hoedowns where solemn bursts into sunny and grand-standing kinderpop whose momentum turns monumental. A massive hippie happening, “Up,” offers effervescent testaments and smarmy camaraderie bundled together in a traveling rock-minstrel circus.

Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros Website

Mark Mallman - Invincible Criminal

Mark Mallman - Invincible Criminal

Mark Mallman
Invincible Criminal
Label: Badman Records

Mixing pithy patter and smug double entendres into glam, rock arena fantasies, Mallman’s sleek, cheeky power-pop pandemonium razzes and dazzles through mock melodramas, splattered cabaret and bite-size epics. Subtlety and cynicism create edgy yet earnest innuendos as, Criminal,” unfurl snide asides inside catchy tunes, crafting masterful jabberwocky, designer taunts and stream-lined three shell games.

Mark Mallman WebsiteMark Mallman Wiki

Baby Teeth - Hustle Beach

Baby Teeth - Hustle Beach

Baby Teeth
Hustle Beach
Label: Lujo Records

A contagious array of classic rock, seventies garage and old school new wave makes, “Hustle,” fun, muscular good times.  Energetic hooks, gung-ho vocals and lean, mean arrangements spiced with vintage synth sounds, BT’s blue collar fodder bounces and blasts, assailing the senses and revving memory’s motors in desperate elegance and no holds barred bravado.

Baby Teeth Website

Mindy Smith - Stupid Love

Mindy Smith - Stupid Love

Mindy Smith
Stupid Love
Label: Vanguard Records

Gossamer offerings melt Mindy’s sugar-glazed country into heart-felt velvet whose refreshingly romantic songs soar as they sympathize, gracefully vulnerable, casually intimate. Backed by angelic harmonies and doused in breathless wonder, “Stupid,” plays it smart balancing sumptuous comforts and cautious observations, emotionally invested with high returns and polished backing. Mindy plays Madison’s Majestic August 20th.

Mindy Smith WebsiteMindy Smith Wiki

Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist

Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist

Portugal. The Man
The Satanic Satanist
Label: Equal Vision Records

A tight unit twisted in exquisite knots, P.tM’s stomping, sunshine shamans bask in bombast, casting catharsis in irresistibly intricate webs and driving, fleet-footed dynamics. Deep-seated grooves slithering in funky rock evangelism, “Satanic,” builds sprawling, inspired psychedelia chiseled in soulful hope and supported by dervish skirmishes, spinning rhythms and breath-taking roller coaster approaches.

Portugal. The Man WebsitePortugal. The Man Wiki

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