Slipped Discs

Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd

Reviews From: Year 2010
Stars - The Five Ghosts

Stars - The Five Ghosts

Stars
The Five Ghosts
Label: Vagrant

Emotionally-charged spirits waver and disperse, evaporating into heavenly college-rock proclamations as Canada’s musical social archeologists limbo beneath society’s swinging underbelly. “Ghosts,” waltz while angelic chords and hip, sophisticated hooks bounce and rally against unburdened yearnings and tarnished afterlife regrets; tightly-wrapped cabaret squirm in the restrained desires of poignant synthesizers presiding over charmed, chamber-pop novels.

Stars WebsiteStars FacebookStars Wiki

Wolf Parade - EXPO 86

Wolf Parade - EXPO 86

Wolf Parade
EXPO 86
Label: SubPop

Shell-shocked alt-rock plops muscular lyricism alongside grinning cynicism. Doomsday soothsayers, Wolf Parade’s rogue commandos hijack embattled ballads, tossing cryptic clues and brisk divisive philosophies into frightful new wave delusions chock full of curt, clench-jawed logic and iron-claw zombie obstinacy. “Expo,” unfolds exponentially, fostering spooky robo-boogie tainted with unresolved subterranean glories and smashing, mad-dash neuroses.

Wolf Parade WebsiteWolf Parade FacebookWolf Parade Wiki

Ratatat - LP4

Ratatat - LP4

Ratatat
LP4
Label: XL Recordings

Studio-lubricated moods cross-pollinating Debussy inside Bo Diddley, “LP4,” tickles traditions switching from zither-inflicted flamenco to twittering harpsichords roasted over jive Vocoder bass. Sinuous minuets and mod leapfrog mosaics spawn yawning automatons and computer-triggered funk, cyber-samba sandwiches stuffed into slack-key electro-calypso, neo-classical accents and Afro-pop Krautrock, swift twists and sinfully nimble patchwork quilts tethering history and culture.

Ratatat WebsiteRatatat FacebookRatatat Wiki

Lower Dens - Twin Hand Movement

Lower Dens - Twin Hand Movement

Lower Dens
Twin Hand Movement
Label: Gnomonsong

Clanging basement blues artfully dissolve in understated waves of corrosive compulsions, fevered dreams and ragdoll ballets. LD’s cooing stews of murky psychedelia paint lazy, strung-out lullabies whose ferocious persistence rocks, cradling dank heartaches, creeping bleached half-asleep doldrums. Navigating deliberately drowsy diplomacy, murky melodies ooze and entangle, “Twin,” in earth-shattering shadows and abrasive haze. Jana Hunter and friends play Madison’s Project Lodge August 17th

Lower Dens WebsiteLower Dens Facebook

Nils Frahm and Anne Mueller - 7fingers

Nils Frahm and Anne Mueller - 7fingers

Nils Frahm and Anne Mueller
7fingers
Label: Hush

Patiently threading ghostly cello among surly chirps, slippery blips and peek-a-boo beats, studio guru Frahm’s effervescent collaboration suggests interstellar pinball coated in sublime intertwining technologies. Shifting indiscriminately, “7fingers,” skims and dips, soars and skips, amassing raspy atmospheres - engineered yet mysteriously romantic and beautifully alien, suspension bridges melting into a hypnotic fog.

Nils Frahm and Anne Mueller Website

Joemca - Sixteen Devils

Joemca - Sixteen Devils

Joemca
Sixteen Devils
Label: One Stone

Sweaty palm dramas arranged in reflective, Spector wall of sound lounge lizard living room confessions, singer-songwriter Joemca’s soul-baring, center stage persuasions convey earnest tourniquets to bleeding hearts and broken spirits, big issues reaping demons, incubating innuendos and remembering forgotten promises. Wrestling devils through heroic harmonies, Joemca negotiates complex confrontations into restlessly resolute pop-rock extravaganzas.

Joemca WebsiteJoemca Facebook

Miniature Tigers - Fortress

Miniature Tigers - Fortress

Miniature Tigers
Fortress
Label: Modern Art

Tropical-flavored irony bounces from lazy, calypso disco to coy, calliope pop; consecrating lackadaisical lunacy and lovelorn catastrophes into flirty circuses. “Fortress,” cleverly calculates adolescent angst and college-laundered quandaries for cosmic, mosh-pit harmony. Unraveling romantic semantics behind cryptic glimpses and elliptical riddles, MT’s zippy, tipsy philistines serve hyperactive imaginations cock-eyed operas ala comic book sonatas.

Miniature Tigers WebsiteMiniature Tigers FacebookMiniature Tigers Wiki

The Innocence Mission - My Room in the Trees

The Innocence Mission - My Room in the Trees

The Innocence Mission
My Room in the Trees
Label: Badman Recordings

Sweetly sleepy poetry acquiesces beautiful folk-jazz acoustics; nuanced and modestly confidence, embroidered tapestries cushion TIM’s passively happy and quietly kind observations. Graceful descriptions waft between quaint restraint and captivating compassion. Tentative and demure, “Room,” provides tranquil relief through wide-eyed wonder languishing within waking piano, whispery strings and dreamy guitars.

The Innocence Mission WebsiteThe Innocence Mission FacebookThe Innocence Mission Wiki

The Love Language - Libraries

The Love Language - Libraries

The Love Language
Libraries
Label: Merge Records

Succulent schmaltz, witty quips and swashbuckling bluster combine swinging, torch-song charisma inside hip-shaking hooks as champagne gallantry purges primal urges. TLL’s fluent truants sweep and swoon, crooning in undulating pop-rock majesty. Melting retro-chic treats into spectacularly groovy bravado; the royally flamboyant, “Libraries,” catalogs classic hand-claps, echo-laden harmonies, velvet violins, fifties-styled back-beats and steel guitars.

The Love Language WebsiteThe Love Language Facebook

Drivan - Disko

Drivan - Disko

Drivan
Disko
Label: Smalltown Supersound

Cozy sunshine tempos goad cyber-shaman garden parties to sow funky, kinder-pop assemblages roaming over pixilated, trip-folk jams. Home-grown croaks and groans; Sweden’s electro-collective Drivan stirs together ghostly temptress vocals, playful plinking keyboards and subtle psychedelic software to percolate innocent rhythms. Bemused and accepting, “Disko” can be a place, a product or a state of mind.

Drivan Website

Jimmy Gnecco - The Heart

Jimmy Gnecco - The Heart

Jimmy Gnecco
The Heart
Label: Bright Antenna

Singing and playing every instrument, Gnecco’s raw courage and emotional depth sculpt melodramatic crashes and torrential torment, toreador handclaps and cliff-hanging crescendos - fermented fevers whose glories rise and fall with frankness and finesse. From solemn to soaring, resilient to resigned, “Heart” is a labor of love offering stormy rebellions and pre-dawn prayers.

Jimmy Gnecco WebsiteJimmy Gnecco FacebookJimmy Gnecco Wiki

Young Galaxy - Invisible Republic

Young Galaxy - Invisible Republic

Young Galaxy
Invisible Republic
Label: Paper Bag

Bold, smoldering alien jangle-rock visionaries soldier and slither around goth-gospel pop spouting disenchanted evangelism. Sporting strutting spooky elegance the ghoulishly cool, “Republic,” saunters, meshing textures and coercing conjectures, dispensing bewitching empathy. Sleek, oblique and slightly out of reach, YG’s temptingly redemptive persuasions reasonably teases, treed feedback among risky and irresistible sacrificial dance-floor rituals.

Young Galaxy WebsiteYoung Galaxy FacebookYoung Galaxy Wiki

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