Slipped Discs

Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd

Reviews From: Year 2011
Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

Manchester Orchestra
Simple Math
Label: Famous Gentlemen

Weary indie-rock antiheroes compose symphonic underdog uprisings, energized by scorching discourse brimming in frank angst and suburban ennui. Vague prey hunted in restless, impetuous reconnaissance, “Math,” traps sacred aching in sinister hook-filled insurrections and breathless mosh-pit proclamations. Balancing searching grandeur against seething street-wise insecurity, MO’s epic introspection sweeps over tender defenses, bolstered by defiant alliance, minor-key reprieves and cathartic martyrdom.

Manchester Orchestra WebsiteManchester Orchestra FacebookManchester Orchestra 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

David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights - Left By Soft

David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights - Left By Soft

David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights
Left By Soft
Label: Merge

Kiwi Merseybeat shaken, tamed and reborn, Kilgour and mates burst with deep-shag majesty, drizzling thunderous blues over braided electric-folk, adding vertigo-inducing transcendence over sturdy, understated song. Compact covenants swimming in shimmering chords, “Soft,” howls, prowls and harmonizes, campfire jangle-rock drifting in placid dappled patterns as level-headed lyrics brave vast swells of multi-layered guitars reaping rippling skiffle sizzling in psychedelic tranquility.

David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights WebsiteDavid Kilgour and the Heavy Eights FacebookDavid Kilgour and the Heavy Eights Wiki

Anni Rossi - Heavy Meadow

Anni Rossi - Heavy Meadow

Anni Rossi
Heavy Meadow
Label: 3 Syllables

Squeaky-clean dreams packed in vacuum-sealed sass, “Meadow,” spins quirky aesthetics into stoic, focused contrapuntal conundrums, engaging the head, heart and hips. Throbbing tropical marches slowly unroll infectious eccentricities coupling blinking syncopation to plunked funk and catwalk grooves to intellectual whimsy showcasing Rossi’s stilted staccato and incandescent wit devoted to rhythmic conniptions coloring dispassionate analysis, cautious tales within seductive art-pop diplomacy.

Anni Rossi WebsiteAnni Rossi FacebookAnni Rossi Wiki

Secret Cities - Strange Hearts

Secret Cities - Strange Hearts

Secret Cities
Strange Hearts
Label: Western Vinyl

Love children from Brill Building refugees, S C mastermind lo-fi, reverb-addled shin-digs; muffled scuffles baked inside grandly bandied jukebox soufflés whose gentle persuasions with twilight choirs shiver behind fading AM beach-party bingo.  Swooning and canoodling through retroactive odysseys, “Strange,” hosts idyllic misfit idolizers worshipping vintage pop thoughts, ghostly baroque smokescreens soaked in rainy-day dreams, fab nostalgia and timeless adolescent appetites. 

Secret Cities WebsiteSecret Cities Facebook

Alina Simone - Make Your Own Danger

Alina Simone - Make Your Own Danger

Alina Simone
Make Your Own Danger
Label: Pentar

Thrusting cellos, hunted drums, writhing flights of tungsten tongues dressed in blacksmith brass sparking private and perilous prose, “Danger,” wrangles war-cry choruses from hounded prayers, elusive truths become locomotive prey charging into accelerated folk-punk blues. Brittle, bold and brazen, Simone’s furtive curtsies and volcanic candor reinforce scornful searchlight labors, thorny bulimic images navigating lean serpentine situations, guarded, bartered and charmed.

Alina Simone WebsiteAlina Simone Facebook

Tom Vek - Leisure Seizure

Tom Vek - Leisure Seizure

Tom Vek
Leisure Seizure
Label: Cooperative Music USA

Hard-wired, pneumatic-addled New Wave statements invade unbraided electro-clash abrasions set to tarnished tempos, droll factory-fashioned funk and slinky syncopated synthesizers; Vek’s clattering malice and energetic menace coil around coarse torque constructing post-industrial petulance via sermons on the dance floor. Suspicious and ambitious, “Leisure,” tumbles wonderfully, trigger-happy slap-shots aimed at callously cool feigned disdain, fabulously retro-fitted fits equipped with post-modern imaginations.

Tom Vek WebsiteTom Vek FacebookTom Vek Wiki

Elysian Fields - Last Night On Earth

Elysian Fields - Last Night On Earth

Elysian Fields
Last Night On Earth
Label: Ojet

Wickedly blissful whisperings slide between sumptuous chamber-folk symphonies , bluesy goth-rock siroccos and coy, alt-pop ballets, “Earth,” works sensual memories beneath placid passions toppling headlong down mesmerizing torch songs, potent potions quenching thirsty bursts from dream-laden maidens. Stirring purrs and banshee sweetness catapult EF’s mythological waltzes into melodic exotica, an embroidered fairy-tale cabaret pried from childhood fears and sentimental tension.

Elysian Fields WebsiteElysian Fields FacebookElysian Fields Wiki

The Wooden Birds - Two Matchsticks

The Wooden Birds - Two Matchsticks

The Wooden Birds
Two Matchsticks
Label: Barsuk

American Analog Set’s Andrew Kenny’s new band retains AAS’s laidback outlook compiling crisp wisdom inside colorful cooing and modest acoustic musings. Cozy, folk-pop breeziness fortified by shimmering marimbas, soft strumming and horse-drawn rhythms, “Matchsticks,” glows in deceptively demure assurances churning patient complacence from twilight insights and lively shyness, inviting politeness channeling sly, bouncy foxtrots, cantering ballads dispensing love-sick riffs .

The Wooden Birds WebsiteThe Wooden Birds FacebookThe Wooden Birds Wiki

Art Brut - Brilliant! Tragic!

Art Brut - Brilliant! Tragic!

Art Brut
Brilliant! Tragic!
Label: Cooking Vinyl

Clever condescension rocks around hell-bent expressions as, “Brilliant,” rips through half-rapped narratives combining insolent wit dipped in irony, sputtering bluster outsmarting intellect and bristling against convention. Revealing and rebellious, post-punk apostles Art Brut’s blunt frustrations corral rough and tumble rhetoric whose cheeky reasons begat tender second-guessing amid cut-throat couplets whose deafening deliberateness clamor for conclusions colliding with middle-class conceits .

Art Brut WebsiteArt Brut FacebookArt Brut Wiki

Dawes - Nothing is Wrong

Dawes - Nothing is Wrong

Dawes
Nothing is Wrong
Label: ATO

Centered lessons season solemn solace; load-bearing laments serve thoughtful folk-rock fodder surrounded by cowboy hooks and slow-burning solos.  Dawes’ perceptive interventions weave nature’s metaphors between common sense and candid humanity. Estranged and tamed, tangled in twang, “Nothing,” inserts humbled hopes washed in honesty, crafting affable parables swimming through level-headed measures, street-corner troubadours versed in stoic weariness wound around fleeting days

Dawes WebsiteDawes FacebookDawes Wiki

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