Slipped Discs - May 2009

Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd

The Crystal Method

The Crystal Method

Initial Thoughts

May invades - from the creeping weeds to united workers of the world, from birds returning to a flood of sharp, new music – winter has been vanquished and revolution is in the air. Therefore May’s ruling theme this year is manifest destiny. The following half dozen titles migrate towards ideas of conquest and exploration, exploring concepts from enslaved hearts to empires toppling. So venture forth and assimilate, resistance is futile.


Disc Reviews


Cracker - Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey

Cracker - Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey

Cracker

Album title: Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey
Record Label: 429 Records

Audacious anarchists, geeky stoner romantics and sci-fi rockers party and parlay, distilling alcoholic logic into swaggering guitar licks dipped in dirt farmer harmonies. Cracker’s roughshod rodeo diplomacy is administered in blunt, abrupt, wild-eyed, country-fried punk as, “Sunrise,” bashes, bops and berates accepted social ills and civilization’s backwards loopholes.

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Cracker online:
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Polly Scattergood - Polly Scattergood

Polly Scattergood - Polly Scattergood

Polly Scattergood

Album title: Polly Scattergood
Record Label: Mute Records

Raw and personal, Scattergood’s doe-eyed poetry steps quietly among floating, glowing electronica while phantom beats build towering tempests from breathy confessions. A frank parade combating life’s charades, slithering in whispers and bathed in fluorescence discotheques, Scattergood’s debut revels in intimate revelations; dire diaries recounting adamant adventures through fiery sirens, chamber arrangements and hissing synths.

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Apostle Of Hustle - Eats Darkness

Apostle Of Hustle - Eats Darkness

Apostle Of Hustle

Album title: Eats Darkness
Record Label: Arts & Crafts

Swinging from a labyrinth of kitchen sinks into thrilling trills of tropical thunder, caffeinated cacophony tumbling into apocalyptic rumbas, AoH’s devilish dance dissects opposing slogans, crafty commotions subverting nervous diversions. “Eats,” dines on bouncy grooves, found sounds and overloaded imaginations whose hip-swiveling impulses divulge lunatic snickering, renegade wit and cyber-mambo voodoo.

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Apostle Of Hustle online:
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Paleface - The Show is on the Road

Paleface - The Show is on the Road

Paleface

Album title: The Show is on the Road
Record Label: Ramseur Records

Honky tonk honesty fuels train-yard yarns turning contemporary issues into dustbowl hobo narratives; Paleface’s earth-bound wisdom croons rollicking acoustic tunes, weaving a deeper, understated understanding from everyday aggravations. “Road,” rolls with the punches, unfolding stolen moments over bare-boned anecdotes, uplifting skiffle and friendly encouragement; heartache and hindsight blending into folksy hopefulness.

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Paleface online:
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BrakesBrakesBrakes - Touchdown

BrakesBrakesBrakes - Touchdown

BrakesBrakesBrakes

Album title: Touchdown
Record Label: Fat Cat

Rock solid cynicism burns past corrosive pop-rock and beat-heavy intellect. Rallying around the hoi polloi in invigorating hooks, ironclad chords and an uncanny knack for suspiciously enigmatic phrases, “Touchdown,” pounds out its paranoia with passionate panache. Sparking flames in the face of modern ennui, Brakesbrakesbrakes’ riff-ripe sing-alongs are wise and innocent, brilliantly jaded yet ultimately undefeated.

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BrakesBrakesBrakes online:
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A Camp - Colonia

A Camp - Colonia

A Camp

Album title: Colonia
Record Label: Nettwerk records

Flushed with lush, vampish nuance and lean, taunting lyrics, “Colonia,” wraps its political sting in leather and lace symphonies, a sage cabaret translated from level-headed, globe-trotting memories. A shimmering coronation of enchanted melodies, glamorous ironies and seductive intimidation; Cardigans singer Nina Persson portrays a post-modern Mata Hari, cool, coy sniping hiding inside her conniving metaphors.

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A Camp online:
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Final Thoughts

Despite the longer days – darkness overshadows techno-czars THE CRYSTAL METHOD’s mind-bending, alternative multiverse, “Divided By Night.” Psychotronic sonnets and groovy kraut-funk ballyhoo populate madcap savage craftsmen SUPER FURRY ANIMALS’, “Dark Days/Light Years,” as THE PARLOR MOB’s black-feathered obsession ignites the dark, rawkin’ blues-bomb assault, “And You Were A Crow.” Finally, wiley and woeful electric folk coquette, SAMANTHA CRAIN AND THE MIDNIGHT SHIVERS tear into the heart-wrenching, “Songs in the Night.”