Slipped Discs December 2011

Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd

Actors & Actresses

Actors & Actresses

Initial Thoughts

Not quite down for the count, 2011 concludes with a burst of resolve. Check out one-man band and eighties doom-metal maestro DWARR’s re-mastered manifesto, “Starting Over,” knob-twiddling dance-master THE JUAN MACLEAN’s rekindled robotic remixes and refurbished trance-disco out-takes, “Everybody Get Close,” and glacial gazers ACTORS & ACTRESSES’ reissued EP, the sublime, astral-seismic, We Love Our Enemy.” It’s never too late to make amends as the year ends in optimistic admissions.


Disc Reviews


Devon Sproule - I Love You, Go Easy

Devon Sproule - I Love You, Go Easy

Devon Sproule

Album title: I Love You, Go Easy
Record Label: Tin Angel

Sizzling in idyllic pixie mischief while tumbling in wonder, Devon’s roots, truths and remedies house home-spun charm cast in funky country, toddling jazz and twirling bohemian folk. Rural musical beauties croon twang-spackled happiness inside sweet breezy chords and friendly piano chats, “Easy,” seizes translucent blues brewed in intimate calico sympathies for proud, crowded celebrations, reflective confessions and sophisticated road-warrior boogie.

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Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness

Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness

Los Campesinos!

Album title: Hello Sadness
Record Label: Arts & Crafts

Licking delicious wounds, consuming outmoded empires, “Sadness,” greets everyday ennui with frank angst and heart-wrenching contempt lined in retreaded memories, invective conjecture and randy candor. Gawky jockeys chasing traceless impatience, LC!’s sharp, carping lyrics explode into wiry brain-knots, mating anxious drums and twitchy indie-rock to hopeful odes nursing regressed regrets, slicing open societal secrets through flag-waving saviors and pop-singing trail-blazers.

(2287) Page Views

Los Campesinos! online:
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Download Hello Sadness from Amazon
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Goldmund - All Will Prosper

Goldmund - All Will Prosper

Goldmund

Album title: All Will Prosper
Record Label: Western Vinyl

Sparse yet uplifting, soothing yet prickly, the raindrop rhythms Goldmund’s competing leads of pensive piano and poised acoustic guitar dance to music-box canters born from grandfather-clock logic.  Revived Civil War melodies give rise to surprisingly warm ambiance as, “Prosper,” polishes off hobbled foxtrots resonating faith, hope and charity, incremental instrumentals soldiering forward to poignant appointments, sun-kissed rivulets and untroubled comforts.

(2492) Page Views

Goldmund online:
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Download All Will Prosper from Amazon
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Blackout Beach - Fuck Death

Blackout Beach - Fuck Death

Blackout Beach

Album title: Fuck Death
Record Label: Dead Oceans

Cave-dwelling rebellions breath visceral visions from ghostly oceans, sociopathic passengers decipher slow-boiling coils of queasy frequencies, “Death,” catches digital crickets in yawning melancholy. Post-victory aftermaths reenact tawdry odysseys with desperate absolution, slithering in withering synths and eviscerated electronic evangelism. BB’s shackled tabernacle harvests karmic ghouls, harsh guitars, fading aid and wheezing pulses dissolving in transistorized sighs and grimy sine-wave mysteries.

(2441) Page Views

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Canyons - Keep Your Dreams

Canyons - Keep Your Dreams

Canyons

Album title: Keep Your Dreams
Record Label: Modular

Suave parties spark rubbery jungle constructions, strobe-lit vertigo splattering after-hours pow-wows, Canyon’s jet-set experiments indoctrinates simmering techno rampages via spooky rock-arena cool, lighting glossy proto-soul raves from cyber-forged heartbeats, posh pop-rock and braying sax. Raving mad house music labs streaming dark, creamy sequences, moody mosh-pit encryptions secreting elastic pre-programmed spasms, “Dreams,” redeems laser-beam nostalgia with ever-ready grooves and mind-altering tunes

(2137) Page Views

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Band of Bees - Every Step’s A Yes

Band of Bees - Every Step’s A Yes

Band of Bees

Album title: Every Step’s A Yes
Record Label: ATO

Deep-shag folk-pop and chameleonic conga lines meander through cosmic jukeboxes extolling unburdened bliss powered by boundless curiosity as, “Yes,” nets leisurely achievements for Britain’s drowsy dabblers. Speculating over cavernous psychedelic jug-bands and subtle Afro-Cuban dueling, The Bees’ poppy-field jamboree gracefully conjure a splendid blend of humble, hummable campfire head-trips subverted into tropical daydreams drizzled in unhesitating harmonies and fretful tenderness.

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Band of Bees online:
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Purchase Every Step’s A Yes on Amazon



Final Thoughts

Cold nights hold bright stars whether from the folk world represented by the fifty-year who’s who, “Live from the Old Town School,” or the electronic stratosphere where TRENTMOLLER’s, “Reworked/Remixed,” manipulates UNKLE, Modeselektor and Efterklang. From Neuromancer GARY NUMAN’s edgy, daring, “Dead Son Rising,” to techno-pop pioneer THOMAS DOLBY’s clue-riddled, star-studded panorama, “Map of the Floating City,” older stars blaze winter skies with sonic explorer KATE BUSH’s heavenly, “Fifty Words for Snow,” gracefully awakening sumptuous thrills and story-teller TORI AMOS’ Deutsche Grammophon debut, “The Night of Hunter.” engaging incredible chamber arrangements.