Slipped Discs July 2016
Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd
Message to Bears
Initial Thoughts
July albums keep things moving. Giving chase to dynamic campaigns, tender-hearted sound-sculptor MESSAGE TO BEARS’ narco-electronic courtship, “Carved from Tides,” surfs cinematic paradises penning endless promises while levitating Leviathan BEN CHATWIN’s restless escalations mine discerning synth-rinsed inertia with the monumental, “Heat and Entropy.” Catch up to runaway barn-burners THE PARANOID STYLE’s rockin’ Off-Broadway burlesque, “Rolling Disclosure,” before Casanova troubadour MATT BROWN’s brass-saddled honky-tonk country-pop, “Walk into the Light,” slips away.
Disc Reviews
Emily Jane White - They Moved in Shadows Altogether
Emily Jane White
Album title: They Moved in Shadows Altogether
Record Label: Tailtres
Spawning somber fawning, “Altogether,” valiantly endeavors to rally strong, white-cap ballads around soothing acoustic harbors; nebulous impressions enveloping noble chamber-folk processions in royal chorale incandescence. Eerie calm and saintly patience paints regally conceived harmonies dispatching swollen ghost proposals as White’s polite wind-swept footsteps lead discrete pleads to stately Celtic receptions; delicate pirouettes slow-dancing to fairy-dusted percussion muffled in lush constructions.
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Emily Jane White online:
• Website • Facebook • Wiki
• Download They Moved in Shadows Altogether from Amazon
• Purchase They Moved in Shadows Altogether on Amazon
Bright Light Bright Light - Choreography
Bright Light Bright Light
Album title: Choreography
Record Label: MRI
Graceful and tasteful, BLx2’s unbridled pizzazz packs ravenous flash into immaculate panache for irresistible show-biz glitz sizzling in stacked brass, sizeable choirs and imploring power-pop choruses. A gallant, star-studded extravaganza balancing pretty intimacy against rumbling hungers, “Choreography,” suggests obsessive connections through fatal attractions and hopeful devotions pitching passionate ballroom blitzes gripped in polished dollops following ravenous riffs circling heart-throbbing bliss.
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Bright Light Bright Light online:
• Website • Facebook • Wiki
• Download Choreography from Amazon
• Purchase Choreography on Amazon
Soldier's Heart - Night By Night
Soldier's Heart
Album title: Night By Night
Record Label: self-release
Nocturnal journals inscribed by swirling electro-pop dervishes, “Night,” ignites kittenish whispers into kinky air-brushed struts cut from fitful glitches, slick precision rhythms and souped-up loops. Playing it cool and staying in control, Belgium’s sweltering Soldier’s Heart entices curious tourists with beat-driven sins skimming heavenly confessions, luring demure cures from slinky midnight binges while extracting sensual unmentionables from stainless dance-friendly arrangements.
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Soldier's Heart online:
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Heliotropes - Over There That Way
Heliotropes
Album title: Over There That Way
Record Label: The End Records
Girl-group gloom meets indie-rock pillow-talk via collegiate beach-party harlots sparking surf-twang bangers for disconnected intellects; Heliotropes’ co-ed dread spreads weighty vagueness over bittersweet ennui as suspicious kisses swollen in swan-song bygones swallow existential squalor. Born from cross-hair glares floundering in pale beauty, “Over,” smolders with melancholy melodies wrung from deep, dark jangle then dipped in misfit grit and romantic pandering.
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Heliotropes online:
• Website • Facebook • Wiki
• Download Over There That Way from Amazon
• Purchase Over There That Way on Amazon
Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve - The Soft Bounce
Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve
Album title: The Soft Bounce
Record Label: Phantasy
Coiled embroidered matrixes constructed from phlanged patchouli-fueled fantasies sandwiched among acid-blasted detours and paisley-flavored jams, “Bounce,” renounces earth-bound reality, pitching cross-stitched instruments zipped in ultra-hip lysergic grooviness. Eclectic adventurers launching jet-propelled mind-trips around starry collages, BTWS’ enlightened titans stir paranormal storms formed around surreal feelings as celestial sirens call out in day-glo mojo to cosmic sailors lost in scorched rainbow-rock.
(1679) Page Views
Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve online:
• Website • Facebook • Wiki
• Download The Soft Bounce from Amazon
• Purchase The Soft Bounce on Amazon
Roisin Murphy - Take Her Up to Monto
Roisin Murphy
Album title: Take Her Up to Monto
Record Label: Play It Again Sam
A sultry strategist, eclectic art-pop architect and scene-stealing chameleon, the idiosyncratic Murphy relishes subverting precious messages inside sweeping suites; a fluid studio guru arming smarmy sambas, callous ballads and glamorous exams with happy little daggers and double-sided wit. A suave, calculating alchemy splashed in masterful sass and stunning cunning, “Monto,” delivers a soft, provocative hodgepodge that pleases, seizes and teases.
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Roisin Murphy online:
• Website • Facebook • Wiki
• Download Take Her Up to Monto from Amazon
• Purchase Take Her Up to Monto on Amazon
Final Thoughts
Several July albums commemorate the temporary. From visionary Brit-pop revisionists METRONOMY’s bell-bottom boogie in the nostalgia-riddled get-down, “Summer 08,” to ambient-jazz abstractionists TANGENTS’ effervescent experiments cooking electric mini-rhythmic selections in the softly hypnotic sonic broth, “Stateless,” rapid passages and fleeting meetings are par for the course. Whether grabbing snappy modern-pop songwriters FIALTA’s catchy and perceptive, “Shadow of a Drought,” pursuing garage-soul Romeos THE BIG BEND’s renegade serenade, “Celebrate.” or absorbing tropical beatniks IJI’s psychebopular double-talk pivoting and swiveling in zesty seaside jests etched in, “Bubble,” all we have is now.