Slipped Discs December 2016
Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd
Star Slinger
Initial Thoughts
Making our way to the end of another year, December albums mark each step with titles illustrating stages of development plotting platforms for progress. Whether mad mercurial R&B maestro STAR SLINGER’s, divine bump-and-grind designs for dreamy, glitch-enriched nouveau-soul in the encouraging, “We Could Be More,” or Hoops’ guitarist KEVIN KRAUTER’s lofty bossa-nova whispers among florid pastorals in the splendidly gentle, subtly wonderful, “Changes,” it’s turning into quite the defining assignment.
Disc Reviews
Eat the Apple - A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light
Eat the Apple
Album title: A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light
Record Label: self-release
A daring, darling musical revue featuring punk-goth operas topped in macabre cabaret arias barging into off-Broadway ballads, “Glimmer,” dazzles in rapid costume changes applied with stylized guile. Sprung from the collective consciousness of KT Niehoff and Ivory Gray-Smith, Eat The Apple’s soundtrack to their unpredictably original 2010 project is stunning fun-house philosophy sporting dark carnal happiness from smart melodramatic radicals.
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Eat the Apple online:
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• Download A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light from Amazon
Soviet Soviet - Endless
Soviet Soviet
Album title: Endless
Record Label: Felte
Frenzied cadenzas bend in hyper-kinetic descents, writhing in spiked Molotov pleads and driving serrated stampedes; Soviet Soviet’s sinister dissidence unhinges Pandora’s sordid wardrobe of contorted buzz-saw gauze laid over restless hornet’s nests. Pedal-box rock wrought with electro-shocked sonics, “Endless,” ties live-wire funeral-pyres mired in corrosive moments to warehouse samurai wearing razor-sharp armor tunneling under nervous tournaments with terse, furious focus.
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Soviet Soviet online:
• Website • Facebook
• Purchase Endless on Amazon
• Download Endless
Ash Borer - The Irrepassable Gate
Ash Borer
Album title: The Irrepassable Gate
Record Label: Profound Lore
Torn in scorn, slow-core roars and turgid fury, “Irrepassable,” snarls with devilish embellishments dredged from vicious contrition supporting virulent conspiracies. Pulverizing pile-drivers trapped in pyroclastic blasts lashed to growling undertows grown from breakneck rage and pitch-black malice, Ash Borer’s glorious torrent dredges force-fed pledges, gouging monstrous preponderance between muscular clusters crushing relentless eruptions and irrefutable grinds etched on anvil canvases.
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Ash Borer online:
• Website
• Purchase The Irrepassable Gate on Amazon
• Download The Irrepassable Gate
Jordan Burchel - Vowel Sounds
Jordan Burchel
Album title: Vowel Sounds
Record Label: self-release
An unmoored troubadour bobbing in pop-rock folklore, Burchel turns openly emotional stanzas into post-romantic mantras stashing breezy bittersweet reprieves inside waggish tragedies as jammy dynamics meander around soft-spoken poetry. Pining over hindsight’s tempting redemption while honing soul-seeking beacons with riff-lifted missiles, “Vowel,” powers searing sincerity, lobbing polished thoughts with profound lovesick deliverance covered in ragtag sadness and slowly burning yearning.
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Jordan Burchel online:
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I Like Trains - A Divorce Before Marriage
I Like Trains
Album title: A Divorce Before Marriage
Record Label: self-release
Zen chemists blending sage New Age into post-rock solace, I Like Trains’ passive magic courses through ambient moods in fog-bound grooves consuming buoyant clairvoyance from narcotic robotics. Like dawn breaking over rolling thunder, “Divorce,” aches in graceful cravings stretched over colossal, docile, trembling telemetries; translucent nuance generating and infiltrating cloudburst landscapes swimming in shimmering horizons while steadily treading deep waters.
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I Like Trains online:
• Website • Facebook • Wiki
• Purchase A Divorce Before Marriage on Amazon
• Download A Divorce Before Marriage
Maria Taylor - In the Next Life
Maria Taylor
Album title: In the Next Life
Record Label: Flower Moon Records
Home-grown odes doting over spiritual growth, bewitching submissions enlisting lazy persuasions for flirtatious equations, “Next,” connects relished recollections to fetching speculations circled by maternal murmurs and cool, coddling coos. Set against simple, sturdy pop ideas highlighting playful warmth and tender friendship, Taylor’s rich, welcoming voice nurtures beloved coupling with sultry, colorful lullabies; savory daisy-chain play-dates dipped in swampy honky-tonk stardust.
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Maria Taylor online:
• Website • Facebook • Wiki
• Purchase In the Next Life on Amazon
• Download In the Next Life
Final Thoughts
The year ends with a sense of uncertainty. Conveniently, December albums understand perfectly, from bobbysox retro-rockers REBEL KIND’s leather-jacketed trash-talk, “Just for Fools,” to arena-careening cyber-spirits TEAM GHOST’s robust synth-encrusted muscle, “Team Ghost,” While others might prefer iconic chamber-rock song-interpreter JOHN CALE’s reissued concert document, “Fragments of a Rainy Season,” some assure themselves with meta-twitchy whiz-kids TELEFON TEL AVIV’s chill robo-soul, “FahrenHeit Fair Enough.” Others still will gather around slick pivoting prog-choreographers ENEMIES’, electric pirouettes, “Valuables,” before diving into one-man band TIM CARR’s rustic comforts, “The Last Day of Fighting.”