Slipped Discs June 2018
Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd
Gruff Rhys
Initial Thoughts
Sorting through the mire, it’s hard to see what’s what. From brilliant brooding mood-producer LEON VYNEHALL’s gorgeous amorphous stereo scenarios, “Nothing Is Still,” to indie-pop philosopher NIK FREITAS’ epic recollections, “Day & Dark,” obtuse ambiguity consumes June. Run amok around wry, chamber-rock pop-star GRUFF RHYS’ monumental, “Babelsberg,” while unraveling synth-funky satellites MAPS AND ATLASES blue-eyed cyber-soul, “Lightlessness is Not New.” and intriguing bohemian STUART A. STAPLES’, enigmatic jazz-folk experiments, “Arrhythmia.”
Disc Reviews
Kevin Krauter - Toss Up
Kevin Krauter
Album title: Toss Up
Record Label: Bayonet Records
Soft-spoken odes to eternal summer loves spun from jazzy shadow-dancing fantasies, Krauter allows sophistication to seep into his sun-soaked sweetness, pastel-colored questions leaking into seamless allegiances glide beside subdued poolside ruminations and glazed seventies radiance. Unburdened journeys tackle personal concerns with untapped passion catapulting, “Toss,” into radio-ready romance delivered in serene heart-shaped daydreams, dizzy gee-whiz sympathies and waltzing wind-tossed confidence.
(1166) Page Views
Kevin Krauter online:
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Here Lies Man - You Will Know Nothing
Here Lies Man
Album title: You Will Know Nothing
Record Label: RidingEasy Records
Chugging jungle thunder plants head-banging chants among high-strung drum-lines weighing, “Nothing,” with festival heaviness whose rich rhythms spin rattle-snake earthquakes and ravenous Saturday Afrobeat raves. A thick stomp-rock stew cooked in psychedelic underbellies, Here Lies Man construct riff-rich rituals around bluesy boogies and heavy-metal head-butts, combining power, grit and agility to scoop hallucinogenic get-downs from tribe-inspired parties celebrating iron-clad madness.
(1051) Page Views
Here Lies Man online:
• Website • Facebook
• Purchase You Will Know Nothing on Amazon
• Download You Will Know Nothing
Lump - Lump
Lump
Album title: Lump
Record Label: Dead Oceans
Tentative, sensitive, LUMP packs stark, art-rock taunts into seductive sci-fi sighs for a sumptuous future-pop playground where polished polyphonic concoctions peppered in fretless solos and brittle twists unfold untold synth-folk soul. Soaring in floral choruses and flirtatious hepcat verse, Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay’s imaginative self-titled collaboration delights with perfectly surreal zeal; poltergeist flights rearranging strange mazes inside fiendish machines.
(1099) Page Views
Lump online:
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The Milk Carton Kids - All The Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn’t Do
The Milk Carton Kids
Album title: All The Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn’t Do
Record Label: Anti-
Blessed in delicate finesse and flinty wisdom, the warm, meticulous, “Things,” swings in crisp singing and stinging pickin’ depicting modern Americana harboring tested faith among battered hopes. Melancholy follies find kind hindsight inside late-night cantinas and boomtown hotel lounges. Recorded with a full band, the crooning duo gently elevate embattled ballads embroidered in subtle Tex-Mex twang and cozy home-fire harmonies.
(1097) Page Views
The Milk Carton Kids online:
• Website • Facebook • Wiki
• Download All The Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn’t Do from Amazon
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Jim James - Uniform Distortion
Jim James
Album title: Uniform Distortion
Record Label: ATO Records
Earthy, spirited rock unrolls in raw six-string howls and scruffy, fuzz-plucked hallelujahs as a reinvigorated James wrangles dreamy behemoths in bemused grooves and family jams. Blown-fuse crunch munching on double-dipped echo, bull-rushed percussion and swampy bass, “Uniform,” joyfully storms in well-informed blues-soul bliss with optimistic visions anchored in level-headed enlightenment, a bangin’ banquet flanked by grateful anguish and militant commitment.
(1100) Page Views
Jim James online:
• Website • Facebook • Wiki
• Download Uniform Distortion from Amazon
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Sleepy Zuhoski - Better Haze
Sleepy Zuhoski
Album title: Better Haze
Record Label: Palo Santo Records
Lonesome hobo folk-pop dressed in platonic wanderlust, “Haze,” shape-shifts between dark, bewitching invitations and get-along songs rustling catchy chameleon appetites hungry for bendable intentions. Crafted narratives navigating haphazard happiness, Zuhoski waxes and wonders in carousel melodies voicing hypnotic thoughts following far-flung orbits; woozy acoustics perusing loose upbeat truths while road-tested electrics send tender regards from sparkling guitars and serpentine keyboards.
(1248) Page Views
Sleepy Zuhoski online:
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Final Thoughts
Too much? Simplify. Reducing confusion, choose mesmerizing song-writer JULIANA DAUGHTERY’s pure, nourishing, “Light,” folk-rock revolutionaries RIVER WHYLESS’ pro-active compassion, “Kindness, A Rebel,” or elaborate mastermind MELODY’S ECHO CHAMBER’s space-paisley cabaret, “Bon Voyage.” Pinpoint problems with slick minimalists IMMERSION’s nanobot-rock ambiance, “Sleepless.” or fierce rouge-rockers DOTT’s girl-group reboot, “Heart Swell.” Minimize what you visualize in precious baroque-folk messengers THE INNOCENCE MISSION’s enchanting, “Sun on The Square,” alt-pop songstress TANCRED’s edgy pleasures, “Nightstand,” or musical fusionist ARP’s analogue-stocked, “Zebra,” Finally, cut to the chase in courageous rock-troubadour RICHARD EDWARD’s incisive reprisals, “Verdugo.”