Slipped Discs - August 2009
Discs you may have missed | by John Noyd
Danger! Danger! From WAR TAPE’s “Continental Divide,” to BROKEN RECORDS’, “Until the Earth Begins to Part,” worlds collide and crumble this hot and sticky season. From disco-princess ERIKA JAYNE’s dance-floor fluffer-nutter, “Pretty Mess,” to melodic-rockers THE UPWELLING’s powerhouse sing-alongs, “American Stranger,” evil threatens infection. Be advised to disconnect from the discontent, for beneath these doomsday titles lie summer magic - just another reason to let the music do the talking.
Mark Mallman
Invincible CriminalRecord Label: Badman Records
Review published: August 2009
Mixing pithy patter and smug double entendres into glam, rock arena fantasies, Mallman’s sleek, cheeky power-pop pandemonium razzes and dazzles through mock melodramas, splattered cabaret and bite-size epics. Subtlety and cynicism create edgy yet earnest innuendos as, Criminal,” unfurl snide asides inside catchy tunes, crafting masterful jabberwocky, designer taunts and stream-lined three shell games.
Reader Votes: 0
Baby Teeth
Hustle BeachRecord Label: Lujo Records
Review published: August 2009
A contagious array of classic rock, seventies garage and old school new wave makes, “Hustle,” fun, muscular good times. Energetic hooks, gung-ho vocals and lean, mean arrangements spiced with vintage synth sounds, BT’s blue collar fodder bounces and blasts, assailing the senses and revving memory’s motors in desperate elegance and no holds barred bravado.
Reader Votes: 2
Mindy Smith
Stupid LoveRecord Label: Vanguard Records
Review published: August 2009
Gossamer offerings melt Mindy’s sugar-glazed country into heart-felt velvet whose refreshingly romantic songs soar as they sympathize, gracefully vulnerable, casually intimate. Backed by angelic harmonies and doused in breathless wonder, “Stupid,” plays it smart balancing sumptuous comforts and cautious observations, emotionally invested with high returns and polished backing. Mindy plays Madison’s Majestic August 20th.
Reader Votes: 0
Portugal. The Man
The Satanic SatanistRecord Label: Equal Vision Records
Review published: August 2009
A tight unit twisted in exquisite knots, P.tM’s stomping, sunshine shamans bask in bombast, casting catharsis in irresistibly intricate webs and driving, fleet-footed dynamics. Deep-seated grooves slithering in funky rock evangelism, “Satanic,” builds sprawling, inspired psychedelia chiseled in soulful hope and supported by dervish skirmishes, spinning rhythms and breath-taking roller coaster approaches.
Reader Votes: 0
Timber Timbre
Timber TimbreRecord Label: Arts & Crafts Records
Review published: August 2009
Molding dustbowl folk, jailhouse gypsy and gallows soul into boney omens from murky imaginations, Timber Timbre’s laconic lyrics are infused with plodding honesty and surrounded by warbling Wurlitzers, plinking piano and lonesome violins. TT’s beautifully despondent delivery cooks mesmerizing melancholy and eerie, unerring graveyard elegies over slow-boiled beats cloaked in ghostly echoes.
Reader Votes: 0
Josh Mease
WildernessRecord Label: Frog Stand Records
Review published: August 2009
Electrified daydreams wrapped around soft-spoken thoughts, “Wilderness,” cozies up and captivates - surreal serenades in snappy packaging, simmering bedroom symphonies floating atop boppy Bacharach ballads. Vaguely hazy porch swing parables, gently whispered waltzes and placid rhapsodies inhabit Mease’s multi-tracking mind, steeped in sleepy choirs and graced with tasteful tangents, basking accents and intelligent design.
Reader Votes: 0
The Fiery Furnaces
I’m Going AwayRecord Label: Thrill Jockey Records
Review published: August 2009
Less erratic, but no less didactic, alt-pop innovators FF jitterbug scat within cantilevered cacophony on the friendly but fidgety, “Going.” As the unsurpassed iconoclasts challenge and unravel, entire songs go unfractured, bubbling avalanches among crunchy bundles of cool - lurching circuses from the sibling’s bebop locomotion, engaged in play inside inspired jazz eruptions.
Reader Votes: 0
Final Thoughts
Fight the futility on several fronts. Help the world with the benefit album “Global Linga,” from PROJECT AHIMSA a fusion of rap, world beats and children promoting hope and world-wide education. Help yourself with life-affirming frequencies courtesy Afro-pop master CHIECK HAMALA DIABATE’s, “Take it Slow (Ake Doni Doni).” Then, reach out to one another and enjoy folk-poet CATIE CURTIS’ “Hello, Stranger,” or pop-rock archivist BRENDAN BENSON’s, “My Old, Familiar Friends.”
