Slipped Discs June 2010
Discs you may have missed | by John Noyd
Heralding the feast of summer festivals; June’s musical sustenance stirs up digestive titles whose flavorful menus are certain to nourish the soul. From bold, chamber-folk negotiations in TYPHOON’s deeply moving, “Hunger and Thirst,” to imaginative guitar-wizard STEVE HACKETT’s phantasmagorical, “Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth,” early summer simmers with delectable selections, including indie-pop collective HERE WE GO MAGIC’s melodically scrumptious, “Pigeons,” and post-punk appreciators FRIENDO’s lo-fi cornucopia, “Cold Toads.” Bon appétit.
Tobacco
Maniac MeatRecord Label: Anticon
Review published: June 2010
Bots gone amok in tilt-a-whirl curls and crunchy bungee-jumping plunges, Tobacco’s bionic bubblegum conundrums makes unrestrained graininess and over-modulated mayhem rock and rumble, hiss and fizzle. Molten sunshine pours over bristling synth-grunge dance-pop, sinister vintage plays abrasive cabaret, stomping out beefy, belching bass as, “Meat” grills electro-static sludge; brash pneumatic habits punctuating eerie, super-saturated riffs.
Reader Votes: 0
Mathew Sawyer and the Ghosts
How Snakes EatRecord Label: Fire Records
Review published: June 2010
Slightly skewed views delivered in gentlemanly eloquence, “Snakes,” charms sweet hayseed hallucinations from classically daft English pandemonium. Civilized seaside psychedelia, Sawyer and friends conjure toddling obsolescence and creaky vaudeville civility beneath surreal jaunts and subtly pastoral poppycock, slyly embellishing miniature moon-struck show tunes, art-house ironies and breezy, parlor mysteries.
Reader Votes: 3
Quitzow
Juice WaterRecord Label: Young Love Records
Review published: June 2010
A sassy blast cushioned in glossy hopscotch and electro-pop pep rallies, “Juice,” moves and grooves, mixing unflinching studio gizmos, catchy caffeinated effervescence and socio-pathic party-girl pronouncements for a rad platter of fresh, funky fun. Daring, digital dalliances romp through slap-happy vamps as East Coast upstart Quitzow trips happily past punk-diva poseurs into post-millennial sentiments.
Reader Votes: 0
Unbunny
Moon FoodRecord Label: Hidden Agenda
Review published: June 2010
Tangled twang and open-hearted ardor fuel songs of mythic biography as Unbunny’s uncanny ability to encapsulate uncertain times turn slacker happiness and gypsy encrypted majesty into ragged sagas anchored to penetrating perspectives. Mired in barbed-wire honesty, sweeping sleepy weepers and passive pilgrim passions, “Moon,” eclipses with soul-baring whispers, solitary thoughts and rousing gun-runner-rock blisters.
Reader Votes: 0
The Glitch Mob
Drink the SeaRecord Label: Glass Air
Review published: June 2010
Scorching, satin cybernetics unfold steam-cleaned dreams and menacing denizens, vaporized sighs and translucent movements swim in thick blips and coarse chords rocking around fashionably agitated, polychromatic boogie. “Sea” swirls around wordless subterfuge and programmed stamina, slithering between stun-gun lunges and chrome-plated thunder; sanctimonious moments colored in killer curves and choreographed flashes. The Glitch Mob perform their razor-sharp magic August 21st at Madison’s Majestic Theater and August 22nd at Milwaukee’s Turner Hall.
Reader Votes: 0
The Wailing Wall
Low Hanging FruitRecord Label: JDub Records
Review published: June 2010
Bonfire ballads lit with chivalrous rhymes, TWW’s well-plucked couplets blossom into raga-flavored frolicking while fiery folk-rock waltzes rise from modest woodland musings. Shy asides and grand finales merrily massaged, “Fruit,” touches bare-bone beliefs through studio hobbit mischief, reflective convictions wholesomely arranged in swollen brass and wheezing concertinas, spritely poems from nature’s pulpit.
Reader Votes: 1
Final Thoughts
Besides welcoming back long-absent artists SARA MCLACHLAN, THE STEVE MILLER BAND, DANZIG and TEENAGE FANCLUB, June swoons with unsettled feelings. From multi-cultural funkateers KARTICK & GOTAM’s cosmopolitan fusion of ambient contraband, “Business Class Refugee,” to honky-tonk pop-rockers PERNICE BROTHERS’ cooing venom-urgent romance combo in the smart, “Goodbye Killers,” while the savagely savvy MELVINS’ slice of corrugated cacophony, “The Bride Screamed Murder,” gets aired at Madison’s High Noon Saloon June 26th.
