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Slipped Discs September 2011
Discs you may have missed | by John Noyd
Feelings run deep as September grapples with baser human desires. Embrace cultural clash tragedies from chamber-jazz magicians JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY’s rag-time hymns and atmospheric depictions of 1920’s Tulsa history, “Race Riot Suite,” and first-person folk-poet LAURA MARLING’s florid, imploring and utterly absorbing,” The Creature I Don’t Know.” Add crackerjack six-string rambler GLENN JONES’ runaway acoustic musings inside, “The Wanting,” and post-punk wunderkind SUPERCHUNK’s effusive conclusions and fuzz-drenched moments in the reissued classic, ”Foolish,” and music becomes your emotional rescue.
Slipped Discs appears every month in print in Maximum Ink music magazine, this months reviews are:
Geoffrey O'Connor
Vanity is ForeverRecord Label:
Chapter MusicReview published: August 2011
Crayon Fields singer’s plastic nostalgia buoys stately sustains and ominous bass, concocting frosty melancholy tossed over sophisticated chords and clinical beats for eighties soul-searching encased in faced facts, romantic traps and lapsed compacts. “Vanity,” uncannily channels overheated libidos by playing it cool; mod Aussie shoe-gaze smothered in shiny sounds and tragically poignant perceptions. O’Connor plays Chicago’s Lincoln Hall October 3rd
Nikki Lane
Walk of ShameRecord Label:
IAMSOUNDReview published: August 2011
Hard-hitting honky-tonk harnesses faraway wails and unflinching farewells, coasting home in tear-soaked commotion, timeless codependent tension burning bright beneath a sea of twang and reverb. “Shame,” tames coyote kiss-offs, hopping from swinging barroom bop to stoic alt-country romps. Nikki’s concrete cow-punk pairs sassy Southern gumption alongside I told you so odes, tipping a ten-gallon to reckless youth and restless penance.
Luke Temple
Don’t Act Like You Don’t CareRecord Label:
Western VinylReview published: August 2011
Folksy consoling grooves caressed in essential sentiments, the Here We Go Magic mastermind turns gurgling turmoil into upbeat Talmudic jamborees. Nestling old-fashioned passions, “Don’t Act,” frames love-pangs against organic harmonics and honest optimism, bending tender amends into lively unguarded pardons through layered nuance. Wavering between humble and grand, Temple’s intimate minimalism, scores fleeting, deeply textured tunes from faint, dainty serenades. Luke plays Chicago’s Lincoln Hall October 18th with CANT.
The Kooks
Junk of the HeartRecord Label:
AstralwerksReview published: August 2011
Effortless Britpop perfection transforms trusted structures into sweet, savvy, alchemical delights, Two years in the making, “Junk,” mines bouncy countenance through space-age minstrels extolling earth-bound ballads. Hugging the beat around propulsive hooks soaring in choruses and immersed in flirty verse, The Kooks’ nicked riffs and sizzling sonic comments mix flippant misfits within sumptuous salads producing tuneful larks beside feather-weight heartache
Host Skull
Totally FatalisticRecord Label:
AntephonicReview published: August 2011
Collaborating multi-instrumentalists concoct bristling hybrids plucked from tasty alt-pop influences. Thoughtful interlocking improvisations underline frolicking prog-pop playfulness haunted by jazzy contractions and mathematical happiness, “Fatalistic,” yields exquisite eloquence from its sunny blues and clever new wave strategies employing artful brass and woodwinds. Flipping from spastic to placid, HS’s skewed cool fuels back-lit mischief through cinematic poise and charming chromatic acrobatics..
St. Vincent
Strange MercyRecord Label:
4ADReview published: August 2011
Cool, ghoulish guitars unraveling ripped runs from walloping chops and funky grunts against vivid synths and livid delivery, “Mercy,” serves gilded memories over liberated librettos packing punches inside tweaked dreams covered in pleasing pandemonium. St. Vincent’s discerning yearnings burst in sharp turns and wide-eyed surprises, melodramatic maneuvers proving irresistible crucibles for smoldering treasures. Catch her conquering Milwaukee’s Pabst October 3rd
Final Thoughts
Beyond the self, September offers the world. From bilingual Brazilians CSS’s smarmy pitch between rave-rock kitsch and grooving anarchist’s politics, “La Libracion,” to Outback bushwhackers WAGONS’ round- up of American Country-blues and electric roots-rock topped with sly irony, “Rumble Shake and Tumble.” Multi-racial mojo runs through cosmopolitan colonialist GRACE JONES’s brilliant beat-pop, art-ska, “Hurricane,” while Finland’s FRIGG debuts, “Grannen” at Madison’s World Music Festival Sept 15th trading songs of limitless hypnosis between charging pre-battle jigs. Finally, French-Canadian alt-rockers MALAJUBE bring their shadow-searching “La Caverne” to Madison’s High Noon Oct 2nd
09/21/11 >> go there
