Having firmly established themselves as "The Grateful Dead of the South" via their enormously successful 1971 Live at the Fillmore East double album, the Allman Brothers had just begun work on a new studio collection when slide guitarist Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident. Undaunted, the group rallied together and completed Eat a Peach, which, via inclusion of the 34-minute-plus "Mountain Jam," blossomed into a double LP.
This album came close on the heels of their breakthrough At Fillmore East set and featured live tracks that did not make it on to that album, including boogie classic "One Way Out" and two entire album sides devoted to "Mountain Jam", a 33-minute improvisation based around Donovan's song "There is a Mountain".
Sorry's are for suckers. But I guess I was partially wrong. Should have known better than to trust Amazon as backup on anything. How dis I never get the two disc eat a peach, anyway? *Sigh*
I still stand by my original point which is that Tom Dowd is a genius of live in the studio, minimalist recording. Someone asked for a great album that's under produced. I still say Eat A Peach.
Sorry to hijack the President's Airplane. Carry one.
i still havent seen any reviews by any well know music mags, online or paper. i dont count stylus, b/c its obviously run by the monkeys in that career builder commercial.
i wonder if this album is going to slip through the cracks and not get noticed by the music journalist elites.
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
I'm mildly surprised Paste Magazine didn't cover the album in this month's issue. Hopefully they'll get to it next month. It would be awesome for Airplane/Primitive or Paper Birds to make it on the cd sampler.
though i'd like to be able to tell you i legitimately don't like this band, there are a number of things holding me back. the first is the instrumental part. some of what they have going is very good. it's tragically good, really, because by itself, the music is really quite something. the opening moments of "Even Rats" feature the same guitar that makes me like bands like Minus The Bear and becomes half of the appeal of The Whitest Boy Alive, while "Paper Birds" (though long) has a wonderful patchwork of elements, from the strumming guitar to touches of piano, a few keyboard/electronic instances (i assume), and a few really good bass lines. and every song has something redeeming. my favorite is "The Soft Machine Intro," clocking in at 2:20 in the dead middle of the album, a veritable jungle soundtrack that launches into a beautifully composed instrumental ditty. then "The Soft Machine" itself comes on, and i'm disappointed.
all of a sudden the real problem becomes clear. it's everything to do with human voices. the lyrics are halfway to hilarious but stop just short and wind up sounding a little like they used a team of fifth graders and a lot of weed. and i'm not just talking about "Children of December," either, which is just about the lamest idea for a song i've come across all year, making it at least laughable. i'm talking about all the tracks, where i can understand the lyrics too well for them to be so pointless. even if you're not one of those music listeners that needs to be halfway interested in what's being said, there's always how it's being sung, which for The Slip is just as much of a problem. all of the vocals smack of hardcore mediocrity, reminiscent of the other Goo Goo Dolls vocalist (you: "who?" me: "exactly") and last about as long as the third track before the eyes start to roll and you think, alright, were they serious about this gig or what? not to mention: it's a bad band name, the album title doesn't make sense, and it looks like they took a profile shot of a clay extra from Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and decided it would make good cover art.
t
his review will never wind up quoted on anyone's website and there will probably be a lot of dissenters, but good. because if you like The Slip, you like The Slip! and you keep on likin 'em, because if you go to see them live, chances are you'll see My Morning Jacket too (check their myspace for tour dates).
Just in case you lost track of The Slip shortly after the group released its last studio album, here’s a quick recap of what’s happened: In the past four years the Rhode Island-bred trio has toured with folk-poet Nathan Moore, suffered through George W. Bush’s second presidential coup, largely relocated from New England to Montreal, watched countless jamband message board dwellers age into indie-rock bloggers, and even reached its largest audience yet thanks to a spot on the PlayStation 2 smash hit Guitar Hero. Somewhere in there, the band also figured how to write a great song. The results of The Slip’s incredible transformation are documented on Eisenhower, its long- labored return to the studio and inaugural partnership with veteran producer Matthew Ellard.
Unquestionably the trio’s most fully realized studio work to date, Eisenhower finds The Slip, particularly guitarist Brad Barr, embracing its latent singer/songwriter talents, offering a series of carefully sculpted, bohemian folk-rock gems like the fuzzy masterpiece “Soft Machine.” Similarly, oddball ballads like “If One of Us Should Fall“ resonate with the emotional punch of The Shins’ finest pop, while single-length rockers like “Children of December” and the bouncy “Mothwing Bite” succeed, mostly because its tight structures provide The Slip’s musicianship with the context it’s always needed.The group also shows off its soft, sensitive side, especially on the somber yet strangely hopeful reflection “Life in Disguise.”
But,despite its growth,The Slip still sounds like,well, The Slip, mostly thanks to the quirky time signatures engrained in its collective skull through a few semesters at Berklee and more than a few years on the improv-rock circuit. The group’s avant-garde influences are still there, too, hidden in the crevices of the instrumental “First Panda in Space” and the weird, layered “Paper Birds.” And while he largely shies away from any direct political attacks, Barr can’t help slinging at least a little mud during “Even Rats” (“Maybe the men on Capitol Hill need a little less Jack and a little more Jill”).
Lyrically, Barr also humbly acknowledges his band’s growth. “It’s the day before the rest of my life,” he declares at the start of “Airplane/Primitive,” his words never echoing more truth a decade into The Slip’s career. The Slip’s time has finally arrived.
all of a sudden the real problem becomes clear. it's everything to do with human voices. the lyrics are halfway to hilarious but stop just short and wind up sounding a little like they used a team of fifth graders and a lot of weed. and i'm not just talking about "Children of December," either, which is just about the lamest idea for a song i've come across all year, making it at least laughable. i'm talking about all the tracks, where i can understand the lyrics too well for them to be so pointless. even if you're not one of those music listeners that needs to be halfway interested in what's being said, there's always how it's being sung, which for The Slip is just as much of a problem. all of the vocals smack of hardcore mediocrity, reminiscent of the other Goo Goo Dolls vocalist (you: "who?" me: "exactly") and last about as long as the third track before the eyes start to roll and you think, alright, were they serious about this gig or what? not to mention: it's a bad band name, the album title doesn't make sense, and it looks like they took a profile shot of a clay extra from Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and decided it would make good cover art.
t
his review will never wind up quoted on anyone's website and there will probably be a lot of dissenters, but good. because if you like The Slip, you like The Slip! and you keep on likin 'em, because if you go to see them live, chances are you'll see My Morning Jacket too (check their myspace for tour dates).
Just in case you lost track of The Slip shortly after the group released its last studio album, here’s a quick recap of what’s happened: In the past four years the Rhode Island-bred trio has toured with folk-poet Nathan Moore, suffered through George W. Bush’s second presidential coup, largely relocated from New England to Montreal, watched countless jamband message board dwellers age into indie-rock bloggers, and even reached its largest audience yet thanks to a spot on the PlayStation 2 smash hit Guitar Hero. Somewhere in there, the band also figured how to write a great song. The results of The Slip’s incredible transformation are documented on Eisenhower, its long- labored return to the studio and inaugural partnership with veteran producer Matthew Ellard.
Unquestionably the trio’s most fully realized studio work to date, Eisenhower finds The Slip, particularly guitarist Brad Barr, embracing its latent singer/songwriter talents, offering a series of carefully sculpted, bohemian folk-rock gems like the fuzzy masterpiece “Soft Machine.” Similarly, oddball ballads like “If One of Us Should Fall“ resonate with the emotional punch of The Shins’ finest pop, while single-length rockers like “Children of December” and the bouncy “Mothwing Bite” succeed, mostly because its tight structures provide The Slip’s musicianship with the context it’s always needed.The group also shows off its soft, sensitive side, especially on the somber yet strangely hopeful reflection “Life in Disguise.”
But,despite its growth,The Slip still sounds like,well, The Slip, mostly thanks to the quirky time signatures engrained in its collective skull through a few semesters at Berklee and more than a few years on the improv-rock circuit. The group’s avant-garde influences are still there, too, hidden in the crevices of the instrumental “First Panda in Space” and the weird, layered “Paper Birds.” And while he largely shies away from any direct political attacks, Barr can’t help slinging at least a little mud during “Even Rats” (“Maybe the men on Capitol Hill need a little less Jack and a little more Jill”).
Lyrically, Barr also humbly acknowledges his band’s growth. “It’s the day before the rest of my life,” he declares at the start of “Airplane/Primitive,” his words never echoing more truth a decade into The Slip’s career. The Slip’s time has finally arrived.
Lyrically, Barr also humbly acknowledges his band’s growth. “It’s the day before the rest of my life,” he declares at the start of “Airplane/Primitive,” his words never echoing more truth a decade into The Slip’s career. The Slip’s time has finally arrived.
technically, marc humbly acknowledges his bands growth
