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Eisenhower

 
Album Review: Eisenhower

  • Artist: The Slip
  • Rating: StarStarStar
  • Release Date: November 07, 2006
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Jam band the Slip chose their 2006 release Eisenhower to show that they're capable of stepping outside the boundaries of hippie-hash college music, and maybe they shouldn't have. The disc shows the band cunningly embracing alt pop conventions almost completely one moment, and becoming lost in a quagmire of their own wanderings the next. A few tracks, like "Even Rats," leave the Slip's roots behind altogether and embrace an indie rock sound almost completely -- and with great success. A handful of others plod headlong into the group's jamming past, like the eight-minute opus "Paper Birds," a rambling monument of improvisation with barely a discernible refrain. Most of the songs on the album are built on a musical idea of melding these two genres. The group does not always achieve this hybridization very gracefully, as on "Suffocation Keep," where a perfectly nice, spacy ballad gets stretched into mopey, sad-bastard music. The formula works on the majority of the songs, however, where the jamming style brings something distinctly nonlinear to the traditional pop song format, creating something delightfully unconventional and unique. The tone of these tracks avoids silliness or kitsch -- even when singer Brad Barr careens into flying falsetto -- but it never really feels serious or self-important, either. This brand of laid-back, often danceable rock holds steady at a level of emotion that never steps within ten feet of emo; the music's expressiveness, though far from cold, lies in an intimate and cerebral space rather than a cathartic one. This sound shares a stage with everybody from Phoenix and Under the Influence of Giants to Coldplay and My Bloody Valentine. The Slip's experiment in absorbing these poppy influences is basically a success, at best providing a pensive, emotive soundtrack to a quiet day and at worst, making you want to listen to Phoenix or Coldplay. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Children of December The Slip The Slip (4:49)
Even Rats The Slip The Slip (5:33)
If One of Us Should Fall The Slip The Slip (5:26)
Airplane/Primitive The Slip, Nathan Moore The Slip (6:55)
Suffocation Keep The Slip The Slip (5:21)
First Panda in Space The Slip The Slip (2:20)
The Soft Machine The Slip The Slip (4:21)
Life in Disguise The Slip The Slip (3:45)
Mothwing Bite The Slip The Slip (3:29)
The Original Blue Air The Slip The Slip (2:24)
Paper Birds The Slip The Slip (8:19)

Credits

Andy VanDette (Mastering), John Frattalone (Management), Brad Barr (Group Member), Isaac Taylor (Vocals), Gabri Athayde (Cello), Chris Seligman (French Horn), Drew Malamud (Mixing), The Slip (Producer), Nellie Fleischner (Vocals), Mister Thecake (Design), Mister Thecake (Layout Design), Matthew Ellard (Mixing), Marc Friedman (Group Member), Matt Tahaney (Assistant), Kristen Smith (Assistant), Andrew Barr (Group Member), Matthew Ellard (Engineer), Drew Malamud (Engineer), Rosie Kirincic (Vocals), Perry Serpa (Publicity), Matthew Ellard (Producer), Grayson Farmer (Flugelhorn)
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Wikipedia: Eisenhower (album)
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Eisenhower
Studio album by The Slip
Released November 7, 2006
Genre Indie rock, jazz fusion
Label Bar/None
Producer Matthew Ellard
Professional reviews
The Slip chronology
Live at Lupo's 6/12/04
(2005)
Eisenhower
(2006)

Eisenhower is the fourth studio album and eighth album overall by American indie rock band The Slip. It was released November 7, 2006 on Bar/None Records. It was produced by The Slip and Matthew Ellard (who has also produced for Elliott Smith and Billy Bragg and Wilco) and engineered by Drew Malamud (Stars, Metric).

The album represents a departure for the Boston band, going from their previous jazz-fused to sound to a more streamlined, indie rock sound. It features contributions from Japanese singer Ua, and Chris Seligman from the Canadian indie band Stars.

The song "Even Rats" was featured in the PlayStation 2 video game Guitar Hero. Live versions of "Children of December" and "If One of Us Should Fall" were previously released on Live at Lupo's 6/12/04, and another live version of the latter was on Alivelectric.

Contents

Track listing

  1. "Children of December" – 4:49
  2. "Even Rats" – 5:33
  3. "If One of Us Should Fall" – 5:26
  4. "Airplane/Primitive" – 6:55
  5. "Suffocation Keep" – 5:21
  6. "First Panda in Space" – 2:20
  7. "The Soft Machine" – 4:21
  8. "Life in Disguise" – 3:45
  9. "Mothwing Bite" – 3:29
  10. "The Original Blue Air" – 2:24
  11. "Paper Birds" – 8:19

Japanese bonus tracks

  1. "Airplane/Primitive (feat. UA)"
  2. "Airplane/Primitive (feat. UA)" *Radio Edit
  3. "Lonely Boy"

Credits

The Slip

  • Andrew Barr – drums
  • Brad Barr – vocals, guitar
  • Marc Friedman – bass

Additional musicians

  • Gabri Athayde – cello
  • Grayson Farmer – flugelhorn
  • Nellie Fleischner – vocals
  • Rosie Kirincic – vocals
  • Chris Seligman – French horn
  • Isaac Taylor – vocals

Technical personnel

  • Matthew Ellard – producer, engineer, mixing
  • John Frattalone – management
  • Drew Malamud – engineer, mixing
  • Mister Thecake – design, layout design
  • Perry Serpa – publicity
  • The Slip – producers
  • Kristen Smith – assistant
  • Matt Tahaney – assistant
  • Andy VanDette – mastering

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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