{"id":434,"date":"2016-04-15T03:06:34","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T07:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/?p=434"},"modified":"2016-11-09T05:24:50","modified_gmt":"2016-11-09T10:24:50","slug":"new-release-roundup-4152016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/2016\/04\/15\/new-release-roundup-4152016\/","title":{"rendered":"New Release Roundup: Sturgill Simpson, Touched By Ghoul"},"content":{"rendered":"

MUSIC <\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Sturgill Simpson<\/a> A Sailor\u2019s Guide to Earth<\/em>
\nThis is the big one for me today. Simpson\u2019s last two albums were full of classic-sounding country tunes that drew frequent but apt comparisons to Waylon Jennings. His last album, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music<\/em>, earned him \u201cnext big thing\u201d status with a lot of journalists and critics. So on Earth, Simpson blows everything up and sees how it might fit back together. <\/p>\n

Earth expands Simpson\u2019s sound in a big way. That\u2019s clear within the first few second of \u201cWelcome To Earth (Pollywog),\u201d which sounds like a transition from Pink Floyd\u2019s The Wall. Then the delicate piano comes in, followed by the strings. Intrigued? Wait \u2018til you get to 2:44 when Simpson snaps into booty-shaking full-on soul, that electric piano spiking just a bit into the reds. \u201cKeep It Between the Lines\u201d is some hard country funk with big rock guitar solos. And we haven\u2019t even gotten to his twang and trip cover of Nirvana\u2019s \u201cIn Bloom\u201d yet. \u201cBrace For Impact (Live A Little)\u201d has got a bit of \u201cYoung Lust\u201d in it, but wherever Simpson roams here, he doesn\u2019t stay too long in one place. It\u2019s a bit dizzying. This is an album I\u2019m going to want to listen to on \u201crepeat\u201d to catch everything. And that might take a while. <\/p>\n

Second Impression 4\/16:<\/strong> This is a mic drop of an album. I got my physical copy of and spent a day driving around listening to it on repeat so it could hit me with no distractions. And hit me it did. The album is relentless. \u201cWelcome To Earth (Pollywog)\u201d serves as an overture, and the rest of the album is one longer piece. Simpson doesn\u2019t take the traditional pause between tracks. Some blend seamlessly, some have some interstitial sound effects or interludes, or there is a near unnoticeable space. The two main modes \u2013 achingly delicate and horns with the hammer down \u2013 are both contained on the opening track and then toggled for the rest of the album. Sometimes it\u2019s song to song, like \u201cBreakers Roar\u201d to \u201cKeep It Between the Lines,\u201d and sometimes it within one song again, like Nirvana\u2019s \u201cIn Bloom,\u201d which sets at the center of the album and recalibrates it. It will be interesting to see if he keeps the song sequence the same when he plays this material live. How this album rises and falls is a thing of beauty to be studied. It reflects on the lyrical content well, too. The theme is either growing up or just going into the world as an innocent and trying to navigate right from wrong, devotion to others versus satisfying your ego, and just what works versus what\u2019s useless. And it ends with \u201cCall To Arms,\u201d with Simpson singing \u201cBullshit on my TV\/Bullshit on my radio\/Hollywood telling me how to be\/That bullshit has to go.\u201d It\u2019s ornery, profane, and celebratory. And there\u2019s a buildup there toward the end where the band forms a vortex around the rhythm sections and threatens to spin completely out of control before it coalesces into one glorious sprint to the finish. If you have blood in your veins, this album is for you. <\/p>\n