If you haven’t seen The Slip this year, you can more or less eliminate the “cool jazz trio from Boston” stigma. With a serious progression in both songwriting and instrumental development, their exploration of mood and cinematic tones is pushing that preconceived notion of The Slip sound to new levels. And I don’t mean, exploratory jam yadda-yadda-yadda bullshit either, but rather a true exploration of a full soundscape, leaving the confines of jazz to the underbelly and maturing into a solid force sure to make a real mark in 2004.
Moving into a heavier atmosphere that utilizes their more conceptual talents, The Slip is growing from earthy, avant-gardes to strong, contemporary-rock composers. So to celebrate the past year, and the launch of their own label, two.one.six records, they’ve released live companion albums, one electric, one acoustic. The latter is a simple, voyeuristic look at the band on a rainy night in the Berkshires. It’s cozy, relaxed, warm enough to make you feel like ordering a drink from the waitress when she collects the empty glasses from your table. The electric disc on the other hand is nothing short of a definitive statement. A seventy-five minute colossal journey through some of the most exclamatory points they’ve reached at eclectic venues all over the country.
With a pulling resonance, and an array of effects, Alivelectric opens with “The Earth Will Dissever and Consume You After These Messages.” Hitting upon more power trio environments than those familiar jazz lines, they carefully walk a meandering path of echoes and steady rolling beats. “Headshot,” a patient tension builder you could cut with a knife, holds captive until the inevitable explosion arrives in the form of “Mr. Meowskers.” Aside from being a strong centerpiece of the album, “Mr. Meowskers” is the epitome of where The Slip is headed. A melodic dream, it curls around in seemingly innocent waifs before strangling with waves of crashes and lulls. Hovering around the forty-minute mark, Brad Barr’s vocals finally come into play on “If One Of Us Should Fall.” A dramatic piece, with indie-film thematics, it’s a demonstration of their new liberation in songwriting. Barr’s unfinished voice is full of character and humble confidence, providing that most essential element found in today’s more elite rock bands.
It’s partner,
Aliveacoustic, is a rustic, audio-documentary of an intimate evening in the mountains of Western Massachusetts. Using a mix of instruments ranging from banjo to kazoo, it’s a sneak peak at the band not often seen. “74” and the humorous “Hunny” are comforting selections, while “Through The Iron Gate” and the island rhythms of “Torque” round out the night. More than a bonus disc,
Aliveacoustic is fully able to stand on it’s own, evident in the strikingly different take of “Song.” Making it’s presence on both albums, the band’s polar-takes are concrete evidence of their impeccable clarity and resounding creativity.
Starting your own label is a daunting task, but we can only hope the lack of compromise it ultimately provides will have the band pushing those Slip boundaries even further when they step inside the confines of a studio.
