Over the course of three albums and nearly 10 years, the Slip has been in
search of a musical language. Like tourists in a foreign country unfamiliar
with the local tongue, the band has been trying to decipher the lingo of a
place they've never been to before. Avid travelers, they're trying to find the
most scenic route around a destination they've not previously explored. Each
time they set out to make a record or impress an audience, they look for a new
destination, a place where they and their listeners have never been. On their
new album, Angels Come On Time, due out July 9, the Slip has at last
found the key to effective communication.
"We're in a place now that we're really happy with," says band percussionist
Andrew Barr, one of three Slipsters along with his guitarist brother Brad and
bassist Marc Friedman. "We won't necessarily stay where we've landed for very
long, but we're pretty happy to be here."
That place truly isn't on many maps. It's a Bermuda Triangle sort of location
that's as hard to locate as a firefly at sundown. Often, it floats in a sort of
musical ether wafting between jazz and jam. Occasionally, it'll touch on
hillbilly pop, or find a groove that resembles the Grateful Dead or Dead
acolytes Phish. Yet again, it might recall Weather Report or the Dregs. When it
winds down quietly it has the acoustic ache of Nick Drake. In the band's cover
letter, they admit that trying to describe their music is "a harrowing
experience. It is folk music, in that it could appeal to any folks who have
lived the life of love and sorrow. It is roots music, in that it draws from
traditional music and organic instruments. We practice, we meditate, we laugh .
. . we play a show and drive into the night."
The great thing about the Slip and Angels Come On Time, their first for
the Rykodisc label, is that you never know where that drive through the night
will end up. "My mother told us when she heard the album that she was happy
there was more release in this music than there has been in the past," says
Barr, who grew up in Providence and still calls himself a local. "She was
right. There was always so much tension in our music that it got frustrating
for listeners occasionally."
From the opening bars of the first cut, "Landing," in which Brad Barr strums
delightfully deliberate arpeggios, Angels Come On Time is far from
frustrating. "6-Sided" is a warped romantic ballad with jazz chords. "Jumpy" is
starchy funk with some Stanley Jordan shred. Whereas past Slip efforts seemed
to focus almost obsessively on their fancy Berklee book-learning and athletic
versatility, the new album takes those lessons and that ability and reapplies
them to natural expression and visceral emotion. Produced in part at Phish's
Barn and at Sound Station 7 under the supervision of Rob Pemberton, Angels
Come On Time is overwhelming for the sheer number of surprises you'll find
poking through the band's rubbery surface.
"In terms of what we've done so far," Barr explains, "it's definitely a new
level for us. As far as getting the right mix and adding the right production
touches -- which we've never done before -- it's all new. This one has a
direction to it. It utilizes what we've done and what we hear now to create
something more three-dimensional.
"This time we tried to put away our influences. This one is a little truer. In
this band, we're constantly cleaning our house out enough to see the musical
elements we're left with."
In the Slip's clean house, the elements remaining include Brad's crystal
guitar, Andrew's inventive percussion-eering, and Friedman's searching bass.
Then there's imagination, courage, and surprise; ego, hope, and vision.
"From time to time," says Barr, "we step onstage and just play without a clue
as to what's coming next." He elaborates that when the actual moment doesn't
bring a song naturally out of the band, they make one up to suit that moment.
"We feel like it's a way for us to check in, to make sure we're still
communicating and not relying on our songs to make the show," he says. "I get
excited about it. We draw on the heavens and create something."
Occasionally, those spontaneous engines of activity produce keeper songs;
often they don't. "If it works and we're all having a moment at the same time,
we'll work with the ideas at a later date. We record everything on digital
multi-track tape."
In the end, though, the Slip relies not on their own creative devices but on
the devices and resourcefulness of their ever-growing base of listeners. "It's
the listening game," quips Barr. "I bought the new Weezer recently, and our
record just doesn't slam like that. They're much more immediate. But there are
a lot of ways to listen to music and we have confidence that we'll find enough
people that'll know how to listen to us and want to as well."
The Slip plays Lupo's, Friday, June 28th and will be on tour with Page
McConnell of Phish's new band, Vida Blue, for the last two weeks in July.
SUMMERFEST! SummerFest is an all-day local music bash taking place this
Saturday in and around the Call and the Century Lounge. It's organized by the
band Floodwaters along with the guys from the Call. A whopping 32 acts, many of
which make up the best the area has to offer, will perform on three stages
(including one outdoors). Not only do you get a chance to hear lots of great
music, your band can join the fun, too. Tables will be set up for any local
acts that does not perform that has some product to push. Check out the event's
Web site at www.floodwaters.net/summerfest.htm. What follows is the slate of
the day's events.
2 p.m.: The Complaints, the MockingBirds, Freakshow
3 p.m.: New Prophets, Mr. Lincoln, Oversight
4 p.m.: Jiya, Vic Foley, Psycle
5 p.m.: Illustrious Day, Recore, Routine 8
6 p.m.: Just Before August, Jesus Candy, J Edward Orchestra
7 p.m.: Some Weird Band, Hawkins Rise, Hip Bobsha
8 p.m.: Turning Blue, Luna-C, Hired Goons
9 p.m.: Bridges Fell, the Haymakers, Planet Groove
10 p.m.: Floodwaters, Immune, Mutha Ugly
11 p.m.: Betty Finn, Sea Monkey Stew
12 p.m.: Jim James Band, Comic Book Super Heroes
WANDERING EYE. Fast Actin' Fuses will be at the Met Cafe tonight
(the 27th). They're opening for the raucous Deadly Snakes, from Toronto.
The Digs kick it all off. Awesome show at the Station 58 (located at 58
Brainard Street) in New London on Saturday (the 29th). The Cynics, one
of the great contemporary garage rock bands, takes the stage with another
modern legend, the Lyres, with the Chargers Street Gang opening.
Worth the trip, I'd say. The Cynics don't make it around these parts much
anymore. Doors open at 8 p.m. and tickets are $8. Also on Saturday, the
Jason Colonies Band plays in Newport at the RI Quahog Company.
That's about all for now. E-mail me with news and stuff at big.daddy1@cox.net
if you want a mention in these paragraphs.
Issue Date: June 27 - July 4, 2002
