Staff Reviews

Ty Segall - Manipulator

Review by Tom Fenwick

Highlights don't so much appear, as line up to beat you into dizzying submission»

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The Segall has landed. And it's fully loaded, with everything that Ty Segall (and you and me) are gonna need in the world to come. Heads up! It's coming down fast. To realize dreams and visions, Ty kept working, kept writing, laying down more tracks than ever. New musical expressions pop and surprise relentlessly throughout all the knockout tunes of 'Manipulator' with many sounds in the mix - but most of all, SO many guitars! So many. And different kinds of strings - the strangled-neck solo of 'The Singer,' recalling the good old days down by the river with Neil. Numbed-and-unplugged discursions spiraling away from the funk on 'Mister Main.' Three-quarter quartets raising their din in a few key places. Waves of sparkling acoustics with ominous, Love-ly undertones - and then, torrents of filthy git-grunge, exploding into the chorus, washing everything away, fusing the blackness of Sabbath with the grime and grab-ass of the Stooges and the sweet swinging tones of the Stones. All in the name of getting higher on the music. Why have one guitar solo when you can have a few in the same space? There's so little time, and a Lot to say. These seventeen songs take many forms, as if Ty is finally releasing all the thoughts that have been holding him down, that made him pick up the ax to begin with. By the end of 'Manipulator', you'll feel that he must have chased all the demons -- but it's a big world, and 'Manipulator' has only begun to fight.
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