Manipulator
Spunk
One of the buzz artists of the past few years has been Ty Segall. This is surely in part due to the fact that over a short amount of time he has amassed a discography that is larger than most modern consumers’ record collections, but also due to the breadth of his guitar-bending psychedelia.
Manipulator is another look into the fertile mind of Segall, who pulls together 17 tracks that are mostly filled out by the multi-instrumentalist himself, with a little glitter added by some friends along the journey. While the doubters would point to Segall’s prolific nature as a measure that he lacks quality control, they would be hard pressed to pursue that argument when handed what is clearly Segall’s most conscious, refined and clean record.
There is the perfect amount of glam brought into the mix during The Faker, which could give Segall his most notable and successful tune to date. The Californian’s love of the guitar is evident with the instrument being layered deeper than a Sara Lee pastry with guitar solos both competing and complementing each other when necessary. Sabbath and T-Rex are still places Segall calls home but it is the acoustic moments that are thrown in here such as The Hand and Green Belly which give Manipulator a wider palate.
With the indie world watching with baited breath for Manipulator, Segall has shown himself to be capable of being a crowd pleaser without any hint of scheming or conspiring.
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
