Slide (George Clanton Album)
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''Slide'' is the second studio album by American electronic musician
George Clanton George Wayland Clanton Jr. (born January 12, 1988), also known by the monikers Mirror Kisses, ESPRIT 空想, and Kid's Garden, is an American electronic musician and singer-songwriter that emerged out of the vaporwave music scene in the early 2 ...
, released on August 17, 2018 by his
independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...
100% Electronica.


Background and music

After releasing his debut album '' 100% Electronica'', George Clanton tried to produce a sequel to it for three years but found it difficult because he wasn't able to find the sound he wanted for it. After giving up, he started experimenting and writing stuff for fun and felt that the "songs ere writingthemselves". This material became the basis for ''Slide''. Clanton said that ''Slide'' was the first album he wrote under his own name, since his debut album was written as a Mirror Kisses record before he decided to release it under his real name. Clanton said that in ''Slide'' he did not try to be "ironic" or "silly with his lyrics", and preferred to "write great pop songs that are representative of an emotion that eactually
eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order (biology), order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 Family (biology), families, 164 genus, genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the earl ...
when
e's is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in '' Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003, to Febr ...
singing them." He has said that a lot of ''Slide'' was written " freestyle" and that the lyrics of it are "really vague and come from deep down sometimes from a subconscious place." The album features
electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...
s, acoustic drums, samples and
synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
s. Clanton described ''Slide'' as "a
vaporwave Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, a visual art style, and an Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s and became well-known in 2015. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, 1970 ...
opera". Clanton premiered ''Slide'' on August 18, 2018 in front of a sold out audience at the Elsewhere music venue in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York City. He also gave a free performance of the album at the
Nasher Sculpture Center Opened in 2003, the Nasher Sculpture Center is a museum in Dallas, Texas, that houses the Patsy and Raymond Nasher collection of modern and contemporary sculpture. It is located on a site adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art in the Dal ...
alongside Chulita Vinyl Club on November 16, 2018.


Reception

''Slide'' received generally favorable reviews from music critics.
PopGun Presents PopGun Presents was an events production/promotion, music curation and venue management collective based in Brooklyn, NY. It was founded in 2008 by Rami Haykal-Manning (née Haykal) and Jake Rosenthal. Formation In 2008, Haykal-Manning and Ro ...
described the album as "a glossy, cathartic fusion of
electronic pop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a revi ...
,
trip-hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...
, and, of course, vaporwave" and wrote that "the project earned lantona new level of well deserved notoriety both within and outside of the vaporwave subculture he came up in." Miles Bowe of ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...
'' wrote that in ''Slide'' "the electronic musician formerly known as Mirror Kisses has grown into his most fully realized vision of pop yet" and that "Clanton is exactly the kind of artist
chillwave Chillwave (originally considered synonymous with glo-fi and hypnagogic pop) is a music microgenre that emerged in the late 2000s. It is characterized by evoking the popular music of the late 1970s and early 1980s while engaging with notions of ...
could have used a decade ago. ..Like
Ariel Pink Ariel Marcus Rosenberg ( ; born June 24, 1978), professionally known as Ariel Pink, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter whose work draws heavily from the popular music of the 1960s–1980s. His lo-fi aesthetic and home-recorded al ...
before him, Clanton throws himself into his music without any self-conscious concern for cool—and throws himself about in breathtakingly physical live shows that bring to mind a young John Maus." John Darr of ''The Sunflower'' wrote, "While the epic beauty of ''100% Electronica'' is very much intact here, ''Slide'' boasts a greater range of arrangements, production choices, and song structures" and that it "is the work of an artist improving on all fronts. It’s certainly proof that a musician can look backwards for aesthetic inspiration to move relentlessly into the future." ''Study Breaks Jonathan Christian wrote, "Clanton’s off-brand vaporwave pop is some of the most dreamlike music you’ll hear on this side of the known universe" and " t'sdifficult to define exactly what makes ''Slide'' one of my favorite albums of 2018, but it's an indescribably resonant experience I believe everyone should take part in." Sarah Gooding wrote for ''
i-D ''i-D'' is a British biannual magazine dedicated to fashion, music, art, film and youth culture. The magazine was launched in 1980 by Terry Jones, originally as a hand-stapled fanzine it has since evolved into a glossy publication. In 2023 the ...
'' that "Sincerity is ''Slide's'' defining characteristic".
Anthony Fantano Anthony Nicholas Fantano ( ; born October 28, 1985) is an American Music journalism, music critic and internet personality who runs ''The Needle Drop'', a YouTube channel with a tie-in website and Twitch (service), Twitch streaming channel. Self ...
of ''The Needle Drop'' praised ''Slide's'' sound-craft, describing it as "excellent, beautiful, dense, lush, psychedelic, overwhelming, and orgasmic", and compared its explosive passion and sonic density with that of
New Radicals New Radicals (stylized as Иew Radicals) was an American pop rock band formed in 1997 in Los Angeles. The band was centered on the duo of Gregg Alexander (lead vocals, guitar, songwriting, production) and Danielle Brisebois (keyboards, percussio ...
' and My Bloody Valentine's, respectively. Fantano criticized the singing and the lyrics in the album, describing the latter as "an emotional placeholder just to kind of fill space." Clanton disagreed with Fantano on album's lyrics, feeling they are "strong" and describing himself as "extremely proud" with them. Fantano later went on to place ''Slide'' at #197 on his list of the top 200 albums of the 2010s.


Track listing


References


External links

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{{Authority control 2018 albums George Clanton albums