Ty Segall: Manipulator

Manipulator
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Artist: Ty Segall
Genre: Alternative
Label: Drag City

Take a healthy heaping of 1970s-era Bowie, mix with Marc Bolan and add a light sprinkling of Love and Arthur Lee: you now something approximating the sound of Ty Segall. Still only 27, the multi-instrumentalist from the San Francisco Bay area is a prolific writer, player and collaborator, and his seventh album darts between glam-rock riffs to psychedelic wig-outs with likeable self-assurance. It's impossible to resist the gurgling electric pulse of Feel, the flourish of Spanish guitar on The Clock, and the low-key '60s pop scuffle of It's Over, while Susie Thumb and The Crawler are coated in an enjoyably high-octane glam-rock sheen. It's derivative, which is forgivable, though, with 17 tracks, momentum starts to flag (which is not). Segall's thrust ultimately loses its potency, but there's still much to love amid the filler. ty-segall.com Download: The Singer, Susie Thumb

Lauren Murphy

Lauren Murphy

Lauren Murphy is a freelance journalist and broadcaster. She writes about music and the arts for The Irish Times