Ty Segall – Manipulator (2xLP)

At the length of a double LP, Ty Segall releases his new album "Manipulator." The man is insanely productive, creative and versatile. On the new longplayer he brings his previous styles into one cast. Glam rock attitude meets British Invasion melodicism and wild guitar solos with fuzz. That he can ingeniously adapt the many musical styles from two decades before he was born has been proven by his previous albums. That he can combine all of this in such a sophisticated way becomes clear for the first time on this album. Ty Segall is a music manipulator. The best.

On "Manipulator" a lot is offered, for example "The Singer" with lovely strings (which can also be heard in "The Clock" and "Stick Around", but are already used differently). Contrasting to this is "The Crawler". Acoustic song: "The Hand." "Tall Man Skinny Lady" and "The Clock" are reminiscent of David Bowie in the early 70s. So while every song has what it takes to be a single, Ty Segall combines everything into one big whole on "Manipulator". A record that you can listen to from front to back as 'one work'. Nothing is filler. Everything belongs in its place.

With "Manipulator" Ty Segall seems to have arrived where he wanted to go for the time being. Apart from his musical style, which brings the 60s and 70s into the 10s, his lyrics are clearly inspired by our time. Aside from the girl trouble of being a man, the lyrics are about life in the 21st century: Too much technology, too much surveillance, too little privacy.

"Manipulator" is big and great. One might fear that Ty Segall has shown and given everything he can with this album. But he is probably already working on proving us wrong.

Reviews

"17 songs between fuzz and melody: the 60s fan is bursting with drive." (musikexpress, September 2014)

"Psychedelic seductions from the Californian wunderkind." (Rolling Stone, September 2014)