Man Forever (with So Percussion) – Ryonen (Thrill Jockey)
LP/CD/DL
Out Now
Exploratory percussion project, Man Forever release a new
album.
This is a brave and interesting album if ever I heard one. Two tracks, one per side, spanning thirty
minutes in total. It would appear from
the outset to be a bit prog-something and possibly it is, but its
prog-something of the good kind!
Track one, The Clear Realization opens with a thundering drum. Take away the percussion and you’d probably be
left with a drone track of sorts. Some almost choir sounding vocals join the
fray for a while whilst the drums pound and pound and pound. The voices are subtle but essential in
breaking down the track with its two drum sets and two bongo sets, creating
fascinating Burundi beats.
Man Forever, headed by Kid Millions (John Colpitts) whose work with
other performers includes Spiritualized, Oneida and People Of The North, it is
his collaboration with So Percussion that is particularly provoking. Billed as the “premiere contemporary
percussion ensemble” in America, So Percussion joined Colpitts to record a
startlingly original piece of both interesting quality and hidden power.
Where the album comes into its own is when the instruments operate
in a different time lapse to the main tempo, the end result is both powerful
and innovative. Ryonen spans side two at
eighteen minutes and is less organised than its predecessor. More anarchic and less structured, the drums
hit each other and create their own resonance, listen closely and you can hear
it under the main structure.
Make no mistake, Ryonen isn’t easy listening, in fact it can be
particularly challenging at times, but it’s one of those albums that gives you
something different. It’s certainly
early morning wake up material if nothing else and whilst the initial thought
isn’t appealing, it is something that any discerning music fan should listen to
at least once.
As the drums on Ryonen merge with more light vocals you can’t help
but imagine a man drumming for his life on stage or in the studio. It’s an original album and at times
compelling to say the least.
8/10
Links
Published on Louder Than War 13/04/14 - here
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