Pop, Precocity and a Pause
Mar 28th, 2007 by Donagh
Keeping abreast of the hottest New York bands can be difficult and often pointless, considering that the enthusiasts get so frothy so regularly that its difficult to distinguish between the good and the great. Much like Cork bands, or bands from Coolock for that matter, New York bands are usually big in their borough without ever making it out into the wider world before the debut album bombs and the label drop them. So, rather than keeping up who could blame you for simply going back to you’re old Sonic Youth and Velvet Underground records safe in the knowledge that at least they were cool once.
I’ve the attention span of underage ADHD afflicted goldfish when it comes to music so I love pretty much everything I hear for about ten minutes before I forget the name of the act that I’m trying to express my love for – usually to someone who simply doesn’t want to know about it in the first place.
As a result I’m writing this now before I forget all about it.
New Yorkers (with a French inflection*) Mancino are a three piece that make infectious pop melodies with a genuine sparkle. Modern pop can’t help but refer constantly back to a time when tunes mattered and that is what this little group seem to be all about. The tunes are kind of catchy and I really like them although I’ve only been listening to them for about 10 minutes.
Hetchie Hutchie Footchie
Lamour or Less
Hiccuplines
Via Nerdlitter
* Keyboardist Nadim Issa and drummer Jonathan Mason grew up in France
Their Myspace page
Buy the album Manners Matter
I guess I’m floating have been sent an album by the band Zach Condon was in before forming Beirut. They were called The Real People and considering that the band was formed in 2001 it seems startling that it should sound so together.
Attached to the mail sent to IGIF was following:
“This album has never been released, is not available for sale, and has never been seen or heard by anyone other than a handful of people who have personally received a copy of this record. It pre-dates all of his work with Beirut and does not bear any influence of the Balkan/Eastern Gypsy sound that he has become reknowned and critically acclaimed for; however, it’s a highly precocious album that’s steeped in amazing melodies draped against a backdrop of synthesized electronica: imagine an entire electronic/experimental album in the style of Scenic World with Zach’s distinctive vocals and the occasional appearance of his famous brass instrumentation.”
And finally, after all that music, a little respite.
John Cage “4′33″
Via the book of joe
Mancino, pretty excellent stuff. Thing is, I can’t find them on any of the download sites. Am I going to have to go out and, well, buy their album? how does that work?
Oh, and John Cage is a pretentious cunt. 4′ 33” sums up the totality of his work. In the hierarchy of art, John Cage is at the bottom, sucking a mime artist’s cock.
Ah Mancino, I’d forgotten about them. I’ve fixed the link for hiccuplines so now you can listen to that too. Buy the album?! Are you mad? Wait, I should be encouraging you to do that, shouldn’t I? Support the artist, support the artist, lalalala.
Phaaa! Ignorance. I suspect this is the only John Cage you’ve heard. Oh the irony.
well, I have heard it before, but not the FULL ORCHESTRAL VERSION. John Cage - an old man tossing himself off with a yellow marigold glove. In silence of course.
Ah Dr. Ben, give it a chance. The 12-inch remix is the business.
LOL
You can buy mancino’s album on iTunes, no? or insound.com? I wonder if John Cages 4′33 costs .99cents on itunes….