00 - Up In Flames.nfo
Artist : Manitoba
Album : Up In Flames
Source : cd
Year : 2003
Genre : indie
Label : Leaf
Encoder : cdex 1.50
Codec : lame 3.92
Quality : CBR, 192kbps, stereo
Tracklisting
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01 (5:35) I've Lived On A Dirt Road All My Life
02 (3:46) Skunks
03 (3:57) Hendrix With Ko
04 (3:29) Jacknuggeted
05 (0:44) Why The Long Face
06 (4:18) Bijoux
07 (1:46) Twins
08 (5:01) Kid You'll Move Mountains
09 (2:40) Crayon
10 (7:47) Every Time She Turns Round It's Her Birthday
Playing Time : 39:03
Total Size : 53.7 MB
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Pitchforkmedia review:
Manitoba
Up in Flames
[Domino; 2003]
Rating: 8.6
Something must have happened to Manitoba's Dan Snaith. His 2001 debut for the Leaf
label, Start Breaking My Heart, was blissed-out pastoral IDM that warranted Boards of
Canada comparisons. Then he went off and made some clubby tracks that dabbled in UK
garage. And now, with his second full-length Up in Flames, he's chucked the laptop, dug
the analog gear out of the dumpster, and recorded a 60s-worshiping indie rock record,
complete with sun-kissed harmonies, layered acoustic guitars, Farfisa organ drones and
glockenspiel. You have to admire the chutzpah. Seriously, I can't remember hearing this
stark a contrast between consecutive albums in a long time, maybe ever.
The sound of Up in Flames is key. In contrast to the world of modern computer-based
music, where noise is precisely controlled and each layered instrument can be mentally
plucked from the mix and examined, Up in Flames is a colossal field of unified sound. The
sheets of acoustic guitar and organ wrap themselves around the booming drums (mostly
acoustic kits tuned to the full timbre of the Hal Blaine era) and you can't pry them apart.
The obvious production inspirations are Phil Spector and Brian Wilson, both of whom
arranged songs during a time when men had more ideas than available tracks. So they had
to cheat, bounce, and compress, and the best records that came out of it were massive
and unknowable. Up in Flames, whether by choice or necessity, has the same warm
feeling of ramshackle Wagner. When it came time to record, "precision" was a goal far
down the list.
Despite their obvious 60s references, most of the tracks on Up in Flames aren't really
songs in the traditional sense. Instead of prominent verse/chorus/bridge structure, we hear
a series of swells and contractions. Snaith has a good understanding of the tricks and
techniques of pop's biggest and best moments, the moments that stop your breathing
during the pause just before the big chorus, and he set out to make an album filled with
them. "Hendrix with KO" (which is one of a couple songs featuring the voice of Koushik
Ghosh) has some lyrics, but most of what you hear are just day-glo bah-bah-bah's that
serve as suspension cabling to carry the track from one section to the next, through the
Mamas & Papas homage to an electronic coda that's a rare memory of Manitoba's prior
incarnation. "Jacknuggeted" has a similar arc but reminds me more of Neil Diamond in the
Bang days, all "Cherry Cherry" handclaps and stiff-but-funky D/A/G acoustic strumming,
but then another digital breakdown at the end brings in sputtering breaks that would have
had Greenwich & Barry lunging for the Stop button.
As tied to the 60s as it is, Up in Flames can of course be described as a psychedelic
record. The way the absolutely huge "Bijoux" swirls with Wilsonian harmonies, layers of
chords, music boxes, percussion explosions and orchestral samples, I swear, it almost
takes on a Boredoms cast. Not in terms of aggression, but as a primal celebration of the
possibility of sound. "Kid You'll Move Mountains" is similarly dense, but this one sends a
snaking soprano saxophone through the changes. A tenor sax erupts in the latter part of
"Skunks", tearing off into a series of riffs that add the same sort of "free" element to the
covering the Jesus & Mary Chain's "Taste of Cindy". Because Up in Flames is so focused
on big moments and aural candy, it's wise that Snaith decided to keep the record under 40
minutes. He blows you out and then packs it up.
If Snaith were to follow the trend of most electronic producers, he would have given this
that there's some conceptual overlap. Up in Flames certainly has a wide-eyed and
affirmative outlook, and features titles like "Every Time She Turns Around It's Her Birthday"
to go with Start Breaking My Heart's "Children Play Well Together". And there are a few
moments where Snaith's IDM head pops out of the fabric. But that's as far as it goes. The
two albums aren't in the same universe. Is Snaith confused? Maybe he wants it all. Maybe
he doesn't know what he wants. Because Up in Flames is such a good record, we win
either way.
-Mark Richardson, April 3rd, 2003
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/manitoba/up-in-flames.shtml
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