ARTIST: Manual
TITLE: Lost Days, Open Skies And Streaming Tides
LABEL: Darla Records
GENRE: Electronic
BITRATE: 197kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 1h 53m total
RELEASE DATE: 2007-09-11
RIP DATE: 2007-09-16
Track List
----------
1. The Wind-Up Bird 2:15
2. Summer Haze 5:05
3. A Real America 5:54
4. Blue Shibuya Dream 5:17
5. October Sky 1:17
6. Into The Blue 3:29
7. Black Eyed Dog 5:02
8. Crossing Signals 2:04
9. Marbella 5:01
10. Blue Skied An' Clear 5:29
11. Crystal Pier 5:10
12. Karola Bloch 8:26
13. Crockett's Theme 5:38
1. The River 23:20
2. Open Skies 4:12
3. Andaman 5:34
4. April Trees Daydream 2:44
5. Junitaki 2:22
6. Dizzy Sun 9:12
7. Seleva 5:58
Release Notes:
The long awaited Manual double cd Lost Days, Open Skies and Streaming Tides û a
collection of rarities, remixes, covers, unreleased pieces and brand new tracks
û including a new collaboration with Cocteau Twins mainman Robin Guthrie.
Spanning the period from 2002, around Ascend, up to now, this is a collection
that covers the entire spectrum of Jonas Munks stylings; from the minimalist
drone soundscapes, to the over-the-top 1980s influenced shoegazing electronica α
la his masterpiece Azure Vista, from the sweet pop-influenced gems to abstract
blissed-out timeless ambient. MunkÆs trademarks are all over the 19 pieces on
this double disc set: the highly adventurous sense of composition that is still
so unheard of in electronic music û always taking the listener on a colourful
journey instead of relying on repetitions like pretty much every other
electronic artist -, the mix of well-programmed beats and electronics against
surreal, shimmering, heavily treated guitars, and the sunbathed 1980s romantic
melancholia that has become Jonas MunkÆs signature sound. It is hard to think of
a more perfect introduction to MunkÆs music, and for fans of his work this is
simply a must! All in all, Lost Days, Open Skies and Streaming Tides includes
almost an hour worth of previously unreleased music. In JonasÆ own words:
ôInstead of compiling every single rarity out there or every unreleased piece in
the drawer, I only wanted to include the stuff that I feel is absolutely up to
standard with my best work, and I feel this collection is just as important and
representative of what I want to do as my most celebrated works such as Azure
Vista or Ascendö. Disc 1 represents the grandiose, super-layered, mesmerizing
sounds that is familiar to fans of Azure Vista, Isares and Ascend, where firm,
occasionally complex, beats melts together with moist and dreamy guitars,
heavenly female vocals and headspinning old-school synths. It includes one of
Manuals most beloved pieces, ôSummer Hazeö, as well as ôBlue SkiedÆ an Clearö,
the title track from 2002Æs Slowdive tribute on Morr Music. It also includes
previously unreleased remixes of Port Royal, Antenne and Australian pop group
Suvome, and a cover of one of Jan HammerÆs original Miami Vice themes. On top of
that there is a piece Jonas composed as a jingle for a Danish radio show, ôInto
The Blueö, a brand new collaboration with Robin Guthrie and three previously
unreleased gems. Disc 2 represents the more minimal, guitar-drone side of
Manual. This aspect of Jonas MunkÆs work is less celebrated, but the few who
appreciates it truly treasure albums like ôThe North Shoreö and ôBajamarö as
top-notch ambient works. These pieces, based on treated guitar work, blends
classic ambient with minimalist classical music and processing experiments to
create very unique sounds that are surreal yet warm and organic, and maintains
JonasÆ insist on the compositional element. This side of his work has been
compared to Manuel G÷ttsching, Arvo PΣrt and Brian Eno, but it hardly does
justice to its unique evocative qualities. ôThe Riverö, a 23 minute
ultra-minimalist piece, was composed in 2003 for a Danish release but was
withdrawn due to financial reasons. ôDizzy Sunö and ôSelevaö has previously been
released on DarlaÆs compilation series and is among MunkÆs finest ambient work.
Besides that disc 2 includes four previously unreleased pieces. Jonas Munk
remains an extremely underrated artist, and practically unknown, but this
collection is proof of his unique capabilities as a composer and producer, and
brilliantly showcases his one-of-a-kind sound, that flirts with shoegazing, new
romantic pop, electronica, and ambient, without belonging in either category.
All in all two hours of music wrapped in deluxe eight panel digipack with
artwork by Jakob Sk°tt. The soundtrack for the summer!
Praise for Manual: From his full-lengths, his 2001 debut, Until Tomorrow, and
2002Æs Ascend; to his versions on the Morr Music tribute album to Slowdive,
2002Æs Blue Skied anÆ Clear; to his collaborative work with Jess Kahr and Jakob
Skott (a.k.a. Syntaks), Munk is blurring lines between ambience and stadium
rock. The tones Munk uses, the way he manipulates them, the construction of the
songs themselves, show that he has a distinct ear. We should be thankful he is
sharing his aural visions with us. TheyÆre that special. -Prefix Magazine
Out on its own limb, this is about as close to sublime as one can get. -Grooves
Magazine
Sonically, itÆs Seefeel meets Sons And Fascination era Simple Minds meets Kevin
Shields meets David Sylvian; in other words it inhabits a world where boundaries
blur and where sounds collide and move within and around each other to make
something instantly, comfortingly recognisable yet with an abstract sense of the
new. -www.tangents.co.uk
A painstaking labour of love that principally takes Durutti Column and the
Cocteau Twins as its key templates and weaves their chiming matrix into a
celebratory carnival of lush colour coded ambient structures of the type so
rarely heard these daysà.all at once sensual, invigorating, heart stopping and
quite simply perfect. -www.losingtoday.com
Think of My Bloody Valentine, but lighter than air. Or think of what Air's
soundtrack to The Virgin Suicides might have been like if they spent more time
at the beach. Or think about Brian Eno, if he surfed and liked drinks with
exotic names and umbrellas in them. Think about Tangerine Dream: their name even
more than their sound. Think about the "shoegazers" gazing at a brillant blue
ocean and jamming. Or think about that great wave of keyboards on the opening
track of The Cure's Disintegration, but think of it not as an impending
rainstorm but as a brilliant sun, a storm of sunbeams. Then think of all these
things at once, and you've got a beautiful, awe-inducing force of nature.
-Erasing Cluds Magazine
The sonorous rebirth of electronica written on Manual's albums is neither luck
nor accident; it's artistry, creativity and poise at their apex, and we're
talking about a guy barely into his twenties. His signature stereo-panned
percussion, for its chiming chaos, can't distract from the spectral, oceanic
guitar work central to Manual's sound: with Ascend, Jonas Munk dispatched about
half the electronic music released in the last five-plus years, filling the
chill-out void left in Seefeel's wake. The musings of so many of his peers feel
conceptually thin and prefabricated in comparison to Manual's wandering, curious
anthems.... -Pitchfork