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April 20, 2005
Falling Qualia
Kingsbury Manx - Over the Waves
The Kingsbury Manx started off as a substitute band for me. When I say 'substitute', I mean that I came to know their work through a roundabout 'recommended if you like' scenario (Greenideas Matt was actually the one who told me about them, in late 2000), with the 'like' variable occupied by Belle & Sebastian. 'Piss Diary' was the first song I heard of theirs, and I loved it immediately, on its own merits (the band sounds like B&S only in the fact that they play quiet, semi-pastoral music)- their pretty melodies and soft, alt-country arrangements were what got me hooked.
One of the things I like best about Kingsbury Manx is the way their music is (to put it in a weird way) extremely porous- their songs absorb certain moods, seasons, thoughts, and experiences- well enough so that I can remember exactly what I was doing, for example, when I heard their album "Let You Down" for the first time (sitting at a train station). Having said that, Kingsbury Manx's music is particularly well-suited to the sunny days and chilly nights of the autumn- there's something in their songs that perfectly accompanies late afternoon contemplation.
'Over the Waves' is my favorite track from their 2003 EP, "Afternoon Owls", which preceded the release of their most recent album, "Aztec Discipline", by a few weeks, and contained some of the most exciting work Kingsbury Manx have done to date (the song 'Half Man' is unstoppably great). 'Over the Waves' has two parts: the first is the standard gorgeous acoustic guitar/piano melange that Kingsbury Manx pull out of their pockets- however, there's an electric guitar wringing small, mysterious phrases out of this tune- sounding alternately like a huge, thick bell, and a small cutting instrument. At 1:54, "You'll find it's hard/to touch/the tops/of the waves, you'll find it's hard/to make/your way/through the haze", the band wanders through a thick miasma of distorted drones, and emerges on the other side, exuberant: "deep sea diving down, down, down, down, down, down, further down", handclaps and wild, neon basslines adorning untethered guitars.
Kingsbury Manx are one of those bands that seems (to me at least) unduly ignored. They've released three classic albums that really do deserve your attention. Hopefully the band is recording/touring soon (their website hasn't been updated since last summer)- Pitchfork had this news item (bottom of the page) about the band's unfortunate van accident back in '03, when they were supposedly writing material for their fourth album ("4-0"), but god knows what they've been up to since then. If you like 'Over the Waves' though, you can buy the "Afternoon Owls" EP here.
Posted by matt at April 20, 2005 08:02 AM
Comments
i think the value of the 'like' variable was actually low, right? i wouldn't have said b&s, unless i was trying really hard to get you to listen.
Posted by: matt at April 20, 2005 04:45 PM