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I was so lucky while in Austin to find Gérard Manset’s 1968 at End of an Ear. Up until now, the only other album I’ve had by him is La Mort D’Orion which basically has the same effect on me that reading Conrad’s Heart of Darkness does. It makes you sink deep into a darkness you can’t avoid of which emerging from seems to require too much of you. 1968 is no upbeat pop album but it is a little less devastating overall I feel. You can definitely tell from this given the orchestration how he progressed into the musician he’s become. Definitely worth getting if you can ever find it, as are I’m sure all of Manset’s albums (trust me, I’m always looking. I just ordered Revivre for the wopping new price of thirty bucks…if anyone has any specific suggestions, let me know!)
Fiery Furnaces Bitter Tea took a long while to grow on me…mainly because it basically feels like schizophrenic meandering…a musical version of a postmodern Virgina Woolf. An arty indier Kate Bush also comes to mind, like way back when in albums like The Dreaming and Hounds of Love she was really experimental. I’m going to be seeing Fiery Furnaces for the second time soon and I can’t wait. For awhile I strayed from them and when this album came out, I rejected and hated it. Now…I fear I really can’t lie without it.
I’ve been listening to the very catchy Peter, Bjorn, and John albums Falling Out and Writer’s Block for the past week, mainly because though I repeatedly listened to them when I first purchased them, I wanted to revive my interest before their set Tuesday. After hearing them live (their second set at the Empty Bottle was the best), I have gotten into these songs even more and found myself listening to them throughout the time I was editing photos for their set.
Pretty Girls Make Graves is an interesting band and in some ways, the female lead singer Andrea Zollo reminds me a bit of Penelope Houston-the lead singer of The Avengers) in terms of her stage presence and punk rock-ness. I’ve been listening to all of their albums the past couple of days to prepare for seeing them Sat. night. I find the albums really catchy and tight but I have to say I wish Andrea’s vocals were a little less nasal.
If there’s one album I’ve been playing more and more these past two weeks it is Damon Albarn’s post-Blur side project The Good, The Bad & The Queen. I just love how much character and honesty Albarn is still able to demonstrate, his disenchantment with war and the troubling events of this decade. It touches me on a basic emotional level. Because of this, I also pulled out Blur’s self titled album of which I swear I’ve spent days on end listening to “Beetlebum,” “Strange News From Another Star” and “Death of a Party.”
July 10th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Hi,
I am very pleased to encounter somebody from the US liking Gerard Manset’s music.
I saw the photography on your website with the young lady (you?) in the bathtub
surrounded by albums of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Tim Buckley, The Kinks
(is this Nick Drake’s “way to blue” right to Neil Young ?), all great artists.
The Manset CD on your photography is very, very rare. In fact it does not even exist
The one you have, I bought it from Aquarius Record last year, because it is impossible
to find it in France, it’s a bootleg.
I don’t know if you are familiar with Manset, he is a very unique artist.
He has a total control on his music reissues, and he is very critical about his own work.
The “1968” album has never been officially released in CD because Manset does not want it to be,
at least till now.
It is the same thing with the “white album” from 1972. You may like this one too,
because it is the closest from the albums you already know, “1968” and “La Mort d’Orion”,
both chronologically and musically. The white album is also known as “Long Long Chemin”,
and you can download it here:
http://puzzledoyster.blogspot.com/2008/05/grard-manset-manset-1972.html
Don’t feel guilty about downloading this one, there is no other way to listen to it.
Some lyrics can be found here: http://sitecon.free.fr/mansetparoles.htm
The white album is a hidden gem that Manset admirors consider one of his best albums.
On the blog mentioned above (which is not mine by the way),
you can find some other Manset albums that have never been reissued.
I am not sure whether you will like them because after 1972, Manset has evolved toward a
different style. His lyrics, that were already quite good on “1968”, “La Mort d’Orion”
and “Long Long Chemin”, have become even more poetic and emotional.
But as he emphasized the lyrics, the music has changed too.
so I don’t know if someone not speaking french can fully appreciate these albums.
In fact, most people who know Manset’s music (not that many people actually,
he is a kind of unknown genius, even in France) prefer what he did after La Mort D’orion.
If you wonder what his recent music sounds like, you may listen to this beautiful song
from his last album:
http://www.musicme.com/Gerard-Manset/titres/Dans-Un-Jardin-Que-Je-Sais-t1479722.html
By the way, I have looked at some of your photographies, you are talented.
Manset is not only a song writer, he is also a painter
(like Joni Mitchell, Captain Beefheart, and some others I guess) and a photographer.
He has published some photo albums, and most photos in his CDs are his.
I think he writes songs like a photographer, with the eye.
His song lyrics have a descriptive quality. He can describe scenes with very few words,
our imagination fill the holes. His music is not conventional, he is a self taught musician
who acknowledges his limitations in this domain. I believe it is also the music of a photographer,
somehow. Maybe this is why you have some affinity with his early music.
Best regards,
—Pierre (Rennes, France)