If you hadn’t noticed, I updated my seldom-updated ‘In the Ipod’ section a couple weeks ago to include Six Demon Bag, the new album by Man Man. I haven’t been this taken over by an album since I got The Light Footwork’s One State, Two State. At the risk of turning this into an album review, let’s just say that Six Demon Bag is weird and passionate. It reminds me of Animal Collective and Wolf Parade writing drunken barroom ballads.
But as happy as I was about the new album, nothing compares to what happened next. Here’s a little story for you: I was at the Dame, watching Andrew Bird, when the manager of the Dame came up next to me. We started talking about bands we’d like to get to come to Lexington, and I told him that he should look into Man Man. Much to my surprise, he said that they had already requested a date and it looked like they would get it. Now, two or so weeks later, I can say for sure that Man Man have got a Lexington date at The Dame. The good news is that it’s only $5 to see the creators of one of the best albums of ‘06. The bad news is that it’s still 21+
Man Man also recently released a cover of an old Etta James classic on Pitchfork. While it’s a well-done cover, I can’t help but think of what it would sound like if they would have been willing to venture a little further into uncharted territory with it. But they played it safe, and it still turned out pretty well.
MP3: Man Man - I’d Rather Be Blind (Etta James)
But if you still haven’t picked up Six Demon Bag, then I invite you to download this next track. “Engwish Bwudd” is one of the wildest, most raucous works that I’ve heard in a long while. While a lot of people might classify this as part of the “freak folk” movement, my general distaste for others of that genre are going to make me invent a new way to classify them: freak pop.
