MAN MAN

City Arts Fest 2011

Pacific Science Center [laser dome]

Seattle, Wa

10.22.11

Man Man’s most recent album, Life Fantastic, was a long awaited release that saw the band making some adjustments to their sound, incorporating strings into the background, and developing a more refined sound in their production. To me -a longtime fan- these changes were (and still are) a little difficult to adjust to, but not enough to make me lose faith in the group.  The major change for me was that, for the first time, their recorded material didn’t match up to the feeling of their performances.  While the songs were still “fantastic” and held the same influences of gypsy, klesmer, and 50s music, the sound on the album lacked the pure energy that Honus Honus and the rest of his troupe pour into their live shows.  But, as I came to realize more through my last opportunity to see them perform, this may be a very positive reflection on Man Man, allowing people to see each of their two sides clearly. (more…)