This Sunday, MailTape is delighted to welcome dear guest Iain Mann for Episode #565 ! Based in the UK, the multi-instrumentalist connects threadings from free form experimental, psychedelic rock, and South American folk influences for his releases. The artist joins us following the release of his debut album, Magic Tracks. Mann’s gift for us this morning session is a varied selection of unexpected rhythms, eclectic harmonies, and gorgeous musical textures from around the globe, enjoy :))
Guest’s selection
The Botticellis - New Room
Iain Mann: ” The opening bars of this track take my breath away every time I hear them. It’s the heart-wrenching, hopeful beauty of the spiraling chord sequence, which sets up a verse that feels like a memory from a late 70s California childhood. Faded organ and guitar like an old polaroid and gorgeous, shiny vocals singing about something lost and precious. “
Thelonious Monk - Light Blue
Iain Mann: ” It’s an eight bar tune that loops, seeming to trip over itself. Alternating crunchy dissonances and sympathetic consonances, the tune feels like a character; benevolent, troubled, courageously honest about its own flaws. “
Carlos Hayre - Silencio
Iain Mann: ” This music is from the city where I spent my childhood: Lima, Peru. It’s a kind of music called marinera limeña, and it’s party music; collective, spontaneous, built on centuries-old traditions. This recording, from the 1970s, assembled some of the best singers and instrumentalists of the genre - some of them old men by then - and had them let loose. You can hear pairs of singers alternating, taking turns, matching verses from a vast memorized repertoire. “
Curator’s selection
Iain Mann, Sandy’s - Saya for Molly
Sarah: ” One of my favorites off of Iain Mann’s latest album, Magic Tracks. Such a joyful sound in this skipping strumming, a cup overflowing :) The feathering rhythm section is delightfully unexpected but entrancing :) Mann notes how this track carries particular Andean folk and Bolivian Saya influences connecting to his childhood spent in South America. The album is a feat, and a wonderful listen for this week. Be sure to look out for Fugue of the Wino (Con Fuga De Wayno), especially for Mann’s quena/charangro/guitar outro :) “
Feed LA - Hikaye
Sarah: ” More on interesting rhythms, the morning’s a nice time for it. Berlin-based experimental jazz band Feed LA’s discography has been on repeat for the past few weeks, and this one always catches my ear. Love how the guitar, organ, and horn sections all seem to saunter around the heartbeat drum line, there’s some kind of special gravity, urgency, to it. And then, following this almost compulsory captivation, there’s another very special feeling when the percussives suddenly stop, and we are alone with these other characters. They no longer saunter about the heartbeat, and a sort of surreal suspension arrives, where any amount of time could pass “
Hayvanlar Alemi & Shhjjjjjjj - Equatorial Lies
Sarah: ” Another psychedelic rock moment to balance out our selection, this one from Turkey. The wonderfully free flurry of arpeggios and these clave ostinatos speak to the track’s grounding in South American jazz influences, but Alemi ever so slightly lets this dynamic dissipate into the larger march of psychedelic rock. “
Nightshift - Sure Look
Sarah: ” A punk moment to finish off this playlist, off of Glasgow-based band Nightshift’s latest album, Homosapien. Obsessed with these strings :) and the track’s vocal harmonies, a shock of energy to end the Sunday selection. “
And that’s all for this morning ! Hope you enjoyed our session, and as always, thank you very much for sharing your Sunday with us. A special thank you to Anthony Dujardin for this episode’s electric illustration and to dear guest Iain Mann for this episode’s delightful discoveries.
