Manuel Bienvenu – oh do we
Manuel Bienvenu – oh do we – Album Review
How can you not appreciate how gloriously smooth a beginning like oh do we has? When you hear the jazzy beat and stunning sound selection in the piano-based melody at the start of “combini” as Manuel Bienvenu starts to play for us, I couldn’t help but feel like I was on completely solid ground, which was quite an accomplishment when you consider how dreamy the vibes are and that this entire song seems like it rides along on pillowy clouds. I loved what I heard in “combini” right away…stellar bass-lines, fluid piano, steady percussion – vivid sound altogether…it felt like it reminded me a lot of what I used to get out of the old Zero 7 records back in the day. Later on it would even flex sound that stretched back even further to stuff you’d find on like…albums by Toto…which admittedly, has been a while since I’ve heard anything in the independent scene that might remind me of those. As the vocals came into play, I’d say Manuel reminded me more of something along the lines of Evoletah, back when they made their most significantly artistic tracks. All-in-all though, I’m highly impressed with “combini” and the impact it makes from the very first time you spin it – you’ll instantly want more of what you hear without a doubt, and as we all know, that sonic incentive to keep listening is pretty darn crucial at the start of a record.
This is quirky, but definitely in the right way…perhaps curious, or intriguing are better words to use to describe what I’m hearing. “minortom” is brilliantly unique and really cleverly laid out…completely and totally enticing from its very first seconds straight on through to the end. Probably more accessible than most would think too; if you were to look at the ingredients to a song like “minortom” on paper, you might not even think it would work at all, yet here we are, and it absolutely does. It’s almost as if you have a singer like Elvis Costello fronting an experimental/artistic band like Stereolab in a way…and it makes for a very interesting combination of sound altogether. So freakin’ SMOOTH though y’all! I’d hazard a guess that it’s largely going to be the music that draws the majority of listeners in to experience Bienvenu’s tunes. Vocally, it’s not like he’s inept by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s in such an anti-typical gear that challenges convention & what people think they know about music, that it’s going to undoubtedly take at least a little bit of adjusting from the listening end for the masses to fully accept. Personally, I like it! I’m not saying that I’m ready to commit to putting Manuel in my top ten singers of all-time, or even my top hundred for that matter – but I do like what he brings to the music & that he’s clearly more than willing to do things differently as an artist. “minortom” is straight-up mesmerizing in so many ways…almost like this quirky Indie-Jazz-Pop combo has a decisive hint of Psychedelic sound too.
Yeah…I mean…c’mon y’all…Manuel just absolutely gets it. When you listen to the sheer invitational vibes he creates at the start of his songs, you can’t help but admire the craft he applies to making music. You also have to acknowledge that he’s also choosing to take the road less traveled with each track as well. On the one hand, you’ve got music that would likely be among the most enticing to the masses that I can personally conceive of, and on the other hand, Bienvenu would be well aware that his vocals don’t possess half of that same degree of pure accessibility. Every time he sings, it ends up immediately contorting the naturally fluid sound & design of his music, into more artistic, creative, and experimental terrain. There’s nothing wrong with that whatsoever – in fact, in many ways, I’m all for it – but I am also realistic about the way people other than myself listen to music, and I have to acknowledge that Manuel clearly enjoys making things a little bit strange for the potential listeners out there. That’s what great art should be though! If the songs on oh do we were just normal, I’d probably already be inclined to start wrapping this review up by now – but this is the kind of compelling material that I genuinely look forward to discovering out there in the scene. Which in itself is kinda funny…I’m not gonna mention any names, but if you only knew the comparison that was made for me to Manuel’s music when it was first pitched to me, and how sonically repellant that comparison was, you’d practically have to laugh about how much I’m enjoying this album & how it’s thankfully nothing like that at all. “summer rains” is a solid example of the relentless imagination and innovation that Manuel applies to his songwriting, but also highlights the oddly high degrees of appealing sound achieved through his natural charm & his innately insightful gift for finding uniqueness that still possess a huge amount of endearing accessibility. I love the way the bass lines and guitar play such a significant role in “summer rains” as it plays on, with the midsection of this song revealing a massive amount of radiant instrumentation I couldn’t get enough of! You go from a peaceful serenity to movin’ and groovin’ right quick, but the organic way that Manuel seems to be able to shift his sound & style so seamlessly continues to be a major asset within his music.
Now…obviously anything that’s within the realm of Experimental sound, Progressive music, and artistic ideas, tend to come with a bit of fluctuation in terms of the strength of the appeal in what we hear and what speaks to us as individual listeners. Which yes, is still fairly true of just about any album, artist or band that you’ll encounter in life, but perhaps more-so when dealing with these particular off-shoot styles and sounds inside the music scene. Whether he likes it or not (he does, clearly) Manuel is a part of this fringe terrain when it comes to his overall sound…like I was tellin’ ya earlier, he obviously enjoys challenging convention & expanding our sonic palette, and I’ve got a lot of love & respect for that, even when it doesn’t completely work out. Like in the case of “dissipation” for example…the quality of his production, instrumentation, and vocals are still entirely in line with what we’ve already experience on oh do we, but for myself personally, I found the core ideas in this track to be a little less balanced. It took a while for this particular track to grow on me…in fact, I might go as far as to say that I wasn’t too interested until it passed the ninety-second mark into the glorious flow of its first significant instrumental section. After I got there, I felt like I was more onboard with “dissipation,” but I’d still say that it was largely the musicianship that got the majority of my attention. Vocally, I was way more interested by what Manuel was doing in the verses and how he sang them than I was in the main hooks. Sometimes that happens! Again, there are no rules and we’re all as mad as hatters down here…it’s our differences in what we like and what we love that make the world go around. “dissipation” has a whole lot of extraordinary elements to it and some righteously impressive musicianship that still made it well worth the time it takes to listen to, even if I ended up feeling like there was more of an uneven design to this song & more noticeable ups & downs to its structure in terms of what personally appealed to me. It’s still very well put together on a fundamental level, and that’s really all you can ever do as an artist; the rest is left to the court of public opinion & critics like myself that don’t really know anything anyway.
“here comes” works for me. I still think it’s probably fair to say that the first three tracks on this record have made the most significant impact on me personally so far, but “here comes” came out pretty tight. It’s got this one weird piano spot in the melody that sounds like your computer when you turn it off, but other than that, I’m inclined to support the bulk of what I’m hearing on this cut. Feels like it’s got a fairly unique beginning to it that relies more on the guitar, and I really liked the main hook of the vocals on the way in as well. Then you get introduced to key elements like the synth, backing vocals & bass lines, and I can assure ya, there should be plenty to keep you entertained, especially when the beat kicks in. Overall, “here comes” somewhat defies the odds in a way, because it also leans heavily on repetition at the core of its idea, and almost feels like just as it was really finding the right energy, it’s all over. So if anything, I suppose I would have taken another couple minutes of this song, because it felt like it might have been stumbling into its best moments right before the end and it would have been cool to see how that could have continued. Alas, on an album full of longer tunes, Manuel kept this one a little bit short.
As far as the jazzier parts of this record are concerned, I suppose you could say that “dark polychrome” would be up there with the most noticeable bend towards that vibe, albeit still largely on the artistic and experimental side of that genre. I dig this tune though, quite a bit. When you listen intently to how much is actually going on in “dark polychrome” and how calm & peaceful it seems at the same time, it’s actually quite the accomplishment. Like, it’s rare that you end up with parts moving this quickly that are also able to create a fairly serene feeling as well, you know what I mean? Maybe it’s just me, but that’s how I feel about it – “dark polychrome” is relaxing and soul soothing to me. You know what isn’t though? All these titles being in lowercase letters…that shit freaks me right out and I swear it’s giving me hives just trying to type this review. Every freakin’ sentence has been triggering Microsoft Word and its spell-check monster, and believe me when I tell ya, I make more than enough mistakes on my own to keep it working steadily as it is! Anyhow. The complex and intricate design of “dark polychrome” ends up being so completely packed that it ends up feeling a lot more solid as a whole – make sense? So rather than notice the many bumps, starts, and stops of space like you would in most songs, this track is like Manuel’s own version of “The Black Page,” and as a result, it has the same effect as a wall of sound would, only much more delicate & gentle in its demeanor. I’m here for it though…I feel like this track is one of those cuts you’ll be able to listen to for years and always find something new you love about it.
Interesting! My Google translate thingy tells me that “nureta bara” basically means “wet rose,” yet the language it thinks it’s in is…Japanese I think? It’s only supplying me with symbols, so I honestly don’t know for certain. Wait…I just plugged those symbols into Google, and I can confirm, it’s Japanese. In any event, Manuel is based in France from what I understand…and even though we Canadians (as in, most of us, but not me) speak a little bit of French, I’m pretty sure “nureta bara” ain’t in French like we’d probably have assumed, given his location in Paris. What I can tell ya for a fact, is that this was also one of the most interesting tracks on the record to me as well. I still believe that in terms of widespread accessibility, you’re likely looking at the first three tracks as the most universally appealing songs, but what I love about the way that Manuel has set the lineup of oh do we, is that by having more accessible cuts up front in the set-list, it allows us listeners to gradually become exposed to the more artistically ambitious tracks like “dark polychrome” and “nureta bara” later on with much less resistance. I mean, you’re never gonna find resistance from me in that respect, but you get what I mean…it’s tougher to get the masses to even try listening to music that isn’t so verse/chorus/verse defined with stuff they can easily sing along to, but laying out a record like Bienvenu has here, gives these songs a genuine chance to be heard. I would only hope that people listening to oh do we would get to a track like “nureta bara” and be absolutely stoked about what they find by that point in the record…at this point, I feel like Manuel has done everything required to convince our ears that his instincts are continually leading us in the right direction, where we get a seamless blend of creativity, culture, imagination and art combined.
It has the same effect on me as a listener as well, don’t get me wrong. Like, for example, if I was to hear “1493” on its own without the context of all these songs surrounding it and all the artistic ideas that Bienvenu has exposed me too along the way, I probably wouldn’t be as into it. Don’t get me wrong, I still wouldn’t tell ya it’s one of my favorite tracks on the record, because it’s not, but I’d be less inclined to listen to it if it was just a standalone single – make sense? It’s because Manuel has so expertly guided us to this point, that we’re able to accept things we might not normally gravitate towards and give them a fair chance at winning us over. “1493” ain’t a bad tune by any stretch of the imagination, I think if anything, I probably just felt like the more stoic pairing between the melody in the music and vocals so fused together ended up feeling too similar for me. Outside of that, I thought the music and sounds you’ll find on “1493” were absolutely awesome, even though there’s arguably less involved in creating a song like this than there would have been for the two tracks right before it. As for the historical reference of “1493” and whatnot…I dunno…not really sure if that was of too much significance, or if Manuel just picked a number to lead us down the rabbit hole…could be either. As is the case with just about every song you’ll ever hear, the creator will always know more about what it’s really about than we will…but it’d be strange to pick “1493” at random when it’s as historically relevant as it is. So I’m thinking there’s gotta be something to it in that regard, but I’ll be damned if I’m sure 100% about what. There must be something to that number, right? I will say this though…I felt like this particular track was one of the songs on this record that grew the most on me the more that I listened to oh do we over the course of this past couple weeks. I don’t always need to like or love something from the moment I hear it…sometimes I like it better when a song proves that it can win me over the more that I listen. I might not ever fully understand “1493” or what it’s really all about, but I can say that by the time I wrote this review, I felt like I enjoyed this song more than I did when I first started listening to Bienvenu’s album.
I do think that Manuel has room to evolve in the vocals, while also recognizing that he’s likely more of a musician when it comes to what his priorities are. I look at it like this, simple and plain – when you listen to the music itself, Bienvenu has shown us such an impressive level of imagination and diversity from track to track – but when it comes to what he’s doing on the microphone, he’s relatively got about one single gear. It ain’t a bad gear…it fits well enough…but you do start to notice the similarities of how he chooses to sing and that it doesn’t change all that much, especially when the music surrounding him is always doing something impressively new. So you know what I mean? You start to crave that same level of innovation and variation from the microphone as well, even though I’d be the first to tell ya that what Manuel is doing with his vocals is still a decent match from song to song. All I’m advocating for is…well…I suppose it’s more like I’m challenging him to find the same courage and ambition that he applies to his music when it comes to his vocals…ultimately, I think that’d benefit what he creates. Sure you can cite the fact that he’ll bring in backup vocals from time to time, which does a little bit to broaden the scope of sound overall…but I think deep down he knows what I mean…there’s still much more that can be done, and it doesn’t mean you have to be the world’s best singer to do it. “sun quiet” was the track where I felt like I noticed it a bit more…I absolutely LOVE what I’m hearing in the music and how much personality & character it has, and I suppose I was just looking for a bit more of a spark from Manuel’s vocals or energy to rival, or complement all that. As it stands, I like the pattern of the melody itself on “sun quiet,” but I genuinely believe that a little more oomph outta the guy would go a very long way in terms of him getting a bit more out of his songs when it comes to the vocals overall. It’s a tough call to make when it comes right down to it. “sun quiet” might be the pinch point where something like the similarities in his approach get noticed or we start to feel the effects of similar methods a bit more, but at the same time, we still have to acknowledge that the way he’s singing this song is a good fit. Maybe that’s it…it’s a good fit, but potentially, there’s a great one to be discovered.
Speaking of discovering…according to the brackets that came with the files I’m listening to, the title-track on oh do we is going to be a hidden track! Sweet merciful nostalgia! I remember these moments so fondly…letting a tape or a CD continue to play while I’d be asleep, only to be blasted awake by some song I didn’t even know existed and then stay up all night mining through the rest of my collection to see if I missed anything else. Keeping an MP3 hidden is a tougher thing to do…thirty-eight minute track and the song you thought you were listening to ends after seven…we get suspicious now. Love this last cut though – “oh do we” is stellar from start to finish, and another prime example of a song I’d have taken a whole lot more of. It kinda plays like…hmm…nearly like a level in your favorite Super Mario game would, but even better. It’s a stellar conclusion to what’s been a very colorful album filled with art and unique ideas…heck, I honestly consider this hidden gem to be an essential highlight that you definitely don’t wanna miss out on! Manuel’s music is certainly welcome in these speakers of mine any ol’ time…I am fantastically impressed by the level of innovation and imagination he brings to the scene, and feel like anyone out there looking to expand their sonic palette really can’t go wrong by listening to what he comes up with. I’m already looking forward to what he’ll come up with next – you should too.
oh do we arrives officially this March 7th – keep an eye and an ear out for it! Until then, make sure to keep tabs on Manuel Bienvenu by visiting his official site at: http://www.manuelbienvenu.com
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