A decade and a half hiatus since his last (Awash, 2012) brings new skin for the old ceremony with True Bypass on familiar ground yet with a sense of refresh.
Like Manual, Billow Observatory purveys work of delicacy and poise, and Resina is never less than engaging, frequently compelling.
Permeating light-shade boundaries
Over the years Jonas Munk has traversed various pathways, mainly linking ambient-electronic with post-rock and shoegaze. As Manual, his stock-in-trade of offsetting hazy synth and gazey guitar with sharp beats instituted on Until Tomorrow (Morr Music, 2001) piqued palates with a cocktail of ambient, Warped ELM, dream-pop, space-rock, post-rock and indie-tronica, home-brewed with a few analog synths, guitar + pedals, sampler and 8-track—an equation of roughly Eno + AFX + Slowdive + Windy & Carl + Seefeel. Heady stuff indeed back then, the blend of organic instruments with analog synth and post-digital glitch further honed on Ascend (Morr Music, 2002) came into alignment with a then-burgeoning variant of Euro-electronica (cf. Ulrich Schnauss, Múm, Four Tet), taking in a more freestyle ambient-downtempo sound (cf. Azure Vista, 2005; Bajamar, 2006). Two and a half decades on from the debut, meet the new Manual.
Same as the old…? True Bypass is something of a return to roots, hazy synth and guitar artfully crafted along with spindly beats, an oneiric harmonic tenor permeating light-shade boundaries. A penchant for deploying a range of sound sources is evident, imbued for all its electronic provenance with organic warmth from vintage synth and hardware. At the same time, a decade and a half hiatus since his last (Awash, 2012) brings new skin for the old ceremony with True Bypass on familiar ground yet with a sense of refresh. Still, a certain distinction, and distinctness—noted by critics over the years (‘Munk infuses each crackle and keyboard note with a passion that’s missing in the work of many of his contemporaries,’ (Allmusic); ‘musings of so many of his peers feel conceptually thin and prefabricated in comparison to Manual‘s wandering, curious anthems.’ (Pitchfork)—lends it an enduring quality.
True Bypass is available on Darla [Bandcamp]
Guitar tones suspended like dust motes in filtered light-rays
Munk teams up with Jason Kolb to re-man their Billow Observatory for Resina, a 7-track EP follow-up to last year’s The Glass Curtain. Billow Observatory has been operating since 2006, though the two have previous, Kolb’s credentials notably going back to Auburn Lull and Michigan’s space rock scene, Munk’s to Manual, of course (though note early Ulrich Schnauss team-up and other productions). Over time their mix of ambient, dream-gaze and drone has shifted from the s/t debut (2012) of little fluffy cloud-driftscapes through II: Plains/Patterns (2017) and III: Chroma/Contour (2019) to Stareside (2022)), adding pulse’n’atmo for a kind of ambient techno, and other shapes and forms, overall gradually opening out and letting in, while retaining essential minimalist spirit.
Resina retains the overall ethos of The Glass Curtain, aligned with the debut’s beatless habitus after giving more electronica-leaning influences voice in the interim. Though a soft and delicate demeanor may prevail, the confection is far from all cotton candy, with beat dalliance off, hazy gauze mode on, spacy shape-shifting slow-mo guitar loop and billow (observe!) over field recording crepitations; in slightly more upful mood with melodic resonance from the outset, “Petricho” setting tone with ambivalent cloud-drift languor, “Carrier” sustains the narcotized vein, slowly building with guitar tones suspended like dust motes in filtered light-rays. The likes of “Bukhta” and “Ashen Clock” find them at their most elliptical yet evocative, dusty synth limning a harmonious, vaguely queasy, pellucid acousmatic soundfield, its seven parts tending to merge into a euphonic whole. Like Manual, Billow Observatory purveys work of delicacy and poise, and Resina is never less than engaging, frequently compelling.
Resina is available on felte [Bandcamp]
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