Saturday, April 23, 2011

113. MANGANESE MADNESS "DAME"


this next track came as a complete revelation to me, i was left dumbfounded, et am still reeling from the initial impact, i must say that i'm always thankful when a song like this comes along to reaffirm the fact that music can still have {in this 'over-saturated musical age'} a potent et resounding effect, what track am i ranting about, well Dame of course! the latest track from New York-based artist extraordinaire Pascal Troemel aka Manganese Madness off a forthcoming, yet to be titled EP.

"Now as she got fame / don't act like a dame / it's just not the same ..."

just when i thought i had an angle on who the enigmatic Pascal Troemel {aka Billie Hilltop} was/is he recasts himself in the guise of Manganese Madness, his psyched-out, bright red bob wig wearing alter-ego, half Norman Bates, half Candy Darling, one thing is clear, this dame can rock!

"We're going insane" Manganese/Troemel dryly pronounces at the outset, crooning away like a burnt out superstar from the Warhol Factory, before unleashing an incredible, mind numbingly awesome fuzzed-out, euphoric cacophony of noise. Troemel cleverly builds his track, kicking things off with an ambling, murky, throbbing bassline before busting out an ecstatically abrasive, monolithic grinding guitar, a tambourine jingles away warmly while a reverb-laden snare drum is beaten half to death, added into the mix are various hallucinatory oral samples, eerie, warbling voices, like feedback from another time et place.

Dame is a wonderfully schizophrenic track, it sparks off a myriad of fond musical semblances from the 60s, The Velvet Underground/Lou Reed et Skip Spence along with late 80s, early 90s angst-laden alt/grunge rock, like the Pixies et Beck to name a few, this is not a bad insane asylum to be stuck in, it makes for one hell of a jam session.

Troemel's experimentation both sonically et visually is riveting stuff, it's hard to separate the two, i find the music gains so much from experiencing Troemel's deliriously eccentric video performances. it's quite an amazing feeling, an excitement, to be witnessing an artist who has truly come into his own creatively, i for one am grateful he allows us access to his unique creations. well, once again i'm left anxious to see where it is all gonna end up, this is wonderfully unpredictable et innovative stuff, Troemel keeps us guessing which is what great music should do, this EP is going to be something else! enjoy!


MP3: Dame

check out the sublime, warhol-esque music video for Dame, with a no-fi glam-rock edge for good measure, again, i'm really liking the stripped back, single shot, performance based approach to Troemel's videos, these are something truly special, part musician part performance artist, i'd kill to see this guy live!


you can purchase the Dame single digitally online from itunes.

you can find Manganese Madness here: manganesemadness | facebook | 8NR

et if you haven't heard or seen Birdie Hilltop's The Ready Dance then check out my post here!

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