Although Man Forever was created by John Colpitts as a kind of Metal Machine Music for drums, there’s more to it than just percussion. The backbone of Man Forever is really what happens beneath the surface. According to Thrill Jockey Records, “the sounds created by these instruments were based on the drones that Colpitts hears when he is practicing (the not fully conscious singing or humming that arises when one practices alone), and are then augmented and enhanced by the other musicians on the record. The repetitive rolls create a phasing effect, a music in and of itself, and the dynamic shifts that occur when the other instruments enter become not mere notes, but grand events.”
In the live environment, these effects are amplified through volume and duration, with songs sometimes lasting forty minutes. To make the shows even more spectacular, on various occasions, Kid Millions has been joined onstage by Brian Chase (Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs), James McNew (Yo La Tengo), Chris Baio (Vampire Weekend), and others.
Man Forever’s latest effort is a three-track, 45-minute epic called Pansophical Cataract, and he’ll bring it to the Soda Bar on 12/15. Part of the ongoing Thrill Jockey 20th Anniversary Tour, the show (which will also feature experimental outfits Trans Am, High Places, and Life Coach), should be earsplittingly good. In anticipation of the show, Kid Millions provided us with his list of influences. Check it out:
Poetic Memory: Kid Millions
Vincent Bugliosi: Best known as the prosecutor who put Charles Manson behind bars and co-wrote the book Helter Skelter, Bugliosi is a writer who’s preternatural grasp of the “facts” of a particularly squishy situation will allow you to put aside your existential dread for the few days you spend in his company in order to read his books.
Doug Sahm: When is someone going to write a proper book about this troubadour’s incredible artistic life? How does someone churn out an amount of music of such unparalleled quality that you start to take him for granted? Then he dies.
Zach Hill: Not just for the technique, which is prodigious…but for his humility and kindnesses. You know there’s a true great behind the music he makes.
Sightings: For almost fifteen years of uncompromising musical fearlessness.
Sun Ra: For pioneering DIY. The first and the best.
David Lowery: For the music and the fight he’s waging for fair revenue for artists in the digital age.