Cheap Mantissa (Music) (Building A Working Model) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Mantissa

Junkmedia.org Review - Modern baroque pop
The paralyzing melancholy of Brian McGrath's songwriting first grabbed me in 1994 when I received a tape in the mail with six tracks by an upstart Chicago trio called Wendyfix. McGrath was one of the act's songwriters, and shared those duties with a classy fellow who gained some renown fronting the criminally overlooked and now defunct Haywood. The mixtape is mine and you can't have it, but there is a Wendyfix seven-inch featuring McGrath's "Silence" on the B-side that's well worth tracking down. Particularly if, like me, you are smitten by Building A Working Model.

Mantissa, a partnership of McGrath and laptopper Nathan Jones that is abetted by a bevy of friends, bills itself as lying stylistically between the Notwist and Red House Painters, but that doesn't really cover it. What Mantissa delivers is a mature take on mid '90s indie pop. All the hooks and understated vocals from McGrath's earlier work remain, but they are dolled up with sophisticated compositions and imaginative production. Mantissa's arsenal includes complementary laptop beats and live drumming, as well as guitars, bass, a fleet of machines that go ping and some strings. The product is a masterful set of modern baroque pop: the subtleties are subtle, the delivery is genuine and the writing is smart.

The record gets down to business with an obvious single, "Airport," which shuffles in with a laptop beat and slyly inserts a crushing lyric ("I am convinced that come the end of this you will be better off with him") into a bouncy chorus. Following that is a horde of solid numbers that don't betray their charms as quickly. "HS Dance," another highlight, offers a tuneful play-by-play of an awkward night at the school social. The plodding verse in "Boy From Oregon" touts odd oboe squelches and vibrato bells over strident acoustic guitar strumming; the song opens with the smile-inducing line "this is where the DJ scratches... scratch, scratch." "Nosedive" strikes paydirt with its portrayal of a relationship in disconnect ("You say 'why cant you imagine something happy?' but I say 'the automatic pilot is laughing'"). The live drums on this number, though minimal, really pop from under the vocal and guitar in the chorus.

Building A Working Model, as the name suggests, is not all hits. The final two tracks, particularly "Chasing 8s," stumble with overly repetitive lyrics. Even so, if this is the working model, Mantissa could do a hell of a lot worse. This record is shaping up to be one of my favorites of 2003.

Jay Breitling
Junkmedia.org Review

---

good stuff
just plain old good. It is relaxing and puts the listner into a relaxed mood.