Harry Manx
Mantras For Madmen
Dog My Cat Records – 13982
visit Harry's website
also available on cd baby
This is one of those smaller production discs that you may have to search around for, but the hunt becomes worth the effort when you put it in the player. Before we get to the music take a moment to go through the liner notes and see where the music comes from. Mr. Manx spent, “…the better part of twelve years n that ancient and beautiful landscape known as India.” This journey has a great bearing on his music both musically and in the way he constructs his songs. He went over to India in search of music and if this record is any indication he learned a lot more than just music. It a very interesting and eclectic blend of music that is rooted in the blues, yet he has incorporated the rhythms of India and some of the instruments, the tamboura and in particular the Mohan veena. The latter is played like a lap steel but has 7 strings plus resonator strings. He wrote all but two of the songs here, and for those
he didn’t write he picked good songwriters; J.J. Cale and Robbie Robertson. This disc has a strong bluesy undertone and a light feel, at times played on the Indian instruments where it can give a whole other feel. Take the J.J. Cale tune, San Diego-Tijuana, it has the same flow as the original but played with the lead instrument being tamboura and mohan veena, which adds a whole other dimension. The lyrics show that the time spent in India has had its effect upon his thinking also, again it is adding depth to the songs. A very interesting disc that seems to unfold and reveal new layers with each playing, a lot like taking an onion apart layer by layer.