MAN -- music lives in a no man's land between the genres, somewhere between rock, electronica, jazz and modern composition. As with all their recordings and live performances, everything here is improvised. Often being labelled jazz because of the improvising aspect of the music, MAN -- is just as likely to attract followers of bands such as Tortoise, Keith Jarrett, Robert Wyatt, Goodspeed You! Black Emperor, Sigur Ros, Pierre Bastien, (late) Talk Talk or Messian.
«Every thing here is matter of breath, appearances, disappearing, privacy ...dense cloud of shades drinking light. » MAN --
Bio MAN --
MAN -- is a free two-headed man, each head listening to the other, working as one with the music.
A duo consisting of multi-instrumentalists François Rasim Biyikli (piano, rhodes, melodica, guitars, noises) and Charles-Eric Charrier (acoustic bass, guitar, toys), MAN -- produces a rare and elegant form of electro acoustic music that touches base with unchartered territories where anything is possible and that baffles all definition : it is unusual and smart, luxurious and special. MAN -- shapes climatic variations, invites jazz, repetitive music, pop music. For the band, it is enough to deem its music to be stamped with freedom.
3 albums, a great number of tours through Europe, first productions, contributions with designer Pierrick Sorin’s, directors (Sébastien Betbeder, Bruno Podalydes, Marc Ponette, Pivanh, Martin Moimem and Gilles Peltier) for fictional short or long films and cartoon soundtracks, painters (Cyril Marie Borgner), choreographers (Cie Ecart Danse), Ys theatre, other musicians or bands (Clogs, Sylvain Chauveau, Lena, Orange Blossom, Chevreuil, Le Coq…), multimedia performances and cinema scores punctuated the trio’s life since the beginning. Such a perpetual process of creation gives MAN -- the opportunity to use their skill in the most diverse fields of expression and establishes their concern for realm of images.
MAN -- appeared with Tortoise, A Silver Mount Zion, Matmos, David Grubbs, Tarwater, Perry Blake, Clogs, Dominique A, Red, Laurent Garnier, Tindersticks, Noël Akchoté, Brigitte Fontaine, Plaid, Kronos Quartet, Merz, Emilie Simon, Goldmund, The Boats, Piano Magic, Daniel Darc, The Earlies etc......
Read the Full StoryHERE !
MAN -- discography
1999 '^' (Entropic/GCB) ep 7'
2000 'ARTHUR' (Autotomie/DSA) album cd
2002 'MAIN GAUCHE' (Man Music/DSA/Chronowax) album cd
2005 'HELPING HAND' (Man Music/Sub Rosa) album cd
MAN -- also appeared on compilations
2001 Test One (Nova records/Wagram) album cd
2002 Aquarella Song 2 (Aquarella/Wagram) album cd
up coming releases 2007
2007 'MAN -- & MOOSE HILL' (333 discs) album cd
2008 'Soundtrack around Buster Keaton' (Man Music/Sub Rosa) album cd
MAN -- Jukebox
MAN -- will frequently propose a selection of unrelease materials, soundtracks as some contribution projects.
MUSIC FOR FILMS & ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACKS
Extracts from "Des voix alentours" short movie by Sébastien Begbeder
Extract from "Un type disponible" short movie by Marc Ponette
Extracts from "Ys Theatre" MM by the Cpie Ecart Danse
SPECIAL PROJECTS - LIVE SESSIONS
Live Sessions @ Pannonica in Nantes with the instrumental quartet CLOGS
Live recording "HOWL" tribute to Allen Ginsberg
DOWNLOAD HERE
MAN -- music store
All the MAN -- albums are also available on MP3 & CDs. Contact US!
Our music is available on iTune Amazon AmieStreet
MAN -- in studio
Here is our headquarter ; mobile studio & workstation “L’Homme qui rétrécit†!!!
MAN -- reviews & airplays
::. BELGIUM + NETHERLANDS .::
MATAMORE "Pour se détendre, c’est un remède idéal. Pour s’endormir, c’est un calvaire. Dense et intéressante, belle et séduisante, la musique de Man ne laissera pas s’assoupir les esprits fatigués."
NAMELESS "Les plages de cet opus s'ouvrent comme une fleur au printemps et l'inspiration élégante du duo semble constamment intarissable. Et lorsque la voix apparaît, on se demande si personne ne vient de rentrer dans la pièce, si aucune bouche imaginaire ne nous susurre des poèmes longs de notes. Ces mêmes notes que touche le piano, par instant, et qui libèrent instantanément une atmosphère nébuleuse où il fait bon se lover. Et c'est une atmosphère éthérée qui vaporise mes pensées."
DE SUBJECTIVISTEN "Er zijn wel elementen te herkennen van Philip Glass, Pierre Bastien, Sylvain Chauveau, Matmos, Clogs, Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore, Keith Jarrett en Tape, maar meer dan flarden zijn het niet bij dit kameleonachtige duo. Man levert een intrigerende, prachtige soundtrack af voor alles wat duister en droefgeestig is."
::. FRANCE .::
INROCKUPTIBLES "an ageless album that carries the traces of time going by with grace… the time taken that you know is needed so that the music, liberated of the weight of habit and the constraints of fashion, can allow itself to sound as on the first day, all new, and happy in its loneliness."
VIBRATIONS "MAN deepens a very personal approach with a strong capacity of attraction. Its calming beauty surprises as much as it enchants."
TELERAMA "Only one scenic qualification: a rare acoustic phenomenon!"
LE MONDE "A restrained, but generous duo but generous. To such an extent that one could imagine a new relationship to the music: a purified approach, as clear as mountain water, clearly approaching limpidity."
::. GERMANY + AUSTRIA .::
DE:BUG "MAN bleiben also erfreulich seltsam. Manchmal wirken MAN wie eine neue Version diverser belgischer Art Rock-Acts der Achtziger. Ein beeindruckendes halb-akustisches Monsterchen." 5/6
INTRO "Mit lockeren, improvisiert erscheinenden Miniaturen, instrumentiert mit Rhodes, Piano, Bass, Gitarren sowie diversen elektronischen Sounds und Fieldrecordings, schwankt das Album zwischen ambitionierter Ernsthaftigkeit und augenzwinkernder Verspieltheit."
GROOVE "Einer idiosynkratischen Vorstellung von filmischer, atmosphärischer, improvisierter Musik gehen Man auf dem Album "Helping Hand" (Sub Rosa/Alive) nach. Mit allerlei Instrumenten stellt das Duo eine Umgebung aus Sorgfalt und Ungewissheit, der Ruhe romantischer Piano-Motive und knorrigen, ganz selbstverständlich in den Fluss geratenden Irritationen her."
TRUST "Eine Menge guter Musik da draussen, und wer ein wenig an den Rändern sucht, kann selten Schätze heben. Wie Diesen !"
HAYFEVER "Sub Rosa schenkt uns einen Score zu einem nicht vorhandenen Film. Mit konventionellen Instrumenten und leichten elektronischen Nuancen lassen zwei Franzosen Regentropfen vor dem inneren Auge fallen. Hier wird Atmosphäre wieder groß geschrieben."
MONOCHROM "MAN despite of an overall decline to aim at any special place, nevertheless aim high and wide. And good music needs good arc. That’s more important than anything else, most of the times. Reach out, touch, feel."
SKUG "Die meisten Musiker wären höchstwahrscheinlich schon an der Diskrepanz der beiden essentiellen Umgebungsvariablen »Wollen« und »Können« gescheitert. Nicht so Francois Biyikli und Charles-Eric Charrier, die gemeinsam das Duo Man bilden. Große Gesten und ein verschmitztes Augenzwinkern. Und wunderschöne Musik."
::. ITALY .::
KATHODIK "Noi ci rendiamo conto di essere inermi e di non poter far altro che continuare ad ascoltare e aspettare lo sviluppo della storia. Che si fa interessante, si, e intensa, avventurosa, finisce con…Compratelo e lo saprete."
UNMUTE "Un magnifico disco per crogiolarsi al sole della malinconia."
IL MANIFESTO "Interessante album, questo terzo del duo francese Man. Un album, si potrebbe dire, onirico, ma non perché noioso, tutt'altro; se ci si lascia trasportare si può viaggiare in un mondo parallelo, visionario. Brani per niente semplici e banali, in cui l'anima elettronica si fonde con l'acustica, a tratti magistralmente, come nella traccia che dà il titolo all'intero lavoro, con strumenti giocattolo che fanno da contraltare all'atmosfera sintetizzata."
::. SPAIN .::
RNE "Después de dos albumes editados en Les Disques Du Soleil, Man reinventan su historia trabajando ahora con el sello Sub Rosa en su tercer álbum, el disco titulado Helping Hand, en el que muestran su lado más sombrio y complejo, que dan al dúo una dimensión suplementaria."
::. SWITZERLAND .::
NAMSKEIO "Somewhere between contemporary music, post-rock and ambient. Imagine a meeting between YANN TIERSEN, GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR and MORTON FELDMAN."
LE TEMPS «Cauchemard à la David Lynch ou chagrin consommé, rien n’est jamais simplement désespéré chez MAN. Parcourue de programmations insolites, traversée de courant contraires, cette musique réserve des trésors à qui ose s’y abandonner sans idée préconçue. MAN a conservé cette manière insidieuse de tendre jusqu’à la rupture de ses amarres émotionnelles.»
MUSIQUE CHRONIQUES - DISQUE DU MOIS "En six ans, Man a acquis ce talent rare de concevoir un patchwork sonore à partir de petits bouts de rien, qui se révèle être au final évocateur en diable et d’une totale harmonie."
::. UK .::
THE WIRE "Their vast palette utilises piano, guitar, bass, accordion, melodica and electronics. The slow-spooling, filmic feel of their instant compositions are underscored by the invisible choreography of Ennio Morricone or Nino Rota."
::. USA + CANADA .::
POPMATTERS "Listening to Helping Hand is like your mind on the edge of sleep, when you’re not sure if the elements of your dreams have carried over into the waking world, or if it’s the other way around. This is the somnambulant journey you take with Man. It is beautiful, shadowy, and illusory. It will leave you hazy-headed and wishing to return. And this is okay; this is good. Allow your mind to follow the water’s downhill path. Let yourself go. Return."
BRAINWASHED "Man have really impressed me which is a shame because now I’m going to have to spend money on picking up their other releases. I’m hoping that they live up to my expectations and that Helping Hand isn’t a fluke work of brilliance."
CYCLIC DEFROST "French multi-instrumentalists Francois Rasim Biyikli and Charles-Eric Charrier make these twittering sonic flares, industrial machine loops, and wistful piano melodies hang in a delicate balance with one another such that a certain light sweep and guileless spontaneity is upheld."
ALL MUSIC GUIDE "The music¹s melodic qualities express a naivete close to Pascal Comelade, but Man’s ties with post-rock make it sound more like Godspeed or Landing on a sunny day."
FOXY DIGITALIS "MAN master their instruments and have a decent feeling for sound."
Ron Shepper“Helping Hand†captures the contrasting tendencies within Man's sound, with someone bemusedly rolling furniture across the stage while a chamber ensemble rehearses a pretty glockenspiel and piano piece. Never rushing the material, Biyikli and Charrier leave ample space between the notes on the acoustic jazz-influenced; the slowly curdling rhythms even sound like they're putting the two to sleep at times.
::. RADIO PLAYLISTS .::
AUSRALIA : Radio 2Ser, TRIPLE RRR, Eastside Radio...
BELGIUM : FM Brussels, Radio Centraal, Electrons Libres...
CANADA : CFRC FM, CHUO FM, LU Radio, CFUV, CO-OP Tadio, CHLY
FRANCE : Radio France, France Inter, FIP, France Culture, Radios Ferarock...
GERMANY : Radio Dreyeckland, Radio Z Nürnberg, Radio Lotte Weimar, Radio Blau Leipzig, Deutschlandfunk, Radar Radio Darmstadt, 603qm, Bayerischer Rundfunk
NETHERLANDS : VPRO, Radio 4 FM 89.1 FM
SPAIN : RNE
USA : WPKN, WFMU, WNYU, WXDU, WEFT, KBOO, Chicago Public Radio, WWUH, WRCT, 808 Noise, Death Valley Radio, Soma FM, KVRX, M50 Chicago…