Released in August 2020 on the Bedroom Community label, Manchester Collective’s debut EP is a little piece of drama combining music written across multiple centuries from Bach, to Vivaldi, to Ligeti, to Paul Clark.
I’ve been meaning to write about it for a while now but have like a lot of other projects been dragging my feet somewhat. Returning to the playlist just last week and listening to it back a few times, a few thoughts came to mind.
First that this collection of tracks reignites memories of the listening experience had when purchasing an album on vinyl or CD. Here is a collection of tracks ordered with a narrative in mind. Story emerges in the transition from one vaguely familiar track and something new. Imagination is triggered by this style of curation. A personal narrative emerges.
That’s something I remember Andre de Ridder articulating when I spoke to him about the Spitalfields Festival a few years back. He talked about the idea of not just listening to the music itself, but connectiong to the mood or thoughts which emerge when two seemingly disparate musical ideas are juxtaposed. Something occurs in the gaps between music that is every bit as powerful as the music itself. Or it might even add to the music. Or even take it in an entirely different location.
As it happens, this is I think what Manchester Collective were aiming for I discover now I come to read the promotional blurb.
‘Recreation’ is a mixtape. It’s picking up something warm, soft and familiar, and pricking your finger. There is real jeopardy in the playing, which is perpetually close to the edge of what is possible in sound and in colour.
Manchester Collective
At seventeen minutes or so, it feels like a mini-concept album more than a playlist or a mixtape, indicative of the kind of real-life Manchester Collective experiences audiences who are in the know have and certainly reminscent of the one I had at Kings Place or at Peckham last year. Only this has been translated as an audio event, successful not only because of the invigorating musicianship evident in the mix, but also in the polished marketing to accompany the product. There is a sophisticated aspiration in the way ‘Recreation’ looks that is matched by what is heard.
And they achieve a rare thing. They’ve re-introduced me to the music of Ligeti in such a way that I’m hungry to hear more.
Classic Manchester Collective.
Buy ‘Recreation’ on Bandcamp for as little as 4 Euros. WAV, MP3 or FLAC downloads available.
Listen to Adam Szabo in conversation on the Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast.
