3. ManWelsh-Connection
They’re a funny band, Man, because they were always on the fringes of being really successful but they didn’t really hit the big time. But they did well in America, and for this, the line-up had changed a tiny bit and it causes a lot of conjecture among their fans, but it’s just beautiful. Actually, I’ve got a sneaking feeling that My Morning Jacket must be fans of Man, because there’s stuff on Welsh-Connection which sounds very much like MMJ on their album Circuital. The cover is a mock-up of the French Connection movie poster, so you can sense the mood of everything, but the actual song ‘The Welsh Connection’ is just amazing. There’s a certain 70s, deep-brown and depressed mood to it, but it kind of flies as well. It’s what you imagine the 70s to be like; you imagine them being devoid of fantasy, so you had to lift yourself above the strikes and the power cuts and the joblessness and the overcooked beige food. You imagine that there’s no fantasy for you to actually plough, and you’ve gotta just rise above it and try and dream. That’s why I love this record; it feels like you’re floating above reality and the brownness of the 70s, and it’s trying to get somewhere. I’ve always found Man intriguing, because they’re a west Walian band but they were making music that was very much competing with some of the best American West Coast prog-rock bands or rock bands, and I always find that intriguing – when a band tapped into something that was not of their typography or geographical situation. It’s just a beautiful record, and a lot of their fans don’t actually think it’s their best, but I think it’s their best by a mile.
