Marc Manning

Experimental / Folk / Ambient

San Francisco, CA

Billboard

MARC MANNING
"AIR IN THE TREES"
Tract Records TR059 CD

Drawing influence from the forests of the Pacific Northwest, Portland-based artist/musician Marc Manning has crafted a collection of songs that explore the fears and joys we fill our days with. Throughout the EP's seven tracks, Manning (who also fronts the band Everything Is Fine, performs drone epics under the moniker Heavy Lids and is one third of the Red Weather Tigers collaborative with Tract Records label mates Grumpy Bear and Theath ) immerses you in a post-4AD swirl of guitars that are perfectly contrasted by his gentle cooing vocals. Despite the greenery often touched upon in these songs, this disc is more about man versus himself than nature. In the disc's standout track "U.G.," the spoon-bending antics of famed mentalist Uri Geller act as a metaphor for a moment of euphoria in an otherwise joy-free existence. What the song is suggesting is that changing our consciousness can be done as easily as Geller's cutlery parlor tricks. Elsewhere on the disc, Manning uses the wail of his electric guitar to ward off unseen forces that seem to be conspiring against him, as exemplified by the gorgeous "Storms" and the instrumental "Shakey." While the foes presented in those songs may not be tangible, the same can't be said for "Glass," a harrowing tale of a home invasion that was inspired by actual events. Ending the disc is "Moonlight Is Bright," the saddest shot at salvation you're ever likely to hear. But it's damn beautiful as well. This duality seems to reinforce Manning's ultimate message that you should immerse yourself in the good things while you can, because disaster might be waiting for you just around the corner.

review:
Marc Manning, "The Woods" from Air in the Trees (Tract Records)
July 16th, 2007 [12:35PM] Posted by: CHELSEA MORRISEY
The haunting high range of Portland-based musician Marc Manning's vocals, coupled with the rustic production quality of his most recent EP, Air in the Trees, gives the record a feeling of polite distance and mild inaccessibility. The music is thread together in a way that lets it exist all around you and nowhere around you at the same time, like a hovering blanket. Track four, "The Woods," is a perfect example of Manning's blanket of sound, with its hollow, subtle whistling behind the distorted guitar and bleeding vocals. Beyond being incredibly beautiful, this song seems to emerge from the organic spaces of the Northwest. If I believed in heart strings, I would tell you that Manning is pulling every one of them, collectively, like an orchestra. Instead, I will just say that this song makes me want to walk alone until I stop crying. About what, you ask? I'm not sure.
http://localcut.wweek.com/2007/07/16/marc-manning-the-woods-from-air-in-the-trees-tract-records/

ARTIST C/V
Marc Manning
Lights7@earthlink.net
Everythingisfine.net/marcmanning.html

Selected Exhibitions

-2006
"PORTLAND MODERN" GROUP EXHIBITION
PORTLAND ART CENTER ANNEX. Portland, OR

-2004
"NEW WORK, TRAVELED WORK" GROUP EXHIBITION
DISJECTA (disjecta.org) Portland, OR
"SCRATCH" GROUP EXHIBITION
HAZE GALLERY (hazegallery.com) Portland, OR

-2003
"DRAWING FOR IT" GROUP EXHIBITION
SPECTOR GALLERY (spectorspector.com) Philadelphia PA

-2002
"JURRIED MEMBERS EXHIBITION"
DELAWARE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART,
Wilmington, DE
"I WANT TO BE PART OF THE SCENERY" Group exhibition
NEXUS FOUNDATION FOR TODAYS ART, Philadelphia PA

-2001
"BURNING HOUSES AND OTHER THINGS"
Solo Exhibition at Spector Gallery, Philadelphia PA.
"27 COMPLAINTS" or "KEEPING TRACK OF NOTHING"
solo alumni Exhibition, THE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, Philadelphia PA.

-2000
"EVERYTHING IS FINE " or "DISASTER IS ONE STEP BEHIND YOU"
Solo Exhibition, NEXUS FOUNDATION FOR TODAY'S ART, Philadelphia PA.
"THE DEEP BREATH BEFORE IT COMES AGAIN PHOTOGRAPHS"
Fleisher Challenge Exhibition, The Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia PA.
"7 UP"
Group Exhibition, NEXUS FOUNDATION FOR TODAY'S ART, Philadelphia PA
Education
BFA in PRINTMAKING, 1996
UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, Philadelphia PA.

PUBLICATIONS: "ONE SHOT"/ VISUAL CODEC, 2007, PORTLAND MODERN ISSUE#4 2006