Bio // Dan Mangan // Oh Fortune
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BIO // DAN MANGAN // OH FORTUNE Album: Oh Fortune Catalogue #: A&C062 Format: DD / CD / 1xLP Physical Release Date: September 27, 2011 Digital Release Date: September 27, 2011 Once a mere fresh faced folk singer from Vancouver, Canada, Dan Mangan now stands at the world’s doorstep. The evolution of Mangan’s music is instinctively in line with its breadth and sincerity. As his art has developed, so has the story behind its constant and exponential proliferation. The proof is in the countless European jaunts. U.S. tours with The Walkmen, Decemberists and Okkervil River. The two performances at Glastonbury. Multiple trips to Australia. NPR features, endless critical acclaim. Sold out theatres across Canada. The 2010 Polaris Music Prize short list nomination for his sophomore album Nice, Nice Very Nice capped a stellar year in which Dan won iTunes Album of the Year in the singer songwriter category, a trio of CBC awards and was named XM The Verge Artist of the Year. Mangan and his band experienced life-changing door openings, new challenges and wonderful opportunities across the globe. Indeed, Dan’s musical passport now bears stamps from places - figurative and literal - many artists will never visit. And so he arrived at the challenge of a new record. Oh Fortune, which itself arrives September 27 on Arts & Crafts, is a far more ambitious offering than its predecessor. A rich, textured, indie- folk(ish) statement that explores the genre’s boundaries with great influence from his band, which pushed Dan beyond his comfort zone sonically, even as he dug deeper within himself. “The sound has been stretched in different directions by the players and how they've warped my mind over the last few years,” Dan admits, adding, “I always simply aimed to surround myself with people who were creatively inspiring.” These players include free-jazz experimentalists Gord Grdina (guitar), Kenton Loewen (drums) and the inimitable John Walsh (bass), as well as a near orchestra that helped shape the production. There was also a ringer call to Seattle’s Eyvind Kang (Bill Frisell, Beck, Mike Patton, Marc Ribot) who helped write the lush arrangements on Oh Fortune. “And yet with all of this amazing musical influence, I feel like lyrically and song-wise it's more me than anything I've ever done.” Produced by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Cave Singers) at The Hive in Vancouver, Oh Fortune still shines with those key Mangan components - the gravelly voice, that basic human element - but this time, it comes with a more mature perspective on creative intuitiveness that can only come from years of teeth-cutting. “The last record did far more than I or anyone else thought it would… I felt like we stumbled ARTS & CRAFTS BIOGRAPHY • DAN MANGAN • OH FORTUNE • SEPTEMBER 2011 BIO // JASON COLLET // RAT A TAT TAT BIO // DAN MANGAN // OH FORTUNE of accidental inspiration, those strange, noisy intrusions coming from deep in the left channel. And, of course, you gottaby have accident groove. onto something In that spirit,that people Rat liked.a Tat I feel Tat now is Jasonthat if we Collett’s tried to recreate most something that already worked, I wouldn’t like it… and then they wouldn’t like it either,” Dan muses, “it has to be playful, robust and revelatorysincere, album and relevant, to date and — whatever once youwe’re getfeeling locked right now.” into the pocket of the sly T. Rex strut of “Lake Superior,” the stuttering funk of “Love Is a Dirty Word” or new-waved soul of “Love Is a Chain,” you realizeThat sentiment how many is mirrored interstate on Oh Fortunemiles tracksremoved like its we closer, are “Jeopardy,” from the which Motor addre Motelsses social borders and the walls we build, both real and imagined. Love Songs that first introduced Collett to the world at large back in 2003. Written on the road, where Dan lived for the majority of the last three years, these new songs But what’s most remarkabletackle about bold new Rat subject a Tat matter, Tat is playing how onwilling themes Collett of societal is to manipulation, bend and soldier reshap shelel -his familiar voice to suit theshock song — whether laying on a thick Dylan twang on the sublimely and urban sprawl with tracks like “How Darwinian,” “Rows Of Houses” and “Post War Blues.” gorgeous “Cold Blue Halo” (dig those heavenly harmonies in the home stretch), going down low to revel in the Lou ReedCurrents grittiness of mortality, of “Bitch isolation, City” and or desperationhamming run it throughup on thethe album, cheeky and yetKinks its title-gone comes- country travelogue “Vanderpoolfrom Dan’s Vanderpool.”reflection of a ticker Taken-tape parade as a celebrati whole,ng theyou return get of the Gertrude overwhelming Ederle to the sense of an artist who, despiteUnited States having in 1926. spent For a 20 heartbeat,-odd years she was in the the country’s rock biggest‘n’ roll celebrity. trenches, She hadis still just become the first woman to swim the English Channel, and simultaneously the new world- discovering new things aboutrecord himselfholder (previously and his held music, by a man). and who is willing to open himself up and get schooled by collaborators several years his junior. At the close of “Vanderpool Vanderpool,” Collett sings, “Jesus has Thereleft Chicago” exists in Oh — Fortune presumably this chaos ofnot juxtaposition. just for the It could sake be oftaken quoting as a sad an or olddark ZZ Top song, nor for the sakealbum, yetof musicallytipping itthe kicks hat with moreto a ferocity fellow and former tenacity thancarpenter, people may but expect rather from to Mangan. It debates melancholy while it anticipates incredible moments of glory and victory. underscore Rat a Tat Tat’sIt’s mostnot sad, valuable it’s simply lesson:honest. Life whether is just that. you’re god almighty or just a guy with a guitar, you’ve gotta keep moving, because there’s more work to be done. The result is an album void of predictability, that is distinctively Dan Mangan, infused with his wit and personality, yet completely distinguished from everything prior. Simply stated, Oh Fortune makes good on the promise of every song Dan’s ever written, while setting a new For additional information on Jasonstandard Collett pleasefor every contact: song he’s yet to write. To be sure, this release marks the arrival of a new voice, with world-class charm and a Canvas Media / Arts & Crafts universal appeal. Oh fortune, indeed. Brendan Bourke 460 Richmond Street West, #402 • Toronto, Ontario • M5V 1Y1 Tel. 416 203 2217 • Fax. 416 203 2208For additional • arts-crafts.ca information / canvasmedia.ca on Dan Mangan please contact: Arts & Crafts Artist websites: Aaron Miller & Brendan Bourke www.arts-crafts.ca/jasoncollett 460 Richmond Street West, #402 • Toronto, Ontario • M5V 1Y1 Tel. 416 203 2203 • Fax. 416 203 2208 • arts-crafts.ca www.myspace.com/jasoncollett Artist websites: www.danmanganmusic.com ARTS & CRAFTS BIOGRAPHY • DAN MANGAN • OH FORTUNE • SEPTEMBER 2011 CANVAS MEDIA / ARTS & CRAFTS BIOGRAPHY • JASON COLLET • RAT A TAT TAT• JANUARY 2010 .