indie queens are waiting
Dan Mangan is a Canadian from the fertile Pacific Northwestern coastal city of Vancouver, and makes marvelously crafted, beautifully arranged music. Recommended if you (like me) enjoy Josh Ritter, Luke Doucet, or on this song particularly, the male-female duets of The Swell Season or Damien Rice & Lisa Hannigan.
The first time I heard this song, I listened to it about 10 times on repeat. It is a nuanced waltz between his oaky, rough-hewn voice and her melancholy lilt. This entire album is gorgeous and smart, laced liberally with violins. I’m immersing myself in it lately.
The Indie Queens Are Waiting – Dan Mangan
Dan’s 2009 album Nice, Nice, Very Nice was just re-released last week on the superb Canadian label Arts & Crafts (Stars, Phoenix, Feist, and a whole bunch of other folks).
Listen here: highly recommended.
He is on tour everywhere in the coming months (oh wait, just not Denver). Last month he made it into the top ten Short List for Canada’s prestigious Polaris Prize (alongside folks like Broken Social Scene, Owen Pallett, and Tegan & Sara); he is an artist to watch.
[photo credit Jonathan Taggart]
Name: Heather Browne
Good stuff. Arts & Crafts seems to be on a roll…
Lizard McGee — August 19, 2010 @ 9:35 am
Oh, how lovely. Those brief moments of hesitation before he finishes a verse (e.g 29 seconds in and at 1:26) are stunning.
Koan — August 19, 2010 @ 1:22 pm
This voice sounds oh-so-familiar to another group you’ve featured on here, but I can’t for the life of me figure out who…
ForTheShorties — August 19, 2010 @ 2:58 pm
Hmm – mumford and sons? The voices are very similar, mumford is a bit more gruff…
ForTheShorties — August 19, 2010 @ 3:00 pm
The Wang’s friend, Mike, has been raving about Dan Mangan for the last year. This tune reminds Bart of ‘Never Be Your Gun’ by Jordan Fox & Shelley Adams. Both amazing.
http://www.reverbnation.com/#/jordanfox
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLueX6Q3GPo
You’ve got wonderful taste, Ms. Browne.
Bart Wang — August 19, 2010 @ 4:43 pm
Dan puts on a great show, find one near you and GO! Give a listen to Robots so you are ready for the big sing along.
Mike — August 20, 2010 @ 10:16 am
love it! Thank you so much for sharing. I loved the indie queens song, but the videos he did for indie queens and road regrets are amazing.
daren — August 20, 2010 @ 10:50 am
Fantastic! had no idea that he and wooden birds (good!) are playing here tonight. just got tickets. thanks!
Vanessa — August 20, 2010 @ 6:41 pm
the man’s got a couple cool videos too – i suggest Robots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4YOz3YF_JQ
chris — August 20, 2010 @ 8:23 pm
So glad to see you feature Mr. Mangan on your site. I stumbled upon his music when it was featured at a listening station at a local record store, then added him to MySpace to follow his tour schedule etc. only to find out at that point that he was from Vancouver and actually friends with some people I know. This has geared my attention even more to his continued success – The tour he is kicking off should bring great things for him.
I follow your blog often and quite often hear about bands and new tracks from you first. Again, very glad to see Dan featured. If you like ‘The indie Queens…’ you may also really like ‘Not What you Think it is’ from Postcards and Daydreaming – which is also very Rice and Hannigan – esque.
Ben — August 20, 2010 @ 8:25 pm
He is practically a celebrity here in Vancouver right now! Saw him do a little gig pre-Olympics and he was oh-so-charming (and even better than on record). I’m glad to see that Arts & Crafts re-released the album and are giving him some exposure in the U.S. “Road Regrets” will always be my favourite, even after it’s been played to death on local radio. Also, the guy who recommended “Not What You Think It Is” was bang on.
I know a guy who went to high school with Dan and I immediately told him to SET IT UP… future husband to the max.
Megan — August 21, 2010 @ 10:59 am
Vancouver represent! So happy that you featured this fantastic local artist.
Marisa — August 21, 2010 @ 11:20 am
His work with Shane Koycazan is devastingly beautiful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHZ4xoNvcY8&feature=related
There’s also a studio version – but the live one makes the world stop and your forget where you are for a minute.
Brian — August 21, 2010 @ 3:41 pm
Sounds wonderful, his voice seems able to communicate both fragility and emotion at the same time. I will definitely review this on my blog.
Tommy Danger — August 23, 2010 @ 11:16 am
Nice stuff. Love the track. Agree with Brian that the live version is amazing.
Zak Thomas — August 23, 2010 @ 12:01 pm
If you haven’t heard it yet, Journal of a Narcoleptic is simply brilliant.
Greg — August 23, 2010 @ 1:44 pm
I was intrigued by what I heard here and bought the album. So glad I did – I’ve been playing it nonstop for 3 days. Thanks so much for sharing your love of music with the rest of us.
Anne V. — September 5, 2010 @ 3:38 pm