No-man
| No-man | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) |
Art rock , trip hop , alternative rock, dream pop |
| founding | 1987 |
| Website | http://www.no-man.co.uk |
| Current occupation | |
| Steven Wilson | |
| Tim Bowness | |
| former members | |
violin |
Ben Coleman |
No-Man is a British art pop duo. It was founded in 1987 under the name No Man Is An Island (Except The Isle Of Man) by singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson . So far the group has released six studio albums.
Band history
Prehistory (1986 to 1989)
No-Man was originally a solo project by Steven Wilson founded in 1986 under the name No Man Is An Island (Except The Isle of Man) . At that time he recorded the instrumental From A Toyshop Window , in which he mixed elements of progressive rock with those of synth-pop . In 1987 he teamed up with singer, lyricist, casual guitarist and keyboardist Tim Bowness , who was singing in the Liverpool art pop band Plenty at the time . Both musicians brought a variety of musical influences and ideas into the joint project and recorded two very different pieces on the first day of their collaboration: on the one hand the epic-atmospheric ballad Faith's Last Doubt and on the other hand the aggressive Screaming Head Eternal .
Wilson and Bowness will continue their recording work together for the next two years. Some of these recordings appear on the Speak album ten years later . The recordings were influenced by the style of minimal music and artists of the 4AD label such as This Mortal Coil and the songwriters Nick Drake and Scott Walker .
At the end of 1988, violinist Ben Coleman became a member of the project, having previously participated in several Wilson and Bowness recording sessions. Guitarist Stuart Blagden , who, like Bowness, had played in the Manchester-based group Still , completed the line-up in 1989. On the play The Hidden Art Of Man Ray are first heard Coleman and Blagden.
No Man Is An Island's debut single was the waltz-beat ballad The Girl From Missouri , released in the summer of 1989. Disappointed by the lack of success of the single, the band soon turned it down. In the period that followed, the band flirted with aggressive synth pop . Blagden eventually left No Man Is An Island .
The Pop Era (1990 to 1994)
Around 1990 the group shortened their name to No-Man and became a trio . Influenced by groups like Public Enemy and A Tribe Called Quest , No-Man incorporated dance and hip-hop influences into their art-pop sound. The first release under the new band name was the June 1990 released single Colors , which was a cover version of a title by Donovan Leich from the 1960s. The single attracted some attention and gave No-Man a record deal with the independent label One Little Indian , which at that time had The Shamen and Björk under contract.
During this time the group received very benevolent support from the British music media. Including several recognitions as "Single Of The Week" in Melody Maker , Sounds and the Irish music magazine Hot Press . With Days In The Trees and Ocean Song, they had two songs in the indie top 20 hits.
No-Man's first mini album Lovesighs - An Entertainment was a compilation of previous EPs and was released in April 1992. In October of the same year the group toured England. The six-member cast included the former members of the Japan group Mick Karn , Steve Jansen and keyboardist Richard Barbieri . The first album Loveblows & Lovecries - A Confession was released in May 1993 and was more pop-oriented. At that time the live cast included bassist Silas Maitland and drummer Chris Maitland . In 1994 No-Man released their second album Flowermouth . The recordings on it were much more ambitious than on their debut album. Guest musicians included Richard Barbieri, Steve Jansen, Robert Fripp and Ian Carr . Although the group split from Ben Coleman during the recording, he made a significant contribution to most of the recordings on the album.
Turning to art rock (1995 to 2000)
From 1994 No-Man gave no more live concerts. The two albums released in 1996 ended the first phase of the band's history. With each subsequent release, the group moved away from their more conventional rock and pop origins, mirroring the development of artists such as Talk Talk , David Sylvian , Radiohead , Scott Walker and Kate Bush . The 1996 album Wild Opera and the subsequent mini album Dry Cleaning Ray (1997) explored a combination of darker dance sounds, experimental art rock and intensified trip-hop, while maintaining No-Man's particular fondness for ballads. In 1999, the group released Speak, a compilation of previously unreleased early ambient songs that had been recorded a decade earlier, but which Bowness and Wilson considered to be equivalent to the music published on the One Little Indian or 3rd Stone Ltd labels .
Return to the song-like (from 2000)
Speak's calmer and more atmospheric sound pointed the way to No-Man's other releases. On Returning Jesus from 2001, they revived and expanded the eclectic ballad, jazz and progressive rock influences of Flowermouth . The album introduced the group to a new audience. After No-Man signed a deal with the Snapper Music label , they released the studio album Together We're Stranger in 2003 , a dark, moving album. In 2006 No-Man gave one of their rare live concerts. On May 12, 2008, the studio album Schoolyard Ghosts was released, which received some of the best reviews in the band's history. The Classic Rock Magazine called it "truly sublime". Guest musicians included Pat Mastelotto , Theo Travis , Gavin Harrison , Colin Edwin , Bruce Kaphan (ex- American Music Club ) and The London Session Orchestra (directed by Dave Stewart ).
On May 27, 2008 it was announced that No-Man's music would be used in an award-winning film by student filmmaker Dan Faltz. The film is based on the writings of Dennis Cooper . After 15 years there was an extensive live performance for the first time on August 29, 2008 in London's Bush Hall . This performance was followed by two more concerts in Zoetermeer and Düsseldorf on September 3rd and 4th . The concert in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands, was No-Man's first appearance outside of Great Britain.
The sold out London gig was published in October 2009 on the double DVD Mixtaped , which also contains a documentation of the band's history and selected promo videos. An audio CD Highlights from Mixtaped , which contains selected audio material from the live performance, was enclosed with initial online orders .
On September 26, 2019 the duo announced that they would release their new album " Love You To Bits " on November 22, 2019 . The album will be the first studio album in eleven years.
Current live cast
On the mini-tour in 2008, No-Man appeared in the following cast :
- Tim Bowness - vocals
- Steven Wilson - guitar
- Stephen Bennett - keyboards
- Pete Morgan - bass guitar
- Michael Bearpark - guitar
- Steve Bingham - electric violin
- Andy Booker - Electric Drums
During the London performance, former, original no-man violinist Ben Coleman was a guest at the performance of Things Change .
Discography
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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| Albums | ||||||||||||
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Studio albums
- 1993: Loveblows & Lovecries - A Confession
- 1994: Flowermouth
- 1996: Wild Opera
- 2001: Returning Jesus
- 2003: Together We're Stranger
- 2008: Schoolyard Ghosts
- 2010: Wild Opera (new edition)
- 2019: Love You to Bits
Compilations, mini albums, and more
- 1992: Lovesighs - An Entertainment
- 1995: Heaven Taste
- 1995: Flowermix
- 1997: Dry Cleaning Ray
- 1998: Radio Sessions: 92-96
- 1999: Speak
- 2001: Lost Songs Vol 1
- 2006: All The Blue Changes - An Anthology 1988-2003
DVD video
- 2009: Mixtaped
Singles and EPs
- 1990: Colors
- 1991: Days in the Trees
- 1992: Ocean Song
- 1993: Sweetheart Raw
- 1993: Only Baby
- 1993: Painting Paradise EP
- 1994: Taking It Like a Man
- 1996: Housewives Hooked on Heroin
- 1998: Carolina Skeletons
- 2003: All That You Are
- 2007: The Break-Up for Real
- 2009: Wherever There Is Light
Individual evidence
- ^ Kscope »Blog Archive» No-Man European dates announced . Kscope. June 16, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
- ↑ Weak Species ( Memento of the original from June 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Bush Hall
- ↑ No-Man in the British charts
