by: Chelsea Bassler
Once upon a time, Dan Mangan was a starving musician unable to afford a back-up band and traveling the world on his own penny. Flash forward to today, and he is a Polaris Music Prize Nominee (alongside the likes of Owen Pallett and Caribou) and an iTunes chart topper. He is a modern day success story, with his music having gained popularity by word-of-mouth and the blogosphere.
The Canadian singer-songwriter fostered an early love of music. By age 10, he could play “Abbey Road” on the piano and he bought his first record, Aerosmith’s Get A Grip – yet this wasn’t exactly his musical inspiration. With two full-length albums under his belt (Postcards and Daydreaming and Nice, Nice, Very Nice) Mangan finds it difficult to place his style into any specific category. While Postcards has a very DIY acoustic folk-rock sound, Nice, Nice, Very Nice contains a mix of styles yet it maintains Mangan’s signature folk sound. Mangan explains, “[Nice, Nice, Very Nice] became about branching worlds together. There are a lot of one-two bluegrass bass lines on the record, but at the same time I don’t feel like it’s a bluegrass record. There are a couple of songs that are really mellow and guitar-vocal-heavy, but I don’t feel it’s a sappy singer-songwriter record. There are a couple of punk-rock fills, but it’s not a rock ’n’ roll record. I really don’t know where it fits in.” Although his fans seem to know where to place the album: Nice, Nice, Very Nice remained at the #1 spot on the iTunes Canada Singer/Songwriter chart for six months. Perhaps it is his stylistic versatility that has made Mangan such a hit; everyone can find their groove within his music.
One undeniable aspect of Mangan’s music is that it is deeply personal and honest. His sincere lyrics come from his life experiences, such as spending time with his grandfather (“Basket”) and his longing to be one of the cool kids (“The Indie Queens Are Waiting”). His songs have a way of reaching out to listeners, and his grizzly warm voice seems to sing only to you. So even though he may have moved up from playing intimate coffee shops to sold-out venues, Mangan will never feel far away.
Artist: Dan Mangan
Title: Postcards and Daydreaming
Label: File Under: Music
Genre: Indie : Folk
UPC: 875531001587
Territory: U.S.
Release Date: 07.10.07
Check out this Promotrack, which was named Best Song and Best Vocals of 2009 by Canada’s public broadcaster (CBC):
Dan Mangan
“Robots” (mp3)
from “Nice, Nice, Very Nice”
(Arts & Crafts)
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