Manitoba – Start Breaking My Heart

Nice and flat pressing. The sound quality is good and there is minimal surface noise. The color is also very pretty. Buy a copy if you get the chance!

Back in 2001 when I bought this album I used to love it. It is electronic, jazzy, ambient all in one. I still enjoy to listen to it. The only thing I find annoying is that it is recorded really low, otherwise perfect.

Manitoba’s US debut comes in the form of START BREAKING MY HEART, which combines the Four Tet cut-paste-distort style of electronics, with the tones and melodies reminiscent of Boards of Canada. What is it with Canadians, anyway? “Dundas, Ontario” is a funky little number that maintains its IDM cred, while “People Eating Fruit” is much more quiet and emotive -- at least until the beat kicks in. There’s a strong rhythmical sense to these tracks, and they often times complement the melodies well, as in the echo-filled “Brandon,” the ebb and flow of “Schedules & Fares,” or the near-jazz of “Paul’s Birthday.” Others have rhythms that threaten to overwhelm the track, like the off-kilter breaks and cacophony of horns on “Mammals vs Reptiles” or the relentless drumming of “Lemon Yoghourt.” The remix of “Dundas, Ontario,” with its R&B vocal sample and more aggressive beat seems far removed from its forerunner, with only a whisper of the original’s melody. “Webers” has a spare quality to it, with two simple lines (a xylophone and a drum line) that intersect and separate throughout. A strange and fascinating album.