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ESSENTIAL NEW MUSIC

Essential New Music: Man Forever’s “Play What They Want”

You have to peel away a few layers to get to Man Forever’s identity, but the purpose of this record is right there on the cover. Man Forever is singer/drummer/composer John Colpitts, a.k.a. Kid Millions of Oneida. Originally, the project applied the tonal relationships of minimalism to drums, and its touring incarnations have involved Chuck Berry-like pickup bands and a partnership with classical ensemble So Percussion. The Kid plays what he wants, and he has taken a shine to 21st century classical composition. So this time he’s recruited Yo La Tengo, Laurie Anderson and female vocal quartet Quince to bolster his own singing on five tracks that interweave chants, narrations and reverb-laden croons with layers of interlocking percussion, liquid guitars and acoustic instrumentation that could’ve been lifted from an Alice Coltrane record. When it’s on, which is most of the time, it’s deep and beyond category.

—Bill Meyer