White Manna

White Manna

First Welcome

Centripetal Force / Cardinal Fuzz

***Centripetal Force and Cardinal Fuzz release the eighth full-length album from the ever evolving, veteran psychonauts White Manna. White Manna's longevity as one of the leaders of the modern psychedelic movement isattributed to their willingness to introduce new elements to their sonic , these moves were subtle, but as the band has moved on through the years,these moves have become much more pronounced, always leaving listeners wonderingwhat is in store for them as new releases are announced. So, here we are with FirstWelcome, an album that features warbled country leanings, airy blooms of ambience,and occasional hints of a German yesteryear, all implemented into the band's signaturehazy and spacey mosaic of sound. None of these developments are unexpected, as theydo build off of their previous album ARC, but here we see the band expand theseelements and really make them their own. It should be noted that First Welcome is a product of the COVID era, with much of therecording happening in quarantine or while socially distanced. The band's process reliedon communicating via email and sending music files back and forth. For White Manna this made the world of COVID both more fun and challenging, and they used theopportunity to get friends in different places to overdub tracks. Backing vocals and slideguitar were recorded while camping in the Mojave Desert. The saxophone was recordedin Liverpool. England. The trumpet sounds and some of the passages on the Rhodeswere laid down in Northern California, and much of the vocals, piano, and synthesizertracks were recorded...

White Manna

Arc

Centripetal Force

***Centripetal Force (in conjunction with Cardinal Fuzz for UK/Europe) presents the seventh full length album from veteran psychonauts WHITE MANNA. Long recognized as one of the leaders of the modern psychedelic movement, White Manna's ARC builds upon an already impressive discography and further develops the band's always evolving approach to sound and songwriting. This nine song journey sees the band exploring new directions that are more meditative in nature, a welcome development in light of the current state of world affairs. The song "Mythic Salon" certainly demonstrates such intent, as well as growth. ARC, the band’s first release since last year's Ape on Sunday, was recorded at guitarist ANTHONY TAIBI's 3D Light Studios in Humboldt County, California. The songwriting this time around took on more of an inward process, both musically and thematically. This shift allowed for more spontaneity and improvisation than their previous efforts. This was especially true when it came to translating musical passages that had already become part of the band's live repertoire. ARC is not a concept album per se, but its focus on such an omnipresent icon certainly leaves the listener a variety of avenues for interpretation, making this the most daring and unique album in the White Manna discography. Edition of 500 copies. (STREET DATE - 8/28/2020)

White Manna

Ape On Sunday

Cardinal Fuzz

***Cardinal Fuzz are proud to present to you Ape On Sunday—the 6th Long Player from Arcata, California’s WHITE MANNA. Recorded over a period of time that saw front man DAVID JOHNSON return home to Massachusetts to spend time with his family after a traumatic event. While away Dave and ANTHONY (back on board fully for this new LP) tackled the recordings they had started while TAYAN and JOHNNY laid down the drum and bass tracks and MIKE DIETER also rejoined White Manna to lay down some synth parts (honing a Klaus Schulze vibe). When Dave returned to Humboldt they at long last got down to finishing the LP. Ape On Sunday takes its inspiration and title from a Robert Zimmerman poem in his poetry book/novel—Tarantula—a stream of conscious / cut up style prose from ’66. You can feel how the life experiences over the last year have seeped, shaped and informed Ape On Sunday which is the bands most intimate release since Come Down Safari. It’s a heady hypnotic mix that at times plays like psychedelic meditations and at others like music for a post apocalyptic movie. The Redwood canopies of Northern California’s Emerald Triangle still influence White Manna but there sound here is heading out in a more experimental direction where the music is more kosmische in style with sounds wreathed in mist and vapors, droning synths and shimmering guitars. Ape On Sunday finds White Manna re-entering the stratosphere and floating back down to the dense redwood forest of...

White Manna

Pan

Captcha Records / Cardinal Fuzz

***AVAILABLE AGAIN!!! We’ve been waiting for astral travelers WHITE MANNA to return from last year’s Come Down Safari. And apparently White Manna has oriented their vessel of noise back to Earth, because their new album Pan (named after the Greek god of nature) is here. On this new album, White Manna paints landscapes with their sound. Pan ebbs and flows like the Pacific tides, leaning heavily on Stooges-esque Raw Power, then expanding the atmosphere in the manner of Hawkwind’s Silver Machine. The Pan tracks have been perfected through live performance during the band’s recent European tours, including high-profile gigs such as Liverpool Psych Fest. The album recording was dialed in at the Compound Manila and laid to tape at Lucky Cat Recording by PHIL MANLEY. The psychedelic mazes on the cover art are brought to you by the amazing, AP SHREWSBURY. CD version features two bonus tracks. LP version includes a download with the bonus tracks.

White Manna

Bleeding Eyes

Agitated / Cardinal Fuzz

Following an incredible one-two brace of releases on Holy Mountain, a release on Valley King, a limited live album (Live Frequencies) and then their last sonic attack (Pan) on Cardinal Fuzz in 2016, White Manna releases their new studio album as part of a joint venture between Cardinal Fuzz and Agitated Records.Unleashed at the end of September in Europe to tie in with a UK / EU tour that features another sure-to-be main-stage-storming appearance at Liverpool Psych Fest, Bleeding Eyes is the sound of the band soaring and searing with riffs and grooves that float their own take on sike rock to a higher plane! Eight tracks deliver serious motorik action along the way, with lo-fi pop glaze over the top of solid rhythmic pummel. Riffs, one asks? Oh yes—great rafts of guitar interplay blitzing the ears in a dronesome scree, ricocheting through space and time to transport all to sonic enlightenment.

White Manna

Come Down Safari

Valley King

***"It's about time Arcata, California produced a spacey psych band, don't ya think? It is, after all, the home of drop-out hippies and farmers of Mary J. Wanna. Happily, we report that Humboldt County's sons are just as tripped out on distortion and fuzz as the new wave of other space-rock outfits—Lumerians, White Hills, Sweden's just plain 'ol Hills, and a whole host of other bands whose names may or may not contain the word ‘owl.’ But judging by the album art, WHITE MANNA don't want to travel space so much as explore the dense redwood forests of their homeland. What has this quartet found in the thick of those gentle giants? 1. Massive volume, on levels akin to that of a Who concert. 2. Crazy wah-wah sounds and spiraling guitar solos, like you just took a hit off a four-footer for the first time since 10th grade. 3. Vocals shouted from the depths of a tunnel. Best of all, White Manna distinguish themselves with their ability to hang a song on the nail of a bluesy hook. Further, they forego slow build-ups and tend to cut to the chase pretty quickly.”—Aquarius Records. Pressed on picture disc vinyl with artwork by ALAN FORBES in and edition of 500 copies.  

White Manna

Dune Worship

Holy Mountain

White Manna returns to prove just how deep their thrust is. Dune Worship, the Arcata, California, group’s sophomore album, follows in the vein of last year’s self-titled debut, mining another batch of primal, outward-bound jams that reek of eternity.  “Transformation” channels prime-time Hawkwind, evoking that sense of zooming headlong in endless flight with every atom buzzing. Like the best space-rock songs, it intensifies and ascends ever higher as it goes. The staunch, towering riffs of “X Ray” are as foreboding as the next report from the EPA. This is White Manna’s idea of a power ballad… until it accelerates in the last minute and leaves the listener blissfully charred.  The speedy yet smooth “I’m Comin Home” could be the recurring theme for that impossible sequel to Easy Rider, while the ten-minute “Illusion of Illusion” simmers with astral, meditative menace—a massive, billowing specimen of rock that glows like the earth’s inner core. The epic finale, “Solar Returns,” is as majestic and momentous a climax as one would expect from these profound pros, whose singleness of purpose remains irrepressible and righteous.

White Manna

S/t

Holy Mountain

White Manna plays space rock using a scorched-earth policy. The Arcata, California, quartet may telegraph where they’re coming from and where they’re going to take you with their track titles, but knowing the itinerary doesn’t dampen the thrill of their excursion into stellar depths. Opening track “Acid Head” is not false advertising. It begins with an amiable boogie-rock amble before tumescing into stentorian, Loop-like riffing. You know that you can count on White Manna enveloping your head in the Asheton brothers’ genius string thuggery and convulsing you with the primordial throb harnessed by the Stooges (and, later, Hawkwind), before sonic irony was invented. For most of White Manna, the group focuses on mantric riffs that accelerate into speed-freak, headbanging frenzies. But on “Don’t Gun Us Down,” they throw a change-up, setting the science-fictional scene with billowing solar winds before shifting into a mantric cruiser over which a wah-wah guitar articulates a hedonist manifesto—something along the lines of “fire all of your guns at once and explode into space.” White Manna don’t dazzle with eclecticism; instead, they’re monomaniacs with the irrepressible ability to soar out of the mundane and into the unknown via tried-and-true methods upgraded to modern 21st century specs.   'Mirror Sky' By White Manna by GOLDSTARPR