Review: Manuel and the Electric Fish - Someone's Stolen My Soup Recipe

A lovely, strange album this one. Manuel and the Electric Fish actually recorded 'Someone's Stolen My Soup Recipe' back in 2011 but has got a release via East Records (East Records are a new label based in Edinburgh and who have also given a release to The Green Tambourine Band's 'Let Yourself Be/Aum' album that was reviewed by this blog last year and made my albums of 2014 list....so East obviously have fine taste!) Anyway, back to the business at hand. 'Someone's Stolen My Soup Recipe' is something new on the psych scene....it channels the spirit and poetry of the beat poets and John Cooper Clarke and mixes it with the lyrical dexterity of Morrisey (yeah, I know, but he written some fantastic, witty lyrics) all backed by some eastern influenced psychedelia. It all comes together to form a trippy, intelligent record that oozes character and imagination.

The album starts with 'Jack's House', a short track (under a minute long) that tells a story about Jack, a strange woman and a carton of milk. It may be short but does act as an appetiser for what is to come. 'Three Ways To Cry' starts with some groovy, seventies wah-wah guitar and jazzy drums before Manuel's distinctive voice and the poetry begin....and it is poetry. The use of words and imagery is top class and very clever without being 'up itself' and there are many soundbite couplets and one-liners ("my car alarm will tell you when it's time to say goodbye"). Throughout the duration of this long poem there is no let-up in the funky backing music - the wah-wah guitar and some lovely drones. It all makes for good listening. "The Water Is Cold" is another short ditty, this time about, funnily enough, cold water and it is followed by 'The Rain', again backed with some beautiful, lilting psych. The poetry is probably a bit more 'obvious' but does not suffer for this. 'Look To The East' is another long track (twelve and a half minutes) and is introduced by some eastern drones and tribal drumming which continue throughout, providing a musical counterpoint to some more witty, incisive poetry. The album is brought to a close by 'A Dilated Mind' which is a rap pastiche and sounds like early 'Credit To The Nation' albeit with some more lush psychedelic wah-wah.

As a whole, the album has a lo-fi feel to it and took me back the early/mid eighties for some reason, when performance poets like Mark Miwurdz and John Hegley were 'big' and Phil Jupitus (as Porky The Poet) opened for Billy Bragg. What makes this album so much more impressive is that it was "completely improvised, live and strictly spontaneous". The psych background music embues it with a mystical feel which is grounded by Manuel's very English voice and delivery. As the man himself says:"Don't live by these words, just listen to them''. It is an album that is centred around the lyrical quality of words and for that reason it is an album that needs to be listened to....wouldn't work as background music, but well worthworth putting aside forty minutes to check it out. It can be streamed, or even better, bought via the East Records Bandcamp page here.