Mp3 of the Day: Robert Joseph Manning Jr. "Down in Front"

Like a Tom Waits song on a Punk-O-Rama compilation, the work of Roger Joseph Manning Jr. surrounds a knowledge for elaborate composition with a variety of discrete yet collectively accessible pop genres. Manning's own bands, Jellyfish, Moog Cookbook and TV Eyes, may prompt less general recognition than those he has supported live or in session, including Beck, Air and Blink-182, but both sides of his professional catalog demonstrate a distinct synth-branded versatility. Such a balance of piano and fuzz is especially manifest on his solo albums, Solid State Warrior/The Land of Pure Imagination (2006) and the subsequent Catnip Dynamite (Japan 2008).

The latter release, now available only in Japan, is scheduled for a February 3 U.S. debut. "Down in Front" is its first single, a track representatively both fun and multifarious, and not entirely dissimilar from a local Sebastian Tellier. The Los Angeles-based Manning has said that ideas for some of the album's songs started in 1985, meaning fans have technically been waiting 23 years to hear this.

Listen to (download):
"Down in Front"

Catnip Dynamite is available now in Japan and will be released February 3, 2009 in the U.S.