Mandu
To the Shores of His Heaven

Man du jour. Fondu with a man in it. These are merely two examples of having fun with Mandu. I am sure there are more. Actually, for awhile there I masqueraded as Mandu, posting illogical comments on friends’ blogs, prompting recourse of the dumbfounded variety: "Oh Mandu you've done it again". Being Mandu was as irresistible as it was mystifying and I can totally see why Chris Moriatis started doing it back in the early 1970s.

In an early revelation, Chris discovered Mandu meant "Starshine and Moonshine", leaving him no choice but to fully ditch Chris and become Mandu full-time. "If someone called me by my real name I wouldn't react, It's not part of me. Mandu is me", he was quoted saying back in the day. Also: "I dig chicks, but Mandu is most important".

Mandu sang lead in Southern Electric, the band Lobby Lloyde used for his Obsecration album. I dig the album alright, but I took it off my iPod because frankly, The Lobster and Mandu did better work independently of each other, I reckon. To The Shores Of His Heaven yacht rocks hard in a folk-rock, possessed by wispy sprites, driven by divine inspiration kind-of-way. It’s not totally excellent, but a lot of it is and almost all of it is way more brilliant than what passes for interesting these days. And make no mistake, it defecates largely over Jackson Browne's 1970s period from a towering height.

There's a quintessential beauty in band chemistry documented here, a lesson to bozo engineers hellbent on making CDs revoltingly loud with loads of decompression. The recording is as warm as a woman's fireside bust and royally plush as black velvet cushions. Even though the album bears funny song titles like 'Milk Bar Cowboys', the feminine anguish of Mandu's voice makes it a sombre, yet joyous affair. At a loss for a groovier description, the sterling title track comes alive with amazing complexities, while I don’t believe I’ve heard a better combination of mandolin, steel drums and strings on 'Hi Ho Silver'.

Please don't die before you hear Mandu’s cover of 'Gimme Shelter', the ace A-side included here as sole (soul) bonus. Nothing against The Stones, but I could die and not be too rankled without hearing their version again, whereas with this one, I must hear it, Mandu version most important.

by Shane Moritz