This music can reach the listener at several levels. A disinterested listener will find the music pleasant and easy to include as background no matter what the activity. A listener with a more inquisitive bent will find aspects of the music intriguing and even exotic, worth turning up louder just to experience those little surprises that crop up from time to time. An aficionado will want to listen again and again and will most likely become an avid fan of the creativity of Harry Manx

Harry Manx is a very good singer. He's a talented musician, expert at the instruments he plays. He's a skilled lyricist who tells stories sure to hold the interest of his listeners. What really sets Manx apart, though, is the oblique angle from which he approaches his words, music, and performance, in the process carrying his audience into a very special world they may otherwise never have seen.

The best way to describe the songs on Wise and Otherwise is to have someone hear them and, unfortunately, I've not been able to locate some suitable clips online. I do recommend you give Harry Manx a listen, and it seems the best way to do that will be to beg, borrow, or buy the CD.

Anyone wanting more information about Harry Manx can find it at the NorthernBlues Music website or at his own website. If you're interested, you can read my previous review of the Harry Manx debut release, Dog My Cat, at the Sound Bytes archive.
Wise and Otherwise
Harry Manx
NorthernBlues Music
2001
12 tracks

Article Author: Bob MacKenzie

For four decades, Bob has written commentary and reviewed music, painting, film, theatre, and other arts for local, regional, and national Canadian media. Since 1996, he’s written Sound Bytes music reviews online. …

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