No-Man
No-Man is a British artpop duo. It was founded in 1987 under the name of No Man Is An Iceland ( Except The Isle Of Man ) by singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson. So far, the group has released six studio albums.
- 3.1 Studio albums
- 3.2 Compilations, mini albums and Other
- 3.3 DVD Video
- 3.4 Singles and EPs
Band History
History (1986 to 1989)
No-Man was originally founded in 1986 under the name of No Man Is An Iceland ( Except The Isle of Man) solo project of Steven Wilson. He then took up the Instrumentel From A Toyshop Window, in which he blended elements of progressive rock with those of synth pop. In 1987, he teamed up with the singer, lyricist, occasional guitarist and keyboardist Tim Bowness, who sang at that time in the Liverpool band artpop Plenty. Both musicians brought a variety of musical influences and ideas in the joint project and took on the first day of their cooperation, two very different pieces: on the one hand, the epic and atmospheric ballad Faith 's Last Doubt and on the other the aggressive Screaming Head Eternal.
Wilson and Bowness put their joint recording work continued over the next two years. Some of these recordings appear ten years later on the album Speak. The recordings were under the influence of the style of minimalist music and artists from the 4AD label as This Mortal Coil and songwriters Nick Drake and Scott Walker.
The end of 1988 the violinist Ben Coleman was a member of the project, after he had participated in several recording sessions by Wilson and Bowness. The guitarist Stuart Blagden, who had played such Bowness in the originating group of Manchester Still, completed in 1989, the occupation. In the play The Hidden Art Of Man Ray are first heard Coleman and Blagden.
The debut single from No Man Is An Iceland was held in waltz time ballad The Girl From Missouri, which appeared in the summer of 1989. Disappointed by lack of success of the single, the band rejected this soon from. In the following years the band flirted with aggressive synth pop. Blagden left No Man Is An Iceland finally back.
The pop era (1990 to 1994)
Around 1990, the group shortened their name to No-Man and became a trio. Influenced by groups like Public Enemy and A Tribe Called Quest, built-in No-Man influences of dance and hip- hop in their artpop sound. The first release under the new band name was published in June 1990 Single Colours, which was a cover version of a song by Donovan Leich from the 1960s. The single attracted some attention and gave no-man a record deal with the independent label One Little Indian, which had at that time including The Shamen and Björk under contract.
During this time the group received a very generous support by the British music media. Including several recognitions as "Single Of The Week" in Melody Maker, Sounds, and in the Irish music magazine Hot Press. They had with Days In The Trees and Ocean Song two songs in the indie top 20 hits.
No- Man's first mini-album Lovesighs - An entertainment was a compilation of previous EPs and was released in April 1992. In October of the same year, the group toured England. For the six-member cast the former members of the group Japan Mick Karn, Steve Jansen and keyboardist Richard Barbieri of belonging. The first album Loveblows & Love Cries - A Confession was published in May 1993 and was strongly poporientiert. At that time belonged to the live line-up of bassist Silas Maitland and drummer Chris Maitland. No-Man published in 1994 their second album Flowermouth. The recordings it was much more ambitious than their debut album. Among the guest musicians were Richard Barbieri, Steve Jansen, Robert Fripp and Ian Carr. Although the group was disbanded during the recording of Ben Coleman, he made a significant contribution to most of the recordings of the album.
Turning to art rock (1995 to 2000)
Starting in 1994, gave no-man no more live concerts. The two albums published in 1996 completed the first phase of the band's history. With each release, the group away from their more conventional rock and pop origins, reflecting the development of artists such as Talk Talk, David Sylvian, Radiohead, Scott Walker and Kate Bush resist. The 1996 album Wild Opera and the subsequent mini-album, Dry Cleaning Ray (1997) sounded out, while maintaining No- Man's special preference for ballads, a combination of darker dance sounds, experimental art rock and reinforced Trip-Hop from. Published in 1999, the group with peak a compilation of previously mostly unpublished early ambient songs that had been recorded a decade earlier, however, who saw Bowness and Wilson equivalent to the information published on the labels One Little Indian or 3rd Stone Ltd. music.
Return to Song Broken (from 2000)
Speaks quieter and sound atmosphärischerer pointed the way to No- Man's other publications. On Returning Jesus 2001 busy and they extended the eclectic ballad, jazz and progressive rock influences of Flowermouth again. The album made the group known to a new audience. After No-Man had signed a contract with the label Snapper Music, they released the 2003 studio album Together We're Stranger, a dark, moving album. 2006 No-Man gave one of their rare live concerts. On 12 May 2008, the studio album Schoolyard Ghosts was released, which received some of the best reviews in the band's history. The Classic Rock magazine described it as "truly sublime " .. Among the guest musicians, Pat Mastelotto, Theo Travis, Gavin Harrison, Colin Edwin, Bruce Kaphan (ex - American Music Club ) and The London Session Orchestra ( were under the direction of Dave Stewart).
On 27 May 2008 it was announced that the music of No -Man is used in an award-winning film of the student filmmaker Dan Faltz. The film is based on the writings of Dennis Cooper. After 15 years there were on 29 August 2008 at London's Bush Hall for the first time an extensive live performance. This appearance was followed by on September 3 and 4 two more concerts in Zoetermeer and Dusseldorf. The concert in Zoetermeer Netherlands was the first appearance of No-Man outside of the UK.
The sold-out London gig was released in October 2009 on the double DVD Mixtaped, which also contains a documentation of the band's history and selected promotional videos. Initial online orders was an audio CD Highlights from Mixtaped settled, which contains selected audio material of the live presence.
Current Live Cast
In the mini-tour in 2008 were No-Man on the following musicians:
- Tim Bowness - vocals
- Steven Wilson - Guitar
- Stephen Bennett - keyboards
- Pete Morgan - Bass Guitar
- Michael Bearpark - Guitar
- Steve Bingham - Electric Violin
- Andy Booker - Electric Drums
During the London presentation of the former, original No-Man violinist Ben Coleman was at the performance of the piece Things Change as a guest.
Discography
Studio albums
Compilations, mini albums and Other
DVD Video
- 2009: Mixtaped