Hello and welcome to those new to my blog and welcome back to any who’ve read previous entries! Under the Radar is a blog focused on finding movies, music, and other works under the name Art whose fans may be a bit sparse for various reasons. I like to find these things and explain them a bit to spark interest in those who’ve never heard of them.
In this entry I’ll be discussing a band I’ve recently found called Yawning Man. I was looking for new music in the Hard Psychedelic genre and stumbled upon the band in a 3 hour playlist on YouTube. Their song, Manolete, was starkly different from the generally and heavy sounds of bands such as 1000mods and soft yet upbeat and foreboding music by Monkey3. Manolete mainly focused on an electric guitar playing loudly, but calmly. The drums and base were usually below the surface as the guitar flowed on above. The entire song conjured an image of a crocodile gliding through swamp-water. It was grimy and rough, but oddly mesmerizing.
Needless to say, I fell in love fairly quickly with the band’s style.
After some research, however, I found the name Manolete also refers to a renown Spanish Bullfighter of the early 20th century. I found this quite odd given the calm and almost apathetic tone of the song. Bullfighting seems hardly an appropriate event to be the subject of the piece, but looking into this man’s life, I found the connection to become much clearer.
Born Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez, Manolete was the son of an amatuer Matador who was fatally gored by a bull of the feared Miura breed. Manolete attempted to follow in his father’s footsteps and found extreme success. He learned from a master of the sport and it showed in his skilled and graceful work. Manolete truly stood out from other professionals through is calculated movements and calmly composed demeanor in the arena. Contemporaries were often showy and flamboyant with their capes to work off of the excitement of the crowd. Manolete simply allowed his feats to speak for themselves.
While the band hasn’t exactly come forth with an explanation for the name, it appears to pay tribute to his skill as he methodically and dispassionately performed his art for the world to see, similar to the calm focus of a crocodile gliding effortlessly through swamp-water.
I think we share similar musical interests so I’m definitely going to give them a listen. Looking forward to learning about more obscure bands, because I rarely have the drive to find them but when you do it’s always a delight.
im very excited to start reading your blog!! you have a music taste that is very different from what I personally listen to. You have an awesome way of describing the music itself! keep it up
This is a very interesting analysis in that the band has not come forward with an explanation but you have researched enough about it to find this info out. I love your description of the croc gliding through the swamp.
Thanks for bringing attention to this song. I’m also in to psychedelic rock and this piece is super cool. I love instrumental guitar pieces and this one definitely tells a story of its own. Thanks for sharing!
Really interesting stuff, I’ve never been exposed to this genre before! The backstory behind the song name is certainly interesting and I like how you contrast its subject to the song’s tone.