[Review] Phil Manzanera: Primitive Guitars (1982)
Manzanera gets his Fripp on and you get an interesting attic’s worth of instrumentals.
Kronomyth 5: I advance manifest.
On the eve of Avalon, Phil Manzanera completed that contractual obligation of all avant-garde guitarists, the album of noodly guitar instrumentals. As the back of the album (kind of) explains, Manzanera’s non-traditional approach to his instrument reflects an early interest in jazz (guitarist Charlie Christian is specifically mentioned) and a desire to replicate sounds beyond the standard voice of the guitar. The history lesson is a bit pretentious, I suppose, though not as stuffy as Robert Fripp’s philosophical tracts. Primitive Guitars gets off to a great start with Criollo, a tuneful dance that reflects Manzanera’s childhood in Latin and South America. The remainder of side one continues the Latin journey with slightly less exciting results. The song titles are in Spanish, the multitracked ideas are executed well enough, and the sum effect is like listening to I Advance Masked but from a single (rather than dual) vantage point. At the end of every song, dialogue and snippets of studio recordings from Manzanera’s storied past are presented as interludes. Side two presents his electronic/ambient side with a pair of tracks reminiscent of Eno’s ambient works (70-1 and 80-1) and Kraftwerk (Big Dome). Impossible Guitar is also included here, which does an excellent job of showing how Manzanera’s guitar could often polymorph into different sounds. At the time of its release, Primitive Guitars generated excitement from a Roxy Music base that hadn’t anything to proper to eat since “Jealous Guy.” It was, of course, quickly overshadowed by the achievement of Avalon, even as Primitive Guitars capitalized on the association. They are very different records; nothing on Primitive Guitars is as sonically sophisticated as, say, “India.” Better to approach this as half history lesson and half Manzanera cleaning out his closet on a rainy day. If you’re interested in Roxy Music’s guitarist, start with the earlier studio albums, as they’re worth sitting indoors on a sunny day for.
Original elpee version
A1. Criollo (5:13)
A2. Caracas (4:05)
A3. La Nueva Ola (4:36)
A4. Bogota (4:06)
A5. Ritmo de Los Angeles (3:08)
B1. Europe 70-1 (3:42)
B2. Impossible Guitar (6:11)
B3. Big Dome (6:20)
B4. Europe 80-1 (4:00)
All titles written by Phil Manzanera.
The Players
Phil Manzanera (all instruments) with John Wetton (bass guitar on B4). Produced by Phil Manzanera; indigenous engineering and mixing by Ian Little and Phil Manzanera except B4 engineered by Rhett Davies.
The Pictures
Photography and cover concept by Tony McGee. Artwork and typography by Loaded.
The Plastic
Released on elpee and cassette in February 1982 in the UK, the US and Canada (Editions EG, EGED/EGEDC 14), Japan (Editions EG, 28MM-0141) and the Netherlands (Editions EG, 2311 106). (First appeared in 2/27/82 issue of New Musical Express.)
- Re-issued on elpee, cassette and compact disc in the US (Carolina, 1579).
- Re-issued on remastered compact disc in 2000 in the EU (Virgin, EXPCD19).
- Re-issued on expanded super high material compact disc on April 25, 2019 in Japan (Belle Antique, 193108) with 5 bonus tracks.
