Anthony Manning

Anthony Manning, an English composer focused on experimental electronics, exhibits an unusual relationship with the evolving styles embraced by his peers. Though he draws on the equipment common to techno production, explores some of the more obscure rhythmic frameworks found in dance music, records for the techno imprint Irdial, and draws primary interest from listeners drawn to dance-oriented experimental electronica, his output aligns more closely with the priorities of academic and minimalist figures such as Steve Reich, LaMonte Young, and Morton Feldman. Manning prepares his synthesizer and drum-machine works on graphic scores, establishing the overall form of each piece in advance of any performance; the ultimate contours still arise from a blend of deliberate design and the unpredictable timbral behavior inherent to programmable instruments. His debut for Irdial, the 1994 release Islets in Pink Polypropylene, was scored exclusively for the Roland R8 drum machine. The follow-up full-length, Chromium Nebulae, appeared in 1996 and presented a comparably restrained study in irregular analog textures, with Manning’s attention to hand-crafted tones and overlapping surfaces consistently taking precedence over any explicitly melodic or harmonic aims. Additional material by Manning appeared on the Ash International compilation A Fault in the Nothing, while his third Irdial album, Concision, arrived in early 1998.