There's Barbara Manning the musician, and then there's Barbara Manning the music fan. Barbara the musician turns out some smart coffeehouse pop albums like Lately I Keep Scissors and, with her erstwhile backing band the San Francisco Seals, Truth Walks in Sleepy Shadows. Barbara the music fan goes off to record with her idols, such as with Stuart Moxham on Barbara Manning Sings with the Original Artists, but to call it a "Barbara Manning solo album" is a bit misleading. The latter is mostly Barbara singing Young Marble Giants songs, so anyone expecting a songwriting collaboration between Manning and Moxham would inevitably be disappointed. Her voice is pretty enough, but her personality tended to get lost in the mix. In New Zealand is another such "solo album," albeit more of a collaborative effort, and a slightly more successful one at that.
When Manning toured New Zealand in 1997 with Texas noir- rockers Calexico as her backing band, she took the opportunity to lay down tracks with some of her favorite local musicians. The resulting seven tracks comprise a pleasant trifle of an album that merely hints at the potential of a collaboration between Manning, Calexico, and folks like the Clean's David Kilgour, the Bats' Robert Scott, and the Verlaines' Graeme Downes. The wistful, airy "Everything Happens By Itself" is the best example of a group songwriting effort, while "Lover's Leap," a gently spooky tune written by Calexico's Joey Burns, offers hope for a future Manning album should she and Calexico continue to record together. On the downside, though, Chris Knox's particular brand of creepy weirdness on "Your Pies" disturbs the otherwise mellow vibe of the rest of the album, and the closing track "Aramoana" is a crystalline Seam- like instrumental which would be great if it didn't drag on for so long. In New Zealand ends up being a nice keepsake for fans of Manning and/or New Zealand pop, but it's not really a must- buy.
