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Feb 15, 2011It's an accomplished, knowing work that only seems to have its head in the corner.
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Feb 15, 2011There's a nagging feeling that Life Coach is a sketchbook instead of an art exhibit, and feels a little insubstantial at times. The album hits more than it misses, though, and makes up for the fact that it doesn't really have too much new to say by trading in an impressive range of styles while managing a moody cohesiveness.
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Feb 7, 2011Life Coach is surprisingly mellow considering the heavier and louder sounds Manley has pursued for most of his career, but it's never boring: the way it encompasses the pop and avant sides of his music will please fans of his other work.
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Feb 7, 2011It's to his credit that he never seems too in awe of his most obvious antecedents, instead simply choosing to flex his own capabilities within the tight constraints that musicians like Rother, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, and Dieter Moebius have operated within for decades. Still, it's a shame Manley didn't choose to filter more of his own ideas into the myriad eulogies on offer here.
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UncutFeb 14, 2011Phil Manley's first solo album presents as a homage to the spirit and sound of mid-'70s German Electronic rock. [Feb 2011, p.90]
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Feb 7, 2011It sounds very pleasant.
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Feb 7, 2011Life Coach is worth a listen, but its best use may prove to be the excuse to revisit the records that it quotes and the bands that made its existence possible in the first place.