WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.740 Imagine walking out to your mailbox. Okay. It's 00:00:02.740 --> 00:00:05.839 a typical quiet afternoon, and you're expecting 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:08.240 a package that you ordered, I don't know, a few 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.560 weeks ago. So you open the little metal door, 00:00:10.699 --> 00:00:13.439 you reach inside, and you pull out a brand new 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:16.600 vinyl record. Standard stuff so far. Right. But 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:18.379 as you hold it in your hands, you realize something 00:00:18.379 --> 00:00:21.280 is entirely wrong. Yeah. This isn't housed in 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:24.539 a standard flimsy cardboard sleeve. Instead, 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:29.320 the record you just bought is physically bolted. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:32.859 heavily and permanently bolted to an actual industrial 00:00:32.859 --> 00:00:35.840 metal saw blade. Just a literal saw blade in 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:39.219 the mail. A literal saw blade. Or maybe instead 00:00:39.219 --> 00:00:41.619 of that, it's a compact disc, but it's completely 00:00:41.619 --> 00:00:44.659 encased in this cold, heavy metal sheath. And 00:00:44.659 --> 00:00:46.219 you have to somehow figure out how to pry it 00:00:46.219 --> 00:00:48.820 open. Right. Or perhaps it arrives in a plastic 00:00:48.820 --> 00:00:52.380 sleeve that is literally filled with actual sloshing 00:00:52.380 --> 00:00:54.600 water. Which is just terrifying for a collector. 00:00:54.780 --> 00:00:56.780 Exactly. So you're standing there in your driveway, 00:00:56.899 --> 00:00:59.560 completely perplexed, holding this object that 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:02.179 feels, honestly, less like a piece of entertainment 00:01:02.179 --> 00:01:04.540 and a lot more like a physical challenge. So 00:01:04.540 --> 00:01:06.980 today, we are taking you right into the heart 00:01:06.980 --> 00:01:12.030 of that incredibly strange, highly tactile. and 00:01:12.030 --> 00:01:14.810 just completely uncompromising world. It really 00:01:14.810 --> 00:01:17.390 is a world that systematically dismantles almost 00:01:17.390 --> 00:01:20.650 everything we assume about how audio should be 00:01:20.650 --> 00:01:23.590 consumed, really how art should be handled. We 00:01:23.590 --> 00:01:25.790 are looking at the legacy of Manifold Records. 00:01:26.230 --> 00:01:29.769 Yes. This was an obscure U .S.-based label that 00:01:29.769 --> 00:01:32.409 didn't just push the boundaries of musical genre. 00:01:32.590 --> 00:01:34.989 They actively pushed the physical boundaries 00:01:34.989 --> 00:01:37.409 of consumerism itself. Yeah, they really did. 00:01:37.609 --> 00:01:39.730 We're going to explore how a single independent 00:01:39.730 --> 00:01:43.000 operation in the 19... challenged the very definition 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:45.079 of what a record label is even supposed to be. 00:01:45.260 --> 00:01:47.620 Right. Creating these artifacts that were as 00:01:47.620 --> 00:01:49.760 bewildering as the sounds they actually contained. 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:52.000 So the mission of our deep dive today is to really 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:54.700 get into the weeds of how this label, which was 00:01:54.700 --> 00:01:58.040 born back in 1993, just completely defied commercial 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:00.900 success. Actively avoided it almost. Right. Actively 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:03.260 ignored the rules of musical categorization and 00:02:03.260 --> 00:02:05.560 fundamentally altered how a listener physically 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:08.099 interacts with the audio they buy. I mean, it 00:02:08.099 --> 00:02:11.340 makes you wonder how... business model like that 00:02:11.340 --> 00:02:13.280 even gets off the ground in the first place let 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:17.159 alone leaves this massive lasting legacy well 00:02:17.159 --> 00:02:19.120 it requires us to look past the sheer novelty 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.039 of the weird packaging you know the saw blades 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:24.699 and the metal sheaths they're incredible conversation 00:02:24.699 --> 00:02:28.199 starters but they actually point to a much deeper 00:02:28.199 --> 00:02:31.479 philosophy it's about The very definition of 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:34.080 music, the forgotten art of intense curation, 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.639 and really what we as consumers are actually 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:39.180 paying for when we exchange money for a physical 00:02:39.180 --> 00:02:42.139 object. Okay, let's unpack this. We really have 00:02:42.139 --> 00:02:44.379 to start at the beginning, right in 1993. Right. 00:02:44.659 --> 00:02:46.840 Manifold Records was started by a guy named Vince 00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:49.259 Harrigan. And the crucial detail that stands 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:51.479 out to me here is that Harrigan was a writer. 00:02:51.620 --> 00:02:54.400 He was a zine publisher. Yes. He wasn't some, 00:02:54.500 --> 00:02:58.030 you know... corporate music executive in a suit. 00:02:58.169 --> 00:03:00.050 Not at all. He didn't come from a traditional 00:03:00.050 --> 00:03:02.169 A &R background where he's out scouting the next 00:03:02.169 --> 00:03:05.169 big pop star. No. He came from the DIY stapled 00:03:05.169 --> 00:03:07.689 together zine world. But my question is, how 00:03:07.689 --> 00:03:10.210 does writing an underground zine translate into 00:03:10.210 --> 00:03:12.569 running an entire record label? Well, you really 00:03:12.569 --> 00:03:15.030 have to understand the specific mindset, the 00:03:15.030 --> 00:03:17.830 cultural mechanics of a zine creator in the early 00:03:17.830 --> 00:03:20.930 1990s. Right. Pre -internet. Exactly. Pre -internet. 00:03:21.289 --> 00:03:24.889 A zine publisher is fundamentally a curator of 00:03:24.889 --> 00:03:27.789 the fringe. They were the people who actively 00:03:27.789 --> 00:03:31.370 spent their time seeking out the obscure, the 00:03:31.370 --> 00:03:34.150 ignored, the highly specific. Stuff nobody else 00:03:34.150 --> 00:03:36.409 cared about. Precisely. And then disseminating 00:03:36.409 --> 00:03:38.909 that information through the mail. So when Harrigan 00:03:38.909 --> 00:03:41.110 started Manifold Records, he didn't set it up 00:03:41.110 --> 00:03:43.490 as a traditional label aiming for, you know, 00:03:43.530 --> 00:03:45.750 record store dominance. Right. He structured 00:03:45.750 --> 00:03:49.469 it strictly as a mail order store. And this store 00:03:49.469 --> 00:03:51.449 specialized specifically Specifically, and this 00:03:51.449 --> 00:03:54.090 is a, quote, experimental, ambient, and other 00:03:54.090 --> 00:03:57.229 hard -to -define audio materials. Man, I'm just 00:03:57.229 --> 00:03:59.969 fascinated by that specific phrasing. Hard -to 00:03:59.969 --> 00:04:02.150 -define audio material. It's great. It's an act 00:04:02.150 --> 00:04:04.270 of refusal to even call it music right out of 00:04:04.270 --> 00:04:06.469 the gate. It strips away all the expectations 00:04:06.469 --> 00:04:09.169 you might have of melody or rhythm, and it's 00:04:09.169 --> 00:04:12.030 just presented as raw sonic matter. And that 00:04:12.030 --> 00:04:15.729 framing is incredibly intentional. By running 00:04:15.729 --> 00:04:18.329 a mail order store with that very specific focus, 00:04:18.730 --> 00:04:22.069 Harrigan was utilizing his zine background to 00:04:22.069 --> 00:04:24.750 build an underground network. He was facilitating 00:04:24.750 --> 00:04:27.930 a whole community for sounds that entirely defied 00:04:27.930 --> 00:04:31.009 easy categorization. It was an ecosystem built 00:04:31.009 --> 00:04:33.970 for the unmarketable. Wow. Because a zine publisher 00:04:33.970 --> 00:04:36.910 naturally understands how to connect disparate, 00:04:36.930 --> 00:04:39.490 isolated pockets of culture through physical 00:04:39.490 --> 00:04:41.850 mail. Right, sending well - concealed cash and 00:04:41.850 --> 00:04:44.689 envelopes. Yes, waiting weeks for a package to 00:04:44.689 --> 00:04:47.470 show up, building trust through genuine curation. 00:04:47.509 --> 00:04:50.389 That entire ethos of hunting for the obscure, 00:04:50.589 --> 00:04:53.290 that became the blueprint for Manifold Records. 00:04:53.610 --> 00:04:55.509 For you listening right now, just think about 00:04:55.509 --> 00:04:57.990 your own curated collections. Yeah. Maybe it's 00:04:57.990 --> 00:05:00.230 a highly specific digital playlist that you've 00:05:00.230 --> 00:05:03.009 spent years perfecting or some niche hobby you 00:05:03.009 --> 00:05:04.970 dedicate your weekends to researching. Think 00:05:04.970 --> 00:05:07.689 about the sheer dedication it takes to actively 00:05:07.689 --> 00:05:11.550 seek out the hard to define. It requires so much 00:05:11.550 --> 00:05:14.870 more effort and patience to hunt down these obscure 00:05:14.870 --> 00:05:17.410 artistic statements than it does to just, you 00:05:17.410 --> 00:05:19.730 know, accept whatever is algorithmically spoon 00:05:19.730 --> 00:05:22.370 fed to us by the mainstream. Absolutely. And 00:05:22.370 --> 00:05:25.839 Manifold Records was built entirely. on demanding 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:27.879 that effort from its audience. And the wild part 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:31.540 is that uncompromising demand for effort actually 00:05:31.540 --> 00:05:34.699 led them to become a massive critical darling 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:36.819 in the underground music press during the mid 00:05:36.819 --> 00:05:39.600 -1990s. Which seems counterintuitive. It does. 00:05:39.779 --> 00:05:41.980 But they found themselves at the forefront of 00:05:41.980 --> 00:05:44.639 a very unique, somewhat short -lived genre. Yeah, 00:05:44.660 --> 00:05:47.519 the genre was called isolationism. Yes. Which, 00:05:47.579 --> 00:05:50.139 just the name itself paints such a stark picture. 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:52.220 It really does. And the way Manifold championed 00:05:52.220 --> 00:05:54.339 this genre was primarily through their compilation 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:57.240 releases. But I'm looking at how these compilations 00:05:57.240 --> 00:05:59.220 were actually structured, and it honestly seems 00:05:59.220 --> 00:06:01.279 like a terrible listening experience. Oh, jarring. 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:03.540 Right. They would take traditional ambient and 00:06:03.540 --> 00:06:06.060 new age artists and place them on the exact same 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:09.439 record as incredibly noisy, edgy, aggressive 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:13.250 acts. Yeah. They'd put the quietest, most expansive, 00:06:13.389 --> 00:06:16.629 soothing sounds right next to absolute harsh 00:06:16.629 --> 00:06:19.970 noise. Just wall of sound noise. Right. So from 00:06:19.970 --> 00:06:23.149 a consumer standpoint, why would anyone want 00:06:23.149 --> 00:06:25.509 to listen to a record that constantly jolts you 00:06:25.509 --> 00:06:27.649 out of a peaceful state? Well, what's fascinating 00:06:27.649 --> 00:06:30.529 here is the underlying psychology of that specific 00:06:30.529 --> 00:06:33.230 Sonic Clash. Okay. It wasn't about creating a 00:06:33.230 --> 00:06:35.709 seamless, relaxing background mix for your dinner 00:06:35.709 --> 00:06:38.490 party. Clearly not. Right. These compilations, 00:06:38.490 --> 00:06:57.889 despite the massive... So the contrast is the 00:06:57.889 --> 00:07:09.899 actual point. Precisely. Oh, wow. feel desolate 00:07:09.899 --> 00:07:13.019 and lonely rather than peaceful. It creates an 00:07:13.019 --> 00:07:16.220 environment of total sensory isolation, hence 00:07:16.220 --> 00:07:19.819 the genre name isolationism. It forces the listener 00:07:19.819 --> 00:07:23.060 into a very intense, almost uncomfortable psychological 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:25.560 space where they cannot let their guard down. 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:28.579 It's like an exercise in tension. You're just 00:07:28.579 --> 00:07:30.259 constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. 00:07:30.300 --> 00:07:32.899 Exactly. I'm looking at the roster of artists 00:07:32.899 --> 00:07:35.759 they involved to achieve this, and it is just... 00:07:36.250 --> 00:07:38.910 All over the place. I recognize some of these 00:07:38.910 --> 00:07:41.189 names, but they seem to belong to completely 00:07:41.189 --> 00:07:43.569 different universes. Yeah, it's a wild list. 00:07:43.850 --> 00:07:46.060 How did they pull this off? The sheer diversity 00:07:46.060 --> 00:07:48.279 of the roster is really what makes the label 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:51.160 so historically significant. To give you an idea 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:53.180 of the extremes we're talking about, Manifold 00:07:53.180 --> 00:07:55.839 released works by an artist named Final. Okay. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:58.519 Now, Final is actually a project by Justin Broderick. 00:07:58.660 --> 00:08:00.980 Wait, really? Yes, who is best known as the driving 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:03.819 force behind the legendary, punishingly heavy 00:08:03.819 --> 00:08:07.339 industrial metal band Godflesh. Wow. Okay, so 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:09.800 you have literally a pioneer of industrial metal 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:12.339 on the roster. Exactly. And alongside Broderick, 00:08:12.379 --> 00:08:14.949 you have Mick Harris, another giant. in extreme 00:08:14.949 --> 00:08:18.029 music with his dark ambient project, Lull, but 00:08:18.029 --> 00:08:20.689 then sharing that exact same label space, you 00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:23.209 have someone like Steve Roach. See, I know Steve 00:08:23.209 --> 00:08:26.230 Roach. He is known for those massive, floating, 00:08:26.310 --> 00:08:29.250 atmospheric synthesizer expanses. Yes. His music 00:08:29.250 --> 00:08:31.269 is practically designed for meditation. Yes. 00:08:31.370 --> 00:08:33.570 And Steve Roach is sitting in the exact same 00:08:33.570 --> 00:08:37.230 catalog as Jeff German, Maratry, and Ultra Milkmaids. 00:08:37.350 --> 00:08:39.970 That is just bizarre. It gets weirder. You have 00:08:39.970 --> 00:08:43.789 Maurizio Bianchi, who is infamous for creating 00:08:43.789 --> 00:08:46.370 some of the most abrasive early industrial noise 00:08:46.370 --> 00:08:48.850 recordings on the planet right alongside Aub. 00:08:48.950 --> 00:08:51.799 Wow. They even worked with DJ Spooky. bringing 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:54.860 in elements of highly experimental turntablism. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:57.559 And he's sharing a home with the avant -garde 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:00.360 guitar work of Alan Licht and Ardo Lindsay. That 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:02.519 is an incredibly jarring mix of human beings. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:05.000 I mean, the catalog lists an act called Sleep 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:07.460 Research Facility. Right. With a name like that, 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:11.120 I imagine it's deep subsonic sensory deprivation 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:13.600 audio designed to physically put you to sleep. 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:15.639 Pretty much. And you're telling me that exists 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:17.360 on the same label as a group called Mandible 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:19.659 Chatter? That is the Manifold Records experience 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:23.169 in a nutshell. You also have Robert Rich, who 00:09:23.169 --> 00:09:26.629 is a pioneer of deep, tribal, ambient music. 00:09:26.990 --> 00:09:30.470 And he's sharing a roof with completely uncompromising 00:09:30.470 --> 00:09:33.629 experimental noise acts like K .K. Null, Crawl 00:09:33.629 --> 00:09:36.429 Unit, Illusion of Safety, and Voice of Eye. It's 00:09:36.429 --> 00:09:38.750 almost comical to think about. Yeah. Imagine 00:09:38.750 --> 00:09:40.990 ordering a compilation from a mail order catalog 00:09:40.990 --> 00:09:44.929 in, say, 1995. You've waited weeks for it. You've 00:09:44.929 --> 00:09:47.090 waited weeks. You put the CD on. You're expecting 00:09:47.090 --> 00:09:50.090 this serene, peaceful tones of Robert Rich to 00:09:50.090 --> 00:09:52.649 wash over your living room. Right. And suddenly, 00:09:52.669 --> 00:09:55.590 without warning, you are absolutely blasted by 00:09:55.590 --> 00:09:58.509 the aggressive, jagged soundscapes of K .K. Null. 00:09:58.570 --> 00:10:00.980 It's an ambush. It really is. It demands total 00:10:00.980 --> 00:10:03.620 presence. You cannot put a Manifold Records compilation 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:06.000 on while you were cooking dinner or reading a 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.399 book. No. The transition from new age to noise 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.600 will physically startle you out of your seat. 00:10:10.779 --> 00:10:13.279 It completely eradicates the concept of music 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:16.440 as audio wallpaper. Yes. It demands your undivided 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:18.580 attention. And that demand for intense awareness 00:10:18.580 --> 00:10:21.299 brings us to perhaps the most infamous and physically 00:10:21.299 --> 00:10:24.039 imposing aspect of the label's history. Here's 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:26.259 where it gets really interesting. We tease this 00:10:26.259 --> 00:10:28.440 at the very beginning of the deep dive, but we 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:30.470 have to look. closely the physical packaging 00:10:30.470 --> 00:10:34.029 of these releases. We do. Because the audio wasn't 00:10:34.029 --> 00:10:36.409 the only thing that was uncompromising and challenging. 00:10:37.350 --> 00:10:40.230 Manifold Records became notorious for their special 00:10:40.230 --> 00:10:42.509 packaging releases. To put it mildly. Right. 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:46.120 We are talking about compact discs that were 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:49.980 housed entirely inside heavy metal sheaths. We 00:10:49.980 --> 00:10:52.919 are talking about vinyl records that were physically 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:56.899 attached to literal industrial saw blades and 00:10:56.899 --> 00:10:59.480 records that were shipped to your house in water 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:01.899 -filled plastic sleeves. If we connect this to 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:04.320 the bigger picture, Manifold wasn't just selling 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:07.259 a delivery mechanism for audio. They were selling 00:11:07.259 --> 00:11:10.379 an intimidating, fragile, and sometimes deeply 00:11:10.379 --> 00:11:13.440 impractical piece of physical art. Very impractical. 00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:16.580 Exactly. When an artist or a label decides to 00:11:16.580 --> 00:11:19.159 bolt a record to a saw blade, they are entirely 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:21.519 changing the ontological nature of the object. 00:11:21.779 --> 00:11:23.840 Absolutely. The packaging forces the listener 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:26.440 to be hyper -aware of the physical item occupying 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:29.039 space in their home. But from a consumer standpoint, 00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:33.340 isn't releasing a record? You can't even easily 00:11:33.340 --> 00:11:36.509 store a bit hostile to your own audience. Well... 00:11:36.509 --> 00:11:38.330 Because I'm trying to imagine the logistics of 00:11:38.330 --> 00:11:40.370 this. You can't just slide a Sawblade record 00:11:40.370 --> 00:11:43.049 onto a crowded shelf next to your Beatles albums. 00:11:43.190 --> 00:11:45.070 It's going to destroy the other sleeves. That 00:11:45.070 --> 00:11:47.769 is exactly the point. It completely upends the 00:11:47.769 --> 00:11:50.269 casual nature of a record collection. Right. 00:11:50.370 --> 00:11:52.909 You are forced to treat this audio format with 00:11:52.909 --> 00:11:55.929 a level of physical respect and caution that 00:11:55.929 --> 00:11:58.669 borders on reverence simply because the object 00:11:58.669 --> 00:12:01.250 itself demands it. You have no choice. Right. 00:12:01.289 --> 00:12:02.889 You have to figure out a completely separate 00:12:02.889 --> 00:12:05.919 storage solution for it. It becomes a... sculptural 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:08.100 presence in your room. And the water filled sleeve. 00:12:08.700 --> 00:12:11.799 Think about the psychological anxiety that induces 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:13.799 for a record collector. Oh, it's a nightmare. 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:16.379 Collectors are notoriously obsessive about keeping 00:12:16.379 --> 00:12:19.200 their media pristine. Yes, they are. Giving them 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:22.419 a record encased in sloshing water introduces 00:12:22.419 --> 00:12:26.259 this constant low level dread. What if it leaks 00:12:26.259 --> 00:12:29.019 onto the cardboard inserts? What if it bursts 00:12:29.019 --> 00:12:32.279 and destroys the other rare records nearby? It 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:35.200 introduces a real element of physical jeopardy 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.779 to the act of buying music. It creates a massive 00:12:37.779 --> 00:12:40.179 amount of physical and emotional friction. Yeah. 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:43.259 It entirely removes the comfort of passive consumption. 00:12:43.820 --> 00:12:46.759 By making the packaging an active hazard, or 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:49.620 at least a significant inconvenience, the label 00:12:49.620 --> 00:12:52.519 forces you to confront the art as a tangible, 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:55.629 imposing object. You cannot. take it for granted. 00:12:55.710 --> 00:12:58.269 You really can't. I want to ask you, listening 00:12:58.269 --> 00:13:02.570 right now, how would you handle a CD encased 00:13:02.570 --> 00:13:05.690 in a welded metal sheath? Seriously, picture 00:13:05.690 --> 00:13:08.529 the process. You want to listen to a new album 00:13:08.529 --> 00:13:10.289 you just bought, but before you can hear a single 00:13:10.289 --> 00:13:12.409 note, you have to find a tool, sit at your table, 00:13:12.490 --> 00:13:15.129 and physically pry open a metal casing just to 00:13:15.129 --> 00:13:17.370 access the disc. Just to play the music. Exactly. 00:13:17.570 --> 00:13:19.610 It points out this incredible stark contrast 00:13:19.610 --> 00:13:22.980 with our modern era. Today, our default desire 00:13:22.980 --> 00:13:25.820 is for ultimate frictionless convenience. We 00:13:25.820 --> 00:13:28.299 want to tap a glass screen once and have millions 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:30.419 of songs instantly and perfectly beam into our 00:13:30.419 --> 00:13:32.860 ears without moving a muscle. Manifold Records 00:13:32.860 --> 00:13:35.559 did the exact opposite. They made you work for 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:38.659 it, physically and psychologically, just to earn 00:13:38.659 --> 00:13:41.220 the right to access the audio. And that level 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:44.159 of physical and artistic friction, while conceptually 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:46.899 brilliant and incredibly bold, comes with a very 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:50.039 steep cost in the real world. Which brings us 00:13:50.039 --> 00:13:52.879 to the inevitable decline of the label's core 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.980 operations and the ultimate price they paid for 00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:59.179 their artistic purity. The historical record 00:13:59.179 --> 00:14:02.250 is very clear on this. Manifold Records was never 00:14:02.250 --> 00:14:05.490 a prolific label and they never achieved wide 00:14:05.490 --> 00:14:08.490 mainstream distribution. Right. The history points 00:14:08.490 --> 00:14:11.129 to two main culprits for this lack of wide distribution. 00:14:11.250 --> 00:14:13.490 First, there's the unusual nature of the material 00:14:13.490 --> 00:14:15.990 itself. You know, the harsh noise, the weird 00:14:15.990 --> 00:14:18.029 isolationist compilations that we've discussed. 00:14:18.210 --> 00:14:20.190 Yeah. But second, and perhaps more crucially 00:14:20.190 --> 00:14:22.889 from a business perspective, it was the label's 00:14:22.889 --> 00:14:26.029 absolute refusal to stay within any single genre 00:14:26.029 --> 00:14:28.429 from release to release. Right. They just wouldn't 00:14:28.429 --> 00:14:31.529 pick a lane. So what does this all mean? Was 00:14:31.529 --> 00:14:33.970 Manifold Records a failure because it never grew 00:14:33.970 --> 00:14:36.870 into a massive, prolific or profitable company? 00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:40.179 Or was it a massive success precisely because 00:14:40.179 --> 00:14:43.480 it stayed so stubbornly true to its weird, uncompromising 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:45.720 roots? This raises an important question about 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:47.740 how commercial distribution systems actually 00:14:47.740 --> 00:14:50.639 function. Okay. The reality of the music industry, 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:53.600 especially in the physical media -dominated landscape 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:57.139 of the 1990s and early 2000s, is that it absolutely 00:14:57.139 --> 00:15:00.039 demands categorization. Oh, definitely. Record 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.120 stores, massive distributors, and even large 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:05.840 -scale mail -order catalogs need to know what 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:08.580 bin to put a record in. If a label is known for 00:15:08.580 --> 00:15:10.759 ambient music, the distributor puts all their 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:13.059 new releases in the ambient section. Buyers know 00:15:13.059 --> 00:15:15.059 exactly where to find it. It's all about making 00:15:15.059 --> 00:15:17.139 it easy for the consumer to locate what they 00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:19.659 already know they want. Exactly. But because 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:21.840 manifold records jumped from ambient to noise, 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:25.259 to turntablism, to isolationism, sometimes on 00:15:25.259 --> 00:15:27.779 the exact same disc, they made themselves virtually 00:15:27.779 --> 00:15:30.519 impossible to market. it at scale. Yeah. You 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:33.139 couldn't tell a record store manager where to 00:15:33.139 --> 00:15:36.179 stock a heavy metal saw blade record that featured 00:15:36.179 --> 00:15:39.879 both soothing new age synthesizers and ear piercing 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:42.480 industrial harsh noise. They wouldn't know what 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:44.480 to do with it. Exactly. The commercial system 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:47.080 simply isn't designed to handle that level of 00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:49.820 artistic whiplash or physical impracticality. 00:15:49.940 --> 00:15:52.200 It's like they essentially built a label that 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:54.940 was fundamentally allergic to commerce. That's 00:15:54.940 --> 00:15:56.879 a great way to put it. Their artistic vision 00:15:56.879 --> 00:15:59.779 was incompatible. with mass distribution by design. 00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:02.559 And according to the timeline we were looking 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:05.120 at, the mail order side of things eventually 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:08.679 ran its course. Manifold Records officially ceased 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:11.700 operating its mail order website in 2007. However, 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:13.820 the story doesn't end with a complete shutdown 00:16:13.820 --> 00:16:16.179 and disappearance into history. Really? While 00:16:16.179 --> 00:16:19.279 the primary mail order website ceased in 2007, 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:22.019 the Manifold Records label actually continues 00:16:22.019 --> 00:16:24.679 to exist today. That's amazing. It survives through 00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:27.379 limited online sales via other niche distributors 00:16:27.379 --> 00:16:30.299 and notably on platforms like eBay. You know, 00:16:30.299 --> 00:16:32.580 that feels incredibly fitting, honestly. It started 00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:37.080 as an obscure DIY mail order network born from 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:41.080 a stapled together zine ethos in 1993. And now, 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:44.360 decades later, it survives in the modern equivalent 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:47.399 of an obscure mail order network. Right. The 00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:49.960 deep scattered, highly specific archives of eBay 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:53.100 sellers and niche online distributors. It's still 00:16:53.100 --> 00:16:54.899 hard to find. It's still completely impossible 00:16:54.899 --> 00:16:57.360 to categorize. And it is still out there waiting 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:59.120 for the dedicated collectors who are willing 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:20.680 to do the hunting. What a wild journey. Yeah. 00:17:21.109 --> 00:17:23.009 To quickly recap the ground we've covered today, 00:17:23.170 --> 00:17:26.250 we explored the unlikely 1993 origins of Vince 00:17:26.250 --> 00:17:28.950 Harrigan's manifold records, starting as a zine 00:17:28.950 --> 00:17:32.029 -inspired mail -order experiment. We unpacked 00:17:32.029 --> 00:17:34.269 how they championed the incredibly tense paradoxical 00:17:34.269 --> 00:17:36.970 genre of isolationism by mashing up soothing 00:17:36.970 --> 00:17:39.329 ambient tones with aggressive industrial noise. 00:17:39.509 --> 00:17:42.210 We explored the deeply psychological era of their 00:17:42.210 --> 00:17:45.769 hazardous packaging CDs and metal sheaths, vinyl 00:17:45.769 --> 00:17:48.730 records bolted to saw blades, and water -filled 00:17:48.730 --> 00:17:50.910 plastic sleeves. Still blows my mind. my mind. 00:17:51.049 --> 00:17:53.670 We trace their path to a quiet, stubborn survival 00:17:53.670 --> 00:17:57.130 on modern platforms like eBay. It serves as a 00:17:57.130 --> 00:17:59.670 perfect historical case study in what happens 00:17:59.670 --> 00:18:02.930 when the desire to create a challenging, tactile 00:18:02.930 --> 00:18:06.109 experience completely overrides the desire to 00:18:06.109 --> 00:18:08.910 make a conventional profit. It really does. And 00:18:08.910 --> 00:18:10.809 before we wrap up this deep dive, we want to 00:18:10.809 --> 00:18:12.349 leave you with a final thought to mull over, 00:18:12.430 --> 00:18:14.269 building on everything we've talked about today. 00:18:14.410 --> 00:18:16.829 Go for it. In today's modern world, almost all 00:18:16.829 --> 00:18:19.829 of our music lives invisibly in the cloud. It 00:18:19.829 --> 00:18:22.869 is totally weightless, perfectly safe and endlessly 00:18:22.869 --> 00:18:25.269 categorized into neat little algorithmic bins 00:18:25.269 --> 00:18:28.240 that never challenge our tastes. But in gaining 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.660 all of that perfect convenience, have we lost 00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:32.960 something essential? Have we lost the sense of 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:36.220 danger, the genuine surprise, and the sheer demanding 00:18:36.220 --> 00:18:38.720 physical effort of engaging with a piece of art 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.559 that actively refuses to be easily defined or 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:43.920 even easily held? That is definitely something 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:46.339 worth thinking about the next time you effortlessly 00:18:46.339 --> 00:18:49.140 summon a perfectly curated playlist on your phone. 00:18:49.769 --> 00:18:51.650 Thank you so much for joining us on this deep 00:18:51.650 --> 00:18:54.710 dive into the fascinating, hazardous and brilliant 00:18:54.710 --> 00:18:57.690 world of manifold records. We loved unpacking 00:18:57.690 --> 00:18:59.789 this one with you and we will catch you on the 00:18:59.789 --> 00:19:01.930 next deep dive. Keep looking for the hard to 00:19:01.930 --> 00:19:02.789 define and goodbye.