Man Made Hill has been festering in the greasy underground of Planet Ontario since the Northeastern blackout of 2003, and currently keeps in the blue-collar stronghold of the Hammer-zone. This one-man freak machine has hitherto been compelled by Randy Gagne, and has
seen a continually mutating public persona that originated in the basement murk of the noise tape scene, and has since naturally blossomed into a modern-day maniacal pop performance
artist. Utilizing vivid character exploration, pan-sensorial poetics, and probing the depths of the entertainment world, Man Made Hill has honed a unique combination that mingles Experimental pop, delusional funk, and an obsession with soundtrack music. All cryptically narrated with his patented ghoulish crooning, and a desperate dance in the face of existential dread. Having reached a logical turning point after labouring away for 20+ albums, Man Made Hill has now emerged for his first sustained, and intensive collaboration in a professional studio setting with producer Jeremy Greenspan ( Junior Boys / Jessy Lanza). What started as a gentleman’s agreement between Randy and Jeremy - Studio time in exchange for manual labour in the building of Greenspan’s Hamilton recording studio- turned into a lengthy collaboration, and a year-and-a-half long odyssey into this experimental pop record. While toiling away through the hardships of the construction process and the early days of the pandemic, Randy and Jeremy bonded over a love of Soft-rock, Synth-Pop, and Sleazy films. Also featuring a rare appearance by Art Rock Shocker legend Corpusse, and a collaboration with his Still Boys colleagues Charlie
Murray and Sebastian Butt, they were genuinely shocked with what resulted - “Mirage Repair” is the most realized and polished, though perhaps strangest Man Made Hill record to date.
“Mirage Repair” is an album that explores our delusions, and the manner in which we willing construct them around ourselves - as a means of self defence. Unfolding like a dream sequence “Mirage Repair” envelopes you in a warm slippery haze, seducing you into an
alternate sensual dimension. However, logic doesn’t abide there - Songs rarely end as they should...they wither away, trail off, or transform into something completely different, and unexpected. Written in the strange liminal space between the elated anticipation of entering
parent-hood, and watching helpless as loved-ones wither away - it is an expression of utter shock at our corporeality, and the stubborn refusal to accept we are mortal. Music lasts forever, music withers away. Anxiety Funk. The hard limits of flesh, and loss of memory. Music as a thrilling, though futile attempt to bottle up the temporal, like blowing a kiss to your shadow. Both haunting, and humorous, “Mirage Repair” animates the mildew growing on the windmills of your mind, plunging you headlong into the void behind the mask. Stylistically it combines a reverence for 80’s Japanese Experimental pop, specifically the breadth of experimental production on Tomoko Aran’s “Fuyü-Kükan = 浮遊空間”(1983) and Miharu Koshi’s “Tutu”(1983), with a love of Italian soundtrack music like Marcello Giombini’s “Le Notti Erotiche Dei
Morti Viventi”, or Riz Ortolani’s “La Ragazza Dal Pigiama Giallo".
Warped, but tender synth pop intoxicated by Reality's swamp. Sewage Funk and ethereal mood music, As if Prince and Tangerine Dream collaborated on a lost funky soundtrack to a late 80's Stephen King adapted T.V. movie. A run-away emotional roller coaster, and erotic thriller “Mirage Repair” takes you through a technicolour tour of Man Made Hill’s warbly dream sequence world of Mirages & Sewage.
credits
released July 15, 2022
Man Made Hill is Randy Gagne. Produced, mixed, and mastered by Jeremy Greenspan at Barton Building, Hamilton - Planet Ontario 2020-2022. Lyrics by Randy Gagne. "Less than Garbage" - vocals by Corpusse. "Toilet Prayer" - Synth and Bass by Charlie Murray, and Lyrics by Sebastian Butt. Art and Layout by Seth Graham. Special thanks to Greg Jones. Orange Milk 2022.
the album that started my obsession, some of their finest work. solid base with vaporwave ideas compounded with that DDS touch and nice experimentation TurnsIntoWine
