A Man Alive

A Man Alive is the fourth studio album by alternative folk band Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, released on the Ribbon Music label in March 2016.[13]

A Man Alive
Studio album by
Thao & the Get Down Stay Down
ReleasedMarch 4, 2016
StudioTiny Telephone and Different Fur Studios, San Francisco
GenreAlternative folk, experimental pop
LabelRibbon Music
ProducerMerrill Garbus
Thao & the Get Down Stay Down chronology
We the Common
(2013)		 A Man Alive
(2016)		 Temple
(2020)
Singles from A Man Alive
  1. "Nobody Dies"
    Released: December 10, 2015
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.4/10[1]
Metacritic80/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Consequence of SoundB[4]
Exclaim!9/10[5]
The Guardian[6]
Mojo[7]
Pitchfork8.0/10[8]
Q[9]
Spin8/10[10]
Uncut8/10[11]
ViceA−[12]

Background

The subject matter of the album was inspired by Thao Nguyen's relationship with her estranged father, who "left when I was maybe 11 or 12, my parents split up. And so he kinda just floated away but you never knew when he would come back and you never knew when he would just leave."[14]

"This record, you know a lot of that is me releasing whatever I have to and grieving in whatever way, and having a lot of anger and then trying to sort of move forward, to forgive," Nguyen says. "But then a few songs later, I could leave him for dead."[14]

Composition

The decision to pair personal subject matter with upbeat music was a conscious one, inspired by reactions to the band's live performances. "The most fulfilling parts of our live show, that we love the most and what the crowd seemed to love the most were beat and bass driven. I wanted to move away from chordally based songs, and I wanted to rely more heavily on the beat and the groove. We wanted to pay more tribute to hip-hop influences...Once I realized what this record would be about, then it was definitely a non-negotiable in that it would be fun to perform. You can’t be sad every night without fail."[15]

According to Nguyen, the song "Meticulous Bird" is "about various abuses of power, sexual assault and abuse in particular. I wanted whoever to be able to scream 'I take my body back.'"[14]

Recording

The album is the second collaboration between Nguyen and producer Merrill Garbus, leader of the Tune-Yards project, following Garbus's work on Nguyen's 2011 Thao + Mirah album.[16]

On their collaboration, Nguyen says "She was everything I needed her to be: a steward in support. I didn’t want to put 'Millionaire' on the record because it felt too vulnerable, and she said, 'Are you fucking kidding? Of course we’re putting it on the record'—which is what I needed."[15]

Promotion

To promote A Man Alive, Nguyen and Garbus created a video with Funny or Die dissecting the making of the song "Astonished Man" which parodied a New York Times video that featured Diplo and Skrillex, and Justin Bieber discussing the making of the song Jack Ü song, Where Are Ü Now.[17]

Accolades
Publication Accolade Year Rank
Paste The 50 Best Albums of 2016 2016
30[18]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Astonished Man"3:30
2."Slash/Burn"3:11
3."The Evening"3:25
4."Departure"3:26
5."Nobody Dies"3:48
6."Guts"4:05
7."Fool Forever"3:08
8."Millionaire"3:06
9."Meticulous Bird"3:22
10."Give Me Peace"2:59
11."Hand to God"3:52
12."Endless Love"3:48

[19]

Personnel
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References
  1. "A Man Alive by Thao And The Get Down Stay Down reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  2. "Reviews for A Man Alive by Thao & the Get Down Stay Down". Metacritic. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  3. Donelson, Marcy. "A Man Alive – Thao & the Get Down Stay Down". AllMusic. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  4. Corcoran, Nina (March 2, 2016). "Thao & the Get Down Stay Down – A Man Alive". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  5. Subject, Danielle (March 2, 2016). "Thao & the Get Down Stay Down: A Man Alive". Exclaim!. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  6. Mumford, Gwilym (March 3, 2016). "Thao & the Get Down Stay Down: A Man Alive review – from surf rock to bubblegum pop". The Guardian. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  7. Bulley, Jenny (April 2016). "Thao & the Get Down Stay Down: A Man Alive". Mojo (269): 96.
  8. Berman, Stuart (March 7, 2016). "Thao & the Get Down Stay Down: A Man Alive". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  9. Davies, Hannah J. (April 2016). "Thao & the Get Down Stay Down: A Man Alive". Q (357): 115.
  10. "SPIN Overlooked Albums Report: The Goon Sax and Let's Eat Grandma Are Teenagers of the Year". Spin. July 15, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  11. Sturges, Fiona (April 2016). "Thao & the Get Down Stay Down: A Man Alive". Uncut (227): 81.
  12. Christgau, Robert (June 11, 2016). "Women Rule the World: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  13. Primas, Tyler (2016) "", 7X7, February 18, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016
  14. Staff, N. P. R. "Music Moment: Thao Nguyen". NPR.org. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  15. "Thao Nguyen Gets Down and Gets Personal: "Everyone Is Just Trying Communicate" | NOISEY". NOISEY. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  16. "Thao & Mirah (3) - Thao & Mirah". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  17. http://pitchfork.com/news/64365-tune-yards-thao-the-get-down-stay-down-parody-diplo-skrillex-and-justin-bieber-in-new-video/
  18. "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Paste. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  19. "A Man Alive - Thao & the Get Down Stay Down | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
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