Dan Mangan Postcards and Daydreaming. Release Date : October, 2005. Label: Independent. Rating: Andy doesn't dig rating stuff. Pleasant intro, sounds like it's going to be a sort of run-of-the-mill songwriter with a strong voice, but suddenly a female vocal comes in along with a myriad of instruments that turn it into a grumbly calssic-country sort of tune. Mangan has a very gravelly voice with the up-and-down drone of a blues singer. It might err a bit on the side of sappy at times but it's also very well done. Actually the instrumentation really punches this up. Strings and shimmering trumpets, soft builds and powerful ends. The voice seems almost more suited to a snarly modern rock band, but also has a celtic touch to it (think The Frames). He keeps the surprises coming with unexpected song breaks (this is the sort of thing where, if performed live, the audience would start clapping, and then be stunned to silence when the same song kicks back in). Mangan is also an extremely talented guitar picker. He's got a large cast of folks helping out with all those nifty instruments. This likely isn't an album for everyone but it will indeed have a broad and easy, feel-good appeal to those who latch onto it. Chilling warble on the gal's vocals. and a stunning cello that caught me really off guard in "Journal Of A Narcoleptic." This one's best so far, hair-raising chills from the strings. It's a sweetly sluggish album, pretty romantic, gentle, a picnic in a sunny field. Love the humming that surfaces on "Western Wind." Song of choice : "Journal Of A Narcoleptic" -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere Dan Mangan website Published : February, 2006.