I have a new video!

Grimoon (from Macaco Records) this incredible video!

See it here:

Serves You Right

Manuok is currently on tour in Europe with Grimoon. We are having the most wonderful time. Everyone is so incredible. We are about to go to Germany and I just got a wonderful pre-review for a show in Berlin at Schokoladen. We are very grateful!

-scott
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Grimoon is an italo-french band formed in 2003. It’s not easy to define their musical orientation. A mixture of rock, pop, romantic and personal atmospheres, mostly sung in French. Besides the musical project, they have realized self produced pieces of video art, which support each song. Their first Ep "Demoduff 1" was released on may 2004 by Macaco Records. After several Italian and abroad performances (Sziget Festival in Budapest, Berlin and Wien...), Grimoon have started to record their first official album (autumn 2005), produced by Giovanni Ferrario (Micevice, Hugo Race & True Spirit...). Manuok is a band, or he is a man, perhaps depending on the day. Scott Mercado, the man behind Manuok, is also a touring member of predominantly SoCal groups Via Satellite, The Album Leaf, The Black Heart Procession, and Mr. Tube. However, to call Manuok a side project would be to downplay a truly wonderful act, which deserves hoardes of attention and adoration based on its own merit rather than the accquired fame of the name behind it. However, if you have an affectation for The Album Leaf or Black Heart Procession, you will likely fall for Manuok rather quickly and recognize similarities.The music on No End to Limitations, released today, is gorgeously crafted, experimental, indie folk music. Using synthetic sounds in supposed folk music has become a tired practice lately, birthing an endless list of poppy bands, each nearly indistinguishable from the next. Where is the difference with Manuok? Well, to put it simply, Manuok is different because he is good. No End... does not sound manufactured or forced. Songs swell with emotion as guitars and strings rise and fall, and others inspire adrenaline rushes with electronics that echo New Wave at its best.
http://www.myspace.com/grimoon
http://www.schokoladen-mitte.de

Scott Mercado is ready for his close-up.
The San Diego multiinstrumentalist and longtime extra hand for a slew of hometown bands, including The Black Heart Procession, Tristeza and The Album Leaf, proves deserving of his own spotlight with No End to Limitations, his second solo album as Manuok. With Jeff Grasmic (keyboards), Geoff Hill (drums), Andrew Trecha (guitar) and Erik Berg (bass) on board, Mercado stretches his busy fingers across a bevy of genres, ranging from folk and rock to country and even electronic, on a release that, above all, brings his bountiful melodic sensibility front and center.

Some artists work best at their emotional worst — and not to pigeonhole Mercado as a brokenhearted troubadour, but with despondent lyrics (“Feel how my heart breaks / how my heart takes time to heal”) and subdued crooning on tracks such as the standout, “Always Losing Things,” one could argue that Mercado’s suffering begets productivity.

Yet, even when he proclaims, “Humanity is so hard” on album closer “Andrew So Far,” Mercado somehow manages to make the glass appear halffull with his aforementioned knack for writing an infectious, downright happy-sounding melody. With pop gems bordering on Beatles-esque, such as on the fuzzy psychedelia of “Play the Cards I Know” and “Serves You Right,” he almost dares listeners to refrain from singing along.

The album, which clocks in around 40 minutes, plays along seamlessly until a rather unexpected turn into Nine Inch Nails circa Pretty Hate Machine territory with “Warship” and “Almost Home,” two back-toback electronic numbers that sound jarringly jagged nestled among Mercado’s radiantly gentle melodies. Beyond these two surprises, though, Manuok’s heart-on-your-sleeve revelations and catchy songwriting make No End to Limitations grow more irresistible with each listen. (500 Records) -Julia Cooper

MON Feb 2 2009
The Casbah, San Diego Ca
(manuok @ 9pm) with Fruit Bats

WED Feb 18 2009
@The Dome -  Bakersfiied, Ca
Opening for FAR

THR Feb 19 2009
@Velvet Jones - Santa Barbara, Ca
Opening for FAR

FRI Feb 20 2009
@HOME -Silverlake, Ca
with Toby Burke
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New Album Out:
No End To Limitations

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Europe Dates Coming Soon!
Thanks,
  Scott

Sezio. org gave us disposable cameras for our tour - check out the photos and captions. I love this site, it's flipping awesome.
http://sezio. org/feature/Manuok-Disposable-Project. aspxCity Beat Review:Goes well with: Sunny Day Real Estate, The Black Heart Procession, Bright Eyes' Digital AshThose Via Satellite boys always impressed me. Back in 2001, they were already a local trifecta of troubadours, and even then I could see they were going places. As much as I could've predicted frontman Drew Andrews' transition into ethereal folk and drummer Tim Reece's work with The Album Leaf, I could never have guessed that the reserved Scott Mercado had Manuok in him.
But it's always the quiet ones we need to watch out for. Manuok's second album is his best yet, a musical pastiche that jumps from one corner of Mercado's id to the next. One minute he's folksy and focused ("Serves You Right," "Hold Still"), the next he's dabbling in electro soundscapes ("Warship"). With its glooming trip-hop beat and nearly whispered vocals, "Almost Home" is downright sexy, as if Mercado couldn't wait 'til the lady got home for some indie-rock lovin'.
Some might see No End to Limitation's musical eclecticism as a weakness, as if Mercado can't keep focus or just doesn't know what kind of music he wants to make. But if there's an ADD nature to the whole thing, it's because, converse to the title, there are no limits to the music ringing around in his head. Focus is for the unimaginative.
—Seth Combs..Buy the fricken record!Hooray!Scott

New Video:
What You Wanted

Reviews:
Audio Drome (italy)
Comunicazione Interna (italy)