Cale Parks is best known as the classically trained drummer and percussionist for Aloha. In between recording takes for yet another critically acclaimed Aloha album (Some Echoes), Parks began work on solo material which would find its way onto Illuminated Manuscript.

In the past year, Parks split his time between several cities where he wrote all of the songs on the album. Recorded on borrowed four-tracks and computers, as he slept in borrowed beds, somehow, all of the songs feel comfortable, at home. As a result, Illuminated Manuscript has an intimate but intricate bedroom ambient electronic sound where keyboards and mallet instruments mix with sparse vocals and a television or the occasional cat meowing in the background.

Besides being a member of Aloha (Polyvinyl), Parks has also been a touring member of CEX (Jade Tree), Joan of Arc (Polyvinyl), Love Everything (Record Label), and Georgie James (ex-Q and Not U). In addition he has lent his hands to a number of projects including Pit Er Pat (Thrill Jockey), Chin Up Chin Up (Suicide Squeeze), and Owen (Polyvinyl), among others.