REVIEWS
".the master of the loop pedal!"
- SAMUEL BEAM (IRON & WINE).
"This new band "Magic Arm" out of the UK. Incredible music. I dare you to tell me it sucks."
- ED DROSTE (GRIZZLY BEAR)
"Make Lists, Do Something is absolutely fantastic"
- LAUREN LAVERNE 6 MUSIC.
"Now and then, a record comes along which you can't ignore; a record which really does sound like waves of lysergic happiness lapping against your cerebral cortex."
- GUARDIAN GUIDE
unique home-spun pop. The heartening cover of LCD Soundsystem's 'Daft Punk is Playing.' I actually prefer to the original. It reminds me a little of The Beta Band in it's juddering toytown-hop majesty! Elsewhere on side 2 you get a curious Balkan folk flecked waltz that somehow reminds me both of Tunng & Beirut whilst resembling neither! 6 tracks on here, culminating in a fine remix of the opening number, a Postal Service-ish floor-filler at your local indie disco I guarantee! Watch this boy, he's wowing them out there & that Iron & Wine chappie has been waxing lyrical about his effortless songsmithery & POP prowess."
- NORMAN RECORDS
Magic Arm is a sonically curious soul who fuses folk, rock and effervescent electronics. This six track EP captures his talents perfectly: The title track is a great slice of electro folk with keyboards that bleep and squelch under a super-melodic vocal, that hints at Beck or maybe The Beta Band. Next up we have the see-sawing keyboards and melancholic vocals of "Break My Lungs", followed by a super slo-mo version of LCD Soundsystems "Daft Punk Is Playing In My House". "My My" is a folk tinged instrumental that would soundtrack
cine-film footage of Paris in the spring perfectly! After that brief interlude, "Said Things" reverts to the electro-folk style of the opening track, with breathy vocals and gentle acoustics giving way to squelchy synth'n'drum outbursts. And finally, the EP is rounded off by
the Real Dolls Remix of "Bootsy Bootsy" which ups the tempo and heads for the dancefloor. A wonderfully eclectic EP.
- PICCADILLY RECORDS
WIDTHS & HEIGHTS VIDEO BY BEN BLACK
about his love of Gwen Stefani, Dizzee Rascal, Peaches and Gnarls Barkley. "I'm literally trying to write pop music," says Marc, "but it never comes out that way. There's always a dark edge to it."
Quite. On the album, Magic Arm's smart update of an old Leroy Carr blues song, 'Six Cold Feet Of Ground' (which he turns into a desperate, hurtling, computerised gabbled plea for forgiveness), appears alongside songs called, darkly, 'Sound Of The Night' and 'Rested Bones'. "What can I say?" says Magic Arm, trying to dodge the question. "I'm a moody Cancerian." Listen closely to the ostensibly larky singles 'Bootsy Bootsy' ("Inside everyone, I hear the end, and that's ominous.") and 'Widths & Heights' - a "bitter" love song - and behind that brash folk-pop exterior, there is clearly trouble at the emotional mill.
Whilst such ambitious projects often shine in the studio, on the stage many a 21st century one-man-band has come unstuck. Not so Magic Arm. Early solo performances led Samuel Beam of the much loved Iron & Wine, to hail Marc "the master of the loop pedal" and he wasn't wrong. More recently though Marc has abandoned this tricksy bit of kit and has been taking to the stage with a real live band. No longer focussed on layering up live-sampled layers of sound, the Magic Arm live show has a new passion and energy that give the songs a life beyond the recordings.
So much music is safe, predictable, a commodity, but Magic Arm is here to remind you that it can still be liberating, messy and powerful. Radio 1's Zane Lowe and Huw Stephens, and Marc Riley, are already fans. He has supported the likes of Beirut, Iron & Wine and James Yorkston. Steve Lamacq declared Magic Arm's Glastonbury festival debut a "highlight", while the Manchester Evening News have dubbed him: "The most innovative and sparkling new musician in the city."
The album and limited edition vinyl singles and EP's are available from
Magic Arm.co.uk and Switchflicker shop
