ALBUM: Magic Arm - Make Lists, Do Something

Magic Arm is the solo project of Manchester's Marc Rigelsford, who while big in Indie circles, has yet to hit the bigtime himself. He travels the musical world from early Blues to the Beta Band, sounding like all of them and none of them at the same time.

"Widths and Heights" opens like the themetune to the gameshow of the future, albeit a cheap future built in the 80s, but quickly comes back to ballady singer songwriter-ness. Sounds a bit like if Beck wasn't so crazy and I'm not sure that's a good thing. Its certainly lively, livelier than "disco-folk" like Whitest Boy Alive. "Bootsy Bootsy" certainly has the same feel to it, and the same drawbacks. Both the lyrics and melody are somewhat contrived and not particularly original, denying the true power that this music can have.

But thats not to say that the rest is as bad. Former single "Outdoor Games" is certainly more of a chilled acoustic number, luckily one thats way more Bon Iver than James Blunt. The mechanical drums also seem to touch upon Death Cab For Cutie and its side project The Postal Service, if they'd spent more time listening to Lemon Jelly and less time being all mopey in the middle of nowhere in the American Northwest.

"Move Out" is pure Hot Chip, whereas "Coach House" goes back to finger-picked acoustic nonsense, this time touching gloves with Scandi-poppers Kings Of Convenience whilst also serving as a relatively welcome musical interlude within the album itself.

The second half of the album, featuring an improved combination of lyrics and music, sees Marc finally find some form and emotion, on the tracks "Getting The Way" and "Slates On A Roof", both of which I feel would be much better in place of the actual album openers "Widths & Heights" and "Bootsy Bootsy", simply because they are miles better.

While the inclusion of covers on an album of original material is one that is hotly debated, there is ammunition for both sides with two of the tracks here. "Six Feet Cold In The Ground" is a track by highly influential, yet tragic Leroy Carr, who died at the age of 30 in 1935. Magic Arm have made the track a brand new entity which I'm sure pays an apt tribute to the original.

However, why the amazing (and recent) LCD Soundsystem track "Daft Punk Is Playing In My House" needs to be included I'll never truly know. Perhaps he wanted it on there. Perhaps the label wanted another track and he couldn't be bothered to write one. Perhaps friends and fans insisted that what is surely be a live favourite should be included? Unfortunately its lazy and barely pays lip service to the original, sounding like Bedouin Soundclash on a live lounge session trying to reference a band that were way cooler than they were. Whatever the reason, its inclusion on the album sticks out like a sore thumb.

"Sound Of The Night" is a complex album closer that references classic rock in a way only bands like this one and The Beta Band can, but the inclusion of a "hidden track" on a debut album on an independent label does seem to smack of self-importance, moreso than it would for a band on a larger label.

While Marc is clearly very talented, it is not entirely clear what he's set out to achieve with this album - it's merely the sum of its parts and apparently a collection of what has been done to date. Unfortunately this means that individual songs do not fit well together, and some not even so well on their own. However, this is indeed a good thing. For starters, it means that Magic Arm's second album will be all the better for it, with Marc having the experience from this album to learn from his mistakes. Hopefully the second album, which I eagerly await, will be released to a far greater audience than this one. I've certainly heard debuts that are a whole lot worse.

7/10

Make Lists, Do Something is out now on Switchflicker/Peace Frog Records.

Some updates, some news, some opinions.

So I'm temporarily home (literally just for a couple of hours) and I absent-mindedly returned to this blog and had a good trip down short-term memory lane and laughed and "gosh, how funny AM I?" etc. etc.

I'm not going to apologise, you'd never believe. Nor am I going to fawn over this year's selection of "talent", whom by now have all gently slipped off the radar near completely (save for Florence and The Machine, whom I accidentally heard on the radio today) meaning that, of course, the Festival Season has arrived to remind everyone of those bands who "we" all loved in those last cold dark weeks of December when every two-bit music site had us believing that this was the second coming.

A major karmic decision, based on something I did that was clearly so heinous that I managed to block it out completely means that Radiohead are headlining Reading and Leeds the year I decide not to go. On the night I definitely can't go, as I am on my way to Tokyo mere hours later. While the rest of the line-up is predictably sour and much too boring to describe here, I've promised the irrational part of my brain that if Animal Collective and the heavily rumoured Black Lips both play, I will be obliged to attend.

Unfortunately on the new music front I have kind of slipped recently due to the frightening prospect of a dissertation and the smoking crater of real life it has left behind, although I've been trying to keep abreast of a few recent albums. Notably Franz Ferdinand's latest, containing the wonderful "Lucid Dreams". Although if I hear "No, You Girls" one more time I might kill something. Also, Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Its Blitz! was the darling of my speakers for a week or so some fortnights ago. The eagerly awaited Fatboy Slim remodelling of The BPA turned out to be so bad you begin to realise why he didn't want his normal moniker included at all. Royksopp's Junior was crazy and sedate in equal measure, in the way only these Norwegian advert musicians can. The tracks featuring The Knife's Karin Dreijer Andersson being by far the standouts.

I'm sure there were other albums I have listened to, as well as those that I will hit myself for missing (such as the aforementioned Ms Andersson's solo work as Fever Ray, which I eagerly await in the post). However, I have really taken a bit of a step back and instead listened to some old music, checking out post-punk geniuses (genii?) Wire for the first time to find that everyone was right and they are amazing.

Eagerly awaited albums for the remainder of this year are the much-delayed LCD Soundsystem and Beastie Boys albums, as well as Patrick Wolf's latest work. I would go into release dates and the relevant info on further albums, but the only reason I really came on here was because I'm meant to be writing a lovely essay on the co-evolution of the French and English languages and how we like to nick their words but they hate ours. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Favourite 10 Albums of 2007 (5-1)

5:

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
For any band, the second album is always going to be difficult. For the Arcade Fire, following the amazing Funeral would seem to be an impossible task. However, they did what they do best; converting an abandoned church into rehearsal space and recording studio, experimenting with new techniques and new instruments and slightly refining their sound into something much more mystical and ethereal.
From storming opener "Black Mirror" its clear to see this will never be the "difficult second album" that their British indie contemporaries almost always fall victim to.
Release Date: 05/03/2007
Favourite Track: "My Body Is A Cage"

4:


!!! - Myth Takes
Fresh from supporting Red Hot Chili Peppers on their UK Tour, this almost unpronouncable dance-punk collective released arguably their best album to date. More complete than both their eponymous debut and their sophomore effort, Louden Up Now, the band, despite the tragic death of original drummer Mikel Gius, and the subsequent line-up changes, have matured and perfected their cacophony of sound. Unlike many of their peers, they are also able to back up great recordings with a great live show.
Release Date: 05/03/2007
Favourite Track: Bend Over Beethoven

3:


LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
LCD Soundsystem, the group revolving around DFA Records boss and producer, James Murphy, released something quite special with their dance-punk self-titled debut, and manage what few others do in creating a follow-up: making it even better. Where the debut had gratuitiously overlong tracks, and therefore an album that was difficult to listen to in one sitting, Sound Of Silver has relative nuggets of crossover genius. Lead single "North American Scum", their self-effacing anthem on their home country is easily as good, if not better than the best parts of LCD Soundsystem. And its all better from there on in.
Release Date: 12/03/2007
Favourite Track: All My Friends

2:


Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Tony Allen & Simon Tong - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Had it not been the inclusion of a certain Radiohead album (see below), then I could not have justified not having this as my number one. The supergroup's album, touted as "the natural successor to Parklife", is much easier to compare with the darker moments of Gorillaz' Demon Days rather than heyday of Britpop. However, the common themes that are apparent do, of course, share Albarn's intelligent and witty observations, and run through the album like a stick of rock. This, and more such projects planned would seem to sadly, reduce any chance of a Blur reunion, but if Damon Albarn can keep making music as good as this, I don't think many would mind.
Release Date: 22/01/2007
Favourite Track: Three Changes

1:


Radiohead - In Rainbows
Although rumours of Radiohead's ungracious departure from former label EMI (it has been recently claimed that they simply wouldn't meet their pay demands) have recently shed some more light on the motives of this album's unique pay-what-you-like release, when it comes down to whats important, Thom Yorke haven't quite shot up their own collective arse just yet. Being Radiohead, of course, it is not instantly comparable to any of their other albums, but instead achieves the great feat of being an almost retrospective appraisal of their previous work, as well as being something brand new and still relevant today. While "Nude" is an older song dating back from the days of OK Computer, and "Jigsaw Falling into Place" is a song newer than my last haircut, they both fit well in an album almost as complete as my personal favourite, Kid A. While I am still not sure where exactly I'd place this amongst the discography, it is nevertheless, regardless of the massive hype surrounding its release, an extraordinary album.
Release Date: 10/10/2007 (Download) 31/12/2007 (CD)
Favourite Track: 15 Step