Imagine my delight late last night, whilst seeking out new music to soothe my savage beast, I discovered a new 4-track ep from Piano Magic, called Dark Horses, had been released. Talk about a pleasant surprise. Almost instantly the thing was on my iPod. I don’t like to fool around when it comes to new stuff from bands like that, whom I adore.

It’s another excellent effort. Glen Johnson has never been afraid to wear his influences on his sleeve and the title track, as well as others on the ep, echo the sparse, resonant doom of Joy Division’s Closer, which is no real surprise. Piano Magic have echoed that source material before on other albums and it’s really no secret that Johnson and company have a dramatic fondness for Factory Records and other alternative/indie music from that era. Hell, so do I. There is also more than a hint of very early New Order in these songs. The entire ep, excepting another gorgeous vocal contribution from Angele David-Guillou (Klima) on the song Vacancies, may as well have been sung by Bernard Sumner himself.

Don’t misunderstand me, however. Piano Magic are far too creative, far too established with their own, ever evolving, always beautiful sound, to ever become overly derivative of their influences. Rather, they embrace those influences with shameless love, absorb the spirit they have to offer and move forward with a distinct vision of their own. It is beautiful music. Haunting music. To a man with a deep adoration for the ghostly sounds of, say, early Cure or eighties 4AD, it resonates directly in both the heart and soul.

So to speak.

Needless to say, highly recommended. As is, while I’m at it, the new Helios release, Caesura. And the Rosebud’s Life Like. All three are currently in heavy rotation here.

Dark Horses is available, amongst other places, from Bookmat in the UK and Darla in the US. Limited to 1000 copies, so don’t hesitate. More info here.

Imagine my delight late last night, whilst seeking out new music to soothe my savage beast, I discovered a new 4-track ep from Piano Magic, called Dark Horses, had been released. Talk about a pleasant surprise. Almost instantly the thing was on my iPod. I don’t like to fool around when it comes to new stuff from bands like that, whom I adore.

It’s another excellent effort. Glen Johnson has never been afraid to wear his influences on his sleeve and the title track, as well as others on the ep, echo the sparse, resonant doom of Joy Division’s Closer, which is no real surprise. Piano Magic have echoed that source material before on other albums and it’s really no secret that Johnson and company have a dramatic fondness for Factory Records and other alternative/indie music from that era. Hell, so do I. There is also more than a hint of very early New Order in these songs. The entire ep, excepting another gorgeous vocal contribution from Angele David-Guillou (Klima) on the song Vacancies, may as well have been sung by Bernard Sumner himself.

Don’t misunderstand me, however. Piano Magic are far too creative, far too established with their own, ever evolving, always beautiful sound, to ever become overly derivative of their influences. Rather, they embrace those influences with shameless love, absorb the spirit they have to offer and move forward with a distinct vision of their own. It is beautiful music. Haunting music. To a man with a deep adoration for the ghostly sounds of, say, early Cure or eighties 4AD, it resonates directly in both the heart and soul.

So to speak.

Needless to say, highly recommended. As is, while I’m at it, the new Helios release, Caesura. And the Rosebud’s Life Like. All three are currently in heavy rotation here.

Dark Horses is available, amongst other places, from Bookmat in the UK and Darla in the US. Limited to 1000 copies, so don’t hesitate. More info here.

Klima, alias Angèle David Guillou est une jeune auteure inteprète française vivant et travaillant à Londres. Je viens de découvrir son album éponyme (loués soient les disquaires locaux quand ils ont survécu) et je suis immédiatement tombé amoureux de cette musique atmosphérique, aux subtils arrangements.

J’ai choisi dans l’album ma chanson préférée fluorescent stars dans laquelle Angèle rêve dansson lit en fixant les étoiles fluorescentes du papier peint de sa chambre londonienne alors que ses amis sont en train de prendre un pot dans le pub voisin. Et cela de me remémorer une nuit semblable à Brewster Gardens, près de Shepherd’s Bush, il y a bien longtemps. J’ai donc peint un petit format à l’aquarelle, décrivant Angèle et son papier peint multicolore. J’ai aussi reproduit le poème ci-dessous et ajouté un podcast qui vous permettra de vous faire une idée (voir sa page myspace pour d’autre extraits). N’oubliez pas d’acheter ce joli disque en cliquant sur le lien amazon link ou mieux encore en vous rendant chez votre disquaire le plus proche.

La page myspace d’Angèle est visible à l’adresse : http://www.myspace.com/contactklima et voici la critique dithyrambique et méritée qu’elle a eue dans le Sunday Times :

” Breaking Act’ in the Sunday Times KLIMA

Who is she?

A London-based French musician, Angèle David-Guillou. Her eponymous debut album thrums with haunting atmospherics, strange textures, lyrics about solitude among the multitudes – part chamber pop, part sepulchral electronica, it’s sprinkled with beautiful vocals, alternating between intimacy and aloofness. For fans of Cocteau Twins, Björk, the Knife, Sol Seppy, Hanne Hukkelberg and Cathy Davey, tracks such as Fluorescent Stars, Her Love Is Happy and Neverending are like the soundtrack to a private diary whose writer wanders round a sultry city, observing others and, crucially, herself before drifting home to write it all up and set it to music. The perfect summer album for people who like their music a bubble off plumb.

Dan Cairns

From The Sunday Times

April 29, 2007 “

It’s Saturday night and I don’t want to go out

I’m staying in bed, watching the stars on my wall

my friends are in a bar

drinking beers and telling jokes

I’m here on my own,

counting the stars

so many of them

my eyes are closing.

1, 2, 3, 4 hundred

the noise from the street

is coming to my ears

but they have decided to be deaf tonight

concentrate on the stars

so many of them,

my eyes are closing

so many of them,

1, 2, 3, 4 hundred.

Klima, aka Angèle David Guillou is a young and promising French songwriter who lives and works in London. I discovered her latest opus – the eponymous debut album Klima – at my local record shop (thank God some of them still exist and they still sell indie stuff like this) and I immediately fell in love with her very atmospheric and beautifully arranged record.

I picked up one of my favourite songs, fluorescent stars, in which Angèle is dreaming on her bed looking at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her wall paper in London while her friends are having drinks at a nearby pub. It reminded me of a similar night I spent in Brewster Gardens, near Shepherd’s bush a long time ago. I painted a small watercolour postcard depicting Angèle and her star-spangled wallpaper. I have also reproduced the lyrics of the song and provided a podcast excerpt (other bits available from her myspace page). Don’t forget to buy this beautiful record by clicking the amazon link or even better, go to your local record shop and buy it from them.

Angèle has a myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/contactklima and here is what the Sunday Times have written about her:

” Breaking Act’ in the Sunday Times KLIMA

Who is she?

A London-based French musician, Angèle David-Guillou. Her eponymous debut album thrums with haunting atmospherics, strange textures, lyrics about solitude among the multitudes – part chamber pop, part sepulchral electronica, it’s sprinkled with beautiful vocals, alternating between intimacy and aloofness. For fans of Cocteau Twins, Björk, the Knife, Sol Seppy, Hanne Hukkelberg and Cathy Davey, tracks such as Fluorescent Stars, Her Love Is Happy and Neverending are like the soundtrack to a private diary whose writer wanders round a sultry city, observing others and, crucially, herself before drifting home to write it all up and set it to music. The perfect summer album for people who like their music a bubble off plumb.

Dan Cairns

From The Sunday Times

April 29, 2007 “

It’s Saturday night and I don’t want to go out

I’m staying in bed, watching the stars on my wall

my friends are in a bar

drinking beers and telling jokes

I’m here on my own,

counting the stars

so many of them

my eyes are closing.

1, 2, 3, 4 hundred

the noise from the street

is coming to my ears

but they have decided to be deaf tonight

concentrate on the stars

so many of them,

my eyes are closing

so many of them,

1, 2, 3, 4 hundred.