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 MAGIC
BULLET - ‘Digitalis’
(Music & Elsewhere -
M&E MB-002, October 2020)
From the same creative stable that recently brought you ‘The Music &
Elsewhere Collection’ ‘DIGITALIS’ is the latest release from the aptly
titled MAGIC BULLET.
Certain things in music are in the lap of the gods and sometimes it’s best
to just let the universe work its magic. Conceived and recorded within two
weeks of Magic Bullet’s inception ‘Digitalis’ was originally slated for a
March 2020 release. But then Covid happened and the world went topsy-turvey.
The 8 track album was left simmering for a few months and it’s finally seen
the light of day. Certainly worth the wait it’s a long player that’ll appeal
to electro- and psych-heads in equal measure and will soon rise to the top
of your playlist.
Also released as a radio edit ‘Mutant Flash Mob’ is presented here in all
its 9 minute glory and it makes a fitting opener. A strangely magnetic tune
it seems set to bounce around in your cranium for several days with its
enticingly hypnotic beat. It’s a tune that seems to alter the very fabric of
time and its lengthy duration passes in the blink of an eye. A nightmare in
deep space is ‘Small Headed Gods’ which punctuates its dark rhythm with a
series of detonations.
There’s a certain intrigue
running |
throughout that keeps the
listener hooked: like the cliffhanger in a soap opera Magic Bullet keep the
listener guessing to what will happen next. Prime example is ‘Single
Diminutive Impression’ which flows upon a river of flotsam as ‘Chaotic
Vector Correction’ sucks our entire universe into a black hole and spews it
out as dark matter. Magic Bullet aren’t afraid to push the envelope and
things veer towards the lengthy (only 1 of these tracks is under 5 minutes)
but things don’t feel forced or unnecessarily elongated, rather things are
left to run their natural course as with ‘Sky Dark Shadow’.
‘In Bitter Repentance’ brings forth, and repels, certain sounds to create a
feeling of ill ease before ‘I Find It Cathartic’ entices the listener with
its insanely catchy beat and the (dentists?) drill, buried in the mix, adds
an air of trepidation. The logical extension of Steve Reich ‘Crowd Close
Door’ stupefies with a succession of hammer blows and ensures ‘Digitalis’
ends on an unforgettable note.
There’s a whole world of goodness going on at Music & Elsewhere and if
you’re new to the collective ‘Digitalis’ is a great place to start while
long term listeners will delight in this expedition.
Download ‘Digitalis’ from:
https://mickmagic.bandcamp.com
PUBLICATION
LINK - 4th January 2021:
https://www.facebook.com/altpulse (no direct link available)
Reviewed by Pete Dennis |
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Artist: Magic Bullet
Title: Digitalis
Format: CD + Download
Label: Music & Elsewhere
After getting sidetracked several times Magic Bullet's regular debut
Digitalis appeared in late October finally. Not sure what the cover is
really about but I guess it hints at psychotropica and a second attempt, but
enough guessing here.
Also some of former releases, especially the one hour one track album
Solidarietas - gave serious hints this will be really going a road far away
from Mick Magic's former band Magic Moments At Twilight Time. No Singer, No
Vocals, No Lyrics, No Guitars. "No musical instruments where harmed in the
making of this album" can be read in the liner notes.
What is present here begins with an electropunk flair, relentless mid-tempo
industrial funk which may be brewed in the same cauldron as 'Drinking
Gasoline', leading through the first tracks. Monotonous repetitive beats
shine through "Single Diminutive Impression" paired
with slow drifting sequences
echoing |
through the empty halls of
decayed industrial buildings. With "Chaotic Vector Correction" the intensity
reaches back to more raw early experimental electronic before the longish
center piece "Sky Dark Shadow" dives into analogue stone age dada chirpings
where it captures the listener.
Back in the real World the final trilogy of "In Bitter Repentance", "I Find
It Cathartic" and "Crowd Close Door" rekindles the spirit of the first
tracks from a different perspective. A Reflection of the worlds yesterdays
and today's electro underground at once. Mankind caught in loops paired with
urgent sequences and distorted beats.
Echoes of man in the digital age and heading into an uncertain future;
"Where we're all going nobody knows, this is the world today" comes to mind.
Love And Rockets. No. Temptations. No. This is the other face of space age
rock, in a time where no more crowd pleasing is needed.
A limited careful handmade CDR version is also available.
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PUBLICATION
LINK - 6th January 2021:
https://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/11574
Reviewed by Carsten S
(Klappstuhl Records) |
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 MAGIC
BULLET
Digitalis
Music & Elsewhere
Full disclosure. I’ve been fed and watered by Mrs Magic at Magic HQ and
played a lengthy game of squidgies with Ms Twizz. Oh, and there’s Mick as
well, who to all intents and purposes is Magic Bullet.
And if you’ve ever wondered what that scrabbling noise is inside your head
when you’ve been awake for three days and it’s at the darkest point of the
night then you can now replay it to your hearts content by popping on ‘Small
Gods’. Then there is the industrial sturm und drang of ‘Single Diminutive
Impression’, underpinned by a welter of drone.
It’s actually got very little in common with Magic Moments at Twilight Time
from back in the dark ages. Back then things were very psychedelic and still
rooted in rock but as time has passed Mr Magic has moved wholesale into the
worlds of grinding electronica. I’m not complaining. Age of the Micro Man
and all that. And if anyone were looking for a soundtrack to an updated
print of Metropolis then they could to a lot worse than grab Mick in the
beer garden down the Bourne and offer him money. He’d like that. I’m
especially fond of ‘Chaotic Vector Correction’ which, as the name suggests,
teeters on the edge of chaos.
Although it’s an instrumental album, each track comes with a story. Which Mr
M has carefully compiled on to a PDF I’m currently perusing. I don’t know if
you’ll get that with your purchase. I’m sure it will be on the Magic Net
somewhere. Let’s just say, as befits the music, it’s not cheery. Which
considering the state we’re currently living in, isn’t a great surprise. So
it’s cybertronic, electronic, End of Days musical stylings and rumblings.
And, in a strange twist which really shouldn’t be happening a quarter of a
century after our paths first crossed, I reckon it’s his finest release to
date. |
Having once said our M&E United World
Underground Collection featured
"an array of people who were obviously
off their meds at the time", Stuart was very keen to make sure I remembered
to take mine on his last visit...
Granted, you won’t be playing it at your wedding reception unless you’re aiming
for the shortest marriage in history, but with the lamps dimmed, the
headphones on and a death wish to, um , die for, this will do nicely.
https://mickmagic.bandcamp.com/music
No video so here’s some Magic Moments at Twilight Time;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IMUDysgTE0
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PUBLICATION
LINK - 25th March 2021:
https://therocker65.wordpress.com/2021/03/25/reviews-roundup-the-flying-caravan-messenger-magic-bullet-dwiki-dharmawan-victor-sierra/
Reviewed by
Stuart "Mr. H" Hamilton |
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