by request
Artist Biography
by Andy Kellman
Due to a wide range of influences,
restless/relentless creative energies, and a supporting cast that's too
numerous to list in full, random peeks into the catalog of the
Glen Johnson-helmed
Piano Magic
-- from super limited-edition singles on Spanish independents to
full-length soundtracks -- rarely result in the same thing twice.
Started in the mid-'90s by
Johnson,
Dominic Chennell, and
Dick Rance with the intention to base their recordings around a small nucleus and whomever would like to contribute -- using 4AD founder
Ivo Watts-Russell's
This Mortal Coil as something of a template -- the material released by
Piano Magic
has ranged from arty baroque pop to childlike electronic knob-twiddling
and whatever points you can and can't think of in between. The lone
thread running through
Piano Magic's records, aside from
Johnson's presence, is a sense of wistfulness.
Johnson has explained his desire to soundtrack memories, and with that,
Piano Magic has found their niche.
One early hope of
Piano Magic was to avoid the live element. However, when their first single, 1996's
Wrong French, was awarded Single of the Week in Melody Maker, the initial trio felt obligated to play out in support of it. Along with
Paul Tornbohm,
the group played their first gig and opted not to play any of the
material found on their records. They also made no attempt whatsoever to
sound anything like their records, so odds were pretty good that a few
curious concert-goers were perplexed after returning from the shops and
hearing the studio incarnation of the outfit.
"Signed" to Che, the label that released
Wrong French, the group kicked out two more singles (with one issued on Wurlitzer Jukebox) prior to releasing their first full record,
Popular Mechanics, in November 1997. Including some of the additional personnel featured on the preceding singles, such as vocalists
Raechel Leigh and
Hazel Burfitt and instrumentalist
Martin Cooper,
the record threw together some previously released material along with a
clutch of new songs. As uneven as the record is, its mysteriousness
provokes replay after replay. The band left Che, having been frustrated
with their lack of effort. Not surprisingly, the constant financial flux
soon got the best of the label.
In 1999, a crazy slew of singles and EPs for labels
like Staalplaat, Darla, and Bad Jazz -- including a split single with
Matmos for Lissy's -- surrounded the release of the second album,
Low Birth Weight
(Rocket Girl). Thanks to just a little more focus and a higher level of
quality from beginning to end, the record is often regarded by fans as
their best work. In addition to most of the prior suspects,
Caroline Potter,
Alexander Perls,
Matt Simpson,
Jen Adam,
Simon Rivers (
Bitter Springs),
David Sheppard (
State River Widening), and
Peter Astor (
the Weather Prophets,
the Wisdom of Harry) figured into the process of making it.
The following year was one of
Piano Magic's least prolific, but it still spawned a remix EP for Germany's Morr Music and the rather conceptual full-length
Artists' Rifles,
which bases its subject matter in the first World War. It's the group's
most consistent work in terms of sound. It features none of the
electronics heard on prior releases, instead focusing on delicate
interplay between drums, guitars, and the cello work of
Adrienne Quartly. At some point prior to its recording,
Miguel Marin was added to the group's lineup apparently as a permanent member.
In 2001,
Piano Magic was commissioned to score Spanish director
Bigas Luna's Son de Mar. The director had heard
Low Birth Weight
in a record shop and was impressed enough to ask them to provide music
for the film. Peaceful, lulling, breezy, and completely instrumental,
the score demonstrates
Piano Magic's astonishing range. Released by 4AD,
Son de Mar spawned a deal between the two, and the group began working on the proper follow-up to
Low Birth Weight later in the year. To satiate fans and irritate hardcore vinyl collectors, Rocket Girl released
Seasonally Affective, an exhaustive double-disc compilation of singles.
Writers Without Homes was eventually completed and released in mid-2002.
Piano Magic left 4AD soon after, releasing
The Troubled Sleep of Piano Magic in 2003 on Spain's Green UFOs label and
Disaffected in 2005 on Darla.
With the exception of a few brief stops in Russia,
Portugal, and Belgium, the band spent the majority of the following year
touring Italy. Another 12" vinyl record, Never It Will Be the Same
Again (featuring contributions from conceptual artist Bojan Sarcevic),
was released during this time.
Piano Magic returned to the studio in late 2006, and their ninth full-length,
Part Monster,
hit stores the following summer. In the years that followed, they
released two further albums before announcing their final record in
2017, which was aptly titled
Closure.
Tracklist
