4 or 5 Magicians new live lineup for 2009 - the year we finally DO IT!
DAN ORMSBY - Vocals, Words, Guitar (+ Drums on recordings)
SAM CLARKE - Guitar
IVAN BERRY - Bass
ALEX WILKINSON - Drums
GRAHAM PEMBREY - Keyboard, Guitar
plus Sam Moore, Ilja Gray, and Mike Lord contributed guitar, drums, and keyboards respectively to some recorded songs, and Daniel Moss may join up again live as an additional guitarist if his dodgy arm recovers!
Influences
Principally : REM, Guided By Voices, Nirvana, The Replacements, Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, Weezer, Beck, Pavement, Pixies, Sonic Youth, Archers Of Loaf, Built To Spill, Minutemen, Everclear, The Thermals, The New Pornographers, The Presidents Of The United States Of America, Mclusky, Times New Viking, The Beatles.
Secondarily : The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Fugazi, Devo, Fiery Furnaces, Oneida, Karate, Wilco, Elliott Smith, Tom Waits, Jake Thackray AND HUNDREDS OF OTHER BANDS TOO.
Sounds Like
NME TOP TIP FOR 2009 - January 7th Issue :
"Brighton five-piece 4 or 5 Magicians are more exciting than the prospect of Paul Daniels actually fulfilling his long-running promise to leave the country under a Labour regime. With lyrics so slick they make Alex Turner sound like a spluttering old colonel struggling with a cream bun and equal parts lo-fi bedroom fuzz and glorious art-pop melody (think Supergrass meets Shellac) we're struggling to think of one solitary loser who won't like this band. They're going to be the new Manic Street Preachers, but with less tights and guy-liner"
"The songs mainman Dan Ormsby comes up with are quite simply magnificent" - Jaimie Hodgson, NME
Steve Lamacq's New Favourite Band and Change The Record "Such great song construction!" Lamacq Single Of The Week May 28th - June 4th 2008
Also, about Forever On The Edge - "I just really like the juxtaposition of the sort of dismissiveness and confidence rubbing-up against each other...a clattering pop-noise that weaves the singer along" - Steve Lamacq, Radio 1
"Really, really exciting" + "SOOOO SOOOO GOOD!" + "brilliant" + various other superlatives - Huw Stephens, Radio 1
"more than a bit special" - Playmusic Magazine Unsigned Indie/Rock band of the year 2008
"At last a believeable British retort to the drawling rambles of Stephen Malkmus. Think Hefner's Darren Hayman fronting Guided By Voices. Ace." Music Week
"the sort of lo-fi attack jam that Kurt Cobain would have creamed over" - Rocksound
"very nearly stirring enough to make you put some pants on and run down to Capital FM with a big gun. Marvellously cynical alt.rock grubbiness. More please!" - The Fly
"‘Forever On The Edge’ not only boasts a loveable melody so missed from the chord-driven NME crowd , but also a contender for the best lyric of the year ... Lo-fi indie rock at its best" - 8/10 - drownedinsound.com
"inherently fantastic" - rockfeedback.com
SINGLE OF THE MONTH Oct 2007 - "a monumentally fuzz drenched summer anthem for the slacker generation missing the greats!" - subba-cultcha.com
DEMO OF THE WEEK May 24th 2007 - "a promising potentially explosive alt.rock indie-pop X factor edge of their own" --- AND --- SINGLE OF THE WEEK Oct 18th 2007 - "A fine fine debut slice of English alt.rock ... we want everyone to form an orderly queue and pin all your hopes on these four or five fine magicians" - Organart
"This is an impressive collision of relevant underground styles from a young band with seemingly no shortage of energy or ideas" 4.5/5 manchestermusic.co.uk
4 or 5 Magicians are a hootin', tootin', rock 'n' roll band based in popular Sussex seaside resort Brighton. Dan Ormsby writes the songs, and Sam Clarke, Ivan Berry, Alex Wilkinson, and Graham Pembrey (and sometimes other people too) help him play them.
SHOW BOOKINGS (and any other enquiries for that matter!) : fourorfivemagicians[at]hotmail[dot]co[dot]uk
The band have released two singles to date, and both 'Forever On The Edge' and 'Change The Record' have been awarded single of the week by Steve Lamacq on the radio as well as loads of top reviews and stuff.
'Forever On The Edge' is a 3" CD and can be bought from the Alcopop! Records website www.ilovealcopop.co.uk
'Change The Record / Ideal Man' is a double A-side 7" vinyl and can be bought from the This Is Fake DIY Records website www.thisisfakediyrecords.co.uk
4 or 5 Magicians recently joined the Smalltown America Records roster, and debut album 'Empty, Derivative Pop Songs' will be released in October 2009. I've been listening to it quite a lot recently, it's really good.
In June 2007, three people went to Maida Vale Studios to record three songs for the Huw Stephens show on Radio 1. These were Dan Ormsby on Vocals, Guitar, and Drums, Jon Wood (now playing in Epideme) on Bass, and Matt Hayward (now playing in Favours For Sailors) on Guitar :
Here is a video of four people (Dan on vocals / guitar, Sam on bass, Sam Moore on guitar, and Ilja Gray on drums) performing Change The Record at the Notting Hill Arts Club in April 2008 :
!! VIDEO OF THE WEEK !!
While it pains me to take down a video of REM in their 80's prime, I have named this section 'Video of the Week', and it has been up for almost two now, so time for a change. When I started doing this, I was going to keep it to classic bands of yesteryear, or amusing oddities, but recently I have been somewhat taken aback by a musical contemporary, introduced to me by the similarly wonderful Laura Hocking (see top friends section!). Her name is also Laura (Groves) and she performs under the nom de plume Blue Roses. I could sit here waxing lyrical about this splendid musical talent until Myspace became obsolete (actually far longer than that, I'm sure), but instead I will let the video do the talking. A live recording backstage at last summer's Field Day festival I think. Enjoy!
NB. I very much hope Laura doesn't mind me hosting the video here, or the knock-on association with my comparatively crass rock band. Go and buy her eponymous debut LP now, it is amazing. If you don't believe me though you can preview it on spotify, as well as watch a load more videos on youtube!
You are cordially invited to a special house show we are throwing, as a warm-up for our show with Crocodiles at Old Blue Last the following day. Places are strictly limited. Also playing is the wonderful Stairs To Korea.
Hi guys, how's it going? hope you're having a good week? Just to let you know we're playing at the Providence on Friday (22nd) if you fancy coming down that would be awesome. It's only a quid to get in and cheap drinks too! :) 70s Cop
Good afternoon.
After three years in the waiting my new album is finally out on pre-release today. I have just posted the whole album within a five minute track on my profile. Check it out. I am offering all sorts of extras if you order within the next month - see THE ONLINE SHOP
Also check out the video blog I have been posting as the full release date gets closer...
YOUTUBE VIDEOS
Keep strong,
Andy
"Whilst onstage tonight ceratin members may look eerily like the kind of mugs that appear in indentifit illustrations handed to parents of suspicious characters spotted lurking round parks, the songs mainman Dan Ormsby comes up with are quite simply magnificent."
we,re hosting a month of monday night gigs at the Vibe bar Brick Lane. "Breaking out the old Routine" start the week like you mean it, and tell it whos boss with a party on monday night with Tom Mansi and the Icebreakers we,ll be playing each week with lots of lovely friends guests supporting and headlining each week with us tucked in the middle somewhere playing lots of new stuff and some oldies too.
Online Now!
