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4 or 5 Magicians
Alternative / Indie / Powerpop

you're only as good as your next record



Brighton,
United Kingdom

Profile Views:  117826




Last Login:  7/5/2009
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   4 or 5 Magicians: General Info
Member Since10/5/2005
Band Websitewww.4or5magicians.co.uk
Band Members

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

"They're magic!" - SoundsXP.com

Record LabelSmalltown America Records
Type of LabelIndie


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   Upcoming Shows ( view all )
Jul 8 2009 8:00P
LONDON Dan solo acoustic show @ The Slaughtered Lamb London
Jul 11 2009 8:00P
LONDON 93 Feet East w/ The Laurel Collective, Swanton Bombs London
Jul 24 2009 8:00P
LONDON White Light @ The Lexington w/ Sky Larkin, Calories London
Aug 8 2009 3:00P
LONDON Our Band Could BBQ Your Life @ The Windmill, Brixton London
Aug 9 2009 4:00P
LONDON Our Band Could BBQ Your Life @ Brixton Windmill London
Aug 28 2009 12:00P
BEACHDOWN FESTIVAL Brighton (or near it!)
Sep 6 2009 12:00P
BIRMINGHAM Off The Cuff Festival Birmingham
Sep 19 2009 8:00P
LONDON Camden Barfly w/ The Muscle Club London
Dec 31 2010 12:00P
BOOK US FOR SOME FESTIVALS !! Anywhere!

4 or 5 Magicians's Latest Blog Entry  [Subscribe to this Blog]

debut album release details!  (view more)

Lineup shuffle and new member!  (view more)

Tour Diary Part 5 : Kidderminster, Birmingham, Reading  (view more)

Tour Diary Part 4 : Middlesbrough, Louth  (view more)

Tour Diary Part 3 : Leeds, Day off of Death, Glasgow  (view more)

[View All Blog Entries]

   About 4 or 5 Magicians

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 :


Huw Stephens Introducing...on Radio 1

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!

Previous videos of the week :

1 : Minutemen - Corona (acoustic) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZkSomRT29g

2 : Bingo Gazingo - J-Lo : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4uYqzGDW7s

3 : Fugazi - Turnover (live in Washington DC, 1991) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzC0RNkBXM0

4 : Puscifer - Cuntry Boner : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJvvxEs1_pE

5 : Tom Waits - Kentucky Avenue (live in London, 1979) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VOYcRXzs1Y

6 : REM - Gardening At Night (live in New Jersey, 1984) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpwb9JICQUk


   4 or 5 Magicians's Friend Space (Top 40)
4 or 5 Magicians has 2483 friends.
 Dan Ormsby's Wonderful 4-track Demo Page 


 G minor 


 Spalding Water Taxi 


 Smalltown America Records 


 johnny foreigner 


 STARS AND SONS 


 Favours For Sailors 


 Laura Hocking 


 Dutch Husband 


 CALORIES 


 Popular Workshop 


 WILLIAM *new CD out now! 

Online Now!
 Los Campesinos! 


 esiotrot 


 Blood Red Shoes 


 SUNSET CINEMA CLUB 


 The Young Playthings 


 ICE, SEA, DEAD PEOPLE 


 Wonderswan 


 Stagecoach 

Online Now!
 HoUR HaNds 


 Raymond Detritus 


 Everyone to the Anderson 


 Curly Hair 


 Aaron King 

Online Now!
 Blue Roses 


 The Half Sisters 

Online Now!
 Jacob’s Stories 


 Motor City Shuffle 


 Paul Hawkins & Thee Awkward Silences 


 times new viking 


 Sky Larkin 


 Guided By Voices 


 Dead Meadow 


 Oneida 


 Windmill Brixton 


 This Is Fake DIY Records 


 Huw Stephens 


 stevelamacqdj 


 Alcopop! Records 





4 or 5 Magicians's Friends Comments
Displaying 25 of 797 comments  ( View All | Add Comment )
STARS AND SONS





Jul 5 2009 9:44 AM

lovin the new song chaps
Frigeders





Jun 26 2009 8:53 PM

Vista nuestro myspace y descarga nuestro EP.

Saludos
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
EMPORA RECORDING





Jun 24 2009 5:39 PM

Hey there, hope all is good with y'all and you don't mind a bit of spamidge XX

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Empora%20Recordings
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psnpromotions





Jun 23 2009 12:03 AM

Hey how are you? it was use that took the promo shot of you fooling around backstage at sellindge,

also got sick stage shots of your jumping off,

send us email and will can show you them ,

regards

PSnpromotions Media and promotions
Internet Forever





Jun 20 2009 1:10 PM


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.

http://partynicemag.blogspot.com/2009/06/partynice-presents.html
STEARICA





Jun 19 2009 1:39 PM

STEARICA - Sky Smokes Clouds - new video out now
The Lovely Eggs





Jun 17 2009 8:33 PM

Don't invite them and their mussel bound friend round for tea! They're a flaming nightmare! xxxxx
Katie





Jun 12 2009 1:43 PM

Hello!
thank-you for the music, please come to Australia??
☮+♥
Cute Rocker Chick™ Broadcast Asylum Radio Co-Host





Jun 9 2009 5:35 PM

Thanks for the friendship!! Keep rockin' and much love and success always!!

BROADCAST ASYLUM RADIO

Watch For Next Show Date!

Half A Million Listeners ROCK with us!



Click Banner For Broadcast Asylum Radio!

SUPERCAT





Jun 9 2009 4:44 PM

hey thanks, loving your tunes by the way
alcho-busker





May 23 2009 9:26 AM

Well, it's been a fair while, but I've finally uploaded some more songs. There's a few dodgy covers and some original stuff too.

Drop by and see what you think.
Monkeysuit - July gigs - Sat 4/Sun 12th/ Sat 18th





May 20 2009 9:31 PM

Hi


Click for bigger


x
70s Cop





May 20 2009 9:36 AM

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
Welfare Mothers


Online Now!


May 19 2009 11:30 PM

I just read the whole tour blog. Very funny stuff!
Sky Larkin





May 18 2009 8:59 PM

aw ta very much! yeah its a ballache when that stuff happens but it was still really fun, thanks for coming and we'll cross paths soon we hope! kx
mogs





May 18 2009 7:10 PM

It's from your friend Mr Hodgson's Radar blog in the NME.

http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=15&p=6385&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#more6385
Tiptoe Around the Jungle





May 18 2009 5:10 PM

Hey 4 or 5 magicians!!
Thanks for the add..really like your songs..I'm in the band is my favorite!!
best wishes

ttatj.x
ATLUM SCHEMA





May 18 2009 12:12 PM

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
Everyone to the Anderson





May 18 2009 11:03 AM

YEAH! we're on stage 8:30pm on Friday night...






x
mogs





May 17 2009 3:01 PM

"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."
Tom Mansi and The Icebreakers





May 17 2009 9:52 AM

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.

next Monday 18th may.

7.45pm Kat Drake
http://www.myspace.com/katdrake

8.30pm Lana (with full Band) http://www.myspace.com/lanaonmyspace

9.15pm TMandtheIBs (hosts who boast the most roast)

10pm The Cherrybrakewells (the sexiest most rocking band i,ve ever seen)
http://www.myspace.com/cherrybrakewells

DJ mr Blind Pig

oh and did i mention its free! yes free to get in people! hope to see you there.
Lostaura





May 16 2009 10:13 AM

Afternoon!

Just letting you know about our gig Saturday 23rd @ Audio.

We'll be supporting The XCerts, and Baghdad Country Club.

Its gonna be a great night of amazing music, starting with us at 7:30

If you need any more info let us know :)

Have a great weekend!
emma.





May 15 2009 2:07 AM

you are welcome! found you in NME and looked you up, and im glad i did, because i heaps dig your sound :)
This Many Boyfriends





May 13 2009 6:58 PM

hi giyz
sophie





May 13 2009 1:22 PM

Great escape, i'll be there! x
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