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PRESS :

"Beyond the cracking choruses, it’s this acerbic wit that makes 4 or 5 Magicians an essential listen – Ormsby’s gift of the gab matches Alex Turner’s or Mike Skinner’s, but he delivers his lines without showiness and with a smile on his face". BBC Music review of Empty, Derivative Pop Songs.

"Art Brut have finally found their soulmates, and you might well have discovered a new band that could be your life". Irish Times 9/10 review of Empty, Derivative Pop Songs.

"Fierce intelligence, a good sense of humour, and massive dollops of irony ... Creative genius". Rocksound feature, and "his ability to alchemise crushing lyrical wit and infectious melody expertly conjures up the spirit of everyone from Pavement to Pixies, Idlewild and Cable". Rocksound 8/10 review of Empty, Derivative Pop Songs.

"It may seem like eating chocolate cake wrapped in sandpaper, but it's worth it. Empty Derivative Pop Songs has verses which bubble and choruses which bang, again and again, deeper and deeper". Drowned In Sound 7/10 review of Empty, Derivative Pop Songs.

"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". NME "Tips For 2009" feature.

"The songs mainman Dan Ormsby comes up with are quite simply magnificent ... you look forward to putting your headphones on for their ebola-scale infectiousness" Jaimie Hodgson in the NME.

"Such great song construction!". Steve Lamacq on his 6 music single of the week Change The Record, and "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" on his Radio 1 single of the week Forever On The Edge.

"Really, really exciting" + "SOOOO SOOOO GOOD!" + "brilliant". A selection of Huw Stephens superlatives on Radio 1.

"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 live review.

"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 single review for Change The Record.

"‘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". Drowned In Sound 8/10 single review for Forever On The Edge.

"more than a bit special". Playmusic unsigned indie/rock band of the year 2008.

BOOKINGS / ENQUIRIES :

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Here is a video we made in a couple of sunny afternoons in Brighton for the single 'Nice Little Earner'. Don't be alarmed, Sam didn't actually jump off. In fact, he ran up Elm Grove to Brighton General hospital to have an operation on his toe straight after filming. Anyway, enjoy!

Here is a video of four people (Dan on vocals / guitar, Sam on guitar, Graham on bass, and Alex on drums) performing Preaching To The Conversed at The Old Blue Last in February 2009 :

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 !!

I've been listening incessantly to Scott Walker for about a month now, so I didn't really want to take his video down, but it's been there a while now so time for a change! From one perennial favourite to another - the lyrically untouchable Jake Thackray. He released his first album 'The Last Will And Testament Of Jake Thackray' in 1967, the same year as Scott Walker released his first solo album 'Scott'. And I suppose both were similar in the fact their subject matter was dark and irreverent, kind of out of keeping with their comparatively conventional sound (at least on their respective debuts), but in reality they were worlds apart - Walker the smooth American ex-teen idol, and Thackray the ostensibly dour and misanthropic Yorkshire schoolteacher. Both however are (or rather, were, in the case of Thackray, who died in 2002 aged 64) undeniably brilliant, and two of the very best natural songwriting talents of all time.

Ideally I'd be putting up a video of an early masterpiece like 'The Blacksmith And The Toffeemaker' or 'The Lodger' but no proper footage exists of either song (at least not on youtube!). Instead, here is probably his most famous song, 'On Again! On Again!' from the 1977 record of the same name, his final studio album. I have taken big influence lyrically, even vocally to an extent (in terms of phrasing and delivery) from Jake Thackray, and would highly recommend to any budding songwriters, or lyrical appreciators, the purchase of both the 'Jake In A Box' box set, and the 'Live Performance' LP - one of my favourite albums of all time. Here is the video though. As Jake puts it himself, "this song is offensive"... :

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

7 : Laura Groves - Coast (live in London, 2008) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwzcrhljUQo

8 : Scott Walker - Rosary (live UK TV, 1995) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoNEspmcknc

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 :