Album Reviews Leonard's Lair Music Reviews Leonard's Lair - Bringing you weekly updated music reviews Bringing you weekly updated music reviews
Reviews     Best     Links     About
Leonard's Lair Music Reviews Music Reviews
Music Reviews Album Reviews CD Reviews Music Reviews Indie Reviews
Alternative Reviews CD Reviews Album Reviews
CD Reviews
Reviews of Music
Album Reviews
 
Piano Magic Album Reviews 3out of 5
Album Reviews
Seasonally Affective 1996-2000

Album Reviews
Both packaged and titled as a twisted kind of Christmas novelty, 'Seasonally Affective chronicles the development of Piano Magic's chilling electronic music. This 2 CD set covers EPs, both A and B-sides and some compilation contributions serving as a more than useful reminder of their earlier works. The story begins impressively with haunting, doomy guitar passages providing the main backdrop for the child-like female vocal contributions on 'Wrong French' and 'Non-Fiction'. The main protagonist of the Piano Magic collective, Glen Johnson, has used a succession of (largely successful) female vocalists to give voice to the macabre tales created but some of this early material verges on bedroom tinkering with keyboard programming; often interesting but a little directionless. Nevertheless two hours of listening can be made worthwhile just by hearing 'The Canadian Brought Us Snow'; Johnson proving himself to be perhaps the best front person while the sound shimmers sparingly yet beautifully behind him. 'Seasonally Affective' is a largely fascinating insight into Johnson's flawed but ultimately rewarding lo-fi work.
Album Reviews
  CD1 Track Listing
01 Wrong French
02 Non-Fiction
03 General Electric With Fairy Lights
04 Wintersport/Cross Country
05 Angel Pie/Magic Tree
06 Magnetic North
07 For Engineers A
08 For Engineers AA
09 The Fun Of The Century
10 The Sharpest Knife In The Drawer
11 Industrial Cutie
12 I Am The Sub-Librarian

Standout Track = Standout Track

  CD2 Track Listing
01 Music For Annahbird
02 Music For Wasps
03 Me At 19
04 How Does It Feel?
05 French Mittens
06 The Biggest Lie
07 Amongst The Books, An Angel
08 C'est Un Mauvais Présage Lorsque Ton Auréole A Tombe
09 There's No Need For Us To Be Alone
Standout Track The Canadian Brought Us Snow
11 Sketch For Joanne
12 My Password Is A Dead Aunt's Name

Album Reviews
Weblink:
http://www.piano-magic.co.uk/
Album Reviews
Also Recommended:
Elliott, Matt - The Mess We Made
Future Conditional - We Don't Just Disappear
Pale Saints - The Comforts Of Madness, In Ribbons
Piano Magic - Low Birth Weight, Artists' Rifles, Son De Mar (Music From The Film By Bigas Luna), Writers Without Homes, The Troubled Sleep Of Piano Magic, Disaffected
Shriekback - Aberrations 81-84
Tarwater - Not The Wheel
Third Eye Foundation, The - I Poo Poo On Your Juju
Your Favourite Horse - Everyday Magic
Zelienople - Sleeper Coach
Album Reviews
print this reviewprint this review Album Reviews print this reviewemail this review
Music Reviews CD Reviews
Alternative Reviews CD Reviews Album Reviews
Alternative music reviews Album Reviews CD Reviews Record Reviews Indie Reviews
go to the top of the page Music Reviews Music Reviews Music Reviews
Music Reviews Music Reviews Music Reviews Music Reviews Music Reviews