They say moving house can be one of life’s most stressful tasks. If one person knows about that its Manchester-based Marc Rigelsford, better known as the DIY pop maverick, Magic Arm.
His new album ‘Images Rolling’ follows on from 2009’s debut album Make Lists Do Something and is a further exploration of the musical playground that is Magic Arm’s world. It once again investigates his inquisitive sense of sonic adventure that derives from what surrounds him. Somewhere between ‘This Way Up’ cardboard boxes and the stairwell in which the new record’s violin and trumpet sounds were recorded, a studio gradually took shape. Boasting an array of cables, switches, and instruments donated by friends and family such as a piano, guitar, bass, synths, keyboards, glockenspiel, various types of organ, and drums, Rigelsford’s new sound workshop offered the perfect balance between vocational artistic freedom and a chaotic living space; “Tripping over your instruments on your way to the kitchen is a constant reminder that there is something else that you should be doing,” he confesses.
Musing on a bout of melancholic nostalgia (‘Images Rolling’ refers to reflecting the past and the way that you can scroll through memories “like a television on the blink”, he says), this record is the sound of one man exploring not only where he’s been but also commenting upon the present; editing, re-editing, then editing again, an album itself. “. “It’s an album inspired by the process of writing an album”
Moving away from the more electronic sound of his debut LP, Images Rolling takes on the natural reverbs of the vast part-derelict three-storey house, coming over as an altogether warmer and more comforting entity.
From start to finish ‘Images Rolling’ is a restless, fearlessly ambitious, yet understated and articulate piece of work. No-one could ever accuse Magic Arm of making music that fits into any pigeon-shaped holes, but with this record he’s certainly found a musical home.
Images Rolling Released 3rd June
Magic Arm will play a string of special shows in churches and suitably ornate venues ahead of the album this May:
9th May – The Caves, Edinburgh with Sparrow and Workshop
10th May – The Glad Café, Glasgow with Jonnie Common
13th May – The Porter, Bath with The Bony King of Nowhere
16th May – St Pancras old church, London
17th May – Baronial Hall, Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester with Nancy Elizabeth
18th May – LEAF on Bold St, Liverpool
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