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October 03, 2005
so corporate that even my neckties have smaller, remora-like neckties on them...
You could try to replicate this track, with a choir of painstakingly tuned grandfather clocks and a girl who sings like a caryatid brought to life, but it just wouldn't sound quite the same. Part of their "Songs of Hurt and Healing" ('Day'--'Twilight'--'Night') suite, White Magic don't so much articulate the feeling of a day as much as they create what seems like a late afternoon in a very pleasant sitting room; full of dust, long sunbeams, and fancy, slightly uncomfortable furniture. Mira Billotte's voice is the centerpiece of this track (and indeed the entire suite), and unlike on some of her songs from "Through the Sun Door" where her vocals are clear and forceful, 'Day' is beautifully cluttered enough so that her voice is, at most, stretched and nebulous (there are lyrics, but it's difficult to pick them out). If you imagined Mira's voice as the view of a long, feathery cirrus cloud through high leafless branches or as a small green ribbon tied into a girl's hair (brunette) sloppily, then this music is definitely made for you.
'Day' is from the "Songs of Hurt and Healing" split EP (with American Analog Set), which was put out by Tylenol's Ouch campaign (one of the weirdest things ever), and which is available here, and probably a bunch of other places too. White Magic are now a two-piece: Mira Billotte and Sleepy Doug Shaw (who was also supposedly in Hisham Bharoocha and Abby Portner's band Among Natives). Apparently the new line-up is pretty amazing, and they're working on new material that's similar to 'Day', according to Simple Mission.
P.S. No one has entered the contest yet (which you can read about over on the sidebar under 'contestation'), so I guess I'll just keep it running indefinitely. Is it too hard? Should I just make it something lamer? Let me know. This shit keeps me up at night.
Posted by Kevin at October 3, 2005 12:34 AM