Magic Numbers - Forever Lost

trumps most other instances of that phenonenon

http://www.nunuworldmusic.co.uk/ilx/magicnumbers.zip

it'll be up for the next 2 days or so.. then i'll take it down

As you were.

Your thoughts on the lovely cuddly hairy smiley harmonisey swoony brothery sistery phenomenal livey totally untrendy but destined for true greatnessy quartet, then, please!

I must say you've completely flummoxed me with these reference points! Which tracks have you heard? I've seen them something like 12 times in the last year and have been listeneing to demos/finished tracks for months, but The Strokes? Kings of blimmin' Leon? I'm astounded...please explain!

To me, they sound like Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac crossed with Surf's Up-era Beach Boys, early Beatles and, I dunno, maybe even The Seekers. People keep mentioning The Mamas & The Papas but that's just rubbish shorthand for "they're a little more generously proportioned than most". The lovin' spoonful though, that's not inaccurate.

But anyway. Bloody hell. Amazing band. Haven't been this much in love with a band in five years.

To me it's an image thing too though in terms of the amount of press coverage that the MN's have had. Two brother/sister combos looking like that are always going to get more press interest than a bunch of normal looking Irish guys.

OTM. They are a genuine word-of-mouth phenomemon which no amount of marketing "spend" could facilitate alone. I resorted to actually buying tickets for friends and telling them they only had to pay if they enjoyed the gig, and each and every time I not only got my cash back, the people concerned brought more people along next time. Live, they're a bloody revelation, make no mistake (although that may change as bigger venues=less intimacy etc).

I've heard the whole full-length. Please note that I said it sounds like those bands strained through the pop blender. As in, if the Strokes and Kings Of Leon made generic guitar pop, they would sound like The Magic Numbers. In a similar fashion, I can't believe you hear Beatles, Beach Boys and Fleetwood Mac in their music.

I was expecting weirdness so I'm ging to listen to the Comus reissue I just bought instead.

Then again, part of me thinks it's cool enough that they recognise the genius of the Axe. Even though they are a bit crap.

You know, a lot of the time music doesn't have to be weird to touch or move you.

Yes. I thought of the Mamas and Papas too.

They're lovely.

I meant to say "last Thrills single", and I certainly think it was an underrated ditty. I have to get it onto the Pod to make sure it's still as nice as remembered.

As far as magical indie goes this year, The Shortwave Set and The Boy Least Likely to are pwning the Numbers left right and centre (barring hype, sales and all that) and have just as many fragile or contemplative lyrical sentiments to boot. The Delgados also deserve better.

'Forever Lost' is growing on me but if there's a space in my heart for the Numbers' style of pop, I think it's been comfortably filled for quite a while now. We'll see.

I think Magic Numbers have become more popular than Hal just because they have better songs, and more of them. And there are a variety of styles on the album. The Hal stuff I've heard (all but about a couple of the tracks of the album) is OK. But there hasn't been a single song with an amazing hook or something ridiculously catchy to keep your attention play after play. The Magic Numbers have about 7 or 8 very good songs on their album, and some amazing hooks.

The Hal album is just one that I'm waiting to get in the sales, while I've bought TMN one already.

not sure about it so far, it's very pretty and inoffensive isn't it?

am listening to "forever lost" right now. the good bit really is very, very good.

sorry. couldn't resist. i dunno ... i remember it being ok. that's all. still, i bow to yr wisdom and will re-listen.