The Magic Numbers
The sound of The Magic Numbers revolves around the brilliant songwriting and guitar playing talents of singer Romeo. Born and raised in Trinidad (where his mother had her own opera show on TV) the family moved to New York when he was teenager and later moved again to Ealing in London.
There he met drummer Sean and started making music. Consequently, these days the two are to be found sitting in the sound-proofed front room of the family’s terraced house, without natural light or air, surrounded by instruments, prolifically penning as yet unheard classics.
To complete the core band line-up they added Romeo’s equally talented sister Michele on bass and vocals, while Sean’s sister Angela takes care of percussion, melodica and third vocals.
Drawing inspiration from many sources, singer songwriters (Cohen, Dylan), 60’s harmony groups (Mamas & Papas, Lovin Spoonful), epic rock or such mavericks as David Axelrod. The band craft a sound which like Flaming Lips or Beck, is coming from everywhere but is uniquely theirs.
Beck’s Record Club
Without further ado, head over to Beck’s ‘Record Club’ for some real heavenly jukebox vibes and see Beck and Tweedy and Feist and Jamie Lidell doing a killer cover of Skip Spence’s ‘Little Hands’. Then go listen to ‘Oar’. Hallelujah.
Jeff Tweedy joins Beck’s record club
In Beck’s words — Record Club is an informal meeting of various musicians to record an album in a day. The album chosen to be reinterpreted is used as a framework. Nothing is rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track is put up here once a week. As you will hear, some of the songs are rough renditions, often first takes that document what happened over the course of a day as opposed to a polished rendering. There is no intention to ‘add to’ the original work or attempt to recreate the power of the original recording. Only to play music and document what happens. And those who aren’t familiar with the albums in question will hopefully look for the songs in their definitive versions.
Time for Ts!
Here’s our T shirt collaboration which we’ve just finished for our friends Millionhands based in Berlin. 6 months it took us! We might have missed the boat on festival season but I think the months of deep conceptual thought, the hours of studied pen craft (when was the last time you had to draw something almost properly?), the minutes of computer wizardry might have actually paid off. This iceberg of a creation can now be yours if you so wish to own one — they’ve been designed to look bloody ace on everyone & there’s only 50 in the whole wide world! Hope you dig x
Check out the excellent Millionhands blog & shop
& this is part of a Q&A we did for em …
Tell us how HJ began: Born out of the Heavenly Recordings label 20 years ago, The Heavenly Jukebox allowed a group of different selectors to mix and match musical styles in the same night; a broad selection of tunes – crucial, essential. Pop music. And it’s the capers we’ve been up to ever since.
What new projects are in the pipeline? A HVN JBX Christmas party at the Glinlik, a monthly residency at The Social next year, some Jukebox parties in Brighton and Hackney and our clothing range ‘Heavenly Casuals.’
Your favourite records: Here I come by Barrington Levy, Stop that Girl by Vic Goddard and Love Action (I Believe in Love) by League Unlimited Orchestra.
What tune are you most playing? Answer to Yourself by Soft Pack.
What’s on your radar? Caught by the River, Le Gun Magazine, Billy Childish, Absolute Beginners, Kruger, Grace Collins, Paul Laffoley, Country Bizarre, T.C Lethbridge, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Peter Ackroyd, No.1 Village Bakery, Soul Power, New Judas, Autodisco, Edwyn Collins, Time & Space Machine and Fox Base Beta.
Describe your look: Red with purple flashes.
… You can read the rest of the Q&A by going here to the:
check out the rest of their T’s & collaborations here:
& pick yourself up one of these ltd edition T’s from here:
Millionhands v Heavenly Jukebox — T shirt
Doves ‘Kingdom of Rust’
HVNLP67
Doves
Kingdom Of Rust
1 Jetstream
2. Kingdom Of Rust
3. The Outsiders
4. Winter Hill
5. 10:03
6. The Greatest Denier
7. Birds Flew Backwards
8. Spellbound
9. Compulsion
10.House Of Mirrors
11.Lifelines
Having ensconced themselves to a farm house–come-studio in Cheshire it took Doves 18 months to record the album. In doing so they teamed up with long time Doves collaborator Dan Austin to co produce all but two tracks on ‘Kingdom Of Rust’. For the remaining two tracks Doves enlisted producer John Leckie (Stone Roses, Radiohead) to record ‘Winter Hill’ and ‘10.03’. ‘Kingdom Of Rust’ was mixed by Michael Brauer, Dan Austin and the band.
Upon first listening ‘Kingdom Of Rust’ sounds unequivocally Doves, maybe it’s because it’s been conceived with their trademark intensity. That said, ‘Kingdom Of Rust’ takes Doves into more uncharted and experimental territory than ever before.
Take the first track on the album ‘Jetstream’, a track Doves gave a way last month via www.doves.net, fitted with a kraut motorik, it’s a kraftwerk kissed electro pearl. In contrast eponymous title track ‘Kingdom Of Rust’, is a broad stroke of Lancastrian spaghetti Western drama. Elsewhere ‘Compulsion’ sees Doves achieving a homage to the kind of wonky-leftfield disco that experiments that might have been played out at The Loft or the Paradise Factory in their 80s hey day, While, ‘The Outsider’ sounds like what may have happened had time allowed Chuck Berry to Jam with Joy Division. Include, the Tom Rowlands (Chemical Brothers) arranged 10.03, and anthems in waiting ‘Winter Hill’ and ‘Greatest Denier’ to that list you have the most expansive and rhythmic Doves record to date.
Reviews:
NME
The Guardian
View the complete discography: HVN Singles and HVN Albums
