Magic Wand News

The Is It Balearic crew has long held down all things blissed out and downtempo, and their once secretive but now essential side label Magic Wand is doing just as much vital work. Veteran house head Peter Blaker is next up after an already solid showing on Razor-N-Tape in April, and he offers two lush flips. The first is a chord-laced and gently waving rework of Kenny & Dolly that has a lovely new age wash, and the second is a more beat-driven and textured take on 'You Belong In The City.' It has a layer of percussion, big drums and a sort of rhythmic sway that is perfect for the outdoors.

Coyote are back with another typically carefully curated collection of Baleraic re-edits and revisions via the reliable (and hush-hush) Magic Wand imprint. The Nottingham twosome kick things off themselves with 'Carpenter', a dubby and bass-heavy extension of a dreamy, folksy number (all jangling acoustic guitar, stoned male lead vocals and gentle hand percussion), before we're treated to the 'Pointless edit' of 'Six Blade Scalpel' - a languid, bass-heavy revision of a late 70s blues/soft-rock number crafted by Bedmo Disco's Sell By Dave. There's an Americana/neo-folk feel to Andy Kidd's sublime extension of Dan England's 'I Don't Feel That Way', while YZ's edit of 'Sapelo' is a horizontal, Rhodes-laden, spoken word-sporting ambient delight.

The Coyote-affiliated Magic Wand wafts its mercurial charm over a series of mega-useful and equally effective edits here. Robot 84 kicks off with a slow, cyborg-infused and digitally finished dub of a Prince classic and Ali Renault brings sugary synth charm to 'Indovina Key'. Bratley himself then steps up with the whacked out piano house of 'PNO', a slow jam with oversized impact. 'Song To The Hills' gets a Secret Soul Society mix that's infused with subtle psychedelic charm and fresh disco chug.4 new heavyweight reworks from Secret Soul Society, Robot 84, Ali Renault and Craig Bratley.

Unlike the main Magic Wand label, the imprint's offshoot 'Special Editions' series is a little more fluid about what it releases, with some EPs sporting original productions - many of which are admittedly sample-heavy - as well as re-edits. That's the case for this second missive from Matsoaka (real name Matt Lundgren). So, while the EP begins with a genuinely gorgeous and Balearic original cut (the dreamy and slow-motion folk-rock of 'Butterflies', featuring the emotive and harmonic vocals of Butterflies), much of the rest falls into the "Balearic re-arrangement" category. In this camp you'll find the immersive, trip-hop style dreaminess of 'Faith', the mid-80s Yellow Magic Orchestra-style Fairlight-sporting electro of 'Gin Yuzu', and the dollar bin brilliance of 'Sheriff' (a take on a Japanese city-pop cover of a reggae favourite).

16 years after debuting, Coyote's hush-hush Magic Wand imprint continues to be one of the most reliable sources of Balearic-minded re-edits and reworks. Their latest is suitably mysterious - a single-sided missive released with no information about either the uncredited scalpel fiend behind it or the source material. What we can tell you is that 'Suntrip' is undeniably ace, with our shadowy editor delivering an extended, lightly dubbed-out take on what sounds like a mid-1980s big studio number: the kind of off-beat pop-not-pop record that Balearic heads love. Think synth marimba lines, fretless bass, effects-laden drums, glassy-eyed male lead vocals, glistening guitars, nods to dub and lashings

Secret Soul Society aka Cal Gibson backs up his already assured reputation for being something of an edit maestro here. 'Julians Cabbages' kicks off with dubby downtempo drums and some lovely twinkling arps. 'Make It All True' then refracts a shimmering vocal and some nice musical percussion around a lazy groove and 'Finally Got My Life Together' has a dreamy feeling and widescreen synth architecture. 'Next To You' shuts down with more textured bass and another weird yet wonderful vocal sample.

Harri Pearson is referred to as 'the Most Balearic Man in The World' and goes someway to prove that here on Magic Wand. 'Sweet Machine' is a lively disco cut with plenty of raw machine sounds, elements of peak-time party flavours and fat synths. 'Drums Of Fire' flips the script with a much more chilled out and exotic downtempo offering and 'Acid Reign' is a real dreamy excursion on bongo-laced drums. 'Trash Dubbing' brings a little grit and sleaze to close.

Robot 84 has fired up his machines and kicked out four superb new jams for this latest Magic Wand release. Opener 'AGAL' is a slow, percolating jam with shimmery synths and squelchy bass then 'Galaxies' brings some dusty broken beats and sugar chords for a nice laidback vibe. 'Feels Good' is another loose-limbed rhythm with wispy pads, DIY percussive sounds and bass that is rich in reverb. Last of all is 'Where Is The Dub' which slows things right to a crawl with plucked guitars and loads more echo to sink into.

It is time to succumb to the sounds of the Magic Wand label once more and this eighth sonic spell is another one that will leave you happily helpless. It finds the Coyote lads step away from their fine work on Is It Balearic? to cook up two top edits. First up they offer 'Lonely' - a broody, steamy and shimmering tropical Balearic workout and then comes the organic and lazy drums of 'Western Revolution' with an iconic gravelly vocal from Gil Scott Heron. There are folk-tinged Americana sounds on 'Love Home' and laid-back disco licks on the seductive 'Luca' to make this a summer party essential.

repress !

Coyote's Magic Wand Special Editions EP

You can always count on Magic Wand to bring a classy edge to any edit they press, and their latest batch of re-rubs is no exception. There's a downtempo slink and Balearic haze to the tracks on offer here, leading in with RSS' Clandestine Dub' of 'Somebody Told Me' before Baz Bradley takes over with the piano-powerd paean to tripping, 'Acid Love Bath'. Secret Soul Society slip into something more comfortable as they sample Whitney Houston for 'When The Night' and then the CC edit of What I Am does some magic with an eternal Wham! banger.

After a short hiatus here is the long awaited return of Magic Wand