George
The Magic Lantern

A Norman Records recommendation (29th December 2006)

This record left our Clint feeling ecstatic.

Next an excellent new release on the reliable Pickled Egg Records by George. This is nice quiet lady sung music that sits somewhere between Tarnation, Low and Young Marble Giants. The Magic Lantern is well good and worthy of a purchase.

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What their label says...

 "Michael Varty and Suzy Mangion sound partly like Manchester's answer to Low, but a studied eccentricity percolates their music, pitched somewhere between folk electronica and sepia-hued melancholy. Instrumentally, 'The Magic Lantern' display's an antiquarian's magpie methodology, with George's vintage sense of otherness broadly occupying the same territory as Pram. However, Suzy Mangion's voice cuts through the muggy layer of postmodernism to deliver songs that beautifully capture a sense of perpetual loss through the passing of time itself. The music's junk shop aesthetic matches primitive electronica and music box tinkling in a style that sometimes veers close to sentimentality, but is rescued in the end by its unassuming charm" [Tom Ridge, The Wire]

"Hypnotic debut from Mancunian duo.  When she’s not collaborating with the likes of Arbol and Piano Magic, singer Suzy Mangion writes intimate torch songs with multi-instrumentalist Michael Varty. Recorded at their home studio in Manchester, 'The Magic Lantern' starts with a lush vocal harmony, then proceeds to take the listener on a slow waltz through 60 minutes of late-night laments, melancholy folk ballads and fairground instrumentals. One minute Mangion sounds like Joni Mitchell crooning over a Wurlitzer, the next she’s whispering like Vincent Gallo’s long-lost cousin over a fragile score of guitars, chimes, strings and loops. Either way, the results are never less than mesmerising" [Sarah Jane, Uncut]

"The Magic Lantern is a disc by new Manchester duo of Michael Varty and Suzy Mangion, occasional singer with Piano Magic. The George sensibilty is much more song based, and the instrumentation mainly acoustic, with highly sparing interventions of electronics, only to add atmosphere to the record's extremely intimate mood. The Magic Lantern's suite of beautiful songs makes no vulgar attempt to grab your attention, and its inward-looking focus put me in mind of the woody folkisms of Vashti Bunyan, previously the last word in this kind of hushed English Fireside reverie" [John Bagnall, The Sound Projector]

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