Staff Reviews

Holly Miranda - The Magician's Private Library

Review by David Renshaw

Symptomatic of a trend running through indie music at the moment this album feels like the background music of a culturally aware dinner party.»

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rough trade exclusive with a bonus 5 track cd featuring covers of yoko ono, the swans, david byrne, when in rome and lauryn hill - all recorded especially for us by david sitek. 'the magician's private library' is the debut album from holly miranda - a dreamy and bewitching new signing to xl recordings. the album was produced by tv on the radio's dave sitek. how 27-year-old holly miranda arrived at 'the magician's private library' is a tale every bit as fantastical as the record's otherworldly title suggests. it' a story of overcoming small town mentalities and dodging mobsters, taking in small-scale fraud, subterfuge and religious zealots. the story of the lp's recording is equally compelling. recorded before holly had a record deal during all night sessions at dave sitek's new york studio and featuring cameos from fellow tv on the radio members kyp malone and jaleel bunton, it's one of the most captivating and enchanting albums of 2010. it's fragile, floating and heart wrenching layered music that sits somewhere between the haziness of cat power and bat for lashes, the melancholy of antony hegarty and pop sheen of the cocteau twins. dave sitek's fingerprints are all over it - there are rumbling basslines, minimal beats, treated guitar sounds, horn blasts courtesy of antibalas - but at it's heart are ten deftly arranged and lovingly created tales of dealing with physical pain ('joints' deals with miranda's battle with fibromyalgia) and emotional pain (the beautiful slow burn 'treason').
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