In the beginning, (Hartford, in 2001), there was noise. Later, The Magik Markers rose from their primordial basement bashing when their uninhibited yet sublime aural assault caught the ears of Sonic Youth, for whom they opened on a 2004 summer tour. Nothing though, prepares one for their first studio LP, Boss, due out on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label on September 25th. If the accompanying tracks on this video with Lee Renaldo are any indicator, The Magik Markers have gotten downright melodic.
Renaldo, who produced the album, talks about his initial attraction to the band and the shattering of his own preconceived notions about the limits of their musical tastes and intentions. Based on the samples, and as Renaldo explains, Boss is a startling accessible and at times delicate collection for a prototypically caustic and noisy live act. Quote from the clip:
“I had just recently seen a couple of [their] shows as a duo where I thought they were doing some real real cool stuff. And Pete kept talking to me on email and saying we've got these songs that we're gonna work on with you, and I was kinda like, “Ok, we'll see what 'songs' they are,” cuz I'd never really heard them play “songs” live. And he would send me these tapes or links to downloads of recent gigs of theirs that they thought were exemplary of what he was talking about and I still couldn't really find any songs on those live tapes.”
Lo and behold…
TRACK LIST
01 AXIS MUNDI
02 BODY ROT
03 LAST OF THE LEMACH LINE
04 EMPTY BOTTLES
05 TASTE
06 FOUR/THE BALLAD OF HARRY ANGSTROM
07 PAT GARRETT
08 BAD DREAM/HARTFORD'S BEAT SUITE
09 CIRCLE
