The Magic Position
Encyclopedia
The Magic Position is the third studio album
by English-Irish singer-songwriter Patrick Wolf
. It was released on February 26, 2007. The album features collaborations with Marianne Faithfull
and Edward Larrikin
of Larrikin Love
as well as backing vocals by Wolf's sister Jo Apps and also bass and alto clarinet
instrumentation by Derek Apps. The album was preceded by the singles "Accident & Emergency" and "Bluebells". Video performances of "Augustine" and "Bluebells" can be freely downloaded, along with older songs and interviews, on the Patrick Wolf podcast in the iTunes Store.
Music critics and Wolf himself have noted that this album marks a departure from the musical style of his previous two albums, with this one being more pop
-oriented. He cites Boney M
and Giorgio Moroder
as influences. Slant Magazine
named The Magic Position the best album of 2007.
Digital download
UK enhanced edition
Japanese edition
Canadian edition
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by English-Irish singer-songwriter Patrick Wolf
Patrick Wolf
Patrick Wolf is an English-Irish singer-songwriter from South London. Patrick utilises a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano and viola...
. It was released on February 26, 2007. The album features collaborations with Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
and Edward Larrikin
Edward Larrikin
Edward Eke is an English musician, performer, writer and curator. He co-runs the independent film company 'Machine Channel. He was the lead singer and musician for the band Larrikin Love and now releases music under the guise The Pan I Am...
of Larrikin Love
Larrikin Love
Larrikin Love were an English four piece indie rock band from London.Consisting of Edward Larrikin , Micko Larkin , Alfie Ambrose and Coz Kerrigan , and also occasionally including violinist Rob Skipper from The Holloways or roving violinist Jonnie Fielding, the band were briefly described as...
as well as backing vocals by Wolf's sister Jo Apps and also bass and alto clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
instrumentation by Derek Apps. The album was preceded by the singles "Accident & Emergency" and "Bluebells". Video performances of "Augustine" and "Bluebells" can be freely downloaded, along with older songs and interviews, on the Patrick Wolf podcast in the iTunes Store.
Music critics and Wolf himself have noted that this album marks a departure from the musical style of his previous two albums, with this one being more pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
-oriented. He cites Boney M
Boney M
Boney M. is a Eurodisco group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaicans Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba...
and Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
as influences. Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
named The Magic Position the best album of 2007.
Track listing
- "Overture" – 4:40
- "The Magic PositionThe Magic Position (song)"The Magic Position" is the third single from Patrick Wolf's third album, The Magic Position. It was released on 26 March 2007.The song is now available free with version 5.24 of Winamp as part of the download bundle. It is also featured on the soundtrack to the 2007 film Run, Fat Boy, Run. This...
" – 3:53 - "Accident & Emergency" – 3:17 (featuring Edward LarrikinEdward LarrikinEdward Eke is an English musician, performer, writer and curator. He co-runs the independent film company 'Machine Channel. He was the lead singer and musician for the band Larrikin Love and now releases music under the guise The Pan I Am...
) - "The Bluebell" – 1:11
- "Bluebells" – 5:17
- "Magpie" – 3:57 (featuring Marianne FaithfullMarianne FaithfullMarianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
) - "The Kiss" – 1:05
- "Augustine" – 4:19
- "Secret Garden" – 1:49
- "Get Lost" – 3:17
- "Enchanted" – 2:07
- "The Stars" – 3:51
- "Finale" – 1:57
Digital download
- "The Marriage" – 2:46
UK enhanced edition
- "Bluebells" (music video)
Japanese edition
- "Underworld"
- "Adder"
- "Ari's Song" (Misprinted as "Ali's Song")
- "The Marriage"
- "Accident & Emergency" (music video)
- "The Magic Position" (music video)
Canadian edition
- "The Childcatcher" (live)
- "Luna & Libertine" (live)
Singles
- October 23, 2006: "Accident & Emergency"
- January 1, 2007: "Bluebells" (download-only)
- March 26, 2007: "The Magic PositionThe Magic Position (song)"The Magic Position" is the third single from Patrick Wolf's third album, The Magic Position. It was released on 26 March 2007.The song is now available free with version 5.24 of Winamp as part of the download bundle. It is also featured on the soundtrack to the 2007 film Run, Fat Boy, Run. This...
" - July 2, 2007: "Get Lost"
Charts
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | US Top Heatseekers Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... |
42 |
| UK Albums Chart | 46 |
Personnel
- Patrick Wolf – lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, two Bosendorfer grand pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
s, Kawaii Modular synths, baritone and soprano ukelele, mountain dulcimerAppalachian dulcimerThe Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
, five- and 15-string kanteleKanteleA kantele or kannel is a traditional plucked string instrument of the zither family native to Finland, Estonia, and Karelia. It is related to the Russian gusli, the Latvian kokle and the Lithuanian kanklės. Together these instruments make up the family known as Baltic psalteries...
s, clavichordClavichordThe clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was widely used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The clavichord produces...
, clavinetClavinetA Clavinet is an electrically amplified keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs.Various...
, audio and electronic programming, thereminThereminThe theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
, harmoniumHarmoniumA harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
, AutoharpAutoharpThe autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
, locksLocksLocks may refer to*Lock, a fastening device*Locks of hair*Dreadlocks, matted coils of hair, known as locks*Lock , a device for transferring vessels between bodies of water of different levels...
and keysKey (lock)A key is an instrument that is used to operate a lock. A typical key consists of two parts: the blade, which slides into the keyway of the lock and distinguishes between different keys, and the bow, which is left protruding so that torque can be applied by the user. The blade is usually intended to...
, bellsBell (instrument)A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
, gongs, Morris bells, handclapsClappingA clap is the sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often in a constant drone to express appreciation or approval , but also in rhythm to match sounds in music and dance... - Victoria Sutherland – solo violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Marianne FaithfullMarianne FaithfullMarianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
– vocals on "Magpie" - Jo Apps – backing and sister vocal
- Derek Apps – bass and alto clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s - Katy Wright – solo celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Mark Rudland – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s - Flip Phillipp – vibraphoneVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
and glockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone... - Edward LarrikinEdward LarrikinEdward Eke is an English musician, performer, writer and curator. He co-runs the independent film company 'Machine Channel. He was the lead singer and musician for the band Larrikin Love and now releases music under the guise The Pan I Am...
– vocals on "Accident & Emergency" - Richard Eigner – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Werner Dafeldecker – double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Jeremy Shaw, Richard Eigner, Patrick Pulsinger and Anna at Eastcote – handclaps
- Andreas Kaufmann – first violin
- Alexej Barer – second violin
- Raphael Handschuh – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Rozaliya Rashkova – cello