Magic Wands is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band, originally from

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and currently based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

History

The band was formed by Dexy Valentine (guitar, keyboards, vocals) and Chris Valentine (guitar, vocals) in summer 2008, after Chris found a copy of Dexy's song "Teenage Love" and the two got in touch. Dexy moved from Los Angeles to Nashville and the two began to write music together. The name of the band stemmed from the gift of a magic wand from Chris to Dexy while the two were living on opposite sides of the country. Their first single, "Black Magic", was released on 7" vinyl in 2008 by

Ark Recordings Ark Recordings is a London-based independent record label, run by Jamie Davis (of Transcopic Records) and Russell Warby (VP of WME Agency UK, Music Power 1001). The label was launched in 2005 after Transcopic Records went on a hiatus, and Dav ...

. In late 2009, the band signed to indie label

Bright Antenna Bright Antenna Records is an independent record label, founded in 2007 and based in Mill Valley, California. The label was created by producer Sep V and by writer Tiffanie DeBartolo and named after the lyrics to the song "The Spirit of Radio" by ...

and released their first EP, '' Magic Love & Dreams'', recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

with producer John Hill (

Santigold Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut studio album, '' Santogold'' (2008), was released by Atlantic Records and met with widespread critica ...

Lykke Li Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson (born 18 March 1986), known as Lykke Li (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, model and actress. Her music often blends elements of indie pop, dream pop and Electronic music, electronic. Her debut studio album, ''Youth ...

). ''Prefixs review gave the album a 7 out of 10 score, with critic Matthew Richardson writing, "The whole EP is covered with the cosmic haze of dream-pop, while the Valentines maintain the attitude of punk kids". On February 17, 2010,

RCRD LBL RCRD LBL was a website for free, curated, and legal MP3 downloads from emergent artists. RCRD LBL was launched in 2007 by Josh Deutsch, Peter Rojas Peter Rojas (born March 18, 1975) is the co-founder of technology blogs Gizmodo and Engadget, a ...

released a download of the track "Warrior", remixed by

the xx The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft (guitar, vocals), Oliver Sim (bass guitar, vocals), Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx (beats, MPC, record production), ...

. The Wands' debut studio album, '' Aloha Moon'', was announced on the ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' website on February 7, 2012, along with a stream of the single "Space". Reviewer David Marchese wrote that the track was "a sexy and propulsive stunner...a really cool song, suggestive of the darker side of '80s pop and brighter side of falling in love". On April 5, 2012,

premiered the band's non-album cover of the

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

song " Burning Up". ''Aloha Moon'' was released on April 24, 2012, by Bright Antenna. The band toured as openers for

the Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid, who are the two founders and only consistent members of the ...

in summer 2012. Magic Wands relocated to Los Angeles, and recorded their second album, Jupiter The album marked a change in approach, as Dexy Valentine noted. While the album was being mixed, Dexy Valentine reformed her prior band, Bonfire Beach, self-releasing the digital album ''Lit'' in 2013, issuing an eponymous 2014 album on

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label that has the sub-labels Hypnotic Records, Goldenlane, Stardust, Purple Pyramid, Deadline and X-Ray Records. History Founded in January 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in go ...

and touring with

the Dandy Warhols The Dandy Warhols are an American psychedelic rock, psychedelic/ band, formed in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia Mc ...

. Meanwhile, Chris Valentine traveled, studied ancient

sound healing Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

Magic Wands also contributed a cover of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

's "

Cat People (Putting Out Fire) "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" is a song recorded by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie as the title track of the 1982 erotic horror film '' Cat People''. Bowie became involved with the track after director Paul Schrader reached out to ...

" to the 2015 Cleopatra tribute album ''A Salute to the Thin White Duke – The Songs of David Bowie''. ''Jupiter'' was eventually released by Cleopatra on February 26, 2016. On May 18, 2018, the band released their third studio album, ''Abrakadabra'' on Argentine label Casa Del Puente Discos. That same month, Magic Wands also self-released the ''Portals'' digital-only compilation album collecting

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

, demos and other unreleased recordings. A vinyl edition of ''Abrakadabra'' was released on July 13 by US label Etxe Records., ''Abrakadabra'' on Los Angeles, California, and Washington, DC–based labe

on vinyl offering a full-length digital download with bonus track "Puzzle of Love". Argentina based label Casa Del Puente Discos is providing CD versions of the release.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Aloha Moon'' (2012,

) * ''Jupiter'' (2016,

) * ''Abrakadabra'' (2018
Etxe Records & Productions
inyl Casa Del Puente Discos * ''Illuminate'' (2020, self-released) * ''

SWITCH In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

'' (May 12, 2023,

Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania ...

)

EPs

* '' Magic Love & Dreams'' 12"/CD EP (2009, Bright Antenna)

Singles

* "Black Magic" 7" (2008,

) * "Warrior (

The xx The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft (guitar, vocals), Oliver Sim (bass guitar, vocals), Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx (beats, MPC, record production), ...

Remix)" digital single (2010,

) * "Black Magic (D. Sardy Mix)" promo CDr (2012, Bright Antenna) * " Burning Up" (

cover) digital single (2012,

)

Compilation albums

* ''Portals'' (2018, self-released)

Compilation appearances

* "

" (

cover) on ''A Salute to the Thin White Duke - The Songs of David Bowie'' (2015, Cleopatra Records)

References

http://post-punk.com/los-angeles-dreamwave-outfit-magic-wands-wash-the-tears-away//

External links

*
Magic Wands at Bright AntennaMagic Wands at AllMusicMagic Wands at Discogs
*
YouTube page
{{Authority control 2008 establishments in Tennessee Indie pop groups from Tennessee Musical groups established in 2008 Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee Musical duos from Tennessee Cleopatra Records artists Bright Antenna Records artists