"Kate Bush with beats", "Avant garde medieval trip-hop", "celtic
Prince"; these are some of the sound-bite summations of the music
created by RAGGA AND THE JACK MAGIC ORCHESTRA that, if nothing else,
show how hard it is to describe its depth and diversity to the
uninitiated.
What can be said is that it is music from the heart; that is both
sombre and joyful in equal parts, that it contains a child-like wisdom
and can, if you're not careful, make you weep and laugh openly.
RAGGA & THE JACK MAGIC ORCHESTRA is a triangular affair featuring the
lyrics, melodies and vocals of Icelandic chanteuse, Ragga herself -
who will be known to many for her track "Mooz" on 808 State's current
album and "You Don't" on Tricky's debut. Producer,composer,programmer and Multi-instrumentalist
PYLON KING and Organist/producer Jakob
Magnusson ,complete the picture.
Ragga and Jakob met when she joined his band 'STUTHMENN' (a.k.a
'STRAX') in Iceland in the late eighties; a band, that not only gained
great popularity at home, but also travelled far afield to perform in
China, Greenland and other exotic locations. During this time Jakob
was also producing and directing films in Iceland, Brazil, China and
America. In '91 the pair came to Britain when Jakob was asked to
organise Iceland's participation in a Nordic festival to be held at
The Barbican which led to his employment by the Icelandic Foreign
Office. Ragga pursued her interest in music and acting; studying
first at the London Academy Of music And Drama (LAMDA) for a year and
then with master of progressive theatre, Phillipe Gaulier. She was
named Best Actress in Scandinavia 2 years ago and is now turning down
major parts to concentrate on RAGGA & THE JACK MAGIC ORCHESTRA.
Jakob met Ashley Slater and joined his band Microgroove which preceded Freakpower.
In the meantime Mark (PYLON KING) set up the label 'The Zexos Empire' in '91 as an
outlet for his Medieval/ambient/club/Experimental creations under the moniker 'The Voices Of
Kwahn','Zexos','Citizen Z',Konfontation'and'Gonk'.. Four 'Voices Of Kwahn'
albums have been released featuring vocals by American performance
artist Anna Homler, aswell as single "Ya Yae Ya yo Yo Yo" that has
since become a huge club anthem. Mark also re-mixes as 'The Pylon
King' and has worked on records for such diverse artists as
'Dreadzone', 'Deep Forest' and the 'Telstar Ponies'. Mark cites his diverse
musical influences as 'Pentangle' 'Caberet voltare' 'Joy Division', 'Prefab Sprout', through
'Prince' to , 'Future Sound Of London' , but with
a heavy injection of 'Punk medievalism'
In February '95 Ragga and Mark were introduced by a mutual friend and they then
started to write and record this amazing album.
RAGGA & THE JACK MAGIC ORCHESTRA's timeless album was never given a proper release by their label EMI (1997) . This album deserves a proper release!.. width="425" height="350" .... width="425" height="350" ..
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