NXNE 2013: The Magic @ BLK BOX by Adam Bunch

FRIDAY — Somehow, while listening to The Magic on record, it never quite dawned on me just how much disco goes into their sound. But now, after their Friday night set at the Young Lions Music Club showcase, it seems obvious. A lot of that is thanks to the fashion stylings of frontman Geordie Gordon, who drove the point home with Travolta-esque white pants and a shirt undone all the way down to his waist. It didn't hurt either, the way vocalist Sylvie Smith moved across the stage in the black basement of the Great Hall, bathed in red and blue light. And then, of course, there were the songs.

The Magic traffic in indie electro-pop, with songs that tend toward the kind of four-on-the-floor beats that were filling disco dance floors back in the days of platform shoes and mirror balls. They know how to write hooks, too — their most recent album, Ragged Gold, has pretty much an entire tracklist filled with songs that are liable to end up stuck in your head for days. Add some boy-girl vocals and the Guelphians make for not just one of the catchiest bands in Canada, but an excellent way to catch some Saturday night fever on a festival's Friday night.

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Photos by Adam Bunch.

Adam Bunch is the Editor-in-Chief of the Little Red Umbrella and the creator of the Toronto Dreams Project. You can read his posts here, follow him on Twitter here, or email him at adam@littleredumbrella.com.