Tailored In Manchester: UMBRO

It’s that time again where we shine a light on the finest musical minds here in Manchester, and for the first time we’ve got a solo artist: Magic Arm. Not that you’d know it from listening to his music, as the tracks created by Magic Arm sound like the work of a bunch of symphonic mischief makers.

Known to his mum as plain old Marc Rigelsford, Magic Arm moved to Manchester to study photography, but has ended up establishing himself as one of the city’s most imaginative musicians. Mixing the cut and paste techniques of Beck or The Beta Band with a delightfully sunny, psychedelic outlook, Marc aims to make straightforward pop songs – they just never come out that way. His debut album Make Lists Do Something puts the Magic Arm spin on all manner of musical styles, from old blues standards to an inspired cover of LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’.

Having now recruited a live band to help him bring these songs to life on stage, Magic Arm (once described as the “master of the loop pedal”) has spent the last year establishing himself as one of Manchester’s most exciting artists, supporting the likes of Beirut, Grizzly Bear and Camera Obscura in the process. You can check out his musical moves in the video below and see for yourself why so many people are talking about Magic Arm. Want to find out more? Head over to his website here, take a look at his MySpace and follow his record label Switchflicker on Twitter here for the latest news on what he’s up to.