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'80s Manchester band Magic Roundabout releasing lost debut on Third Man

Earlier this year, Third Man Record released a “lost” 7″ single from obscure ’80s Manchester band Magic Roundabout who ran in similar circles as My Bloody Valentine, Spacemen 3 and Loop but had more in common, sonically, with the C-86 scene (Wedding Present, Close Lobsters, The Shop Assistants). It was the first official release from the group apart from a song on a compilation cassette, and it came into Third Man’s hands by way of Pale SaintsIan Masters and His Name is Alive‘s Warren Defever. Now Third Man is releasing a full record of never-before-heard Magic Roundabout songs.

That record is titled Up and will be out September 24.”From super-catchy pop songs to ambitious 20-minute improvisations, the band had everything but a recording deal,” Masters says of how this record came to exist. “Ambitious live performances where friends were satisfied with spitting out fluff often forgotten in 2 and a half minutes. Finally, the tape that was thought to have been lost was discovered during a search for a lost newborn in Manchester’s slums, is now being remastered and presented for everyone to hear. You lucky lucky mofo’.”

Pulp’s Mark Webber, who put out the Oozing Through The Ozone Layer tape compilation Magic Roundabout were on, says: “Imagine you’re growing up in England in the mid-1980s. Not much to hope for, but at least we had music. In towns all across the country, isolated pockets of teenagers are discovering The Velvet Underground. Searching for radical role models in the present, some of us devotees of Spacemen 3; others align with The Jesus and Mary Chain. Something was happening. We all formed bands, and Magic Roundabout are one of those that showed so much promise. We all had dreams. Some dreams take longer to come true.”

Up features “Sneaky Feelin'” from the Third Man single plus five more tracks. You can listen to “She’s a Waterfall,” a great, shambolic pop song that was on Oozing Through The Ozone Layer, and watch a new video for it below.

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Magic Roundabout – Up tracklist:
1. Carol In Your Eyes
2. Cast Your Sadness Away
3. She’s A Waterfall
4. Sneaky Feelin’
5. Up
6. Alice’s Paper Plane