Nick Magnus - A Restrospective by Alan Hewitt.

With Nick’s new album upon us (review elsewhere in this edition) I thought it only right and proper to take a look back at his previous albums, so here goes…

Nick's work with Steve Hackett has been well documented in TWR but his first album under his own moniker appeared in 1993 on the now defunct Voiceprint label. Straight On Till Morning is a delightful collection of music featuring some tracks which remains favourites of mine from Nick's catalogue such as the delightful Lac Lucerne and Night Of The Condor - both miniature soundscapes in their own right . Walkabout could well have been used as part of the soundtrack to the Crocodile Dundee films whilst Europa and Miranda are stellar (they are the names of moons of Saturn and Uranus respectively) and are suitably descriptive. Sadly for fans of Nick’s music this album has long since been deleted and is now quite hard to find although Nick did re-record Night Of The Condor for the 2020 reissue of Inhaling Green but more of that shortly.

Nick Magnus: Straight On Till Morning. Voiceprint VP 142 CD

Speaking of Inhaling Green, this was the intriguing title to Nick's next album released in 1999. This is where Nick really begins to motor with ideas. Each and every track is chock full of superbly descriptive music from the album opener, Velociraptor and the operatically choral Cantus to a sublime reworking of George Martin’s Theme One which is a foot stomping delight. There isn't a duff track on this one. The title track weighs in at almost seventeen minutes putting it firmly into Supper’s Ready epic territory and like that track, divided into several parts. An intriguing track this one with, as far as I can see, references to the burial practices of Ancient Egypt (?). A tought provoking and slightly disturbing way to end an album but don't be put off the album is a gem. Nick reissued it in 2020 with two extra tracks, a new version of Flight Of The Condor from his debut album and the truly delightful Lord Percy’s Folly which would not be out of place in an episode of Blackadder!

Nick Magnus: Inhaling Green. Centaur Discs CENCD 017 (1999)
Nick Magnus: Inhaling Green Magick Nuns Records MNCD 1004 (2020)

Nick's next album was the first to be based around a concept proper - the creation of the world. Hexameron (the album’s title) being the reference to the six days it took God to create the heavens and the earth. Heady stuff eh? Nick however, looks beyond the Biblical references to include other creation stories and characters including Marduk from the Babylonian myths to the mysterious workings of alchemy in Brother Sun, Sister Moon. Nick is joined on this album by a group of incredibly talented musicians and singers not least of whom are Clare Brigstocke, Siobhan McCarthy, Pete Hicks and Tony Patterson all of whom bring the characters of the songs vividly to life augmented by some truly remarkable music. It doesn't hinder the album that the Brothers Hackett - Steve and John are on it as well but the musical genius flows from the brains of Messrs Magnus and Foster - a bona fide classic!

Nick Magnus : Hexameron. Magick Nuns Records MNCD 1001 (2004)

Nick's next album is also centred around a concept. If you are familiar with the book The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham in which an alien race delivers it's progeny like cuckoos in the nest, well this one has echoes of that but with a twist. The cuckoo's are in this case the progeny of genetic engineering which goes wrong with fatal consequences for the Children Of Another God (the album’s title).
A frightening look at the very real possibility that science may tamper too far. Once again, Nick has managed to create something incredibly powerful from the appalling scientific arrogance of Doctor Prometheus (played by Peter Hicks) to the impassioned vocals of Linda John-Pierre on The Others and Tony Patterson on Howl The Stars Down, the album's closing track. Concept albums may be de rigeur these days, but this one is an absolute belter from start to finish.

Nick Magnus : Children Of Another God. Magick Nuns Records MNCD 1002. 2010

Nick's involvement with Steve Hackett is well known, but in the early Noughties he also worked with Steve's brother, John when he finally took the step to become a recording artist himself. The John Hackett Band first put in some live shows in 2004 and since then have appeared increasingly frequently in concert. Thankfully extracts from one of their shows featuring Nick were released in 2010 as the album 2010 Live. As such, this is a showcase for both musicians with classic tracks such as Fantasy and Dreamtown from John’s highly acclaimed debut, Checking Out Of London alongside equally wonderful tracks from Nick such as Double Helix (Hexameron) and Twenty Summers (Children Of Another God) alongside live renderings of some Hackett classics on which both musicians featured, not least a delicious Hammer In The Sand and another personal favourite; Jazz On A Summer’s Night. Hearing these two musicians live is always a joy and although Nick has now apparently hung up his Mellotron tamer’s outfit, this album gives us a timely reminder of just how good a performer he is!

John Hackett/Nick Magnus: 2010 Live. Magick Nuns Records MNCD 1003. 2010

Four years later and Nick returned with another album, 2014’s N’Monix (a mnemonic is a method of aiding memory for those of you that don't know). Once again drawing widely for his subject material but all within the theme of memory, the ravages of time and the album
gets under way with the pairing of Time and his sister Memory a beautiful and by turns,darkly dramatic track with some incredibly descriptive lyrics and none more so to my mind than…

“Memory, sister of Time weaving her gown from threads of lost hours, broken, discarded/Life's faded flowers…” wonderfully evocative stuff!

Kombat Kid has a decidedly lighter tone but once again there is a twist. Our hero, a protagonist of video games - you know, the ones which promote violence in children (allegedly!). His addiction to them comes with a heavy price, as…

“Dicky was abducted by his video game…”

Without doubt the highlights of the album are the pairing of Eminent Victorians, a superbly acidic look at the hypocrisy of the Victorian era and by extension, our own and once again the lyrics are particularly poignant…

“Small boys up chimneys? Are we to blame?
Dad's on the gin and mum's on the game.
Young girls in factories? We mean them no harm.
Some lose their fingers - or maybe an arm.
The urchins are searching for food on the tips
But that’s not the question on anyone's lips.
We”re building prosperity so it can't be a crime
Devouring our children just like Old Father Time…”

Broken meanwhile is a harrowing description of the ravages of mental illness and especially dementia. This one has a special resonance for me personally as I lost my father to this pernicious disease and this remains one of the handful of songs that comes anywhere near describing the anguish felt by both sufferers and those around them.
All in all another wonderful album. Not easy listening but good music should raise emotions and challenge perceptions and here Nick manages to do both in spades.

Nick Magnus: N’Monix Cherry Red Records EANTCD 1032. 2014

Nick's must recent album (before the new one of course!) is the punningly titled CATHARsis.
A travelogue of an album exploring the places and history of the Ariege region of southern France. A region rich in history as we soon discover.

The album gets under way with Red Blood On White Stone, ostensibly about a mason at work but it soon transpires that this mason is at work on the fortress of Montsegur - the last bastion of the Cathars, a religious sect driven to extinction by what was called the Albigensian Crusade.

Three Talk Towers combines the past with the present in a wonderful description of the medieval town of Foix, very much alive and thriving centuries after it's triple towered fortress was built.

Convivium is one of those tracks which Nick seems to revel in and revel is the right word, as it vividly depicts an imagined medieval banquet of feasting, merriment and drinking all in vivid detail. A wonderful romp which makes me want to dig out my codpiece and hose and get banging on my nakers (medieval drums that is!)

The Devil's Bridge meanwhile is a real location, in fact there are several both in France and elsewhere with a similar story, that being that a bridge needed to be built but the locals lacked the means and so the Devil offered to build them one in exchange for the soul of the first person to cross it. The crafty citizens ensured that the first creature to do so was a cat! The Devil, caught in his own trap, disappeared. However, the song is also a metaphor for the traps we set ourselves and the snares which lead the unwary to rash and potentially fatal decisions - thought provoking stuff made even more so by the haunting, and at times impassioned, vocals of Tony Patterson.

The Market At Mirepoix meanwhile does exactly what it says and is a vivid tableau of the town and it's market - the sounds if not the sights and smells of the market in that very town.

Gathering Mists is the albums next instrumental, a scintillating, eerie prelude and our introduction to A Widow In Black, a superbly etched portrait of a character from the recent past of the area with nods to the escapades of refugees crossing the mountains during wartime. Amanda Lehmann takes the widow’s part with a brilliant vocal performance.

For the album’s finale we are taken back to the dawn of human history for Mountain Mother, a haunting and dramatic evocation of a young man's transition from youth to manhood via his initiation - very similar in tone to Peter Gabriel’s classic, San Jacinto.

The album comes with a travelogue DVD in which Nick explains the ideas behind the songs whilst giving us a tourist guide in his own inimitable way.

Nick Magnus: CATHARsis. Magick Nuns Records MNCD 1003. 2019

There you have it, a delightful and varied back catalogue of excellent music which has now been added to by Nick's latest opus, but more of that elsewhere, folks!