Dat Rosa Mel Apibus

White Magic are practitioners of a languidly cerebral brand of psychedelic-folk that hearkens back to the highly literary and stylistically eclectic work of 60’s underground folk icons like Michael Hurley and Tom Rapp. While White Magic have had the misfortune of being saddled with the ever-dubious “freak folk” tag, their deliberately ponderous yet beautiful arrangements, studious lyricism, and intricately elliptical keyboard lines place them in a musical universe apart. At the center of this universe is pianist Mira Bilotte’s intoxicating alto, playfully mangling the English language, deftly manipulating the sound and sense of words with her elastic phrasing. The skeletal “What I See” is their answer to the acoustic explorations of guitarists like Jack Rose and John Fahey, while the gloomily atmospheric “Sea Chanty” with its dry sound and Ethiopian melody recalls the best work of Warren Ellis’ once formidable ensemble, the Dirty Three. Yet for all of their ambitious musical allusions White Magic never become mired in willful esotericism and Dat Rosa Mel Apibus stands as a sterling full-length debut from a truly talented ensemble.