[Reacharound] Magic Arm: "Outdoor Games"

I was hoping to write something new about Manchester’s Magic Arm after hearing “Outdoor Games” via Grizzly Bear’s blog in Spring ’07. Checking his MySpace page, it appears he’s (perhaps temporarily) left his beautiful “wind-swept folk” thing for an electro-dance thing. Considering the countless artists who are swept up in the same “genre,” and also that his latest single “Bootsy Bootsy” isn’t anything remarkable, I decided to feature the original song I fell in love with for our Reacharound series.

[MP3] Magic Arm – Outdoor Games

Without sounding too hyperbolic, “Outdoor Games” is of the caliber of songs that really don’t come around too often. It’s strangely fitting that Magic Arm hasn’t produced anything close to it since, a one-off that’s destined to be lost like a dingy at sea – or at least lost in our massive iTunes libraries, only to be rediscovered and reloved once more. There’s no hype machine telling us to listen to it or die, there’s no Urban Outfitters to play it to death. There’s just this one little song. Love it or don’t.