* En anglais uniquement
Brooklyn's dark indie folk duo
White Magic features singer/guitarist/pianist
Mira Billotte and guitarist Doug Shaw. Prior to
White Magic,
Billotte played in
Quix*o*tic with her sister Christina (also of
Slant 6); the earliest version of the band also included drummer/bassist Miggy Littleton, also of
Ida, and guitarist/drummer
Andy Macleod from California Speedway. The band played in New York for a couple of years and appeared on the United Bamboo collection before Drag City signed them in 2003. That spring,
White Magic played the All Tomorrow's Parties festival and issued their debut EP,
Through the Sun Door. In 2005,
Billotte played a few shows as
White Magic, accompanied only by guitarist Shaw, and this became the band's permanent lineup. The group also appeared on a CD sampler sponsored by Tylenol that year.
Billotte and Shaw began recording
White Magic's debut album in 2005 as well, collaborating with
Gang Gang Dance's Tim DeWitt -- who played with the band occasionally in its earliest days -- as well as other musicians for a more eclectic, layered sound than before. The results, Dat Rosa Mel Apibus, arrived in fall 2006, followed by the
Dark Stars EP, which featured DeWitt as well as
Dirty Three drummer
Jim White, in 2007. That year,
White Magic also contributed a version of "As I Went Out One Morning" to the soundtrack to the
Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There, and a live album, New Egypt, recorded for Southern Records' Latitudes series. ~ Heather Phares