Pops Magellan Turns Radiohead, Chemical Brothers, and Parliament Songs Into Psychedelic Jams
Pops Magellan has returned with a new EP, Unsolicited Jams, which reimagines songs by Radiohead, The Chemical Brothers, and Parliament through “instrumental arrangements, heavy grooves, psychedelic textures, and spontaneous improvisation.” Magellan connected with the music as a teenager, and her reinterpretations reframe each song with elements of funk, grunge, electronica, and psychedelia.
“I wanted to revisit music I listened to in my teens that helped shape me, and experiment with it to see where I could take it,” she explains. “Playing these songs live and improvising is about the moment and what I can do with what I have. That’s how I bring psychedelia, funk, and grunge into my music.”
Magellan is joined on Unsolicited Jams by Gordon Campbell, Artur Menezes, Collin Clauson, and Henry McDaniel IV. The EP was recorded in live, raw takes to preserve the musicians’ chemistry and spontaneity. As such, the tracks become sonic voyages stretching into the 8-minute range, rather than simple three-minute jaunts.
One of the EP’s highlights is Magellan’s arrangement of “Go” by the Chemical Brothers, which she worked out with Campbell.
“The bass line and vocals on ‘Go’ are so iconic, and it was really fun to reimagine the song as an instrumental,” Magellan says. “Gordon and I worked on how to open it up for solos and improvisation while keeping the energy of the original. The outro ended up becoming its own tune.”
Check out Magellan’s psychedelic bass work on “Go”:
Unsolicited Jams is streaming now on Apple Music, Amazon Music, and other digital platforms. Magellan will celebrate the EP’s release with a show at the Baked Potato Jazz Club in Los Angeles on October 25th.
Unsolicited Jams Track List:
- Go
- National Anthem
- Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples
- TBC
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
