Piano Magic was formed in the summer of 1996 by Glen Johnson, Dominic Chennell, and Dick Rance in London, as a 'bedroom-studio' project with the intention to base their recordings around their small nucleus and whoever else would like to contribute.
[7] Popular Mechanics appeared on I (label)/Ché Trading in 1997, a debut album which the press variously described as "ethereal electro pop atmospheric soundscapes"[8] or "simply delighting in... making silly noises"[9] and which the band thought of as "Small Beat, pre-chip...
The duo then briefly recruited American music students Alexander Perls, Jen Adam and Ezra Feinberg to complete the band,[10] though Chennell too had departed by the time of the second album release Low Birth Weight in 1998, a record described as "dreamy, trance and organic psychedelia".
The band, now minus Cheves, signed to 4AD Records in 2000 and released the soundtrack for Spanish director Bigas Lunas' film Son de Mar in 2001, described as "ethereal, delayed guitar lines... accompanied by various ambient sounds.
With the addition of Franck Alba and Alasdair Steer, The Troubled Sleep of Piano Magic was released in 2003 on the Green Ufos label, soliciting comparisons with This Mortal Coil and Durutti Column.
[15] Cédric Pin joined Piano Magic in time for the 2005 album Disaffected with a melodic, nearly "pop" sound, featuring more guest vocal contributions from John Grant of The Czars and Angèle David-Guillou of Klima.
It appeared to confirm a return to their 'exile' status, gaining significant attention abroad (including, for example, a full feature in the French daily Liberation[16]) but with no coverage in any UK broadsheet or music magazine.
The album features guest appearances from Peter Milton Walsh of The Apartments, Audrey Riley (go-to cellist for The Go-Betweens, Nick Cave, Virginia Astley and many more), Josh Hight (Irons) and Oliver Cherer (Dollboy).