Loves to Cuddle: The Intimate Music of Cuddle Magic

It’s always hard to categorize a band, but one might say that Cuddle Magic is something like Phillip Glass, Sufjan Stevens and Bjork getting together to play music.

A group of six trained musicians make up Cuddle Magic, a band which met at the New England Conservatory in Boston and now bases itself out of New York City. Their music is a mix of sometimes sparse, sometimes intricately patterned instrumentation coated with a layer of folk vibes. The sounds include a drum set, bass, clarinet, vibraphone, trumpet and sometimes old 1980’s keyboards.

Their name comes from the band’s preference for playing close to each other and in quiet situations. It’s all about intimacy and feeling like each musician is part of one mechanism. Alec Spiegelman, singer, songwriter and clarinetist says, “Sometimes we get to a bigger stage and we don’t even use it all. But for the most part we like to be right on each other anyways. You don’t even know what you’re playing anymore…I feel like I might as well be playing the kick drum. You’re part of this sort of machine.”

Cuddle Magic will be playing at the Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Company this Saturday, 11/2 at 9pm.

Listen to the feature:

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