Count Magnus

CADABR-91 2022
LP
M. R. James' Count Magnus, as read by Robert Lloyd Parry and scored by Pentagram Home Video and Chris Bozzone, makes for an intriguing listen. Given Parry's quite conversational tone, mixed with the paired musicians' score, it's as though one is hearing this well-documented chronicle related while seated at the bar of some fascinating club. It's a late-night tale, told with the enthusiasm of a knowledgeable man who's been waiting ages for someone to whom he can relate all of this weirdness.
As Parry comes from a journalistic background and has covered many a fascinating story in his career, it should come as no surprise that he reads with a great deal of skill. For those who have read his 2011 book, People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman, it's a bit of specific and special joy that Parry is once again telling the dark and terrifying story of a journey gone awry.
That said, Parry is not just content to tell the story, however. The reporter's skill for creating voices for James' varied characters allows him to convey both Mr. Wraxall's "man past middle age, possessed of some private means, and very much alone in the world," but also that of the landlord of the inn where Wraxall stays, Herr Nielsen, and even that of his grandfather of 92 years prior to the story being told. It's a talented piece of reading, and the journalistic nature of Wraxall's writing is given the gravitas required, while also knowingly nodding to the man-of-leisure aspect to the travel writing of a travel book.
Given the myriad timeframes in which Count Magnus takes place, it is of utmost importance that the musical pairing of Bozzone and Pentagram Home Video delineate the eras into which the listener is taken. By means of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, the pairing places the listener in a very specific locale with each musical milieu. Flute scores a trip back to the story of Herr Nielsen's grandfather, and synthesizer presages it, making the temporal switch clear.
Credits:
Written by M.R. James
Read by Robert Lloyd Parry
Artwork by Matthew Jaffe
Liner notes by S.T. Joshi
Score by Chris Bozzone & Pentagram Home Video
A1		Count Magnus - Part 1
B1		Count Magnus - Part 2
Limited pressing on 150 gram vinyl
Printed on a deluxe heavy weight gatefold tip-on jacket
Includes an 18" x 24" promotional poster
Variants:
Red marbled
Red black swirl over natural white (subscriber)
Hand poured red and tan splatter over clear (xx copies)
Wax mage (25 numbered copies)
Test pressing (25 numbered copies)