Light & Magic

For the television series, see Light & Magic (TV series).

Light & Magic is the second studio album by English electronic music band Ladytron. It was released in the United States on 17 September 2002 by Emperor Norton and in the United Kingdom on 2 December 2002 by Telstar Records. The album has been reissued multiple times, most recently by Nettwerk in January 2011.

Light & Magic
Studio album by Ladytron
Released	17 September 2002 (2002-09-17)
Recorded	2001–2002; Liverpool and Los Angeles
Genre	Electropop[1] new wave[2]
Length	62:45
Language	English Bulgarian
Label	Telstar
Producer	Daniel Hunt Mickey Petralia
Ladytron chronology
604 (2001) Light & Magic (2002) Softcore Jukebox (2003)
Alternative cover
US and reissue cover
Singles from Light & Magic
"Seventeen" Released: 2002 "Blue Jeans" Released: 10 March 2003 "Evil" Released: 30 June 2003

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	76/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Chart Attack
Robert Christgau	[5]
Drowned in Sound	9/10[6]
Pitchfork	7.1/10[7]
Playlouder	[8]
PopMatters	Favourable[9]
Rolling Stone	Favourable[2]
Stylus Magazine	B+[10]

An earlier version of the song "NuHorizons" appeared as a B-side to the band's 2001 single "The Way That I Found You", under the title "Holiday 601". "Seventeen" is part of the soundtrack to the 2003 film Party Monster, while its instrumental was used in television advertisements for Christina Aguilera's 2008 fragrance Inspire.

Drowned in Sound ranked Light & Magic at number 14 on its Top 41 Albums of the Year list.^[11] Rolling Stone included the album on its 50 Best Albums of 2002 list.^[12] British dance music magazine Muzik named it the best electropop album of 2002.^[13] NME included it at number 41 on their Albums and Tracks of the Year for 2002 list.^[14]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"True Mathematics"	Mira Aroyo Daniel Hunt	2:23
2.	"Seventeen"	Hunt	4:37
3.	"Flicking Your Switch"	Aroyo Hunt	3:26
4.	"Fire"	Hunt	2:49
5.	"Turn It On"	Hunt Reuben Wu	4:46
6.	"Blue Jeans"	Hunt	4:13
7.	"Cracked LCD"	Aroyo Hunt	2:32
8.	"Black Plastic"	Hunt	4:17
9.	"Evil"	Hunt	5:34
10.	"Startup Chime"	Hunt	3:30
11.	"NuHorizons"	Aroyo Hunt	4:03
12.	"Cease2xist"	Hunt	4:37
13.	"Re:agents"	Aroyo Hunt	4:53
14.	"Light & Magic"	Hunt	3:35
15.	"The Reason Why" (silence from 4:13 until 5:17, followed by hidden track "USA vs White Noise"; available only on initial non-US pressings)	Hunt	7:30

Japanese edition bonus tracks^[15]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
16.	"USA vs White Noise"	Hunt	2:14
17.	"Seventeen" (Soulwax Mix)		4:25
18.	"Blue Jeans" (Josh Wink's Vocal Interpretation)		6:05

2004 Emperor Norton reissue bonus tracks^[16]

No.	Title	Length
16.	"Seventeen" (Soulwax Mix)	4:26
17.	"Cracked LCD" (Live in Sofia)	2:55
18.	"Light & Magic" (Live in Sofia)	3:23
19.	"Evil" (Pop Levi Mix)	3:13

2011 Nettwerk reissue bonus tracks^[17]

No.	Title	Length
16.	"Seventeen" (Soulwax Mix)	4:26
17.	"Cracked LCD" (Live in Sofia)	2:55
18.	"Light & Magic" (Live in Sofia)	3:23
19.	"Blue Jeans" (Josh Wink Mix)	6:04

Light & Magic (Remixed & Rare)

On 1 September 2009, Redbird Records and Cobraside Distribution released a compilation of remixes, B-sides and rarities titled Light & Magic (Remixed & Rare). The cover is the negative of the US cover for Light & Magic.^[18] Nettwerk reissued Light & Magic (Remixed & Rare) on 20 December 2011 with a slightly altered track listing, removing "Cease2xist" (Instrumental 2002) and adding "Flicking Your Switch" (Erol Alkan Remix).^[19]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Seventeen" (Soulwax Remix)	4:28
2.	"Blue Jeans 2.0" (UK Single Version)	3:51
3.	"Evil" (Axl of Evil Mix)	4:08
4.	"Blue Jeans" (Josh Wink Remix)	6:05
5.	"The Reason Why" (Alternate Version)	4:24
6.	"Light & Magic" (Alternate Version)	3:42
7.	"Cracked LCD" (Alternate Version)	2:49
8.	"Seventeen" (Justin Robertson Remix)	7:06
9.	"Blue Jeans" (Interpol Remix)	3:57
10.	"Evil" (Ewan Pearson Single Remix)	4:15
11.	"Seventeen" (Droyds 12 Remix)	6:32
12.	"Flicking Your Switch" (Mount Sims Remix 1)	5:24
13.	"Seventeen" (Darren Emerson Radio Edit)	3:33
14.	"Evil" (Tony Senghorne Remix)	8:09
15.	"Cease2xist" (Instrumental 2002)	4:48
16.	"Startup Chime" (Instrumental)	3:42
17.	"Evil" (M-Factor Remix)	7:55
18.	"Seventeen" (Acapella)	4:45

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Light & Magic.^[20][21]

Ladytron Daniel Hunt Reuben Wu Helen Marnie Mira Aroyo Additional musicians Michael Fitzpatrick – additional programming Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – additional keyboards Shari – backing vocals on "Seventeen" Justin Meldal-Johnsen – electric bass

Technical Daniel Hunt – production Mickey Petralia – additional production, mixing Michael Fitzpatrick – engineering Matt Fausak – engineering assistance Aleks Tamulis – engineering assistance Artwork Big Active – art direction, design Ladytron – art direction Donald Milne – photography Tom Dolan – art direction, design (US edition) William Howard – photography (US edition)

Charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[22]	31
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[23]	31
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[24]	24
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[25]	7

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Edition	Label	Ref.
United States	17 September 2002	CD LP	Standard	Emperor Norton	[26][27]
United Kingdom	2 December 2002			Telstar	[28][29]
Germany	7 April 2003	CD		Warner	[30]
	12 May 2003	LP			[31]
Japan	21 June 2003	CD		Victor Entertainment	[15]
United States	20 July 2004		Reissue	Emperor Norton	[16]
Germany	1 September 2009	Digital download	Light & Magic (Remixed & Rare)	Redbird Cobraside	[18]
United Kingdom					[32]
United States					[33]
United Kingdom	11 January 2011		Reissue	Nettwerk	[17]
Germany	14 January 2011	CD			[34]
United States	18 January 2011	CD digital download			[35][36]
United Kingdom	24 January 2011	CD			[37]