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Review

Portico Quartet

Portico Quartet

image

by Ian Mann

February 08, 2012

/ ALBUM

A bold statement of intent. Portico Quartet remain one of the most forward looking groups around -in any genre.

Portico Quartet

“Portico Quartet”

(Real World)

It has been a momentous last twelve months for Portico Quartet. Almost a year ago I saw them perform as part of a double bill with Penguin Café at Warwick Arts Centre (see review elsewhere on this site). At this time it seemed to be pretty much business as usual albeit with the group experimenting more openly with electronica than usual, a development that began with their second album (and their first for Peter Gabriel’s Real World label) “Isla” produced by the great John Leckie of Stone Roses fame.

Leckie’s sonic mastery was obviously a huge influence on the band. “Isla” was a much more darkly hued record than their sunny 2007 début “Knee Deep In The North Sea (Babel Records). It not only introduced the group’s first experiments with live looping, sampling and other electronic gizmos but was also more improvisatory in nature. The group’s trademark use of the hang drum, mainly played by founder and unofficial leader Nick Mulvey had become less central to their sound and by early May 2011 when I saw the group again at Cheltenham Jazz Festival Mulvey had decided to quit the band to concentrate on his parallel solo career as a singer songwriter (he is also a talented vocalist and guitarist). Cheltenham turned out to be Mulvey’s last Portico appearance and the group played much of the show as a trio. Mulvey appears to have left the group on good terms and long term Portico fans will no doubt wish him well in his new career.

Later that same month I saw the group again at Hay Festival by which time Mulvey’s replacement Keir Vine was settling into the group contributing hang and keyboards to a group sound making even greater use of electronics. If Cheltenham was vastly different to Warwick then Hay was something else again as the group pushed even deeper into the world of electronica with drummer Duncan Bellamy, bassist Milo Fitzpatrick and saxophonist Jack Wyllie all augmenting their set ups with various electronic devices. Bellamy, now the chief spokesman of the band was deploying a console and a battery of electronic percussion very much in the manner of Food’s Thomas Stronen. 

With so many stylistic changes having occurred within the space of a few short months PQ’s new album must be one of the most keenly anticipated releases of the year. The eponymous title seems to be a bold statement of intent; “this is what we are now” and while it may not represent a denial of the band’s past it certainly seems to be a manifesto for the future. They have also taken the brave step of dispensing with Leckie’s services and producing the album themselves.

“Portico Quartet” reveals the band diving deeper into the shaping and treatment of sound itself and edging even further away from jazz-but in a good way. One famous definition of jazz is “the sound of surprise” but sadly much of it is anything but. However PQ fit the criteria to a T- ever evolving, always subtly different this is a young band who have retained their spirit of adventure. PQ have embraced their new electronic gadgets in the manner of kids let loose in a toyshop. Despite the grainy patina of much of this music there’s still the feeling that the band are enjoying it all immensely as they re-invent themselves. This is just the next stage in a remarkable musical journey.

The ten tracks on “Portico Quartet” are sonic adventures that blend melody, colour, nuance and texture into a coherent whole that remains eminently accessible but without any hint of compromise in the band’s methods. Conventional jazz soloing has been pretty much discontinued and the sound of the hang is less central to the band’s sound than ever. In Vine’s hands the instrument is often sampled making it closer in timbre to the electronic sounds generated by his colleagues. Vine also adds the sound of the Prophet synthesiser to the band’s sonic palette and the result is music that veers ever closer to the worlds of ambient, electronic and even dance music. Not that the group have lost their knack for a melodic hook, there are smatterings of infectious melody circulating throughout the ten relatively short tracks that make up the album. As on previous releases all the compositions are credited collectively, the implication being that improvisation remains central to PQ’s creative process.

The new album begins with the atmospherics of the quietly pulsating “Window Seat” with Fitzpatrick’s eerily bowed bass floating above a bed of sequenced electronica and other effects .It’s a long way removed from anything on either of their first two albums.

“Ruins” sounds a little more like the Portico of old with its catchy sax melodies and interlocking rhythms featuring Bellamy’s drum grooves and the percolations of Vine’s hang. But that familiarity is tempered by elements of the new, Wyllie’s sax sound is heavily treated and elements of electronica again snake their way throughout the track.

“Spinner” pits Wyllie’s long sax lines against Fitzpatrick’s powerful bass groove and the clatter of Bellamy’s electronic percussion. Like the preceding “Ruins” it’s a good bridge between Portico past and present.

At eight minutes plus “Rubidium” represents one of the album’s longer pieces and develops gradually from Vine’s hang introduction as the band carefully layers the music. From the dream like intro Vine’s needling synthesiser leads into and provides the backdrop for a powerful Bellamy drum feature, this before eventually subsiding back into an ethereal electronic soundscape.

“Export for Hot Climates” is a charming miniature that sees saxophonist Wyllie switching to acoustic upright piano. This is followed by “Lacker Boo”, one of the album’s stand out tracks with the rich sound of Fitzpatrick’s arco bass wrapped up in chattering synths and programmed drum beats. And that’s only in the first section, the second half of the tune represents Portico’s most futuristic music yet, a soundtrack for an updated “Blade Runner”.

Swedish vocalist Cornelia (Dahlgren) joins the group for the song “Steepless” adding her child like Bjork-ish voice to the proceedings. She receives a writing credit too, the haunting lyrics are presumably hers, and the piece is a superb juxtaposition of the human and the mechanical with Cornelia’s voice sounding fragile and vulnerable amongst the electro-clatter of the band’s music. 

“4096 Colours” was inspired by a band visit to Cologne Cathedral. The colours of the title represent the patterns formed by the light shining through Gerhard Richter’s stained glass windows. The group summon up the echoing vastness of the Cathedral with their music, layers of multi tracked saxophone and electronics combine to express an epic grandeur. Interestingly the purity of the sound somehow reminds me of Miles Davis’ bell like trumpet tone.

The title of “City of Glass” may represent an oblique reference to the Philip Glass (and Steve Reich) comparisons that have been made throughout the band’s career - or perhaps not. In any event it’s another stand out item and is positively cinematic in its scope. Infectious bass and drum grooves contrast with brooding, heavily treated sax lines and swirling, unsettling electronic effects. It’s utterly compelling and as good as anything they’ve ever done. The squeaks and drones of the brief “Trace” represent a brief, and not particularly pertinent coda-unless it’s to hint that the group’s journey into the world of experimental music is only just beginning.

“Portico Quartet” has garnered almost unanimously favourable reviews and rightly so. The band’s willingness to experiment allied to their flair for melody is a winning combination that sees them continue to gather new fans. Like rock bands from The Beatles to Husker Du and REM to Radiohead PQ have done their musical growing up in public and managed to take their existing audience with them whilst winning many new admirers in the process. In contemporary jazz E.S.T. managed such a journey. Whether Portico Quartet can sustain such a level of development remains to be seen but this latest album represents a huge step forward with its melange of styles and blend of acoustic and electronic elements. PQ remain one of the most forward looking groups around-in any genre. 

Portico Quartet will be touring the UK in February and March 2012. Dates are as follows;

UK Dates


Wed 29 Feb - York Hall, Bethnal Green LONDON
7.30pm / £12.50 / 0845 120 7550 / http://www.barbican.org.uk

Thur 1 March - Komedia BRIGHTON
7.45pm / £12.50 / 0845 293 8480 / http://komediabrighton.ticketsolve.com/

Mon 5 March - Sage GATESHEAD 2 *
8pm / £13-£15 / 0191 443 4661 / http://thesagegateshead.org/

Tues 6 March - The Duchess YORK
7.30pm / £15 / 08444 77 1000 / http://theduchessyork.co.uk/

Wed 7 March - Town Hall BIRMINGHAM *
8pm / £15 / 0121 345 0600 / http://www.thsh.co.uk/

Thurs 8 March - Queens Social Club SHEFFIELD
7.30pm / £12 / http://www.harleylive.co.uk/ticket-shop/ #ShefMusic

Friday 9 March - Arts Centre NORWICH
8pm / £15 / 01603 660352 / http://www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk

Sat 10 March - RNCM MANCHESTER *
7.30pm / £15 / 0161 907 5555 / http://www.rncm.ac.uk/


* Support in Gateshead, Birmingham and Manchester comes from Manchester based DJ/Trumpeter Matthew Halsall, unveiling his new trio with keyboardist Taz Modi (Submotion Orchestra) and drummer Luke Flowers (Cinematic Orchestra).


 

 

 

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