NEW MUSIC DIGEST
What's on the Stereo at Naim?
A list of our current favourites around the office and our record of the month!
Tubelord ‘Our First American Friends' (Hassle)
Mumford & Sons ‘Sigh No More' (Island)
Joe Giddeon and the Shark 'Harum Scarum' (Bronzerat)
Dirty Projectors ‘Bitte Orca' (Domino Records)
Raekwon ‘Only Built For Cuban Linx: Pt II' (H20)
Micachu And The Shapes ‘Jewellery' (Warner)
The XX ‘XX' (XL)
William Fitzsimmons ‘The Sparrow And The Crow' (Naim Edge)
Charlie Winston ‘Hobo' (Real World)
Elbow ‘The Seldom Seen Kid' (Fiction)
The Whitest Boy Alive ‘Rules' (Bubbles)
Prince Fatty ‘Survival of the Fattest' (Wrasse)
Gomez ‘A New Tide' (Eat Sleep)
Richard Hawley ‘LowEdges' (Setanta)
Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto ‘Getz/Gilberto' (Verve)
Local Natives ‘Gorilla Manor' (Infectious)
and...
RECORD OF THE MONTH
Portico Quartet 'Isla' (Real World)
Portico are currently swigging from the holy-grail.
They don't seek eternal youth or any other miraculous power, however. Easily passing for a Topman advertisement is youth enough for now.
Genius positioning and hype from a 2008 Mercury Prize nomination aside, this is an enthrallingly haunting and evocative album from a very talented quartet that deserves the critical acclaim it is on course to receive.
Nick Mulvey's Hang playing extracts every nuance of melody from each peice and yet underpins the rhythm section rigorously throughout. Meanwhile Wyllie's sax projects a melancholic mantle that never strays into the distastefully unsubtle, though it could so easily on A-another's watch. All paternally handwashed in the laws of Rock n Roll physics by legendary producer John Leckie (at Abbey Road).
This holy-grail is a magical quandary; how a jazz ensemble can ‘cross-over'. However it is done, Portico Quartet have done it, and certainly not at the cost of aggravating the proud father that is the UK post-jazz scene AND in turn empowering the iPod generation to at least want to understand what Portico Quartet are trying to say! Hats off to them.