Mercury prize nominated PORTICO QUARTET release debut album ISLA in the United States TODAY!
The young, UK-based, Mercury-prize-nominated band has been compared to everyone from Radiohead to Steve Reich to Moondog. They've been called "genuinely innovative" (The Observer), "powerfully atmospheric" (The Independent), and "an authentic musical force" (Times of London). But it's Mojo that best summarizes their unique appeal: "If any group demonstrates the glorious eclecticism of the modern music fan, it's Portico Quartet."
Today, 31st August 2010 Real World Records announce the release of the Portico Quartet's critically acclaimed sophomore LP 'Isla,' in the US. Produced by the John Leckie (Radiohead, Stone Roses, Spiritualized) and recorded in the legendary Studio Two at Abbey Road.
"THERE ISN'T ANOTHER BAND THAT SOUNDS REMOTELY LIKE THEM" - THE OBSERVER
Portico Quartet is Jack Wyllie (saxophones, electronics), Duncan Bellamy (drums), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass), and is often distinguished by Nick Mulvey's performance on the Hang, a distinctive percussion instrument that sounds not unlike a gamelan or Tibetan prayer bells. Working with Leckie, Portico Quartet recorded 'Isla' almost entirely live and enhanced their sound with loops, real-time electronics and overdubs. It's an album that reveals fresh nuances with every listen.
Portico Quartet first got their start busking to crowds in London's South Bank and broke through with their debut 'Knee Deep In The North Sea' - an album nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize for Best U.K. or Irish album - originally out on Vortex, soon to be re-released on Real World Records. Since then, the group signed with Real World Records to release 'Isla' in the UK. It earned them wide critical acclaim, leading to their biggest shows to date - including the Barbican in London.
More tour dates and information to be release soon!
Listen to Syriana on BBC Radio 3 - Live at Womad
Listen to Nick Page & Bernard O'Neill talk to Lopa Kothari about Syriana, their influences behind the music, the current band and the future for Syriana.
21 Minutes in - Galatian Bridge at Dawn Live at Womad followed by interview with Nick & Bernard.
31 Minutes in - The Templehof File Live at Womad.
51 Minutes in - Greek Live at Womad followed by interview with Nick & Bernard.
59 Minutes in - Tal el Al Live at Womad.
Available until 4th September.
Syriana album launch show: 2nd October @ Islington Assembly Hall
And now the story continues. The next chapter in the ever evolving Syriana sees guitarist Nick "Dubulah" Page and Irish double bass player Bernard O`Neill joined by Palestinian/Jordanian virtuoso oud player and singer Nizar Al Issa; Algerian violinist Mounir ' Moon' Baziz; Palestinian percussionist Iba Abu Khalaf, bringing the music to life on stage.
This five piece live band, complemented by projections put together by Italian-born filmmaker Niccolo Piazza and backing tracks featuring the Pan Arab Strings of Damascus, will launching the new album 'The Road To Damascus' with an exclusive London show at Islington Assembly Hall, Upper St, N1 2UD. Doors 7:30pm, tickets are £15, and are available.
To whet your appetite we have a new track for you to hear from the forthcoming new album. 'Gharibb' or 'Stranger' is a dreamy Fairuz-style musing on alienation and longing sung by the great Syrian soprano, Lubana Al Quntar. The gorgeous melancholy of the song is reflected in the atmospheric and meditative video filmed by Niccolo Piazza in Damascus.
Portico Quartet signed vinyl contest
Jambase are giving away a signed vinyl copy of Isla by Portico Quartet.
Follow the link below to enter the contest
Paste Magazines Ten August Albums Worth Checking Out
Paste Magazine recently revealed their 10 August Albums to check out, naming Portico Quartet's ISLA as one of them and rating it 8.6 / 10.
excerpt: "Considering their implementation of unconventional instruments like the hang (a slightly more temperate-sounding steel pan) and consistent but subtle electronic inducements, the four piece's genre-bending appeal is certainly warranted." Jennifer Ross
The critically acclaimed UK group Portico Quartet has confirmed its first ever U.S. shows supporting 'Isla'.
Realeased in the US on 31st August 2010.
The band are touring throughout Europe all summer and will make their U.S. debut with dates in Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia in September 2010.
Bought For A Dollar, Sold For A Dime
The musical melting pot of 'Bought For A Dollar, Sold for a Dime' is large, and bubbling. Here are addictive rhythms. Soulful vocals. Pinches of dub and funk, reggae and gospel. Oh-so-subtle samples and innovative electronics. And underpinning it all, McDonald's shimmering blues guitar licks, conjuring a space where the dirt roads of the Deep South meet the shiny lanes of the Information Superhighway.
Utopia
The guitar is the most popular instrument in the world. However, informed interpretation, the essential characteristic of western classical music, is only possible if you have a repertoire of the highest quality to interpret. The gap between popular and classical guitar culture is huge and I have been eager to begin to bridge it, as well as to add to the range of contemporary music repertoire.
Admission
From the driving drums on opener 'Falling Down' to the campfire sing-along on the final track 'Please', there's a sonic nod to Muse, perhaps an echo of Radiohead's Street Spirit, with Gareth Hale's yearning, passionate vocals suggestive of Jeff Buckley, a fresh urgency reminiscent of The Jam... But comparisons aside, the dynamic sound of The Black Swan Effect is all their own.
Trance Sessions
Repetition builds on each track that grows slowly from song to abstraction, infused with psychedelic energy, a web of sound far greater than the sum of the three player's parts.
Hobo
Charlie distills his music to its raw essence, a hearty modern gumbo of blues-folk, straight-talking lyricism, and soul, all laced with beat-boxing and quirky instrumentation. From the anthemic 'Like a Hobo' to the existential campfire pop of 'Kick The Bucket', from 'Generation Spent's passionately strummed critique of contemporary culture (or lack of it) to the whimsically melancholy 'My Life As A Duck', the album playfully resists easy genre categorisation yet maintains a spirited, contagious rootsiness...
Isla
Portico Quartet sound like nobody else in jazz, World or contemporary music. Each of the nine tracks on Isla has a distinct mood and atmosphere, while remaining firmly within their soundworld. From the churning maelstrom of Clipper to the pounding pedal points of Dawn Patrol; from the fragile ostinatos of Line to the anthemic ensemble of the title track, Isla is an album whose contents reveal fresh nuances and facets on each listen.
Kalashnik Love
"I've always had this rage that I need to express." Mehdi Haddab sits back, rests his electric oud on his lap. "Rage against, I don't know... injustice. Inequality. The system." He pauses, smiles. "And music - loud music - is the thing that helps me channel it."
Better hold on: with Haddab behind the wheel of Speed Caravan you know you're in for a ride. Electrified, amplified and fuelled by creative fire, the Paris-based quartet charge towards a psychedelic horizon; slaloming through rock, dance, electro, hip-hop, world and other music - blazing a trail with raised fists, a hand brake turn and a sharp spray of desert sand.
Return to Addis
The EP, 'Return To Addis', features all unheard material: two new tracks and two remixes from the album 'A Town Called Addis'. Track 2 is a Sima Edy remix by that most irie emperor electric, Cesar Diaz - a Real World Remixed competition winner (producer Dubulah was so taken with the winner he wanted this track to reach a wider audience). It features "Mr Mesenqo", Teremage Woretaw, on lead vocal and mesenqo, vocalists Sintayehu Zenebe and Tsedenia Gebremarkos Woldeselassie, Samuel Yirga and Feleke Hailu on keyboards and sax, topped off by the unbelievable bass playing of Winston Blissett (possibly the best bass player in the world).