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Amid flickering tea-lights, in front of
a ten-foot high stone pulpit, Basquiat Strings took to
the stage looking like a sixth-form music class into
which a malicious post-rock imp had teleported Seb
Roachford, secure in the knowledge that he'd never
notice through all that hair.
The resulting music is sublime, a 21st century
evolution of Steve Reich's dream of ensuring
that classical doesn't disappear up its own backside,
mixing minimal plucked strings with brushed percussion
and hypnotic orchestration that might brush up against
jazz but far, far surpasses it. Tonight, Basquiat
Strings lull us into complete submission, recreating
the sounds of gentle seas and crashing waves as they
plunder the spoils of the music styles history has
washed up on their diamond rocks.
They're a hard act to follow, but the Portico
Quartet are more than equal to the task. One of the
many reasons for this is how completely they embody
the very essence of 21st century music, right down to
the fact that band leader Nick Mulvey's instrument of
choice is two Hangs. Last century, Hangs didn't even
exist.
Created in 2000 by science nerds and described by
www.hangfan.co.uk as 'a new musical instrument,
suitable for playing with the hands, consisting of
nitrided steel' (you did ask!) a Hang might look like
two upside-down cymbals made out of a steel drum but
the sound that comes from it - coaxed out by Mulvey's
fingers, drumsticks and brushes - is as haunting,
full, empty and awakening as anything you'll ever
hear.
Along with the rest of the band - Jack Wylie
(soprano saxophone), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass)
and Duncan Bellamy (more Hangs and drums) - Mulvey
swings from ethereal beauty to music that might have
soundtracked a 1970s remake of Johnny Staccato,
celebratory one moment, mournful the next, utlising
instruments from opposite ends of the sonic scale. The
juxtaposition of double bass and soprano sax works
beautifully, the unfamiliar and exotic Hang bridging
the world between them.
This is music that defies classification and
rightly so. More than classical, more than Jazz,
filtered through the minds of pioneers from Reich to
Ra (not to mention Roachford), they are a band for the
urban jungle, experimenting with more than just the
free jazz label they'll be filed under.
It's ironic to realise that this music is far more
cutting edge, far more creative than the latest in the
long, long line of spiky, identikit indie guitar bands
that right now are resonating through the back rooms
of pubs the length and breadth of the country.
You need to go back at least a century to pick up
all the influences that have come into conjunction
here this evening. From classical chamber music,
though trad and free jazz, to post-rock's sonic
experimentalism, this is music that's informed rather
than angry, knowing rather than smart. Whatever
Babyshambles might tell you, clever can be wise. It certainly has been tonight.
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