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Product Description
Review
With all the jibber-jabber that surrounds the Mercury Prize each year it seems certain the winners will be propelled into the pop stratosphere, but taking first prize doesn’t always make it so. Just look at the experience of 2009’s victor: Speech Debelle’s gigs are no busier and LP sales are still at a trickle, suggesting Joe Public pays less attention to the annual prize-giving than is generally thought. What’s worth cherishing, however, is the shot-in-the-arm the award provides to nominees who might so easily have been ghettoised.
Portico Quartet are one such act to have flourished. Following their Mercury-nominated 2007 debut Knee-Deep in the North Sea – a sprightly, fleet-fingered album of post-jazz ambience with a glistening, sinewy thread of minimalism that saw the four-piece nod appreciatively the way of Terry Riley, Philip Glass and Steve Reich – the four-piece have made a follow up that makes their beginnings busking on the South Bank seem like a myth propagated by publicists. Receiving a nod of approval for their pigeonhole-defying venture really has emboldened them.
They’ve signed to Peter Gabriel’s Real World imprint, brought in rock producer John Leckie (Radiohead’s The Bends is among his many credits) and hit a brooding seam that sees the young band utilising fully a sound they stumbled upon last time. They’re still wielding their percussive Hang – an instrument that looks like an upturned barbeque and sounds like a damped-down steel drum – but the intricate rhythms and twinkling melodies Nick Mulvey tickles from it give directions rather than drive Isla, for this is a moody territory overlaid with Jack Wylie’s ghostly sax and subtle, shadowy electronics.
Veering from stalker theme The Visitor with its deep, elastic bass and the propulsive Dawn Patrol, evoking the stark, reverb-y trademark of the ECM stable, to the roiling cacophony of Clipper, which slips between Radiohead-like arpeggios and improvised thrashings, the band pack an emotionally-weighted punch. Sure, their love of the minimalists makes for the same cyclical grooves and a less-is-more attitude as Knee-Deep..., but in Portico’s Balkan-infused melancholy, thrumming textures and skronking outbursts, it’s a deeper, scarier world this time.
A second Mercury nomination shouldn’t be out of the question. --Chris Parkin
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CD Description
From a grassroots start in 2005, busking on London’s South Bank, Portico Quartet's reputation spread swiftly. Their 2007 debut, Knee Deep In The North Sea, attracted attention from DJs, bloggers and critics, and was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize. The new album, Isla, is a thoughtful and richly tuneful collection of nine pieces recorded by producer John Leckie (Stone Roses, Doves, XTC, Radiohead) at the Abbey Road studios.
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, thanks to the use of the hang, a tuned percussion instrument, they have a sound that is instantly attractive, yet uncompromisingly individual.
"Danceable chamber jazz soundscapes"--Q Magazine
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, thanks to the use of the hang, a tuned percussion instrument, they have a sound that is instantly attractive, yet uncompromisingly individual.
"Danceable chamber jazz soundscapes"--Q Magazine
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This new album by Portico follows on from their glorious debut "Knee Deep in the North Sea", with a similar tone but a new level of maturity.
The focus of the group is the Hang, a sort of inverted steel-drum which plays like a marimba - and provides a beautiful, hypnotic rhythm over which the sax and bass weave delicious harmonies. The drummer switches effortlessly between soft swishing brushes, to sudden bursts of hard-rock thunder. The bass-player sends tingles down the spine with some stunning (and complex) riffs - and the sax player builds exotic soundscapes for the band to play over.
This is music to relax to, music to dance to, music to listen to in smoky bars, music to enjoy - warming, happy, clever, but with an interesting harder edge underneath - whether the occasional screeches from the sax, or rumbling from the bass.
If you like (the late lamented) EST, or Keith Jarrett's Scandinavian group, or even Neil Ardley's synthesiser jazz - you will most likely enjoy this.
The focus of the group is the Hang, a sort of inverted steel-drum which plays like a marimba - and provides a beautiful, hypnotic rhythm over which the sax and bass weave delicious harmonies. The drummer switches effortlessly between soft swishing brushes, to sudden bursts of hard-rock thunder. The bass-player sends tingles down the spine with some stunning (and complex) riffs - and the sax player builds exotic soundscapes for the band to play over.
This is music to relax to, music to dance to, music to listen to in smoky bars, music to enjoy - warming, happy, clever, but with an interesting harder edge underneath - whether the occasional screeches from the sax, or rumbling from the bass.
If you like (the late lamented) EST, or Keith Jarrett's Scandinavian group, or even Neil Ardley's synthesiser jazz - you will most likely enjoy this.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
After being nominated for the Mercury Music Prize last year Portico Quartet have had some good exposure for their atmospheric brand of modern jazz. `Isla' then is their second album filled with more beautifully atmospheric tracks, each perfectly described by its title. Opener `Paper Scissors Stone' has an element of joy mixed with concentration very much like a child's game. `The Visitor' has an apprehensive quality to it provided by the persistent percussion and horn section. `Dawn Patrol' seems to ring like a muted alarm call in the quiet early hours of a day, before growing slowly in intensity. `Clipper' is a bouncing track with steel drums and echoing soulful saxophone. The closing track then provides a slight step away from the precise musicality of the rest of the album with a more improvised and less produced feel. The album as a whole is beautifully relaxing and atmospheric modern jazz.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
PQ are a very distinctive and original sounding group. Whilst I would say this isn't really a 'jazz' album, it would appeal to many jazz and contemporary music fans. There music has more in common with the minimalist/ contemporary genre, kinda like Steve Reich meets Massive Attack, who occasionally bump into Wayne Shorter, perhaps!
Anyway, I love their sound, and would rate this as one of my albums of the year. Track 2 has a section which is so simple, yet beatifully arranged and performed, it's worth buying this album for that alone.
Anyway, I love their sound, and would rate this as one of my albums of the year. Track 2 has a section which is so simple, yet beatifully arranged and performed, it's worth buying this album for that alone.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Extraordinary
I heard this group play a couple of tracks on Radio 3's 'In Tune' and was struck by the way in which they fuse Jazz with strands that are more immediately rhythmical and harmonic... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. John Harris
all good
I saw them live and wanted the CD which I really enjoy listening to whilst making the dinner. Arrived in perfect condition.
Published 14 months ago by jo
Nice surprise
I bought this CD in the spur of the moment - it was suggested by Amazon to go well with my other purchases. I had no idea what this was, and in a way I still don't. But I like it! Read more
Published 14 months ago by Soderben
As good as when I saw them live
My first encounter with the Portico Quartet was at the Brecon Jazz festival this year and they were brilliant. Read more
Published 18 months ago by N Hughes
Vinyl version of Isla Review
This is a quick review of the vinyl version of this recording.
First off, the music is great. Read more
First off, the music is great. Read more
Published on 13 May 2010 by Drury Road
isla
to be honest, i found this album quite disappointing - just goes to show that reputations aren't always what they're supposed to be!!!
Published on 5 Mar 2010 by sinnicle crittercool
As good a sophomore album you can expect
I enjoy this album from beginning to the end. If you like the first album don't hesitate on the second.
Published on 8 Feb 2010 by R. BUKOWSKI
best of 2009?
I bought this CD following an enthusiastic review by John Fordham. It is one of the CDs from 2009 which I rate most highly. Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2009 by Paul Pontville
Chillin' Jazz with a difference
I bought this on the off chance after seeing these guys on breakfast TV - and I haven't been disappointed. Its a good sound, with the 'hang' providing a haunting quality. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2009 by Bakes
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