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Bido Lito! June 2015 Reviews
Portico (Nata Moraru)
is writ large, the sonorous vocals of talismanic
lead singer Jo Herring guiding the quartet’s
excursions through jittery post-punk, Afrobeat
and alt. rock.
Steered by sticksman Tilo Pinbaum’s
estimable beats, which interlock seamlessly
with bassist Laura Cauldwell’s redoubtable
foundation lines and Jamie Jenkin’s controlled
guitar squall, the likes of Sleepkill and fiery
new track Tempest nimbly shoot past.
Backed by scrolling projections in keeping
with the title of the evening, various aphorisms
flash up on the screen, including Rosa Lee
Parks’ statement, “You must never be fearful
about what you are doing when you know it is
right”, alongside images of Malcolm X.
The atmospheric Starlight Love and the
corrosive pop of Fathead point the way
forward for the group, matching the dreamy
melodicism of luscious indie-pop debut 45
Stars with a tougher, more febrile energy. A
hugely welcome evening’s diversion from
endless analysis by pointy-headed political
pundits, then. Overthow wins by a landslide.
Richard Lewis
bidolito.co.uk
PORTICO
Snow Ghosts
EVOL @ The Kazimier
Tonight at The Kazimier, as a murmuring crowd
assemble, SNOW GHOSTS amble onto the dimly
lit stage and don their instruments. A threepiece, they comprise a keyboard-playing singer,
a violin- and guitar-playing backing singer and
a dude wielding a Kaoss pad. Their style meets
the equilibrium between organic and modified
sound as the delicate violin follows the lead of
the propulsive electronic beats. Certain tracks
seem a touch unfinished and disjointed. Not
wholly lost in any way – there are glimmers
of greatness, it’s just that they come across as
disjointed and rushed. Other tracks, however,
such as Circles Out Of Salt, are not just fully
realised pieces of music but beautifully crafted
songs. Unfortunately, their set comes to a
lukewarm end and it feels as if this trio have a lot
more to offer. Perhaps it just wasn’t their night.
Jazz may be one of the most transient names
for any musical genre. Although the true values
of jazz music are built on spontaneity, honesty
and expression, the many different forms of jazz
music throughout the ages have made the word
jazz refer to little more than instrumentation.
Of course, saxophones and cornets are the
instruments that have become synonymous
with jazz, but there are many acts that have
experimented with a similar tapestry and
attempted to weave in their own musical fabric.
PORTICO are one of those acts and, before the
loss of their hang drum player Keir Vine, they
were a Mercury Prize-nominated outfit that were
associated with H \