A bit ago we were in love with this record by the Portico Quartet from England.
Knee-Deep in the North Sea was a place where stylish modern chamber jazz met Radiohead. Sort of a flip on another of our favourite albums by Alt-J. It was a sleeper (although the Mercury Prize nominated it) but it is still a winner. To get the idea have a listen to the title track which still strikes me as a thing of wonder -
It isn’t an obvious leap for a jazz musician to become a solo artist, but Nick Mulvey (who played drums and a strange percussion instrument called the hang that sounds a little like steel pans) did just that. Now he plays guitar and sings rather well.
And now it’s time for his solo album and it’s something actually to be excited about after a long lead up and a couple of delicious EPs. You will be able to cop it for reals later this week but in the meantime you can hear a stream of it HERE
There’s the rather lovely single Meet Me There but we sort of like the oddly named but very Sunday morning Cucurucu -
As well as as the first EP beauty Fever to the Form, there’s also a rather unlikely choice of a Gillian Welch cover that’s good as well.
Nick Mulvey. A new face we’ll love to love in 2014.
-TH