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| Knee Deep in the North Sea | 
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| Artist: Portico Quartet
Label: Vortex
Category: Music
List Price: £13.99
Buy New: £8.47
You Save: £5.52 (39%)
Buy New/Used from £8.47
Avg. Customer Rating:  (4 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2154
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
EAN: 5028159027698
ASIN: B000X3SZ38
Release Date: November 5, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | News From Verona | | • | Zavodovski Island | | • | Knee-Deep In The North Sea | | • | Too Many Cooks | | • | Steps In The Wrong Direction | | • | Monsoon - Top To Bottom | | • | The Kon Tiki Expedition | | • | Cittagazze | | • | Pompidou |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
This year's jazz nomination for the Mercury Music Prize, Knee-Deep in the North Sea deserved all the praise thrown its way. From veterans it would have impressed, but coming from a group of young men making their debut, it's simply outstanding. Jack Wyllie's saxophone is distinctive enough, especially the soprano, ranging from the wistful to the dissonant. But the ear is repeatedly drawn to some unusual tones, sometimes harp-like, sometimes closer to a bell, that make up the tinkling arpeggios of the title track and the percussive strikes on "Steps in the Wrong Direction". These are produced on a modern percussion instrument called a Hang (the Quartet does not include a pianist), perhaps best compared to a tuned steel drum and invented in 2000 by a couple from Berne in Switzerland. ("Hang" is the local dialect word for "hand", the appendage used to play the thing). Drummer Duncan Bellamy came across one for sale at a festival and it soon became an integral part of the Quartet's sound. In the hands of Nick Mulvey it adds a subtle exoticism to pieces like "The Kon Tiki Expedition" and the forceful "(Something's Going Down On) Zavodovski Island". "Cittagazze" and "Pompidou" are more formal, showing an obvious classical influence. Tough jazzbos they aren't--this is undeniably a gentle and often cerebral record in a European tradition--but the Portico Quartet are skilled and imaginative beyond their years. --Steve Jelbert
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| Customer Reviews:
Accessible jazz October 31, 2008
Heard one of the tunes from this album on the radio (it probably got the airplay courtesy of the Mercury Music Prize nomination) and was immediately hooked.
The truth is, the word 'jazz' is normally enough to send a shiver of terror down my spine - but 'Knee Deep In The North Sea' is about as accessible an album as you will buy this year.
Indeed, the Portico Quartet appear to have more in common with the likes of Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Ellis Island Sound than the traditional self-indulgent trillings that most will associate with the genre.
This is a joyous, uplifting record that makes me want to skip about in smiley abandon, and there really aren't enough of those about. Great melodies, sunshine vibes and a 'hidden' track at the end that is one of the best on a pretty wonderful collection.
Well worthy of purchase and a genuine highlight of 2008.
Great band. August 4, 2008
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
Portico Quartet are a really great band playing music with real passion. I've also seen them live at a couple of gigs supporting Tom Baxter and they blew the audiences away. They really deserve the Mercury nomination!
A great young band February 20, 2008
6 out of 14 found this review helpful
I first heard this band busking on London's South Bank; then later at the Vortex in Dalston, the Carling Academy in Islington and also at the Sage in Gateshead; they are a fine young band with a distinctive sound; they currently play all their own compositions and this is a great debut album; when they add some standards to their repetoire they will be even better.
Better than you think January 18, 2008
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I picked this up after reading about the group in Jazzwise and I'm glad I did. Then "Jazz line up's" reviewer canned them as a one trick pony - why? Because they introduce a relatively new instrument called a "Hang" (think cross between steel drums and vibes). So I listened again. The appreciation remained. Its a fresh take on the usual sax-piano-bass-drums quartet, not just because of the hang but because of the musicianship and originality too. Brit Jazz meets Scandinavia, perhaps, if that helps, but they won me over without comparisons.
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