Nextbop

The Next Generation of Jazz

  • Home
  • Blog
    • Newest Posts
    • Streams & Videos
    • Reviews
    • Interviews
  • New Releases
  • Best Of Lists
    • Best of 2018
    • Best of 2017
    • Best of 2016
    • Best of 2015
    • Best of 2014
    • Best of 2013
    • Best of 2012
    • Best of 2011
    • Best of 2010
  • Advertising Rates
  • About
  • Contact Us
Home / Blog / Reviews / Portico Quartet – ‘Untitled (AITAOA #2)’

Portico Quartet – ‘Untitled (AITAOA #2)’

April 19, 2018 By Anthony Dean-Harris

ShareTweetSubscribe

Subscribe to our mailing list and receive our most read content directly to your inbox every month!*

* indicates required
*By subscribing, you agree to receive our monthly newsletter as well as sporadic promotional emails. Feel free to unsubscribe at any time!

Radiohead’s 2001 album, Amnesiac, was recorded in the same sessions as their 2000 album, Kid A, which saw the group begin their exploration into a more electronic sound. It’s hard not to think about those albums when listening to the Portico Quartet’s 2018 album, Untitled (AITAOA #2), which was recorded in the same sessions as last year’s release, Art in the Age of Automation, though these albums are a return to form as opposed to a tonal divergence. Once again, this group has combined their electronic and jazz influences into something quite grand. To try to heap additional praise on them is to repeat more of the same of the ethereal brilliance they released in their last album.

Lead single “Index” gets to the crutch of things early, melding Bellamy’s always fascinating electronic tones (replacing that hang we all remember and love so much, but filling the spot so aptly one can hardly notice) and drumming, Fitzpatrick’s bass and and Vine’s keyboards providing the groundwork for Wylie’s saxophone to blossom. This melds perfectly into “Unrest” which is more subdued with Wylie’s saxophone less prominent, but making for a more general jam. This is certainly not the case with “View From A Satellite”, which expands into something so bold and spectacular, a brilliant crescendo that had feet moving so long ago that it’s a wonder where it swept up minds in the process.

This has been the group’s dynamic for some time, most certainly apparent in …Automation, but to have this additional from the same sessions gives more of an indication that this period of work has solidified this dynamic at this time and that it’s still quite a delight to hear. Portico Quartet has always had that sound that feels like it’s dance music that emerges from a fog. They’re the coolest band you can’t put a finger on. Hell, even they couldn’t name their latest album, relating it only as an untitled second part of the work that came before, itself a creation of its mechanical times. This is Portico Quartet’s untitled second collection of artistic work made using modern tools of this era. That’s the most accurate descriptor of these nine songs. Otherwise, everything else is subjective, like calling it dreamy or shiny, house music or jazz music or New Age. It’s always been hard to say, but it’s yet more proof of why Portico Quartet are always worth listening to.

Untitled (AITAOA #2), the fifth album from Portico Quartet, is out April 27th on Gondwana Records.

Duncan Bellamy – drums and electronics
Jack Wyllie – saxophones and keyboards
Milo Fitzpatrick – electric and double-bass
Keir Vine – keyboards

Check them out on their tour dates through Europe this spring & summer.
26 APRIL CBE – COLOGNE
27 APRIL LIDO – BERLIN
28 APRIL MOJO – HAMBURG
04 May REFLEKTOR – LIEGE
05 May CHELTENHAM JAZZ FESTIVAL
09 MAY E-WERK – ERLANGEN
10 MAY AMPERE – MUNICH
11 MAY GRELLE FORELLE – VIENNA
30 JUNE A LOVE SUPREME – GLYNDE
21 JULY FOLK FOREST – SHEFFIELD
20 OCT ROUNDHOUSE LDN – GONWANA 10

Related Content

Portico Quartet – “Endless” (Video)
Watch the Video for “Offset” Off Portico Quartet’s New Album ‘Memory Streams...
Portico Quartet – ‘Art in the Age of Automation’
Hania Rani – “Glass” (Video)
Mammal Hands – ‘Shadow Work’ (Album Review)
Anthony Dean-Harris

Nextbop Editor-in-Chief Anthony Dean-Harris hosts the modern jazz radio show, The Line-Up, Fridays at 9pm CST on 91.7 FM KRTU San Antonio and is also a contributing writer to DownBeat Magazine and the San Antonio Current.

Liked the post? Take a second to support Nextbop on Patreon!

Filed Under: Blog, Reviews Tagged With: Duncan Bellamy, Gondwana, Jack Wyllie, Keir Vine, Milo Fitzpatrick, Portico Quartet, Untitled (AITAOA #2)

Follow Us


6,871
followers

9,720
followers

1,182
followers

Monthly Newsletter

Get our 5 most-read posts and a list of brand new jazz albums sent directly to your inbox every month!


Support Nextbop on Patreon

KRTU 91.7 FM’s The Line-Up

http://stream.krtu.org/archive/128kb-mp3/1-Fri2100.mp3

Top Posts

  • Brian Lynch on 'The Omni-American Book Club', the State of Jazz Music, and his Advice for the Next Generation Brian Lynch on ‘The Omni-American Book Club’, the State of Jazz Music, and his Advice for the Next Generation
  • Dan Weiss on 'Utica Box', his Career, and Music in General Dan Weiss on ‘Utica Box’, his Career, and Music in General
  • Vote in Nextbop's 2019 Readers' Poll Vote in Nextbop’s 2019 Readers’ Poll
  • Trumpeter Dave Douglas' New Album 'Engage' Reviewed Trumpeter Dave Douglas’ New Album ‘Engage’ Reviewed
  • Tyshawn Sorey & Marilyn Crispell's 'The Adornment of Time' Reviewed Tyshawn Sorey & Marilyn Crispell’s ‘The Adornment of Time’ Reviewed

Tags

Aaron Parks A Critical Analysis of Covers BADBADNOTGOOD Ben Wendel Ben Williams Biophilia Blue Note Brad Mehldau Brainfeeder Braxton Cook Butcher Brown Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Colin Stranahan Concord Corey Fonville Derrick Hodge ECM Edition Gerald Clayton Gilad Hekselman Greenleaf International Anthem Jason Lindner Justin Brown Kassa Overall Kendrick Scott Lawrence Fields Makaya McCraven Mark Guiliana Matthew Stevens Motéma Nate Wood Nonesuch Phronesis Pi Robert Glasper Ropeadope Sarah Elizabeth Charles Stones Throw Stretch Music Sunnyside The Seasons Thundercat Vijay Iyer Whirlwind
© 2019 Nextbop. All rights reserved.
Use of any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our Privacy Policy.