50 FOR 15
PO RT I CO
Former jazz darlings rebranded
WHO THEY?
On the map as Portico Quartet since their debut album,
‘Knee-Deep In The North Sea’, landed them a Mercury Prize
nomination in 2008. Saxophonist Jack Wyllie, bassist Milo
Fitzpatrick and drummer Duncan Bellamy have now slimmed
to a trio, dropped the “Quartet”, and completed an electronic
metamorphosis.
WHY PORTICO?
Embraced as the future of modern jazz, PQ clearly had other
ideas. When original member Nick Mulvey left in 2011, they
were joined by keyboarder and old pal Keir Vine, a synth
obsessive who opened up an increasingly electronic box
of tricks for the band. Their third album, ‘Portico Quartet’,
released on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label in 2012, finally saw
a musical swerve.
TELL US MORE
Vine himself split from the group last autumn. The subsequent
name change and a new deal with Ninja Tune probably tells you
all you need to know. Their fourth album, due in March, is not
so much a swerve as a complete handbrake U-turn, screeching
rubber and everything.
G LASS ANI M A L S
MGUN
A tropical electro-indie storm
Where punk meets techno
Oxford four-piece Glass Animals come into 2015 on a high.
They’re building up a fair head of steam through an exotic synth
brew that wears its pop sensibilities with pride and, as if to prove
the point, they’ve just completed a successful tour of America.
Their debut album, ‘Zaba’, released last summer, flaunts a
distinctly tropical vibe, intertwining soulful vocals with electronic
and ambient rumbles. Chuck in hints of Flying Lotus and Jamie
xx here and there and it starts to become a very intoxicating
potion. Assuming they can keep turning out material that’s on a
par with ‘Zaba’, you can expect to hear a lot more of a rumble
about Glass Animals in the coming months.
As MGUN, Detroiter Manuel Gonzales is bringing an almost
punk spirit to the world of techno. He developed an interest in
making music when he was given a Casio at the age of 11 and
remains an analogue hardware freak. He’s a big fan of industrial
and avant-garde music, citing influences such as Frank Zappa
and Sun Ra, and he’s toured as a DJ with the Underground
Resistance crew. He’s never going to be a pop star, of course,
which is something else in his favour. MGUN’s most recent
release is ‘Filth’, a punishing three-tracker on the Ukraine-based
Wicked Bass label which he purposely recorded for the East
European market. “It’s hard as fuck,” says Gonzales. “I believe I
have a lot to offer those folks.”