Competition: Portico Quartet

The weird but wonderful sound of Mercury-prize nominated Portico Quartet can be heard at Warwick Arts Centre on Sat 20 March.

To celebrate we’re giving away 2 sets of signed CDs and posters!

The group will be showcasing tunes from their recent album Isla which was described by Mojo music magazine as “both exotic and hypnotic”.

The Portico Quartet consists of four young musicians from East London with a track record in busking. This group first hit the headlines in 2008 when their debut album Knee Deep In The North Sea was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.

Their music is original, but with hummable tunes and killer hooks. There are also great grooves, atmospheric soundscapes and the silvery tones of an instrument described as “two woks glued together” – the hang, which is both a rhythm and melody instrument that gives Portico Quartet their hypnotic tone.

Still in their early 20s, Jack Wyllie (saxophones and electronics), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass), Nick Mulvey (hang and percussion) and Duncan Bellamy (drums) describe themselves as “an indie band that plays post-jazz rather than as a traditional jazz outfit”.

While their music references jazz and African music, it’s the hang-inspired patterns that propel the band into stranger pastures. More recently the Portico Quartet have recorded at Abbey Road Studio 2 with producer John Leckie (Stone Roses, Radiohead, Muse).

Support at the Warwick Arts Centre gig comes from daughter of Richard Thompson, singer/songwriter Kami Thompson. Sister of the critically acclaimed Teddy Thompson, she’s moved confidently in family waters, taking part in the Thompson and Wainwright Family Christmases, celebrating Leonard Cohen with Hal Willner, and cutting her own figure with a distinctive mix of beautiful vocals, loud guitars and an unflinchingly direct lyrical bent.

Competition has now closed. The winner will be notified shortly.