Art Rock Show – Genius Loci (Week 1)

Thieves’ Kitchen heeft de afgelopen tien jaar een aantal prachtige albums gemaakt. Om de zoveel jaar durft de band de sound een andere kant opsturen. Ook nu weer is het album een schot in de roos. Jez Rowden van The Progressive Aspect (TPA): “The core of the band is Amy, Phil Mercy and Thomas Johnson, the latter possibly familiar as a part of Swedish legends Änglagård, this association bringing fellow Änglagård alumni Johan Brand and Anna Holmgren aboard to create a riveting ensemble that, along with returning drummer Paul Mallyon (ex-Sanguine Hum), can easily cover all the bases. But don’t expect the Gothic edges of Änglagård with Thieves’ Kitchen, this is a very different kettle of kippers, although Brand’s magnificent bass is to the fore throughout. Phil started the band in the late ’90s, releasing a couple of albums before Amy came in for 2003’s Shibboleth, the band’s profile getting a boost from a stunning performance at the Summer’s End festival in support of 2008’s The Water Road, the first to include Johnson.

The five tracks here wrap around you, lifting you up to float off with the dreamy wonderfulness of it all. There’s grit from bass, organ and guitar where there needs to be, but it is the intricate slide rule experimentation that makes the songs work, underlining the technical wonder of the compositions, all the while a cool passion burning at its centre, exemplified by Amy’s gorgeously unaffected vocals. There are elements of jazz, but they are held in check, another ingredient that shapes the overall sound, alongside folk-edged pastoralism, Canterbury-style airiness and fullsome washes of Mellotron. All of the performances are spot-on, serving the spacious arrangements to get the very best out of the pieces, the whole thing having a unique edge that is identifiably Thieves’ Kitchen. (…)

This is sophisticated stuff, guitars and keys modulate patterns of notes, triads and quads, mini riffs that mutate and evolve, holding the interest in a simple yet highly effective device. The solos are perfectly weighted and Amy’s natural vocals carry unorthodox melody lines, the poetic imagery supported sparingly by Anna’s sublime flute, which first appears during Uffington, a celebration of the perpetual significance of the White Horse within its landscape, with Johan’s growling bass weaving intricately through it all. The drums are pitched just right so as not to overbalance the delicate framework, not so overwrought that they become intrusive but not too light, where they would fail to hold the direction. It’s a neat trick that the band pull off beautifully during the many ensemble sections.”

Naast Thieves’ Kitchen met Genius Loci hebben we deze week: Oblivion Sun (Oblivion Sun), Hamadryad (The Black Hole), Abel Ganz (Abel Ganz), 3RDegree (Ones & Zeros: vol. 0), Frequency Drift (Summer) & Also Eden (Redacted).

• Thursday/Donderdag 12.00 – 24.00
• Friday/Vrijdag 12.00 – 24.00
• Saturday/Zaterdag 12.00 – 18.00