North Atlantic Oscillation

[Trapezium Artist]

Saw this Edinburgh-based band playing at De Boerderij tonight and was most impressed. I hadn't heard of them before last week, but one listen to their song "Soft Coda" from their new album "Fog Electric" and I knew I had to hear them:

//http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkAhSSeR8j0

And I wasn't disappointed: great stuff live, the two-man recording band of Ben Martin (drums) and Sam Healy (keys, guitar, vocals) were supplemented live by bass, keys, vocalist Craig Howard and the additional guitar, keys, vocals of Bill Walsh. A mix of prog, pop, electronica, rock, post-rock, superb vocal harmonies: great songwriting, great playing, great dynamic range.

Now for the bad news.

First, there were only about 30 people at the show and while it was originally booked for the big auditorium, advance sales were limited and so it was moved to the bar. Not a problem performance-wise; worked very well and the audience very much enjoyed it. But still, it worried me and some of the Dutch prog aficionados that so few people came out on a Saturday night to hear this great band.

Second, it seems as though they could be doing better in the UK too. Talking to the band afterwards, I got the impression that they've been plugging away for about 8 years and not getting a lot of exposure. Against that, they've recently been signed by Kscope, home to Steven Wilson, Pineapple Thief, and so on, so hopefully they'll get better promotion.

But third and quite surprisingly, they seemed unaware of "our scene", as it were, i.e. the world of Frost*, Jem, Tinyfish, It Bites, Arena, IQ, Magenta, Matt Stevens, Dec Burke, The Peel, Twang, Celebr8, Summer's End, The European Perspective, Wilf, The Dividing Line, and so on: absolutely none of these rang a bell for them, despite them being (IMHO) very much in the same overall "modern prog" genre.

I mean, I think they'd be a great fit at Celebr8 or Summer's End; I'm 100% confident that many of you would be fans, if you're not already.

So: Twang, get these guys on the bill for next year's Celebr8. Wilf: get a hold of their album and play some of it on The European Perspective. Fellow Frost*ies: give them a listen, buy the album, go see them if you have the chance.

//http://www.naoband.com/fogelectric/

I'm on a mission ...  

(Some pictures to follow, as ever)

[Mikey]

//http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkAhSSeR8j0

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