Album Review: Live/Remix by Portico Quartet

They used to be buskers, but this double-album (half drawn from last year's live shows; the other half remixes by producers including Will Ward, Scratcha DVA and Berlin club DJ Luca Lozano) catches the sweeping big-venue confidence and charisma of Portico Quartet's recent performances with a rare balance of studio-like clarity and audience presence. They play London's Koko with guests, including Swedish vocalist Cornelia, on 17 April; a gig likely to reveal just how far they've come in imparting deeper levels and richer nuances to a repertoire populated by disarmingly artless themes. Much of the music was on last year's studio album - including the loping Window Seat with its swooping string sounds, the violin-like sax melody of Ruins, and the initially dreamy and then hauntingly intense Rubidium.

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