aaamusic | On 31, Jan 2011

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London, 27th January

Tonight the line-up for the second annual New to Q Session are the Detroit-based singer Alex Winston and the two much talked bands about Mancunian acts,  Dutch Uncles and the 17 year-olds Egyptian Hip Hop.

Alex Winston is on tour with her forthcoming Ep “Sister Wife”, produced by the Knocks. An EP that:“seems sickly sweet on the surface but, like all good pop, hides a dark core”. It is available to download on 7 February, with a physical release on 4 March. Unfortunately for Alex, the audience was a little cold, but the band did’ t give up and turned the volume of the voice up, dancing on the stage and giving big smiles. Suddenly Alex threw her tambourine to a guy in the front row: “shake it!! please!!”. The indie-pop songs slip away quickly providing to the audience a positive feeling of well being and happiness. Undoubtedly, on the little stage, Alex and her singers literally took the scene by storm with a good presence and continual contacts and looks. The several vocalizers present in her songs seem to be an Alex’s trademark, but they fit perfectly in the music, making it very jaunty. After playing a lot for her success, towards the end of the show, Alex takes a breath with an acoustic song. She and her acoustic guitar, alone, on the stage, surrounded by silence. A very beautiful atmosphere. The gig finished with “Medicine” and the audience greeted with a sincere, warm applause.

Next up are the Dutch Uncles, a New Wave, Alternative reality playing on a 70’s progressive idea, who gave start to the dancing with the upcoming single “Face In”. The surround sound of the band immediately brings to prominence a skilful blend of rhythmic guitars, which give to the songs this amazing rhythmic sound. Honestly, I find them an interesting band, even though if personally I can not appreciate Duncan’ s voice, too thin and annoying for my taste. On the other hand his tribal dance, which mirrored the ever changing timing signatures, give him the best stage presence. Audience finally start to react and at the melody of “Fragrant”, their previous single. People started jumping. A bad mark for the sound engineer, who probably passed an unlucky night, indeed during the gig was easy to be disturbed by annoying whistling in the background and on top of that, the keyboardist had some problem with his equipment, and was constricted at the back looking at the rest of the band. A real shame, nevertheless a nice spectacle. Well done guys!

Last on the stage, the young “Egyptian Hip Hop”, a talented band who have been placed in “Q’s ten new faces of 2011”. My expectations towards them are great, also because I have never seen them before! Their journey began last year when they started writing material in Lou’s bedroom. That buzz quickly grew with the release of their debut single Rad Pitt, a lo-fi tinkling waterfall of pop. After a long wait due to the sound-check, that personally I find really unprofessional, the Egyptians joined the stage and the audience gave them a warm welcome. Despite their young age, they look quite confident on the stage, even if the singer seemed to be a bit shy, avoiding to look around and speaking as less as possible to the microphone. Also the show is rather static, all is based on the atmosphere of the sounds and refrains. Once again some technical issues marred the first song, but the Egyptians keep on proposing material from “Some Reptiles Grew Wings”. On the drums, Alex Pierce really impressed me playing with a great precision on electronic bases, characterized by continuous pause and ostinati. On these grooves the band used to build up intricate electronic melodies involving synthesizer, bass and guitar. Among the several songs played, we can find their debut single “Rad Pitt”, with a dreamlike floating guitar riff. “Wild Human Child” closed the set and the audience warmly greeted the band.

Author & Photos: Francesco Morello