Sábado 11 Dic 2010, 6:55

Thu 9 Dec – The Unthanks explore and perform the music of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons:

A gig of two halves, literally.

The first half saw the Unthanks (formerly known as Rachel Unthank & the Winterset) serenade us with torch songs from the songbook of Antony & the Johnsons: lovely although it did get a bit samey in the end and somehow Rachel and Becky never quite captured the loneliness of the originals (even though i prefer their voices).

The second half was much more varied, mostly, i suppose, because Robert Wyatt's repertoire is more varied. Alongside timeless ballads such as "Sea Song" we also got the barbed, breezy "Dondestan" and a bit of clog dancing.

There were a few precarious moments, notably one in which Rachel fluffed one of the verses of a song. I put these down to nerves (record company people were in the audience we were told) and lack of preparation time: it seems this concert was planned back in the summer when they were expecting to finish their new album imminently. It remains unfinished.

Still, overall it was a rewarding evening: a chance to hear the Unthanks branch out from their familiar northern folk territory and a chance to hear a fresh take on familiar songs (well, some familiar songs and some i'd never heard before if i'm honest).