Music / Jazz
Review: Hippo Album Launch/Zoobers, Crofters Rights
Can clever music be danceable? Or just plain fun? Can fun music be clever? Well of course these things are possible and this double bill of synth-powered instrumental trios absolutely proved the point: clever, danceable and fun. What’s not to like?
Zoobers (pic: Tony Benjamin)
The evening was a celebration of Hippo’s latest album release New Normal but before we got to hear that there was Zoobers. Drummer Chris Langton was sandwiched between Dorian Childs-Prophet’s banks of keyboards on one side and Harriet Riley’s marimba and percussion on the other. Chris (literally) kicked things off with a snappy four-to-the-floor house beat soon washed over with massive sweeps of lush synth, Harriet’s dancing marimba riffs and a gravelling Moog bass undertow. It was instant impact stuff, as if Milt Jackson had taken a holiday in 90s Ibiza, quickly followed by some 606-style block rocking over broken beats drumming and looping marimba minimalism.
Zoobers (pic: Tony Benjamin)
It was clear that Dorian had totally immersed himself in the language of synthesiser music judiciously throwing together evocative sounds within the classic architecture of dance music, matched by Chris’s deployment of beats and Harriet’s dazzling instrumentalism. It all added up to an upbeat and happy party-friendly sound that made for the perfect warm up.
is needed now More than ever
Hippo (pic: Tony Benjamin)
Hippo, like Zoobers, balanced acoustic and electronic sound with Doug Cave’s upfront sax the assertive voice within tightly woven synth and bass from Henry Binning, the whole driven by Toby Perrett’s drumming. The new album’s music showcases their prog-math fondness for elaborate suites of tunes within tunes: No Fly Zone began as piece of jazz minimalism in the style of Portico Quartet then dropped into Stevie Wonder electro-funk, briefly paused for breath before driving deep into a rich prog-informed riff to pay out. Title track New Normal began as a cool musing over fractured beats then swelled into anthemic proportions, argumentative sax wrestling with the theme.
Trumpeter Gary Alesbrook joins Hippo’s Doug Cave (pic: Tony Benjamin)
A couple of numbers were pure synth duels as Doug’s sax got a rest. Sustained Lemon Attack growled and grew, stabbing keys evoking tortured cats brusquely swept aside by another big riff, Clumsy by contrast was a slice of light-hearted wonk giving Henry the chance for some show-off soloing. The evening’s only vocal moment (cats notwithstanding) came from Pocket Sun’s Gina Marie Tratt on Lucky Charms, a spacious and catchy tune with deceptively hasty drumming and wide open atmospheric synth lines. The set’s other guest, trumpeter Gary Alesbrook, joined them for Honk, a big old-school production of tight and funky brass unison playing, economically delivered keys and brisk and snappy drumming. Toby got to really stretch out on this one as the two horn players traded ideas until the wall of sound gradually reassembled to round things off.
Hippo (pic: Tony Benjamin)
As the evening showed, the New Normal album is a pleasing set of varied tunes that lets Hippo showcase the style of smart and groovy post-jazz they have steadily built. As the lively response from a well-filled Crofters back room showed, their local fan base were certainly pleased to hear it. The band can certainly head off on their album launch tour with confidence that they’ll be making new friends around the country.
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