RedTower [Live Review – ACM, Guildford, 7/8/14]

Screen shot 2014-08-08 at 11.07.04Here’s how to spot a professional band:

1) They throw themselves into their performance from note one, needing next to no time to get into it.

2) They make you want to move the moment they start playing. Your body tells you that you’re in the presence of greatness before your brain does.

3) Their playing is airtight, every instrument blending together flawlessly – and what’s more, it all looks effortless.

4) Their songs are performed with such passion and intensity that you cannot look away.

5) They actively communicate with each other onstage. Nobody is shut away in their own little bubble.

6) The band in question put in the effort regardless of audience size, venue, or time of day.

Even if I’d never heard of RedTower, Natassja Saliba, Rob Chapman, Rabea Massaad, Ben Minal, or Dave Hollingworth (the latter of whom were taking a break from recording Dorje’s debut album to session here), I’d have been in no doubt as to their calibre from the moment this low-key late afternoon showcase started. Read more…

Posted on 08 August 2014

RedTower – ‘Afterall’ [Review]

redtower afterall coverAnd we’re back! After major heart surgery, a round of Type-A flu, acute appendicitis, and many other less-than-fun experiences, The Musical Melting Pot is finally back online and ready to bring you even more epic new music.

Needless to say, the past several weeks have been brutal, difficult, and not a little dark – but there were moments of positivity and clarity scattered about as well. One such moment was the release of this EP – a Facebook news feed discovery that yielded many hours of blissful escape from windowless quarantine rooms and slowly healing surgical wounds. I owe a debt of gratitude to RedTower simply for existing; some intangible quality separated Afterall from its peers in terms of sheer immersive potential, providing many much-needed periods of relief. As TMMP’s archives demonstrate, my musical tastes are nothing if not eclectic; therefore, that this EP consistently topped the entire contents of my iCloud library and Spotify’s bottomless catalogue for seven full days is testament to the existence of some potentially imperceptible x-factor.

But what might it be? Read more…

Posted on 27 March 2014

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