Truly great music, be it critically acclaimed, commercially successful or both, has to fit a certain purpose at a certain time or be the best at what it does. As Port-Royal are not (to my knowledge) a fresh-faced young boy band like One Direction filling the void left in the teenage dreamboat demographic, we can guess that they fit into the second type. If it is innovative, it does not need to be original; it just has to combine pre-existing genres into something recognisably different. Port-Royal do this sublimely, fusing post-rock with ambient and electronica. I know what you’re thinking; ambient music brings you out in hives. I once went to an ambient gig in a church where one of the “performers” stopped to check his phone for ten seconds in the middle of the music without it affecting the sound. It seems that even the musicians can’t be bothered to commit properly. On the other hand, Brian Eno has made some amazing stuff, (Ambient 1: Music For Airports for instance), and the ambient factor in Port-Royal does not dominate.
2000-2010: The Golden Age of Consumerism, as you would expect, charts the Genoa-based electro band’s progress over the last ten years. You can feel the confidence embiggen as The Golden Age… progresses. What starts out as a rather shy stab at ambient techno on ‘Gelassenheit’, breaks into full blown emotional powerhouses in ‘Geworfenheit’ and ‘Roliga Timmen’. It’s as if Aphex Twin and Orbital teamed up with mogwai and Sigur Ros to make the world’s first techno-ambient-post-rock supergroup. The smart, shy kid in the corner of the room, standing on his own trying to look inconspicuous is suddenly able to connect with his peers with super-psychic abilities.The Golden Age… is the quietly innately beautiful manifesting itself. It’s a glorious mixture of bleeps, chips and space signals filled with oceans of distortion, melody and softly spoken, inaudible voices…and it’s fucking amazing.
If there is one criticism to be made it is that for a compilation spanning ten years there is a gaping lack of variety. But as a counter argument it seems unnecessary to mess with a template that is as fresh as it is stunningly effective. Perhaps Port-Royal’s greatest achievement, like mogwai before them, is imbuing purely instrumental music with the power to make the room go silent. This is not background music, but something that demands your utmost attention and draws you into its world. Let’s hope that the next ten years are just as positive and successful as the last.
Release Date 21/02/2011 (N5md)
I started out writing for the Manchester Evening News as a freelance journalist back in 2008. The idea that I would be given free access to music and gigs seemed somehow miraculous to me, and I proceeded to take full advantage of the situation. When the M.E.N. decided to constrict its coverage to only the very biggest bands, Simon Poole approached me with a plan to make sure that all the very talented musicians of this world that pass through and/or live in Manchester would not go unnoticed. As the New Releases editor here at Silent Radio Towers, it remains my proud duty to cast a critical eye over the music and reviews that come my way in a manner that is both supportive and fair. Above all, I strive to write as entertainingly possible. Favourite musicians include the Pixies, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Mercury Rev, Os Mutantes, The Knife, Beach House etc etc. I'm a firm believer that all genres (except nu-metal) contain music of great quality...
