Lo-fi indietronica for the win! Owen Ashworth’s simple, whimsical keyboard-driven balladry is a constant delight on record, and his typically unostentatious live show is no different. Normally a one man outfit, he’s brought female vocalist Jenny Herbinson along, and her quirky Nico-ish contributions to his new material add another level of variety. She’s also a very endearing character, a good counterpoint to Owen’s polite shyness, and her obvious excitement at being in England for the first time is charming. But even on his own, CFTPA delivers the goods, his stripped down beats and short, sweet musical vignettes infused with a wry humour, and the relatively short set time (an hour) meant that the formula didn’t wear thin. I was so impressed, in fact, that I'm seeing him again later this month at the Luminaire. Great stuff.Support came from Max Tundra, a very unusual fellow whose music comes across as a mixture of Rufus Wainwright, Animal Collective, CBeebies theme tunes and some dodgy German rave outfit from the 90’s. Wearing a cape, he’s not the most inhibited of fellows, dancing like a psychopath to most of tunes and gesticulating wildly with emotion as he sings; it’s a formula that certainly won’t appeal to everyone, and he’s not blessed with the strongest of vocal chords, but any man who can pull of a techno cover of “So Long, Farewell” from the Sound of Music deserves some kudos.
(Photo: Wemayfreeze (Flickr))
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