Live

Archangel, Red Blooded Women

Alisha Ahmed 24/09/2008

For some reason the fact that during a show you are committed to give all of your attention makes it all some kind of daunting immediacy. I know how my brain gets mad at me easily if it's not acquainted already with the music I make it listen to, at least stylistically. And during a showcase it's worse because you just can't skip a song, there is no fast-forward. So you see, it really might be a hard thing to fall in love at first listen during a show.

Archangel have been one of the very few exceptions to this rule for me so far. The one-man-band of Nick Webber turned into a 5 piece act last Wednesday so that the 40 minute showcase of the tracks from the forthcoming album How to Lose Your Best Friend did perfect justice to the studio versions I could later hear on their Myspace page. The main feature I liked about this unusual act is how Webber is an 80s sound erudite, so much so in fact that he found his own original way to navigate it, giving his music an 80s feeling without overdoing it on the synthesizers, which seem to be the only thing most people can do lately to go along with the 80s trend that is prevalent, so kudos for that.

Considering the general appreciation I saw in the crowd, I feel I can tell I wasn't the only one pleasantly impressed. So I don't think it will be long before you hear mention of Archangel on a larger scale.