Portico Quartet

One of the bands visiting Bergen for the upcoming Bergenfest is Portico Quartet . They have released two fine albums: "Knee Deep in the North Sea" (Babel/Vortex 2007) and "Isla" (Real World 2009). The first one was nominated for the Mercury Prize ad the last one is produced by John Leckie.
The band is Duncan Bellamy (drums), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass), Nick Mulvey (hang and percussion) and Jack Wyllie (soprano, tenor saxophones and electronics). The music is jazzy with fine melodies, and personally I wouldn´t have minded some sharper edges here and there, but who cares, and I guess they put in some extra energy live. And let me just tell you the truth, they might need it in Bergen, where they are set to enter the stage at 02:00 on a Friday night. Norway and Friday nights out, say no more!
The percussion instrument hang is central in their sound image. Hang was developed in 2000, it looks like something you use for bbqs, and sounds almost like steel drums used in calypso.
Check out this band.