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Making Music, 2000
Sean McManus reviews a Fosca gig from 2000 in this article which originally appeared in Making Music magazine
Summer must be here. Clientele's sound is perfect fodder for relaxing by the pool: lazy and mellow. But however intricate the guitar-playing is, it can't fight for attention in this dark and busy venue and, like many bands, it's difficult to enjoy their set if you don't know any of the songs. One song sounds much like another unless you concentrate.
Fosca is the new band fronted by Dickon Edwards, previously of Shelley and more recently former Romo chart-outcasts Orlando. While the debut EP sounded fragile and almost folky in its tunesmithery, the live sound is much brasher. It's curiously jangly and poppy for a band built around a cello for the bass, a guitarist, keyboards and Dickon singing and playing guitar.
The introverted lyrics sound like sixth-form obsessions but mirror the group's awkwardness perfectly: the band is clearly shy, but Dickon jumps around to frighten away the nerves, looking like a ghost in a white suit and face paint.
The highlight is the closing 'File Under Forsaken', taken from the EP, which builds layer upon hypnotic layer of gentle mantra-like riffs. Although chords occasionally clash and harmonies sometimes miss, such charismatic songwriting and Dickon's pop star persona leave a better impression and show more promise than Clientele's more polished but soulless performance.
© Sean McManus. All rights reserved.
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A free 100-page ebook collecting my projects and tutorials for Raspberry Pi, micro:bit, Scratch and Python. Simply join my newsletter to download it.
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