"Live at the Melting Pot" by TwoManTing

When I reviewed the current TwoManTing single "Gbangbaode" for you last week & at the end advised you of their upcoming live album, I really didn't expect it to be as upcoming as it turned out to be, as here I am again to tell you about so soon afterwards.

As I mentioned last time, the album was recorded at two sold out Cornwall shows (which I understand the band particularly enjoyed) and from those gigs seven tracks have been put together with the help of Brendan McGreal of Cornish Underground to create "Live at the Melting Pot": what an apt venue title for a band which incorporates such diverse inspirations & melds them into something new & original.

It is another rather spooky coincidence that not only is this review hot on the heels of its predecessor but it also follows  my review of Nizlopi's "Live in London" album from earlier this week: both are duos, each fuses together different musical traditions & above all they both operate best when in some form of communion with a live audience. Thus I would probably favour seeing either live over listening to the records (though in the absence of gigs the latter will suit me just fine) and you might experience a slight regret & frustration at hearing a live recording & not being able to be there.... that goes with the territory of the best live recordings & at least is a spur to be determined to catch them live at the next opportunity.

The musicianship of course is sublime so there is no drop in quality from the studio versions which is something you'd expect from players of the quality, experience & taste of Jon Lewis and Jah-man Aggrey. What you get is sort of "Studio Version Plus": all the essence with extra live frisson on tracks which range from their originals to live favourite cover "Guns of Brixton".

It's more of course than an exercise in "that will keep us going until we can see them live again": this is, as I have said, a band whose key environment is the live gig & a live album was surely necessary (and presumably planned pre-lockdown) and all the more enjoyable at a time where artists whose work emanates joy are especially welcome. The album works extremely well at capturing excellent performances in what was clearly an excellent atmosphere: the next best thing to actually having been able to be there.

You can acquire "Live at the Melting Pot" from this link:

https://twomanting.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-the-melting-pot

and if you buy it today (June 5th), TwoManTing will particularly benefit as Bandcamp are waiving their share of the income from sales.