Adam Green first burst onto the scene in 2001 as one half of New York anti-folk duo The Moldy Peaches. 12 years on he’s stood in West London on a Wednesday evening alongside Binki Shapiro crooning out a beautiful 60’s folk-pop sound. It’s been quite a time for the irrepressible Mr. Green.
Adam and Binki’s collaboration has been described elsewhere as being similar to that of Nancy & Lee and as they open with “Don’t Be Jealous With My Thoughts” it’s not hard to spot the similarities, with Green’s soft guitar plucks swirling around Shapiro’s honey coated swoon of a voice. The arrangements are lush and the only thing that seems off here is the time of year; with the weather cold outside, close your eyes inside Bush Hall tonight, take a sip of your pint and you could be in some beautiful piece of countryside on a hot summers day. It’s a splendid show on a cold night on the Uxbridge Road and “Just To Make You Feel Good” has the sound of romantic possibility running through its sound but the lyrics hint at altogether less than convivial romantic ties. The pair are backed by a full band who blend into the background with a heads-down, workman-like attitude but add layer upon layer of beauty to proceedings.
Duets can often be a horrible thing and end up being corny, cheesy and slushy muck but this collaboration has the crowd, including a rather fat, legging-clad Carl Barât, enthralled from start to finish. Green and Shapiro come across as kindred spirits, fashioning difficult circumstances into beautifully crafted songs. With little music released there’s little familiarity with the tunes but after 13 songs they exit stage left with the crowd wishing for more.
With my expectations for the show low I wasn’t disappointed but even if they were higher than Adam’s old pal Pete Doherty, they’d not disappoint. The LP for this project isn’t due out until January 2013 but on this performance expect it to be amongst the records of 2013.
