When: 7pm on Saturday 26 September 2009
Where: The Deaf Institute, 135 Grosvenor Street, Manchester M1 7HE

We’re proud to welcome back one-time Manchester resident David Thomas Broughton whose live performances always produce moments of wonder. This time, he’s here with New York trio Twi the Humble Feather, whose experimental music and harmonies can be easily compared to Animal Collective, and Australian singer-songwriter Holly Throsby.

David Thomas Broughton’s off-kilter folk is all about the slow-burn; coaxing melodies and oddly gorgeous vocals from a shuffling music box of acoustic guitars, looping pedals and bargain-bin drum machines. The result is tooth-achingly gorgeous.

Although he has been unceremoniously dumped into the ‘freak-folk’ enclosure, Broughton takes handsome dollops of Nick Drake and John Fahey into all his compositions. He leads us in through some tip-toeing guitar loops that gradually unfurl into a pink-hued vocal that recalls Tim Buckley or Antony and the Johnsons in its stark, alien delivery.

Broughton’s 2005 debut album, The Complete Guide to Insufficiency, was recorded in a single continuous take at a church in Leeds – and comes complete with the ringing of church bells. He has since done a mini-album with Leeds experimental group 7 Hertz, while his newest album, 5 Curses, is set to be released soon.

One of the most unpredictable and genuinely exciting live acts I’ve ever witnessed.

More early John Martyn (and Jim Morrison!) than Nick Drake – but great stuff! Doesn’t it make you happy that people still make music like this?

Reminds of a cross between Jandek and Mark E. Smith.

The three classical guitarists who make up Twi the Humble Feather, based in Brooklyn, include their unconventional tuning in the credits of their debut EP, Music for Spaceships and Forests. Such music geekery suits a band that builds its songs out of repeated chords and picking patterns that are staggered among the three guitars, along with mouth-percussion noises, falsetto vocals and stray sounds like bird calls and electronic swoops. Precise and ethereal, the music ends up in a peculiar place, somewhere in the midst of maths, meditation and the singsong of a child making up a new myth.

It’s part Gregorian chant, part Christmas carol and part Panda Bear’s Person Pitch unplugged.

Opening the show is Sydney’s Holly Throsby. Her debut album, On Night, was released in 2004 and she soon found herself touring with the likes of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Joanna Newsom, Smog, M Ward and Devendra Banhart. Likewise, her 2006 follow-up, Under the Town, saw her hitting the road with Slint and Tortoise guitarist David Pajo.

Throsby’s third album, A Loud Call, was recorded in Nashville by Mark Nevers (Lambchop, Andrew Bird) and features guest vocals from Will Oldham and guest musicians from Lambchop and Silver Jews. Please arrive extra-early (we’re talking 7pm) to make sure you catch Holly!

‘Throsby sings with a knowing intimacy, like all her songs are enclosed in a secret, special place. She sings and songs shimmer gently in the morning half-light. This is something quite special.’ – Everett True, Plan B

Tickets available from Ticketline.co.uk and on 0161 832 1111.