Joseph Arthur

Ohio-born, New York-based “experimental folk artist” Arthur has been gathering plaudits and fans by the truckload since his Real World debut Big City Secrets came out in 1998. Last year's Come To Where I'm From brought forth more angst-ridden bleakness, in the shape of dark claustrophobic numbers like ‘History’, ‘Invisible Hands’ and ‘Ashes Everywhere’.

Onstage, Arthur is an intense performer recalling Jeff Buckley and Elliot Smith, with shades of Bob Dylan – especially when he picks up the harmonica. (He's also a bit of a Renaissance man apparently, his artwork adorning his guitar as well as his album covers.)

But his main forte appears to be a live sampling technique, via which he creates rhythmic and instrumental loops, recording them (onto a gizmo called a Jam Man), using delay to create layers of sound. After building up an entire instrumental backdrop he then slowly disassembles it, skillfully working pedals with the concentration of a brain surgeon.

While extremely impressive and effective in bringing extra dynamics to the singer songwriter format, the novelty wears off after a while and occasionally takes away from the songs, which certainly struck a chord with the entranced audience.

Tonight’s support came from the highly touted Pina, an Irish-based Austrian singer-songwriter in the vein of Alanis Morrissete. One to watch.