First act on in a rapidly filling up Lexington, and it's up to Musee Mecanique to convert as many of the newly arrived to their cause as is possible. Such is the conventional lot of 'support' bands, and yet it is Musee Mecanique who have drawn me here as much as the lovely headliners She Keeps Bees.

I've seen Musee Mecanique before, a few months ago on the other side of London, in the much more reverential Luminaire. They started a bit of an itch for me, enough that it needs to be scratched by seeing them with a promised full(-er) line-up. Last time around it was just Sean Ogilvie and Micah Rabwin. That time, as a two piece they were very much a stripped down folk duo. Tonight though there are three of them on stage. It's still not up to the total sound of what they get on record, but it is still a much more rounded out sound. I was going to say that it's surprising what just one more person on stage can do, but on reflection I think as a duo they were aiming for that simple approach. Tonight is their pretty successful attempt at getting their distinctive recorded sound out there in live setting.


Musee Mecanique are from Portland Oregon, an area with a huge alt/folk scene which probably brings more rewards than problems if you're up to the grade. Thankfully they are, and have something that lifts them above and beyond the average. That something, for me at least, is all to do with the build up, the layering of sound that takes it slightly beyond the usual.

Musee Mecanique take their name from an actual museum in California. I'm not entirely sure if the suggestion is that Ogilvie, Rabwin and the rest of the band are somehow playing historic music. It's more about attitude I think. They cultivate it though. It's not a gimmick, but read their Myspace and you'll find them variously and severally responsible for "apparatus and manifolds" and "technical and care variability" as opposed to boring old "guitars and vocals". I don't take it as artifice, more as getting their heads to the necessary place. On stage there is everything from a saw getting played with violin bow to the compulsory Mac laptop, so they are obviously not opponents to modernity.


Looking back on the night and the couple of photos I've taken, what strikes me is quite a degree of complication. Even in this '60% line-up' guise, living somewhere between duo simplicity and fully layered band, there is evidently a lot going on and necessary to get their music up and out there. A lot of activity on stage, multi-tasking on instruments, there is nothing simple or thrown together about this.


Sean and Micah take turns to come up front and take lead on vocals. Musically that works for me, I get bored with one voice (I know, it's my problem). More prosaically, it means they take turns in the one main spotlight on stage, so we get a good look at them both.


I have a friend with me tonight, who tentatively suggests that - no doubt I will think him mad - but he finds them a tiny bit reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel. I chortle because that's exactly what I thought, and wrote, the first time I saw this band, and subsequent internet research showed I was not alone. They are touring in support of recent album "Hold This Ghost". Everything tonight comes from that album.

This is folk music, but not the simplicity of tin whistle. If that's all there was, it probably wouldn't hold me, there's plenty on my shelf that never gets played. It's that build up, coats of sound like old paint and varnish, mixing in a measure of antique patina. That's what does it for me. They are serious though, everything very calmly and quietly annunciated, a spell cast and held. I'd almost be shocked if they engaged in a bit of banter tonight. Sweetness and aching melancholy - if you need three words, those are they.

The Lexington is a great venue to see music. There is a sunken area in front of the stage, then steps of to a slightly raised area further back. More or less everywhere has a great view of the stage and the sound system is frankly excellent for a 200 capacity upstairs of a pub. All of which means that Musee Mecanique have had every chance of turning on the merely curious. Looking around it looks pretty much as if they've achieved that, attention is firmly engaged.