Five more music things, another five? Already? The still thankless task? Thank you sir, thank you. Did you read all this last time? Shall we? Did you? Why? Poor what? who? Where’s did we put the plot? Roadmap?
Well shall we do it again? Back to back to back being back to the five musical things thing and the fractured music portal yet again (and again and again) and yeah, we did say all this last week and this is a test and the weeks before and blah blah blah while the whole world window and no, we never do and the proof of the pudding and all that proof reading. It doesn’t really matter if it was a television fizzing and going off and things back then when we first heard of the Window. and like we did ask last time, does anyone bother reading the editorial? Does anyone ever actually look down the rabbit hole or is it all just method acting? Cut to the chase, there’s loads of music further down the page, well five or so pieces of music, cut to the damn chase…
This five musical things thing is mostly about just that, five musical things that have passed by in the last few days, five sound bites, five slices of musical information along with those oh so vital vital links and signposts staring back and making that hissing noise. You do read all this right? You did read that bit about Bandcamp Friday last time? Enough of this, cut the crap you say, wah, I know, on with the music, here comes whatever we have for you this time around, the low spark of high healed boys or something like that…
1: Montreal-based seven-piece Japanese psych-rock band TEKE::TEKE have, so it say’s here, “returned today with a frenetic, high energy single & lyric video for Barbara” a track described by someone or other as “a wild ride with a call-and-response chorus and the band’s unparalleled energy in all its surf-psych glory.” and by us as a thing that’s maybe going off and things if you know what we mean. There’s a album coming out on Kill Rock Stars, a label who once got very pissy with us over stome artwork for an album on ORG back in the day..
hey look, here’s some more, kind of like them in bite size one off doses, classic single band maybe? The album didn’t quite bite the other day, maybe it will now, they are starting to take over the edges of minds here. Here come the links to go get yourselves armed and ready with the album, we of course say Bandcamp is best (did I mention we have a Bandcamp now yet? Surely I did?)
“Taken from debut LP Shirushi (out May 7 via Kill Rock Stars), the video for “Barbara” like others was animated by the group’s guitarist Serge Nakauchi-Pelletier and vocalist/visual artist Maya Kuroki.
The music unfolds like a wild parade — every instrument a strange character, the lyrics revealing a twisted take on Zashiki-Warashi, spirit-like beings who like to perform pranks and bring good fortune to people who see them. “The initial inspiration for this song is a true story that happened to me,’’ says rhythm guitarist Hidetaka Yoneyama. “I was randomly mistaken for an old lady by this stranger on the street who came up to me screaming Barbara? Barbara?! It’s you?! Barbara?! Maya [TEKE::TEKE’s vocalist] then had the idea of taking the story to another level by turning it into this psychedelic tale of ‘Yokai’ (‘ghost’ or ‘spirit’) that escapes a house and goes on doing all sorts of pranks on people, that spirit being Barbara.”
The single follows the band’s much-hyped previous singles from earlier this year, the ferocious “Meikyu” and otherworldly “Yoru Ni.”
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2: GoGo Penguin are doing things, doing things is a good thing. Today they’ve released a track calledTotem, a James Holden Remix of Totem, the track is down there, here’s the news.
Manchester instrumental trio GoGo Penguin are set to release a new remix album on the 7th May titled ‘GGP/RMX’, via the legendary Blue Note Records. ‘GGP/RMX’ is a concept that the group have fostered for years; it comes to brilliant fruition as a vivid reimagination of their fifth album, and self-defining masterwork, the eponymous ‘GoGo Penguin’, released last year. Each track from the album is reimagined as well as a mesmerising new version of the previously rare gem ‘Petit_a’ (which was initially a Japan-only release, before it emerged on GGP’s digital EP ‘Live From Studio 2’). ‘GGP/RMX’ repeatedly propels us towards the dancefloor, but it never just ends there; the music pulses and flows, transporting us into brand new realms. The group have personally enlisted an array of the world’s sharpest artist-producers and remixers including Squarepusher, Clark, James Holden, Nathan Fake, 808 State, Portico Quartet, Cornelius and more and conceived this work at Blue Note Lab, extending the 21st-century legacy of the legendary jazz label.
Today, GoGo Penguin are pleased to share a James Holden remix of new single ‘Totem’, taken from the forthcoming album. Nick Blacka: “James Holden creates a beautiful, reflective soundscape for this track. We love it when another artist takes your music and hears something in it and a way of interpreting it that you wouldn’t necessarily have heard yourself. Totem is a great example of this because it’s pretty far from the original track’s intensity but the spirit of the original remains intact.” James Holden: “I loved the piano chords that make the core of this song and knew instantly that I wanted to try to make them into a giant monolith – austerely restating their circular melody while my synth dances around them.”
“A GoGo Penguin remix album feels like a natural progression, but in this group’s true spirit, it never sounds like a predictable move. Since their emergence a decade ago, the Manchester-based trio (pianist Chris Illingworth, drummer Rob Turner and bassist Nick Blacka) have been internationally hailed as electrifying live performers, innovative soundtrack composers, and as a collective who channel electronic and club culture atmospheres as much as minimalist influences or jazz legacy. This is an album that extends the scope of GGP’s celebrated catalogue, which includes their Mercury Prize-nominated ‘v2.0’ (2014), ‘Man Made Object’ (2016), ‘A Humdrum Star’ (2018), 2019 EP ‘Ocean In A Drop (Music For Film)’, and 2020’s inspirational ‘GoGo Penguin’. ‘GGP/RMX’ pays testimony to the transformative art of the remix; it also reflects GGP’s original musicianship and global scope, as well as firm bonds of friendship and respect, and glorious faith in creative adventures. The new visions on ‘RMX’ feel intuitive, even symbiotic”.
3: Mick and Dave – Well it takes a 77 year old pensioner to kick boring old fart corporate soft rock sell out (and part time razorblade salesman_ Dave Grohl into action. Have they been borrowing Pistols riff, you’re a liar, you’re a liar, well borrowed Mick, his magpie antics have always been done with a certain swaggering style. Got to be better than posing in front of yer ponsey books though. What the hell is Mickey doing here I hear you ask, well we not stuck listening tu oft-kiter Avant obscurities in 9/7 time all day every damn day, it foesn’t get much better than Sticky Fingers or Goat’s Head Soup, and hey, Mick and his new mate Dave the Shave have released probably the best thing this week. Shots at the robbing Peter to pay thiri mate Paul government and bossed around by pricks and the mess they spent a year making, shots at flat earthers, and stupid conspiracy theories and even more stupid TikTok dances and an almost without warning new collaborative single, ‘Eazy Sleazy’ – you can listen to it below. The surprise track from the Foo Fighters and The Rolling Stones frontmen was shared on YouTube this afternoon (April 13), apparently penned by Jagger during the coronavirus-enforced lockdown.
Jagger, as if you need us to tell you, provides vocals and plays guitar with Grohl performing on drums, guitar and bass. An accompanying official video sees the pair recording the song remotely from their respective studio spaces. “It’s a song that I wrote about coming out of lockdown, with some much-needed optimism,” Jagger explained. “Thanks to Dave Grohl for jumping on drums, bass and guitar, it was a lot of fun working with him – hope you all enjoy ‘Eazy Sleazy’.” (still can’t stand those damn Foo Fighters)
4: Jonathan Snipes – Now just how good is this, Mr Snipes delivers yet again, her of Clipping and the massive thing that is Captain Ahab and by the way did you cattch this last week – Back To The Future The Ride have a new album, you surely know by now that that is something not to be missed don’t you? and well pretty much everything he does has some kind of magic going on – “Coming together for their 4th feature length collaboration, composer Jonathan Snipes and director Rodney Ascher have descended even deeper into intentional disorientation with ‘A Glitch in the Matrix’. For this film about, essentially, people who believe that the metaphysics of ‘The Matrix’ are real, Snipes has composed a score that is both smooth classic sci-fi and totally obtuse and broken. Just like your mind if you watch the film”
Come on, Captain Ahab’s Jonathan Snipes, just keeps on and on delivering, now if only he was our post man, that birthday card wouldn’t have gone missing last week…
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Any excuse to post a slice of the good Captain again, stick with them now, let it all kick in
5: Thumpermonkey‘s Michael Woodman is quietly getting to grips with a solo project, here’s a rather beautiful taste of things to come later in the summer… There’s some Thumpermonkey under the video if you haven’t caught up with them yet
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And while we’re here some more, you can never ever have too much and well is it all too much?
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And a 1991 cover of a David Essex classic from the 70’s
THE ORGAN 