The Five music thing again for whatever it might be worth? Five? Again? Already? Five more? Do we need a new editorial yet? Is there a point? Is there any point? Was there ever? What do points make? What is the point? Again and again and again (and again). Five more, same as last time (and the time before) five more musical things and yeah, we did say all this last week 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. When we started this thing, oh never mind, it doesn’t matter 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, we could just cut ‘n paste the editorial from the last time, there’s loads of music further down the page, well five or so pieces of music that have come our way in the last few days and cut to the damn chase, who needs an editorial? Who needs any of this? Who needs it, who needs it, who really needs any of this? Cynical smile? Same what every day? Here’s your five, or maybe six of seven…
1: Tara Clerkin Trio have just shared a new track from their second release, In Spring, out on 1 October 2021 via World of Echo. The new track, ‘Night Steps’, comes accompanied by an animation by Ron MacRae and Tim Webb. The band explain, “This is a woman, walking through the city at night. She’s thinking deeply about everything, sometimes existing in the present, sometimes in her memories, always set on the same streets. She craves the fleeting feeling when she can so easily mistake herself for anyone else walking by, any of the buildings, a cat in a window. She reaches the beach at the edge of her city as the sun’s coming up. And looks longingly at the horizon as the city wakes up behind her.” More details here or via Bandcamp
The press release…
“In Spring is the second record by the Bristol-based group who appeared to emerge from below the radar of near-all in early 2020 with one of the most captivating records of that year. This latest 23 minute, four song collection, recorded in various stages and locations over the last twelve months, does nothing to detract from those first impressions, refining the woozy and shimmering oddness of their debut into an avant-pop sensibility that is increasingly their own.
If the group did arrive fully formed, that form was supple and hard to grasp. They were, in a sense, essentially new sounding, or at least ghosts between the established lines, and with this new record have doubled-down on their inherently Delphian instinct. At its heart, In Spring is a record of subtle contrasts, experimental yet familiar in its intimacy, obviously modern though tied to certain lineages, and driven by a pop logic which is also free-form and seemingly improvised. Their approach to sound is perhaps the guiding principle here, less concerned with genre as it is texture and feeling, drawing from jazz, folk, modern composition, trip hop and downtempo electronica, yet evading all of those categorisations. Tara Clerkin Trio are too generous of heart to be ripping up any rulebook, they simply seem oblivious to its need.
Their geography does provide some context. Bristol’s progressive sonic heritage inescapably bleeds into these four tracks, the enclave of open-minded artists around Planet Records in the mid 90s perhaps the closest point of comparison. There’s that same magpie spirit which is both future gazing and aware of its past.
This is in essence what defines Tara Clerkin Trio, feeling their way through freedom of instinct and curiosity, forging their own desire lines. Not so much taking the road less trodden, just walked at their own winding pace.”
2: Sol Sistere – Some atmospheric Black Metal from Chile and a track taken from the upcoming self-titled album ‘Sol Sistere’. To be released by Cult Of Parthenope (2LP/CD/Digital) on October 15th, not that we’re here to just plug releases for these damn record labels that flood us with these things and never ever say thanks when they do get some coverage.
The label say “Sol Sistere have evolved to a major level of aggression in sound and composition, although keeping the roots of their previous albums by including layers of atmospheric and post-rock-like passages. With these new tracks, the band aims to provide the listener with a one-hour contemplative journey under ethereal and cold passages as the music progresses. The lyrics in the new self-titled album reflect the ideas on how out material being and its energy interaction with every aspect of the universe in all forms. These ideas were conceived by personal experiences with an almost post-apocalyptic and desolate view of the future of humankind. Among all these visions, It’s possible to find topics such as self-destruction, hope and re-starting, concepts always present in the definition of what Sol Sistere is”. More details
From Chile to Tokyo…
3: Dos Monos – We have mentioned them before, they’re a Japanese/Korean hip hop trio hailing from Tokyo. “The Dos Monos underground dig keeps going deeper and now they’ve dropped a second music video from their new album ‘Larderello’. The song is called “OCCUPIED!” More details via the good people of Deathbomb Arc, one of our favourite record labels out there, one that still does it properly.
4: Alora Crucible – Toby Driver, he of Kayo Dot, another one of his seemingly endless always rewarding projects and collaborations, this album came out a couple of months bac know but he did just mention a London date at Cafe Oto in the Spring of next year, we’ll n odoubt remind you of that closer t othe time (if we’re still here). The album, Thymiamatascension, is a beautifully warm chamber alive with classical delight, an album that slowly allows itself to uncoil and flow inside you. A quiet set of delicately strong compositions, powerfully restrained, natural, laced with thoughtful beauty, with so much colour…
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“Releasing a new album, for me, is changing timelines. Like any momentous occasion, or even like any seemingly small decision. As a musician, the tallest signposts on my road are the albums I’ve made. They are diary pages; they are literal records of approximately 2-3 years of life, compressed into a few minutes, distilled down to audible frequencies. They are the portable essence of a man. For me, it isn’t possible for an album to exist only as music. The album is memories, the album is life. Several weeks ago, I wrote a post here regarding some backstory about my new song “Barriers Hymn” and about actualizing the side of me that is a New Age musician. I was flattered to see that post was well-received, and that post may be worth revisiting for readers today, although I don’t need to get into sadness territory now. This day today is a hopeful one– a timeline shift, a new life that I’ve been holding for 16 months, gauze unwinding, miasma dissipating, perhaps even an explosion of potential energy squeezed much, much longer than 16 months… This music is only peaceful and meditative, is for wellness, it purposely evades darkness, and It’s meant to stroke you gently. I called it “Thymiamatascension” – ‘Thymiama(ta)’ meaning ‘Incense,’ and ‘Ascension’ referring to the rising of its curled smoke, mirroring the rising of your body of light. It is about the smells, colors, kaleidoscope carpets, candle tongues and dimmed lamps of your quiet room, and what is beyond it going inward. It was recorded and mixed in a way that highlights nakedness wrapped in a warm cloak” (Toby Driver). More details
4: Kayo Dot – Another slice of that bum due out in October, “the tenth regular studio album “Moss Grew on the Swords and Plowshares Alike”. In the sprawling, churning musical multiverse of mainly multi-instrumentalist Toby Driver’s creation that has never accepted nor cared for any artificial borders of genre and…”
The Bandcamp with the Kayo Dot album details is here
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5: Forbes Graham – While we’re talking Kayo Dot and such, Forbes Graham is a trumpet player, electronic musician, and composer living and working in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the founder of the Rock Flint Artists Retreat, and has appeared at numerous festivals including High Zero, Full Force, and Vision.
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A recent Bandcamp feature – Nine Artists Bringing Together the Worlds of Jazz and Metal – tell us “Forbes Graham is a musician who has managed to straddle multiple realms. Over the years he’s leant his skills to the splenetic hardcore of Amalgamation, the glowering progscapes of Kayo Dot, and the merciless, nerve-shredding brutality of Ehnahre. He is also a composer, trumpet player, and electronic musician whose ambitious, exploratory work encompasses jazz, improv, and sound art. “The first clear link between jazz, hardcore and heavy metal is that their musical lineage all come from the blues,” he says. “In my opinion, it’s important that people understand this. Each genre is in some way about seeing the world in a different way than it is presented to us.” – further reading
And while we’re here. Can you hear those people behind me? Looking at your feelings inside me. Listen to the distance between us, Why don’t you mind your own business? We were sad to learn of the passing of Julz Sale, Delta 5 founding member, singer and well, it didn’t get much better than this back there…
“Mind Your Own Business” was the first single by Delta 5, which grew out of the late ‘70s Leeds University art-school scene that spawned post-punk luminaries like Gang of Four and the Mekons. Unusually, the group had two bassists, and the song is built around a driving beat, throbbing bassline (oddly reminiscent of the Slits’ cover of “Heard It Through the Grapevine,” released around the same time), stabs of grating, Gang of Four-like guitar and chanted, in-your-face vocals….
“Julz Sale’s contribution to punk, post-punk and music at large will be felt forever. we are gutted by the news of her passing. she was a delight to know and will be missed immensely. we encourage each of you to listen to Delta 5 for the remainder of the week and/or month. RIP x” said Delta 5’S us LABEL Kill Rock Stars.
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