The Five music thing again for whatever it might be worth. Five? Again? Already? Five more? Maybe Six? Do we need a new editorial yet? Is there a point? Is there any point? Was there ever? What do points make? Again and again and again (and again). Five more, same as last time (and the time before) five (or six) 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, Cynical who? Same what every day? Here’s your five for today

Five (or maybe six) musical things then, just how good are Hidden people….

1l PoiL Ueda, “Yoshitsune is a meeting and a musical creation between the french rock/contemporary music band of PoiL + Benoit Lecomte (bassist of the band Ni) and the Japanese traditional music singer / satsuma-biwa player Junko Ueda. The theme of the creation is around the Japanese epic story ‘Heike-Monogatari’ from the 13th century.   The composition is based on this traditional epic singing accompanied by the satsuma-biwa and Buddhist Shomyo chant. This project is a great opportunity to explore a new musical universe by meeting between an European super modern musical formation and a Japanese ancient traditional music. An experimental, yet powerfully common musical expressions of both styles will create an exciting discovery which can attract a larger audience in France.   A new experience where the unbridled experimental rock of PoiL mixes with the calm and sinuous voice, the narrative force and the great charisma of Junko Ueda”. More details via PoiL’s Bandcamp

2: Hidden People – Comment s’étaient​-​ils rencontrés? There’s a rather beautiful, rather delicate, rather fragile, rather strong, delightfully experimental album just released on the ever wonderful French label Dur et Doux. Textes et compositions musicales : Aëla Gourvennec et Mélissa Acchiardi and we really should say lots and lots about it, it is rather delicious, there’s so much quietly going on, those details do glow, the whole thing does really. The music is so beautifully painted, you really don’t need our words, here it is, do take your time to explore it all 

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2: Abraham Fogg, the French audiovisual duo (based in France & Los Angeles) are releasing a new single “Money”, apparently the release is timed for  for Halloween. The track is taken from the debut album “Blåkulla”(out on December 3). Find the single and more details on their Bandcamp page

And here, while we’re here, hear some more…

“A personal and narrative electronica. One can meet a group of cellos or a ghostly piano. Deep and aggressive bass, unstable rhythms coexist with melodic themes of great emotional power, timeless, and more contemplative tracks. The duo Abraham Fogg (Grégoire Vaillant & Charles-Edouard Dangelser – collaborators of the Manchester Camerata Orchestra, Bill Ryder Jones..) delivers dark live performances that resemble a pagan mass, in a setting of smoke, LEDs, screens and intense images, ghostly appearances and spatialized sound. The duo makes their own short films”.

3:  Villager has just announced a debut album and at the same time shared a cut from that new album. Lotus is one of today’s five…. 

Here’s what the press release said…

Set for release via Eden’s MCMXCV label on January 29th, ‘Frontier’ is producer and DJ Alex Young’s debut full-length. Originally intended as a mere sonic experiment, it shifts the focus from high energy club music and emphasises the power of mindfulness and presence through intricate beats and electronica. Blending the meditative brilliance of Fourtet, the overwhelming prettiness of Bibio and the sweeping breakbeats of Skee Mask, ‘Frontier’ showcases a bigger range of styles and feelings from Young’s previous work to date. The luminous ambient textures and post-club grooves were born from home listening opposed to high-octane club moments. “So much of the past decade has been about the high, and sound tracking climatic moments for a DJ set,” he explains. “This album was a beautiful opportunity to pursue the other side of it, acknowledging the come down that exists in club culture and exploring melodic sounds and different tempos.”

Still only 25, 2021 represents 10 years since Young started playing live shows, sharing stages with the likes of Skrillex, Cashmere Cat and Kaytranada along the way. “As well as their inspiring work ethic, getting co-signs from a lot of those guys gave me confidence to dig a little deeper into my sound,” he explains. After 4 years of non-stop touring, he decided to remove himself from the scene, taking the necessary steps to grow as an artist. Born out the desire to create tracks and live experiences that push the threshold of different styles, and a philosophy of unadulterated creative expression, he released his debut ‘Aura’ EP’ via Boys Noize’s iconic imprint in 2019. Flipping from lo-fi cinematic to complex tapestries, the off-kilter hooks and rattling rhythms provided ample evidence of his unique talent. Aside from Eden, Boys Noize has been my other “curator,” and he’s been helping me out since I started this project in 2019,” Jonathon Ng AKA Eden came across Young’s music in 2014 and was instantly enamoured. After working together on a compilation for MCMXCV last year, the pair stayed in contact, sharing and working on ideas that would eventual form ‘Frontier. “We worked on different combinations of music, track listing, formatting, and track structures, eventually carving the work into the album it is today,” Ng encloses. “This album really embodies the kind of music that I both adore as a fan, and as a label; idiosyncratic art, made out of the love of furthering the boundaries we consider music to reside within.” 

‘Frontier’ begins with its title-track, setting the tone with sweeping ethereal soundscapes and samples before the melodic structure and interweaving synth lines of ‘Brain’ pick up the pace. ’Saco’ was born in southern Maine, where Young spent time with his Grandparents before they passed. “It gives me the feeling of their peaceful beach town,” he shares. Drawing on his experience writing pop music, the albums energetic focal point ‘Less You Talk’ was inspired by an out of body experience, and personal favourite ‘Peace Creek’ from an LSD trip at Great Falls in home-state Maryland. The truly psychedelic ‘Arriving’ sees Young slow things down, bringing infinitesimal moments to the surface and stretching other out for what feels like an eternity. Featuring DJ Krewes, “Lotus” is a great precursor to the end of the story, and final track ‘Peaked’ is designed to for the journey back down. “This track kind of hits the nail on the head for what I feel this record is about: the inevitable come down be it drugs, relationships or moments in time,” explains Young. “They all have their crests and peaks, and at a certain point it’s time to start descending again.”  

4; Peter Kernel, now we haven’t heard from them for a while, they are a band of coutse, an always rewarding band from , Switzerland. Wow is the first single taken from the upcoming “Peter Kernel & Their Favorite Drummers” album. A collection of songs written in collaboration with eleven different drummers to be released 2022. WOW was composed starting from a rhythm recorded in a silent room with closed eyes by Cosmic Neman (Zombie Zombie). More about the track and such via Bandcamp

And more from Peter…. “In May we had the great pleasure to play a very relaxed double drummer set at Bikini Test in La Chaux-de-fonds for the majestic festival Some Of The Missing Ones. The show was entirely recorded live on VHS cassette!!! They did a crazy amazing job!!”

5: Nick Hudson, more from Brighton’s Nick Hudson, a music film by Adrian Goycoolea, after the composition by Nick Hudson from Font Of Human Fractures. Nick has just, if we have it right, or is just about to release something called ‘The Florist’, a co-writing collaboration with Kianna Blue, fellow bandmate in Brighton’-based art rockers The Academy of The Sun. Have we shared this video before or have we just been playing this rather a lot here in the bunker? Actually if I was paying attention, there’s a new mix of that track featured on the video, more soon, we’re a little busy with other things right now, there is an Art Car Boot Fair next week and not enough hours in the day. Pretty sure there is an excellent new mix on The Florist, stay tuned, back in a bit, paint to throw right now.   

You see, we are way too busy for music right now, or proof reading or anything else

“British avant pop artist  Nick Hudson, presents his new single ‘The Florist’ from his new 8-track ‘K69996ROMA:EP’. Co-written with Kianna Blue (The Academy of Sun), this song proposes a kind of metaphysical tabula rasa as the protagonist self-immolates in a flower shop, and then ascends. Hudson is on synths, programming, piano and vocals and Kianna Blue on synths. Created and edited by Kianna Blue, the accompanying video was shot by Nick Hudson and Oliver Hill. 

“Written as an optimist ode to self-immolation, ‘The Florist’ germinated from a chordal kernel Kianna Blue liberated on the beautiful grand piano of St Mary’s church in Brighton during the vocal sessions for the ‘Font Of Human Fractures’ LP. I watered it daily and added lyrics about a human animal burning down a flower shop in the hope that he might fuse with the beautiful melange within, thusly finding peace. It bloomed into glorious technicolor with the layering of many synths – our Artaudian post-pop song,” says Nick Hudson.

A prolific figure on the UK music scene, Hudson is perhaps best known as frontman of The Academy of Sun, who released their dystopian epic ‘The Quiet Earth’ last year to critical acclaim, Nick’s vast output also encompasses painting, film, and a recently-completed novel. Hudson has also collaborated with Wayne Hussey (The Mission) and Matthew Seligman (Bowie, Tori Amos, Morrissey), members of Kayo Dot, David Tibet (Current 93), Asva, queercore icon GB Jones, as well as Massive Attack’s Shara Nelson. Having toured 3 continents, highlights include appearances with Mogwai, Toby Driver and Keith Abrams (Kayo Dot), and Timba Harris (Mr Bungle, Amanda Palmer).

And while we’re here, some classic Yowie..