All the striving and the doing it, on we go, the Five music things thing yet again (and again) for whatever it still might be some kind of worth. Five? There’s something rather compelling about five, cross-pollination? Five more? Do we need to do it again? Is there another way? A cure for pulling cats out of hats? A new editorial yet maybe? Is there a rhyme? Is there a reason? Was there ever? What do reasons make?. Five more, same as last time (and the time before) five, and no, we never do and the proof of the pudding is in that proof reading. When we started this thing, oh never mind, it doesn’t matter and like we asked last time, does anyone bother reading the editorial? Does anyone ever actually look down the rabbit hole or is it all just method acting? We do listen to everything that comes in so you don’t have to, we are very picky about what we actually post. Cut to the chase, 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 cut slash and cut to the damn chase, who needs an editorial? Here’s your five for today.
1: Black Country, New Road – Now just as you think you know where they’re going and and what they’re about they hit you with another piece of whooooosh, listen to the drumming on this one! Listen to the way that builds up, the nine minute drama of it all, and those strings once the drums and the thunder clouds have had their have had their say and the sky calms down again, now that really does shake your globe up. Another taste of the forthcoming much much much anticipated second album, we’ve been treated to quite a few slice now, I imagine this is the last serving before the album itself hits on Feb 4th. The signs are good, the debut album was more than fine, the signs are that this second album will more than follow the glories of the first…
The press release –
Black Country, New Road have just shared a new single titled “Snow Globes”, the fourth track to be taken from their highly anticipated second album, “Ants From Up There”, which will be released on 4th February on Ninja Tune.
Having resonated heavily with fans since it’s live debut in 2020, “Snow Globes” marks one the album’s most powerful moments. The track sees the band shift between delicacy and enormity, finding them at their most potent and arresting. Frontman Isaac Wood’s vocals carefully swing between quiet restraint and stirring zest, whilst accompanied by some of the band’s most orchestral instrumentation to date, alongside drums that develop from gentle timpani-esque ruminations into a passionate cacophony before giving way to the track’s tender and pensive refrain.
Speaking on the single, drummer Charlie Wayne says: “Snow Globes was one of the songs which had existed before we wrote the majority of the songs on AFUT. Though it’s a pretty good representation of the musical world we wanted to explore on the album at large. Rather than writing a song with a number of distinct sections we wanted to see what we could do with one continuous riff. It was a real exploration in trying to create something maximalist whilst limiting ourselves with minimal musical choices.
Because the melodic instruments are all playing the riff in unison, Snow Globes left the drums with an interesting opportunity. The drums don’t sit separately from the rest of the band on Snow Globes, but we wanted to use them in a way that we hadn’t in the past. The initial idea was to feel like the drums were recorded for a completely separate track. They were meant to be totally arrhythmic and just sort of bubble below the surface – like at the end of White Ferrari. As the song progressed the drums still occupy a slightly different sound world, but because the rest of the band is playing in such a syncopated style, the drums were given a space to disregard rhythm and be completely expressive.”
Previously
ORGAN THING: Have Black Country, New Road just hit us with what could be the best album of 2021?
2: 65daysofstatic remix Crass – feels like we’ve been sharing bits of the Crass remix album for years now, the album itself “The Feeding of the Five Thousand Remix Project” is finally out this week, full feature in a moment. 65daysofstatic got lots and lots of coverage, radio play, gigs and more from us back in their very early days, not sure if the 65days sound has aged that well? They not made a bad job of adding their own flavour the ever relevant Crass. More details in a minute, give us time, we olny jsut got out filthy mits on the the thnig, do we owe you a living?
“Punk pioneers Crass bring to head their ambitious ‘The Feeding of the Five Thousand Remix Project’ with ‘Normal Never Was – Revelations – The Remix Compilation’, a collection of some of the stand-out remixes following their single series including 65daysofstatic, Jack Matthew Tyson and much more. Available as a double CD. All monies raised from the project will go to the charity ‘Refuge’”. More details
3: Medici Daughter – are they? hang on,stop the bus, their label Eel can tell you more than we can “The new year brings a new addition to the Eel team – everyone welcome Medici Daughter! Their self-titled debut EP is a truly versatile box of boundary-pushing electronic music. When we say versatile, we do mean it! It’s got dreamy synths, glitched-out artifacts, rib-crushing bass, breakcore drops, auto-tuned vocals, and even a rap feature! A truly captivating experience from the London-based producer. The EP features guest appearances from PC Music collaborator Raffy, and rapper Le3 bLACK”. That statement there is all wrappppppped up in way too much record label hype of course, and I do detest auto-tuned anything, not really sure they can claim it to be pushing too many boundaries, we d ohear lots of things like this, it does have something in there in the derailed details though, do rather like it, Angelfire stands out, Dirty Breeder has an edge to it, true, we did all overdose on force-fed glitch and 65 days of static sometime ago but there is something beguiling here in the way it all flows, in the mellowness that comes laced with a hint of something that may be menace, Medici Data moves along without falling off the tracks in a rather positive way. Glitch, it almost feels nostalgic, they do it wall here, Le3 bLACK adds an extra dimension or two in just the right way on the closing track. More via Bandcamp
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4: The Rills are riding into town with a new single on Nice Swan Records, who in turn say “The Rills announce their debut EP with new track Do It Differently”, the nece swan goes on to say “Lincoln’s rising indie-rock band The Rills are kickstarting their year with anthemic thriller Do It Differently. The new single is lifted from their incoming EP which will be released via Nice Swan Records in May 2022. The EP is available for limited pre-order whilst stock lasts”. more details on their Bandcamp page where you can also find some rather good early demos, sounds like a band making some good early moves.
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5: M(h)aol, a band we have featured a number of times now, although last time we featured their No One Ever Talks To Us video several people asked why only the females in the band end up in thier uncerwear? – a good question really, it did annoy a few people. M(h)aol have announced dates with Shellac, plus their own UK Tour, they also say the debut EP Gender Studies is now out on vinyl
The press release…
“Swiftly becoming one of the buzziest bands to come out of Ireland, M(h)aol release their debut EP Gender Studies on 12” vinyl via TULLE. They’re also set for a UK Tour later this month, as well as revealing that they have been handpicked to support the legendary Shellac in April for their Ireland dates.
The EP came out in October 2021 on streaming platforms, and the vinyl will include singles ‘Gender Studies’, ‘ No One Ever Talks To Us’, plus an exclusive track ‘Kinder Bueno’. The Dinked Edition pre-order sold out in a matter of days, with the standard version being available now online and selected record shops.
After a successful end of 2021, M(h)aol have confirmed a short UK tour with dates in London, Bristol, Birkenhead, plus free shows in Brighton and Newcastle. Tickets are available HERE.
Chosen by Steve Albini himself, M(h)aol will support Shellac at their rarely seen live dates in Ireland this April which includes Dolan’s Warehouse in Limerick on 26th April (tickets here), and two dates at The Button Factory in Dublin on 27th\28th April (tickets here). Shellac last performed in Ireland in 2017. Tickets are on sale now.
M(h)aol Tour Dates – Tickets Here
*with Shellac
26th Jan 2022 – Brighton, The Prince Albert Tickets Here (FREE)
27th Jan 2022 – London, The Ivy House Tickets Here
29th Jan 2022 – Bristol, The Louisiana Tickets Here
30th Jan 2022 – Birkenhead, Futureyard Tickets Here
31st Jan 2022 – Newcastle, The Tyne (FREE) Not Ticketed
26th April 2022 – Limerick, Dolan’s Warehouse* Tickets Here
27th April 2022 – Dublin, The Button Factory* Tickets Here
28th April 2022 – Dublin, The Button Factory* Tickets Here
And while we’re here…
Along with those dates in Ireland , Shellac are playing a London date on April 30th, Desertfest at The Roundhouse
Steve Albini and Shellac live at the anniversary party of The Ex in paradiso 1999.
THE ORGAN 