Shall we do it again, five more? The Five music things thing for whatever it still might still be worth. Five? There’s something rather compelling about five. Cross-pollination? Five more? and why do we do all this? Do we need to do the editorial bit again? Is there another way? A cure for pulling cats out of hats? 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, we do it so you don’t have to, we are very (very) picky about what we actually post on these pages or play on the radio or hang in a gallery. Cut to the chase, never mind the editorial 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 or words in general? Just facts and links then, here you go, grab your five, eat your greens…

1: Otoboke Beaver – Otoboke Beaver describe themselves as: “Japanese girls ‘knock out or pound cake’ band”. Formed in 2009’s summer in Kyoto, Japan, they are Accorinrin (lead Vocal & Guitar),
Yoyoyoshie (Guitar &Vocals), Hiro-chan (Bass &Vocals), Kahokiss (Drums &Vocals). They sat that “live, the band invade the audience”. The have a new album, Super Champon – “Champon is a Japanese noun meaning a mixture or jumble of things of different type” which in turn is a pretty good way to describe their gloriously awkward sound – “Our new album is a mixture of songs from love to food, life and JASRAC. Our music is genreless and has various elements. We hope that it will be our masterpiece of chaos music!”

Choas indeed, glorious chaos, goings off and things, here it is via good old Bandcamp

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2: Pure Adult – “On the subject of participating in violence, one must first ask what does a hyper-violent oppressor perceive as violence against itself? What threatens the fundamental structure that upholds its violence?” Something new from Pure Adult then .

“Pungent chaos that serves no pomp, instead it throws around dark innuendo like a rag doll to the cadence of fury and fucking. The best album I’ve heard in ages. The best band you haven’t seen. Go dig, it’s beautiful at its worst.”   Joe Talbot, Idles

3: The Maghreban – A track taken from the forthcoming The Maghreban LP “Connection”, find out more about the album via Bandcamp. We’re just here to put up the links, the signposts, to point the way, you don’t really need anything more from us do you?

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On July 15^th Zoot records presents ‘Connection’ – the second album by The Maghreban – a Guildford native with Egyptian and Saudi heritage…

“I hit up Nah Eeto because I really liked what I had been hearing. I was happy she picked this beat because it was quite bugged out and I thought it fit nicely. I warped the vocals a lot with some hardware, tried to bug it out more. It’s a bit marching band, with early 80s chorus bass guitar. She’s talking in Swahili about being a commander, a boss. Not your mama. I approached a few people to do remixes, but none of them happened so I just did one myself. It’s kind of electro, but comprised of tiny bits of an Indian record from the 70s, with some horror film chords thrown in. More for the dance floor this one. This is the first single from my forthcoming album, Connection, which has been a long time coming. I hope you dig it. Stay tuned for more”.

4: Miraculous Mule – We’re told there’s a new album on the way, we haven’t heard much of it yet, just a couple of tracks on their Bandcamp page, they did say something about something being in the post but you know how it is with things in the post and the price of potatoes and the rest of it. I’m still waiting for that Rayna Jaymes album and that thing she did with Deacon Claybourne to turn up – it is damn cathartic watching the hoops and the loops they push theor people through over there in Nashnille. The new Mule album? Well we see the thing is called Old Bones, New Fire. and there’s a couple of tracks up there on Bandcamp and I’m not sure who that is singing on one of the two tracks? Have they expanded the line up? Hang on, here we go…

“London’s own Miraculous Mule announce their first album since 2017’s critically lauded ‘Two Tonne Testimony’ with their haunting take on old traditional song ‘O Death’ accompanied by a spectrally beautiful video by Swiss artist Stéphanie Cousins. While its predecessor was a heavy, politically and socially aware garage rock album, ‘Old Bones, New Fire’ goes back to the band’s genesis, indeed to the very roots of rock itself. Returning to their love of early blues, gospel and folk music the band have made a raw, stripped back and passionate record that pays tribute to the many artists and songs that have inspired them over the years”.

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The just found press release goes on to tell us that… “The album came together during the lockdown of 2020, frontman Michael J Sheehy explains “We had a vague plan to put on some kind of special hometown show to mark the 10th anniversary of our first gig back in 2010 but the pandemic had other ideas. While going through an old hard drive trying to clear space to record new music, I found some monitor mixes of a live session we recorded during sessions for what would become our first album ‘Deep Fried’ and these performances kind of blew me away. I shared them with the band and we decided to record some more material in a similar vein to create an album. As soon as restrictions lifted, we got together in a room and something magical happened”

The band have welcomed founding member Alex Louise Petty back into the fold and she sings lead on their reading of ‘O Death’ and says “Michael played me Vera Hall’s version of the song back at the beginning of the band, and while we can’t improve upon these old recordings, we can find our own way into the songs.” Alex continues “Like many a great folk song, O Death will always find its place in any era” 

‘O Death’ is backed with the bands reading of ‘John the Revelator’, another traditional made famous by the late, great Son House and covered by The White Stripes and many others in more recent times.

The band will be announcing live dates very soon to coincide with the release.”

I’ve still got Wrong Song running through my head, went back to the start to binge on it again you see, right back to series one, all that crap they put their label and management and the people who do all the things musicians take for granted through. Mind you the label does keep pulling dubious strokes and Deacon Claybourne knows where things are at – three chords and the truth, com on Rotal Mail, where the hell is my delivery of Nashville CDs? I need the Wrong Song running through my speakers…..

That new Miraculous Mule video? Here it is. Those two tracks from the next album are sounding as rightious as ever, especially that swliciously warm version of John The Revelator. More when the album lands I guess…

5: Vomitatrix – More musical threat from Weasel Walter, we have warned you already, here’s morem they’re threatening a release very soon, go here for updates and more warnings of things to come, or watch the uGexplode page. They’re out playing US dates right now. Previously on these pages – – A taste of Alison Cotton’s new album, some Vomitatrix, some Weasel Walter, Norwegian electronic project Lights A.M, more Cocaine Piss and who are Rot TV?

5: Single Mothers – Where were we? Half way to, nah, been there, been here as well but hey, punk rock infection and pop rock and chewing on the bubble gum and, and well “Thomson’s lyrics are at once Single Mothers’ main attraction and — for some listeners— their presumptive sticking point.

I thought they had changed the name of the band (or project), does seem they’re back to being Single Mothers

Dine Alone Records and Canadian punk outfit Single Mothers are excited to announce the Friday, October 28 release of Everything You Need (pre-order), the band’s first full-length offering since 2018’s Through A Wall. Relying on frontman Drew Thomson’s songwriting for the very first time in the band’s long and compelling history, Everything You Need is a set of songs written prior to the world shutting down in 2020. Everything You Need is definitely a different sounding record from the last three, but no record Single Mothers has ever released has sounded like the previous one. Each release has had a different lineup and this is no different. 

The title Everything You Need comes from a convenience store Thomson walked past almost every day during the pandemic, and he was drawn to the poetic moment he thought it represented. “Everything you need,” he says, “is just such a beautiful name for a place that sells lottery tickets and cigarettes and Coke Zero and Oh Henry’s.” 

The store is now gone, closed and the sign isn’t there, but listening to this new record, over all that the world has gone through in the last few years, made him think about how “Everything You Need” can sometimes be anything at all. That along with his sobriety that has spanned six years informs the music found on this new showcase and the ever-evolving nature this band is built upon..The first single is BabyBird

“Single Mothers broke up in 2009 and have been playing shows ever since. That’s been the bio of the band for the last 13 years. Single Mothers started when lyricist Drew Thomson quit his job at ReMax in 2008, walked into a bar in London, Ontario and recruited a random table of musicians. They’ve broken up since, a few times, but keep putting albums out and they keep playing shows. “Single Mothers isn’t anyone’s band to break up anymore, really,” says founder Drew Thomson. “There have been so many members over the years, I’ve even quit and it kept going without me.”  

The vision for Single Mothers had been designed intentionally to survive without Thomson if it had to. Enamored by fellow Canadians Broken Social Scene and their loose structure, Thomson thought he could lean on that aspect and have a band with no real members at all, just people in and out whenever they wanted. “I used to think it was my experiment, but I don’t feel like it’s just mine anymore. If I quit, someone else could pick it up and keep going. It’s happened before and maybe it will happen again.” 

Thomson left the band in 2010 to start gold prospecting in Kirkland Lake, ON and Single Mothers went on without him. Eventually, he came back for a few shows and they opened for Touche Amore. Jeremy Bolm offered to put out their first real release under his new label Secret Voice. After that things started taking off quickly. Single Mothers began a rigorous touring schedule, especially for a band that wasn’t supposed to be a band, and for a few years, the lineup more or less settled. International tours with Title Fight, The Bronx, Quicksand, Touche Amore, Enter Shakari, Off With Their Heads, Cancer Bats and many more and festivals such as Pitchfork Fest, Redding & Leeds, 2000 Trees, Primavera Music Festival, Halifax Pop, SCENE Fest, Riot Fest, SXSW, Pukklepop, Festival d’été de Québec, Pouzza Fest, Rifflandia, Sound And Fury among others kept Single Mothers busy.  

As far as abandoning the notion of a band with no members and releasing this new album, Thomson says “There just isn’t the type of time we used to have. When you’re young, the currency of evenings and weekends has a different weight to it. 14 years later, now, if I were to quit my job, walk into a bar and start a band, it would look like a midlife crisis. My friends are busy, they have lives and kids now. So I decided to write this myself.”

5: Jay Tausig – This track, originally by Van Der Graaf Generator, is one of three Bonus Tracks that will be included on the forthcoming album “Jay Tausig – The Quiet Zone / The Pleasure Dome”. This song features special guest Rob Gould on Organ.and Piano and it is a rather impressive version, no idea where you can find it, he doesn’t seem to be that big on websites and such, here’s his Twitter. Hang on, found his Bandcamp page

And another, once again featuring Rob Gould on Piano and Organ, this is a song written by Peter Gabriel, “Here Comes The Flood”.

and more, this time a fine version of a song written by Todd Rundgren

More music on our radio show every Sunday night of course