Never mind the editorial bit at the top or what we said yesterday or last week, exact same thing again today. Another five slices of music things and however you slice it and of course it was the price of fish and here comes the introduction that heralds the latest Five Music Things feature thing. Five? There’s something rather compelling about five. Cross-pollination? Five more? Do we need to do the editorial bit again? Is there another way? A better way? A cure for pulling flying pigeons out of the clouds? Is there a rhyme? Is there a reason? Was there ever a reason? What do reasons make? Five more? Snake foil? Everything must go and same as last time (and the time before that) 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 why we started this thing 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 really try to listen to everything that comes in, we do it so you don’t have to, we are very (very) very very picky about what we actually post on these fractured pages or about what gets played on the radio or indeed what we 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 it, who needs an editorial or words or worms in general? What’s Wordsworth? Just facts and links and sounds then. Here you go, play the music, grab your five, eat your greens, go eat some art, go eat some fresh flowers and don’t forget whatever it was we said last time, oh yes, and it needs a little more that just a “like”, listen to the the Choir, the house is on fire…

1: Commoners Choir, the ever wonderfully positive heart-warming Commoners Choir have a new song, here’s what they say about it; “Written and sung to celebrate those who are taking action against the corporations and governments who are profiting from inaction. To celebrate those who are attacking institutions that would watch the planet die. To celebrate those who put their liberty on the line, who don’t just stand by tut-tutting, who don’t just click ‘like’, and who believe in the power of mass civil disobedience and non-violent direct action”. As someone else said, they and this is excellent on so many levels…

.

2: The Flowers of Hell – “Toronto-London experimental group The Flowers of Hell will release their new Keshakhtaran LP any moment now via UK cult label Space Age Recordings (home to Spacemen 3, as well as Spectrum, Chapterhouse, Acid Mothers Temple and The Telescopes). Foray Through Keshakhtaran is the first taste of the trans-Atlantic group’s first studio album in six years. Involving 20 artists, including Rishi Dhir (Elephant Stone, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Black Angels, Beck) on sitar, Montreal harpist Sarah Pagé, and NYC avant-accordion legend Angel Corpus Christi (Suicide, Spiritualized, Dean Wareham) and….” And well, that’s what the press release says, here’s some actual music to do the actual talking, it is all rather mellow and well the mere mention of the bloody Brian Jonestown Massacre puts some of us around here in a far from mellow mood. It is a rather fine first taste of the new album, you find more about the Flowers via Bandcamp or via their website where there’s currently some rather impressive (rather short bit of) footage of a performance at the Tate (a Beardsley opening and a show that Covid cut short)

.

3: Miss Tiny – This one actually came out back at the end of February, hey don’t moan at me, take it up with yer man over there, I thiough I’d already shared this, blame Covid (it finally caught up with us!) you’ve probably seen and heard The Sound already. They’re on Speedy Wunderground, here’s a link for more, there’s more details under the video…

.

“A spiritually, and methodically united front, Miss Tiny’s universe is a thoroughly explored romance of heritage, rebellion, and a years old friendship between co-conspirators producer / guitarist Dan Carey and vocalist / drummer Benjamin Romans-Hopcraft (Childhood, Warmduscher).

The two-piece band’s debut single ‘The Sound’ arrives today on Speedy Wunderground – a chugging tour through monotonic cool which follows little to no form other than dual gut-instinct. ‘The Sound’ is a garish example of how the unknown can transform into a beast of its own creation, when given the space to roam freely”.

Well it wasn’t today, we’ve already established that, we’re late,

“Originally banded together as What It’s Like To Be A Bat – taking the name of an essay written by American philosopher Thomas Nagel – the pair debuted their new venture at Brixton’s The Windmill back in 2022. Later deciding that their namesake, despite all ideological intentions, was perhaps slightly “too evil sounding”, Miss Tiny (a nickname given to Romans-Hopcraft’s grandmother who passed away during recording) was born. Or rather, re-imagined.

Having spent the best part of a decade orchestrating haphazard jam-sessions, Carey and Romans-Hopcraft would eventually go on to discover a fundamental principle of their own. One which would come to define Miss Tiny, throughout her various forms and guises. “We called it anti-recording,” offers Carey. “Only doing it for the pleasure of doing it”. When fully committing to this practice, the music meticulously followed two courses; refine, or degrade. Perfect the moment, or let it go.

The irony of a seminal producer and critically revered musician banding together out of mutual distaste for recording, is not one that’s lost on the two best mates. In fact, they’ll be the first to proudly call it into question – and yet still, these spurts of spontaneity are years worth of trial and error.

Produced and recorded at Carey’s ‘Speedy Wunderground’ studio in Streatham, ‘The Sound’ is the first offering from a soon-to-be-announced longer project, on which Miss Tiny have truly begun to find their voice. From pulling all-nighters in a studio in SW16, to conquering the stages of London’s DIY underbelly, Miss Tiny through fate and fortune, circumstance and intuition, are entering a league entirely of their own”.

4: Shakin’ Stevens – yes, you read that right, he’s gone back to his socialist roots, he’s taking a swipe at the Man, this is his rather string new single, he should probably hook up with Dead Shearan…

5: Dead Sheeran – We’ve got another public information film and none of this is in an kind order, this is just about five (or so) musical things that we wish to run up your flag pole. Dead Sheeran’s music is never very nice, but that is his point, unlike Sleaford Mods or their tattoo-droping mates Idles or indeed the Warhorse riding Benefits who all come with a bit of hope in there with their bleakness, Dead Shearan just soaks all the crap and the UK Grim up and gobs it all back out at us like one big ugly Tory fatburger. Our old mate Paul from Medulla Nocte back in the ring and pulling no punchs (he never has, he’s never ever lacked commitment to his art), things are ugly out there, ask Dave from over Hereford way. This is both excellent and at the same time all rather depressingly awful, You kind of want to draw the curtain and not see (or hear) any of it, but then this is Tory Britain, there is nothing great about that mate beside that fact that people are saying it. Is this Dead’s best release yet? There’s depth to his music, the words grab all your attention, but there’s depth in the actual music, both sides levelled up as it were. Find yer man Dead on his Bandcamp page, don’t go swimmmmmming in the sea though!

And while we’re here, Very early + raw D.k’s, when they had 6025 on second guitar and some going off and thing….

And….