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Never mind the editorial bit at the top or what we said the other or last time, exact same thing again today. Another five slices of musical things that can do all the talking themselves and however you slice it and of course it was the price of fish and here comes the introduction to 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 dogs 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 damn 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 music and don’t forget whatever it was we said last time,

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Your five slice of music for today then….

1: kid Koala, Let’s go, a track or a piece or a single or whatever you wish to call it, something from the new album. There’s loads going on right now, a new album, a board game, a collection of documentaries, something about robots, a behind the scenes series from Kid Koala’s workshop and studio. we could give you the whole press release and blah blah or we could just give you the latest video (a video directed and animated by See Creature) and all the links you need. You can hear the whole album (and indeed buy it) via Bandcamp, the album is sounding rather good from over here in our Hackney bumker, for everthing else head to kidkoala.com. I like Kid Koala, I like they you never quite know, I like those textures,the warmth inb the way it all fits together, the almost lo-fi D.I.Y use of technology that colours things in a slightly different way, I rather like this recent Kid Koala output…

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2: Prairiewolf are from Colorado, they talk of “spiritual instrumentals mined at 8022ft. Featuring Stefan Beck (guitars & lap steel), Tyler Wilcox (bass), Jeremy Erwin (keys & synthesizers), and the Ace Tone Rhythm Ace. They’ve just posted a first taste from what jsut might be a rather fine new album due out in early May

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“Drawn from sessions taped in the fall and winter of 2022, Prairiewolf’s self-titled debut is an eclectic-but-cohesive collection — 10 original compositions that drift beautifully from zone to zone, sometimes lush and lovely (“Lunar Deluxe,” “Technicolor Dream Hearse”), sometimes weird and woozy (“Cogs,” “Labwerk”). Sometimes it’s all of those things at once. Mastered by Andrew Weathers and released on vinyl and compact disc by Nashville’s Centripetal Force, Prairiewolf is a welcome trip into higher sonic elevations”.”

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3: Sweeney – “Haunted by the past 51 years of my life, I wanted to revisit the many places that have been sites of heartbreak, of queer love, of trauma, of old houses I’ve lived in, of the places in which I’ve performed my music. I wanted to ask myself: can personal ghosts at sites of memory, loss and grief have something to say or offer the haunted body and mind?”.

There’s something rather beautiful here, something quietly settling, something fragile, something strong, something very emotional, cathartic, something very rewarding, especially The Basement…  The album is release on the OUR lavel at the start of May, more via Bandcamp

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4: The Toads – “Are we having fun yet? asked someone, “Really catchy yet caustic lo-fi pop from Melbourne” said someone else, and yes, thet really is what we have here, The ten track album starts off sounding and feeling like the Austrailian Fall, there’s hints of Half Man Half Biscuit in there with scratch itchy pop and the urgent ifs and buts and the punky urgenttness of it all. I never went for The Fall in that big of a way, you probably did, I do like that they’re “navigating the dross of modern life, whilst keeping one foot in a dream” and that that is “the key to their nervy post-punk scuffle”. The labum is out in June…

Nationalsville is the first single from the album – “Nationalsville is about a cotton farmer/ National party donor, water farming in the northern sector of the Murray-Darling basin. He removes the water gauge and lies about how much water they are stealing, while diverting a huge amount of it into his catchment. A charming situation.”  Miles Jansen (The Toads)

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“Are we having fun yet? Living in the grey zone”? The Toads ask the question and already know the answer. There’s many a wry smile, often packed with gallows humour, shared on the Melbourne groups’ debut album “In the Wilderness” (out June 9th on Anti Fade and Upset The Rhythm). Navigating the dross of modern life, whilst keeping one foot in a dream is the key to their nervy post-punk scuffle. Featuring members of The Shifters, The Living Eyes and Parsnip you’d be forgiven for guessing what The Toads sound like, but their mordant step and minor-key enchantment makes for an intriguing parry.

After playing some formative shows, including a debut at Jerkfest in 2022, The Toads set about recording five songs mid-year for a tentative EP. Realising the songs were too long to fit on a 7”, they booked in another recording session the following September to extend the EP to 12”. Two tracks’ chords structures were fleshed out with new melodies and arrangements, and by this point The Toads were surprised to find they had an album’s worth of material. ‘In The Wilderness’ is a beguiling record, full of twists and turns. It’s arch, resilient, thoughtful and straight-at-your-head catchy to boot.

It’s fitting that the title track “In The Wilderness” draws this record to a close, being the peak of their invention so far. Drums pound and tumbling bass-lines sprint among the crisply stabbing guitar phrases and soaring horns outro. It’s a survivalist epic of hard-worn wisdom, ambling and restless. “I open up the door trying to get all of us through” sings Miles, becoming progressively more dizzy and despondent. There is a sense of toughing it out that never falters though and this is the essence of what The Toads do best. They push onwards into the darkness and keep their appetite, pulling us all into the light. The Toads’ “In the Wilderness” will be out June 9th through Anti Fade Records (AU) and Upset The Rhythm (UK).

Here’s the Bandcamp thing with more details or head to the Upset The Rhythm page

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5: Yao Bobby x Simon Grab – now how good is the flow of this? From Agbodrafo, Togo, it came our way the other day, Fagnan was first released on the album WUM (LavaLava Records Bristol), This music video features an alternative mix of the track, re-released on a compilation for Exist Records in Palestine to raise money for a skate park in Gaza (Released on April 12 2023).

“”Fagnan means bad or dirty flow. This is an old fashioned egotrip song” explains Yao Bobby. A rough translation would be: “My flow is dirty, don’t even think about approaching me, I have a tractor flow, I’m coming to break everything in my path with my new technique, I’m raising the colours of my country and I’m advocating the hip hop of Africa, you can’t bring me down!”

Behind these words are almost 30 years of activism. “If you don’t go with the government, your voice is silenced” says Yao. “A lot of artists have been corrupted by them, and I will not play that game”. In fact, his tracks are not being played by the state controlled media, since his lyrics are filled with critique, against the dictatorship, but also against an ongoing colonial system.

The video for Fagnan was been shot in Agbodrafo, Togo, where Yao runs a cultural centre which hosts a festival, artists residencies, concert nights, community workshops and lots more. For the music video Yao asked dancers and performers, fishermen and children from the village to join in. “We have to think global and build local. Teaching the young generation is key, because children are the future!”

Yao’s lyrics (in his mother tongue Ewe, French and also partly in English) deal with the current injustices in Africa and the problems of the colonial aftermath of the west and its remaining grip on the continent. Whether you are able to understand each lyric or not, the unstoppable flow, the versatile dynamic range, and the emotions in the frequencies (both voice and electronics) convey life-force & a sense of resistance. A raw, honest attitude and forward momentum that is unmistakeable in its intent to crush borders sonically, socially, and politically”

In the words of Exist Records; “We are trying to raise some money to help our brothers and sisters in the Gaza Skate Park Team, to get them some equipment, proper training sessions, and materials to renovate the park. The most important initiative of this is to try our best to draw a smile on these kids. So all the profits of this Compilation will go directly to the Gaza Skate Team”.

More via Yao Bobby x Simon Grab

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Would you like some more?

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And while we’re here

“I took up the challenge from one of the comments under my Dirty Boy orchestral rendering, and I made this one. Of course the limitations of a virtual orchestra are particularly exposed in a dynamic track such as this (you can hear it especially in the trumpets), not to mention my own limitations as a self-taught music maker, but it was fun to do, anyway, and I hope you enjoy” said Paolo Sala

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From the “All that Glitters is a Mares Nest” video, live at the Salisbury Arts Centre on 30 June 1990….