Never mind the editorial bit at the top or what we said the last time, you’ve read all this already, just jump down to the music. Exact same thing again today, another five (or so) 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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1: Louis Jucker & Le Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain (NEC) – This is just about the best thing we’ve heard in ages, a first taste of the new album – “Louis Jucker has always had an affection for second-hand suitcases. Perhaps because he only travels by train, perhaps because they embody the instability of places, the impermanence of things. Or maybe just for practical reasons, because they’re designed to collect and transport his electro-acoustic bricolages and other little sonic tricks that he takes pleasure in unpacking and unveiling in the course of his concerts.

Suitcase Suite condenses everything Louis Jucker likes to do with his life: rummage flea markets, tinker in his attic, invite other artists to join his projects, recycle clumsiness and happy accidents, share emotions, elaborate shows like mysterious laboratories, tweak knobs, amplify mechanic noises, distort sounds and images, patch cables and sing with friends.

The project begun in 2019, launched by a writing commission from Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain (NEC). Louis Jucker accepted the commission on the following conditions: he would have the right to build all the instruments, be present on stage to sing the songs with the rest of the orchestra, be allowed to make a record or several on this basis, and continue the project beyond the scope of the commission. 4 years later, “Sui

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“This clip condenses 4 years of work around these suitcase-instruments. From the moment I started designing and testing the first cases, then rehearsing with the members of the NEC, to the final editing of the images, a multitude of different stages followed, with lots of things I didn’t know how to do or hadn’t imagined. Above all, a lot of great people were involved. I’m really grateful for all that. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to dive deep into a dream and share it with inspiring people. With this song, I’d like to be able to invite all these people with me in a giant suitcase and take off together towards something beautiful and intriguing.

Shot by Gaspard Gigon assisted by Camille de Pietro. Cut by Gaspard Gigon & Louis Jucker. Taken from Louis Jucker & Le Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain “Suitcase Suite” LP, Humus Records september 2023 Song written and recorded using homemade suitcase instruments. All effects, sound treatments and distortions created by suitcase instruments.

The whole album works in a rather different way, in an intriguing way, more about the whole album later on, it comes out in mid September, more from us before then. Meanwhile more details and here’s the Bandcamp

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2: Kiki Rockwell – a music maker, producer and pagan witch so she says, do we need t oadd anything?

And here’s some more

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3: KAU – Formely Kau trio, Kau are an instrumental project based in Brussels. “Representing various European backgrounds, their coming-together is in the spirit of the city they grew up in. Taking inspiration from jazz, they create a head-bobbing atmosphere using broken beats and catchy melodies while leaving space for improvisation”. This is a first taste of the forthcoming album The Cycle Repeats, more on Bandcamp

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The Cycle Repeats is Kau’s debut album, due out on September 22nd on SDBAN Ultra, the home of Echt!, Black Flower, Glass Museum, Stuff, John Ghost and more. We’re told “It represents a milestone in the band’s musical journey: it’s their firm decision to present a strong and unified trio playing music that stands out through the combination of 80’s synths, acoustic drums and electric bass. Moreover, the album succeeds in capturing the energy of their infectious and legendary live shows”. We’ve only heard the one trac kso far, we like what we hear, watch this space

The band feature André Breidlid on drums, Matteo Genovese on bass and Jan Janzen on synths, a “trio of childhood friends with a pan-European identity, whose music reflects the city they grew up in: unapologetic, richly diverse and with a spontaneous groove underlining it all. With their new album The Cycle Repeats they directly aim for your dancing shoes and souls.” 

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4: Animal Collective released this a couple of weeks ago, it could only be Animal Collective (or maybe Yes), a band that really did stick to their guns or maybe this is them going back to where they started? A new twenty-one and a bit minutes single – more info

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““What have we become?” Avey Tare sings in an irrepressible hook, shouting the question in a way that exclaims we might still become something more. The song’s slow-motion finale feels like a fantasia vision of what’s to come—a quieter place where we can thrive together, not apart. This is the beautiful and redemptive saga of the Animal Collective condensed into one unforgettable suite, a song for holding fast even as the world spins ahead, ever faster.

Recorded with Grammy-winning producer Russell Elevado, the 22-minute epic is an unapologetic ode to perseverance and hope, to “staying grounded like the spruce” when the very land seems to shift beneath us. “Defeat” features guest musicians Samara Lubelski (violin), Leila Bordreuil (cello), and Ben Chapoteau-Katz (saxophone). The artwork is by Lauren Luloff, Backwards Question, 2023″.

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5: The Last Dinner Party have a second single, you find it here, proper pop music, probably massive any moment and probably not in need of a mention from us but hey, when pop music is good….

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5: The Whistling Heads – “Shoot Shoot is the single that precedes our debut album Dull Boy out in September on Disasters by Choice. They’re from Sicily, Italy and that’s about all we know about anything, but hey, they say “Four heads in non-stop refraction. The Whistling heads mold guitars, bass and drums in a chaotic cloud of noise. It doesn’t matter who they are and where they come from. No matter if they are born in Messina or will die in Birmingham. They write songs that become stickers on your tongue. A roller coaster ride against the flow. And then a rainbow cut by an airplane”

And while we’re here, some classic live footage from the last century and a band who played on a number of Organ bills back there in the day

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Here’s a flyer for a different time at the Falcon…