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Never mind the editorial bit at the top or what we said the last time, you’ve read all this already, just jump down past this editorial and let the actual music do the actually walking and talking. Exact same thing again, another five (or so) slices of musical things that can do all the talking themselves and however you like to slice it and of course it was the price of apples and here comes the intro….
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 oil? 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…
Here we go again, in no particular order….
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1: William D Drake – he of Cardiacs family and such has a delightfully uplifting new song, a song that kind of says all it needs to say without us adding anything, let it in now, everything has a place, let it in, let it out… Find all the love and hope William has via Bandcamp
2: Sealionwoman – For what any of it be worth, here’s some more Sealionwoman, some footage from earlier this year, after the evounter with Gazelle Twin at Bush Hall earlier this month. The two piece are working on a soon t obe released decond album, find the first on Bandcamp as well as their standalone single Giselle, a rather beautiful trac kthat came out in August of this year
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3: UTO are back with new material, this first taste is maybe not quite so experimental this time around, still rather tasty though. The new single by French duo UTO, released on InFiné on November 21, 2023
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“‘Zombie’ by the French band UTO is a captivating blend of electronic rock in 2023, drawing inspiration from Sonic Youth, Stereolab, and The Chemical Brothers. It’s a haunting journey into love, desire, and the supernatural. The lyrics tell a cursed love story between a human and a monster, offering a seductive yet ominous allure. UTO masterfully combines electronic elements, synthesizers, and computer-generated sounds to create a contemporary yet ‘90s-reminiscent sonic landscape. With ‘Zombie’, you’ll be swept away by dark romance and electrifying danger. Brace yourself for a mesmerizing odyssey that’s both desirable and dangerous. Beware in 2024…”
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4: Pascal Globensky – Now how good is the first taste of album we need to get our hands on, he’s from Miriodor, a band we’ve been covering for ywars…
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“Spanning over a period of about 10 years (2013-2023), this collection of short pieces started as sketches, demos, ideas recorded for later. Some of them were presented to Miriodor (the band I’m a member/founder of), but did not develop.
So I stuck with them, polished them, honed them over time. After letting them sleep for various periods of time, I’d get back to them to work them a bit more, a bit like working on a painting, I guess, before wishing them ‘good night’ again for a while. I was still thinking of them as sketches, but I eventually began to find a certain quaintness about them, a life of their own, in their simplistic expression.
As Brian Eno suggested (among other artists), limitations can be positive and help to be more creative. And it’s been the case for these pieces, which were created using a ultra limited set-up : a computer, a music application, a sound card and a keyboard. On 1/4 of these pieces, I used some snippets of old Miriodor jams, made loops with them, either for rhythm or atmosphere. For the rest of the pieces, I explored most possibilities of the said music application, using “royalty-free” rhythms or sounds, that I edited and treated to fit the needs of the various pieces.
There’s an aspect of collage in a few of them, which was… read on via Bandcamp
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5: Sanam are at London’s Cafe Oto this coming Sunday November 26th
“SANAM’s music is a ritual where improvised rock, free jazz and noise underscore an exorcism of traditional Egyptian song and Arabic poetry.
Sandy Chamoun (vocals), Antonio Hajj (bass), Farah Kaddour (buzuk), Anthony Sahyoun (guitar, synth), Pascal Semerdjian (drums) and Marwan Tohme (guitars) bring a myriad of influences gleaned from years performing either solo or as members of influential acts in Beirut’s tight-knit independent music scene (such as Al Rahel al Kabir, Postcards, Kinematik and Ovid).
SANAM formed following an invitation to perform with Hans Joachim Irmler from the legendary German experimental group Faust, at Beirut’s Irtijal music festival in 2022. The musicians had planned to reiterate their fortuitous experience with Irmler but when this plan fell through, they decided to go on a recording residency together instead in a traditional house in the village of Saqi Reshmaya, Lebanon. The recording of the album took place during a particularly difficult time in their native country of Lebanon, which continues to suffer from an unprecedented economic collapse as well as social and political unrest. “We decided to take eight days off in May 2022 in an effort to completely disconnect ourselves from Beirut” says Sahyoun, who also performs in post-rock outfit Kinematik.
During their residency, the musicians, who come from distinct musical styles and backgrounds, decided to record the full album live with no overdubs: “The musical direction for SANAM was set out by the improv sessions with Joachim,” says Sahyoun. “We weren’t looking at doing something specific, it ended up coming out as a weird mix between improvised rock, tarab/arabic song and ambient. Kind of putting different things in a blender (our different musical backgrounds) and never really letting them quite fuse together. Recounting the insular experience of recording this debut, Sandy Chamoun described it as “almost hallucinogenic, as if there was a tacit agreement among us to produce an album that sounded ‘unearthly’ ”.
Meanwhile Mixtape No.6 can be viewed here
THE ORGAN 
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