Where were we? Asked that the time before last time, do we need a new editorial yet? Enough of that and on with this and the music and the what we said last time or last week or last year. You’ve read all this already, never mind the damn editorial, cut to the chase and never mind the biscuits or the catfish, just jump down past this bit, who needs a damn editorial? Let the actual music do the actual walking and the actual talking. Exact same thing again, another five (or so) slices of musical things that have passed our way recently and however you like to slice it and of course it was the price of apples and here comes the intro, Don’t be flippant she said, how could it ever be flippant? I can’t remember why she said that now, in one ear, out the other, “Gawd, is Organ still going?”

Five? There’s something rather compelling about five. Cross-pollination? Five more? Is there another way? A better way? A cure for pulling flying rabbits 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 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 what’s Wordsworth? Just the basic facts and links and those sounds (and visuals), that’s surely all you need…

Here we go, five more slices of music that have recently come our way, in no particular order, starting somewhere in Amsterdam with Minny Pops this time

1: Minny Pops This release is already slightly old news, it came out back in May, but there is a new album on the way. “The release of new single Dad Dog signals a rejuvenation for Minny Pops who have been in hibernation for many years. The band released their classic Sparks in a Dark Room album through Factory Benelux and their singles Dolphin’s Spurt – Goddess (FAC31) and Secret Story – Island (FAC 57) through Factory Records in early eighties as well as a handful of new songs in the last decade including single Waiting For This To Happen’ on Tim Burgess’ O-Genesis label”.

So yes, Minny Pops, a Dutch, Amsterdam-based new wave/electronic/art punk band, associated with the Ultra post-punk movement in the Netherlands and the Factory Records label in the UK, they originally came together in 1978, as we said up there, the’ve been in hibenation for a number of years, their new album landed here yesterday, watch this space, they’re still sounding like the proper real deal…

2: Ruby Trademark – Please Don’t Be A Memory appears to be something new from Ruby Trademark, they’re kind of going for a less is more in terms of info, a minimalist Instagram profile that tells us little (and where they choose to not follow anyone), this is a new song/film that came out and crossed our path this week, I’m guessing they’re or she is from New York City? it says “band” on the minimalist Instagram feed, it say little else, there is no evidence of there being more than one person but then who knows? Kind of want to know more or at least hear more… Here’s a little bit more

3: Agrio – A new video and a piece of music from Agrio’s latest album ‘El Amigo Americano’ which features Scott McCloud from Soulside and Girls Against Boys on vocals and guitar. The album came out back in February…

“We are very excited to announce the release of a new video from the latest Agrio album featuring Scott McCloud of Girls Against Boys, Paramount Styles and Soulside” so the press release reads. Scott says “DJ‘s in Heaven is a song about the ideas of eternity, infinity and beyond. Hard ideas to grasp. It is a fun lyrical theme to play with…”

4: Hello Mary – A new piece of music called 0% from a rather fiesty Brooklyn-based three piece band, they seem like a healthy throwback to the day of grunge-flavoured indie guitar things, rather like the rawness, they might have pricked ears in terms of the ORG Records A&R department back there if we had such a thing, we didn’t of course, we just had a kettle and a box of tea bags. Hello Mary lift my spirits. Hang on, they have a Bandcamp, bands (or their people) are never good about telling us they have Bandcamp pages, it took a link via their KEXP radio session to tell us, thanks KEXP, the radio session is further down this very page…

“Hello Mary are a three-piece rock band from NYC comprised of guitarist/vocalist Helena Straight, drummer/vocalist Stella Wave and bassist Mikaela Oppenheimer. Melding together elements of indie rock, grunge and shoegaze, Hello Mary delivers lovely vocal harmonies layered over crunchy guitar parts, melodic bass lines, and driving drums that pay homage to the alt. rock scene of the 90’s” so their Bandcamp tells us…

5: We Hate You Please Die – Stronger Than Ever is from the band’s forthcoming album, that’s not a very nice band name is it? They’re from Rouen, France…

You’re going to need the Bandcamp details after the adrenaline rush of the first track on the album Chamber Songs. Here’s the Bandcamp, the album is out in September, more from us soon I expect, if there’s time and a thousand other things don’t distract us and well, never never is time and there always are distractions and with the price of Bikini Kill tickets we kind of need new bands…

And while we’re here, more Hello Mary from a year or so ago…