Sack of Streams #6

Let us begin this rummage into our bountiful sack with the always hirsute and sonically progressive Trojan Horse. Their Fire EP has had a troublesome gestation and birth, but the baby, we can announce, is bouncing. The title track (something of a live favourite round these parts) reveals an often hidden and forgotten aspect of their ‘prog nouveau’ moniker: their ability to snarl in your face and snap at your earlobes with a ferocious punk sensibility. And whereas the political in the punk has long evaporated amongst butter adverts and parody, the Horse aren’t afraid to opine on the state of society here through an aptly timed yet somewhat curve-ball cover of ‘Ohio’ by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Opening the launch of the EP in Salford a few months back with this, the proud multi-instrument talent of these hairy-faced upstarts – drummer on guitar, guitarist on drums – was plain to see. Join them in their adventures, including a crackling remix by From The Kites of San Quentin, here.

Drifting to the outer zones, next up is a composition in drone. Released on C20 cassette tape via the Manchester based label The Geography Trip, both tracks on Hot Cygnet Tape by Now Wakes the Sea are as imaginatively evocative, brooding and glacial as you can get. Order it here.

Next and I have to admit to be somewhat, if not completely, out of my depth in terms of reference points and criteria of judgement for this one. What I can tell you is that Peter Adams is a keyboardist and composer and ‘Pt 1 Dreams’ from Half-Light Suite (pts 1-4) is orchestrated through minimal keys and skeletal, barely audible, electronics. The result is truly poignant and moving. A free limited download of this track before the full release can be found here.

On this track ‘Fanfare’, Buttonhead come over on like a backstreet bastard art-school Arcade Fire or Spree. Elsewhere on their album 3D Opera Whale they are impossible to fully categorise as they skip through, filter and immolate a whole series of genres (even bucolic folk). Such skittish processing always impresses the senses and heightens attention:

 

And finally, the description “shambling pop” doesn’t even come close to ringing true for ghostandthesong. Instead I would go with catatonic-electro-lounge to describe this Berliner – although that’s hardly catchy. Available as a free EP on the ever brilliant Bad Panda Records, ghostandthesong deliver that thrill and pleasure of music teetering on the edge of collapse and implosion.

And a video that captures this process:

Right, onwards and ever sideways we go…