5 Tewns Vol.17
Read Time: 3 mins
Olá pobl! It’s Dydd Gwener, so welcome back to another rip‑roaring instalment of 5 Tewns. I haven’t done much this week, if truth be told, so I won’t harp on too much. I have, however, listened to a lot of music, so here’s my top five for the week:
Cappo – HMRC
Taken from Cappo’s excellent Houses record from last year, this real-life vignette captures the considerable thrill of getting a tax refund in an economy that generally feels like it wants to drain everything from us *.
I love the way Cappo uses samples and cuts as narrative tools throughout, weaving spoken sample elements into the lyrics like exposed internal monologues.
Laurie Anderson – Let X=X (Live)
This one’s taken from the forthcoming triple set of the same name; this version of the classic Let X=X from Laurie’s 1982 Big Science album was recorded live on tour with the jazz group Sexmob. I love it, and I’ve been listening to it a lot.
Shane Parish – Yulquen
Normally, I keep as far away from reinterpretation albums as humanly possible. Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics or Nouvelle Vague’s yawn‑inducing coffee‑table versions of punk and post‑punk bangers spring instantly to mind. But for every rule, there’s an exception — and this is it. I cannot explain the science of playing these songs on an acoustic guitar, but I can only imagine the almost Sisyphean task it must have been to get through them. The album sounds incredible, and really does credit the originals. I get lost in this one while staring at the mountains here.
Jim Ghedi – What Will Become of England
To my shame, I only heard of Sheffield’s Jim Ghedi recently, after listening to his interview on the ever-inspiring Walks and Talks podcast from the Stone Club. I’m catching up now, though, and his Wasteland album is an absolute belter. It’s lovely to hear British folk music that is culturally relevant to the present, without forgetting its roots. This is raw, heavy‑handed music, ensconced in a sense of doom and foreboding that fits our collective world.
“They pass you like a dog and on you cast a frown
That is the way Old England, the working man, casts down.”
Smackos – Is it a Puzzle or just Everlasting Chaos H3000
Danny Wolfers returns under his Smackos guise with another fantastic album of vaporous techno and ambient in the form of Come for the Universe, Stay for the Clowns. Is it a puzzle, or just everlasting chaos? “H3000” is a cosmic sci‑fi techno plodder. Vocoded dub and cheap, reedy synth sounds encircle each other over the flatulent, lazy stomp of the beat. It makes my head woosh — and that’s never a bad thing, is it?
* And use it for nothing positive whatsoever. Tax is a great idea when it funds hospitals, roads, daycare, unemployment benefits, disability benefits, education, and so on. Not so great when it's used to bomb children in the Middle East. Fuck your wars!