5 Tewns Vol.15

Read Time: 2 mins

Hiya! It’s been a pretty low week over here—a sense of impending doom hangs in the air. Pre-Christmas blues? Who knows, but as Albert Ayler said, music is the healing force of the universe, so here are my top five tewns for this deflated December week.

Natural Magic – Don’t Look Back

Only heard this one today, but by God it’s beautiful. Boundless psychedelic music for the soul — a world of low-riding organs, Rhodes flourishes, and enormous, holier-than-thou fuzz-soaked guitar scales that could summon the ghost of Mick Ronson.

Al Wootton – Glorias

Musical polymath Al Wootton returns with a transcendent piece of organic techno, paying homage to the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War. Built from samples of exiled composers, it’s fractured, emotive, and — in this age of trigger-happy militarism and neofascism — painfully, powerfully relevant.

The Black Dog –
Sleep Deprivation 40: Hypnagogic Sideboard Echoes

Soft, dulcet ambience from The Black Dog’s latest instalment in their Sleep Deprivation series. The spacing is perfection; the washes, the felt-coated pads, the distant conversations drifting in like half-remembered dreams. This has been my staring at the fog-covered mountains track for the past couple of days now. Headphones recommended.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – 09-15-00

Speaking of headphones, I’ve spent a lot of time with them on this week. It’s been a pretty introspective one, truth be told, and naturally, that’s meant pulling out the Godspeed You! Black Emperor albums again. I’ve been especially glued to their anti–”multinational corporate oligarchy” record Yanqui U.X.O. Words can’t really express how deeply I lose myself in this one.

Talking Heads – (Nothing but) Flowers

David Byrne did a lovely version of this environmentalist, highlife-inspired track from the band’s ’88 Naked album on Tiny Desk the other week, and I’ve been playing it non-stop ever since. I love everything about it; the tight percussion, the serpentine bass, and David Byrne’s deadpan lilt: “And as things fell apart, nobody paid much attention.”

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