Nomates Put A Foot In It

Metalhorse by Billy Nomates is a standout album of 2025, and Nothin' Worth Winnin' a standout song.

Good news therefore that it's been officially released as a single. Not only that, but with a brilliant video directed by Tia Salisbury and co-starring the inimitable Paul Foot. 

It all starts with an exchange of phone messages.

Tor: "Hey Paul, not heard from you in a while. Had a thought. Me and you, let's go to the fair. Let's get on some rides, let's play some games, just go and have some fun."

Paul: "Hi Tor, thanks for your message. Would you mind if we didn't go? I'm just really not in the mood for that sort of thing. Um, if you really, really want to go, I will go with you, um, but i would really rather not. Thanks."

They go, of course.

A superb video to complement a superb song. Possibly the best music you'll see and hear all day.

What Will I Do Without The Weight Of You?

Today's selection is inadvertently a dozen highlights from 2024, connected simply by virtue of incredible voices.

 

All of the albums, EPs and one-offs deserve a post in their own right, but suffice to say here that every single one is worth tracking down. It's been an embarrassment of riches these past twelve months, without a doubt.

 

Many of the artists here have become firm favourites thanks to the discerning taste and recommendations of my fellow travellers in the blogosphere. A shout out therefore for the following: HANN (C @ Sun Dried Sparrows), Humanist (Mike @ well, here pretty often), Nana Benz Du Togo (Ernie @ 27 Leggies) and Acid Klaus (Swiss Adam @ Bagging Area). Legends, all of you!

There's a connection to my birthplace Bristol, too, as three of the artists are based there: Emily Breeze, tor aka Tor Maries aka Billy Nomates and Katy J Pearson. I've been fortunate to see Emily and Katy live in concert. I was hoping to see Tor perform an intimate hometown gig last week at the wonderful Strange Brew, but unfortunately couldn't make it. One day, one day...

 

It was hard to narrow this selection down to a mere twelve, given the quality and quantity of great music. Criminal omissions include albums from Beth Gibbons, Ibibio Sound Machine, Isobel Campbell, Jane Weaver, Jo Bartlett, Sam Morton, Starless and Xan Tyler, and many more singles and EPs. Needless to say, I'm already thinking of a companion selection...

For today though, enjoy the next three quarters of an hour of subllime sounds.

1) Shade To The Sunshine: HANN (Forever In A Glance)

2) When I Look At You: Gates Of Light (Gates Of Light II)

3) Love You More: Humanist ft. Isobel Campbell (On The Edge Of A Lost And Lonely World)

4) Wicked Game (Cover of Chris Isaak): The Anchoress (Versions: Encore EP)*

5) Graceland (Single Version) (Cover of Paul Simon): Emily Breeze (Second Rodeo EP)

6) Tite (Kiledjian 'The Womb' Remix): Nana Benz Du Togo (Tite (Kiledjian Remixes) EP)

7) Aerodromes (Single Version): Acid Klaus ft. Philly Piper (P.T.S.D By Proxy EP)

8) Trance Stance (Single Version): Electric Blue Vision (Trance Stance EP)

9) wwid: tor (wwid EP)

10) In The Countryside: Kito Jempere ft. Lena Tronina (Part Time Chaos Part Time Calmness)

11) Sylvia (Album Version): Lisa Moorish (Divine Chaos)

12) Sky: Katy J Pearson (Someday, Now)

What Will I Do Without The Weight Of You? (44:40) (KF) (Mega)

* Yes, I know that Catherine Anne Davies originally recorded and released Wicked Game as a standalone single during lockdown in 2020. However, the song received it's first physical release at the weekend, on the 6-track Versions: Encore, a limited edition of 500 12" EPs on eco-vinyl. Each 12" is manufactured from leftover wax pellets, resulting in a completely unique colour combination, and hand signed by Catherine. But hurry up, only 17 left at the time of this posting!

Music Is Still The Cure

At 8.00am GMT, it's Bandcamp Friday again for 24 hours so here's another mad dash through a half dozen singles and EPs I'd recommend for your shopping trolley.

It's been a heck of a year for Tor Maries. January saw the release of brilliant album Cacti; June a despicable display of trolling after a (frankly fantastic) performance at Glastonbury. After a period of retreat and renewal, retiring the Billy Nomates name and in August, sharing the first fruits of her "scratchy demos & stuff" as Tor.

 

emily, i'll do it tonight is the seventh weekly release from Tor since and it sounds every bit as wonderful as those that have preceded it. 'Demo' is a misnomer, these are fully formed songs and stories. Available as a name your price download, all highly recommended.

 

There will be some who imagine a parallel universe where Midlake and John Grant continued to work together after Queen of Denmark, John never moved to Iceland and took a musical left-turn into electronica and the friends continued deliver songs steeped in 1970s soft-rock.

In our plane of existence, it's been a thirteen year wait but a new AA-side from Midlake and John Grant is out today on Bella Union, which released that seminal collaboration. For a couple of quid, you get three tracks: Roadrunner Blues, plus two versions of You Don't Get To; the latter comes in a 3:30 edit and a full-length version clocking in at nearly eight minutes. I've particularly loved John Grant's subsequent musical direction, but listening to these songs is like slipping on a pair of well-worn and well-loved shoes. 

 

Not that they are mere pastiche or rehashes: the opening line of "Does it seem like you're surrounded by douche bags and assholes on all sides?" is reassuring grit in the honey pot. 

 

These songs were recorded a few years ago whilst Midlake was on hiatus for a collaborative project called BNQT. That now appears to be shelved and the various songs recorded with various artists will emerge as a series of 'Midlake &...' releases. John's also indicated his desire to work with Midlake again, so it's a win-win for me.

 

 

Château Flight are French duo Gilbert Cohen and Nicolas Chaix and I first heard them in the early 2000s. I don't always go for brand new music each Bandcamp Friday and like a rummage around in the archives for stuff I may have missed first time. In September, I checked out Château Flight after one of their remixes popped up in a random shuffle. I came away with Les Antipodes Versions Speciales, an EP from 2004. Their most recent release dated from 2018 and, prior to that, 2014 so my assumption was that Château Flight were possibly dormant or even no more. I signed up to mailing list anyway, as I do for all of my Bandcamp purchases.

 

A pleasant surprise then to receive an email last week with the cryptic message,

 

It's been a while since we haven't communicate..
Get ready..some hot news very soon..
We are back at y'a.

 

Last Friday, this materialised as a new song/single, Nookoqo. A quick t'internet search reveals that Nookoqo translates from Somali as 'change' or 'change it'. A six-minute banger, reminiscent of late 1990s Slam and Secret Knowledge which is a very good thing indeed. An album, La Folie Studio, is on the way and I will be waiting with interest. 

 

 

Cee ElAssaad is from Morocco and, like Diamond Dealer from yesterday's post, an artist I discovered thanks to Connected, the record label established by Stereo MC's. In February, Cee released the Njalo EP which has been on repeated plays since, whether the vocal, dub or instrumental mixes, and is itself a highly recommended purchase. 

 

In August, Cee released a collaborative single with US artist Lee Wilson. The original 6-minute version of Music Is The Cure contains familiar elements from Njalo, with additional jazz inflections and the Wilson's own East Coast vibe. On the (virtual) flip side is an RnB mix, under three minutes and completely laid back. Niiiiiice.

 

By the time Bandcamp Friday goes live, Powder Wax Vol. 1: Little Black Dress, a perfectly tailored new EP from Jesse Fahnestock will be on the catwalk. I was fortunate enough to get a sneak preview of the three-track single with these words from Jesse,

Got something new for you from my 10:40 alias (sort of). Going to start doing an occasional series of vocal house-ish tracks under the heading Powder Wax. This is the first attempt. The A-side is a pop/disco number - a bit out on a limb really, not sure how it will be received. The other two tracks are cosmic/dub versions that are more in my usual area. Anyway, maybe you'll find something to like.

There's no maybe about it. I can't be completely objective about this, as I've enjoyed everything that Jesse has produced in the last few years, but this delivers on several levels. If you've enjoyed Jesse's work as 10:40 and/or with Darren Bell as Jezebell then you will find much to enjoy here. If you're new, then this also serves as a great introduction/statement of intent.

There are three mixes available, the Original Fit, 10:40's Heavy Eyeliner Edit and the Undressing Dub. If forced to make a soundbite comparison, and partly because I've been listening to so much 1980s extended and dub mixes recently, I got a feel for Touched By The Hand Of God by New Order, with the 10:40 edit - intro especially - evoking Dancing On The Ceiling by Lionel Richie. I've seen the phrase 'future nostalgia' bandied around a lot but this seems a good application: music is forwarding thinking yet taps into a feeling of what has gone before.

 

All feature the vocal talents of London-based S.A.A.R.A aka Sara Belle, whose song Deliverance received the 10:40 dub treatment late last year. As usual, it's impossible for me to pick a favourite of the three mixes and why should I, when I can enjoy them all, all of the time? More please, Jesse.

Oh, and whilst the focus is on singles, a reminder that an early 2023 highlight was 10:40's Transition Theory album, released on Valentine's Day and available as a name your price download. You'd be bonkers not to.

Amadou & Mariam returned with Eclipse, their first album in three years, in December 2022 and they're back (again!) with a new song, My Sahel. Much as you'd expect, it's four and a half minutes of aural joy, with a killer bass line to boot. Now in their fifth decade of marriage and musical partnership, Amadou & Mariam continue to inspire and delight.

 

My Sahel also gives me an opportunity to once again plug the Sahel Sounds label, which celebrates each Bandcamp Friday by making their entire catalogue available as a name your price download. Lots of wonderful albums and compilations to choose from but sticking with the theme of this post, I'd also recommend the song/single Debbo by Andal Sukabe.

 

Set your reminders now!

Sky Hi Low Fi

Goodbye Billy Nomates, hello tor.

 

Whilst Cacti, still smoking hot since it's release in January, is likely to be the last album as Billy Nomates, Tor Maries has started releasing new music under her own name via Bandcamp every Friday. 

 

The shitty stick she received from internet trolls following her - what was for me, stunning - performance at Glastonbury in June was immediately countered by a surge of support from many, many more. Tor has responded in the only and best way possible, by continuing to follow her creative calling.

The first hint of this came in an Instagram post at the end of July.

ok. i promise there is nothin sad about this. I've new things on the stove and in the pipeline - they have been for a minute.

 

 I am so unbelievably grateful to absolutely everyone thats got behind Billy Nomates. its been a wild ride.

 

It is time for new.

 

just as it was time for new 5 years ago. that feelin then resulted in 3 diffrent Billy Nomates records. It was always an artistic venture of the times. if you don't know anyone and you really have no money - can you still write songs and do it? the awnser for me was yes - but - i couldnt do it how everyone else did it.

 

 unbelievably, im still not yet a millionaire via music. contrary to my artist name, i accidentally made some friends.

 

want to say this was worth more but ...

 

 new feels good now. and why not change when things feel good. that feels the best time. all will make sense in time. there is so much I want to do and new territory to explore.i intend to be very busy as a maker for a while. perhaps my favourite role. and now i know for sure what sucsess is. it's diffrent for everyone, but it can look like 3 people that know every word in a small room.

 

 lots of love

 

 much to come !!!

 

There was a follow up a couple of weeks ago with this update via the mailing list that I've subscribed to.

hello! 

how you doin? 

time flys doesn't it. 
there's nothin to see or hear as of yet, but it thought id let you know; starting next Friday, il be putting some new, raw music up every Friday over here ... 

tormaries.bandcamp.com 

for the next month at least : ) maybe more! 
I'm seeing like a sketchbook. nothin too polished - the thrill of the jump, like old times!

thank you for all your support this year. it goes all the way I can tell you 

lots of love 

tor
x

 

There are two songs available: Halfling, released last Friday, and I, Do Not Want To Play, out today. Both are available as name your price downloads but it is Bandcamp Friday today so every penny (cent, etc.) will go directly to the artist.

Tor describes the new material as "scratchy demos & stuff" but of course it's so much more than that, as the printed lyrics will attest.

Halfling is a sonically and lyrically a smooth transition, programmed beats, keyboard chords and sweet vocals, all done in under three minutes.

I, Do Not Want To Play is similarly brief, with a simple beautiful chord sequence with Tor's voice right up at the front. A straight up ballad that could be interpreted either in the context of relationships to people and love or with the 'music business'. It resonates however you see or connect to it.

And after buying these two songs, if you haven't already, why not head back to Tor's previous work and discover what you (and, until recently, I) have been missing. 

I've also made my Dubhed selection from June available again for a limited time.

 

I'm going to be out of action for the next few days. Dubhed posts will continue to appear daily but I may not get to reply to or add comments until early next week. Thanks again for dropping by and your continued support, it means a lot.