New Year Of....

Different Noises 125

The first show of a New Year of Different Noises is packed with exciting new releases as well as the featured albums from 2025 which I am still working my way through. Very excited to be able to feature an excerpt from the always wonderful Fucked Up who are back after a lengthy hiatus.

AUDIO

PLAYLIST

• Fucked Up - Long Ago Gardens (Excerpt) ¹

• Bleak Squad - Black & White ²

• Larynx and Claw - Flies ³

• Joint Pains - Everything Considered ⁴

• Jessie Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter - A New Medium ⁵

• Dylan White - Rags ⁶

• The Static Dive - No King No Castle ⁷

• Sunday Morning - Carry The Sky ⁸

• Sean Noonan - Drunkard Landlady’s Lawsuit with an Unlicensed Vagrant ⁹

• Alberto Rigoni Michael Manring Stuart Hamm feat. Tim “Herb” Alexander - Dystopia ¹⁰

• Luke Marantz & Simon Jermyn - Hovering ¹¹

• David Becker & Paul Wertico - The Catch ¹²

• SH3 - The Loss ¹³

• 2 Lost Souls - Mongrel ¹⁴

• The Apartments - The American Resistance ¹⁵

• Moff Skellington - roynsa gevvick neprum ¹⁶

• Ember Rev - Sing ¹⁷

• Dave Graney ‘n’ The Coral Snakes - We’re Here To Go ¹⁸

• Mark Snarski - Baby I Know It’s Late ¹⁹

• The Go-Betweens - Static (Airlock Demo) ²⁰

• The Dream Syndicate - The Medicine Show ²¹

• Inca Babies - Phantom Track ²²

• 2 Lost Souls - Ironic ²³

• Jodie Langford - Put It Down ²⁴

• Dubmatix - Tribal Dub ²⁵

NOTES

1. Nearly twenty years after its beginning, the journey of FUCKED UP’s ever-evolving Zodiac series begins its conclusion with the announcement of Grass Can Move Stones, a ten-part finale set to a meticulously crafted text beginning with the album Year Of The Goat, released on December 12th. Four-and-a-half-years on from their last release in the series Year Of The Horse, Grass Can Move Stones will encompass the final three entries into the series – Goat, Monkey, and Rooster – telling one connected story over three albums, an almost five-hour musical voyage through their varied styles and influences, that will revisit and recontextualize elements from the previous nine zodiac entries. The ten sides of music will be released serially over the course of a year starting with Year Of The Goat, Year Of The Monkey in Spring 2026, and concluding with Year Of The Rooster in Autumn, the last entry of which will coincide with the 20th anniversary of Year Of The Dog in October 2026. Of necessity because these are long-form pieces I am featuring the first ten minutes of the “a-side” of Year of the Goat

2. Following the release of ‘Strange Love’; an album and (super-natural) group that seemingly appeared out of nowhere last year, Bleak Squad (Adalita / Mick Turner / Mick Harvey / Marty Brown) have announced their swift follow up, in form of a two track 7” - released by Poison City in line with their upcoming Feb-Mar 2026 tour. Sometimes in life you have to make tough choices. And so it was with two tracks ‘Black & White’ and ‘A Suitcase in Berlin’. Recorded during the sessions for ‘Strange Love’ they were both just as equally loved as the other tracks - but there’s only so many minutes of music one can fit on a record and album track orders are mysterious beasts, and one popped out that sadly hadn’t included these two songs. ‘A Suitcase in Berlin’ is Bleak Squads version of an old Marlene Dietrich song: ‘Ich Hab’ Noch Einen Koffer in Berlin’ at the time of writing I have not yet received this track. Translated and arranged by Mick Harvey and actually the second version of it that Mick has recorded. Lead track ‘Black & White’ as featured has origins from an instrumental created by Mick Turner, with lyrics by Adalita, and demonstrates the potency of Bleak Squad being able to craft something that is so loose and shambolic but nuanced, that ends up sounding like it was always meant to be.

3. Larynx and Claw are a Paris-based experimental duo formed by Scott Batty and Alexandre Garcia, originally known as The Umbilical Chords. They blend post-rock, dark folk, industrial textures, and experimental poetry into their work. A single out in December is a teaser for a forthcoming album called Tuning Ether.

4. Made up of 3/4 of the now-extinct band Spozeduhs and 1/2 of the current rock outfit Melvic Centre, Joint Pains brings together three long-time mates from the coastal towns of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia : Shep on bass, Bill on drums and backing vocals, and Rosie on guitar and lead vocals. Musically, Joint Pains deliver a powerful and distinctive strain of melodic punk combined with indie power pop. They’ve just released their debut album, Ouch, with physical records on the way and two more releases already lined up for 2026!!

5. A New Medium is one of the central tracks on Jessie Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter’s 2025 album Forever, I’ve Been Being Born. Released on 28 November 2025, the song exemplifies the band’s return after a fourteen‑year hiatus. Built around Jessie Sykes’ stark vocal delivery and Phil Wandscher’s guitar textures, it layers dark Americana with psychedelic folk‑rock atmospherics. The lyrics meditate on mortality and transformation, with imagery of continuity between the living and the dead, underscoring the album’s broader themes of rebirth and reckoning. This track, alongside the rest of the record, re‑establishes the group’s place in the contemporary underground while extending the lineage of their earlier work.

6. Ontario-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Dylan White makes his solo debut with Fronds – a lush, groove-driven EP that explores the repeating patterns of love and fear that shape human connection across lifetimes and generations. Rooted in jazz, soul, and funk, Fronds reflects both the intricate structure of nature and the resilient spirit of those who dare to break cycles of trauma and doubt. Across Fronds, White leans into the concept of iteration both musically and emotionally. Recorded across Guelph, Toronto, Haliburton, and Calgary, the EP captures a wide network of collaborators who helped shape its textured, communal sound. “I cashed in all the favours that I could,” he laughs. “All of the musicians on this record are players that I’ve performed with for years. Their backgrounds span acoustic singer-songwriter, funk, soul, jazz fusion and everything in between.”

7. “No King in no Castle” is a love-letter to millions of No Kings Day protesters, and other like-minded anti-establishment hippies around the world. It’s a message for today set to a soulful Latin percussion-infused retro jazz-pop vibe with a funky Carlos Santana meets Randy Newman groove. The Static Dive is multi-instrumentalist producer, recording artist, blogger, award-winning film composer, label owner, and voting member of the Recording Academy, Bob Smith .

8. Sunday Morning is the brainchild of Vancouver music scene stalwart Bruce Wilson. His prolific art and music career took shape in New York and Detroit after his drug and alcohol fueled grunge punk band Tankhog imploded in Vancouver in the late 90s. Years of addiction, lost time, and eventual recovery would reshape his entire creative voice. Returning to Vancouver, Wilson cloistered himself away in a tiny room at the historic Waldorf Hotel to rebuild through writing, an effort that evolved into Sunday Morning’s acclaimed 2016 debut. Produced and mixed by Jamey Koch (The Tragically Hip, Copyright) at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, with additional production by Felix Fung, “Carry the Sky” boasts a remarkable lineup of players: Kevin Rose on guitars, Chris Gestrin on piano and keyboards, Koch handling bass, additional guitars, and backing vocals, with Share Dada on drums and Lone Willow adding ghostly harmonies.

9. Rhythmic storyteller Sean Noonan’s wild and bizarre epic The Drummer of Tedworth will be available February 20 on Neuma Records. The album turns a centuries-old ghost story into a surreal fantasy epic where drums, voice, and orchestra collide. Noonan’s double album, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, is the first orchestral work ever written for a speaking drummer at the drum kit. Noonan defies many things including categorization; blending jazz, contemporary classical, and global folklore into immersive zany narrative performances. As if Samuel Beckett had taken up punk jazz. The world premiere performance will take place on March 30 at the Barbican in London.

10. Italian bassist and composer Alberto Rigoni is proud to announce that legendary drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander — best known as the iconic former drummer of Primus — will appear as a special guest on Dystopia, an innovative instrumental progressive rock album that explores new sonic worlds and features a dream-team trio of bass icons: Alberto Rigoni, Michael Manring, and Stuart Hamm. Celebrated for his unmistakable touch, polyrhythmic inventiveness, and deeply characterful drum sound, Tim “Herb” Alexander brings a truly singular rhythmic perspective to the project. His contribution to Dystopia has proven transformative: his playing and sonic identity have added an extraordinary new dimension to the album. The album’s mastering is now complete, and two tracks are already available for streaming on Bandcamp, where listeners can also pre-order the full album. Dystopia, which features nine instrumental progressive rock tracks, will be released worldwide on February 27, 2026, and will be distributed by Melodic Revolution Records and Musea Records.

11. Pianist Luke Marantz had just spent formative years in Boston when he first met Dublin-born guitarist Simon Jermyn in 2015. They bonded following a gig at Manhattan’s now-defunct Rockwood Music Hall, forming a collaboration that was integral to the pianist’s decision to move to New York. Marantz and Jermyn continued to work together in a variety of contexts and situations over the next five years, but the guitarist’s move to Berlin in the summer of 2020 could easily have spelled a natural end for their collaboration. Instead, they embarked on a recording project that has culminated in Echoes, their entrancing and atmospheric new duo album. Released on January 9, 2026 via Chill Tone, the album was recorded over a period of two and a half years in the home studio shared by brothers Luke and Matt Marantz. The set of mesmeric and genre-defiant new music showcases the exploratory chemistry and unique sonic vocabulary they have evolved together, with the addition of nuanced drumming by Josh Dion on a pair of tracks.

12. The Catch is the sixth track on David Becker and Paul Wertico’s 2025 album Tuxedo Man, released on 15 August 2025 via GAD Records/New Sun. Running over six minutes, it highlights Becker’s layered guitar work—acoustic, sitar, EBow, and synthesizer—set against Wertico’s dynamic percussion. The piece balances melodic motifs with improvisational interplay, reflecting the album’s spontaneous, single‑session recording ethos. Positioned between the frenetic “Cicadas & Beans” and the reflective closer “All in Good Time,” The Catch serves as a pivotal moment in the record, showcasing the duo’s ability to fuse structure with free‑form exploration.

13. Toronto artist, producer, and music therapist SH3 unveils her most vulnerable and transcendent work to date with ‘The Blue Album,’ out now. Conceived in the wake of her partner’s passing, the record stands as both a tribute and an act of healing — a meditation on grief and the unbreakable thread of love that endures beyond death. Written in the months following her loss, each song on ‘The Blue Album’ mirrors one of J. William Worden’s ‘Tasks of Mourning,’ a therapeutic framework that reimagines grief as an active, evolving process (a more updated approach compared to the 5 Stages of Grief). For example, Task 1 is: “Accepting the Reality of the Loss”, represented by the first track, “Love Again”. Through haunting ballads, ethereal folk textures, and choral harmonies rooted in her earliest musical experiences, SH3 transforms her pain into sound — crafting what she calls ‘a compassionate map through mourning.’

14. From the eight and final release Sail in 2 Lost Souls “Eight Four Letter Words” series.

15. The American Resistance is track seven on The Apartments’ 2025 album That’s What the Music Is For, released on 17 October 2025. It distils Peter Milton Walsh’s signature melancholy into a stark reflection on collapse and renewal. The lyrics juxtapose personal despair—“I write the saddest lines”—with imagery of collective defiance, noting resistance rising “in every town.” Surreal details of liquor trays, fortune tellers, and black cars at dawn add cinematic texture, while the music remains sparse and atmospheric. As part of the album, the song stands out as one of Walsh’s most overtly political pieces, weaving themes of reckoning and survival into The Apartments’ broader catalogue.

16. roynsa gevvick neprum is track nine on Moff Skellington’s 2025 album Glottal Stalk Cadets, released 31 October via Bandcamp. At just under two minutes, it exemplifies his Edoddi style—short, surreal, and linguistically inventive. The piece uses Moff’s trademark invented vocabulary to create a dreamlike atmosphere, functioning as a pivot within the album’s sequence. Positioned among other abstract titles such as Genkin Upta Poolsquand and unsloog yar gravis, it reinforces the record’s focus on skewed word‑poems and experimental sound structures, continuing his ongoing Abstercot mythology.

17. Sing is track six on Ember Rev’s 2025 album That Night I Dreamt A Forest Grew. Running just over four minutes, it centres on accordion and bass interplay with driving percussion, using the act of singing as a metaphor for resilience and expression. Positioned mid‑album, it provides a moment of uplift within a record otherwise steeped in themes of memory, landscape, and transformation, continuing Ember Rev’s distinctive art‑rock style.

18. This track can also be found on Graney’s “Once I Loved the Torn Ocean’s Roar - 80s/90s Demos Vol 2” which is worth checking out - this version is from the 1995 live recording released on the 30th Anniversary version of the Soft and Sexy Sound album. Hoping for some new music from Dave and Clare soon!

19. Baby I Know It’s Late is track 8 on disc one (Stay) of Mark Snarski’s 2025 double album I Like To Leave A Place As If I Never Stayed, released via Mr. Bones Records. It features guest vocals from Coo Jarvis and sits within a set co‑produced by Héctor Moriv, Snarski, and Matt Walker. The album is split into two discs (Stay and Leave), with this track reflecting Snarski’s late‑night imagery and intimate lyrical style

20. An archival Go‑Betweens recording from the early 2000s, released officially in 2024 on G Stands For Go‑Betweens Volume 3. It documents the band’s songwriting process during their reformation years, offering a raw demo linked to the Oceans Apart era.

21. The title track of The Dream Syndicate’s 1984 album on A&M Records. Produced by Sandy Pearlman, it runs about six minutes and sits on side two of the original vinyl. The song embodies the band’s shift toward a more expansive, theatrical sound compared to their raw debut, anchoring the album’s theme of spectacle and disillusionment.

22. Track 6 on the Inca Babies’ 2025 album Reincarnation, released via Black Lagoon Records. The album revisits and re‑records songs from their back catalogue, with updated arrangements and production. Recorded at 6DB Studios and mastered at Boom Box Studios, it features Harry Stafford, Rob Haynes, Simon “Ding” Archer, Marco Butcher, and guest slide guitar by Vincent O’Brien, with artwork by James Chadderton.

23. Not content with their impressive 2025 work rate are back in 2026 with a new 12 item project of three track EPs of which they say: “Another year and another varied set of tunes for you all to savour from your favourite delinquent jocular popsters : 2 Lost Souls! We present twelve 3 track EPs that will be released by degrees as 2026 unfolds. These tunes track and reflect the peaks and troughs and all points in between of the previous twelve months of 2025 give or take a few days. Lie back, soak and luxuriate in the weird wild world of 2 Lost Souls for a few minutes and let us reset your hypothalamus! “ The first release in the series is called “The Right To Die By A Gun”.

24. “Put It Down” sits as track 4 on Jodie Langford’s debut album Softly Spoken (Warren Records, October 2025). In this context, it moves beyond being a standalone single to become part of a larger statement: the album’s mix of spoken‑word, electro‑punk, and rave‑infused beats. On Softly Spoken, the track reinforces Langford’s critique of audiences filming gigs on their phones, urging direct engagement with live performance. Surrounded by songs like Breastmilk Cheesecake and RATZ!, it contributes to the album’s wider themes of nightlife culture, social pressure, and personal defiance.

25. Dubmatix’s Tribal Dub was released in 2023 as a digital single/EP, issued via Bandcamp and accompanied by remix stems for bass, drums, and other elements to encourage reworking by producers. The track reflects Jesse King’s (Dubmatix’s) long‑standing role as a central figure in modern dub, combining deep rhythmic textures with a collaborative ethos that supports remix culture. Positioned within his extensive catalogue of albums, singles, and remix projects, Tribal Dub highlights both his prolific output and his commitment to community‑driven creativity in the global dub/reggae scene. It was re-released in 2025.