Janosch Troehler

I have curated 35 editions this year, so the playlist counts 175 songs. It’s a stunning curation by outstanding artists from all over the world. And I have little to do with it besides curating the hell out of every week’s new releases.

Back in May, I produced a first Weekly5 special called 'Killed Darlings'. And I wrote what still remains true:

The process of curation produces winners and losers. That is one uncomfortable truth. The other is that sometimes those who don’t really deserve it end up on the losing side. And sometimes, I hope rarely, losers come out on the winning side. But, of course, this is a subjective perception.

Today, I again look back and present five songs to you that didn’t make the cut but still deserve your time.

All the best,

Lea Porcelain – Shoot The Moon

🎧 Spotify | Apple Music

After their astounding debut in 2017, Choirs to Heaven, Lea Porcelain’s sophomore record stands as proof of the duo’s versatility and development. More so, the album features Pool Song, their 2020 single and, in my opinion, one of the best tracks released in recent years.

However, the record’s least regarded song, Shoot The Moon, definitely deserves more attention. It’s a breathless and driven hymn, a constant energy flow, and yet Shoot The Moon never feels violent. A song that is full of longing, euphoria, and doubt.

Infections are rising, and snow is falling. Mulled wine drips down the throat and the fingers. Winter’s here with golden lights in the dark.

The year is dying, and soon it’s time to wrap up Weekly5. This 35th one will be the last official edition in 2021.

But don’t worry, in the upcoming weeks, I’ll throw in more “Killed Darlings” and will present my personal favourites of the past months.

Enjoy the last five!

Fishbach – Téléportation

What’s the best debut album in recent years? My answer is A Ta Merci by French artist Fishbach. Even now, five long years after the release, the record lost nothing of its glamour, its eclectic energy, its undying atmosphere. It was and still is an instant classic with hymns like Y crois-tu and driven pop epics like Un autre que moi or Mortel.

Now, Fishbach finally returns to the spotlight, and I ask myself: How could we live for such a long time without her?

Fishbach’s single Téléportation winds like a snake; slow yet visceral. The guitar swerves in a looming 80s vibe. No, this song isn’t like the frenetic tunes on A Ta Merci, yet one thing hasn’t changed: the main attraction still is Flora Fishbachs voice. It’s the voice of a goddess—mysterious, whispering, pleading, preaching, and determining.

Azrael, guiding me beyond the veil
Obitual, free me from this mortal shell
Enter into the darkest night, I will sink where I lie
Through the sands of time, through the angel's eye

Music is like an old carpet. In the middle, the fabric is still pristine, displaying clear motives in the weave. That‘s where mainstream pop music resides. Sometimes, Weekly5 advances in these clean areas, but the songs stay in the more worn-down parts most of the time.

However, I know most of you, dear subscribers. Some of you were avid readers of Negative White or people I had the fortune to meet in the music business. Some of you are close friends. And I kind of know what genres you like.

But if music really is like an old carpet, there are the edges. The fraying abyss where the rug is anything but commonly accepted as beautiful. It‘s a dangerous place; the destruction is real. There are some examples in past episodes like Harness by Boundaries or Harakiri for the Sky‘s cover version of Song To Say Goodbye. But Weekly5 rarely wanders off to those cataclysmic realms.

Today‘s an exception. Today, I embrace the extremes with five songs released in 2021 that have to power to rip the planet apart. In this episode, you will discover the outer rims on both ends of the spectrum: brutal assaults with guitars as chainsaws and skull-crushing beats.

Enjoy (maybe).

Lorna Shore – To the Hellfire

It’s the soundtrack of the apocalypse. To The Hellfire by the US deathcore band Lorna Shore is a martial assault unlike anything I’ve ever heard. The brutality, the fierceness, it’s overwhelming. A six-minute-long barrage, mowing down every living thing in its way. Lorna Shore have created a hellish spawn that pulls you down into the darkness like a ton of concrete chained to your soul.

🎧 Spotify | Apple Music

There’s nothing like a great story. Stories capture our attention, spark our imagination, and fuel our creativity. They can change the world. For ten years, storytelling was my job. Today it’s my passion.

And music is simply the extension of storytelling to our bodies, even purely instrumental songs tell us something. They still stir up emotions.

In today’s episode of Weekly5, the five songs all tell great stories: depressing descriptions of reality, longing tales, poetic narratives, and the mandatory love story.

Best regards,

Louis Dunford – My Generation

He is the UK’s poster child of an up and coming songwriter: Louis Dunford saw major success with his (highly recommended) debut single London’s Requiem in 2020. After the first EP, The Moreland EP, he released a stunning new song: My Generation.

I see the local lads who did smash-and-grabs
On tag outside probation
I see the demonized and traumatized
By social deprivation
It's too gеntrified to attempt to die
In thе block where life started
'Cause they regenerate every estate
To cleanse the working classes

The track is another proof of Dunford’s storytelling talent. „This song started as a poem that I wrote about members of my family and friendship circle and the struggles I see them take on every day. When I sing every line, I see each specific person and situation in my head,“ he explains.

My Generation is a dark take on society and its widening gaps—beautifully told and accompanied by a grande arrangement. It chills you to the bones.

🕒 This newsletter is 410 words, a 5-minute read.

Some songs are beautiful. Others are weird. And then, some songs are both because there's a beauty in weirdness.

Today's selection features songs that probably fall in all of those three categories. It feels a bit like life: full of wonders and strangeness, where light and darkness collide—packed with doubt and confidence. Some tracks are loud; others celebrate silence.

All the best,

Schattenmusik – Tote Tauben

Sinister brilliance, dark poetry—it's the unreal yet highly graspable world of Schattenmusik. Rote Wangen is the first EP of two brothers, and Tote Tauben their entry into today's edition.

Tote Tauben is nothing more than an obscure piano piece, laced with conspirational vocal harmonies. It sounds so simple when you write it down. But listening to this song… man, it's an otherworldly experience. The melody swings back and forth between a child's innocence and an old man's regret.

Words cannot entirely capture the feeling that Tote Tauben evokes. It's a deep sadness but mixed with a strange kind of calm about it. Just stunning.

A glance out of the window reveals a grey curtain. Colours are fading away in the fog. It's cold outside; it's getting dark, too dark to see. Leaves are falling to the ground, dancing their last dance.

My apartment doesn't have a fireplace. So the only thing crackling is the stereo. But out of the speakers glows warmth and colourful sparks of Autumn spring off the embers of music.

Relaxing grooves bring back memories of hot, sweaty summer nights. Thick bass drums provoke the longing to storm the dancefloor. And instrumental escapades carry the mind in other dimensions.

Best wishes,

Al Pride – Sweat Soaked

Late summer nights in sweat-soaked bedsheets. Swiss indie band Al Pride lay down on linens of loneliness. And it sounds so excellent, once more demonstrating their sheer musical talent.

There's tension between the slightly off, sunny sound and the deep insight into frontman Nico Schulthess' mental state. Sweat Soaked is a hymn to the thoughtful hearts, to melancholic souls, the sleepless wanderers.