euth's weekly download - mid september 2026

hi friends. just under the wire for this weeks download. three different ways to lose your mind. 

bill orcutt - four louies (2026)

this is a live performance of a mashup bill orcutt assembled of 'louie louie' by the kingsmen and 'the four organs' by steve reich. there is also the original mashup, but i like the live one. give it a listen, it works without any context. if you will indulge though... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqHhWOztyjE

i'm sure you are familiar with 'louie louie' but to fill in a bit of the legend, the song started as a cha cha by big band leader rene touzet. soon, los angeles r&b singer richard berry would write a song inspired by the rhythm and melody, the original 'louie louie', which quickly became a big hit on the teen dance scene, becoming a standard for the cha-cha portion of the evening. the kingsmen were a portland band playing these teen dance parties, and 'louie louie' was a key part of their repertoire, after all they were there to play the hits for the kids to dance to (rock music is dance music). one night, the teens demanded they play 'louie louie' for 90 minutes straight, on loop. soon after, the kingsmen recorded their own version in a crappy local studio used mostly for radio jingles, which became a cult hit, and one of the guiding lights for the punk scene that was brewing. 

let's review one thing. the kids demanded 90 minutes of louie louie. portland teens at a high school dance, out avant-gardeing even the most aggressively experimental music fans today. unbelievable. anyways, all of this to say the song has a history as a durational work. that story of the 90 minute louie echoes in rock and especially punk legend, and you'll find punk bands doing long covers throughout the history of the genre. 

here, bill orcutt has orcuttstrated (sorry, orchestrated) a 20 minute live performance at a festival putting louie in conversations with steve reich's own work exploring duration and repetition, the four organs.  it's one of my favorite records of the year, doing exactly what i want from music. the image that comes to mind is nailing your shoes to the ground and allowing your consciousness to expand, drift, smear, wobble, before occasionally snapping back to reality, to resume the cycle again. part two is especially celestial, the repetition relenting a bit, expanding into airy dissonance, never really landing again. 

one of the best records of the year in my opinion, and an important work of rock and roll criticism as well. incredible. 

rustie tracks (2024-2026)

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPHVOnMT7jxQ&si=OG3yacWLvkPB6k9P

can we talk about the recent rustie singles or what? absent a proper album announcement it seems there hasn't been a way for people to reckon with the work rustie has been doing since the release of black ice mudra in 2024. i couldn't take it anymore, and slapped the eight songs on a placeholder album and listened in alphabetical order. even this scattershot arrangement would be one of the best albums of the year. the work he is doing is incredible and unparalleled. bringing high tech production to material embodying by the blown out space that connects hardcore, trance, trap, bass music, dubstep. more than anything though, the melodies, the arrangements are emotional, evocative, transcendent. the feelings communicated by the melodies are as powerful as any i've encountered in music, and laser focused. a few nearly bring me to tears.

it's easier to talk about the one song that doesn't work for me, trizkel sun, than try to explain what's so special about every single other track. an essential listen, and for me some of best and most vital music released in recent memory. i hope he gives us the structure to properly assess this work soon, though it would be even more interesting if he doesn't. fun tidbit, black ice mudra seems to be a rework of atlantean airship from EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE

cornelius - refractions (2026)

didn't know what to expect from the new cornelius but was pretty blown away. fantasma is a favorite of mine of course, and point has some gems but in the years since none of the new cornelius has really grabbed me. this record's cover intrigued me though, so i gave it a listen. really amazing stuff. a blend of the kind of hi fi pop he has been dabbling in in recent years, offset by some truly bizarre freakouts, and enhanced by immaculate production. drifting between royalty free funk, apertif house, wonky bossa nova, and krautrock mind warps all with a breezy ease, the album delivers what i was after from a cornelius record. throw it on the hi fi, relax, and enjoy. 

love u, tell a friend ;)