I am looking for a CMS where I can layout the page from scratch using HTML/PHP/CSS and simply enter code such as:-

FOR EACH (listOfArticles) SORT mostRecent CATEGORY news LIMIT 5
    <div class="articleTitle">{title}</div>
    <div class="arcielBody">{body}</div>
END

to get a list of the five most recent articles of a certain category in the relevant place.

Does such a thing exist anymore? Unless my mind is playing tricks on me, the CMSs of five or ten years ago had this approach. I am thinking of MovableType and the now defunct CityDesk.

It seems to me that CMSs these days have a 'templates first' approach. I.E. you must always choose a template before doing anything - which I find really painful. Learning how to design these structured templates also seems overly painful.

So can anyone help me in my quest?

Thank you, Mark