Girlschool are the longest-running all-female rock group — still sticking their fingers up to metal conventions after 40-odd years. Formed in 1978, the English act added a punky, poppy spin to the so-called New Wave […]
A lost treasure of cosmic Americana: Jim Sullivan – UFO (1969)
I never cease to be amazed at the breadth of incredible music from the past that’s out there to be discovered. The rarities that get excavated by musical archaeologists like Light in the Attic, Numero, […]
Geoff Barrow & Ben Salibury’s DROKK: A bleak, minimalist synth masterpiece
One of the best soundtracks of the decade doesn’t even have a film attached. It nearly did, though. Geoff Barrow (of Portishead and BEAK>) and the BAFTA and Emmy-winning score composer Ben Salisbury were approached […]
An epic polar journey on Chris Watson’s Glastonbury Ocean Soundscape
Poor Stormzy. The young grime kingpin woke up on Sunday after one of the most memorable, defiant and defining Glastonbury headline shows in years – a peak moment for UK hip-hop and urban music that’ll […]
All the right noises: June 2019 round-up
Rave mutations, No Wave and hardcore punk, ambient solitude, EBM malevolence, a Slovenian take on North Korean opera propaganda and the return of the greatest hip-hop duo since Madlib’s last greatest hip-hop duo. The soundtrack […]
Colossal rave mutations on Varya Karpova & Vanya Koreya – Extrapolation
Dutch label New York Haunted released a free download compilation last week called In Debt To the Preset, a warm-hearted tribute to famous synth presets, warning: “This is not some ironic hipster joke, this is […]
New wave synth pirate tales on XUXA SANTAMARIA – Rudos del Mar
Finding an unlikely sweet spot between dance music, mythology, political theory, fine art and feminism, XUXA SANTAMARIA’s new track ‘Rudos del Mar’ kicks against the pricks in a swirl of synth euphoria. The Oakland-based duo […]
Perforated Cerebral Party and a new wave of Russian “ghettopsychedelic futuristic music”
Russian duo Perforated Cerebral Party had the recent honour of being the very final act at Estonia’s showcase festival Tallinn Music Week, closing the techno venue HALL on the outskirts of the city. They were […]
The hungry and the hunted: Bruce Springsteen the storyteller in 10 songs
In a memorable episode of his Revisionist History podcast, Malcolm Gladwell asks why the greatest country music is so sad, and came to the obvious answer that it’s all about the details. “We cry when […]
Outro Tempo II: sounds from the early Brazilian electronic underground
A few months ago, Jack Carolan laid out a Brazilian music primer based on record-hunting in São Paulo, the third biggest city on Earth. He described the ear- and eye-melting task of trying to navigate […]
Metallica Inc. trying to stay vital
When Metallica emerged in the early 80s no one ever expected them to ever be classic elder statesmen. The cover of their debut album Kill ‘Em All is still the one of the most iconic […]
All the right noises: May 2019 in 20 tracks
Come for the post-human electronics and synthwave, stay for the cosmic jazz, abject noise, punk, transcendent techno and malevolent grime, then leave after some wispy ambience and field recordings. Here’s the soundtrack of May 2019… […]
The Black Madonna interview: ‘I was radicalised pretty early
“I certainly have a little dragon lady in me,” the Black Madonna says over the phone, laughing. It’s a few days after the Game of Thrones finale with half the world losing the plot, but […]
Corin Tucker interview: ‘Become part of the protest’
There’s been no shortage of anti-Trump songs since the 2016 US Presidential election, ranging from tongue in cheek side-swipes like Fiona Apple’s Tiny Hands, to rapper YG’s very much on the nose FDT (Fuck Donald […]
Moo Kid 