All Latest

Proper Obscurity: Arc Light Editions

In an exclusive extract from his new book for Omnibus Press, Listening to the Wind: Encounters with 21st Century Independent Record Labels, Ian Preece talks to Jennifer Lucy Allan about Arc Light Editions and the aporias of the modern record label

Music Of The Month: May 2020

From Perfume Genius to Sarah Davachi, Aksak Maboul to Sex Swing, this is the music that we've been listening to from our home offices over the last four weeks

Be Kind, Rewind: Lessons From The Cross Pollination Of The 1960s And 1970s

As new releases are currently sparse, looking back to past successes of cross-pollination in action films feels crucial. Spaghetti Westerns borrowed from Kurosawa, Bruce Lee built a bridge between East and West. Thomas H. Sheriff looks back on a decade of cultural frenzy

Charli XCX

how i’m feeling now

Ripped from her clubland natural habitat, the Pop2 auteur has recorded a lockdown album in six weeks, but how well does *how i'm feeling now* stand up without its historically unique backstory, asks Jamie Ryder

Quietus Writers On Why BBC4 Is Worth Saving

As rumours abound that BBC4 is to close, tQ writers look at the highlights - and flaws - of the channel, from Jonathan Meades to reindeer migrations, music docs and more

Primo!

Sogni

Primo! spruce up well-worn influences on their second LP, Sogni, delivering an invigorating, unique listening experience, says Bernie Brooks

Orcadian Rhythms: Erland Cooper’s Hether Blether

Orkney's Erland Cooper offers up an imagined idyll for days indoors, finds Jeremy Allen

Low Culture 7: How The Bryan/Brian Schism Worked For Roxy Music

It doesn't matter how much you love his solo work, Roxy Music were twice the band after Brian Eno left the fold, says Jeremy Allen in the latest instalment of our lockdown essay series. All photographs from Roxy Music Archive

Glitch And Aberration: Svetlana Maraš Interviewed

Svetlana Maraš talks to Lucia Udvardyova about music education, Belgrade and escaping repetition

Footsie

No Favours

Featuring guest spots from the likes of JME, Durrty Goodz, and Casisdead, grime stalwart Footsie releases his debut solo album after two decades in the game

In Other Worlds: Tim Burgess’ Favourite Albums

Tim Burgess has given us lockdown light relief with his hugely popular album listening parties and now does one of his very own as he guides Diva Harris through his Baker's Dozen

God-Killer’s Alive: Owen Pallett Interviewed

With a surprise new album, Owen Pallett returns to the story of the “young, ultra-violent farmer” Lewis, and has drafted in the London Contemporary Orchestra to help out. Rob Hakimian is on hand to ask about the sonic and narrative details that went into the creation of this long-awaited record

The Many Faces Of Housekeeping: How Wealth & Privilege Are Distorting Underground Music

What links a bland mainstream club EP to the structures of finance capital and gentrification? Ed Gillett discusses the ongoing creeping class issue of underground dance music in 2020

Rum Music For May, Reviewed By Jennifer Lucy Allan

This month Jennifer Lucy Allan opens her ears to new music for gamelan, old music on the Atari ST, and fresh Manc workouts

Klara Lewis

Ingrid

for her third solo release on Editions Mego, Klara Lewis moves into long form experimentation with a single twenty minute track for cello and electronics

A Demon The Colour Of Cosmic Energy: Oranssi Pazuzu Interviewed

John Doran speaks to Finnish band Oranssi Pazuzu about cosmic horror, grooving with the machine and what it means to be a black metal band (when you aren't)

Grid

Decomposing Force

An irrationally gnarly release from well-connected New Yorkers, Grid

A Thousand Words: Artists, Critics, & Curators Choose Books On Art

Artists, critics and curators talk about the art books that sustain and inspire them

Data, Driven: Wendy Liu’s Abolish Silicon Valley

Drawing on her own background in the open source software movement, Wendy Liu's new book Abolish Silicon Valley becomes a manifesto for a new software industry

Because The Night: The Timeliness Of Chantal Akerman’s ‘Toute Une Nuit’

One of Chantal Akerman's lesser known works feels singularly important during times of global isolation. Toute Une Nuit telegraphs the importance of human connection over one finite period of time and now plays like a foggy memory, finds Patrick Preziosi

Einstürzende Neubauten

Alles in Allem

Elisabeth Elektra

Mercurial

Elisabeth Elektra's debut Mercurial offers up 40 minute of solid neon-streaked escapism, finds Nick roseblade

Everything Has An End: Aksak Maboul Sum Up With Figures

Synthesising the finer points of their three groundbreaking albums from the late 70s and early 80s, Rock In Opposition affiliates Aksak Maboul return with what could be their finest work to date, finds Sean Kitching

Low Culture 6: Tori Amos And The Pretty Good Career

Matthew Barton has some Really Deep Thoughts on the extravagantly talented Tori Amos… namely, why hasn't she always got the due she deserves?

Not Just Random Doof: Jas Shaw’s Favourite Music

Jas Shaw marks the release of the first album from his new project Shaw & Grossfeldt with a Quietus Baker's Dozen, featuring an Aphex Twin love story, why dance music isn't an albums game, and how a Resident Advisor podcast helped him through chemotherapy

Kate Carr

Where To Begin

With her newest piece, the London-based sound artist speaks to our current social distance, finds Dustin Krcatovich

Columnus Metallicus: Heavy Metal For May Reviewed By Kez Whelan

Kez Whelan is back with more skull vaporising riffs and eyeball bursting blastbeats, not to mention reviews of Triptykon, Vader and Old Man Gloom

Spool’s Out: Cassette Reviews For May By Tristan Bath

Tristan Bath rounds up the best tape releases for May, taking some time out to focus on musicians already working with limitations and isolation

Good Omens: Elder, Mythology And The Modern Day

With Omens, a new album driven by despair at the world, Elder have inadvertently written one of the most uplifting records of the year

The Strange World Of… Sparks

Five decades down the line, art-rock icons Sparks are having one of their biggest years yet. But where do you even begin when navigating their past? Ron and Russell Mael talk Simon Price through ten routes into their singular world

Mark Lanegan

Straight Songs Of Sorrow

Hot on the heels of his autobiography, Mark Lanegan's new album lacks the interest of its author's own narrative, finds Julian Marszalek

My Name Is Prince: On Race, Identity & The End Of The Love Symbol

Twenty years after Prince abandoned the Love Symbol to reclaim his own name, Soma Ghosh explores what lay behind this subversion of gender and racial identity