All Latest
Catch up on our latest writing.
Black Sky Thinking
Governance By Algorithm: Big Data, The NSA & A Sinister Future
One of the biggest stories of the year has been the perhaps-not-shocking revelation that the American NSA and our own GCHQ have been snooping on our everyday communications. Becky Hogge writes about how we're struggling to grasp the consequences of this erosion of our rights, and asks what we might do to counter it
A Quietus Interview
The Story Of Akim & Teddy Vann’s ‘Santa Claus Is A Black Man’
Forty years since the release of Akim & the Teddy Vann Production Company's 'Santa Claus Is A Black Man', Marc Burrows speaks to Akim about her father's work to empower and provide positive imagery for young black people in the US
A Quietus Interview
Water Of Life: A Liquid Cartography Of Edinburgh In Sound, Words & Images
Rob St John and Tommy Perman have created Water Of Life, a sound and visual art project devoted to the journey of water from the Scottish hills to and through the city of Edinburgh. Nicola Meighan interviews.
Books
How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? Speculative Fiction & Janelle Monae
In her essay - 'How Long 'Til Black Future Month? The Toxins of Speculative Fiction, and the Antidote that is Janelle Monáe' - from Adventure Rocketship! Let’s All Go To The Science Fiction Disco, NK Jemisin discusses racism in the genre (on its pages and elsewhere) and the artist as its unlikely saviour
Black Sky Thinking
Terror In The Terroir: Resisting The Rebranding Of The Countryside
Resisting ideological efforts to brand the countryside as a place of safe, reassuring conservativism, argues Joe Kennedy, a host of art and music in 2013 powerfully emphasised the uncanny and traumatic aspects of rural Britain. Photograph by Luke Turner.
A Quietus Interview
Let Me Be Your Phantasy: Erol Alkan Interviewed
Erol Alkan has had a busy 2013, building a home studio and releasing great albums from Daniel Avery and Connan Mockasin via Phantasy, as well as his own debut EP. He speaks to Luke Turner about the legacy of his old nightclub Trash, his label, and what makes him tick. Photo by Todd Hart.
Black Sky Thinking
A World Of Dreaded Fear: Revisiting Band Aid’s Lyrical Crime Scene
Band Aid raised awareness of a disastrous famine, as well as huge sums of money to try ease it but, one year ahead of its 30th anniversary, Wyndham Wallace begs us to condemn, not celebrate, a song whose lyrics are uglier than Rupert Murdoch’s ballsack
