Support The Quietus
Our journalism is funded by our readers. Become a subscriber today to help champion our writing, plus enjoy bonus essays, podcasts, playlists and music downloads.
10 reccomended entry points into an artist’s back catalogue
From demon-riffing drone-lords Bong to gruelling, piledriver punks Drunk In Hell, power trident-pronged psych outfit Blown Out, experimental soundtracking with Artifacts & Uranium, the atomic noise rock of Melting Hand and the crushing cosmic doom of 11Paranoias, plus a plethora of collaborations with luminaries from the Japanese psych underground, Mike Vest’s discography over the last decade is as dizzying as it gets. Ryan Walker attempts to deliver a guide to the 10 best points of entry
On the release of a new compilation of Lou Reed’s 1960s compositions at Pickwick Records, Wayne Gooderham surveys the sprawling solo career that was to come later, and picks out ten key tracks that serve as guides to an intimidating post-Velvets discography
From making groundbreaking electro to working with Whitney Houston via boozy sessions with Motörhead, plus avant explorations of thrash, drum & bass, grindcore, gnawa and disco, Bill Laswell has been on more great records than you've had hot dinners. Zachary Lipez offers ten points of entry to his bewilderingly vast back catalogue
Despite the predictably & performatively negative reaction the Japanese artist inspires in some critical quarters, it is clear she has been responsible for a cavalcade of bangers over the decades. With a new retrospective at the Tate Modern, Jeremy Allen explores her back catalogue
Jakub Knera speaks to Luis Alvarado, founder of essential Peruvian label Buh Records, and offers a beginners guide to their vast discography that takes in the country's rich musical traditions, avant-garde greats both old and new, unreleased gems from wider Latin America and more
Forty years on from their formation, The La’s remain misunderstood due to a flawed studio album. Will Ainsley suggests that it’s in the group’s extensive network of alternate takes, demo recordings, live sessions, and ‘lost’ tracks, though, that their timeless quality can be best appreciated
As they prepare to release their eighth album, Love’s Holiday, and ahead of an appearance at Supersonic Festival, Eugene Robinson and Niko Wenner from Oxbow talk to Greg Hyde about the band's impressive discography. Feature contains discussion of suicidal ideation
From the forging of psychedelic dub as multi-cultural resistance and embracing Afro-Futurist emancipation to inadvertently producing one of the most profound sonic antidotes to cultural imperialism released this decade, Adrian Sherwood and Bonjo offer Jim Osman ten points of entry into their huge back catalogue
Chris Watson is the Sibelius of the tape recorder. Ahead of his appearance with Felicia Atkinson at Kings Place next month, Luke Turner speaks to him about twelve key points in his career from early tape experiments to recording at Chernobyl, via a founding stint in Cabaret Voltaire
Jeremy Allen talks to the Einstürzende Neubauten mainstay about early forays into electronic and industrial as well as drunken country and western plus an album inspired by the joys of Blackpool. All photographs courtesy Alexander Hacke
Miranda Remington gives us ten points of entry into the bewildering back catalogue of 'The Man From The East', Stomu Yamash'ta, a Japanese percussion prodigy who weaved together the classical with the underground; science fiction with Buddhism