Reviews
Opinionated and informative criticism of all the music that counts
Previous Album of the Week
Our favourite LP of the moment
Album of the Week
Baroque and Roll: Halt by Foetus
After 45 years, JG Thirlwell has decided to bring his ever-evolving Foetus project to a close with an album that reflects on the past, while casting an uneasy eye on the present. Wesley Doyle waves goodbye
Album of the Week
Wrigglies Extra: Unite The Worms by Golden Toad
Japanese Television's Al Brown eagerly licks the toxins off the back of a Sonoran desert toad and sinks into a bottomless funk of motorik rhythms, twisting basslines and Balearic guitars resulting in an album of slithery bedroom electro-psych well-suited to the late, winter months
Album of the Week
Wrigglies Extra: Unite The Worms by Golden Toad
Japanese Television's Al Brown eagerly licks the toxins off the back of a Sonoran desert toad and sinks into a bottomless funk of motorik rhythms, twisting basslines and Balearic guitars resulting in an album of slithery bedroom electro-psych well-suited to the late, winter months
Previous Reissue of the Week
Genuine treasures unearthed
Reissue of the Week
Covers Album of the week: Xiu Xiu’s Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1
Richard Foster peels back the multiple layers of this collection of heavenly covers belted out as if at a karaoke bar in Hell
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Subscribe NowMetal
A fearless trawl through the realms of extreme and experimental metal
Metal
Columnus Metallicus: Heavy Metal for July Reviewed by Kez Whelan
Kez Whelan delivers his latest guide to the best in heavy music, featuring killer new records from Deadguy, Psudoku, Sodom and many more
Metal
Columnus Metallicus: Heavy Metal for May Reviewed by Kez Whelan
In his latest guide to the best in metal, Kez Whelan celebrates a return to form from Deafhaven, a career-highlight from Conan, the nebulous world of heavy metal supergroups, and reviews a host of essential new releases
Metal
Columnus Metallicus: Heavy Metal for March Reviewed by Kez Whelan
Having failed to secure tickets for the big Black Sabbath farewell this summer, Kez Whelan wonders whether missing out might be for the best. He also reviews the latest from Intensive Care x The Body, The Overmold, Abduction and many more
Metal
Columnus Metallicus: Heavy Metal for March Reviewed by Kez Whelan
Having failed to secure tickets for the big Black Sabbath farewell this summer, Kez Whelan wonders whether missing out might be for the best. He also reviews the latest from Intensive Care x The Body, The Overmold, Abduction and many more
Psych Rock
A guide to the far-out sounds of psych and noise rock
Psych Rock
Columnfortably Numb: Psych Rock For October By JR Moores
Before he gets to grip with the latest psych and noise rock releases, JR Moores has a brilliantly bleak brainwave
Punk
The best of punk and hardcore (and oi, and crust, and squat grind)
Punk
Straight Hedge! Noel Gardner Reviews Punk & Hardcore for October
Noel G is back again to blast away Autumnal blues with "wicked sick stick-thin machinified aquatic death rock", Iranian diaspora HC, the grotty AF Brainbombs and Eva Leblanc's Traidora (featured in the main portrait)
Rum Music
Casting the net for undefineable sounds
Rum Music
Rum Music for September Reviewed by Jennifer Lucy Allan
Jennifer Lucy Allan returns with another batch of rum music, reviewing an essential new compilation of Amy Sheffer, posthumous releases from Mika Vainio (as Ø) and Amelia Cuni, the return of Surface Of The Earth, the first recording of legendary Ugandan vocalist John Katokye, and much more
Rum Music
Rum Music for August Reviewed by Jennifer Lucy Allan
From cross-century kantele duets to roaring cellos, bagpipe drones and an essential artefact from the 1980s Hungarian underground, Jennifer Lucy Allan returns with your latest Rum Music roundup
Rum Music
Rum Music for September Reviewed by Jennifer Lucy Allan
Jennifer Lucy Allan returns with another batch of rum music, reviewing an essential new compilation of Amy Sheffer, posthumous releases from Mika Vainio (as Ø) and Amelia Cuni, the return of Surface Of The Earth, the first recording of legendary Ugandan vocalist John Katokye, and much more
Cassettes
Spooling through the world's best tapes
Cassettes
Spool’s Out: Cassette Reviews for November by Daryl Worthington
From radical dance music to triumphant, intricately layered synth pop and a levitating collaboration between a Ugandan embaire ensemble and a Japanese dub producer, Daryl Worthington finds rays of joy on cassette to blast away the impending winter entropy this November
Cassettes
Spool’s Out: Cassette Reviews for September by Daryl Worthington
From gnome-inspired computer music to dancing incandescent lightbulbs, dungeon synth soundtracks for imagined RPGs and apocalyptic drum solos, Daryl Worthington dives into early-Autumn’s cassette releases
Cassettes
Spool’s Out: Cassette Reviews for July by Daryl Worthington
From improvisations that capture the archaeology of the internet to werewolf inspired black metal played with Cajun instruments, roaming synths, sidewinding freakouts and clipped nails, Daryl Worthington dives into the latest cassette releases
Cassettes
Spool’s Out: Cassette Reviews for November by Daryl Worthington
From radical dance music to triumphant, intricately layered synth pop and a levitating collaboration between a Ugandan embaire ensemble and a Japanese dub producer, Daryl Worthington finds rays of joy on cassette to blast away the impending winter entropy this November
Cassettes
Spool’s Out: Cassette Reviews for July by Daryl Worthington
From improvisations that capture the archaeology of the internet to werewolf inspired black metal played with Cajun instruments, roaming synths, sidewinding freakouts and clipped nails, Daryl Worthington dives into the latest cassette releases
New Weird Britain
Transmissions from the thriving British underground
New Weird Britain
New Weird Britain in Review for November by Noel Gardner
From weighty out-jazz poetry to a dream pop / post rock wormhole, via mutating synth grids, a record fuelled by hatred of the ‘the music industry’ and more – it can only be Noel Gardner’s latest guide to the best of New Weird Britain
New Weird Britain
New Weird Britain in Review for September by Noel Gardner
Noel Gardner's guide to the greatest in the British underground returns, with vaporous synths, leftfield new age bubblers, avowedly fuck-off noise music and more
New Weird Britain
New Weird Britain in Review for November by Noel Gardner
From weighty out-jazz poetry to a dream pop / post rock wormhole, via mutating synth grids, a record fuelled by hatred of the ‘the music industry’ and more – it can only be Noel Gardner’s latest guide to the best of New Weird Britain
Electronic
The best club culture brought to your device
Electronic
Hyperspecific: Electronic Music for October Reviewed by Jaša Bužinel
Jaša Bužinel reflects on the importance of outside recognition and the influence of industry-fed dogmas on the success of aspiring artists, and reviews releases covering devilish UKG, Swedish minimal tech, bubbly deep house from Japan and more
Electronic
Hyperspecific: The Best Dance Tracks from Summer 2025, Reviewed by Jaša Bužinel
As autumn approaches, tQ's electronic music columnist Jaša Bužinel compiles the tunes that have had the greatest impact on this summer's festival dancefloors, from progressive bangers to nostalgia triggers
Electronic
Hyperspecific: Electronic Music for June Reviewed by Jaša Bužinel
This month’s edition of our dance music column brings a surprise six-hour marathon set from Italian techno legend Donato Dozzy and plenty of dancefloor goodies, from “bard tech” and new gen Italo house to re-touched French Touch and cerebral IDM techno
Electronic
Hyperspecific: Electronic Music for May Reviewed by Jaša Bužinel
Our dance music editor wonders whether club culture has lost its potential for providing radically transformative experiences, and reviews a new batch of cutting-edge releases, including trailblazing Bangladeshi dub and jungle mutations, UK techno epics, spectral dub techno, neo-devotional music from Egypt and a cult PS1 soundtrack.
Electronic
Hyperspecific: Electronic Music for October Reviewed by Jaša Bužinel
Jaša Bužinel reflects on the importance of outside recognition and the influence of industry-fed dogmas on the success of aspiring artists, and reviews releases covering devilish UKG, Swedish minimal tech, bubbly deep house from Japan and more
Electronic
Hyperspecific: Electronic Music for June Reviewed by Jaša Bužinel
This month’s edition of our dance music column brings a surprise six-hour marathon set from Italian techno legend Donato Dozzy and plenty of dancefloor goodies, from “bard tech” and new gen Italo house to re-touched French Touch and cerebral IDM techno
Electronic
Hyperspecific: Electronic Music for May Reviewed by Jaša Bužinel
Our dance music editor wonders whether club culture has lost its potential for providing radically transformative experiences, and reviews a new batch of cutting-edge releases, including trailblazing Bangladeshi dub and jungle mutations, UK techno epics, spectral dub techno, neo-devotional music from Egypt and a cult PS1 soundtrack.
The Quietus International
Our favourite music, country-by-country
The Quietus International
DIY Against the Oligarchy: Underground Music in Tbilisi, by Nick Hudson
Nick Hudson reports from Georgia with his guide to the gripping, eclectic and unpredictable music currently being produced in the Tbilisi underground, and how the city's musical communities are stepping up in the face of significant repression
The Quietus International
North American Music: tQ in New York City, by Maxelle Talena
New York isn’t dead, says Maxelle Talena in the latest of tQ’s dispatches from the North American underground. It’s being killed. From jumpstyle to hardcore punk, from hip hop to garage rock (for those who can’t afford a garage), she introduces five key artists keeping the flame alive
The Quietus International
Rockfort! French Music for September, Reviewed by David McKenna
In his latest French music round-up, David McKenna looks at what the French mean by ‘electro’ and delves into new releases from a multi-faceted Franco-Senegalese artist, guitar-and-damaged-turntable improv and more
The Quietus International
North American Music: tQ in The Twin Cities, by Natalie Marlin
In the first edition of a new series exploring underground and left-field music from North America, Natalie Marlin delivers an insider's guide to the frantic, uninhibited and queer-driven energy of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul underground, and picks out five essential new releases from the cities' most exciting artists
The Quietus International
DIY Against the Oligarchy: Underground Music in Tbilisi, by Nick Hudson
Nick Hudson reports from Georgia with his guide to the gripping, eclectic and unpredictable music currently being produced in the Tbilisi underground, and how the city's musical communities are stepping up in the face of significant repression
The Quietus International
North American Music: tQ in New York City, by Maxelle Talena
New York isn’t dead, says Maxelle Talena in the latest of tQ’s dispatches from the North American underground. It’s being killed. From jumpstyle to hardcore punk, from hip hop to garage rock (for those who can’t afford a garage), she introduces five key artists keeping the flame alive
The Quietus International
Rockfort! French Music for September, Reviewed by David McKenna
In his latest French music round-up, David McKenna looks at what the French mean by ‘electro’ and delves into new releases from a multi-faceted Franco-Senegalese artist, guitar-and-damaged-turntable improv and more
The Quietus International
North American Music: tQ in The Twin Cities, by Natalie Marlin
In the first edition of a new series exploring underground and left-field music from North America, Natalie Marlin delivers an insider's guide to the frantic, uninhibited and queer-driven energy of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul underground, and picks out five essential new releases from the cities' most exciting artists
Live Reviews
From pubs to festivals to arenas, out and about with tQ
Live Reviews
A Long Drink of the Best Water: Highlights from 2025’s Le Guess Who?
Richard Foster reports back from another stellar edition of the Utrecht Festival, where he finds equal space for spiritual nourishment gibbering wig-outs, courtesy of Valentina Magaletti, upsammy, EarthBall, The Fiery Furnaces and many more
Live Reviews
A Long Drink of the Best Water: Highlights from 2025’s Le Guess Who?
Richard Foster reports back from another stellar edition of the Utrecht Festival, where he finds equal space for spiritual nourishment gibbering wig-outs, courtesy of Valentina Magaletti, upsammy, EarthBall, The Fiery Furnaces and many more
Track-by-Track
Albums dissected, the granular detail revealed
Track-by-Track
Arcade Fire’s Everything Now Reviewed Track By Track
Anna Wood delves into Arcade Fire's fifth long player in order to bring us a track by track breakdown. But is Everything Now something or nothing
