Wolfgang Flür: on joy, Kraftwerk, Daft Punk, Times and more
Wolfgang Flür in 2025 is everything that Kraftwerk, his former band, are not: friendly, communicative and shot through with a vivid sense of humour. He’s...
Who killed 2-Step? MJ Cole and UKG’s second album syndrome
UK Garage was, at least for a few months in 2000, a far bigger deal in the British charts than jungle had ever been. But UKG never really had the same global...
The bread in a Bruce sandwich
I wasn’t initially planing to write about Bruce. I had interviewed him for the Line Noise podcast and I thought that would be that. The more I thought about...
Yello: musique concrète, sampling and (not) the Alpine Kraftwerk
Swiss electronic band Yello are the answer to a question not often posed, namely: what would Kraftwerk be like with a moustachioed bon viveur on vocals and a...
Chrystabell on David Lynch
Last year I interviewed American singer Chrystabell ahead of the release of Cellophane Memories, her third album in collaboration with David Lynch. After the...
Let’s dance? David Bowie’s diverse history with electronic music
January 2025 marks the ninth anniversary of the Line Noise podcast and also the ninth anniversary of David Bowie’s death, two things which always come...
Why don’t more rock bands make 2-Step? aka The Beta Band appreciation post
Guitar music wasn’t up to much in the year 2000. The comprehensive kickstart that The Strokes eventually brought wouldn’t arrive until the release of their...
10 records that prove 2024 was even better than you thought
There were lots of fantastic records released in 2024 and I got to write about many of them, an opportunity for which I am eternally grateful. Sometimes,...
The 10 biggest Line Noise posts + podcasts of 2024 (and the reaction to them)
As 2024 rolls wearily to an end, I thought I would take the opportunity to look back over the 10 most popular Line Noise Substack pieces and the 10 most...
Nexus 21 - from Stafford to Altern-8, via Detroit
On December 12 2024 Mind Machines, the second album by British techno duo Nexus 21 - aka Mark Archer and Chris Peat - was finally released, some 33 years...
Music From The Merch Desk - a true reflection of Aphex’s chaotic genius
AKA striking the Aphex anvil while it’s good and hot Music From The Merch Desk (2016-2023) is by no means the best Aphex Twin album. It’s not even close. But...
Xylitol’s Anemones is the Line Noise album of the year
I’ve been watching the new (ish) version of Nick Hornby’s record-shop romedy High Fidelity this month and it has reminded me how much I love lists. Which,...
For Loidis’ sake let 2025 be maximal
It's not like 2024 has been without its share of bad news. But, amid the ongoing shower of political / environmental / imperial shit, one piece of musical...
10 tracks that prove hip house didn’t die in 1988
Hip house is the musical genre that dares not say its name, a flash-in-the-pan sensation at the end of the 1980s, when hip hop and house were briefly getting...
Heartless Crew: where Garage met grime and got on outrageously
Plus Blawan, Sónar 2025 and more In the early 2000s one of the reasons that many Americans (especially but not uniquely) had such a hard time getting their...
Weird 90s - Summers Magic / Kyiv’s resistance
Hello! There’s a good chance this mammoth email is longer than your email app allows. If that is the case, click “View Entire Message” to read the whole...
Sabres of Paradise’s Haunted Dancehall: Weatherall’s unearthly masterpiece
When Andrew Weatherall died in February 2020, most obituaries made more of his status as a DJ and remixer than his work as a producer of original music. And...
On Jeff Mills, Tomorrow Comes The Harvest and musical freedom
I’ve always seen electronic music as representing a kind of freedom. On the one hand, there is the musical freedom that comes from using instruments like...
DJ Mehdi: a misunderstood artist comes into focus
One of the few things generally known about DJ Mehdi - the French producer whose renown has only increased since his tragic death in 2011 - is that he...
A tribute to Cassius, the good-time boys of the French Touch
If Daft Punk were the innovators of the French Touch and Air the dreamers, then Cassius were the good-time boys, their songs full of uncomplicated fun, house...
