10 songs to know MK - Part one
There was a time, roughly 10 years ago, when half the songs in the UK’s pop chart sounded like the work of Marc “MK” Kinchen, after the Detroit producer’s...
Fine margins of genius: a Photek interview - part two
This is part two of my interview with Photek (aka Rupert Parkes), from 2019. You can read part one here. The interview first went out in October 2019, around...
Fine margins of genius: A Photek interview - part one
I’ve been thinking about how to cover Photek on this newsletter for a while. Rupert Parkes is one of my favourite artists, a producer of seemingly limitless...
A temperate sway: why Mood II Swing are house royalty
In a world of musical flash and blabber, Mood II Swing are the perfectly greased cog that keeps everything moving: not eye-catching, fashionable or...
4-Hero are jungle legends: part two of two
This is part two of my homage to 4-Hero. Part one can be read here. Last time out, we got to Parallel Universe, in 1994. After Parallel Universe, there...
4-Hero are jungle legends: part one of two
Not many musicians can claim to have been at the heart of a new style of music, still fewer to be integral to two; and basically only 4-Hero can say they...
Green Velvet: bad for the soul, good for the heart
There comes a time in most clubbers’ lives, typically about a couple of months into the nightlife honeymoon, when you realise that there is a dark, surreal...
A salute to Salute and their pop house True Magic
You know what kind of music no one makes any more? Pop house. By which I mean, obviously hundreds of thousands of producers make pop house but no one likes...
Some overlooked records from the first half of 2024
And so the first half of 2024 finishes and we drag our weary carcasses into the second half of the year. To celebrate, I wanted to look back on some of the...
30 years on: the secret history of Basement Jaxx and underground house
Basement Jaxx are one of the most misunderstood acts in the history of house music. in 2024 they are probably best known known for their bells, whistles and...
Young, dumb and full of drums: Lessons learned from Sónar 2024
ASIANDOPEBOYS were really something The more percussion, the merrier Back in the 1990s, when I first started going to clubs, the idea of DJ + percussionist...
Legends, locals and dance locura - a Sónar 2024 preview
The Hospital de Sant Joan Baptista in Sitges Just two weeks after Primavera Sound shredded my soul - in a good way, I think - it’s back to the festivals for...
Peggy Gou’s I Hear You: not under; not over…. just… ground?
To the left, that’s me in action at Primavera sound, alongside Johann Wald. Picture by Cecilia Díaz Betz As one of the first electronic music genres to...
Nico in Manchester is my favourite of all Nicos
Why does this make me think of Nico? Musical biographies tend to divide into two categories: those who view the central character as some kind of unvarnished...
The Line Noise guide to the electronic music of Primavera 2024
Obituary fans at the Sziget festival. Primavera Sound kicks off next week, which means a whole load of work (largely in the form of interviews) for me. If...
It’s-It: The Sugarcubes sweetest treat or how Björk re-invented herself in dance
A piece of cake Björk is many and Björk is multitude and I love all of those different Björks. But if there is one Björk I love more than all the others it...
Le Tone was French Touch’s arse between two seats
Le Tone relaxes: photo credit Etienne Jeanneret When you make a guess as to where an underground electronic music producer you have loved since the late 90s...
Mystical solace: Broadcast’s Spell Blanket reviewed
A Broadcast T-shirt haunts my house Broadcast were one of the last great musical mysteries, a band that came to light before social media hit, from...
Happy 20th birthday poptimism UK. Girls Aloud and poptimism UK
Nature is flowering in Barcelona spring While American journalists tie themselves up in knots about the whys and wherefors of poptimism, in the UK the...
Dillinja is a jungle king
Oslo's capitalist paradise “There are only really two kings in this music: Dillinja and Calibre. Everything in between is us.” So spoke Goldie in Drum & Bass...
