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...
Better than No Protection? Massive Attack’s Mezzanine Remix Tapes
Barcelona hot pot Subscribe now The one thing everyone can agree on when discussing late 1990s Massive attack is that no one, at the time, was agreeing on...
10 of the best jungle / hip hop crossovers
A very cosmic purple Subscribe now Jungle is often called the British hip hop, for fairly obvious cultural reasons. But actual crossovers between jungle and...
Todd Terry is the most underrated man in house music
Badalona is a very strange place In the long list of underrated house music pioneers, New York’s Todd Terry might be the most underrated of all. Terry’s...
Beyond Warhead: 10 reasons to love Krust, jungle’s most cerebral producer
Bugs under the floor Subscribe now From youthful pop star to life-coach consultant, Kirk Thompson aka (DJ) Krust, is one of the most fascinatingly free-...
Dimitri from Paris’ Sacrebleu - or French Touch versus French House
A dog, avoiding the cold, stylishly Subscribe now What is French Touch? Is it French house music built around filters and samples? Or is it music made by a...
Dave Clarke never lost his hardcore
Holmsbu, in Norway Dave Clarke was once famously described by DJ John Peel as “the baron of techno”, a nickname that has stuck with the British producer over...
The best records ever to wreck a genre part 3: Phuture’s Acid Tracks
The Emanuel Vigelands museum in Oslo really is something... Phuture’s Acid Tracks has the dubious honour of being the only song that both invented and killed...
The best records ever to wreck a genre part 2: Caspa and Rusko - FabricLive 37
Obituary fans smile for the camera, Sziget 2004 The iPod may have launched in 2001 but I think I first got my hands on one in 2007, as I remember Caspa and...