I recently stumbled across an incredible video on Instagram. It was of JJ Bull in front of a synth/keyboard, shades on, wearing an old Scotland training/travel top and singing in the style of LCD Soundsystem. I became completely transfixed and must have watched it a dozen times in an hour and sent it round family and friends. Watch below, read my musings and then read on for an interview with JJ Bull.Every time I watch this, I need to watch it another 2-3 times! Bull is on fire, living out…

Been awhile since I've listened to this one, but it's a great album. Their combination of very artificial-sounding electronic instruments and the real electric guitar is pretty unusual; I appreciate what a specific sound it gives it. In truth though, I first heard Ratatat via this mashup that combines it with the melody from Cheetahmen. It works surprisingly well! The original song is melody-less in the first place, so it's ripe for combining with something else with a stronger melody line.

Hauntological pioneers, Boards of Canada, brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin, have announced their new album, 'Inferno', will be released on 29th May on Warp Records. Following a teasing, month long, campaign involving anonymous VHS tapes, enigmatic posters and, last week, an actual new piece of music, 'Tape 05', today, the band released a short video announcement of their first album release since 'Tomorrow's Harvest', 13 years…

All One Song - “Boom Boom Boom” with Scott Bunn (Recliner Notes)The concept behind All One Song couldn’t be simpler: I’m spending the spring of 2026 talking to some great musicians, writers and artists about their favorite Neil Young song. Or at least one of them. But even if the concept is simple, one thing is for sure: these conversations go all over the place, kind of like a long Old Black solo on “Like Hurricane.” And that’s how it should be, right?Now, I’ve been contributing to Aquarium…

NYC-based post-punk outfit London Plane is known around these parts for their powerful live shows and skilled songwriting. Today, in advance of their third album due sometime this year, the band has released a killer cover of Bronski Beat’s 1984 hit “Smalltown Boy (A Refugee Song).” Former Interpol member Carlos Dengler produced the song and also contributed keys and additional guitar to it. “Smalltown Boy” is from their upcoming album, Villains Heroes Ghosts, which Dengler produced in its…

Best Record of 2001: Day 23 Good morning! Today we’re taking a look at Love and Theft by Bob Dylan as it faces off against Wu Tang Clan’s Iron Flag LP. Note: As many of you saw, I recently wrote about a Best Record of 2001 challenge and noted that I’d be writing some of these up. The plan is to do quick hits on each first-round matchup and post them directly to the page. Some will be longer, some won’t, and some might just be a handful of sentences. There’ll probably be a few typos. We’ll also…

Come Closer 2026, TOMORA My rating: I like it This is not the type of music I usually listen to, but if Aurora does something, I’m gonna give it a try. Pretty enjoyable from start to finish, I can see this being perfect for dancing in a club but I really like it as high-energy background music for doing stuff in the computer. Highlights are “A Boy Like You”, “Somewhere Else”, and the extremely catchy “Ring the Alarm”.

"Blinded By the Light" by Bruce Springsteen Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. Post a song you consider to be a musical masterpiece. - Blinded By the Light by Bruce Springsteen Little know fact - The Boss wrote this song in perfect iambic pentameter while seated at his kitchen table in Asbury Park, NJ in the early 70s with a paperback rhyming dictionary. BTW, the word is "deuce" not the other word. View Lou Plummer's Crucial Tracks profile

Hopefully I’ll get in scans from the usually music press such as NME/Melody maker in the future when i get back up to speed with the scanning, cheers! CMJ New Music Monthly (January 1998) APHEX TWINCome To Daddy – Warp/Sire DATALOG: Released Oct 28.FILE UNDER: High concept electronicaR.I.Y.L: Photek, Luke Vibert, Land Of The Loops It’s hard to imagine what Richard D. James, aka Aphex Twin, was thinking when he made his perversely goof new release Come to Daddy, “I want your soul/I will eat your…

There are many bad aspects to the modern day music consumption via streaming services. The artist payouts are ridiculous as we all know as well other extremely awful business decisions regarding advertisers and not paying out on streams with less than a thousand plays. Physical media is best but we all know this. Aside from these horrors, one aspect that is regrettably lost is the skill/risk of buying an album based purely on the artwork. Now if you hear about an artist you can go on Spotify or…

It's not a Songwriting Emergency. But I do just need one line- the punchline- fo a song that I started in Valencia. I'm going to take my head for a walk in a bit, and see if it bubbles up from my brain.

There’s something almost suspiciously calibrated about this album. Like a recipe written by someone who has cooked for so long that failure is no longer an option. Start with a base of distorted guitars. Not too dirty, not too clean. Just enough. Add a languid vocal line, almost disengaged, yet carrying that subtle inner tremor suggesting something underneath is quietly collapsing. Then: measured doses of melancholy, a hint of nostalgia, a controlled trace of emotional disintegration. EMOtive,…

The cover image for the album 'LIVE ROPE' by Swans. I'm listening to Swans' LIVE ROPE, a live album that I thought is released today. It is, on Mute in North America, but it was first released in 2024. I felt a tinge of shame because I didn't know that. On the other hand, release dates are trivial. Swans can be truly great. Some part of me, perhaps a younger part of me, still feels shame in listening to Swans. I recall there being shame and accusations thrown around Michael Gira, the foundation…

For the longest time, I assumed that the Juno line of synths were my favorite. Kind of hard to argue with, really. Insofar as sounds that I liked and used, I have owned at one point everything in the line, including the Roland SH-101, which I always include in there—it’s kind of the mono version. Loved it. Always broken. The only one that I’ve had that has never broken is the Roland Alpha Juno. Funny enough, I own AlphaJuno.com, have a dormant label called Alpha Juno Records. I love the name. I…

Frog “Je Ne Sais Pas” There’s an interesting tension here between Frog’s high level of songwriting craft and their gleeful disregard for careerism. On one hand, “Je Ne Sais Pas” sounds like it could be the demo of a lost early 80s Hall & Oates song. On the other, they’re opening the song by singing “I want to fuck / I want to sick your duck.” The track is lo-fi and feels artfully unfinished, as though you’re meant to sorta hear a more fleshed-out and polished version of it in your head while…

I like Shaman more than Supernatural. I love the way the last three songs just elevate the album.

Momentary Movements Of Landscapes is Finnish musician Juha Mäki-Patola’s third solo album, and his debut for 130701. Taking inspiration from artists such as William Basinski and former label mate, Ian William Craig, Mäki-Patola creates ambient atmospheres from treated loops of Prophet 10 synth and upright piano. Here, however, in with the reverb and echo, he’s added overdubs of violin, bass clarinet and vocals to help shape sonic allusions to imaginary scenery. The 12 relatively short tracks…

Ruth Garbus “I Think I’m Ready Now” • I clearly recall the first time I heard I heard “I Think I’m Ready Now.” Ruth Garbus was opening for Fievel Is Glauque at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, and I was immediately pulled in by the song’s “what the hell did she just sing?” opening line: “When I penetrated that man I felt just like a dog.” • The song is less lurid than you’d expect from that opener. Garbus’ language is vivid and memorable, contrasting vulgar and mundane imagery with a sort of…

"Desgraça" by Anitta Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. I was having some trouble getting started working today and I thought I would goof off find some music to focus with. Apple Music suggested this and I found it great to help me get in the groove. I'm happily working while the album is grooving in the background. View Mandaris's Crucial Tracks profile Listen to my Apple Music playlist

The purpose of this article is to document any digital bonus tracks that are exclusively found on the Aphex Twin webstore i.e. generally not found on a physical release (exceptions are noted). There are approximately 74 tracks listed here that are exclusive or partially exclusive to the webstore. Thanks to Rob for suggesting this article, cheers! Surfing On Sine Waves Clissold 101 [dat28 otari] 48K Originally uploaded to the user18081971 SoundCloud account under the title Chink 101. Clissold…

Words: Chris Arnsby Anthea Turner: “Hallo there! Welcome to another edition of Top of the Pops! On BBC1 and Radio 1 in FM stereo! We’ve got a really lively show for you tonight! That’s going to include Danni Minogue, Madonna, Monie Love, and we’re starting with The Wonder Stuff at six!” [6] THE WONDER STUFF: THE SIZE OF A COW. There’s an immediate difference to the look of the programme. Gone are the blue and purple lights and careful use of black spaces, instead the studio is lit with bright…

I like Jack White, but sometimes the man has been his own worst enemy. For instance, he “Fell In Love With a Girl,” and thought it was significant enough to warrant repeating multiple times and hiring Michel Gondry to depict it in Lego. But dude. Maybe we would’ve heard you the first time if you weren’t so loud. Turn down the volume on your guitar, ask your sisterwife to lay off the drums a bit, calm down, use your words, maybe stop affecting that weird pseudo-accent. At a certain point, our…

Television - The Theatre of Living Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 2, 1992We dealt with some vintage 1976 Television situations last week. So how about some slightly less vintage Television situations this week? Sixteen years later, the band was back on the boards, reuniting to record their sweet self-titled third LP and touring the world to wildly impassioned delight from the devoted. There are plenty of tapes from this era — but what we’re debuting here today is in the toppermost…

[2026]Boards Of Canada - Tape 05Gotta say sounds better than anything on the last record which was pretty disappointing. Tape 05 isn't so much the idyllic or even deliciously eerie Boards Of Canada sound it's more on the ominous tip and how about that harp? There's even a hint of a post-rock vibe here as well as an anthemic quality. I kinda don't even wanna contribute anything to the discourse because just shut up everyone, I hate all your dumb and boring opinions and speculations and theories.…

Via Ted Gioia: Deezer says 44% of songs uploaded to its platform daily are AI-generated When there’s no curation, no “taste makers,” no editorial discernment, this is what ya get! Most of us handed the aux jack to the computers, and now we’re here.

Ein fast brandneuer Track von ElCamino mit der Black Soprano Family, er heißt „Eating Steaks“ und kommt vom Album „BRUV“. Viel Spaß damit, hört rein! Bei Klick wird dieses Video von den YouTube Servern geladen. Details siehe Datenschutzerklärung.

Best Record of 2001: Day 22 Good morning! Today we’re taking a look at Satellite Rides by Old 97s as it squares off against the self-titled debut from The Knife. Note: As many of you saw, I recently wrote about a Best Record of 2001 challengeand noted that I’d be writing some of these up. The plan is to do quick hits on each first-round matchup and post them directly to the page. Some will be longer, some won’t, and some might just be a handful of sentences. There’ll probably be a few typos.…

"Because the Night" by Patti Smith Group Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. What is your favourite cover song? Because the Night by Patti Smith The man who wrote this song is the poet laureate of a generation as is Patti Smith. View Lou Plummer's Crucial Tracks profile

Today the nostalgia mode is activated — the radio started it. I’m so easily influenced by music! It’s strange to say, but I come from an era when playlists were made on cassettes, recorded from the radio or other CDs and cassettes. I made a dozen myself for my friends, and Adam’s Song playing this morning reminded me that it was a constant in those years. Enema of the State by Blink-182 was one of my favorite CDs in middle school. I still remember when a friend of mine lent it to me. At that…

Its shocking how bad the non-uber-famous songs are, ie everything except "Hey Ya.""The Way You Move" and "Roses" both became popular as well with the latter being quite enjoyable.