Long Reads

An essential new compilation of queer club classics featuring Pet Shop Boys, Sylvester, New Order, Grace Jones and more reflects the vibrant Hi-NRG scene of the 1980s and the associated tracks that set the decade alight

Experimental darkwave duo Marina Zispin conjure shadowy sonic realms teeming with glacial synthpop and spectral hues. Spellbinding stuff it is too

With nods to The Cure, Can, Björk and even Turkish rock, the latest offering from Welsh trio Adwaith fuses electronics, post-punk and psych to resounding effect

Kingsley Hall and Robbie Major are north-east duo Benefits. Combining poetic spoken word with slick retro beats, their second album seeks out beauty amid the “incessant barking” of the modern media landscape

Adi Newton (Clock DVA) and Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto) are electronic royalty. Steeped in “spectral dimensions and psychedelic radiophonics”, their second collaborative project as Soon is the sort of ambitious tour de force we’ve come to expect

Throughout their 20-year journey as CocoRosie, Bianca and Sierra Casady have been both revered and wilfully misunderstood. fully Embracing their “irrepressible artistic self-realisation”, they open up on creative freedom, sibling clashes and being “very witchy”

Shimmering synths, hazy ambience and a spot of “space trumpet”… Space Blanket make warm, cosmic sounds you’ll want to cosy up to

Surreal and enigmatic, San Francisco avant-garde collective The Residents have been redefining art with their radical output for over five decades. Blending operatic form with macabre humour, their new work is another experimental triumph

From Amon Düül II to Popol Vuh – essential krautrock gems to plug into

As Kraftwerk’s ‘Autobahn’ celebrates its big birthday, we examine its nuanced relationship with krautrock and Germany’s history