Long Reads

When lockdown drudgery stalled Bonobo’s creative process, inspiration for his new album ‘Fragments’ came in the shape of modular synths, sweeping strings, vocals galore and, well, a bagpipe choir

A spectrogram-powered Russian synth, Tibetan drums made of human skulls, and the world’s largest cowbell are just some of the weird instruments that feature on the new album from Helsinki’s Pepe Deluxé. We lift the lid on their box of delights 

Take legendary producer Tony Visconti, Bowie-obsessed academic Dr Leah Kardos, and a car boot stuffed full of Stylophones. The result? The Kingston University Stylophone Orchestra and an album bursting with buzzy delights 

Crammed Discs’ avant-garde ‘Made To Measure’ series has recently reactivated to serve up reissued classics as well as new releases. We meet Crammed boss Marc Hollander and some of the Belgian label’s always idiosyncratic artists 

His score for the TV series ‘The North Water’ is a high point in an already impressive career. Canadian ambient maestro Tim Hecker extols the joys of the cello, outlines the perils of the soundtrack composer, and explains why he prefers to make music in the winter

First meeting in Dublin during the 1980s, Microdisney’s Cathal Coughlan and uber-producer Jacknife Lee have recently reconnected. Working via a musical trans-Atlantic hook-up their new album as Telefís is a real cracker

On ‘Shout Out! To Freedom…’, the latest musical adventure from Nightmares On Wax, George Evelyn explores the human spirit’s need for liberty. The process led to deep conversations with both others and himself 

Chopping, slicing, cutting and pasting – in both the digital and the analogue worlds – Mira Calix immersed herself in the history of collage for her album, ‘Absent Origin’

Don’t be fooled, ‘Music For Psychedelic Therapy’ isn’t Jon Hopkins going all wallpaper ambient on us. It’s a weighty album he says needs to be listened to loud. We turn up the volume