Long Reads

It was one of the first electronic records to hit the charts all over the world. It launched the space disco genre and laid down a marker for synthpop. The story of Space and ‘Magic Fly’ is quite a tale too. take your protein pills and put your helmet on

On the eve of their very last live show and with a mega 10-cd boxset in the shops, the one and only Dave Ball, Soft Cell’s other half, pulls up a pew and tells us a few tales from along the way…

They’ve patched up their differenceS (again) and turned in a banger of a new album (as always) for which they enlisted the help of some morris dancers and Professor Brian Cox (like you do). You need to ask who? It can only be the brothers Hartnoll and the unstoppable Orbital

They refer to themselves as “three mute girls”, but Haiku Salut are very happy to talk about their superb new album and their unusual live shows, which have taken place in churches, libraries and even the deep end of a swimming pool

He toured with The Kinks when he was two weeks old. He spent his teenage years with John Carpenter’s family. He’s played with Lemmy and he has a huge collection of synthesisers. Welcome to the world of Daniel Davies

Space disco? check. Space funk? check. Space rock and space jazz? check and check. but let’s also not forget all manner of electronica, pop, ambient, dark ambient, electro, techno, exotica, psych, hip hop, post-punk, post-rock, and a lot more besides. we’re talking kosmische musik in its full glory here…

“Lester Bangs told us that when Kraftwerk were in New York, they were in his apartment and he said, ‘This has just come out, now hear this!’. They were so blown away they took Lester’s copy… they just took his record!” – Martin Rev

“At that point, the city was a shithole, but perfect for the punk scene. The anger and frustration was palpable” – Jerry Casale

Their live show is something else. you won’t forget it in a hurry. Squalling electronics and psychedelic visuals are key weapons in their armoury. Meet East London duo Sculpture

Guildford is perhaps not quite where you would expect to find a groundbreaking open access project stuffed to the gills with gobsmacking high-end Moog gear. but Guildford is where you’ll find the Moog Sound Lab. Step this way and feel free to touch that dial