Features – Page 123 – Electronic Sound

7 minute read

Hardkiss At The 1995 Billboard Dance Music Summit

byKris Needs

When the distinguished American music trade mag hosted its Dance Music Summit in San Francisco in January 1995, little did they know that the stars of the show would be Hardkiss, an underground outfit who would inadvertently help lay the foundations of today’s EDM craze

LLandmarks

4 minute read

British Electric Foundation ‘Groove Thang’

byNeil Mason

You might know ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’ as a Heaven 17 song, but it started life as ‘Groove Thang’, an instrumental on BEF’s cassette-only debut, ‘Music For Stowaways’. Martyn Ware explains how the track liberated him from The Human League’s synth-only policy and helped him uncover a very rare talent

BBuried Treasure

3 minute read

‘Carrera’

byBen Willmott

It was overlooked when it came out in 1997. It remains overlooked now. But Sluts’n’Strings & 909’s ‘Carrera’ album is the musical equivalent of an enormous chest brimming with sparkly and glittery things

UUnder The Influence

5 minute read

Robin Guthrie

byNgaire Ruth

Robin Guthrie blazed trails as one third of the truly unique Cocteau Twins. Now he blows the doors off our regular feature where all he has to talk about are his influences. Still, what did we expect from a man whose music has always defied description?

BBuried Treasure

2 minute read

Morph ‘Stormwatch’

byFat Roland

It’s the 90s and New York techno duo Morph have slipped out their ‘Stormwatch’ album almost unnoticed. Very much time for a reassessment we think

LLong Reads

10 minute read

Units: In Punk We Trust

byDavid Stubbs

San Francisco, 1977. The punk explosion is peaking and Units are at the forefront of the vibrant and dramatic American West Coast scene. But these guys use synths not guitars. Throw in some weird and wonderful performance art concepts and you’ve got one of the most unique electronic bands ever. Units mainman Scott Ryser tells the tale

LLong Reads

7 minute read

20 Classic Planet Mu Releases

byCosmo Godfree

To mark two decades of the incomparable Planet Mu label, we revisit the best releases from each of their 20 years in business

LLong Reads

12 minute read

Planet Mu: Music Sounds Better With Mμ

byMat Smith

Start blowing up the birthday party balloons. Planet Mu is 20 years old. That’s 20 years as one of the most consistently innovative and interesting electronic music labels in the world. And Mike Paradinas, full-time company boss and sometime μ-ZIQ man, is celebrating in style. Well, he would be if he had the time

LLong Reads

10 minute read

Special Report Kraftwerk At The Tour De France

byJools Stone

Last month, Kraftwerk played ‘Tour De France’ live at the opening stage of the world’s most famous cycle race – the first time they’ve done so in the 30 years since the track was recorded. As their legion of fans find themselves asking about almost everything the band do, “What took them so flipping long?”

LLong Reads

8 minute read

Gwenno: Viva Cymru!

byBethan Cole

Gwenno hasn’t simply crafted a fantastic electro-pop album, one of the best you’ll hear all year. She’s crafted a fantastic electro-pop album on which every track is sung in Welsh (apart from the one that’s in Cornish)