Sandra Cross ‘The MMs Bar Recordings’ (Trunk, 2011)
As someone who writes about a lot of weird music, I can get desensitised to it. The soundtrack to an imaginary film about school dinners? Meh.
Richard Barratt ‘Testone’
Sweet Exorcist’s Richard Barratt – aka DJ Parrot/Crooked Man – recalls the making of 1990’s essential bleep techno cut, ‘Testone’, with Richard H Kirk
Thomas Fehlmann
Thomas Fehlmann recounts how The Orb managed a surprise return to the top of the UK charts… by way of a rejection from Jean-Michel Jarre
Carl Cox
Having recently released ‘Electronic Generations’, his first album in over 10 years, veteran producer and house/techno DJ Carl Cox digs deep into his formative influences
Halina Rice: Divine Rice
Producer Halina Rice creates immersive, audiovisual environments where music, art and technology intersect. Her second long-player, ‘Elision’, takes you on a deep journey into abstract soundscapes
Joe Meek: No Ordinary Joe
Hidden away for decades, Joe Meek’s near-mythical “tea chest tapes” have finally seen the light of day, revealing much about the working practices of the legendary producer responsible for The Tornados’ pioneering, electronically hued 1962 single, ‘Telstar’
Clare Grogan
‘Mascara Streakz’, the first Altered Images album for 39 years, is stuffed with delicious synthpop nuggets. Clare Grogan would like to thank her Tom Courtenay-inspired fitness regime, F Scott Fitzgerald and Nancy Pelosi
Janine Rainforth ‘Stretch’
Maximum Joy’s Janine Rainforth recalls the making of the Bristol post-punk band’s 1981 debut ‘Stretch’, a dub-inspired single which became a surprise hit on the dancefloors of NYC
UNITS ‘Digital Stimulation’ (415, 1980)
Generally speaking, listening to a self-aggrandising peer saying, “You like [influential band]? Well, you should really listen to [obscure band]” tends more towards an act of generosity and patience than an educational experience.
Showaddywaddy
A muggy night at London’s Kilburn National Ballroom in September 1987, and German industrial-meisters Einstürzende Neubauten are headlining. The support act? 1970s glam rock entertainers Showaddywaddy. As one press report aptly put it, “Say WADD?”