Long Reads

You won’t have heard of him before, but you will have heard his work. Jamie Harley is the sound engineer that everyone from Aphex Twin and Autechre to Fuck Buttons and Hot Chip turns to when they’re doing a live show. And if you ever need a room ringing out, Jamie is your man

Have you ever been to a live show and wondered where, as if by magic, the images and graphics and fancy lights come from? If you’ve seen Jon Hopkins or Blanck Mass this summer, you’ve been wowed by visual artist Dan Tombs

Superstar sonic boffin Amon Tobin has just performed his head-spinningly spectacular ‘ISAM’ live show for the very last time. Before he “takes it into the desert and burns it”, the revered master of sound and light talks about the genesis of the ‘ISAM’ concept and his unique approach to making electronic music an all-encompassing live experience

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

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

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

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?”

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)

Not content with delivering a thumpingly good new album, Asian Dub Foundation have also penned a superb live score for George Lucas’ dystopian sci-fi classic ‘THX 1138’. “Our default position is to do the opposite of what most bands do,” says ADF main man Steve “Chandrasonic” Savale. And then some

From the abandoned mills of Greater Manchester to the glass and steel at the heart of London, John Foxx has always found peace – and music – in urban landscapes. Looking back on his prophetic role in electronic music, Foxx discusses his upcoming release of archive material, his latest projects and collaborations, and his love of the driving force behind much of his work – the city