One of the brightest talents in UK dance music is getting used to bigger stages, thanks to her infectiously fun tracks that draw deeply from black cultural historyNights out are a culmination of so many stimuli: pre-party rituals, journeys through the …
‘No established disco would have played this music’: 30 years of legendary Berlin club Tresor
A new compilation surveys the enduring influence of a German landmark that fuelled a techno revolution from a damp, fungi-riddled bank vault on the old East sideFor electronic music fans, Berlin’s Tresor has long been considered the Valhalla of Germany…
Erasure review – a heady cocktail of corsets and classics
SEC Armadillo, GlasgowOn the opening night of their first post-pandemic tour, the British synth-pop duo proved they haven’t lost their essenceIt’s hard to tell if Andy Bell spent 18 months or 18 seconds pondering his outfit for the opening night of Era…
Richard H Kirk was prolific, hungry, angry and funky to the end
The Cabaret Voltaire musician exemplified Sheffield’s experimental mindset and transformed British club music• Richard H Kirk, founding member of Cabaret Voltaire, dies aged 65It’s fairly said that Richard H Kirk revolutionised music more than once. He…
María Mendiola obituary
One half of the disco duo Baccara who found fame with the 1977 hit Yes Sir, I Can BoogieThe mysterious power of pop music knows no bounds. After Scotland’s footballers beat Serbia in a penalty shoot-out in November 2020, thus qualifying for Euro 2020, …
Parklife festival review – proof that Manchester is still mad fer it
Heaton Park, ManchesterA young crowd – who could make even twentysomethings feel fossilised – gleefully accepted their city’s rave mantle, losing it to Megan Thee Stallion, Bicep and moreHosting 80,000 rain-resistant punters each day, Parklife festival…
‘A summer of love!’ Musicians on the awesome, tearful return of gigs
From Sleaford Mods in London to Mogwai in France, bands and performers talk about the strange and wonderful experience of returning to the stage after 16 months of deprivationThere were those few weeks of strange, haunted gigs in autumn 2020, but for m…
From Ghetts to Genesis, Nick Cave to Arlo Parks: autumn 2021’s essential music
From Fontaines DC to the Valkyrie, a techno Halloween to Little Simz, this is the unmissable music of the next few months Continue reading…
Manchester’s Space Afrika: ‘We’re totally ourselves – Black artists in the 21st century’
The duo’s groundbreaking music takes the mischievous appeal of their home city’s sound and adds a fresh dose of dark ambienceJoshua Inyang and Joshua Reid’s Space Afrika project is galactic in scope. When the duo started releasing music in 2014, they w…
Native Soul: Teenage Dreams | Ammar Kalia’s global album of the month
(Awesome Tapes From Africa)The teenage duo channel the newest mutation of their country’s house music, amapiano, coaxing us back to the shared space of the dancefloorHouse music, and the glorious tension between its on-beat and its syncopated elements,…