Vince Clarke is a songwriter and composer whose four-decade-long contribution to synthpop has defined the genre. Forming Depeche Mode in 1980 with schoolmate Andy Fletcher, Continue Reading
Music Dose
RUI HO Creates Ecstatic Electropop on 'Lov3 & L1ght'
Much of RUI HO’s music has been centered around the complexity of personal journeys forward through space and life. On earlier EPs Becoming Is an Continue Reading
'Alaska' Was Where Between the Buried and Me Clicked
Craft Recordings’ vinyl reissue series of Between the Buried and Me’s early discography continues apace with the band’s third album, 2005’s Alaska. This album started Continue Reading
Low Cut Connie Share Their 'Private Lives'
I clearly remember the first time I saw Low Cut Connie perform. I felt the way Jon Landau must have when he wrote, “I saw Continue Reading
Rachel Brooke Has "The Lovells Stockade Blues" (premiere)
Rachel Brooke’s The Loneliness in Me releases on 23 October, and serves as powerful reminder of the Michigan-based musician’s marriage of classic country music with Continue Reading
LA Rockers Swerve Make a Dark, Romantic "Escape" (premiere)
Los Angeles rock band Swerve’s latest track, “Escape” arrives ahead of a full-length album that will be released next year. Led by Gregory Mahdesian (vocals Continue Reading
Outsiders Inside the State in Rosi's 'Christ Stopped at Eboli'
Christ Stopped at Eboli (Cristo si è fermato a Eboli) tracks the journey of painter Carlo Levi (Gian Maria Volonté), who has been made a Continue Reading
'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Nudges Out Conscience in Our Time of Crises
Rivers are thick with pollution and forests leveled by fire, an autocratic dictator ignores the council of others, refugees are turned away at borders with Continue Reading
Cut Worms Keeps Mining the Past on 'Nobody Lives Here Anymore'
When I first heard Max Clarke, I was convinced he had Everly blood. The Brooklyn singer-songwriter, better known by his moniker Cut Worms, sings in Continue Reading
John Lennon: Revolutionary Man As Political Artist
In the late 1960s and early ’70s, John Lennon began to actively endorse a wide variety of progressive and radical political causes. He championed the Continue Reading
Future Islands Continue to Soar on 'As Long As You Are'
Listening to Future Islands is like stepping into a time machine. Their sound is awash in clean synths, pulsing, dancefloor-ready bass lines, and understated beats Continue Reading
The Doors Check Into the 'Morrison Hotel'
Trying to put the Doors in context of their times reveals the paradoxes of their music and career. On the one hand, the band were Continue Reading
John Lennon 101: The Solo Discography
Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins (with Yoko Ono) (1968) You’re here because you need relief. You’ve read the careful praise, the critics striving to do Continue Reading
Elliott Park's Joyful Family Ride "To the Moon and Back" (premiere)
Singer-songwriter-father Elliott Park‘s forthcoming family-focused record Songs With My Daughters, out digitally 16 October, is an imaginative and lovely collection. Park recruited his daughters Anna Continue Reading
Heathen's Queer Feminist Vikings Are the Heroines Pop Culture Needed
The world of pop culture is awash in Vikings these days. From streaming television shows to manga, those nefarious Norse are back in vogue. But Continue Reading
Lyrah Returns With The Dreamy New “Slow Down”
Slow Down is the first new single from Lyrah since ‘The View’ and accompanying video, which we also discussed earlier this year. Written a couple Continue Reading
Touché Amoré's 'Lament' Subtly Reinvents the Past
Genre aside, Touché Amoré’s fifth studio album, Lament, couldn’t be better timed. The Los Angeles band’s approach to post-hardcore feels very mid-to-late 2000s when screamo Continue Reading
Eddie Van Halen Inspired a Generation of Guitar Dreamers
From the ages of 13 to 18, every square inch of my bedroom walls were wallpapered with posters and pictures, clipped from rock fanzines like Continue Reading
Rick Shea Walks Us Through Perilous Times With "The World's Gone Crazy" (premiere)
Rick Shea’s new album, Love & Desperation, arrives on 23 October via Tres Pescadores Records. The album finds the studio and stage veteran in fine Continue Reading
Thornato and Paulina Sotomayor Celebrate Independent Women on "La Niña Grande" (premiere)
The four-on-the-floor beats that open “La Niña Grande”, the new single from Thornato featuring Paulina of Mexico City electronic duo Sotomayor, set the tone for Continue Reading