Editor’s Note: The following review is part of our coverage of the 2021 South by Southwest Film Festival. Stay tuned for further reviews straight outta Austin — well, virtually, of course. Below, Rachel Reeves checks out Caroline Catz’ experimental documentary on electronic wunderkind Delia Derbyshire. The Pitch: In 1962, Delia Derbyshire began working at the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop. While many employees ended up being assigned to the department out of necessity, Derbyshire requested it. Fueled by her continual fascination with mathematics, music, sound, nature and the way they interact, Derbyshire was on a mission to create new and usual sounds. While best known for her contributions to the iconic Doctor Who theme song, it’s her hefty influence on the world of electronic musi...
It’s no secret that Latin pop and electronic music go together like wine and cheese. The two have lived in perfect harmony for years. However, unlike cheese, the ingredients of this unique marriage never spoil. In fact, like cheese’s boozy counterpart, the combination gets better with age. Cruz knows how to ferment the grapes of dance music’s vines to produce the finest wine. With an innovative approach to music production, the Grammy-winning artist has a profound ability to twist Latin pop and electronic music into his own unique blend. The proof is in the pudding: his global 2019 hit “Ya No Soy Asi,” a sultry collaboration with hotly-tipped singer-songwriter Thiago X, went viral on Spotify in 13 countries. Cruz’s latest crossover track, ̶...
Last year, the Canadian electronic artist Peaches released a handful of singles that marked her first new material since her 2015 album Rub. One of them was a particularly fervent protest song called “Flip This”, and now she’s back with an even more, uh, direct song titled “Pussy Mask”. The 54-year-old has never shied away from provocative imagery and explicit lyrical topics (some of her album titles are Fatherfucker and Impeach My Bush), but “Pussy Mask” still manages to shock with its over-the-top descriptions of moist genitalia. If that brief description made you squirm in your seat, I promise that it pails in comparison to Peaches’ graphic lyrics about the song’s namesake. What’s more, its accompany music video doesn’t leave anything to the imagination. It’s an animated visual tha...
Editor’s Note: Radiohead’s The King of Limbs came out on February 18th, 2011, to strong sales but mixed criticism. A decade later, our own Jordan Blum revisits the band’s eighth studio album and its gradual journey toward the heart of many fans. For more articles like these, check out our Are These Classics Yet? series. People have often said that Radiohead are the last great rock band. While that may be an unfair and hyperbolic assessment — especially since they frequently defy categorization — it’s certainly an understandable one. After all, no other group in the last 30 years have managed to fully sustain their integrity amidst achieving endlessly admirable evolutions and perpetually outstanding commercial and critical reception. In that sense, they’re like a modern-day Bea...
Kyle Meredith With… The Avalanches Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS The Avalanches grab some time with Kyle Meredith to dive into the creation of their new concept album, We Will Always Love You, which finds the sample masters teaming up with dozens of famous artists to create songs about the universe, mortality, and the afterlife. Together, Robbie Chater and Tony Diblasi discuss the importance of songwriting over sampling and working with Mick Jones. Later, we get a glimpse into what the upcoming tour will look like, which should find the two bringing back the art form of sampling live in front of the audience as they deconstruct songs and build them back up. Kyle Meredith With…&n...
In 2020, after a 30 year hiatus, Spaceman 3 co-founder Peter Kember revived his Sonic Boom moniker to share the album All Things Being Equal. Now he’s diving back into that world, announcing a new LP of ATBE remixes called Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough. To herald the April 23rd release date, Kember has shared the lead single, “On A Summer’s Day (Remix)”. Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough contains six reworked ATBE tracks, alongside two songs that had previously only been released in Japan: the title track and “Tick Tock”. According to a press release, Kember was inspired by Kraftwerk, Moroder, Blondie, and Eddy Grant to craft a sound both hypnotic and moody. Lyrically, he’s driven by age-old concerns about man’s inhumanity to our fellow man and the effects of techn...
Kyle Meredith With… 3OH!3 Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS 3OH!3 sit down with Kyle Meredith to detail their upcoming return-to-form record, NEED. Nate Motte and Sean Foreman explain how this new set speaks to their earlier songs, meeting fan expectations, and writing a sad anthem against the abundance of positive songs in pop music. The electronic duo also discuss maturing into middle age and how that finds its way into the music, the 00’s resurgence, and a teaser of the album’s special guests and upcoming 303 Day. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Meredith digs ...
The Lowdown: Six years after returning to the synthesizer for 2015’s Lost Themes, the Master of Horror is back for more with its second sequel: Lost Themes III: Alive After Death. Once again, John Carpenter is working alongside his son Cody Carpenter and his godson Daniel Davies, a collaboration that’s only grown stronger with time. “We understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, how to communicate without words, and the process is easier now than it was in the beginning,” Carpenter has stated in press releases leading up to its release, adding: “We’ve matured.” That growth is evident in all 10 tracks of his latest opus, and the tagline is thus: John Carpenter is back, and this time we’re ready. The Good: Synths and piano have forever been the easiest flexes for Carpenter. He didn’t ...
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. It feels significant that British producer Danny L Harle chose to file his latest banger, “On a Mountain”, under his DJ Danny alias. Because, let’s face it: DJs need a win right now. Yes, our favorite spinners have found ways to keep busy behind the scenes over the course of the pandemic. Harle, himself, aside from prepping his upcoming solo album, Harlecore, has remixed no less than Georgia and 100 gecs and produced for 2020 standouts Charli XCX and Rina Sawayama in addition to longtime collaborator Caroline Polachek. That’s damn-good work ...
Daft Punk have revealed Tron: Legacy — The Complete Edition, a 10th anniversary update of their only film soundtrack. The expanded reissue contains a total of nine bonus tracks, and you can stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. This comes on the heels of their September vinyl box set from Mondo, which notably included seven previously-unreleased songs: “Sea of Simulation”, “ENCOM, Part II”, “ENCOM, Part I”, “Round One”, “Castor”, and “Reflections”. That deluxe edition was only available on vinyl until this week, when it suddenly appeared on some streaming services for the first time. But it had changed over the last couple of months, acquiring an additional two bonus tracks (“Father and Sons” and “Outlands, Part II”, which were previously iTunes exclusives) as well as the fittin...