Nihilism permeated the fresh mountain air at Vancouver’s New Forms Festival, which capped its 20th year at the end of September. Those who came to Beautiful British Columbia, as the province’s license plates self-proclaim, expecting the breezy grooves of lo-fi house that briefly christened this coast the Canadian Riviera in the mid-2010s would leave disappointed.
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Review: Eris Drew – Fluids of Emotion
It’s a rare thing for music to form over decades, but for Eris Drew it was a necessity. A quarter of a century ago, on a foggy Chicago morning, Drew and a friend were driving back from an acid-tinged party when they both noticed the car’s air conditioner producing mesmeric rhythms. The Motherbeat, as they
Live review: Horst Festival
‘Fallen empires and refound desires’ was the theme of this year’s edition of Horst Arts & Music Festival, its first at the ex-military ASIAT site in Vilvoorde. Embracing the attitude from previous years, the abandoned nature of the site served as a symbol of the archaic power structures that the Horst team want to independently
Live Review: Nils Frahm at Printworks
On Friday, more than a thousand Londoners made a pilgrimage to the cavernous halls of Printworks, not for an 8-hour techno marathon or drum & bass soundclash—the kind of night on which it stokes its reputation—but for a night of contemplation. To open a bank holiday programme of dance music’s finest, The Hydra were bringing Nils
Album Review: Anthony Naples – Fog FM
Since a vaunted, Four Tet-fostered debut ‘Mad Disrespect’ seven years ago, Anthony Naples has been on a steady, powerful ascent to the premier of American house and techno. Youth spent in Miami’s iconic bass scene and teeth cut in New York’s heady club culture have crafted an oeuvre, and sound, in clear relief. It seems
Live Review: Junction 2
Year after year, we as rave mongering Londoners flood to the local greenery to gun lagers, sloink doinks and wrap our pretty little heads around what is arguably some of the more carefully curated, pulse-raising festival programming in Europe. Junction 2 might not be considered a big daddy in 2019 yet, but it’s doing something
Review: Cosmin TRG – SPORTIV005
Romanian genre-spanning Cosmin TRG adds to his Sportiv label with an accomplished and playful release. In February, Berlin-based producer Cosmin Nicolae released ‘I Hope This Finds You Well’ under his Cosmin TRG moniker. An ambient album poking fun at monolithic corporate culture, it’s a far cry from his dubstep roots and, later, the brooding techno he
Review: Special Request – ‘Vortex’
Paul Woolford, who performs under his rave and jungle-inspired alias Special Request, is prodigious. Drawing on his extensive back catalog of ‘2300-ish tracks stretching back 15 years’, his 2017 release Belief System ran to more than 100 minutes. This time around, he’s opted for a more digestible format, releasing four shorter albums on Houndstooth. The
Don’t Miss: March 2019
Don’t Miss lists our picks for the peachiest of UK parties. This month we have an International Women’s Day special at Manchester’s White Hotel, Midlands 5 week residency at Phonox, a new club launch in Glasgow and a Brexit rave in Belfast. Check out the Don’t Miss selections below: Belfast: 02.03 Twitch presents: Kornel
Live Review: Feelings Xmas Rave at FOLD
The demise of London nightlife has been the topic of discussion for a while now but there are pockets of success cropping up all over the city that tell a very different story. Opening earlier this year, East London venue FOLD has been consistently pulling together some of the most innovative line-ups in London. Bringing