Playlist: New Folk Music for Hard Times
The ancient and modern collide in an extraordinary collection of folk and folk-influenced music made and released during the Covid era.
Mixtape
A commentary on the latest trends in music, from the newest tracks to up-and-coming artistes, as well as unique and lesser-known acts.
Lurking in the Overseas: The Explosive New Rap Sounds of Asia
We celebrate the cross-cultural movement with a new generation of Asian hip-hop from the US to Indonesia.
Review: Parallel Action – Parallel Action
A London veteran looks back to the sounds of his early days with dramatic results.
Meet ABSURD Trax, Hong Kong's Most Promising Underground Music Label
Representing the vanguard of Hong Kong’s youthful underground music scene, label founder Gavin Wong speaks about the future of experimental music in the region and the blurring lines between online and offline music.
“Never Miss the Moments”: Dot Allison on her Heart Shaped Scars
After a circuitous 30-year career, the Scottish singer-songwriter has made perhaps her best record yet. Here she shares some of her processes and inspirations.
Endlessly Round and Round: Karen KG Nyame's Musical Cycles
Despite facing barriers of discrimination and prejudice, Karen Nyame has proved herself as one of Britain's foremost dance music producers. Sound of Life speaks with the leading talent on the genres that inspire her and her favourite minds to collaborate with.
Review: Ryuichi Sakamoto + David Toop ‘Gardens of Shadows & Light’
Two veterans of experimental music come together for a truly extraordinary performance – now on vinyl for the first time.
Strange As It Sounds, Covid Is Rewiring Our Listening Habits
Revealed: rise in podcasts to an altered taste in music among those deriving pleasure from sonic elements.
Mind, Body & Soul: Emma-Jean Thackray on New Jazz and her Love of the “Unsubtle”
On the occasion of her gloriously complex and mystical debut album, we speak to the Yorkshire-via-London jazz sensation about pop, rave and moshpits.
... BUT IS IT CLASSICAL?
A slew of exciting new albums this summer show the boundaries between orchestral / classical and the alternative and electronic music worlds more porous than ever. But how, if at all, should we categorise them?