Released on 21st June 1999, The Chemical Brothers’ third album harnessed the enormity of trance, the ecstasy of acid house, and the vibrancy of psychedelia to become their boldest statement, and a mirror to the hedonistic mood of the UK at that time. Here, with the help of the duo’s Tom Rowlands, Ben Cardew [...]
East Africa’s first music technology summit, Kilele, brought together artists and industry figures from Kenya and across Africa and Europe for a series of boundary-pushing performances, discussions and collaborations. Martin Guttridge-Hewitt reports on how the event and a bubbling local underground are ushering in a new era for Nairobi’s electronic music scene Exiting your car [...]
The run of four podcast celebrates Welsh LGBTQ+ venues Memories From The Dancefloor, a podcast that explores and LGBTQ+ clubbing scenes and history, is returning for a second season. The relaunch of the podcast this month coincides with this year's Pride Month, and the second run features four episodes. Over the course of this latest [...]
With his new podcast, Queerly Beloved, Northern Irish DJ Cormac explores what it means to be a queer artist in dance music today. Interviewing contemporary figures about their histories of queer discovery, the Panorama Bar and fabric regular continues an intergenerational conversation surrounding the life-affirming moments, communal experiences and enduring challenges of LGBTQ+ expression. Alongside [...]
AKA The Ride Committee We lost our dear friend and brother, Louie Balo Guzman, this past week. As we struggle to come to terms with this unfathomable loss, we are remembering Balo with a reprint of an article that first appeared in DJ Mag in September 2013 which gives some insight into the [...]
Released on 25th May 1984, ‘Smalltown Boy’ launched the gay synth-pop band Bronski Beat into the charts and onto dancefloors with its glorious synths, hi-NRG production and Jimmy Somerville’s soaring falsetto, which sang a story of rejection, pain and escape. Here, with the help of musicians, its iconic video's director and others, Bailey Slater [...]
"It's almost like being in a House Music Hall of Fame." Marshall Jefferson is the latest artist to receive a Defected Records 'House Masters' compilation. Out on 29th May, the Chicago house pioneer will release a 40-track retrospective that will highlight Jefferson's solo hits, production credits, remixes, and underground favourites from his 50 year [...]
Though arguably most prominent in the ’90s, free parties and illegal raves have never gone away. Despite the increased surveillance from authorities, passionate DJs and sound systems continue to throw events in a similar way that they always have, looking to create a sense of community and an alternative to the commodified dance mainstream. [...]
When the South Bronx dance-punk outfit ESG released their Martin Hannett-produced debut EP in 1981, they had no idea how pivotal their stripped-back, funk-fueled sound would be on the evolution of hip-hop and house music: ‘UFO’ has been sampled over 500 times; ‘Moody’ was a staple in Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage sets. Four decades [...]
After four-plus decades of DJing and with a incredible list of releases — much of it produced with longtime partner Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez as Masters At Work — the pioneering Louie Vega would seem to have little to prove. Yet he’s working harder than ever, with the same energy he had as a young [...]