‘Difficult, time-consuming and painful’: Nihiloxica on the ‘hell’ of touring the UK

Punitive UK visa restrictions have added extra fire to the already blazing sound of the British-Ugandan drum and doom outfit

“Have you ever been involved in, or suspected of being involved in, war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide?” asks an automated voice, over warped tones and hissing atmospherics. It’s a recorded sample from one of many fruitless phone calls to government departments the band Nihiloxica have made, chasing visas or potentially lost passports that have been held on to for months on end.

After enduring endless issues with UK visas and passports, Nihiloxica – whose members are based in Uganda, Britain and the Netherlands – have funnelled all their frustration into new album Source of Denial. “We wanted to create the sense of being in the endless, bureaucratic hell of attempting to travel to a foreign country that deems itself superior to where you’re from,” they announced ahead of its release.

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by Daniel Dylan Wray via Electronic music | The Guardian

Oneohtrix Point Never: Again review – producer teams with AI to take pop to the outer limits

(Warp Records)
Daniel Lopatin now adds post-rock, prog and artificial intelligence to his melting pot of avant garde electronics

Daniel Lopatin’s work as Oneohtrix Point Never is some of the most distinguished in avant garde electronic music: it orbits around pop, ensnared by its inescapable pull but with enough distance to negotiate it. From the imitations of industry songwriters built into his 2015 album Garden of Delete to the baroque pop and surrealist radio of follow-ups Age Of and Magic Oneohtrix Point Never, Lopatin’s solo records all entwine pop with its own disintegration. Pop stars are equally captivated – the Weeknd had him co-executive producing alongside Max Martin for Dawn FM last year.

Mainstream v esoteric is just one of several dualisms at play: his excavations of archival sound are also a dig into his own history, and his looks back are often repurposed into speculative glances ahead. On new album Again, he taps into his teen years and introduces post-rock, prog and orchestral works to the melting pot. The sincerity and climax-driven dynamism of these styles are placed in dialogue with real instrumentation from guests such as Lee Ranaldo, plus the whims of AI technologies and his own subversive sound generation.

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by Tayyab Amin via Electronic music | The Guardian

The 20 greatest Detroit techno tracks – ranked!

As scene legends Cybotron return with their first new music in 28 years, we pick the best of the Motor City’s masterful, mechanical techno music

An underrated gem from an underrated producer from Detroit’s first wave, the list of samples found on Time to Express acts like a primer of key influences on the city’s nascent techno scene: Kraftwerk, Telex, Yazoo, the Art of Noise. The Silo Mix stirs in a hint of freestyle; the Techno mix is harder-edged.

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by Alexis Petridis via Electronic music | The Guardian

‘It was like Blade Runner meets Berlin rave’: the Manchester sink estate with the UK’s wildest nightclub

Hulme Crescents was Europe’s biggest housing estate, and soon deemed its worst. But a vibrant squatter community moved in – along with Mick Hucknall – to make a countercultural mecca

‘Hulme was a failed utopian dream on a council estate,” says the DJ Luke Una. “A city within a city. Like nowhere else I’ve ever seen.”

Una lived in Manchester’s Hulme Crescents in the late 80s and early 90s. Constructed in 1972, the vast brutalist estate was the largest public housing development in Europe and could house up to 13,000 people. Intended as a futuristic blueprint for social housing, design and safety flaws became apparent within two years. In 1974, a child died falling from one of the easily climbable balconies. Cockroaches were plentiful, the heating system unaffordable, and residents were soon petitioning to be re-housed.

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by Daniel Dylan Wray via Electronic music | The Guardian

‘People have weapons, but it’s to celebrate!’ Jantra, the Sudanese keyboardist making wild party music

In his first ever interview from wartorn Sudan, Jantra explains how he hacked hardware to create melodies that send dancers into a rapturous frenzy

The name of Sudanese keyboard player Jantra translates as “crazy”, and sure enough, his gigs are wild. “Sometimes a fight will happen and I have to take a break so everyone can calm down,” he says. “The crowd goes crazy but I take pride that the energy the music creates lets people have such a good time.”

During slightly less energised passages, people swarm around him, filming his incredibly animated and agile fingers gliding across his Yamaha keys. It was through one such YouTube video that Vik Sohonie – a crate-digging obsessive born in India and now living in New York and Bangkok – came across Jantra and set about tracking him down to record him for his label, Ostinato Records. The result is one of the best releases of the year. However, given the civil war that has been raging since April in Sudan, which has left key services such as the post non-functional, Jantra doesn’t even own a copy.

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by Daniel Dylan Wray via Electronic music | The Guardian

Yeule: Softscars review – digital dreampopper gets loud

(Ninja Tune)
Ethereal tendencies give way to screamo and shredding on the Singaporean-British songwriter’s third album

Each project from Singaporean-British singer-songwriter Nat Ćmiel, AKA Yeule, comes as a surprise. Their 2014 self-titled debut EP was a blend of ethereal, processed vocals with melodically driven electronic production, while 2019’s Serotonin II album manoeuvred through dream pop and wistful electronica, and 2022’s breakthrough Glitch Princess produced shuddering dancefloor beats. Their latest record is just as unexpected.

Gone are the digital blips and tender wisps of Ćmiel’s typically unifying falsetto. Instead, the 12 tracks of Softscars are a riotous, high-energy journey through pop punk melodies, screamo vocals and shredding guitars. Opener is a highlight, launching into a thumping drum groove and ear-splitting screams, while equally heavy tracks such as Dazies and 4ui12 balance loud rhythm sections with Ćmiel’s knack for catchy melody, channelling the rough-edged yet refined songcraft of early 2000s alt-metal groups such as Deftones.

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by Ammar Kalia via Electronic music | The Guardian

One to Watch: Sola

Across bold genre shifts and collaborations with Moses Boyd and more, the British-Nigerian musician’s lush work is driven by her Sade-esque vocals

London-based Sola’s forthcoming mixtape is called Warped Soul. It’s a title that makes sense. While her Sade-esque vocal is mellifluous and soulful, the British-Nigerian singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer has been honing a sound that is lush and yet decidedly off-kilter since her 2018 debut EP, Wealth Has Come. She has previously called it “music which you can both cry and vibe out to”.

Priscilla Bajomo started out begrudgingly learning classical piano as a kid at her parents’ behest, though she would later study music and business at New York University, recognising her love for the medium. Still, she didn’t initially think of herself as a singer, until discovering an affinity with the work of Nina Simone, and during time spent visiting her father in Nigeria, listening to Fela Kuti. She grew in confidence, choosing to perform as Sola, her Yoruba name. Her output traverses everything from woozy trip-hop on latest single, Weak, to colourful electronics, cinematic ballads, silky R&B, jazzy percussion and Timbaland-style left-field futurism (on the captivating Scream999). Tellingly, Sola’s music is released via Jamz Supernova’s Future Bounce label, known for eclectic, nocturnal sounds that are difficult to categorise.

Warped Soul is out on 28 September via Future Bounce

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by Tara Joshi via Electronic music | The Guardian

One to watch: Vagabon

After the loss of her best friend, the Cameroonian-American singer-songwriter finds consolation and catharsis on the dancefloor

Three albums into her career, Vagabon has found a radical new voice. The Cameroon-born, US-based singer-songwriter, real name Laetitia Tamko, came to prominence in 2017 with the dreamy, guitar-led soundscapes of debut album Infinite Worlds, which earned praise from indie stalwart Mitski. 2019’s self-titled follow-up continued in a similar vein, then Tamko dropped off the radar. Relocating to rural Germany, it was only after the death of her best friend in 2021 that she felt spurred on to create new work. Yet rather than simply transposing her sadness, Tamko’s latest record, co-produced with Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij, has taken a turn towards the communal joy and catharsis of the dancefloor.

The newly released Sorry I Haven’t Called traverses the earworming bass blips of electropop opener Can I Talk My Shit?, the two-stepping drums of You Know How and the drum’n’bass freneticism of Do Your Worst, ultimately finding comfort in movement. “It’s because things were dark that this record is so full of life and energy,” Tamko has said. “I didn’t feel like being introspective. I just wanted to have fun.” Her new direction forgoes solipsism, instead galvanising dancers within the thump of the club speakers. Together, she seems to say, is where we are strongest.

Sorry I Haven’t Called is out now on Nonesuch. Vagabon plays the Eventim Apollo, London, supporting Arlo Parks, on 28 September, and four further UK dates supporting Weyes Blood, 11-14 November

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by Ammar Kalia via Electronic music | The Guardian

Róisín Murphy: ‘If I wasn’t myself I’d like to be Tilda Swinton – because she’s posh’

The singer-songwriter on teenage shoplifting, onstage drama, and her unwavering love for Mars bars

Born in Arklow, Ireland, Róisín Murphy, 50, formed Moloko with Mark Brydon in 1994 and had hits with Sing It Back and The Time Is Now. She released her debut solo album Ruby Blue in 2005, followed by Overpowered in 2007. Her third, Hairless Toys, was nominated for the 2015 Mercury prize. Her sixth solo album is Hit Parade. She lives in Ibiza with her husband and has two children.

What is your earliest memory?
Crying because my dad had to go to work. He refitted pubs in Ireland during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

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by Rosanna Greenstreet via Electronic music | The Guardian

Post your questions for Tricky

Ahead of an expanded reissue of his debut album Maxinquaye, Tricky will take on your questions ranging across his remarkable career

One of the landmark albums of the 1990s is getting the deluxe reissue treatment soon: the claustrophobic but freewheeling Maxinquaye by Tricky. Before its return on 13 October, Tricky will answer your questions about it and anything else in his career – post them in the comments below.

Born Adrian Thaws in Bristol, Tricky was immediately surrounded by music: his father ran one of the first sound systems in the city. His mother died when he was only four years old, and he combined her first name and surname to form Maxinquaye’s album title. The reissue’s cover carries a recently discovered picture of mother and son: the only known photograph of them together.

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by Ben Beaumont-Thomas via Electronic music | The Guardian

DJ Znobia: Inventor Vol 1 review – raw minimalist kuduro to shake the dancefloor

(Nyege Nyege Tapes)
The Angolan producer arrived at his own version of the dance style kuduro after adding layered synths to folk rhythms, and these tracks show his lo-fi ingenuity

In the late 90s, dancer Sebastião Lopes was experimenting with the production software FruityLoops in his hometown of Luanda, Angola. Wanting to create harder, faster music to move to, he sped up the clattering folk rhythms of semba and kilapanga with layered synthesisers and techno-influenced drum production, creating a fresh sound that blended US dance music with the Angolan drumming tradition.

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by Ammar Kalia via Electronic music | The Guardian

Gaika: Drift review – the sonic shapeshifter goes analogue

(Big Dada)
The London MC disrupts expectations on his latest album, ranging from breakbeats and funk-soul to cinematic strings

The multidisciplinary artist Gaika Tavares isn’t fond of being confined. He raps sometimes, but his murky, eclectic music resists a permanent home in the genre racks. Having worked with dance companies (Rambert) and scored for TV (Noughts + Crosses) as well as releasing an album on Warp, the south London-born, “club-raised” artist has also mounted interactive video sculptures (System, Somerset House) and collaborated on installations at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. This latest album, Drift, sets out to further disrupt preconceptions. It also trades Gaika’s digital-first ear for a majority-analogue setup where these highly collaborative recordings were often laid down live.

Leading the charge is Gunz, a low-slung 90s throwback that’s equal parts guitar, drumkit and ethereal atmospherics. Sometimes, he brings to mind Massive Attack, but then quickly the impression dissipates. Loose and cinematic, Sublime combines breakbeats with guitar, piano and strings.

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by Kitty Empire via Electronic music | The Guardian

Gary Wright obituary

Singer and songwriter whose 1976 hit Dream Weaver combined yearning vocals with a haunting and distinctive synthesiser sound

When considering the pioneers of electronic pop music, names such as Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder spring to mind. But Gary Wright’s single Dream Weaver, which reached No 2 on the American chart in 1976, deserves its place in history for placing synthesiser music at the forefront of pop radio, and was one of the first tracks recorded almost entirely with synths (backed up by Jim Keltner’s drums).

Its floating, dream-like atmosphere made the perfect backdrop for the yearning quality of Wright’s vocals, and the lilting rhythm and blues feel of the chorus slipped effortlessly into the listener’s consciousness. The haunting sound of the ARP Solina string synthesiser, also used by Pink Floyd on Welcome to the Machine (from Wish You Were Here, 1975), helped give the track its distinctive edge.

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by Adam Sweeting via Electronic music | The Guardian

‘Autonomy is so important – to be the engine yourself’: why Yann Tiersen is now touring by sailboat

Creatively frustrated by his association with the Amélie soundtrack and yearning to perform with no environmental impact, the French musician and his wife took to the sea

In 2014 Yann Tiersen – the French musician best known for his multimillion selling soundtrack for Amélie – was cycling with his wife Émelie through Sinkyone Wilderness Park in northern California. They realised a mountain lion was stalking them: for 20 or so minutes it followed them until a car, the first they’d seen in hours, drove past and disrupted it. They cycled on in fear, wondering if it was still in pursuit. “For the next six hours we were thinking ‘this is the end’,” recalls Yann. “That we will end up eaten by this mountain lion.”

It was a life-changing experience. “It shifted our understanding of the world,” says Yann. “We realised we were ignorant of where we were. Knowing the environment can save your life. It was stupid to be there with …” they descend into laughter as they recall what may have piqued the interest of the lion, “… pastrami sandwiches in our bags.”

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by Daniel Dylan Wray via Electronic music | The Guardian

Fred Again review – restless mood swings from rave ringmaster

Alexandra Palace, London
An enthusiastic crowd laps up Fred Gibson’s collective-healing vibes, but the pacing is off and the emotional moments don’t always connect

In the space of 18 months, producer, singer and DJ Fred Gibson’s artist moniker has morphed from a propulsive statement of forward momentum to a sigh of resignation at his sheer ubiquity (Fred? Again?!). You can’t move for the south Londoner’s influence, be it producing pop’s A-class (Ed Sheeran, Pink, Aitch, etc), dominating festivals (both Glastonbury and Coachella, the latter alongside Skrillex and Four Tet), or inflaming the ire of the gatekeepers of electronic music who balk at his aristocratic lineage (earls and barons feature heavily in his family tree) and the twee catharsis of his trio of diaristic Actual Life albums. A recent article exploring his dominance of streaming, radio, TV idents and niche memes compared him to Coldplay; both make deeply uncool, broad-strokes emotional music to unite and soothe.

Not that the people crammed into north London hotbox Alexandra Palace seem to care what anyone thinks. Tonight is the first of four sold-out shows, with demand for tickets so high Gibson could easily have upgraded to Wembley Stadium. Before he even appears on stage, groups of twentysomething lads with close fades and Carhartt cross-body bumbags strip their tops off, while women climb on shoulders within a few seconds of opener Kyle (I Found You). But it’s a surprisingly muted start, the song’s tactile beats, wheezing riff and looped lyrical aphorisms slowly spreading across a crowd clearly up for something to sink their teeth into.

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by Michael Cragg via Electronic music | The Guardian

Supersonic festival – doom, earsplitting ecstasy and thousands of samosas

Various venues, Digbeth
The Midlands experimental music institution celebrates 20 years of triumphant noise, from alt-rock stalwarts Deerfhoof to feminist punks Taqbir and folk stars Lankum

After a summer of unimaginative corporate festivals sponsored by crypto companies, Supersonic couldn’t come at a better moment. Rather than jamming punters into a field, slapping halloumi stands between brand “activation” stalls and calling it culture, the care and community at this independent festival of outer-reaches sounds is evident in every single detail as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. There are the handpainted signs of an eyeball dripping blood, a logo that comes to feel extremely prescient as delirious volume threatens to rearrange one’s internal organs; the fresh £1 samosas, as bracingly spicy as much of the music and perfect for soaking up an excess of farmyard-strength cider; thoughtful panel discussions on whether DIY music events can constitute temporary utopias.

Most striking is the very human sense of how fans experience a festival like this, with the lineup building to a crescendo of apocalyptic noise on Saturday night before a gentle comedown on Sunday featuring a yoga class set to doom music, a very silly pub quiz (it comes down to a tiebreaker revealing that 2,100 samosas are consumed at each instalment) and a (comparatively) softer, folkier conclusion. That care is repaid in the sense of an ardently appreciative Supersonic family: the musicians frequently shout out founder Lisa Meyer and the almost comic preponderance of T-shirts bearing the logos of drone heroes Sunn O))) (who aren’t even playing) and cult outdoors zine Weird Walk suggest a strong common bond amid an underserved audience. (Though the best T-shirt simply reads: “unlistenable”.)

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by Laura Snapes via Electronic music | The Guardian

The Chemical Brothers: For That Beautiful Feeling review – pure techno pleasure

(EMI)
The dance duo’s 10th album – on which they, not the guest vocalists, are the stars – has moments to match their best work

The Chemical Brothers pick up where 2019’s No Geography left off, with a nonsense-free reaffirmation of the dance duo’s greatest strength – making largely instrumental psychedelic house and techno somehow sound like pop music. For That Beautiful Feeling doesn’t deliver hits such as Go and Galvanize, but like each of the pair’s previous nine albums it contains moments that will claw into your lizard brain and refuse to leave, whether you last went clubbing yesterday or three decades ago, when their debut single, Song to the Siren, dropped.

If you like drums indistinguishable from hubcaps falling down flights of concrete stairs, head to Feels Like I Am Dreaming. Fans of vertigo-inducing drops and synths buzzing like bees trapped in a jar should tuck into No Reason or Goodbye, both of which have the ludic restlessness of the Chemicals’ best efforts. Nostalgists for their less oontz oontz 1990s era will adore The Weight’s deranged funkiness, and the cheery metallic bop of Fountains is gloriously sui generis. Beck and Halo Maud are the two credited vocal guests, but as ever, the brightest stars are behind the desk not in the booth. That beautiful feeling must be pure pleasure.

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by Damien Morris via Electronic music | The Guardian

Icona Pop: Club Romantech review – Swedish duo get edgier on first album in years

(Ultra)
A decade since I Love It brought them to the big time, the electropoppers channel a darker, clubbier sound

Swedish electropop duo Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo, AKA Icona Pop, burst on to global dancefloors with their 2012 single I Love It. Exemplifying the shimmering maximalism of hyperpop, the anthemic track and their ensuing album This Is… Icona Pop launched the group as the perfect party-starters and earned them years of opening slots for pop juggernauts like Katy Perry and One Direction.

A decade on from that debut, their second international album, Club Romantech, finds the duo producing a mature sound that is darker and more propulsive. Earworming melodies are ever-present, from the scattered, melismatic syllables of piano house opener Fall in Love to the Charli XCX-style group chants of I Want You, but the rhythmic backings are far harder and faster. Standout track Shit We Do for Love soars into synth-based Eurotrance, while Stick Your Tongue Out references Benny Benassi’s early 00s electro-house; Desire, featuring Joel Corry, channels a big-room sound with its reverb-laden percussion.

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by Ammar Kalia via Electronic music | The Guardian