Noel Gardner brings us artificial birdsong, real birdsong, a metal nail hammered up a nostril, and a big set of technoise gloomsteppers in his latest re from British fringes Weird Weather Nothing like starting your reviews dispatch with a release that makes you question how you’v … | Continue reading
In the first podcast from Kiev's 20ft Radio, we're taken deep into the otherworldly folk sounds of the Ukrainian underground of the late 80s and early 90s. New Voices Ukraine is a collaboration between The Quietus, 20ft Radio, Neformat, the Ukrainian Institute and the British Cou … | Continue reading
Anthony Galluzzo's new book Against the Vortex uses John Boorman's cult sci-fi film as the starting point for exploring a neglected strand of '70s thinkers and artists whose ideas propose a radical degrowth utopia as the horizon to which our politics should be oriented Anthony Ga … | Continue reading
KRM & KMRU Disconnect The Bug and Joseph Kamaru find common ground and companionship in a stifling world on their album-length collaboration, writes Skye Butchard Disconnect by KRM & KMRU Kevin Martin’s 2017 collaboration with doom metal band Earth had fun pointing out their diff … | Continue reading
Regis and Surgeon talk to Bernie Brooks and Kristen Gallerneaux about techno, big tent gigs, and BMB's unexpected and excellent debut LP Active Agents and House Boys by British Murder Boys "I used to work at a nightclub in Birmingham," says Karl O'Connor, better known as Regis, o … | Continue reading
It will be released by Mute in September Aaron Hemphill, formerly of Liars, has announced details of a new album under his Nonpareils moniker. Spanning nine tracks, Rhetoric & Terror is his second album as Nonpareils, following 2018 debut Scented Pictures. The new record features … | Continue reading
Taking place at the MeetFactory venue, the talk will precede a concert by Chelsea Wolfe Synapse Knowledge – an annual event run out of Prague venue MeetFactory that takes in live performances, talks, listening sessions and more – will host a lecture by tQ's own John Doran later t … | Continue reading
The 12-track record is out now on his longtime label home of Ilian Tape Skee Mask has released a new album, titled Resort. Out via his longtime label home of Ilian Tape, the 12-track record is the German producer's fourth studio album, after 2016's Shred, 2018's Compro and 2021's … | Continue reading
'I'm With Pulp, Are You?' features photographs, flyers and other material, alongside a foreword by Jarvis Cocker Pulp guitarist Mark Webber is publishing a book, featuring a visual history of the much-loved Britpop band. Set to be published in September, I'm With Pulp, Are You? g … | Continue reading
The special party this October will take in sets from label artists such as Duke Garwood and Rainbow Grave Duke Garwood God Unknown Records is putting on a 10th anniversary event in London this October. Taking place at Walthamstow Trades Club on October 5, the special party will … | Continue reading
'Buchla Concert At Galeria Bonino New York April 1974' is out in August Recordings from Suzanne Ciani's very first public performance using the Buchla synthesiser are set to be released through the UK archival label Finders Keepers. Buchla Concert At Galeria Bonino New York April … | Continue reading
Berliner takes radical politics and 12th-century Persian poetry and sets them to an infectious disco beat, finds Ilia Rogatchevski Mary Ocher reclines on a rubber dinghy that is perilously adrift at sea. Her voice lifts above the waters as a shuffling backbeat dominates the track … | Continue reading
Normil Hawaiians Empires Into Sand Four decades after their last album, peripatetic London postpunks return in force Empires into Sand by Normil Hawaiians The fourth album by Normil Hawaiians, a band founded in London but with a transient way of living, comes nearly forty years a … | Continue reading
3-step is a new evolution within South African dance music, writes Skye Butchard in the latest instalment of our antidote to the algorithm You can achieve a lot just by removing one element. Sometimes, it even creates a genre offshoot of its own. By removing a kick in a 4/4 groov … | Continue reading
Punk bands Speed, Scowl and Zulu are among the acts who will no longer play the event this weekend Several bands have cancelled their appearances at this weekend's Download festival over Barclaycard being listed as one of the event's official sponsors, due to Barclays providing f … | Continue reading
The two records have been remastered for an updated September release Two classic Japanese techno albums from the 90s are being reissued this September for their 30th anniversaries. Tokyo-based label MUSICMINE will handle the reissues of Ken Ishii's Reference To Difference and Su … | Continue reading
Underground Resistance, Voices From The Lake and Shannen SP are among the acts playing the Dutch festival this September Tilburg's Draaimolen Festival has shared the full lineup for its 2024 edition. Returning to its usual home of the MOB Complex, the Dutch event's programme will … | Continue reading
Our French music columnist David McKenna reflects on how falling head over heels for the music of Françoise Hardy set him on the course he’s still following to this day, and reflects on the many peaks from her extraordinary career Francoise Hardy in 1967, photo via Wikimedia Comm … | Continue reading
The Polish festival will this year take in sets from Lankum, Kali Malone and more Unsound has confirmed the first wave of acts playing its flagship festival in Kraków later this year. Returning to multiple venues in the Polish city, this year's event will, as ever, host a number … | Continue reading
As Diamanda Galás prepares to release new album In Concert, she selects and guides Luke Turner through select moments of her musical life in recording, improvisation and performance. Portrait by Logan White Diamanda Galás’ visceral music has always sought, through her own astonis … | Continue reading
'Jacked' the latest Dan Carey production Heartworms by Gilbert Trejo The excellent Heatworms is back with a new single on the Speedy Wunderground label that continues to evolve the sound tQ first loved on previous bangers 'Retributions Of An Awful Life' and 'A Comforting Notion'. … | Continue reading
Patrick Clarke tracks down Martha Skye Murphy to discuss temporal distortion, vulnerability, Cold War aesthetics, and the struggle between revelation and secrecy that defines her debut album UM I ring the bell on a blacked-out door in a pleasant Bloomsbury side street. Martha Sky … | Continue reading
Eric Chenaux Trio Delights of My Life Woozy, semi-improvised jazz ballads collide with celestial sophisti-pop as the Canadian songwriter jams loose with Philippe Melanson and Ryan Driver Delights Of My Life by Eric Chenaux Trio A phrase that keeps coming back to me in one of life … | Continue reading
The track was recorded during studio sessions for last year's 'My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross' LP ANOHNI And The Johnsons have shared a new track, titled 'Breaking'. Centred around a stripped-back trio of guitar, clarinet and vocals, the song was written and recorded durin … | Continue reading
Both records will be made available on vinyl for the first time this August Two long-out-of-print records by Throbbing Gristle, TGCD1 and The Third Mind Movements, are being reissued by Mute. Due out in August, the re-releases will mark the first time both records have been made … | Continue reading
It's now 30 years since 'You Don't Love Me' became the sound of the summer of '94; the same amount of time it took to become a hit single in the first place, writes Wrong Tom In a West London pub, sometime in 1968, Lee Gopthal made a bet with his friend Clive Crawley; he’d cough … | Continue reading
Your latest electronic music roundup brings an eclectic list of top-shelf singles, albums and EPs, from innovative UK techno and eco-charged electronica to deep crate reissues, maximalist new age vibes, and club acrobatics from Miami. Nuno Beats, photo by Marta Pina When UK pop a … | Continue reading
British Murder Boys Active Agents & House Boys A dozen years since their 'final show', the duo of Regis and Surgeon prove they can still tear it up Active Agents and House Boys by British Murder Boys British Murder Boys went out with a bang in 2012. Performing their “final show” … | Continue reading
The festival has also confirmed an additional Pat Metheny show at the Barbican after the first sold out EFG London Jazz Festival has added a second wave of acts to the lineup for its 2024 edition, taking place later this year. Matthew Herbert is set to return to his house alias, … | Continue reading
The six-hour 'CHIROPTERA MATIERE PREMIERE' is the soundtrack to a 2023 performance at the Paris Opera House Thomas Bangalter, formerly one-half of Daft Punk, has released a new soundtrack album, CHIROPTERA MATIERE PREMIERE. The six-hour album comprises music that the French artis … | Continue reading
Machinedrum and object blue are among the acts playing the event this September Prague's Lunchmeat Festival has revealed the first wave of acts playing its 15th edition later this year. Returning for a full week across multiple venues in the Czech capital, this year's event will … | Continue reading
Machinedrum and object blue are among the acts playing the event this September Prague's Lunchmeat Festival has revealed the first wave of acts playing its 15th edition later this year. Returning for a full week across multiple venues in the Czech capital, this year's event will … | Continue reading
Combining choral and orchestral roots with a love of grindcore, new wave, dream pop and techno, Alex Rigotti speaks to London newcomers Ebbb about the many collisions that have created their sound Photo by Vasilisa Skasca Heaven, Ebbb demonstrate on 'Himmel', is to be found on a … | Continue reading
Charli XCX Brat On her eighth album, the English singer seems both older and somehow younger, still as blunt as ever, without a single duff track on the deck “Yeah, hey, I was just about to do my song, actually.” The previous Charli XCX album Crash, from 2022, gave off the vibe o … | Continue reading
In this month's subscriber podcast John Doran and Luke Turner discuss Claire Denis' 1999 masterpiece Beau Travail It’s a tapsaff special for this month’s Low Culture Podcast, and (quite obviously) that’s got nothing to do with the weather at the moment. Instead, it’s all about Jo … | Continue reading
In the latest instalment of the new Listen Here column, Luke Turner suggests that festivals are best experienced when not wearily trudging around ticking off band after band. Nobody can know exactly when West Kennet long barrow was built. According to English Heritage, who look a … | Continue reading
Hot Chocolate’s debut album presents a dark and edgy vision at odds with the band’s later reputation as MOR balladeers and purveyors of feelgood funk-lite, writes Ben Graham When, in 1975, Harold Bronson of Phonograph Record magazine reviewed an album released in the previous yea … | Continue reading
The Zawose Queens Maisha Leah and Pendo Zawose take up an East African musical legacy, with additional production and subtle electronics by Tom Excell and Oli Barton-Wood (Obongjayar, Nilufer Yanya) Maisha by The Zawose Queens This is the debut album from Leah and Pendo Zawose, g … | Continue reading
'Brujas' will be released via Dekmantel Records later this month Olof Dreijer, formerly known as one-half of The Knife, has teamed up with Colombian-Swedish percussionist and vocalist Diva Cruz for a new three-track EP, Brujas. Combining Dreijer's characteristically colourful syn … | Continue reading
The record also makes use of recordings by the late Angelo Badalamenti David Lynch has teamed up with longtime collaborator Chrystabell for a new album, titled Cellophane Memories. Spanning 10 tracks, the record is the latest in a line of projects involving the pair, with Chrysta … | Continue reading
We're really happy with our beautiful, easy-to-navigate new Quietus, but in order to survive and thrive we need to hit 2000 subscribers by our birthday in September, writes John Doran. With that in mind, we're running a huge sale on subscriptions Dear readers, Luke is looming ove … | Continue reading
Working with Julia Holter, Corey Fogel, Ezra Buchla, Devin Hoff and a tuning system pinched off Jean-Philippe Rameau, LA-based composer Tashi Wada pushes song form into wild new directions On What Is Not Strange, Tashi Wada’s music curves, steepens and plateaus like a trail on th … | Continue reading
Objections Optimistic Sizing Leeds trio come out of the gates swinging with an album of megaphone vocals and pudding-y blarts Optimistic Sizing by Objections The debut LP from Leeds troupe Objections is one of those funny ones: an atypical offering that only fits in anywhere beca … | Continue reading
The 11-track record will be released in September The Jesus Lizard have shared details of their first studio album since 1998's Blue. Spanning 11 tracks, Rack is preceded by lead cut 'Hide & Seek', which you can watch a video for below. In a statement about the track, the band's … | Continue reading
The track is out now on Warp Records Rustie has released his first new music since 2015, a track called 'Black Ice Mudra'. Out now, the new cut is built around the Scottish producer's typically maximalist synth melodies, and can be listened to below. It's his first release of new … | Continue reading
The database, which tracks online mixes and includes tracklists, can no longer run on its current servers The long-running, much-loved mixes database MixesDB is to be shut down for good at the end of this month. A post shared via the database's website confirmed that the platform … | Continue reading
In the second instalment of New Voices Ukraine, tQ's new collaboration with 20ft Radio, Neformat, the British Council and Ukrainian Institute, Yaryna Denysyuk of Neformat continues her investigation into the role of women in the country's wartime music scene, and seeks out the fi … | Continue reading
The former Sounds/NME scribe and Loaded supremo talks about the highs and lows of his relationship with MES and The Fall. Cover illustration by Krent Able. With thanks to James and Emma for the scans Screenshot “You, Mark, Shane and Sean were all in the living room shouting, list … | Continue reading