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Dance (Disco, House, Techno, EDM)

1,518 articles

Chubby Checker: Chubby Checks In

Report by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 8 September 1962

'TWIST' KING HERE FOR TOUR ...

Sybil — and a discotheque named Arthur — set the trends

Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 16 May 1965

Sybil Burton, ex-wife of actor Richard Burton, has suddenly become the leader of New York's glittering social set. Fashion and entertainment trend-setter and close friend ...

How to Build a Bridge Backwards: Life as a Part-time Disc Jockey

Comment by Charlie Gillett, Record Mirror, 3 January 1970

I HAD A STRANGE TIME the other day, playing records at a college party. ...

Jeff Dexter: From Twist Demonstrator... To Dance Band Singer... To High Priest Of Hits...

Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 12 September 1970

Chris Welch tells the strange story of DJ Jeff Dexter ...

Land Of A Thousand Dances

Report by Dave Godin, Blues & Soul, 8 January 1971

BY SOME miracle I managed to catch the train on time at Euston. Anyone who knows me will gladly confirm that I am a terror ...

The Dave Godin Column: Northern Soul

Report by Dave Godin, Blues & Soul, 25 June 1971

THE CALL of the North was getting too strong to resist any longer, and I just had to take some time out and make another ...

First Choice: Everybody's First Choice

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 25 May 1973

IT'S NOT very often that we Europeans get the opportunity to appreciate an American Soul record in advance to the native Americans, but in the ...

Manu Dibango: The Originator Of 'Soul Makossa'

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 31 August 1973

THERE IS absolutely a no contest when it comes to the most recorded song of the year in soul circles. It is simply 'Soul Makossa' ...

Manu Dibango: Soul Makossa (Atlantic)

Review by Dan Nooger, Phonograph Record, September 1973

THIS IS the best soul dance record in years. It cuts directly against the grain of most black music today, which strives for that sophisticated, ...

Manu Dibango: Joining Soul With Its Afro Roots

Interview by Vernon Gibbs, New Musical Express, 3 November 1973

THINGS HAVEN'T improved much in the last few weeks. The Apollo, the main showcase for black talent in the New York area, continues to run ...

Sylvester and the Hot Band: Bazaar (Blue Thumb)

Review by Richard Cromelin, Phonograph Record, December 1973

WHEN SYLVESTER'S first album came out, his supporters' only defense was to say, "Well, he's a great live act." Now, in his second one, he's ...

Kool and the Gang: Kool The Brand Leader In Funky Stuff

Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 9 March 1974

KOOL AND the Gang are just about the biggest thing on the Southern (of England that is) soul scene at the monent, and they're even ...

Manu Dibango: The Soul Makossa Man

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 9 April 1974

HIS FRIENDS call him Dibbs but to the rest of the world his name is Manu Dibango, and he is the creator of one of ...

Gloria Gaynor: Her 'Hello' Is Her Goodbye

Profile and Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 3 December 1974

2008 introduction: After having some club success with 'Honeybee', Gloria Gaynor was just beginning to get her career in gear when David met her in ...

Barry White: The Bear is Back

Profile and Interview by David Hancock, Record Mirror, 7 December 1974

THE BEAR is elusive... that's what they're saying of ex-roadie Barry White who in two years has carved a name for himself as the world's ...

George McCrae: Soul Lib

Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 14 December 1974

"I TELL YOU... England is the most exciting and beautiful country I have ever seen," says George McCrae, now two and a half weeks into ...

Willie Hutch, Van McCoy, Melba Moore, Wayne Shorter, War: Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony: Hustling Up The Charts

Interview by Vernon Gibbs, Essence, 1975

EVEN THOUGH he has been writing, arranging and producing hit records since 1961, Van McCoy is still technically a newcomer. He is of that breed ...

Barry White: Limitless Love — The Maestro's Message

Report and Interview by Joe Nick Patoski, Zoo World, 2 January 1975

"ISAAC HAYES? I defend him now," Barry White smiles confidently in his dressing room, Chivas in hand, dragging on his Benson-Hedges menthol. "People started to ...

Gloria Gaynor's 'Goodbye'

Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 11 January 1975

POSTING HER way to a real left-field hit is Gloria Gaynor with 'Never Can Say Goodbye' which sounds like a revived 45 but isn't. ...

Disco-Tex and his Sex-O-Lettes: How Disco-Tex Got Dancin'

Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 February 1975

"MY FIRST single? Ha... ha... ha... that was about ten years ago. Wes Farrell wrote it in his car on the way to the recording ...

Hamilton Bohannon: South African Man from Georgia: King Hamilton of Discoland

Interview by David Hancock, Record Mirror, 22 February 1975

His Majesty Bohannon grants Our Hancock an audience ...

The Hues Corporation: The Love Corporation

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 18 March 1975

'LOVE CORPORATION' really is an apt title for the Hues Corporation's new single because this L.A.-based trio literally ooze love for their fellow men and ...

B.T. Express: BT Express: Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)

Review by Bud Scoppa, Rolling Stone, 27 March 1975

DO IT ('Til You're Satisfied) resembles George McCrae's Rock Your Baby album in that it finds a persistent groove and stays with it unflaggingly from ...

Shirley Goodman, Shirley & Company: Shirley & Company: 'Shame' of the Discos

Profile and Interview by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 27 March 1975

A FRIENDSHIP formed backstage at the Apollo Theater 19 years ago is responsible for one of the year's surprise hits. ...

Gloria Gaynor, Labelle, Barry White: Disco: "Kids Want Something Different — This Is It!"

Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 5 April 1975

...so says Billy Smith, an expert on New York's booming discos. In a country where radio rules, it's an amazing phenomenon. CHRIS CHARLESWORTH reports... ...

Gloria Gaynor: I just love your British discos

Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 5 April 1975

ROGER ST. PIERRE talks to GLORIA GAYNOR, the girl who sums up what the disco boom is all about ...

Disco-Tex and his Sex-O-Lettes: Disco Tex: Boogoo Boogoo to Choo

Interview by David Hancock, Record Mirror, 24 May 1975

Sir Monti talks to David Hancock ...

'Northern Soul': Excitement In U.K. With U.S. Records

Report by Peter Jones, Billboard, 31 May 1975

LONDON — It is spoken of, in grateful but astonished tones, as Northern Soul. It is a frantic, energetic, money-spinning soul scene, based in the ...

Gloria Gaynor & the Disco Boom

Overview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, June 1975

"WE'RE PRODUCTION-orientated sure, but I can't agree that we're cynical in our approach. We simply carry our production techniques one stage further than the competition. ...

Hamilton Bohannon: The Great Disco Mystery

Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 28 June 1975

H. BOHANNON DISCOVERS WHERE IT'S AT ...

Van McCoy, The Stylistics: Van McCoy: The Hustler

Interview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, July 1975

Disco hero of 'Hustle' fame... man behind the Stylistics' current success... and writer, producer, arranger whose hits go back 15 years. The legendary VAN McCOY ...

KC & the Sunshine Band: KC and The Sunshine Band: The Miami Innovation

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 22 July 1975

A GREAT deal has been written about the emergence of the Miami Sound via names such as George and Gwen McCrae, Little Beaver and, of ...

Hamilton Bohannon: Bohannon: Have a Good Day…

Interview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, August 1975

Hamilton Bohannon has words with Tony Cummings... ...

The Bee Gees: Back on course with the Bee Gees

Interview by Charles Bermant, Sounds, 9 August 1975

BARRY GIBB IS pleased. It is a good season for ‘the Bee Gees (Barry and his brothers, Maurice and Robin) whose new Main Course album ...

Biddu, Carl Douglas: Biddu's Indian Summer

Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 23 August 1975

INDIA CONJURES up a variety of images in the mind of the British; steaming curries, turbans and saris, travel by elephant, and an accent superbly ...

Dancing Madness

Report by Ed McCormack, Rolling Stone, 28 August 1975

In which a suburban prole decadent does battle with a hot midtown Manhattan discotheque — two out of three falls, no curfew ...

Disco Kids in Gay L.A.

Report by Richard Cromelin, Rolling Stone, 28 August 1975

Where cycle sluts, tanktoppers and dedicated bumpers dance, dance, dance, stick poppers up adversity's nose and dodge surging roachers... ...

Hamilton Bohannon: Leicester

Live Review by Bob Fisher, New Musical Express, 13 September 1975

WHY IS it that audiences will dance all night to records, but stand round and drum their fingers to the real thing even when it ...

B.T. Express-ions

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 16 September 1975

WHEN IT comes to disco funk, James Brown is perhaps no longer unrivalled since the arrival of the B.T. Express, who are proving to be ...

Disco-Tex & the Sex-O-Lettes, Susan Cadogan: Leicester

Live Review by Bob Fisher, New Musical Express, 20 September 1975

APART FROM the flash of inspiration provided by the Birmingham band Muscles, the evening ranked as one of the most musically boring I have ever ...

George McCrae: George McCrae (TK)

Review by John Morthland, Creem, October 1975

GEORGE McCRAE and the TK studio hands don't sell songs on his albums, they sell a mood, an ambience. ...

Archie Bell and the Drells, People's Choice: Philly's Dance Masters

Interview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, October 1975

People's Choice and Archie Bell are disco hot! Tony Cummings reports… ...

The Road To Wigan Casino

Report by Vivien Goldman, New Musical Express, 11 October 1975

Up T’NORTH, they don’t like London journalists snooping about. Still, this was a special occasion at the shrine of the " Northern Soul Scene". ...

Crispy And Company, MFSB: Krispi And Company, MFSB: More Disco Madness

Profile by Davitt Sigerson, Black Music, November 1975

What kind of madness is it when two bands adopt different names to record versions of a 30s showtune called 'Brazil'? Just put it down ...

Gloria Gaynor: Experience (MGM M3G 4997)

Review by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 6 November 1975

DRIVEN BY a three-song montage, Gloria Gaynor's first MGM album was the very model of modern disco production: loud, compact, as hummable as it was ...

Northern Soul: Fact, Fiction, Faction, Friction

Report by Idris Walters, Street Life, 15 November 1975

IS NORTHERN SOUL DYING ON ITS FEET? ...

The Trammps: "All You'll Ever Be Is A Bunch Of Trammps"

Interview by David Hancock, Record Mirror, 22 November 1975

TRACKING DOWN the Trammps: you'd think a group who had three big hits this year would be easy to find, right? ...

KC & The Sunshine Band: Los Angeles

Live Review by Todd Everett, New Musical Express, 29 November 1975

K.C. AND THE Sunshine Band, operating out of the T.K. Records complex in Hialeah, Florida, are at once one of the oddest and most commercial ...

Nosmo King: Northern White Soul: Nosmo King

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 29 November 1975

A TALK WITH Steve King... er no... Nosmo Jameson... er... oh, Nosmo King, that's it. A talk with Nosmo King.* ...

George McCrae: Growing Pains But It's Worth It All

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 9 December 1975

IN SOME ways, George McCrae has attained the impossible. Because if you consider the past, you'll find that virtually every artist who literally explodes on ...

Donna Summer: Casablanca Records' Neil Bogart (1976)

Interview by Jim Esposito, Rock's Backpages audio, 1976

The Casablanca Records mogul gives his record industry background, selling bubblegum, radio censorship, big-sellers Kiss and, extensively, about Donna Summer and her disco/sex smash 'Love To Love You Baby'. Read a transcript of the audio.

File format: mp3; file size: 42.8mb, interview length: 46' 45" sound quality: ***

KISS, Hugh Masekela, Parliament, Donna Summer: Casablanca Records' Neil Bogart (1976) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Jim Esposito, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1976

This is a transcript of Jim's 1976 interview with the Casablanca disco mogul. Listen to the audio of this interview.  ...

Donna Summer (1976)

Interview by Jim Esposito, Rock's Backpages audio, 1976

Disco Diva Donna on living and working in Europe; meeting Pete Bellotte and Giorgio Moroder; her family background in Boston and being a rebellious schoolkid, and tells us all about the making of the epochal 'Love To Love You Baby'.

File format: mp3; file size: 66.4mb, interview length: 1h 12' 28" sound quality: ***

Donna Summer (1976) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Jim Esposito, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1976

Jim Esposito speaks to Donna Summer. Listen to the audio of this interview.   ...

B.T. Express, Gloria Gaynor, Tom Moulton: Tom Moulton, Father of the Disco Mix

Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Black Music, January 1976

TOM MOULTON is the behind-the-scenes figure of disco music. His name has appeared on the credits of discs by Gloria Gaynor, B.T. Express, Bobby Moore, ...

Faith Hope & Charity, Van McCoy, The Stylistics: Van McCoy: The World's Oldest Disco Kid

Interview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, January 1976

VAN McCOY has crossed the ten million sales mark with 'The Hustle', a dance tune which will rank in influence with 'The Twist'. Yet the ...

James Brown, Silver Convention: Disco: "Who's that on the jukebox?" "Who cares?"

Overview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 January 1976

ROGER ST. PIERRE considers what the disco boom has done for soul, and reviews forthcoming action on the soul scene. ...

Donna Summer: Love To Love You, Baby (Reprise) (GTO 008) ***

Review by Davitt Sigerson, Black Music, February 1976

'Love To Love You Baby'/'Full Of Emptiness'/'Need-A-Man Blues'/'Whispering Waves'/'Pandora's Box'/'Full Of Emptiness' ...

Donna Summer: Long Hot Summer

Interview by David Hancock, Record Mirror, 7 February 1976

AS THE purring of the telephone becomes a definite ring Donna Summer reaches blindly across crumpled sheets to silence the damn thing. ...

The Salsoul Orchestra: The Salsoul Orchestra (Epic)

Review by Miles, New Musical Express, 14 February 1976

I ASKED Paul Atkinson, who decides these things at CBS, why he was releasing this album here. ...

Donna Summer: Prima Donna!

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 17 February 1976

GETTING A record banned by the dear of BBC is as surefire a way of getting a hit as I know of and it's a ...

The Trammps: Zing Went Bummie And The Bums...!

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 17 February 1976

THIS FEATURE could so easily have been devoted to – wait for it! – Bummie & the Bums! Who is this Bummie character I can ...

Archie Bell and the Drells: Dance Your Troubles Away (TSOP PZ 33844)

Review by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 26 February 1976

Do You Wanna Dance? ...

Tina Charles: Tina And A Tale Of A Toothbrush!

Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Black Echoes, 28 February 1976

IT BEGAN, as these things very often do, with a toothbrush. A brief pause before we continue, lest the unqualified mention of the hygienic appliance ...

Biddu, Tina Charles: Tina Charles: Tina's Six Year Itch

Interview by David Hancock, Record Mirror, 28 February 1976

TINA CHARLES to Rubber Duck: "He's probably prevented me from getting to No. 1 which is a bit disappointing. I was looking forward to the ...

Donna Summer: Love To Love You Baby

Review by Jeffrey Morgan, Creem, March 1976

THIS ALBUM is to the disco scene what 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' is to rock 'n' roll and what 'Autobahn' is to electronic drone. Side One is seventeen ...

Eddie Drennon, The Fatback Band, M & O Band, Van McCoy: The Hustlers

Report by David Hancock, Record Mirror, 6 March 1976

TAKE A WALK down New York's bustling "barrio" and the chances are that some Puerto Rican will start hustling you. They can't help it, they've ...

Donna Summer: Love On The Road

Report and Interview by Richard Cromelin, Rolling Stone, 25 March 1976

BEVERLY HILLS – The question was: how do you take a recording-studio orgasm on the road? "I'm sort of eager to find out myself," Donna ...

The Salsoul Orchestra: Salsoul Orchestra: Salsoul Hustlers (Salsoul SZS 5501. $6.98)

Review by Mike Jahn, High Fidelity, April 1976

MORE THAN forty performers participated in the creation of this album, which nominally contributes to the current salsa trend but which in this case is ...

The Bee Gees: What Comes After Main Course: Barry Gibb & The Bee Gees on Top Again

Interview by Ian Dove, Phonograph Record, April 1976

BARRY GIBB considers Arif Mardin the main ingredient for Main Course's success. He adds: "Quite simply he's the best producer in the world for us. ...

Donna Summer: Oh, oh Donna

Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976

DONNA SUMMER had been asked the question before, but that was no reason why I couldn't ask again. ...

Tina Charles: Anglo Soul... Tina Charles

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 27 April 1976

IF YOU ask any New York disco follower which British name they most associate with their chosen musical path, I'll lay you odds-on that they'll ...

Donna Summer: A Love Trilogy (Oasis)

Review by Jeffrey Morgan, Cheap Thrills, May 1976

WHILE WE'RE ON the topic of sexual fantasies, allow me to state for the record that I'm personally into black leather (lots of it; and ...

Donna Summer: "Love to interview you, baby"

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 8 May 1976

A serious, valid and from the heart feature in the course of which Phil Sutcliffe had 93 orgasms... ...

Maxine Nightingale's Disco Hit: 'I Couldn't Dance to It'

Interview by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 20 May 1976

MAXINE NIGHTINGALE is puzzled by the success of 'Right Back Where We Started From', a song which has made her a star, pushed her marriage ...

Andrea True Connection: True Story

Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976

NEW YORK: After the success of Donna Summer's bump and grind discotheque-orientated single, 'Love To Love You Baby', it seems only natural that a girl ...

Ashford & Simpson: Come As You Are (Warner Bros. K56159) *****

Review by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 5 June 1976

CELESTIAL STUFF from Nick and Val, illustrious songwriters from the old Motown stable, who're now hitting the solo trail for the third time with Warner ...

Candi Staton: Young Hearts Run Free (Warner Bros. K56259)

Review by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 13 July 1976

WELL, IF ever an artist(e) was deserving of success, then that role belongs to the ever-lovely Ms. Candi Staton. Over the past half decade, she ...

Candi Staton: I'd Rather be a Disco Sweetheart than a Southern Soul Fool

Profile and Interview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, August 1976

"NO... 'YOUNG Hearts Run Free' wasn't cut with no discos in mind. I just did it, and when it came out we found the clubs ...

Donna Summer: The Great Rocking Orgasmic Renaissance of AM Radio

Special Feature by Jim Esposito, Oui, September 1976

(Which Considers The Question: Is Donna Summer Coming Or Going?) ...

Glenn Swings Out — Now It's Funky Shorts

Report by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 4 September 1976

Colin Irwin visits the Lacy Lady in Ilford, where deejay Chris Hill is leading a new disco trend. ...

Stuff et al: The 'Citteh'

Report and Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Black Music, October 1976

Davitt Sigerson investigates New York's soul music underground ...

Carol Douglas: The much-travelled Ms. Carol Douglas

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 19 October 1976

'Doctor's Orders' created a big demand for Carol in Europe and she still has a heavy working schedule. The lady took time out to bring ...

Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band: Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band: Really Something Else

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, November 1976

David Nathan spends an enlightening few hours with five very intelligent but pretty crazy people who are really shaking the industry up ...

The Bee Gees: Bee Gees: Children of the World

Review by Joe McEwen, Rolling Stone, 4 November 1976

FROM MUSHY pop ballads through late-Sixties psychedelia and low-key rock, the Bee Gees have demonstrated a chameleonlike ability to adapt to disparate pop trends. These ...

The Bee Gees: Nights on Broadway

Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976

BEE GEES: "The Beatles influenced us in the early days and before that Neil Sedaka. Now we let Stevie Wonder influence us." ...

Andrea True Connection: True Blue: Andrea True Connection

Report and Interview by Bruce Pollock, Viva, 1977

BACK IN THE prepubescent days of sex/rock, when I was but a novice covering the amateur porn scene like a groping middle finger, I rode ...

Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band

Profile and Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Black Music, January 1977

Davitt Sigerson Probes Into The Mind Of Stony Browder Jr. ...

Donna Summer: They're Gonna Put Me In The Movies

Interview by David Hancock, National RockStar, 15 January 1977

Donna Summer reveals all to David Hancock ...

Boney M: Take The Heat Off Me (Atlantic K50314) **

Review by Davitt Sigerson, Black Music, February 1977

ATLANTIC OBVIOUSLY felt that they should hop onto the German disco camel before the hump drains, and they've done it in a fairly competent way. ...

The Salsoul Orchestra: Salsoul Orchestra: Christmas Jollies (Salsoul SZS 5507) ****

Review by Davitt Sigerson, Black Music, February 1977

AFTER THE disappointing Nice & Naasty album, Vince Montana has come through with an uncompromisingly vulgar yuletide commercialisation, and it's simply splendid. On the first ...

Has Disco Soul Sold-Out?

Report and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 12 February 1977

"I TELL YA, man, the blacks have sold out. Listen to the music. No meanin', no feelin', it's all about one thing... dance, dance, dance. ...

Maxine Nightingale: "A Rich Hippie"

Interview by David Hancock, National RockStar, 19 February 1977

MAXINE NIGHTINGALE describes herself as "a rich hippie". That's how honest she is. ...

The Trammps: Disco Inferno (Atlantic)

Review by John Morthland, Creem, April 1977

If Where the Happy People Go showed the Trammps moving perilously close to routine disco, this followup is proof positive that good things can still ...

Loleatta Holloway: Soulfully Yours, Loleatta...

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 26 April 1977

WITH ALL the current trends taking everyone from Melba Moore to Eddie Kendricks and Thelma Houston into the 'disco' arena, it should come as no ...

The Trammps: Roseland Ballroom, New York NY

Live Review by Joe McEwen, Rolling Stone, 5 May 1977

A YEAR AND a half ago, the Trammps were a band of promise. They were also a lot of fun. Presided over by MFSB drummer ...

Arthur Prysock: Arthur Socks It To Ya

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 7 June 1977

AS RECENTLY noted in B&S' review of Mr. Arthur Prysock's 'When Love Is New', the time seems right for a number of gentlemen who've been ...

Candi Staton: sweet as ever, but "I van run producers up the wall!"

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 7 June 1977

Ms. Staton was well pleased with her B&S award for '76's Record Of The Year. She's very self-critical and tries to look at everything she ...

Sylvester: Old Waldorf, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 21 July 1977

Sylvester: A turn in the right direction ...

The Emotions, Gloria Gaynor, Thelma Houston, Grace Jones, The Salsoul Orchestra, Andrea True Connection: The Billboard Disco Convention: Disco Is Here To Stay

Report by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 11 October 1977

David Nathan reports from New York on the Billboard Disco Convention 1977. ...

Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer: Giorgio Moroder: Donna und Blitzen!

Interview by Robin Katz, Record Mirror, 15 October 1977

GIORGIO, Ms Summer's producer, gives the low-down on their sessions in the studio. ...

Amanda Lear: Blood Sex and Lears

Interview by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 29 October 1977

IN 1973 I fell in love. She was a photograph, a blue-black animal with a panther on a leash. She was with another, a man ...

Grace Jones: The New Dahling Of The Disco Set

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 22 November 1977

Jamaican-born Grace began as an actress and model in New York and Paris. Now she's fast building a reputation as Disco Queen. ...

Donna Summer: Once Upon A Time (Casablanca) *****

Review by Jane Suck, Sounds, 26 November 1977

I LOVE Sharon Tate, the Baader-Meinhof Gang, Donna Summer and ice cubes... oh, sod that for a lark. Who'd have thought that a concept (double) ...

Grace Jones: Graceful Jones

Interview by Robin Katz, Record Mirror, 3 December 1977

SHE'S SIX feet of slinking black tigress, a red hot property amid the beautiful jet-setting people and a smart cookie to boot. Her name is ...

David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer: New Musick: Disco

Essay by Davitt Sigerson, Sounds, 3 December 1977

A CLUB; members are photographed, beam-screened at the door, automatically invoiced. Large, low-ceiling, air-conditioned. Bland diffused light. Gunmetal grey walls, carpets, couches. Easily-read digital clocks, ...

Sylvester: How an ex-Cockette named Ruby Blue became Sylvester...

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 6 December 1977

How an ex-Cockette named Ruby Blue became Sylvester... ...

Loleatta Holloway (1978)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, January 1978

The disco diva on her forthcoming Queen of the Night album; on singing ballads and dance tracks; on how she works a crowd; on her gospel background and playing clubs with the Mighty Clouds of Joy... and how difficult she found the transition from gospel to secular music.

File format: mp3; file size: 22.4mb, interview length: 23' 21" sound quality: ***

The Bee Gees, Andy Gibb: How the Bee Gees captured America

Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 21 January 1978

"ONE OF the reasons for the Bee Gees' success," explains Robin Gibb at their rented Benedict Canyon home, "is that we've never used music as ...

Village People: Village People (DJM DJF20524)

Review by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 31 January 1978

'San Francisco'; 'In Hollywood'; 'Fire Island'; 'Village People' ...

Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, Kraftwerk, Ralph MacDonald, Giorgio Moroder, Parliament, Silver Convention, Donna Summer: Disco Doesn't Have to Mean Dull

Overview by John Swenson, Circus, 16 March 1978

International Technical Geniuses Discover Disco's Possibilities ...

The Bee Gees, John Travolta: Saturday Night Fever (X)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 25 March 1978

Directed by John Badham. Starring John Travolta (CIC) ...

The Bee Gees: Disco: They said the same things about the Tango

Comment by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 7 April 1978

"These new dances never lost their original reason for being — passion!" "If couples dancing these new steps could see themselves, especially from the rear, they ...

Kraftwerk: The Man Machine (Capitol EST 11728(1)

Review by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 6 May 1978

KRAFTY KRAUTS REALLY WERK! ...

Chic: How Chic's Bootlegged Single Became A Disco Smash…

Profile and Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 6 June 1978

REGARDLESS of whether you happen to be one of the many millions of people who now frequent discos on what has become a vast international ...

Bunny Sigler: Let Me Party with You (Gold Mind GZS-7502)

Review by Joe McEwen, Rolling Stone, 15 June 1978

FOR CLOSE to a decade, Bunny Sigler has been one of Philadelphia's best-kept secrets. His five-year association with Philadelphia International netted just two albums (though ...

Donna Summer: Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 1978

Donna Summer's Debut at Universal ...

Bunny Sigler: Bundino Sigalucci, Reluctant Songwriter

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 4 July 1978

With a couple of albums under his belt from his days with Philly International and his hit of '67 'Let The Good Times Roll' behind ...

Sylvester: The Second Step

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 15 August 1978

The man himself talks to John Abbey about his second Fantasy album, his attitudes, and his aims for the future. Another B&S exclusive... ...

Sylvester

Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Sounds, 26 August 1978

WEBSTER’S gives "Excessive, extravagant; Fanciful, fantastic; violent, unrestrained" as definitions of "outrageous". ...

Candi Staton: Disco Confuses Candi

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 12 September 1978

As long as she can remember, people have been dancing to Candi Staton's records. "It's just a new word for an old style," she says ...

Crown Heights Affair: Crown Princes of Disco!

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 12 September 1978

WHEN IT comes to disco acceptance, few groups have attained the peaks that New York's Crown Heights Affair have managed over the past three years. ...

Grace Jones: Fame

Review by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 30 September 1978

THE INSTANT reaction is to scoff at someone as blatantly marketable as Grace Jones. An astonishingly beautiful model, she prompts writers to haul their most ...

Sylvester the slinky cat

Interview by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 7 October 1978

I THOUGHT I TAW A PUDDYTAT A creepin' up on me. I DID! I TAW A PUDDYTAT As plain as he can be. ...

Sylvester: Step II (Fantasy FT549)

Review by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 7 October 1978

I'LL BET Sylvester loves being called outrageous, but that description fits his appearance far better than his music. Not that his album is unremarkable; it ...

Loleatta Holloway, Bunny Sigler: Loleatta Holloway: Queen Of The Night (Salsoul SSLP 1509)

Review by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 10 October 1978

THE LONG awaited second Gold Mind album from Loleatta and this time the lady is caught up with a myriad of production units. The whole ...

Sylvester: Step II (Fantasy F549)

Review by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 10 October 1978

SYLVESTER HAS carved a niche for himself in the disco world and his second Fantasy album will certainly consolidate his following around the nation's dancefloors. ...

Cerrone: The Product

Interview by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 21 October 1978

TIM LOTT examines the French disco machinery of Cerrone ...

Charo: Disco Comedienne

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 24 October 1978

The lady's natural wit made her a runaway success on America's chat shows and her debut album was an international winner. Now she feels she's ...

Disco Showdown in Oklahoma

Report by Joe Nick Patoski, Rolling Stone, 2 November 1978

YOU CAN BUY six-packs of beer at the gas station, find a good poker game most any night and, some say, even play slot machines ...

Donna Summer: Felt Forum, New York NY

Live Review by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 4 November 1978

Safe at the Forum ...

Gloria Gaynor: The First Lady of Disco

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 7 November 1978

Although she may not have been scoring as consistently on the charts in recent times, Ms. Gloria gaynor — the acknowledged "Queen of Disco" — ...

Loleatta Holloway: Queen Of The Night

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 7 November 1978

The 'Cry To Me' lady talks to B&S about her new disco following... ...

Chic, Norma Jean Wright: Norma Jean: The girl from Chic with that certain something...

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 7 November 1978

One of the brightest new stars on the horizon is a young lady whose voice has already been heard across the world. As lead singer ...

Giorgio Moroder, The Three Degrees: The Three Degrees: New Dimensions (Ariola); Giorgio Moroder: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Of Midnight Express (Casablanca)

Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978

TEN YEARS from now, some Nick Lowe with perfect recall will mimic the sound of Giorgio Moroder; for it defines and will come to represent ...

Dan Hartman, Edgar Winter: Hartman's Heartland

Interview by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 18 November 1978

BARRY CAIN meets former Edgar Winter Band member Dan Hartman — the man who made 'Instant Replay' one of the most instant of this year's ...

Heatwave: Heating Up the Disco Crowd

Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 18 November 1978

TO COME back from a very successful American tour to see your new single shoot into the chart at No 36 while making healthy strides ...

Grace Jones: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 4 December 1978

Grace Jones in an Exotic Pose ...

Patrick Adams, Musique: Patrick Adams: The Invisible Dance Master

Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 9 December 1978

PATRICK ADAMS rides by night as SINE, Cloud One, the Universal Robot Band and Musique. He's a young New Yorker with ineffable self-confidence and a ...

Disco: Sunday Afternoon Fever

Report by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978

THERE WERE two disco dancing championships in London on Sunday. The big one was the World Disco Dancing Championship 1978, sponsored by EMI Dancing and ...

Sylvester: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978

SYLVESTER, DISCO'S hermaphrodite darling, delivered one of the best shows in world history last weekend. ...

Sylvester: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 16 December 1978

WHAT A DRAG ...

Sylvester: Roxy, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 23 December 1978

Sylvester: Disco, Soul at the Roxy ...

Tavares: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 23 December 1978

TAVARES SEEM assured of fairly attentive, appreciative concert audiences for some time to come because they've managed to compile quite a sizeable catalogue of hits ...

Studio 54: Innocent Until Proven Decadent

Comment by Richard Goldstein, The Village Voice, 25 December 1978

IT OUGHT TO be possible to wish the combined forces of the IRS and the DEA well in their early morning raid on Studio 54 ...

Sylvester Steps Out...

Profile by Cliff White, Smash Hits, January 1979

THE READER who wrote to us last month asking whether Sylvester is male or female may be forgiven for his or her confusion. One of ...

Chic: A Day In The Life Of Chic

Report and Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 16 January 1979

So what actually happens when you have the No. 1 pop, r&b and disco record in the nation? How does an average day transpire and ...

Cerrone: Golden Cerrone

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 16 January 1979

As his new album implies, Marc Cerrone surely has that Golden Touch...in fact, the album reportedly shipped gold in seven countries! ...

Chic: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 27 January 1979

Cheers for Chic ...

Chic: Up Chic Creek

Interview by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 27 January 1979

THERE WERE so many good singles last year that when it came to deciding what I thought were the best 45s to show out, I ...

Chic: C'est Chic (Atlantic K50565)

Review by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 30 January 1979

THE FIVE piece Chic outfit have become one of disco's hottest properties and their 'Le Freak' hit is just about the most played record around ...

Amanda Lear: The Secret Life of Amanda Lear

Interview by Jeffrey Morgan, Creem, February 1979

SHE'S BEEN called everything from the Renee Richards of Rock to Miss Before and After Science of 1984. And although she's sold millions of albums ...

Alicia Bridges: Alicia Bridges (Polydor Super 2391 364) ****

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 3 February 1979

"IT'S A joke I've learned to live with/Being different from the crowd/They'd like to polish me up/Give me a trim/Water me down/And make me like ...

Chic: Est-ce que c'est Chic

Interview by Davitt Sigerson, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979

Yes, it is. For behind Chic's rags-to-Regine's success lies an understanding of style as cool as their musical intelligence. ...

Village People: People Are Strange

Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 10 February 1979

BUT CANCEL THAT BOOKING FOR THE YMCA, YOUNG MAN, 'COS VILLAGE PEOPLE AIN'T THAT STRANGE, CLAIMS HUGH 'MACHO MAN' FIELDER ...

Amanda Lear: Who's Afraid of Amanda Lear?

Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 10 February 1979

She lived with Brian Jones, and was Salvador Dali's protégé. She took David Bowie to see Metropolis, and watched him turn Fritz Lang into hit ...

Van McCoy Comes Out Of Retreat...

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 13 February 1979

Having now emerged from a somewhat less fruitful period, following his huge international smash, 'The Hustle', Van McCoy talks of his recent creative and emotional ...

Village People: The Annals Of Disco

Report and Interview by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 17 February 1979

DANNY BAKER tests the dancefloor action 1979 from uptown Manhattan to downtown Rotherhithe, interviews THE VILLAGE PEOPLE people, lays on a historical overview of Disco, ...

Celi Bee Spreads Her Wings

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 27 February 1979

WE GOT the opportunity to spear with Celi Bee (of Celi Bee & the Buzzy Bunch disco fame) on one of the lady's rare stopovers ...

Sylvester: Step Three...

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 13 March 1979

The man triumphed in both Disco sections of the annual B&S Poll but, surprisingly, tells us that his next album might actually be his last ...

Sylvester: War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 13 March 1979

Disco at the Opera House ...

Alicia Bridges: Ackshon Replay

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 24 March 1979

ALICIA BRIDGES OVER(COMES) TROUBLED WATERS, PUNS GARRY 'DISCO BOY' BUSHELLL ...

Gloria Gaynor: Palladium, London

Live Review by David Hancock, Evening News, London, 6 April 1979

Oh no Gloria .... you won't survive ...

Chic is less than meets the ear

Interview by Jim Farber, Rolling Stone, 19 April 1979

NEW YORK — The Barnum Room is a disco where any man who dresses like a woman can feel like a star. Even on this ...

GQ Present 'Gentlemen's Funk'

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 24 April 1979

David Nathan talks to the GQ quartet, currently scoring with their 'Disco Nights (Rock-Freak)' opus and finds that they label their music as 'gentlemen's funk'. ...

Sylvester: Stars (Fantasy, U.S. import)

Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979

AS A POP 45, Sylvester's symphonic recasting of 'I (Who Have Nothing)' has been a slow starter. Even coming off the massive crossover success of ...

Village People: Go West (Mercury)

Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979

FRONTIER experiments rise and fall, but showbiz pop goes on forever. It's always been that way, and there's nothing to suggest that the Eighties will ...

The Bee Gees: Spirits Having Flown (RSO)

Review by Richard C. Walls, Creem, May 1979

Good For Everything But Listening ...

Donna Summer: Bad Girls (Casablanca)

Review by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 19 May 1979

I'M SITTING here, the music is actionably loud, the bass is hitting right into the back of my neck, squarebashing on the spot, and – ...

Donna Summer: Bad Girls (Casablanca CALD 5007)***½

Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 26 May 1979

Open wide (Knoworramean?) ...

Blondie's Disco Detour: Big Seller or Big Sellout?

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 1979

"DEATH TO DISCO" T-shirts weren't an uncommon sight among the new wave audience that formed Blondie's first base of support. But, as it turns out, ...

Amii Stewart: Amii's knockin' on stardom's door

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 5 June 1979

B&S talks to the very talented Ms. Amii Stewart ...

Donna Summer: Hot Stuff

Interview by Robin Katz, Smash Hits, 14 June 1979

Robin Katz braves the heat to talk to the cool lady who's helped push disco to the forefront. ...

Sylvester: Mighty Real (Fantasy)

Review by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 16 June 1979

Dead Duck? ...

Anita Ward: The Bell Rings and School's Out

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979

THIS VERY day, 'Ring My Bell' has made it to number one in the British charts. The boys at TK records (who function from the ...

Anita Ward: Emergency Ward

Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 30 June 1979

Anita Ward rings PAUL SEXTON'S bells ...

Gloria Gaynor, Village People: Village People, Gloria Gaynor: Greek Theatre, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 30 June 1979

TONIGHT I learnt why discos are held indoors. The Beautiful People look a bit silly with water splashing around in their transparent sandals and rain ...

Chic: An Interview with Nile Rodgers

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, July 1979

David Nathan talks to Nile Rodgers, co-founder of the fabulously successful Chic, whose new album is being tipped as another world-beater. ...

Anita Ward: Anita rings chart bell

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 3 July 1979

'RING MY BELL' is just about the hottest dance property in the land right now and it introduces to the world a young lady from ...

McFadden and Whitehead: Startin' 'N' Stoppin'

Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 7 July 1979

PAUL SEXTON winds up old phillybusters McFadden and Whitehead ...

Sylvester: No Business Like Show Business

Essay by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 7 July 1979

ON HIS RECORD sleeves, Sylvester is definitely svelte. A pink shirt and a red rose. Spectacles and a cool look, like Arthur Ashe. My favourite ...

Van McCoy, Minnie Riperton Cut Down in Their Prime

Obituary by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 21 July 1979

WHEN LOWELL George died, a kind of half-hearted black joke about 'the season starting' was popular on many lips. In the brief space since his ...

Donna Summer: Bad Girls (Casablanca)

Review by Mitchell Cohen, Creem, August 1979

‘HOT STUFF’ just isn't that terrific a record, no matter what the charts or current critical backlash dogma say, and it doesn't do any good ...

Chic: Risqué

Review by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 4 August 1979

THIS TIME I really feel entitled to smile. ...

Chic: Risqué (Atlantic K50634)****

Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 11 August 1979

Chic at twice the price ...

James Brown: The Original Disco Man (Polydor Import)

Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 11 August 1979

THERE HE SITS, a sly grin splitting up his face to show a set of teeth worthy of a prize nag, his hair dixie-peached to ...

Candi Staton: The Four Phases Of Candi

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 11 September 1979

"It's about time that people realized that we can do more than change diapers and wash up dishes!" ...

Chic: The Art of Being Chic

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 9 October 1979

On the eve of their departure for their British concert dates, David Nathan talked to Chic about the chemistry that makes up their hit sound ...

Boney Mutiny

Interview by Tim Lott, Smash Hits, 18 October 1979

Seems life isn't so sunny after all for a brown girl in the ring, Liz Mitchell explains to Tim Lott. ...

Chic: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 20 October 1979

HAVING BEEN present at more disco live shows than any one mortal is entitled to or deserving of, I naturally feared the worst. ...

Chic: Perfection In Planning

Interview by Robin Katz, Smash Hits, 15 November 1979

Or Wolves in Chics' Clothing? Robin Katz finds out. ...

Sylvester: The Living Proof Of Disco's Heat

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 20 November 1979

'MIGHTY REAL' was, of course, one of Sylvester's biggest hits – his biggest in Europe, in fact. However, it is more than just the title ...

George Clinton: Mutiny On The Mothership — Uncle Jam Wants Out

Report and Interview by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 1 December 1979

Drummer Jerome Brailey and Horny Hornsman Fred Wesley have already quit Funkadelic – and now George Clinton is giving up live performances. Richard Grabel reports ...

Gloria Gaynor: Come What May, '79 Was Going To Be Gloria's Year!

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 18 December 1979

SO YOU thought Gloria Gaynor was still just the original Queen of Disco? You figured she might not be able to repeat the phenomenal success ...

KC & The Sunshine Band: Still KC After All These Years

Interview by Robin Katz, Smash Hits, 24 January 1980

Robin Katz traces the career of Harry Casey & The Sunshine Band ...

Dan Hartman: Relight My Fire (Blue Sky) *

Review by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 16 February 1980

DAN HARTMAN has obviously learned all he knows from listening to TV theme music. Shame he didn't pay more attention to the master — Aaron ...

Sister Sledge: We Are Family (Entertainment)

Report by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 5 April 1980

Greatest dancer: DANNY BAKER ...

Grace Jones: Starplex Armory, Washington DC

Live Review by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 26 May 1980

HOW GRACE Jones spent Saturday night at the Starplex Armory building: one entrance, many exits for costume changes and not much show in between. ...

Diana Ross, Jermaine Jackson: Diana Ross: Diana (Motown); Jermaine Jackson: Let's Get Serious (Motown)

Review by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 14 June 1980

The hit factory calls in the new technology ...

Chic, Diana Ross: Diana Ross: Diana (Motown 8033)

Review by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 17 June 1980

'Upside Down'; 'Tenderness'; 'Friend To Friend'; 'I'm Coming Out'; 'Have Fun (Again)'; 'My Old Piano'; 'Now That You're Gone'; 'Give Up'. ...

Chic, Diana Ross: Diana Ross: Diana (Motown STMA 8033)

Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 21 June 1980

WITH THE combined forces of the Chic Organization Ltd on the record, and with all the songs written, arranged, and produced by the Organization's Dynamic ...

Chic, Diana Ross: Chic Speak

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 12 August 1980

Chic's Bernard Edwards talks about the frustrations of being underestimated outside of the disco sphere; about the problems of producing the Diana Ross album; and ...

Odyssey: Hang Together (RCA 13526)

Review by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 12 August 1980

'Hang Together'; 'Never Had It At All'; 'Don't Tell Me, Tell Her'; 'Down Boy'; 'Follow Me'; 'Use It Up And Wear It Out'; 'If You're ...

Odyssey: The Venue, Victoria, London

Live Review by David Hancock, Evening News, London, 22 August 1980

Cute Odyssey ...

Grace Jones: The Devil in Ms Jones

Interview by Ronnie Gurr, Record Mirror, 23 August 1980

GRACE JONES asked for a massage. RONNIE GURR warmed the leatherette. ...

Grace Jones: This Year's Model

Interview by Mary Harron, Smash Hits, 4 September 1980

Mary Harron meets The Height Of Fashion ...

Chic, Diana Ross: DIANA stop DIANA stop DIANA stop DIANA

Report and Interview by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 20 September 1980

THE DPRESS CONFERENCE versus YOUR POCKET ...

Eumir Deodato, Kool and the Gang: Cruisin' with Deodato

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 21 October 1980

Eumir Deodato's interests have always spanned the whole musical spectrum, as reflected in his 1973 smash hit, 'Theme From 2001'. Currently, he's in the spotlight ...

Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, Kid Creole & The Coconuts: August Darnell: From Dr. Savannah to Kid Creole

Profile and Interview by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 15 November 1980

"To try to write love is to confront the muck of language: that region of hysteria where language is both too much and too little, ...

Linx: There's a Brand New Dance Going Around... FUNKIN' FOR BRITANNICA — Get Down & Stay Up

Report and Interview by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 15 November 1980

Hi there! I'm Chris Hill, main man and DJ to the sweating legions of British funkateers. NME have asked me to introduce this piece by DANNY BAKER, ...

Bush Tetras, James Chance & the Contortions: Why the Big Apple Lacks Real Bite

Report by Mary Harron, The Guardian, 7 February 1981

London's rock scene is fizzing, but New York's has turned flat. Mary Harron reports ...

Chic Gets Its Class Act Together

Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 8 February 1981

NEW YORK — Chic's 1978 hit, 'Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah. Yowsah, Yowsah)', was the kind of novelty record that can ruin an act's career. The ...

Sharon Redd

Profile by Paul Sexton, Smash Hits, 2 April 1981

FOR THE NEXT question, disco fans, try this one. What's the connection between the following two statements? ...

The Whispers: Disco: The Whispers

Interview by Robin Katz, Smash Hits, 30 April 1981

THE WHISPERS, who've just topped the success of 'And The Beat Goes On' with their latest smash, 'It's A Love Thing', have no hang-ups about ...

Coati Mundi, Cristina, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Was (Not Was): Michael Zilkha: The King of Mutant Disco

Profile and Interview by Mary Harron, The Guardian, 4 July 1981

Mary Harron meets the rich kid behind ZE Records' success. ...

Electro-Disco: Night Moves

Interview by Mike Stand, Smash Hits, 23 July 1981

Mike Stand gets the lowdown on electro-disco from Rusty Egan. ...

Grace Jones: In Between The Bumpers

Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 25 July 1981

Chris Salewicz goes behind the public face of Grace to discover that in the tall, exotic frame of a former model there's a little girl ...

Grace Jones: The Savoy, New York NY

Live Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 22 August 1981

THE FANFARE hardly pronounced itself...when out folds a larger-than-our-life toy monkey with a grass skirt on its bandy thighs and a big tin drum, swinging ...

Chic: Grandmasters of Chic

Interview by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 22 August 1981

Rodgers & Hart... Rodgers & Hammerstein... Rodgers & Edwards... The new age directors of organised rhyme get a witness in DANNY BAKER. ...

Grace Jones: Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London

Live Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 9 October 1981

AN AMAZONIAN former mannequin of Jamaican extraction, Grace Jones has become the toast of the jeunesse dorée lately arisen from the ashes of late-Seventies punk ...

Sylvester: Too Hot To Sleep (Fantasy/Honey import)

Review by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 10 October 1981

I COULD never really take Sylvester seriously, I had him filed away as an instantly disposable product of the confusion of the late Seventies. Now, ...

Grace Jones: Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 17 October 1981

GRACE: UNFAVOURED ...

Donna Summer: A Disco Queen is Born Again

Interview by Ben Fong-Torres, Austin American-Statesman, 1 November 1981

DONNA SUMMER is a puzzle. She's the Rubik's Cube of pop singers. you might say a multicolored, at least six-sided mystery. She steps onto the ...

Earth Wind and Fire: Raise! (CBS)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 14 November 1981

RAISE HIGH THE COSMIC BOOTY ...

Chic: Take It Off (Atlantic SD 19323)

Review by Don Waller, Los Angeles Times, 20 December 1981

CHIC ON A COLD STREAK ...

Material, Nona Hendryx: Nona Hendryx: Labelle-d By The Funk

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 16 January 1982

Paolo Hewitt sees eye-to-eye with NONA HENDRYX ...

Chic To Take The Disco Wraps Off Inspired Guitar Work

Profile and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore Sun, 6 February 1982

ANYONE WHO still suffers from the delusion that disco was simple, unchallenging music should listen again to Chic's hit single, 'Good Times'. Dig under the ...

Chic: Take It Off (Atlantic)

Review by Robot A. Hull, Creem, March 1982

THE TURNTABLE'S smouldering and the needle's popping. And there it is again: that unmistakable duel between Bernard Edwards' wrist-snapping bass work and Nile Rodgers' guitar ...

Chic, D-Train, T-Connection: Palladium, New York NY

Live Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 24 April 1982

FUNK ALWAYS has its conventions, routines and common signals. The difference between great funk and bad is in how they are applied. Funk needs a ...

Chic: Baltimore

Live Review by J.D. Considine, Musician, June 1982

APPEARANCES CAN be deceiving. As the rest of Chic pumped out the urgent, staccato vamp to 'Stage Fright', Nile Rodgers, Alfa Anderson, Luci Martin and ...

Soft Cell: Non Stop Erotic Dancing (Some Bizarre) **

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 19 June 1982

I'M NOT dancing, I'm sulking. Here we have a copy of Soft Cell's dance-mix album, a supposed treat, and I'm rooted to the floor. Church ...

Indeep: Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life (Sound of New York SNY 1201)

Review by Mitchell Cohen, High Fidelity, September 1982

THE IDEA behind Indeep is that in matters sexual, women have all the leverage. "You'd be a fool for a kiss," Rose Marie Ramsey says ...

The Boys Town Gang: Possibly The Most Boring Group In The World

Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 16 September 1982

The Boys Town Gang talk about Art, Expression and Being Very Creative. Dave Rimmer catches up on some kip. ...

Sylvester: Woofers And Tweeters

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 25 September 1982

HAD I BEEN expecting some shimmering trans-sexual diva to sweep into the room like a hostess into her salon, the rotund, maternal figure who welcomed ...

Shalamar: Dominion, London

Live Review by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 23 November 1982

SURPRISING AS it may seem, the hottest ticket in town at present is not for ABC, Yazoo or any other of the leading lights of ...

August Darnell, Kid Creole & The Coconuts: August Darnell Gets Even With Everybody (For Forcing Him To Make Race Music & Other Sins)

Interview by Iman Lababedi, Creem, December 1982

ON A hot Wednesday evening I'm playing flick-yer-bic with the dial on my television, you know: flick — Three's Company — flick — Masterpiece Theatre ...

Shalamar

Profile and Interview by Peter Silverton, Smash Hits, 9 December 1982

From just another American disco outfit to an extremely hip modern dance band in only a matter of months. Is it all down to Jeffrey's ...

Vince Montana: Montana Climbing

Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 8 January 1983

"WE'VE GOT an 18 lb turkey in the oven, the whole family's coming over." Is this a heavy vibe or is someone giving Vince Montana ...

Yello: Swiss Miss Vs. Yello Snow!

Interview by Richard Grabel, Creem, February 1983

NEW YORK — The disco boom of the mid-'70s was the first place to prove that club play was a viable alternative route for "breaking" ...

Sharon Redd: Embassy club, London

Live Review by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, 3 February 1983

SEEING REDD: Midnight at the Embassy club with Sharon. Neil Tennant watches from the shadows. ...

Indeep: Deep Throats

Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 5 February 1983

  "I WAS ROUND at the house of a friend of mine, and his sister was supposed to have a date. But she was stood up ...

Indeep and... chart high

Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 12 February 1983

SHE IS trapped in a vortex of conflicting emotion, torn between loss, desire and anger; left at home, alone, hanging on the telephone. ...

Madonna: First Bites: Madonna

Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 12 March 1983

IT'S NOT OFTEN that you find this rag covering an artist who wants to be the new Evelyn King and who numbers Michael Jackson as ...

Madonna: In Time with the Perfect Beat

Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 26 March 1983

THE WEEK Madonna arrived in London was the same week that the winter we thought had forgotten us called in. In circumstances like this, most ...

Chic, Sylvester: Chic: Tongue In Chic (Atlantic); Sylvester: All I Need (Megatone)

Review by Laura Fissinger, Creem, April 1983

(IN ORDER to take the following two extension courses, students must have successfully completed Disco 101, centered around this basic precept put forth by Chic ...

Grace Jones: Are You Ready For A Brand New (Disco) Beat?

Interview by Iman Lababedi, Creem, April 1983

IF I WAS writing in Australia for Tie Yer Kangaroo Down rock mag, or in Germany for Ach Tung – Der March Goes On, or ...

Afrika Bambaataa, Grand Wizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Larry Levan, The Sugarhill Gang: Hip Hop: The Music Centre

Report by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 14 April 1983

Ever wondered where Wham! and Malcolm McLaren got their ideas from? Or how rapping and scratching actually started? The answers lie in the Bronx — a borough ...

Madonna: Mad On A Dance Floor

Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, Flexipop!, May 1983

THESE DAYS I wake up more and more feeling death's breath around the corner as I near the winter of my years. It's so hard ...

Arthur Baker, John "Jellybean" Benitez: Burn This Disco Out

Report by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 21 May 1983

THE BEST DISCO IN NEW YORK IS THE FUNHOUSE WHERE SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER IS ENJOYING A RENAISSANCE WITH AMERICA'S TEENAGERS. RICHARD GRABEL INVESTIGATES THE NEW ...

Indeep: Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (Sound Of New York)

Review by Leyla Sanai, New Musical Express, 11 June 1983

IN AT THE DEEP END TOO SOON? ...

Larry Levan, Peech Boys: Peech Boys: Muscle Peech Party

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 27 August 1983

Paolo Hewitt checks for the Peech Boys' Console Companions Larry Levan and Michael "Mafia" Benedictus. ...

Kid Creole & the Coconuts: Doppelganger (Ze/Island)

Review by Chris Bohn, New Musical Express, 10 September 1983

BETWEEN OFF The Coast Of Me and Doppelganger lies an interval of only three years, yet already the odyssey of Kid Creole's search for his ...

Kid Creole & The Coconuts: City Hall, Newcastle

Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 17 September 1983

A KICK IN THE NUTS ...

Madonna: Madonna (Sire)

Review by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 1 October 1983

LAZY MADONNA ...

Donna Summer: Sermon chanted evening

Interview by Graham K. Smith, Record Mirror, 15 October 1983

DONNA SUMMER is a star. ...

Uncle Jam’s Army: Mobile Disco Dances To A Different Beat

Report and Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 30 October 1983

A GROUP OF MODS, coats festooned with badges of their favorite bands and likenesses of the "Two-Tone" man, snake around the perimeter of the dance ...

Man Parrish: Man (Parrish) Made Synth Dances

Interview by Iman Lababedi, Creem, November 1983

NEW YORK — Hands clap, a dog barks, a tonal drum pattern clicks, a bass drum pattern takes center stage, four notes from a synth ...

Peech Boys: N.Y.C. Peech Boys: Life Is Something Special (Island)

Review by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 1 November 1983

THE FIVE New York City Peech Boys have already made their mark around the discos of the world and this new album is destined to ...

Quando Quango: When To Quando And When To Quango

Profile and Interview by Chris Bohn, New Musical Express, 5 November 1983

MANCHESTER'S HONKY TONKIN' DISCO EXPORT ...

Peech Boys: N.Y.C. Peech Boys: Life Is Something Special (Island 7 900941)

Review by Mitchell Cohen, High Fidelity, February 1984

THERE ARE too many dance records that, like werewolves, lose their power in the glare of daylight. They may he frisky enough to get club ...

The Weather Girls: Fat Is Where It's At

Profile and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 24 March 1984

TWO TONS of fun, indeed! ...

Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, John "Jellybean" Benitez, Grand Mixer D.ST, Herbie Hancock, Whodini: Electro Therapy

Interview by Chris Roberts, Sounds, 14 April 1984

CHRIS ROBERTS raps to Morgan Khan about the Streetwave sensation. ...

Electro: The Beatbox Bites Back

Essay by David Toop, The Face, May 1984

1984: Two a.m. at The Funhouse and the giant video screen fills with the image of the Master O.C.'s hands scratching an Enjoy 12 inch. ...

Discotto Finds Way To Succeed In Italy

Report by Peter Jones, Billboard, 12 May 1984

MILAN — A new trend within the troubled Italian record business is for wholesalers to set up their own record production operations, mainly turning out ...

Evelyn Thomas, Gloria Gaynor, The Weather Girls: High Energy

Report by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 7 June 1984

It's a new type of dance beat. Hazell Dean's 'Searchin'' is High Energy; so are The Weather Girls, Gloria Gaynor and Evelyn Thomas. The charts ...

Shannon: "I'm The Same Old Shannon"

Interview by Ian Birch, Smash Hits, 2 August 1984

So says the one-time accountant from New York City who's now had three huge hits in Britain in only four months. Life's changed, but she ...

Change: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 4 August 1984

AT SOUL/FUNK celebrations like this it's a temptation to review the audience whose performance, in the service of adulation, is as spectacular as that of ...

Bronski Beat: St James Church, Piccadilly, London

Live Review by Leyla Sanai, New Musical Express, 11 August 1984

THE BRONSKIS have a knack of being roped in to playing unconventional venues but they always manage to cut through the atmosphere. ...

Divinely Yours

Profile and Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, September 1984

Glen Milston has dedicated his life to glamour, in the guise of the 'outrageous', 'disgusting' Divine. After a career in films and on stage, Divine ...

Donna Summer: Cats Without Claws (WE A 250 806-1)

Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 15 September 1984

TO BE honest I liked Donna better when she talked dirty to me. They may have been Giorgio Moroder records as much as they were ...

Donna Summer: Cats Without Claws (Warner Bros)

Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 22 September 1984

LOOKING DARKLY into her TV's eyes and chastizing it as media plasma, Donna sings of its ruptured picture: "From the next apartment we hear music/Bleeding ...

Chic, Nile Rodgers: Nile Rodgers of Chic: '80s Funk with 60s Roots

Interview by Gene Santoro, Guitar Player, November 1984

GUITARISTS SINCE Charlie Christian have spent a lot of time and effort trying to play guitar like a horn. Nile Rodgers does it differently; he ...

Divine: The Lyceum, London

Live Review by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 24 November 1984

"YOU'RE SO UGLY honey, in fact I wouldn't even fuck you with his dick." ...

Sylvester

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 1 December 1984

NOT EVEN the New York cool that infests a group like The Force MD's can prevent the obvious excitement that sweeps through them as Sylvester ...

Madonna (1984)

Interview by David A. Keeps, Rock's Backpages audio, Fall 1984

La Ciccone talks about making Desperately Seeking Susan: wanting the part; the producers Orion's doubts; screen tests etc., and getting the part; on not being an overnight success; her next single, 'Like a Virgin', and its video, including an encounter with a lion; her plans for the next year, including touring; aspects of her personality: eroticism, vulnerability, snottiness, and how she can be wooed.

File format: mp3; file size: 40.3mb, interview length: 41' 57" sound quality: ** (background noise)

London Clubbing: Neon Nights

Guide by Julian Henry, Ms London, 11 March 1985

Julian Henry helps newcomers to town find their feet in the glitter domes. ...

Ashford & Simpson: Ashford and Simpson: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 22 May 1985

TIME HAS revealed Ashford and Simpson to be the most enduring, adaptable — arguably the greatest — of all the great Motown songwriting teams of ...

Paul Hardcastle: The Hardcastle Dossier

Profile by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 13 July 1985

Trumpet blowing dept: In January RM predicted Paul Hardcastle would be one of the successes of '85. Now, the career overview by Paul Sexton ...

Colonel Abrams: Trapped!

Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 14 September 1985

The family history of Colonel Abrams probed by Paul Sexton. NB: this feature mentions Spandau Ballet and Stevie Wonder ...

Colonel Abrams: A Taste of 'Trapped'

Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 5 October 1985

COLONEL ABRAMS wishes to make it clear that he's not affiliated to any fast-chicken enterprises. SIMON WITTER's verdict: ear-lickin' good! ...

Paul Hardcastle: Re-Mixed Blessings

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, International Musician & Recording World, November 1985

Paul Hardcastle is a lot more than '19'. He has a recording back catalogue, an album in the pipeline and a huge reputation as a ...

Grace Jones: Slave To The Rhythm (ZTT)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 2 November 1985

THE SCENE: An unwashed and impolitely dazed Paul Morley stumbles into the ZTT offices one day. "But Trevor, the people are hungry for imagination, stimulation, ...

Divine: Palace Theatre, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 5 November 1985

AS A SINGER NOW, DIVINE ISN'T QUITE AS DIVINE ...

Street Sounds: E-Khan-Omics

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 16 November 1985

MORGAN KHAN is the financial wizard behind the phenomenally successful Street Sounds label, whose panache at marketing soul has helped to transform the Top 50. ...

Colonel Abrams: Finger Lickin' God

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 4 January 1986

Is Colonel Abrams trapped in the black ghetto of religion and air conditioned fame or is he a genuine soul crusader? Paolo Hewitt meets the man ...

Morgan Khan: Flag Day

Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 25 January 1986

StreetSounds supremo and entrepreneur of the modern dance MORGAN KHAN thinks the Welfare State sucks, that charity begins at home and that the Union Jack ...

Full Force: Full Force (CBS)

Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 1 February 1986

SIX RATHER burly black men dressed in tattered wealth and screaming about the street. Awesomely unpleasant haircuts, little sense and yet... ...

Masquerade: Morgan Khan: The groovy side of the street

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 14 February 1986

The entrepreneurial one-man band Morgan Khan talks to Adam Sweeting ...

Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers, Experience Unlimited (EU), Redds And The Boys, Trouble Funk: Crankin' That Go Go Gadget

Report and Interview by Richard Grabel, Creem, April 1986

THIS IS CRAZY. I'm in Cheriy's Roller Rink, in Northeast Washington, D.C. The place is filled with black teenagers, and even their younger brothers and ...

Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers, Experience Unlimited (EU), Redds And The Boys, Trouble Funk: Go Go Not Gone!

Report and Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 7 June 1986

Go Go all gone? Washington DC all fini? Not on your Nelly, argues Simon Witter, Go Go guru of the King’s Roadeo. The deaths of ...

JM Silk (1986)

Interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages audio, 24 July 1986

The Chicago House pioneers Steve 'Silk' Hurley and Keith Nunnally on the form's origins, the rip-offs of Rocky Jones and DJ International, Farley 'Jackmaster' Funk's kleptomania, and th linksback to NYC via Frankie Knuckles.

File format: mp3; file size: 47.8mb, interview length: 52' 12" sound quality: ***

Marshall Jefferson (1986)

Interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages audio, 24 July 1986

The 'Move Your Body' man on the people and clubs that beget House music, the endless Trax Records rip-offs, and a definition of House itself.

File format: mp3; file size: 38.9mb; Interview length: 42' 30"; sound quality: ***

Chip E., Frankie Knuckles, Marshall Jefferson: Chicago House: Last Night A DJ Saved My Life, Part 1

Report and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 16 August 1986

In the first of two instalments, Atlantic-hopping Frank Owen introduces DJ International, home of CHICAGO HOUSE music, the finest club beat of the moment ...

Candi, Darryl Pandy: Chicago House: Last Night A DJ Saved My Life, Part 2

Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 23 August 1986

At the centre of the House stands the figure of the deejay. But the Chicago Sound is not all cross-fading, mixing and sampling, as Frank ...

Farley "Jackmaster" Funk , Marshall Jefferson, Frankie Knuckles: Sample and Hold: The House Sound of Chicago

Report by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, September 1986

"Sue the bastards!" WE'VE BEEN IN Chicago for two hours now, and for reasons too ridiculous to explain we are sitting in an Armenian restaurant talking ...

Ron Hardy, JM Silk, Frankie Knuckles, Jamie Principle: Time To Jack: The House Sound Of Chicago

Report and Interview by Simon Witter, i-D, September 1986

Is House music the latest in a long line of Urban American dancefloor explosions – or the latest in a long line of record company ...

Farley "Jackmaster" Funk , Darryl Pandy: Darryl Pandy: Man About The House

Profile and Interview by Deanne Pearson, New Musical Express, 20 September 1986

DARRYL PANDY, featured vocalist on Farley Jackmaster Funk's 'Love Can't Turn Around', greets me at his hotel room door, resplendent in shimmering midnight blue dressing ...

Pet Shop Boys: Disco (EMI)

Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 22 November 1986

THE ART of the re-mix was perhaps debased forever by the whole Frankie fleece-the-punter exercise. Re-mixes have subsequently come to be cold-shouldered to isolated corners ...

Frankie Knuckles

Profile and Interview by Simon Witter, Unique, 1987

Eighteen months after it's commercial birth, House Music is getting stronger by the week. On his first trip to England Unique spoke to the scene's ...

Grace Jones: Inside Story (Manhattan Records)

Review by Glenn O'Brien, Spin, January 1987

PEOPLE THINK of Grace Jones as a disco queen. People think of her as Conan the Barbarian's sidekick. As just another James Bond villainess. As ...

The Shamen: Raga Rockin' Out

Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 3 January 1987

THE MAN HAS become the bane of my life. He telephones me every day, usually more than once. I meet him in the haze of ...

Cookie Crew, Schoolly D, The Three Wise Men: Rhythm King Records: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Kings

Profile and Interview by James Brown, Sounds, 24 January 1987

Somehow, somewhere James Brown became a fast-chat, no-flab funker. And he did it with the help of Rhythm King, Britain's leading dance indie label. Since ...

Grace Jones: Inside Grace Jones

Interview by Gene Santoro, Pulse!, February 1987

A Story About Film, Fashion and Fresh New Sounds. ...

Sylvester: Mutual Admiration Time

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 3 February 1987

For his new Mutual Attraction album, Sylvester has cut his version of Stevie Wonder's 'Living For The City', which he first heard at a club ...

Arthur Russell: Echo Beach

Profile and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 11 April 1987

YOU MAY KNOW ARTHUR RUSSELL FOR HIS WORLD OF ECHO ALBUM. THEN AGAIN, YOU MAY REMEMBER DINOSAUR L OR THE NECESSARIES OR... WELL. FRANK OWEN TAKES US ON A TRIP ...

The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu: Feeling The Pinch

Interview by James Brown, Sounds, 16 May 1987

Who the hell has ever illegally sampled and mixed James Brown with AC/DC, Dave Brubeck with Led Zeppelin, Abba with The Fall, Samantha Fox with ...

Frankie Knuckles: Groovemaster No.1: Frankie Knuckles

Profile and Interview by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 20 June 1987

IN 1980, Chicago was the centre of the anti-disco campaign that was, at that time, sweeping America. Two local DJs, Steve Dahl and Jerry Meier, ...

JM Silk: Moving House

Profile and Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 20 June 1987

2008 NOTE: It's a cruel irony that JM Silk now seem like a footnote in music history, given that they were the act that broke ...

The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu: 1987 — What The F**k Is Going On (The Sound Of Mu)

Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 20 June 1987

LICENSED TO THRILL ...

Mel & Kim: The Eliza Doolittles of Pop

Interview by Stuart Bailie, Record Mirror, 4 July 1987

Only there ain't no Professor 'iggins needed for Mel & Kim; fings is well and truly goin' like the clappers, they're looking forward to their ...

The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu: Physical Graffiti

Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 4 July 1987

THEFT, NOISE, FUN, SEX... UH... THEFT... THE JUSTIFIED ANCIENTS OF MU MU HAVE JUST PUT OUT AN ALBUM WITH A SWEAR WORD IN THE TITLE ...

Paul Oakenfold: DJ Of The Month

Profile and Interview by Simon Witter, i-D, August 1987

PAUL OAKENFOLD, apart from being one of the harder working men in showbusiness, is a perfect example of the late 80s London soul phenomenon: the ...

Derrick May, Frankie Knuckles: Back To Jack

Report and Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 15 August 1987

2008 NOTE: One year after the big bang of house hype, I was back in Chicago to investigate the latest developments – among them Acid ...

AR Kane, Colourbox, M/A/R/R/S: M/A/R/R/S: Ain't Nothing But A Hip-House Party

Report and Interview by Robin Gibson, Sounds, 19 September 1987

What happens when two cult acts on 4AD — AR KANE and COLOURBOX — meet on the dancefloor of the recording studio? They create M/A/R/R/S and a ...

John "Jellybean" Benitez, Madonna: Jellybean Benitez: Spinning the Globe

Interview by David Toop, The Face, October 1987

First it was Jellybean the DJ playing disco in a Bronx salsa club and helping launch post-video game dance music from New York's Funhouse. Then it was Jellybean the producer working with megastars like Whitney Houston and Madonna. ...

JM Silk, Darryl Pandy, Joe Smooth and Full House: Darryl Pandy, JM Silk, Joe Smooth and Full House: The Chicago Jackmaster House Tour, Town And Country Club, London

Live Review by Damon Wise, Sounds, 28 November 1987

TWO UP, TWO DOWN ...

Krushed With The Reels Of Industry

Report and Interview by Ben Thompson, New Musical Express, 12 December 1987

As the East Midlands house of KRUSH arrests a nation with its jack-knife beat, BEN THOMPSON meets FON's latest sampling superstars. ...

T-Coy: Union Jack: The British House Boom

Report by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 12 December 1987

If you thought House music was an imported irritation that would jack off as quickly as it came, your worst nightmare is about to become ...

Fingers Inc.: Another Side

Sleeve notes by Simon Witter, Jack Trax/Indigo Music, 1988

2009 NOTE: I wrote a few album sleevenotes in the 80s, but none that I was more chuffed to have been asked to do than ...

M/A/R/R/S

Profile and Interview by David Toop, Spin, January 1988

M/A/R/R/S BEGAN AS A collaboration between Martyn and Steve Young of the 4AD band Colourbox and Alex and Rudi of A. R. Kane. ...

Arthur Baker, New Order: Arthur Baker: Legends of Arthur

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 9 January 1988

What do current chart hits by New Order and Wally Jump Junior have in common with a new House version of John Coltrane's masterpiece 'A ...

Joyce Sims: Plain and Simple

Interview by Edwin J. Bernard, Record Mirror, 23 January 1988

CONSIDERING JOYCE Sims has made her mark forging a co-operation between soul and hip hop, her upbringing and lifestyle could hardly have prepared her for ...

Jamie Principle: Acid House: New Acid Daze

Report and Interview by John McCready, New Musical Express, 6 February 1988

As our charts bulge with British House, so its big American brother trips off in a new direction. Spacier and racier, mesmeric and dis(c)oncerting – ...

Enter The Acid House

Report by John McCready, New Musical Express, 6 February 1988

As our charts bulge with British House, so its big American brother trips off in a new direction. Spacier and racier, mesmeric and dis(c)oncerting – ...

The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu: Who Killed The JAMS? (KLF Communications JAMS LP 2)

Review by Robin Gibson, Sounds, 13 February 1988

A LAST STAND AT THE DISCO ...

The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu: Who Killed The JAMs (JAMs LP only)

Review by Edwin Pouncey, New Musical Express, 13 February 1988

MILKING THE MU MU ...

The Shamen: Shamen Scandal: Angus At The Fungus

Interview by Robin Gibson, Sounds, 20 February 1988

The hip hop psychedelia of Aberdeen's THE SHAMEN probably has its roots in the mushrooms that grow in abundance along the North East coast. ROBIN GIBSON sips ...

Pet Shop Boys: Cheeseburgers, Carrot Cake and Coffee (yum!?)

Report and Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 27 March 1988

That's the rather odd "combination" that the Pet Shop Boys seek out when they have some time to "kill" in New York. "I'll have some ...

The Badder the Better: Soulboy Life in London

Report by Paul Wellings, The Evening Standard, 31 March 1988

IN LONDON TOWN, they’re funking till they’re raw. From badland clubland they’ve voted with their feet for black soul music. Pirate stations like ...

S'Express: Full Theme Ahead

Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 2 April 1988

DO YOU EVER get to see daylight, Mark? ...

The Shamen: Mind Over Matter

Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 7 May 1988

GETTING INTO A LATHER OVER THEIR LAGER (OR IS IT VICE VERSA?), THE SHAMEN ARE SETTING NEW STANDARDS IN PSYCHEDELIA. IAN GITTINS SCRATCHED THEIR IRRITATION. ...

Gary Glitter, The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu: The JAMS: Wizards of Scam

Report and Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 25 June 1988

While hundreds of hippies besieged Stonehenge, three mysterious cloaked figures slipped through the security net to pay their own strange homage to the Summer Solstice. ...

Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson: Techno: Don't Fear the Robot

Overview by John McCready, New Musical Express, 16 July 1988

TECHNO – a new Detroit sound vibration – is rocking the House of the future. John McCready checks out the credentials of the Third Wave ...

Beats Workin': Turn On, Drop Out

Report and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 16 July 1988

Methylenedioxymetheamphetamine, aka Ecstasy has been described as a "love drug" and "a new age mind bender". Whatever, there is no doubting its effect on a ...

Electra, Paul Oakenfold: Electra: Age of Chants

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 30 July 1988

Club DJ makes record shock! PAOLO HEWITT talks to PAUL OAKENFOLD, the man behind ELECTRA'S 'Jibaro', about his faith in the new Balearic Beat. ...

Paul Oakenfold, Danny Rampling: From Acid House to the Balearics

Report by David Toop, The Times, 18 August 1988

What is the link between acid and House, between Ibiza and a music that does not exist? ...

Paula Abdul: Fresh: Paula Abdul

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 30 August 1988

AS HER Virgin Records' biography so accurately states, Paula Abdul has the distinction of having won music awards before her first single ('Knocked Out') was ...

Todd Terry: Can You Feel It?

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, October 1988

LONDON, JULY. The police, finally twigging onto the city's thriving house scene, raid a warehouse just south of the river. As is usual on such ...

Todd Terry: Royal House: Can You Party? (Idlers Records Import LP Only)

Review by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 8 October 1988

TERRY IS the 21-year-old enfant terrible of House, a sci-fi producer who has turned the rules of the game on their heads and left a ...

Jive Turkey

Report and Interview by Jon Savage, The Observer, 13 October 1988

IT'S 8.45 ON A typically crisp Friday evening in Sheffield. The queue is already beginning to lengthen, even though the doors to the City Hall ...

Bomb The Bass: Into The Dragon (Rhythm King)

Review by Push, Melody Maker, 15 October 1988

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE to know where to begin with Bomb The Bass. Tim Simenon, part joker, part scientist, part funny, furry hat, doesn't know either, even ...

Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Paul Rutherford (1988)

Interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages audio, 19 October 1988

Rutherford talks about the end of Frankie and life after, his move into dance music and clubbing, and working with ABC.

File format: mp3; file size: 47.6mb, interview length: 52' 02" sound quality: ***

Paul Oakenfold: "Acid is going underground. It's got to go that way because of all the fuss. The media are out to kill it"

Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 22 October 1988

So where do we go from here, matey? Acid guru PAUL OAKENFOLD talks to Paolo Hewitt ...

Todd Terry: All On His Todd

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 5 November 1988

TODD TERRY, the name if not the face of 1988, is possibly the ultimate producer, refusing to become a performer or even enter a "proper" ...

Tom Tom Club: The Borderline, London

Live Review by Push, Soho News, 9 November 1988

FROM THE OPENING ripple of 'Little Eva' to the parting shot that is 'Psycho Killer', this is – note for note, word for word – ...

Acid Crackdown: Get Right Off One Chummy

Report by Paolo Hewitt, Sean O'Hagan, Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 19 November 1988

With the hysteria now reaching fever pitch and questions being asked in the (non-Acid) House, NME calls a time out to assess the damage in the tab-mad ...

Acid Crackdown: Sunrise III, Greenwich

Report by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 19 November 1988

2003 note: Sunrise III, which took place in November 1988 on an industrial wasteland that would later house the Dome, was a pivotal event in ...

Kym Mazelle And The Post-Acid World Of DEEP HOUSE

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 26 November 1988

With Acid House — the music not the lifestyle — being phased out after a summer of madness, what's next for the turntable terrors? Deep House, ...

Blaze, Marshall Jefferson, Jomanda, Kym Mazelle, Ce Ce Rogers, Ten City: Post House: Paradise Regained

Report by David Toop, The Face, December 1988

When New York's Paradise Garage closed, the city lost part of its pulse, leaving only a brand of Eighties disco called Garage. In Chicago, it ...

Bomb The Bass: Smiley's People

Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 3 December 1988

THE PHENOMENAL SUCCESS OF BOMB THE BASS THIS YEAR HAS USHERED IN A PLETHORA OF DJ CUT RECORDS WHICH ARE NOW ASCENDING THE CHARTS. EVERETT ...

Neneh Cherry: Cherry On Top

Interview by James Brown, New Musical Express, 3 December 1988

After spells in the hyper-trendy but hit-starved Rip Rig And Panic and Float Up CP, NENEH CHERRY is about to burst into the charts with ...

Yazz: The Benetton Skeleton Gets It On

Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 3 December 1988

Who is this seaweed munching ex-clothes-horse YAZZ person? And why am I covered in bark? asks STEVEN WELLS. ...

Bomb The Bass: The Hawth Centre, Crawley

Live Review by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 10 December 1988

PUMP UP THE CONCEPT ...

Marshall Jefferson: Let's Get Spiritual – Deep House

Report by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 10 December 1988

As House approaches its third birthday, and the classical club sound of Deep House and Garage Music asserts itself on Acid-fatigued dancefloors, SIMON WITTER reports ...

1988: Acid House

Overview by Push, Melody Maker, 24 December 1988

AT THE BEGINNING of this year a House record would have cleared the majority of London's dancefloors. ...

Genesis P-Orridge (1988)

Interview by Richard North, Rock's Backpages audio, Fall 1988

Mr P-Orridge talks at length about psychedelics, acid house, sexuality, ritual, Tantra, and about Psychic TV, Throbbing Gristle and Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth.

File format: mp3; file size: 125.7mb, interview length: 2h 17' 19" sound quality: ***

Techno: A Bluffer’s Guide

Guide by John McCready, The Face, 1989

TECHNO HAS turned ordinary record buyers into badly-informed technology obsessives. ...

Acid House

Report by Sean O'Hagan, Spin, January 1989

A heady mix of sex, drugs, and trance dance music, Acid House has swept England with a wave of hedonism and made going out fun ...

Acid House: The Selling Of Smiley Culture

Report by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, January 1989

Like punk before it, acid house was a cult fanned by the media into a mass market industry. Major labels latched on to the music, ...

Neneh Cherry: What Is She Like?

Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 11 January 1989

She's the new pop sensation that's sweeping the nation! Yeah, even as we speak her corking tune 'Buffalo Stance' is hurtling its way up the ...

Cash Money and Marvelous, Kariya, Todd Terry, T La Rock: T La Rock, Kariya, Cash Money & MC Marvelous, Todd Terry: The City Never Sleeps

Interview by Damon Wise, Sounds, 14 January 1989

Rap is being squeezed out of the clubs, but in New York the scene is still vibrant and growing. At its forefront is the hugely ...

Yazz: Hello Trees, Hello Sun, Hello Flowers, Hello Yazz!!

Interview by Sylvia Patterson, Smash Hits, 25 January 1989

There's lentils in the air, readers, as Yazz delves into her "cosmic" psyche and tells us we should love ourselves and that our voices are ...

Neneh Cherry: A Gap in the Rap

Interview by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 25 January 1989

Neneh Cherry is one of many women invading the hip hop scene ...

Jean-Paul Gaultier: Club Couture

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 28 January 1989

After years of being afforded the status of pop star in his native France, fashion designer JEAN-PAUL GAULTIER has gone and done it his way ...

Ten City: New Soul Children

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 4 February 1989

Spurning the sampler and the radio-friendly fast buck, Chicago's TEN CITY are committed to rekindling the spirit of classic soul. With 'That's The Way Love ...

The Shamen: In Gorbachev We Trust (Demon)

Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 4 February 1989

THE SHAMEN may indeed, as Steve Sutherland said, be a band whose time has come. For over three years now they've been drilling away, obsessed ...

Marshall Jefferson: Marshall Lore

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 18 February 1989

Over the last three years, former post office worker MARSHALL JEFFERSON's work as producer, writer and arranger, has resulted in some of the best House ...

The Strange Odyssey Of Acid House

Report by Cynthia Rose, Dallas Observer, 23 February 1989

LONDON – On February 9, 1989, the mutant musical movement known as Acid House made it into The Dallas Morning News for the second time ...

Men in Vogue, House Style

Report and Interview by Jon Savage, The Observer, 26 February 1989

Ritualised violence, style and beauty make up the male world of Voguing: the new dance from New York's ghettos. ...

S'Express: Original Soundtrack (Rhythm King, Left C8)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 17 March 1989

MARK MOORE, the mind behind S'Express's explicit body music, is the most interesting exponent of the blender-culture aesthetic, besides being its most commercially adept. He ...

Philip Glass, S'Express: S'Express: Disorderly House

Profile and Interview by Bruce Dessau, The Guardian, 17 March 1989

Mark Moore and S'Express have taken British music one step beyond the Acid House formula. Bruce Dessau reports ...

Madonna: Like A Prayer (Sire 925 844)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 24 March 1989

On the button ...

Kym Mazelle, Ten City: Ten City, Kym Mazelle: Town & Country, London

Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 27 March 1989

Beyond the beat ...

Ten City: Mean Housin' Muthas From Chicago!!

Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, April 1989

As opposed to "mean rockin' muthas from hell" (haw haw). Tom Doyle gasps at their tale of dubious street gangs and teetering high heels and ...

Coldcut: What's That Noise?

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 8 April 1989

First grabbing the world's ears with their remix of Eric B And Rakims 'Paid In Full' the COLDCUT crew of Matt Black and Jonathan Moore ...

Kym Mazelle, Ten City: Ten City, Kym Mazelle: Town and Country Club, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 8 April 1989

KISS IT BETTER ...

A Guy Called Gerald: Voodoo Guru

Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 15 April 1989

Despite the praise heaped on A GUY CALLED GERALD'S hypnotic first single, 'Voodoo Ray', nothing much seemed to happen. Then the single hit the clubs ...

A Guy Called Gerald: Moss Side Shuffle

Interview by John Robb, Sounds, 29 April 1989

A Guy Called Gerald explains to John Robb why his aims are wider than mere chart success ...

Frankie Knuckles: The Godfather

Report and Interview by John McCready, The Face, May 1989

AS YOU'RE assaulted by yet another PWL production — the legacy of House lives on in 'I'd Rather Jack' — this question may or may ...

Yazz: How to Make £25,000 a Night and End Up Skint

Report by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 3 May 1989

You call yourself Yazz, charge 3,000 people £8.50 each to come and see your concert and then give it all away to fat sweaty blokes ...

Todd Terry, T La Rock: Fridge, Brixton, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 May 1989

ONE MOMENT you're doubled up with paroxysms of laughter, the next you're seized with rhythmic convulsions. Suddenly, everything makes sense — Todd Terry isn't past ...

Yazz: City Hall, Sheffield

Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 6 May 1989

THE BANANA FROM OUTER SPACE ...

Yazz: City Hall, Sheffield

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989

THE NEWS Of The World was uppermost in my mind as a deafening, amphetamined version of the Batman theme presaged Yazz's arrival. Did you see ...

A Guy Called Gerald: Journey To The Centre Of House (In Search Of A Guy Called Gerald): High On Hope, MFI, The Jayne Parade, Sin; London

Live Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 20 May 1989

HOUSE SEARCH ...

Inner City, Marshall Jefferson, JM Silk, Frankie Knuckles, Ten City: House Music: The Blues for Dance

Report by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 1989

The new sound pumps up the volume and eyes a move from R&B underground to the pop mainstream. ...

Ten City: Foundation (Atlantic)

Review by Frank Owen, Spin, June 1989

I, A HONKY away-from-homeboy, first heard the deep house anthem 'Devotion' by Chicago's Ten City (here included along with their other two club hits, 'That's ...

Neneh Cherry: Ma Cherry Amour

Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 3 June 1989

NENEH CHERRY is a different style of woman, a popstar determined to be real, not plastic, positive and above all herself. With her single 'Manchild' ...

The Shamen: The Pleasure Principle

Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 3 June 1989

FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS OFTHEIR LAST ALBUM, IN GORBACHEV WE TRUST, THE EXPLOSIVE PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORERS HOPE TO EXPAND THEIR HORIZONS WITH THEIR NEW MINI-LP, PHORWARD. IAN ...

Neneh Cherry: Raw Like Sushi (Circa)

Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 10 June 1989

CHERRY-OH BABY ...

Neneh Cherry: Raw Like Sushi (Circa)

Review by Push, Melody Maker, 10 June 1989

RAW CUTS ...

Baby Ford: Revolution Baby

Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 17 June 1989

WITH TWO HITS UNDER HIS BELT AND A TECHNO-HOUSE VERSION OF T. REX'S 'CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION' RELEASED THIS WEEK, BABY FORD LOOKS SET TO ...

Chaka Khan, D Mob: D Mob: Mixing With The Mob

Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 24 June 1989

From DJ to A&R man, to the mixmaster behind D MOB's summer of '88 hit 'We Call It Acieed', DANNY D has moved on to ...

Pet Shop Boys: The Pet Shop Boys: The double exposure

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 7 July 1989

Previously glimpsed only on videos and record sleeves, the Pet Shop Boys are going live. Mark Cooper previews their materialisation ...

Pet Shop Boys: The Pet Shop Boys: NEC Arena, Birmingham

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 17 July 1989

All good guilty fun. Adam Sweeting watches the Pet Shop Boys come to life ...

Club Scene: New York City

Report by Richard North, New Musical Express, 29 July 1989

"IN NEW YORK, you don't need a reason for murder, just an occasion," says one clubber. He's talking about the recent shooting at THE WORLD ...

Inner City: Big Fun (Virgin)

Review by Frank Owen, Spin, August 1989

BACK IN THE late 70s, Detroit DJ the Electrifyin' Mojo would climax his nightly progressive funk'n'rock show with an on-air ceremony he called "Landing the ...

Whose Smiley Now?

Report by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, August 1989

THERE WERE stories of people dancing to police sirens, traffic noises, anything to stretch the Summer Of Love out a little longer, but never before ...

Soul II Soul: The Palladium, New York

Live Review by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 5 August 1989

SQUEEZED BETWEEN the hard core Hip-hop of Red Alert and DJ Mark The 45 King, the US dance remix of 'Keep On Movin'', holds its ...

Neneh Cherry: Raw Like Sushi (Virgin) ***½

Review by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 10 August 1989

TALK ABOUT a sign of the times: Earlier in the decade, Neneh Cherry was a peripheral member of the postpunk warriors the Slits, then played ...

Boy's Own Party: East Grinstead

Live Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 2 September 1989

BY THE time we got to Grinstead we were... oops! Wrong summer of love...No wallowing in mud here, no bad acid, no teds and no ...

Adeva: Wild Thing

Interview by Helen Mead, New Musical Express, 2 September 1989

THE STARE came first, the voice second. ...

Adeva, Kool and the Gang, Van Dyke Parks: Kool and the Gang: Sweat (Phonogram 838233-1); Van Dyke Parks: Tokyo Rose (Warner Bros 925968-1)

Review by David Toop, The Times, 2 September 1989

Moving forward to the past ...

Richie Rich: Brixton Fridge, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 September 1989

RICHIE'S RICH PAGEANT ...

S'Express: Social Moores

Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 2 September 1989

WITH TWO NUMBER ONE SINGLES ALREADY UNDER HIS BELT, MARK MOORE WAS FINALLY CROWNED AS THE SVENGALI OF ACID SAMPLING WHEN PRINCE ASKED HIM TO ...

Andrew Weatherall: Terry Farley, Danny Rampling, Dave Dorrell, Andy Weatherall: Boy's Own Party, East Grinstead

Live Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 2 September 1989

BY THE time we got to Grinstead we were...oops! Wrong summer of love...No wallowing in mud here, no bad acid, no teds and no people ...

Adeva: Adeva! (Cooltempo CTLP 13)

Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 5 September 1989

AS THE New Jersey dance scene exploded onto UK dancefloors a few months back, there was always going to be a leader who helped its ...

Adeva: Warning Shots

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 5 September 1989

  ADEVA IS a challenge. Everything about her and her career challenges safe stereotypes normally associated with career-building black female artists, ministers' daughters and male-female relationships. ...

Studio 54 Co-Owner Steve Rubell Dead at 45

Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 7 September 1989

STEVE RUBELL, whose celebrity-studded New York discotheque Studio 54 was at the epicenter of the disco craze during the late Seventies, died July 25th in ...

Joyce Sims: All About Love (Sleeping Bag 823 1291)

Review by Mark Sinker, The Observer, 10 September 1989

DISCO'S FUTURIST variants Chicago House and Detroit Techno are machine-age musics that prefer motion to emotion, leaving mainstream R&B seeming old-form and narrow — only ...

Inner City: Paradise Postponed

Report and Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 23 September 1989

I CAME TO see 'Paradise'. I heard it, looked at it, sniffed it, and thought that I was in Kentish Town. In short, I was ...

Ecstasy: Easy Does It

Report by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 30 September 1989

This week NME devotes its Dance/Club page to a cool and unsensational look at the drug Ecstasy. Report by JACK BARRON ...

Soul II Soul: Funki Bold Demeanour

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 30 September 1989

• Current king of British clubs JAZZIE B is preparing to launch SOUL II SOUL even further ahead of the opposition-the summer soundtrack on both ...

Adeva: This Is A Warning

Profile and Interview by Frank Owen, Spin, October 1989

New Jersey has become a hothouse of hot house music. Adeva takes you there. ...

Chaka Khan: Life Is A Dance: The Remix Project (Warner Bros.)

Review by Frank Owen, Spin, October 1989

LIKE A DRUG, dance music needs harder and harder hits to sustain the same level of pleasure. What would have been a seismic drum track ...

Kym Mazelle: La Belle Mazelle

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 3 October 1989

Talented and resourceful Kym Mazelle discusses artists restraints and restraining the artist! ...

Malcolm McLaren: Deep in Vogue

Profile by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 5 October 1989

Malcolm McLaren looses another musical mutant ...

Chris & Cosey: Chris and Cosey: Trust (Capitol)

Review by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 12 October 1989

IT'S A beautiful world, where Chris and Cosey can inhabit the same record store as, say, Slim Whitman. Frigid and anti-human, and at the same ...

Black Box, Loleatta Holloway: Loleatta Holloway: It's My Record (And I'll Cry If I Want To)

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 21 October 1989

You might not know the name, but you'll have heard the voice of LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY. It was her earth-shaking vocal on Dan Hartman's 'Love Sensation' ...

Is Acid's Mr Big Really All Bad?

Report and Interview by Simon Witter, Sky, November 1989

Twenty-three-year-old gambler and whiz-kid entrepreneur Tony Colston-Hayter has been called Acid's Mr Big, Acid's Mr Fixit and The Acid King by the tabloid press because ...

Breaks For The Border

Report by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 25 November 1989

In search of Die Neue Deutsche Tanz (New German Dance) JACK BARRON travelled to Berlin to meet the artists behind the Teutonic Beats label — ...

Cat Glover, Prince: Cat Glover: Cat O' Fine Tales

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 25 November 1989

You know her as the legs-akimbo sex kitten playmate of Prince, the undisputed star of the Purple One's lascivious shows and a fine singer to ...

Black Box: Daniele Davoli: This is the bloke who invented "Italian House"

Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 29 November 1989

  THE WORLD of pop is a funny and unpredictable thing, isn't it? If someone had said last Christmas that the biggest pop craze in 1989 ...

Black Box, Loleatta Holloway: Black Box: This Means War!

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, December 1989

There's insurrection in the ranks. Stock Aitken & Waterman's supremacy has been overthrown by a troupe of battle-scarred no-holds-barred dance producers from Bologna. Phil Sutcliffe ...

Hip House

Report by Frank Owen, Spin, December 1989

Once divided by a well-guarded aesthetic border, the hip hop and house scenes are now mixing. And hip house is the new style. ...

808 State: 90 (ZTT ZTT2)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 1 December 1989

State of some confusion ...

Trevor Miller: Tripping Yarns

Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 2 December 1989

I FIRST meet novelist Trevor Miller at 5am outside a London rave called Method Air after a night of dancing so manic and intense it ...

Grace Jones: Ladies And Gentlemen, Disgrace Jones

Report and Interview by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 9 December 1989

GRACE JONES is a living, laughing legend. She's wrestled with James Bond, battered Russell Harty, and now she's back once again to sit on the ...

Kym Mazelle: Hell, Brixton Fridge, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 December 1989

HELL IS FOR HEROES ...

Neneh Cherry: So you think you know everything about Neneh Cherry?

Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 13 December 1989

(WELL YOU DON'T... as Chris Heath discovers) ...

Soul II Soul: Songs In The Key Of Life

Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 16 December 1989

WITH A STRING OF SUCCESSFUL SINGLES AND A STUNNING DEBUT ALBUM, SOUL II SOUL HAVE SPEARHEADED THE DANCE REVIVAL OF THE LATE-EIGHTIES AND LOOK LIKE ...

808 State, A Guy Called Gerald: House-proud

Report by Len Brown, The Observer, 17 December 1989

Techno-beat may have played itself out in the capital, but in Manchester it's the rhythm which has sparked a working-class musical revolution. LEN BROWN reports ...

Criminal Element Orchestra: Locked Up (Epic LP/Cassette/CD)

Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 6 January 1990

ARTHUR BAKER is generally credited with having several parts of his anatomy in touch with the living pulse of modern dance music. If this is ...

Coldcut, The Fall: Coldcut: Ring The Noise

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 20 January 1990

• And they said it wouldn't last! In the pop marriage of the'80s, COLDCUT producers Jonathan Moore and Matt Black invited Mark E Smith to ...

D Mob: Married To D Mob

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 27 January 1990

PAOLO HEWITT lays his hands on D mainman of D Mob, Dancin' Danny D ...

The Beloved: They Wanna Be Loved

Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 27 January 1990

THE BELOVED may have started life as dodgy New Order copyists with that ubiquitous Peel session under their studded leather belts, but now they're Dance ...

The KLF

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, The Independent, February 1990

IT WAS the poster claiming The KLF were to play live at a DJ convention in Amsterdam rather than – as they thought – just ...

Beats International: A Family Affair

Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 10 February 1990

SINCE LEAVING THE HOUSEMARTINS, NORMAN COOK HAS BEEN WORKING UP SOME SHARP DANCE GROOVES. PUSH INVESTIGATES HIS LATEST PROJECTS. ...

They're Raving Mad!

Report and Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 10 February 1990

Rave promoters gathered with Dance fans in London's Trafalgar Square last week to protest against proposed legislation to outlaw all-night parties. JACK BARRON joined the ...

Beats International: "Ngh-nngh-ngghh-ngh-nnunnugh!"

Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 21 February 1990

Hark! It's the sound of "Dub Be Good To Me — as invented by a bloke who used to be in the Housemartins and a ...

The Beloved: The names of the game

Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 9 March 1990

The Beloved are happy to be going in circles. Andy Gill talked to the band about their latest album. ...

Primal Scream, Andrew Weatherall: Primal Scream: Spring Loaded

Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 10 March 1990

The former darlings of indie rock may lose some deities with their new house-orientated single 'Loaded', but Primal leader Bobby Gillespie is determined to use ...

The KLF

Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 10 March 1990

Push reports on The KLF, Bill Drummond's new band who're at the forefront of the ambient house movement. After The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu ...

Black Box, Loleatta Holloway: Did that girl in BLACK BOX used to be a bloke?

Interview by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 21 March 1990

No! She's always been a lassie. But she did used to be a rugby player. Tom Doyle pokes his nose into the peculiar world of ...

Primal Scream: "We're heavier than Guns n' Roses... We're loose and loaded delinquent rockers."

Interview by Siân Pattenden, Smash Hits, 21 March 1990

Yikes! They're so tough! Practically all of Primal Scream have been in prison! They think they're dead sexy! They don't wash their hair! And they ...

Beats International: Let Them Eat Bingo (Go! Discs)

Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 31 March 1990

DEAD BEATS ...

Adamski, Paul Oakenfold, Seal, The Shamen: Adamski: Play for Today

Report and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, April 1990

First there were the raves, and a few imaginative DJs who mixed live music with the records.Then there was Adamski, and the madness that is ...

Beats International: Let Them Eat Bingo (Go Beat 842196-2)

Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 6 April 1990

Light beats from a bright cook ...

Grace Jones: "Born To F*** — I should get a tee-shirt saying that"

Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, 7 April 1990

THE ICE QUEEN MAY BE MAKING A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO MELT HER IMAGE AND BECOME MORE FEMININE, BUT SHE WAS STILL HARD ENOUGH TO BURY ...

The Shamen: No Right To Party: Acid House

Report by Mark Sinker, New Statesman, 14 April 1990

2005 note: Unforgivable as actual real journalism – I made no effort to represent the anti-drug position – this still works as a snapshot of ...

Happy Mondays, Primal Scream, Spacemen 3, The Stone Roses, Andrew Weatherall, Tony Wilson: Summer 1990: The Madness

Report and Interview by John Robb, Sounds, 14 April 1990

With The Stone Roses at Spike Island, the Mondays at Glastonbury and numerous other raves, the summer of 1990 should be one to remember. John ...

Adeva: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 28 April 1990

IF YOU WERE there, you'd know. Even if you weren't, you could imagine. The sight of Adeva's generously proportioned body squeezed into a microscopic black ...

808 State, Adamski, Black Box, Guru Josh, Orbital, The Shamen: Black Box, Guru Josh, Orbital, 808 State et al: Energy, Docklands Arena, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Smash Hits, 2 May 1990

TYPICAL SO-called "raves" (i.e. those massive dance parties held in cornfields off the M2S) don't usually start 'til gone midnight. Energy, which bills itself as ...

Lisa Stansfield: Affection (Arista) ****

Review by Amy Linden, Rolling Stone, 3 May 1990

ENGLAND HAS been spewing out the latest in hip soul stylists, but the "style" part hasn't been cutting the mustard. Mostly the records have been ...

Black Box: Dreamland (RCA/DeConstruction LP/ Cassette/CD)

Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 5 May 1990

WHILE LOLEATTA Thingy languishes in some cell reserved for Great Pop Moaners, El Boxo as every Spanish child calls them have been off penning great ...

The House that Rap Built

Overview by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 15 May 1990

ON FRIDAY night at the Tunnel, Bronx, Jersey, and Brooklyn posses with high-top fades, or one patch of hair dyed psychedelic orange, bob and weave ...

Beats International

Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 16 May 1990

LINDY FULL NAME: Belinda Kimberley Layton. That's what I was christened but I've never ever ever been called Belinda, always Lindy. My mum wanted to call ...

The Chimes: Ringing In The Changes

Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990

WITH THE TOP 10 SUCCESS OF THEIR COVER OF U2'S 'I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR', THE CHIMES LOOK SET TO JOIN SOUL ...

Deee-Lite: Multi Cultural Delight

Profile and Interview by Steven Daly, Spin, June 1990

What will happen to dance music in a decade slated to make the '60s look like the '70s? Deee-Lite is what will happen. ...

Madonna

Interview by Glenn O'Brien, Interview, June 1990

I INTERVIEWED Madonna at the Disney Studios, of all places, where she was rehearsing her Blond Ambition tour. It's not really so odd that she ...

Guru Josh

Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 2 June 1990

AFTER MONTHS BUILDING A REPUTATION AS THE WILDEST MAN ON THE HOUSE RAVE CIRCUIT, GURU JOSH SUDDENLY HIT THE BIG TIME EARLIER THIS YEAR WITH ...

The Darling Buds: Older Bud Wiser

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 2 June 1990

Gone are the days when peroxides-in-Pampers Ramones soundalikes cut the Coleman's in Groovyland, so THE DARLING BUDS have come back from a long manager-dumping lay ...

Betty Boo: Betty The Devil You Know

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 16 June 1990

She-rapper BETTY BOO is kickin' ass and wreaking revenge with her killer single 'Doin' The Do'. STEPHEN DALTON suffers Boomania ...

Coldcut: Some Like It Cold (Big Life LP/Cassette/CD)

Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 16 June 1990

RUNNING HOT 'N' COLD ...

Guru Josh: The Guru Ain't Joshin'!

Interview by Max Bell, No. 1, 16 June 1990

And he ain't mincing his words either! Max Bell lends a conspiratorial ear as the Guru lets rip at Adamski, slags off Technotronic, supports the ...

Holly Johnson: Hollelulah! (MCA)

Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 23 June 1990

HOLLY DAZE ...

Beats International

Interview by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 12 July 1990

Former pop bassist Norman Cook proves a studio wizard ...

The Farm: Ibiza '90!

Live Review by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 14 July 1990

IBIZA THE ACTION ...

Primal Scream: Scream of Consciousness

Interview by Damon Wise, Sounds, 4 August 1990

Primal Scream broke out of the indie mould with 'Loaded', and 'Come Together' should blow the gaffe. Bobby Gillespie talks to Damon Wise about music, ...

Deee-Lite: Deee-Day

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 14 August 1990

If your state of mind is really at Woodstock and your spirit is on the dancefloor, than wacky dance-a-delic trio Deee-Lite may be just what ...

808 State, Andrew Weatherall, Coldcut, D Mob, M People, S'Express, William Orbit: Remixing: The DJ's DJ

Report and Interview by Push, Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 18 August 1990

A couple of years ago, the success of DJ-based groups such as M/A/R/R/S, Coldcut, S'Express and Bomb The Bass heralded a new musical era. Now, ...

Deee-Lite: Slipped Discodelia

Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 25 August 1990

A Russian, a go-go dancer and a Japanese DJ is hardly the combination you'd expect to be making the most exciting dance sounds around but, as ANDREW ...

The KLF: KLF: Tales From The White Room

Interview by John McCready, The Face, September 1990

SINISTER. That's the word. The KLF are sinister. With their pervy mail-order black-hooded packamacks, their propaganda and their perfect assimilation of rave culture they are ...

Deee-Lite: World Clique (Elektra)

Review by John Robb, Sounds, 1 September 1990

OUTRAGEOUS, COLOURFUL, Deee-Lite's tacky funky mush is a breathtaking pysche trip at the tail end of a summer that's been disappointing in terms of excess ...

Deee-Lite: Lite Heavyweights

Interview by John Robb, Sounds, 1 September 1990

New York City, 1990, and a head-on culture collision has thrown up one of the hottest, sweatiest groove machines since P Funk. It's a crayzee, ...

KISS 100 FM: The Embrace Is On

Report and Interview by Jack Barron, New Musical Express, 1 September 1990

WHEN KISS 100 FM starts broadcasting legally on September 1, sending the freshest of dancebeats into the ether around London, it will be the final ...

S'Express: Altered States

Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 1 September 1990

MARK MOORE, the man behind chart terrorists S'Express, is a man of mystery, a svengali with scarcely any profile. SIMON REYNOLDS tracks him down to discover ...

Deee-Lite: Accentuating the Positive

Interview by Simon Reynolds, The Observer, 9 September 1990

Simon Reynolds on '90s Zeitgeist with love from NY. ...

Derrick May: What Is Techno?

Interview by Kris Needs, Black Echoes, 22 September 1990

FOR SOME reason, I'd half expected renowned Detroit techno demon Derrick May to be the quiet, retiring sort. ...

Adamski: The Adamant Alchemist

Interview by Simon Reynolds, The Observer, 23 September 1990

CHAOS IS a word with special resonance for Adam Tinley, better known as Adamski. He even named his canine companion Dis after Discordia, the goddess ...

E.S.G.: Emerald Sapphire & Gold: Alive, Well And Working In The South Bronx

Interview by Carol Cooper, Dance Music Report, 26 September 1990

BEING ONE of the most widely imitated and innovative live bands of the early '80s isn’t necessarily a bed of roses. ...

The Grid: Mellow sonic boom

Interview by Simon Reynolds, The Observer, 30 September 1990

THIS SUMMER, The Grid released 'Floatation', a single that perfectly captured the New Age mood that has pervaded club culture in 1990. 'Floatation' combined deep ...

Adamski: Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy (MCA)*

Review by John Harris, Sounds, 6 October 1990

JUDGING BY the title of this LP, Adamski would like to be seen as a crackpot alchemist, a crazed musical boffin stumbling across killer compounds ...

Adamski: Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy (MCA)

Review by Tom Doyle, Smash Hits, 17 October 1990

THIS IS Adamski's proper studio LP and it marks the end of his transformation from underground rave king to madly grinning pop star. Of course, ...

The Shamen: En-Tact (One Little Indian)

Review by Stephen Dalton, Vox, November 1990

THE PHUTURE is now. The Shamen once riffed and jangled in anoraks, got into splintered hip-hop iconoclasm for the magnificent In Gorbachev We Trust album ...

Was (Not Was): Are You Okay? (Chrysalis)

Review by Amy Linden, Spin, November 1990

WHILE THE last Was LP was a tribute, if you will, to '70s soul, this time the beats are more current. Purists will cry sellout, ...

808 State: State of the Manc Union

Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 24 November 1990

The Haçienda's half full and "you have to go out of town on a Saturday night to have fun"... so can 808 STATE survive the ...

Beats International, The Beloved, Happy Mondays, Primal Scream, The Shamen: U.K. Indie Dance

Report and Interview by Tony Fletcher, Spin, December 1990

THE YEAR 1990 has been one of re-evaluation and subsequent rejuvenation for bands in Britain. Spurred on by the excitement of 1988's acid-house scene and ...

Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie (1991)

Interview by Kris Needs, Rock's Backpages audio, 1991

Primal Scream's front-man and major fanboy talks about making Screamadelica; his major influences; and music, music music.

File format: mp3; file size: 58.1mb, interview length: 1h 03' 28" sound quality: **

Deee-Lite...

Interview by Frank Owen, Spin, January 1991

...is on the psychedelic tip, on the one-world tip, and on the conscious tip. But most of all, the group's on the making-house-music-intelligible-to-the-masses tip. ...

Galliano: Jazz Poets

Interview by Dele Fadele, The Face, January 1991

DJ GILLES Peterson's Talking Loud afternoon club (Sundays at Dingwalls, London) has a reputation for showcasing distinctive acts on the jazz tip, but recently moved ...

Soho: Single-Minded Success

Interview by Simon Reynolds, The Observer, 6 January 1991

Simon Reynolds finds Soho down in the East End. ...

KC & the Sunshine Band: Disco's KC seeks the sunshine once again

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 12 January 1991

KC AND THE Sunshine Band was one of the most successful disco acts of the '70s. They were nominated for nine Grammies, won one, and ...

Front 242: The Number of the Beat

Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 12 January 1991

We are coming to your House! Paradise crumbles to the sound of FRONT 242's tyrannical Techno ...

Will to Power: Gimme Back My Bullets: Will to Power shoot for disco Valhalla

Profile by Chuck Eddy, L.A. Weekly, 17 January 1991

ON NEW YEAR'S Eve, I stayed home and went to bed early, as anybody with respect for planetary alignment and his own safety and disrespect ...

Ultra Naté: Baltimore Blues

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 22 January 1991

On the brink of international acclaim, Baltimore vocalist Ultra Naté recalls early days of distinctly negative vibes ...

The Orb, Rebel MC, The Shamen: The Shamen, The Orb, Rebel MC: War And Peace ('91 Mix), Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Susan Corrigan, New Musical Express, 26 January 1991

GIVE PEACE A DANCE ...

808 State's Record Store: Are You Being Served?

Interview by Siân Pattenden, Smash Hits, 6 February 1991

This is EASTERN BLOC in Manchester — the trendiest record shop in the land! It's where the stars buy their records. And it's owned by ...

Bomb the Bass: Tim Machine

Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 February 1991

War broke out just as BOMB THE BASS released their first single for two years and the censors swooped. Now TIM SIMENON goes under his ...

Deee-Lite: Trio De Janeiro

Interview by James Brown, New Musical Express, 9 February 1991

Pop music isn't all lying around the pool with GUNS N'ROSES, frugging with PRINCE and getting pissed (on) with the MONDAYS. Except, that is, in ...

Soho: Goddess (S&M/Savage) ***

Review by Cathi Unsworth, Sounds, 9 February 1991

MUSCLE BOUND ...

The KLF: Pranks for the Memory

Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 16 February 1991

They can't help having hits, they can't come to terms with fame and they can't keep out of trouble! DAVID STUBBS witnesses THE KLF's dawn ...

808 State, Björk: 808 State plus Björk: Lido, Reykjavik

Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 23 February 1991

CUBIK ICELANDIK ...

The KLF: KLF: Hang On! I've Got An Idea!

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, March 1991

They're big on ideas, are KLF. Like having hits without musicians, making a load of cash, losing a load of cash… and every so often, ...

808 State: Electro Therapy

Interview by John Robb, Sounds, 2 March 1991

808 STATE are one of the few genuine 'pop groups' of the underground scene. Not for them a bunch of hairy '60s riffs or ideologies, ...

The KLF: Great Luminaries of Our Time

Interview by Roy Wilkinson, Sounds, 2 March 1991

Over the past five years, THE KLF have operated under a variety of guises but, now that they've brought such immaculate sounds as '3AM Eternal' ...

808 State, Jellyfish, Morrissey: Jellyfish: Bellybutton (Charisma); 808 State: ex:el (ZTT); Morrissey: Kill Uncle (His Master's Voice)

Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 8 March 1991

Musical literacy makes sound sense ...

The KLF: It's All White: The KLF: The White Room (KLF)

Review by James Brown, New Musical Express, 9 March 1991

IS IT A strength or weakness to be versatile to the point where consistency becomes an alien concept? There's a hell of a lot of ...

John "Jellybean" Benitez: Jellybean Benitez: 'Bean Meanz Bizness

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 19 March 1991

IF YOU were of the opinion that Jellybean Benitez, one of the mainstays of the East Coast club scene for the last decade, lives and ...

Stereo MCs: The Stereo MC's: "Lost" Cause

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 19 March 1991

Refusing to bow to style trends or pigeon-holing, the stereo MC's insist on being judged on their music only  ...

808 State, Björk, N-Joi: 808 State, N-Joi: G-Mex, Manchester

Live Review by John Robb, Sounds, 23 March 1991

THE RETURN to G-Mex, the core combat zone of the Manchester thing, could have been disturbing. Like, is there a thing going on anymore? The ...

808 State, Björk: Björk & 808 State: In Yer Glacier!

Report and Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 23 March 1991

I love the smell of God's farts in the morning... It smells of Reykjavik to me! Deep in the Icelandic countryside, surrounded by vile-smelling sulphur ...

S'Express: S'exual Intercourse

Interview by Jack Barron, Record Mirror, 30 March 1991

Having learnt to expect the unexpected from S'EXPRESS it comes as no surprise to hear that Mark Moore and his Amazonian partner Sonique have covered ...

808 State: Genius Plastic

Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, April 1991

EASTERN BLOC RECORDS in Manchester's rapidly-becoming-fashionable Oldham Street is, at first glance, no different to any other specialist dance music emporium. ...

John "Jellybean" Benitez: Jellybean: Spillin' The Beans (Atlantic 7567-82180-2)

Review by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 2 April 1991

JELLYBEAN'S NEVER made any secret of the fact that it's the commercial end of the dance music spectrum he's interested in. His work with Madonna ...

The KLF: Off The Orbitals

Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, The Observer, 7 April 1991

Simon Reynolds profiles the anarchic duo The KLF ...

Adrian Sherwood, On-U Sound System: On-U Sound: Circus Attractions

Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 13 April 1991

This week, the On-U Sound takes its show on the road with 36 acts and five hours of murderous rhythm every night. IAN GITTINS joined ...

808 State: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Bruce Dessau, The Guardian, 15 April 1991

WHILE Manchester's club culture is rent asunder by rave-dazed apathy and internecine drug wars, the bands that made the scene move on. Happy Mondays are ...

Malcolm McLaren, Pop Will Eat Itself: Pop Will Eat Itself: Cure for Sanity; Malcolm McLaren: Round the Outside! Round the Outside!

Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 18 April 1991

EVER SINCE the Who and the Stones, if not the Revolutionary War, uppity British ironists have made a habit of "elevating" vulgar American pop crazes ...

C+C Music Factory: This Ain't No Disco

Overview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 28 April 1991

UNLIKE THE '70s, today's dance music is based on a radical mix of styles that may signal a new era in pop. ...

The Chimes: Sign O'The Chimes

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 30 April 1991

B&S talks to Chimes members James Locke and Pauline Henry about their Poll success and their plans to maintain the impetus ...

Ten City: City Slickers

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 30 April 1991

LAST ISSUE De La Soul made the comment: "the less talented you are as a singer, the better you seem to do in the commercial ...

Paula Abdul's State-of-the-Art Dance Pop

Report by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 12 May 1991

JUST AS THERE are those who worry about additive-riddled junk food, so too there's an unofficial "campaign for real music." ...

Enigma: MCMXC a.D. (Charisma)

Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 16 May 1991

IT'S NOT every day that a hit single comes along that combines the accidental da da appeal of Focus's 'Hocus Pocus' or Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' ...

Bomb The Bass: Subterania, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 May 1991

THE TRANSFORMATION is now complete. Tim Simenon has finally shaken off the last vestiges of novelty-type pop stardom and embraced a glorious future-funk noise. Anyone ...

The Orb: The Warehouse, Leeds

Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 18 May 1991

OUT OF ORBIT ...

Steve Hillage, The Orb: The Orb: Fridge, Brixton, London

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 25 May 1991

AN ORB tour is already a pretty Zen concept without letting veteran hippy guitarist Steve Hillage out on a one-off day pass from Hillage Village. ...

EMF: E.M.F.: A New Band That's All the Rave

Report and Interview by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 30 June 1991

LONDON — The trance-dance rhythms and euphoric aura of acid house music have drastically altered the outlook and aspirations of most British rock groups. ...

Adeva

Interview by John McCready, Mixmag, July 1991

The look, the voice, the haircut is back. However it seems the lady who was born plain Pat Daniels is is revealing a more sensitive ...

Primal Scream, Andrew Weatherall: Primal Scream: Exiles on mainstreet

Report and Interview by Helen Mead, i-D, July 1991

Primal Scream — the redemption of rock'n'roll? ...

The KLF: The White Room (Arista); Chill Out (Wax Trax)

Review by Chuck Eddy, L.A. Weekly, 11 July 1991

JIMMY CAUTY and Bill Drummond are two pretentious con men from England who think they can "subvert" popular music by taking pieces of old records ...

Bomb The Bass: Seasonal Adjustment

Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 13 July 1991

TIM SIMENON shuts his eyes, shakes his head and through gritted teeth describes the last Bomb The Bass single, 'Love So True', as "a total ...

Deee-Lite: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 July 1991

LAST YEAR, Deee-Lite's fusion of hip-hop beats and hippy good vibes supposedly presaged a kinder, gentler era in pop. Nothing much changed, but Deee-Lite still ...

Massive Attack, Smith & Mighty, Mark Stewart, Tricky: Various: The Hard Sell (Earth Recordings/All formats)

Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 27 July 1991

NO CELL OUT ...

The Orb, Primal Scream, Andrew Weatherall: Primal Scream: The Haçienda, Manchester

Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 3 August 1991

KNOCKED OUT LOADED ...

Frankie Knuckles: Beyond The Mix (Virgin America VUSLP 36)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 8 August 1991

A set of Knuckles in the ears ...

Primal Scream, Andrew Weatherall: Andy Weatherall: Mixed Emotions

Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 17 August 1991

In his first ever interview outside Bocca Juniors, ANDY WEATHERALL talks to PUSH about being the most sought-after remixing whiz-kid of the Nineties and his ...

Bomb The Bass: Unknown Territory (Rhythm King)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 17 August 1991

WE NEED a new category – something like "progressive dance", or prog funk – to describe the new post-aciieed groups like 808 Slate, Bass-O-Matic and ...

The KLF, Massive Attack: The K.L.F. and Massive Attack: Psychedelic Rock Enters the Progressive Phase

Overview by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 18 August 1991

SO VOLATILE is the club scene that few artists have been able to make a career out of dance music, which is released mostly as ...

Andrew Weatherall: Rimini: Let's Take a Trip!

Report by Jack Barron, i-D, September 1991

Damned by the Pope as the "most debauched area in Italy", Rimini is fast becoming a Euro-clubber's hedonist mecca. And when hundreds of Brits touched ...

Orbital: Corn Circle Jerks

Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 7 September 1991

Techno-slaphead alert! Bow-tie-wearing aliens with enormo-ears from planet Proper Dance Music are writhing in our cornfields and masquerading as ORBITAL. Beam me up, Rotty, screams ...

The Grid: Boom At The Top

Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, Black Echoes, 21 September 1991

MUSICAL BARRIERS are currently falling faster than Russian statues. Exciting crossovers are making it often redundant to use terms like house, hip-hop and soul while ...

Moby: Shave the Whale

Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 26 October 1991

He once sang with Flipper, but now MOBY — aka straight-edge Techno DJ RICHARD MELVILLE HALL — is having a whale of a time out ...

Primal Scream: Barrowlands, Glasgow

Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 26 October 1991

GROOVIN' ON UP ...

Primal Scream: Screamadelica (Sire/Warner Bros.)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, November 1991

WHAT A LONG strange trip it's been for Primal Scream. When the Primals emerged in 1984, their pallid psychopop was draped in the unworldly innocence ...

Larry Levan: The Great Phoney Garage Revival

Comment by John McCready, Mixmag, November 1991

John McCready gets shirty about all this Garage hype. ...

The Shamen: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 2 November 1991

SYNERGY IS dead, long live Progeny. Kicked into a different dimension by the untimely demise of bassist Will Sinnott, The Shamen's travelling rave-show finds itself ...

Nirvana: The indie alternative

Report by Simon Reynolds, The Guardian, 19 December 1991

This year saw groups like Nirvana breaking into the mainstream,. Simon Reynolds reports on the changing face of the charts ...

Tony Humphries: DJ of the month: Tony Humphries

Interview by Helen Mead, i-D, 1992

IF YOU want respect you have to give respect. This is Tony Humphries' trademark. The standard he sets his life by. Of all the talk ...

Joey Negro

Interview by Simon Witter, unpublished, 1992

As a re-and-mastermixer, artist, label head and man of many names – too many, some might say – Joey Negro is emerging as one of ...

Shut Up and Dance: Raving Mad

Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 6 1992

"IT'S FUCKING CRAZY. It's completely fucking mad. We can't stop celebrating. We've been off our fucking heads since Thursday." ...

Leftfield: Bobbing to the top of The Next Big Thing List

Interview by Andy Crysell, Mixmag, January 1992

IT'S NOT often that a band with no definite plans for their next release, without even so much as a recording contract, land a page ...

Juan Atkins, Inner City, Kraftwerk, Derrick May, Gary Numan, Kevin Saunderson: Techno: Watts Going On

Retrospective by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 18 January 1992

AND SO, we hear you say, tell us more about the origins and development of this exciting music you call Techno. ...

Andrew Weatherall, Jah Wobble: Inner Vision: Andrew Weatherall & Jah Wobble

Interview by Kris Needs, Black Echoes, 15 February 1992

An out-mind experience with the extra-dimensional Andrew Weatherall and Jah Wobble, the man for whom the expression "raving mad" was invented... ...

Massive Attack: Herb Crawlers

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 15 February 1992

When MASSIVE ATTACK released their debut LP last year, it was hailed as a masterful collage of rap, soul and reggae with a cinematic feel. ...

Chic: Sauce of the Nile

Interview by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 20 February 1992

READ THIS! READ THIS! READ THIS! CHIC, the band who soundtracked 1,001 euphoric late-'70s Saturday nights and gave rock cred to disco music, are back ...

Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers, Robert Owens: Larry Heard: Heard Instinct

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 25 February 1992

A MAINSTAY ON THE CHICAGO HOUSE SCENE SINCE ITS BOOM IN THE MID EIGHTIES, LARRY HEARD HAS ALWAYS STUCK TRUE TO HIS MUSICAL CONSCIENCE. HIS ...

Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers: Larry Heard: House Music's Most Mysterious Pioneer

Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, Black Echoes, 29 February 1992

LARRY HEARD has always been the most low profile of the original house music pioneers. Although his name has graced some of the deepest, most ...

N-Joi: I'm To Essexy for the Charts

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 29 February 1992

Burn all your bootlegs, your boxed sets and Live At The Budokan deletions, and embrace Live In Manchester — a Techno record by N-JOI with ...

Techno takes New York

Report by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, March 1992

Back in October Mixmag covered the exploding LA Rave scene. Since then New York itself, city of metal, noise and chaos, has gone techno mental. ...

Orbital: Fission Blips

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 7 March 1992

IT'S GRIM down south. Suicidally so on the remote escarpment of lunar terrain where the Dungeness nuclear reactor hums its menacing mantra out across beaches ...

Barry White: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 March 1992

Lurve and kisses: Caroline Sullivan on the night Barry White made the earth move ...

Chic: Le Freak Scenes

Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 14 March 1992

As massive an influence on modern dance as Kraftwerk and James Brown, CHIC have finally come back after years producing records for likes of Madonna ...

808 State: Club Citta, Kawasaki

Live Review by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 28 March 1992

FLASH IN JAPAN ...

Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer: Giorgio Moroder: Throbbery With Intent

Retrospective and Interview by David Toop, The Wire, April 1992

David Toop takes the pulse of disco pioneer GIORGIO MORODER ...

Tony Humphries: Turntable Legends Part 2: Tony Humphries

Interview by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, April 1992

THE BIG man has cricked his back. He's drugged out on 'Bufferin', 'Excedrin', 'Anacin', and major doses of 'Extra Strength Tylenol' after waking up in ...

Chic: They're Still Family

Profile and Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 5 April 1992

AFTER AN 8-year layoff, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards relaunch their group Chic but worry that their soulful sound may be dated. Can the architects ...

Joey Negro: Disco Lives: Joey Negro

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 7 April 1992

"So who is this disco fiend, Joey Negro, who has lent his remixing powers to the likes of Kenyatta and the Brand New Heavies? Is ...

Frankie Knuckles: Disco Lives

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 7 April 1992

As the disco boom strikes UK club-land again, B&S touches base with New York DJ, remixer/producer, Frankie Knuckles, to trace disco's roots and chart it's ...

Derrick May (1992)

Interview by Kris Needs, Rock's Backpages audio, 21 April 1992

Detroit pioneer May discusses the state of Techno, and pays fulsome, eloquent tribute to the recently-deceased House legend Ron Hardy.

File format: mp3; file size: 18.5mb, interview length: 20' 09" sound quality: ***

Derrick May (1992) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Kris Needs, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 21 April 1992

This is a transcription of Kris's audio interview with Derrick. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Todd Terry: Ay Bop A Dobey: Todd Terry

Interview by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, May 1992

"I'M FLYING down to Florida tomorrow, but I don't like hot weather so I guess it's gonna be terrible — I don't exactly need a ...

Masters at Work: Dope: Masters At Work

Interview by Kodwo Eshun, Mixmag, May 1992

MASTERS AT Work are Kenny "Dope" Gonzales, 21, and Lil' Louie Vega, 25. They're two of the hottest producer-remixers of the moment. ...

Alison Limerick: My Top Tunes: Alison Limerick selects her all-time favourite ten records.

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, May 1992

'Optimistic' — Sounds Of Blackness "I'm probably going to say this for most of the songs, but the vocals on this are brilliant. I like harmonies. ...

Robert Owens: Bob's Full House

Interview by Kris Needs, Black Echoes, May 1992

"IT'S PAIN!" For a second Robert Owens assumes the tortured persona which electrifies his performances. The lower lip quivers, the huge eyes cloud and he ...

N-Joi, Orbital, The Shamen: The Shamen, the Prodigy, Basti, Orbital, N-Joi: Sound City '92, Norwich

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 May 1992

FRIDAY ...

Adamski: Naughty (MCA)

Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992

HE'D HAD his day almost the moment he appeared, hadn't he? ...

Aphex Twin: Double trouble

Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992

He's a wild ravin' boffin who makes all his own instruments. He's THE APHEX TWIN and he's Techno's first maverick genius. According to ANDREW SMITH, ...

Baby Ford: BFORD9 (Transglobal)

Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992

NAPPY TALK ...

Bomb The Bass, Brand New Heavies: Waterfront, Norwich

Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992

THE FIRST live appearance by Bomb The Bass since the Gulf War temporarily rendered theirs the least diplomatic and commercially astute moniker extant is delayed ...

D:Ream: JFK Bar, London

Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992

WHILE DAVID "Headhunter" Mellor is never likely to draw himself away from rucking at footy and quaffing at the opera for long enough to acknowledge ...

Derrick May & Associates: Relics (Transmat/Buzz)

Review by Push, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992

MAY'S DAZE ...

New Order, The Smiths, The Stone Roses: For Faç's Sake! 10 Years of the Haçienda

Retrospective and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 23 May 1992

Few clubs can lay claim to changing the face of music, but THE HAÇIENDA certainly made it smile, giving fledgling acts like The Stone Roses, ...

Drug Culture As Pop Culture

Overview by David Toop, Mixmag, June 1992

WHEN PHUTURE'S 'Acid Tracks' hit the decks in 1987, the title of this minimalist techno-homage to the Roland TR-303 blinded most of us to the ...

Carleen Anderson, Brand New Heavies, DaYeene, M People, Joey Negro, Young Disciples: Girls on Song

Report and Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Mixmag, June 1992

"IT'S JUST tinkly pianos and wailing slags," was how 808 State once summed up the contribution of female vocalists to house music. If it wasn't ...

Moby: My Top Tunes

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, June 1992

Moby selects his all-time favourite ten records. ...

The Shamen: Open up your head

Interview by Helen Mead, i-D, June 1992

After achieving pop success and suffering the death of Will Sin last year, the Shamen are back.New singer, new songs, but an enduring interest in ...

Gathering of the Tribes

Report by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 6 June 1992

Castlemorton was the site of the biggest illegal rave to date. But, as SIMON REYNOLDS discovered, it was only a prelude to what's to come ...

Deee-Lite: Infinity Within (WEA/All formats)

Review by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 20 June 1992

LYCRA DISNEY ...

Derrick May: Godfather of Techno: Derrick May

Interview by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 20 June 1992

These are weird times for techno. It dominates the chart and provides the soundtrack to thousands of blissed-out lives, but there are battles building up ...

Inner City, Kevin Saunderson: Inner City

Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 20 June 1992

"DETROIT IS in a bad way. Recession, depression, whatever you wanna call it. There's a lot of crime, a lot of people out of jobs. ...

Deee-Lite: Dreams Burn Down

Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 June 1992

DEEE-LITE are daffy, kooky, Day-glo disco dollies who put the fun into funk. Or are they? PAUL LESTER finds out. ...

Deee-Lite: The Message "Within"

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 30 June 1992

There's a means in Deee-Lite's madness. Their new album, Infinity Within aims to touch hearts and minds whilst keeping their feet firmly on the dancefloor ...

Loleatta Holloway: No More Free Samples

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 30 June 1992

Having been sampled to distraction by all and sundry and having suffered her fair share of rip offs, Loleatta Holloway is back with a new ...

Altern-8, Derrick May, Orbital, Spiral Tribe: The Techno Revolution

Report by Simon Reynolds, Details, July 1992

Four years after its invention in a Detroit bedroom, techno is now dominating dance floors from London to L.A. Is it the next musical insurrection ...

The KLF: Who Killed The KLF?

Report by William Shaw, Select, July 1992

It's the last grand gesture, the most heroic acts of self-destruction in the history of pop. And it's also Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty's final ...

Inner City: Praise (Ten)

Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 4 July 1992

JUST LIKE KEVIN ...

The Orb: Tune in, turn on

Interview by Helen Mead, i-D, August 1992

The Orb have taken ambient house from a much-mocked concept to a commercial proposition, employing space-age weirdness and ironic humour to make dance music that's ...

808 State: Madchester United

Interview by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 22 August 1992

The city's clubs are being dosed down by violence, the scene has fragmented and the music's moved on. ANDREW SMITH visits the new 808 STATE ...

Ten City: Basic Instincts

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 25 August 1992

Ten City's new album, No House Big Enough sees them in stripped down, raw and uncompromising form, intent on causing dancefloor mayhem. ...

Junior Vasquez: Out in New York

Report by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, September 1992

Despite a million AIDS warnings, New York clubbers are going wild. Clubs like the Roxy and the Sound Factory are packed with acres of exposed ...

Stand By Yer Samplers

Essay by David Toop, Mixmag, September 1992

Dance music is under attack. The establishment is swamping us with double packs and pointless pop product posing as dance music. Dance music is no ...

Utah Saints: Something Good (London)

Review by Chuck Eddy, L.A. Weekly, 10 September 1992

ACID HOUSE was maybe an intriguing new clang when Phuture and Derek May squeaked it out of the Midwest a half-decade ago, but by the ...

Lil’ Louis: Lil' Louis: French Kissing In New York

Interview by Kris Needs, Black Echoes, 12 September 1992

LAST JANUARY, during a particularly action-packed week in New York City, I was invited to experience one of the infamous Wild Pitch parties by D.J. ...

The Prodigy: Experience (XL)

Review by Kris Needs, New Musical Express, 26 September 1992

WHEN THEY BURY the time-pod to enable future generations to get a handle on what happened in 1992, The Prodigy's debut album will be a ...

John Cage, Brian Eno, Keith LeBlanc, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ultramarine: Ambient: The Chill-Out Zone

Essay by David Toop, Mixmag, October 1992

Ambient music: not just a soundtrack for the chill-out room, more a sound of the future. David Toop gets deep. Very deep. ...

Juan Atkins (1992)

Interview by Kris Needs, Rock's Backpages audio, October 1992

Mr Atkins talks Detroit Techno vs. Chicago House, the Motor City recording and label scene, being hugely influenced by Kraftwerk and 'Planet Rock', and looks to the future.

File format: mp3; file size: 44.9mb, interview length: 49' 03" sound quality: **

The Shamen: Up Yer Arsenal!

Report by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 10 October 1992

Fiddling with their jockstraps, lacing up their boots, THE SHAMEN face the Gooners at Highbury and come away with a 0-0 draw. DAVID STUBBS joins ...

Dancing king in a neon vest

Report by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 17 October 1992

Caitlin Moran gives a morning-after report on a steamy Friday all-nighter at a students' club ...

Madonna: Erotica (Maverick/Sire 9362-45031-2)

Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 17 October 1992

Madonna may find her role as Venus in furs a turn-on. But for the rest of us her new album is less than erotic. ...

The Shamen: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 17 October 1992

CHAS N'RAVE ...

The Orb: Sphere and Loathing

Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 24 October 1992

THE ORB are on the road and mayhem reigns. PUSH joins in the jollities ...

Betty Boo, Neneh Cherry: The raw and the cooking: albums from Neneh Cherry and Betty Boo

Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 24 October 1992

Two rap divas unveil new albums, with mixed success ...

Inside The Body Of Techno

Report by Tony Fletcher, Creem, November 1992

In its broadest sense, techno is a form of up-tempo, mainly instrumental electronic dance music, founded in Detroit in the 1980s by producers inspired by ...

The Orb: Mystic Pizza

Report and Interview by Andy Gill, Q, November 1992

They're cooking up something deeply strange in the sound kitchen. The Orb explore your inner space with endless sonic dreamscapes that suggest a planet where ...

Juan Atkins: On Juan

Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, New Musical Express, 7 November 1992

JUAN ATKINS, Godfather Of Techno, returns in style ...

The KLF, Tammy Wynette: Stand By Your Van: Tammy Meets the KLF

Interview by Terry Staunton, New Musical Express, 23 November 1992

Welcome to Mu Mu Land, where hooded figures drive ice-cream vans and nothing is quite like it is in Tennessee. Which is a welcome change ...

Carl Cox: My Home Town

Report and Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, December 1992

BACK IN THE summer Carl Cox was asked to perform on the Radio 1 Road Show. Ever keen to please, Carl naturally obliged, he did ...

Outing the In-Crowd

Overview by Kodwo Eshun, The Wire, December 1992

Kodwo Eshun digs up the history of Clubland UK, from Boodles to Style Wars to all-day nights on the Cybernet.                                                           * ...

Leftfield: Release The Pressure!

Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 5 December 1992

CRITICAL ACCLAIM means bugger-all in clubland. Here, an act's reputation is better measured by the number of others sampling them. And, right now, it's impossible ...

Larry Levan 1954-1992

Obituary by David Toop, The Face, January 1993

JUST BECAUSE remix culture confuses our sense of history, this doesn't mean that DJs don't have heroes. Larry Levan was one of the few DJs ...

Larry Levan Dies

Obituary by David Toop, Mixmag, January 1993

The legendary Paradise Garage DJ passed away in November. David Toop pays tribute. ...

Spiral Tribe: You Can't Beat The System!

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 9 January 1993

Back to the future! SPIRAL TRIBE set out on the road to Stonehenge two years ago and never came back, lost in a world of ...

Patti Austin, Cherrelle, The Human League, Cheryl Lynn, Alexander O'Neal, The SOS Band: Jam & Lewis: Flyte of Fantasy Part II

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 19 January 1993

Jeff Lorez continues his in-depth report on the tenth anniversary of Jam & Lewis's Flyte Tyme Productions. ...

Utah Saints: Utah Saints (London/PLG) ; Various Artists: Techno Mancer (Antler Subway/Caroline)

Review by James Hunter, Rolling Stone, 21 January 1993

TECHNO IS music that gets on people's nerves. Whether pounding like metal or watercoloring like New Age, it strikes many as repetitive and cold, about ...

Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (R&S/Apollo Double 12"/CD); Polygon Window: Surfing On Sine Waves (Warp LP7 Double 12"/CD)

Review by David Toop, The Wire, February 1993

ALWAYS PREJUDGE the intentions of a piece of music by its title. The judgement may not be entirely fair, yet its accuracy is frequently uncanny. ...

DJ Pierre

Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, Black Echoes, February 1993

DJ PIERRE IS in fighting mood these days and, having seen the scope for his legendary house music trailblazing die in Chicago and narrow in ...

Jesus Jones: Perverse (Food)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 1993

PERVERSE COULD be the sound of tomorrow today, if it wasn't so full of yesterdays. Not surprising when the sleeve of Jesus Jones's debut, Liquidizer, ...

Tony Humphries: Goodbye New York, hello London

Interview by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, February 1993

Tony Humphries moves to London ...

The Beloved: The love that revived the Beloved

Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 20 February 1993

Waxing lyrical, Jon Marsh explains the Beloved's three-year absence ...

RuPaul: The World According to RuPaul

Interview by David A. Keeps, Details, March 1993

Singer, supermodel, and trans-American success story ...

808 State: Town and Country Club, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 March 1993

THE COMPUTER-DRIVEN orchestral score that is Moby's opening gambit comes as a blessed relief. After two hours of beat-fascism courtesy of the hardcore DJ that ...

System 7: 777 (Weird & Unconventional/Big Life)

Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 20 March 1993

THOSE OF you with reasonably tolerable faculties or recall may remember my late '91 review of System 7's first album, (Are you taking the piss, ...

L.F.O., The Orb, Orbital, The Shamen, T99, Third Eye: Techno

Overview by Mark Dery, Keyboard, April 1993

TECHNO. THE name sounds at once monolithic and impersonal, the acronym of a multinational conglomerate, and toylike, as in brightly colored plastic Lego blocks. ...

Where now for Manchester?

Report by John Robb, i-D, April 1993

Three years ago Manchester was famous for flares, clubs and the Happy Mondays. Now it's guns, drugs and violence. How accurate is the city's media ...

Frankie Knuckles: Bare Knuckles

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 13 April 1993

He wasn't exactly the most prolific remixer last year, but B&S readers still voted him the best in the business. He bares his soul to Jeff Lorez ...

The Orb: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 April 1993

PIONEERS OF neo-progressive pop or appalling hippy throwbacks? That both descriptions apply to the Orb indicates the scale of the changes occurring in rock music. ...

Cathy Dennis, Janet Jackson, Madonna: Shep Pettibone: Spontaneous Combustion

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 27 April 1993

No amount of studio technology can ever compete with the priceless element of spontaneity to set things on fire, says Shep... ...

D:Ream, Lisa B, Serious Rope: Lisa B, D:Ream, Serious Rope: Fun

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, May 1993

  IT'S ABOUT a change of heart and a swift move up in emphasis. It's about Songs, Glamour and Style in capital letters. ...

Aphex Twin: The Six Lives Of Richard D. James

Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 1 May 1993

APHEX TWIN you already know. Or at least you should do — he's been described as the hottest bleepmaster on the block, been dubbed 'The ...

The Orb: The Academy, Manchester

Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 1 May 1993

BALL OF CONFUSION ...

Sheep On Drugs: King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow

Live Review by Calvin Bush, Melody Maker, 8 May 1993

HERE ARE some of the things you should never do at a Sheep On Drugs show: faint with pleasure, give birth, applaud, offer up flowers/puppy ...

Stereo MCs: Academy, Manchester

Live Review by Simon Warner, The Guardian, 24 May 1993

WITH THE ticket touts in the Manchester streets peddling their wares at up to £40 apiece, the Stereo MCs were unquestionably the hottest ticket in ...

The Beloved: Dearly Beloved

Report and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, July 1993

Hailed as a spokesman for the E generation, Jon Marsh is now following a path few would have predicted. With a much-underrated new album receiving ...

One Dove: Doors of Perfection

Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 3 July 1993

ONE DOVE have been hailed as the future of epic, melodic dance music, blending classic pop melancholia with club beats to produce a sound that ...

Bandulu: Infonet Possibilities

Report and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 10 July 1993

"NONE OF BANDULU started out as musicians or DJs. We started as record collectors. Going back a few years, we thought nothing of bunking off ...

M People: M-People: La Villette, Paris

Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 17 July 1993

THE 20TH anniversary party for Europe's premier radical newspaper, Liberation, and even Pepe Le Punk would have been silenced by the fun. ...

Juan Atkins: Juan Is The Teacher

Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, Mixmag, August 1993

COULD IT be 'Magic'? Yes that was Juan Atkins, the "Magic One" and legendary Godfather Of Techno leaning against a pillar at the Drum Club ...

Station Rose: Neurodisco

Report and Interview by Simon Witter, The Sunday Times, September 1993

SEVEN STORIES above Frankfurt, in the city's most expensive shopping centre – the Japanese styled glass colossus Zeilgalerie – Europe's most unusual monthly club is, ...

Bill Laswell: Super Barrier Brother

Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, New Musical Express, 4 September 1993

Respect and admiration this week go out to AXIOM label boss BILL LASWELL, breaking down multi-cultural barriers and making perfect musical marriages. ...

D:Ream: The Area, Paisley; Tunnel Club, Glasgow

Live Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 4 September 1993

D:REAM HAVE released two singles to date. Both have penetrated, if you'll pardon my French, high into the Top 20. It seems Britain's club kids ...

One Dove: Morning Dove White (Boys Own/London/All formats)

Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 11 September 1993

BEAKY REALISTIC ...

The Orb, System 7: Trekroner Fort, Copenhagen

Live Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 11 September 1993

SOMETHING'S ROCKING IN THE STATE OF DENMARK ...

2 Unlimited: Maastricht Bleepy

Interview by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 18 September 1993

For Holland's 2 UNLIMITED, purveyors of mindless Euro techno-pop (without lyrics) it's business as usual; flights to exotic destinations, endless interviews and their nth appearance ...

Ultra Naté: Insane in the Brain

Interview by Jeff Lorez, Blues & Soul, 28 September 1993

The music industry can send a woman over the edge. Ultra Naté may see her new album, One Woman's Insanity, as a 'do or die' ...

Joey Negro: Universe Of Love (Z/Virgin)

Review by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, October 1993

A FEW years ago, any talk of British garage would've been met with nothing more than a few hearty sniggers and the number of the ...

Cranium HF: Skulled Workers

Profile and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 2 October 1993

"THESE GUYS SAVED my life," begins Cranium HF vocalist Fisheye, nodding at his partners Kev and Ross. "I was really seriously ill when I first ...

Leftfield, L.F.O., Andrew Weatherall: Techno: The Sound Warp

Overview by Jon Savage, The Guardian, 22 October 1993

Let me take you on a journey... After the drugs and the digital-industrial dreamscapes, just what is the secret of the mega-successful Techno white dance ...

Amorphous Androgynous , Aphex Twin, B12, Black Dog Productions, Brian Eno, Fortran 5, Heavenly Music Corporation, Steve Hillage, The KLF, Moby, The Orb, Polygon Window, Psychick Warriors ov Gaia, Psychic TV, Seefeel: Hey, DJ — The chilled-out charms of ambient techno

Guide by Pat Blashill, Details, November 1993

RICHARD JAMES has seen the future and it's nothing special. In fact, it's nothing at all. Nothingness itself. Vast, blank wildernesses, majesticaly vague cityscapes, machines ...

Larry Levan: Paradise Lost

Retrospective by Frank Owen, Vibe, November 1993

For over a decade, Larry Levan ruled the dance-music world from his roost in the DJ booth at New York's legendary Paradise Garage. Last November, ...

Moby: Move EP (Elektra)

Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, November 1993

A LITTLE MORE than 30 minutes after it begins, Moby's new EP, his major-label debut, turns over in my tape deck. Gone is the last ...

LTJ Bukem, Coldcut: A step ahead of fashion — and the law

Report by David Toop, The Times, 26 November 1993

The hottest sounds buzzing around our cities are frequently also illegal. David Toop reports on the wild and wilful world of pirate radio, and its ...

John Lydon, Leftfield: John Lydon and Leftfield

Interview by Kris Needs, New Musical Express, 27 November 1993

IT'S ONE NIGHT in June '92, long past midnight at the Brixton Academy. The Orb have finished washing the cerebral nether regions of the full-on ...

Sister Sledge, Tammy Wynette: Sister Sledge: Forum, London; Tammy Wynette: Palladium, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 November 1993

Standby your sisters: Revived seventies disco queens Sister Sledge and the First Lady of country music Tammy Wynette woo London ...

M People, The Tyrrel Corporation: M People, Evolution, Tyrrel Corporation: The Academy, Manchester

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, Mixmag, December 1993

UNLESS YOU'VE spent the last six months in an Iraqi jail, you'll have noticed M People. Mike Pickering's house-music-goes-pop combo has grown from a personal ...

Village People

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, December 1993

They're back and Bill Brewster wants to know if they go shopping dressed like that. "Lets put the cards on the table," says The Cowboy, ...

D:Ream, Take That: Take That, D:Ream: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 11 December 1993

PIN-UP... AND COMING ...

Aphex Twin: Machine Soul: A History Of Techno

Overview by Jon Savage, The Village Voice, Summer 1993

Oooh oooh Techno cityHope you enjoy your stayWelcome to Techno cityYou will never want to go away– Cybotron, 'Techno City' (1984) ...

Utah Saints: Circa Now! Latter Day Techno Kids, Utah Saints

Report and Interview by Susan Compo, Option, Fall 1993

FOR A COUPLE of English guys, choosing the state of Utah as the basis for their band’s name probably had as much exotic cachet as ...

Miami Bass: How Low Can You Go?

Report by John McCready, The Face, 1994

In Florida, a pair of 15-inch speakers carry more B-boy cred than a pair of fat-laced sneakers, and your car is judged not by speed ...

Fun-Da-Mental: Rebels Without a Pause

Interview by Kodwo Eshun, i-D, January 1994

Asian rappers Fun-Da-Mental burst onto the scene in a blaze of angry political rhetoric and eclectic samples. Now, even though the original band has split ...

Microglobe: Easy Dance & Musichall, Frankfurt an der Oder

Report by Dave Rimmer, MOJO, January 1994

IN THE CRAMPED LITTLE DJ BOOTH AT THE EASY DISCO, Frankfurt an der Oder – east Germany city of flatblocks and border posts – Berlin ...

The Orb: Live '93 (Island COO 8022)

Review by Lisa Verrico, Vox, January 1994

Q. WHAT'S THE difference between The Orb in concert and The Orb in the studio? A. An amazing light show, a revolving spiky symbol and ...

Underworld: Brixton Academy Megadog, London

Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 15 January 1994

HADES AND GENTLEMEN ...

µ-ziq: Tango N'Vectif (Rephlex)

Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994

THE WAGES OF SYNTH ...

D:Ream: Day D:Ream Believer

Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994

It's fitting that club champions D:REAM stand proudly at the top of the singles chart in the week that Melody Maker celebrates the power and ...

One Dove: Country'n'Techno

Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994

ONE DOVE perfectly sum up the New Eclecticism — they're a dance band who love C&W. This is why they are now poised to make ...

Ultramarine: Heaven, London

Live Review by Andrew Smith, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994

THE CHAP next to me looks as though he's trying to squeeze the juice from a lemon using only his buttocks. This is a sight ...

Underworld: Going Overground

Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994

I KNOW IT'S ONLY January but there's no way you will hear a more thrilling dance music album this year than Underworld's Dubnobasswithmyheadman. No fucking ...

Goldie: Welcome To The Jungle

Overview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 22 January 1994

What is JUNGLE? And where does it fit into the new dance scheme? SIMON REYNOLDS reports ...

D:Ream: Metropolitan University, Leeds

Live Review by Simon Warner, The Guardian, 5 February 1994

THE EARLY weeks of this year have seen D:Ream catapulted from the lower reaches of the Top 30 to the pinnacle of the charts with ...

Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Part II (Sire/Warner Bros.)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, March 1994

BY NOW YOU may have heard of Richard James, the British techno whiz-kid who sleeps two hours a night and who is so prolific he ...

Aphex Twin: Armed and Fairly Dangerous

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, March 1994

AND BY their conspicuous celebrity consumption you shall know them. When Rick Wakeman entered rock's upper echelon, he armed himself with a fleet of Rolls-Royces. ...

One Dove: Disc-O-Tech: One Dove

Profile by Frank Owen, Vibe, March 1994

THEY'VE BEEN called "the Cocteau Twins just back from Ibiza" and "King Tubby meets the Beach Boys." But perhaps it's dubmeister Jim McKinven who put ...

M People: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 1 March 1994

THE SELECTION of M People as Best Dance Act in the 1994 Brit Awards was proof that success does come to those who wait. Probably ...

Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Warp)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 5 March 1994

The prodigious, prolific and increasingly eccentric Richard James brings us two and a half hours of his unique muse. SIMON REYNOLDS is bewitched on our ...

M People: People Get Ready!

Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 5 March 1994

M PEOPLE are the darlings of hip clubbers and pop kids alike, recent Brits winners, and THE crossover band from club culture who can simply ...

Aphex Twin: 'Phex And Drugs And Rock'N'Roll

Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 12 March 1994

APHEX TWIN is the first superstar of ambient, the crossover King of innovative pop. Which is why Seefeel, Saint Etienne, The Boo Radleys, Curve, hell, ...

Aphex Twin: Techno Wars: A House Divided Over Beats

Report and Interview by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 13 March 1994

ONLY A FEW years ago, it was easy to define techno as a fast-paced dance music based on electronic textures. ...

The Chemical Brothers, Death In Vegas: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 19 April 1994

"E'S, COKE, anything you want..." Yeah, you gotta admit it: Brixton knows how to party. No sooner have you navigated your way around the slurring ...

Aphex Twin, µ-ziq, Daniel Pemberton: Up to something in the bedroom

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 29 April 1994

They're hot in the clubs, but low in social skills. David Toop meets techno's bores with attitude ...

Bark Psychosis, The Levellers, Loop Guru, My Bloody Valentine, Transglobal Underground: Your Culture Under Siege: Criminal Injustice

Report and Interview by Carl Loben, Simon Reynolds, Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 30 April 1994

For decades, squatting, free festivals and illegal parties have played a vital role in alternative pop culture. The Criminal Justice Bill — which has been ...

A Guy Called Gerald, Goldie: Jungle!: The Last Dance Underground

Report by Kodwo Eshun, i-D, May 1994

Jungle is a fierce and frenzied soundtrack to inner city Britain in '94. Based around raw, ragga-influenced white labels, raves and pirate radio stations, it's ...

2 Unlimited: Double Dutch

Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 14 May 1994

2 UNLIMITED, the Amsterdamsters who introduced the word 'technotechnotechnotechno!' into the language, are — no contest — the biggest pop group in Europe. SIMON PRICE ...

Ten City: That Was Then, This Is Now (Columbia CT57183; CD and cassette)

Review by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 15 May 1994

BYRON STINGILY, singer for the trio Ten City, is a disciple of Sylvester, one of disco's biggest male stars. Like Sylvester, who died in 1988, ...

The Grid, Us3: Us3 and the Grid: Could Ludwig Van be techno's main man?

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 20 May 1994

Sampling jazz rarities on to dance tracks could become old hat, now musicians can concoct raves from the grave. David Toop reports ...

Future Sound Of London: Lifeforms (Virgin V27722 19 tks/93 mins/FP/Double)

Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 28 May 1994

It's been a long while since FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON led us, entranced, to 'Papua New Guinea'. Now they've captured that long while on disc. ...

Erasure: Super Stereo Brothers

Interview by Siân Pattenden, Select, June 1994

Erasure: the electronic Status Quo, or bleep-pop's High Score? Insert Coin for three rounds with Mr Andy Bell! ...

D:Ream: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 4 June 1994

PETER CUNNAH cannot dance to save his life. Of course, he knows this full well. Not for him the thrust of the hips to send ...

General Levy: Jungle fever — hot heavy and here

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 24 June 1994

Rap, reggae, ragga and soul have combined in a heady brew. David Toop talks to toastmaster General Levy ...

Future Sound of London: The Future Sound of Technology

Interview by Tom Doyle, Melody Maker, 25 June 1994

For Brian Dougan and Gary Cobain, THE FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON is the medium for pushing the frontiers of studio recording, live performance and video ...

Future Sound of London: London Calling

Interview by Andrew Smith, The Guardian, 8 July 1994

Two years ago Future Sound Of London changed the course of dance music. Now they are changing the way rock bands tour... ...

Paul Oakenfold: Pick and Re-Mix

Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 15 July 1994

Paul Oakenfold's new record has only his name on the cover. But he isn't a musician. He's the emperor of DJs ...

The Prodigy: Touched By The Hand Of Prod

Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 16 July 1994

"So I've decided to take my work back underground... to stop it falling into the wrong hands." ...

Manu Dibango: Dibango the Giant

Report and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Eye Weekly, 28 July 1994

GLOBAL MUSIC often works best on the dance floor where, free from ghetto-izing labels and strict radio formats, it can cross over and capture the ...

Deee-Lite: Dew Drops in the Garden (Elektra) ****

Review by Amy Linden, New York Daily News, 31 July 1994

New growth in Deee-Lite's Garden Downtown trio gets back in the groove with third album ...

Grateful Dead: March of the Deadheads

Report by Frank Broughton, i-D, August 1994

The Grateful Dead are the focus for the surviving remnants of America's counterculture: the Deadheads, a colourful bunch of travelling hippies who have created a ...

Marshall Jefferson: Moving House

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, September 1994

I FIRST MET MARSHALL Jefferson in 1986, in his native Chicago. House was just starting to bloom there, and he was working on 'Move Your ...

Future Sound of London: The Future Sound of London: Lifeforms (Astralwerks/Caroline)

Review by Richard Gehr, Spin, September 1994

GOD BLESS the Future Sound of London — Gary Cobain and Brian Dougans — for striving to infuse personality and humanity into the chip-driven technoscape. ...

Snap!: In tune with pop's crackle and Snap

Interview by Paul Sexton, The Times, 2 September 1994

Record sales of more than 15 million and a growing reputation for trend-setting have made two German former DJs a global sensation. Paul Sexton met ...

Kylie Minogue: Fever Kitsch

Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 September 1994

From wholesome soap star to scantily clad sex kitten — Kylie Minogue has changed her image more times than she might care to remember. But ...

M People: Elegant slumming now a low dive

Report by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 16 September 1994

The Mercury Music Prize was intended to reward and foster innovation. For a couple of years, all went well — and then M People came ...

The Sabres of Paradise, Andrew Weatherall: Weatherall Storms

Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 24 September 1994

ANDREW WEATHERALL has towered over the British club scene since he first found fame as a DJ in the acid house explosion. He created 'Loaded' ...

Massive Attack: Protection (Circa)

Review by Gavin Martin, Vox, October 1994

Direct Hit ...

A Guy Called Gerald: Jungle Heritage

Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 8 October 1994

SIMON REYNOLDS reports on the cyber-black world of A GUY CALLED GERALD. ...

A Guy Called Gerald, LTJ Bukem, Dillinja, DJ Hype, General Levy, MC Navigator, Roni Size and Reprazent: It's a Jungle Out There...

Overview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 15 October 1994

Ask yer proverbial suburban kid on the street, and chances are they won't be into Blur, Suede, Nirvana or Oasis — they'll be hardcore JUNGLE ...

Goldie: Tales From The Dark Side

Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, The Observer, 23 October 1994

Simon Reynolds meets Goldie, pioneering king of ambient jungle ...

Primal Scream, Andrew Weatherall: Andy Weatherall: Pick and Remix

Interview by Lisa Verrico, Vox, November 1994

Andy Weatherall twiddled the knobs that turned a Primals ditty into a House classic, and got himself a job for life. ...

Richie Hawtin: Weird Science

Report and Interview by Calvin Bush, i-D, November 1994

Driving and driven. A DJ, record label boss, club promoter and artist, at just 23 Richie Hawtin is pushing his body and music to the ...

Transglobal Underground: International Times (LP/CD/MC NAT38)

Review by Lucy O'Brien, Vox, November 1994

World piece ...

Barbara Tucker: Work It, Girlfriend

Report and Interview by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, December 1994

A clubland fixture, both on record and on the dancefloor, Miss Tucker proves that if you want to make it in New York you better ...

Hot House, M People: M People

Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Face, December 1994

THE "DISCO SUCKS" MENTALITY REARS ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN. JUST AS M PEOPLE'S STAR REACHES ITS ZENITH, THEIR AWARD-WINNING SHEEN BURNING BRIGHT, THE MUSIC WORLD DISSENT ...

M People: People in the House

Profile and Interview by Calvin Bush, i-D, December 1994

i-D's BEST OF British pop special starts with M People. Winners of this year's prestigious Mercury Music Prize, like fellow Britpop protagonists Blur and the ...

Autechre, L.F.O.: LFO, Autechre: Leisure Lounge, London

Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 3 December 1994

IN PURSUIT OF ABANDON... ...

M People: Swing Out Citrus

Interview by John Harris, New Musical Express, 10 December 1994

M PEOPLE make timeless pop songs, have a genuine cool soul singer and a classic album that won them the Mercury Music Award — and ...

The Sabres of Paradise, Andrew Weatherall: Andrew Weatherall: Sabre as a Judge

Interview by Ted Kessler, New Musical Express, 17 December 1994

ANDREW WEATHERALL was a wanker, but he's alright new. At least that what he tells TED KESSLER in the wake of his girlfriend ditching him ...

Futurebeat: Vorschtsprung dürch Techno

Essay by Dave Rimmer, The Wire, Spring 1994

"The only possible challenge to repetitive power takes the route of a breach in social repetition and the control of noisemaking. In more day-to-day political ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemistry Set: the Chemical Brothers

Interview by John Robb, Loaded, 1995

WHEN THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS come to town, DJ'ing takes on a whole new dimension. The duo play the decks like two fucked-up guitar gods. Lanky ...

A Guy Called Gerald, LTJ Bukem, Goldie, Grooverider, Shut Up And Dance, Roni Size and Reprazent: Law of the Jungle

Overview by Chris Campion, URB, 1995

NEW MUSIC is born of the old. Hip-hop and Rock 'n' Roll can be traced back through Delta Blues, field and slave songs back to ...

The Chemical Brothers, Orbital: The British Invasion?

Report by Frank Broughton, Blah Blah Blah, 1995

With the Chemicals and Underworld making waves stateside, is dance music finally reaching mainstream America? ...

Todd Terry: Time For Todd Terry

Report and Interview by Frank Broughton, i-D, 1995

"BATTLING PEOPLE: that’s what keeps me going." The man in the bomber jacket lays it down straight. "I got to beat everybody. It’s me against ...

Future Sound Of London: Future Pop

Report and Interview by Andrew Smith, The Face, January 1995

When Future Sound Of London played live in New York last month, they were at home in London, connected to the venue only by a ...

M People: Bizarre Fruit (DeConstruction)

Review by Stephen Dalton, Vox, January 1995

Excess baggage ...

Cholly Atkins: The Man Who Taught Motown How to Dance

Retrospective and Interview by Kirk Silsbee, Los Angeles Reader, 20 January 1995

CHARLES "CHOLLY" ATKINS has had two careers, and he has flourished in both. In the golden age of tap, he was half of one ...

Leftfield: On Your Marks, Get Set, Gauche: Leftfield: Leftism

Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 21 January 1995

Who the f*** are LEFTFIELD? Giant pandas of techno positivism, faceless bores who had a hit with Johnny Rotten, or VR sex pervs? Don't bother ...

A Guy Called Gerald: Return of the Gerald

Interview by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, February 1995

With 'Voodoo Ray' A Guy Called Gerald defined British acid house. With '28-Gun Bad Boy' he lit the fuse that became jungle. With his new ...

Barry White: Blackberry Jam

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, February 1995

VIBE: You write a lot about — Barry White: Love. VIBE: Love — BW: Always. ...

A Guy Called Gerald, Dreadzone, Global Communication, µ-ziq, Renegade Soundwave: µ-Ziq, A Guy Called Gerald, Renegade Soundwave, Global Communications, Dreadzone: The Rocket, London

Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 4 February 1995

TECHNO PRISONERS ...

A Guy Called Gerald: Black Secret Technology (Juke Box JB2 13tks/70mins/FP)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 18 February 1995

Freaked out by the photocopier? Frightened of the fax machine? Fascinated by both? Don't worry, our relationship with technology is necessarily double-edged – and it's ...

Frankie Knuckles Interviewed in NYC

Interview by Frank Broughton, djhistory.com, 27 February 1995

Anyone with even a passing knowledge of dancefloor history knows Frankie Knuckles respectfully as the 'Godfather of House'. Together with his childhood friend Larry Levan ...

LTJ Bukem: Looking Good

Profile and Interview by Bethan Cole, i-D, March 1995

HE'S THE INVENTOR OF INTELLIGENT JUNGLE. HE'S HELD IN AWE BY ANDREW WEATHERALL. HE'S A PIONEER AND PRE-EMPTOR, A PRODUCER AND LABEL BOSS. HE'S LTJ ...

Moby... Dickhead?

Report and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Vox, March 1995

Intelligent Techno god or the world's next fascist dictator? Moby likes to piss people off, and he's very good at it... ...

Traci Lords: Porn Free

Interview by Cliff Jones, The Face, March 1995

HELL HAS broken lose. Scaramanga's prosthetic nipple has fallen off, Odd Job's bowler hat is carving up anyone within range and the rest of the ...

Foul Play, Goldie, My Bloody Valentine, Omni Trio: Goldie et al: Jungle Boogie

Report by Simon Reynolds, Rolling Stone, 23 March 1995

Get down, get down: The U.K. moves to underground groove ...

Moby: Whale Of The Century

Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 25 March 1995

MOBY's epically eclectic new album, Everything Is Wrong, is more than just a dance album — it's a dance album which wants to Change The ...

Aphex Twin, David Toop: Aphex Twin: transparent messages

Essay by Rob Young, The Wire, April 1995

Music is finding new ways to simulate dream states, the latest being the twilight zone sonic reveries of Richard James, a.k.a. Aphex Twin. Rob Young ...

Arthur Russell

Retrospective by David Toop, The Wire, April 1995

This New York composer, who died in obscurity of AIDS in 1992, was a true visionary, traversing dub, disco and minimalism and anticipating the '90s ...

Carl Craig: Listen To The Future

Profile and Interview by Kodwo Eshun, i-D, April 1995

One of Detroit's legendary first generation, Carl Craig has left behind the legacy he's outgrown. Ripping up techno's rule-book, this 25-year-old is making records for ...

Josh Wink: the Acid Athlete

Interview by Frank Broughton, Mixmag, April 1995

You may have heard that deep trance track with the manic laughing. That's Josh Wink, the coolest, wildest, funkiest trance doctor in America. When Josh ...

Moby: The Divine Mr. M

Interview by Pat Blashill, Details, April 1995

First a DJ saved his life. Then he found Christ. Now, after years of raving, Moby is ready to become techno's first pop star. ...

Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles: My Kind Of Town: The History of Chicago House

Retrospective and Interview by Frank Broughton, i-D, April 1995

IT’S 1981. Frankie Knuckles, a New York DJ relocated for the last four years in Chicago, is driving south through the outskirts of his adopted ...

Juno Reactor, Traci Lords: Techno Queen of Melrose Place: Traci Lords

Report and Interview by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, Los Angeles Reader, 7 April 1995

Seven years ago, Traci Lords was an underage Porn Queen. Now she's America's Girl Next Door. ...

Jon of the Pleased Wimmin, Andrew Weatherall: Liverpool's Cream: Bag Company

Report by Bethan Cole, New Musical Express, 8 April 1995

TRAVELLING TO Liverpool by train, passing through the industrial landscape of warehouses and factories that once made Britain 'Great', you're reminded of the North's 19th ...

Juno Reactor, Traci Lords: Traci Lords: 1000 Fires (Radioactive RARD11211 10 tracks/55 mins/FP)

Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 8 April 1995

Let's be perfectly frances here — our Traci may be famous for a lot of things, but musical talent is not one of them. Shame, ...

Moby: LA2, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 15 April 1995

WHEN COURTNEY LOVE tries it on, people think she's the defiant survivor shrugging the weight of the world off her shoulders. Yet, when Moby decides ...

Aphex Twin: I Care Because You Do (Warp)

Review by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, May 1995

OVER THE past year or two, Richard James has built up an antagonistic persona, composing tracks built of harsh ear-splitting noises. And yes, you'll find ...

Blake Baxter, Joey Beltram, System 01: Techno in Berlin: Down In The Bunker

Report and Interview by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, May 1995

Berlin: Eastern techno axis, where hardened Detroit innovation collides with glam club babes in a former department store bunker. Tresor is the club and the ...

Grooverider, Moby, Orbital: Tribal and Strife

Report by Andrew Smith, The Guardian, 8 May 1995

The Criminal Justice Act put the rave under House arrest. But it's out and it's phat in Oxfordshire ...

Felix Da Housecat Presents Thee Madkatt Courtship: Alone In The Dark (Deep Distraxion)

Review by Calvin Bush, Muzik, June 1995

Pussy Power ...

Juan Atkins: Juan from the Heart

Interview by Calvin Bush, Muzik, June 1995

Detroit's JUAN ATKINS is widely credited with having invented techno. Fourteen years later, he returns to claim his crown with the first ever Model 500 ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemicrazy Pilots

Interview by Push, Muzik, June 1995

They've changed their name from The Dust Brothers to THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS and their beats are beefier than ever. Stand by for the imminent release ...

The Auteurs, µ-ziq: μ-Ziq: μ-Ziq vs. the Auteurs (AstralWerks/Caroline)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, June 1995

WITH ITS jungle rhythms and uncouth passion, rock'n'roll used to be the enemy of civilization and refinement. So I'm amused that it is rock fans ...

The Chemical Brothers: Apothecary Now: The Chemical Brothers : Exit Planet Dust (Junior Boys Own)

Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 24 June 1995

THINK OF THE truly great, era-defining albums of the last 18 months. Definitely Maybe would be in there. Ill Communication and Dummy, too. ...

Whigfield: Whigfield (Systematic/All formats)

Review by Johnny Cigarettes, No Depression, 24 June 1995

FIRST RULE of kitsch: Have some standards, please. Otherwise you'll end up looking like Bonnie Langford auditioning for Godspell and sounding like Jive Bunny's PR ...

Aphex Twin: I Care Because You Do (Sire/Elektra)

Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, July 1995

NO, MR TWAIN, I care because you do. I wasn't sure I did, for a minute — the largely drumless synth moans of 1994's oddly ...

Phuture 303: Acid tracking

Interview by Calvin Bush, Muzik, July 1995

Almost 10 years, after he sparked the acid revolution, Spanky is returning at the head of Phuture 303. But he's by no means the only ...

St Germain: Boulevard (F Communications)

Review by Push, Muzik, July 1995

GONE ARE THE days when everybody under 40 associated jazz with Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band and little else besides.  ...

Temazepam: Monging Out

Report by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, July 1995

Jellies used to be heavy shit, for addicts and desperados. Then serious clubland hedonists started taking them to come down. Now, in the search for ...

The Chemical Brothers, DJ Shadow, Dreadzone, Earthling, Massive Attack, Portishead, Renegade Soundwave, Tricky, Andrew Weatherall, The Wild Bunch: Trip Hop: Where The Beats Have No Name

Report and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Vox, July 1995

Trip-hop is now part of pop's international language — but the pioneers of Britain's most successful musical export in years refuse to admit it exists... ...

The Chemical Brothers: Haçienda, Manchester

Live Review by John Robb, Melody Maker, 1 July 1995

H2SO4 REAL! ...

The Chemical Brothers: Exit Planet Dust (Junior Boys Own XOUSTCD1)

Review by Lisa Verrico, Vox, August 1995

Guerrillas in the chemist ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Abuse

Interview by Lisa Verrico, Vox, August 1995

Last year, the Chemical Brothers were just a couple of DJs with a legendary reputation for drug taking. Now they're almost as famous as the ...

Todd Terry: Day of reckoning

Interview by Calvin Bush, Muzik, August 1995

New York's Todd Terry is a giant of house music. He's also the subject of controversy and slander over his DJ sets and remix attitude. ...

Goldie: You Can't Beat A Bit Of Bullion!: Goldie: Timeless (Metalheads/ffrr)

Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 August 1995

TO VENTURE INTO Goldie's world you must suspend conventional notions of time. Double-speed breakbeats fly past at irregular intervals; solemn strings swell, as if for ...

2 Bad Mice, 4 Hero, Dillinja, DJ Hype, Foul Play, Omni Trio, Roni Size and Reprazent: Will Jungle Be the Next Craze From Britain?

Report by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 6 August 1995

JUNGLE – A FRENETIC, fiercely percussive dance sound made using samples and computers – is the most exciting musical movement to emerge from Britain since ...

The Prodigy: Irving Plaza, New York

Live Review by Frank Owen, Rolling Stone, 24 August 1995

EVERYBODY KNOWS that Brits can't rap or dance: They lack flow. True to form, the Prodigy's unexceptional rapper (Maxim Reality) and two clumsy dancers (Leeroy ...

The Chemical Brothers: Rock Steady Dance Beat

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Guardian, 25 August 1995

Who says dance and rock don't mix? Lisa Verrico talks to the Chemical Brothers — a DJ outfit who make it work ...

Goldie: Timeless

Review by David Toop, MOJO, September 1995

WITH A FEW notable exceptions, Jungle has thus far been a music for singles and endless drum 'n' bass compilations. As the genre's first high ...

H Jungle With T: Jungle Hits Japan

Report and Interview by Kodwo Eshun, i-D, September 1995

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese dance producer who's just made the world's first ever million selling jungle hit. Like the rest of his records, we'll ...

LTJ Bukem: "Don't Miss Out on a Good Thing"

Profile and Interview by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, September 1995

That's what everyone's saying about LTJ Bukem — the man whose pioneering, melodic take on breakbeats has catapulted him into the drum n' bass super ...

E: Safer House

Report by Andrew Smith, The Face, October 1995

Amsterdam's Safe House Project does more than just advise clubbers on Ecstasy: it goes right to the source, to the manufacturers. ...

Junior Vasquez: The Sound Factory

Report and Interview by Frank Broughton, i-D, October 1995

As the legendary club closes, the mainstream begins to encroach on New York's nightlife heritage. ...

Dubstar: Starlight excess

Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 13 October 1995

Dubstar want to set your world on fire, says Caitlin Moran ...

Coldcut: Journeys By DJ (Music Unites JDJCD8 29tks/74mins)

Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 21 October 1995

THE SLICE IS RIGHT Their dazzle may have been eclipsed by newer brilliant stars, but Coldcut never left the party, they just went off on an ...

The Chemical Brothers: Astoria, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 28 October 1995

OH NO, not the eyelids again... Nurse! ...

Juno Reactor: Goa: Trance tripping

Report by Bethan Cole, i-D, November 1995

Goa's legendary party scene has turned a global network of travellers on to its unique sound. Spiritual, psychedelic and blowing up across the world: is ...

Björk, Goldie: Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 3 November 1995

Björk Plays to Her Strengths With Reflective, Lyrical Style ...

Juno Reactor: Goa Trance: Paradise Lost Can Be Regained

Report by Andrew Smith, The Guardian, 16 November 1995

Is a movement that started 12 years ago in a small south Indian state about to take over the British club scene? Andrew Smith chills ...

Daft Punk: Astoria, London

Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 18 November 1995

IT'S A GREAT NAME, obviously. Daft Punk are a young French duo who support the Chemical Brothers and come as close as is feasibly possible ...

"Mad" Frankie Fraser: Criminal records

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 24 November 1995

Dave Simpson talks to former gangland killer turned recording artist 'Mad' Frankie Fraser about his foray into pop music ...

Mrs Wood: Queen Of Hardbag

Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, December 1995

I FIRST MET MRS WOOD on a trip to BCM in Majorca. The manager had flagged up his attractions outside the club in four-foot letters: ...

Trainspotters: Sad All Over

Report by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, December 1995

Trainspotting, eh? We all do it, to one extent or another. But there are people who go that little bit further. People who take it to extremes. Who let collecting, buying ...

Daft Punk: What's Up? Daft Punk

Profile and Interview by Bethan Cole, i-D, December 1995

TWO THINGS you should know about Daft Punk. Firstly, they're not in the slightest bit stupid. Secondly, ostensibly, they've got nothing to do with 1977. ...

BT (Brian Transeau), Deep Dish: DC: White House House

Report and Interview by Frank Broughton, USA Update, 1996

In the wake of Deep Dish's UK success, the American capital is claiming its own sound. ...

The Love Parade

Report by Dave Rimmer, Pozor, 1996

NOTE: As a veteran of the event, I have written a lot about the Love Parade – for various music magazines in the UK, for ...

4 Hero, A Guy Called Gerald, LTJ Bukem, DJ Hype, Ed Rush & Optical, Goldie, Grooverider, Roni Size and Reprazent: Drum & Bass: Sonic Youth

Guide by Kodwo Eshun, The Face, January 1996

CALL IT drum & bass, breakbeat science or hardstep. As jungle accelerates faster into the future, it is splintering into a million different theme tunes ...

Leftfield: Kings of '95: Leftfield

Interview by Calvin Bush, Muzik, January 1996

A nomination for the Mercury Prize. An appearance on Top Of The Pops. Music for the soundtrack to Shallow Grave. Oh, and a gold album. ...

The Chemical Brothers: The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers

Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 20 January 1996

Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands aka THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS are the Stooges of techno — freaky, raw and seriously hip. Like The Orb, The Prodigy, ...

Goldie: Saturnz Return (London/All formats)

Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 24 January 1996

RiNGS LEADER ...

Club Flyers: Just An Illusion

Comment by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, February 1996

Nice flyer, shame about the club: Sheryl Garratt on the art of parties. ...

2 Unlimited, Clock, N Trance: Europop: Young, Dumb and Full of Hum

Report by Bob Stanley, The Face, February 1996

YOUR MUM LOVES the catchy melodies and your little brother fancies the singers. It's not Britpop, it's Euro technotechnotechnotechno and it's in the top ten ...

M People: Workers' Playtime

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, February 1996

Grass-roots devotion runs deep when it comes to M People: the Mercury-scooping dance behemoth for the discerning disco-bobulator. "Sharon and Tracy have always had more ...

DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, La Funk Mob, Money Mark, UNKLE: Mojo Rising: James Lavelle

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 1996

Being head of exploding hip-prog record label Mo'Wax is nothing to sneeze at. ...

Kelli Hand: On A Journey (K7 10tks/67 mins)

Review by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 3 February 1996

KELLI HAND is a very cool woman from Detroit, home of a particular electronic techno inspiration, which has, in the past, been credited as the ...

Everything But the Girl: Missing – the Full Remix EP (Atlantic)

Review by James Hunter, The Village Voice, 27 February 1996

ALMOST TWO years ago, still relying on the fierce understatement they premiered back in 1984, the English duo Everything But The Girl released Amplified Heart. ...

Madonna: Ray Of Light (WEA/CD/Tape)

Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 28 February 1996

HOW TIME flies. Four years, one child and the rise and fall of the most successful female-led uprising since the suffragettes and the lady Madonna ...

4 Hero: The Sound of Unimaginable Dreams

Interview by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, March 1996

Dego and Mark are 4 Hero. And Jason's Optical Stairway. And Tom & Jerry. And the brains behind Reinforced Records. They gave Goldie a break ...

Exposé: Greatest Hits (Arista)

Review by J.D. Considine, Vibe, March 1996

THESE DAYS, most people think Gloria Estefan was queen of the pre-bass Miami dance music scene. But the real rulers were Exposé, three women who ...

The A-Z of Electro

Guide by David Toop, The Wire, March 1996

In its original incarnation, Electro was black science fiction teleported to the dancefloors of New York, Miami and LA; a super-stoopid fusion of video games, ...

Underworld: Second Toughest in the Infants (Junior Boys Own JBOCD4)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 8 March 1996

UNDERWORLD'S 1994 masterpiece, dubnobasswithmyheadman, set new standards for techno music, bringing a confounding humanity to the genre. Since then, they've retreated somewhat from the limelight, ...

Underworld: Alphabet Soup

Interview by Push, Muzik, 10 March 1996

With the release of their new album, Second Toughest In The Infants, UNDERWORLD take a hurtling ride through their world... With a little help from ...

The Prodigy: House Of The Razing Arson

Interview by Johnny Cigarettes, New Musical Express, 23 March 1996

The Prodigy, those Beztastic cartoon ravers with the bonkers tunes and child-scaring hairdos, are mutating! Yup, they are evolving, gulp, into a scary fire-snorting funky ...

Everything But The Girl: Once more, with feeling

Interview by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, April 1996

'Missing' was one of the most beautiful, evocative house records of recent years. Now Everything But The Girl are making jungle with the same kind ...

LTJ Bukem: Various: LTJ Bukem Presents Logical Progression (ffrr/Good Looking/All formats)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 6 April 1996

FLOCK OF AGES ...

Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers: Larry Heard: Alien Dex Fiend

Profile and Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 13 April 1996

WHO IS HE? LARRY HEARD ...

Everything But the Girl: The Rebirth of Cool

Interview by Susan Corrigan, i-D, May 1996

Dismissed, despondent, near death... last year Everything But The Girl were missing in action. Then along came 'Missing'. Now they're back with a brilliant album ...

Faithless: Reverence (Cheeky/BMG)

Review by Push, Muzik, May 1996

Joyful and triumphant ...

Jungle Pirate Radio

Essay by Jon Savage, Artforum, May 1996

BUILT IN a clay basin, London promotes claustrophobia as a way of life: but then, something can happen that lets the air in, that makes ...

Leftfield: Quiet Storm

Interview by Bethan Cole, i-D, May 1996

Leftfield are dance provocateurs who turned from the quick thrill of the clubland twelve-inch to take their place in the ranks of the unit-shifting, award-winning, ...

Chic: Bernard Edwards 1952-1996

Obituary by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 4 May 1996

BERNARD EDWARDS of CHIC died last week. Paul Lester celebrates the life and work of a massively influential musician, producer and songwriter ...

Moloko: I Should Moloko

Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 10 May 1996

Jarvis Cocker predicts big things for them. Rock'n'roll bible The Independent called them Britain's best new band. Clearly, the dizzyingly eclectic MOLOKO can't fail ...

Orbital: De Montfort University, Leicester

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 11 May 1996

DANCE MUSIC is the most innovative genre around, but Orbital are leaving that behind. Six years on from their rave smash 'Chime', the Hartnolls' recent ...

Jeff Mills: The Detroit Spinner

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 25 May 1996

IT'S 3AM AT The End, London's state-of-the-art nightclub. The apocalyptic sound system rams an earthquake beneath every kick-drum; the warning signs on the walls scream ...

Everything But The Girl: Walking Wounded (Virgin)

Review by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, June 1996

HOW ON earth did they get here? One minute Everything But The Girl are the icons of suburban depressives, idealistic students and all-round sad people, ...

Ultra Sonic: Raveheart

Report and Interview by Bethan Cole, i-D, June 1996

You reckoned the rave dream died years ago? Think again! They may have hung up their whistles and white gloves, but Scotland's musical youth are ...

DJ Spooky: Spooky After Dark: The DJ as Dead Dreamer

Review by Richard Gehr, The Village Voice, 6 June 1996

DJ SPOOKY'S Songs of a Dead Dreamer (Asphodel) magically distills the mysterioso live performances the artist (and occasional Voice contributor) otherwise known as Paul D. ...

Chic: Bernard Edwards, 1952-1996

Obituary by Geoffrey Himes, Rolling Stone, 13 June 1996

BACK IN THE DISCO era, when most records went thump-thump-thump, the music produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers went bumpity-bip-bop, bing-bang-boom. ...

Funky Porcini: Funki Porcini: Love, Pussycats & Carwrecks (Ninja Tune 12 tks/68 mins)

Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 22 June 1996

PUSSY GALORE: Tranquil trip hop, crystal clear jungle and salacious sex. FUNKI PORCINI has it all ...

808 State: Castlefield Amphitheatre, Manchester

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 24 June 1996

THINK OF A free open-air gig on the first day of summer and you'd probably imagine hippies, loud rock music and lots of mud. All ...

M People: Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 29 June 1996

HAIRDO WELL! ...

Tribal Gathering: Whose Land Is It Anyway?

Report by William Shaw, Select, July 1996

The residents of Otmoor hated it. The good citizens of Beckley insisted it should be halted. Members of The Woodland Trust claimed it would cause ...

Orbital, Spacetime Continuum: Found In Space: In the electronic universe of Orbital, the star is sound

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 5 July 1996

ROCK 'N' ROLL often has a lot to do with public image – a preening Mick Jagger, a prancing Tina Turner, a spitting Johnny Rotten, ...

808 State: Castlefield Amphitheatre, Manchester

Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 6 July 1996

IS THIS THE way the future's really meant to feel? Or just 20,000 mutants standing in a cobbled amphitheatre? Either there's an extremely mad scientist ...

Björk: Lunatic Ginge

Interview by Sylvia Patterson, New Musical Express, 20 July 1996

Of course, us pop kids have always known BJÖRK was a nutter, but when she battered a journalist in Bangkok she became tabloid property and, ...

The Prodigy: Prod Almighty

Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 20 July 1996

'Firestarter' has made THE PRODIGY the nation's favourite alternative alternative band: Chris Evans doesn't play them, they refuse to do Top Of The Pops, and ...

The Prodigy: Torhout Rock, Bruges

Live Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 20 July 1996

I DON'T WANNA reiterate the usual boring Belgium jokes — I've had better times in Bruxelles than I've ever had in, say, Paris, but the ...

Moby: Water Rats, London

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 27 July 1996

THE POCKET-SIZED Henry Rollins must be insane. He's clearly gone stark raving crucifix-tattoo-on-the- back-of-his-neck bonkers. ...

Basement Jaxx, Idjut Boys: High In The Basement

Report and Interview by Bethan Cole, i-D, August 1996

As the tired ritual of corporate house culture burns itself out, something low key is rising from the ashes. It's eclectic, it's experimental and it's ...

Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, Joe Bataan, New Order, Rockers Revenge: Arthur Baker: Legend!

Interview by Kris Needs, Muzik, September 1996

In the beginning, there was ARTHUR BAKER. And without him, dance music wouldn't be what it is today. For starters, we wouldn't have had 'Planet ...

Faze Action: Renaissance

Interview by Bill Brewster, The Face, September 1996

The Haçienda in considering dropping house music. UK Midlands' new night features Goldie and Weatherall. Has house burnt out? Faze Action says it's time to ...

It's All Gone... Pete Tong

Interview by Push, Muzik, September 1996

PETE TONG. His Essential Selection show on Radio One is the nation's choice on a Friday night. It's a dry run for a night out, ...

Secret Knowledge: Hi Bunny, I'm Home!

Interview by Push, Muzik, September 1996

Kris Needs and Wonder. A boy from Aylesbury and a girl from Ohio. Music from the heart, some hard lessons from the street... and a ...

808 State, Björk, Underworld: Björk, Underworld, 808 State: Irvine Beach '96, Irvine Beach Park, Scotland

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 14 September 1996

BEACHED WAILS ...

Josh Wink: Check Your Hedonism

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 14 September 1996

He doesn't smoke, drink or do drugs, he goes down the gym, never loses his temper and asks himself lots of deep life questions. Is ...

Spring Heel Jack: Versions (Trade 2, 7tks/48 mins)

Review by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 14 September 1996

VERSIONS Comprises Spring Heel Jack's crafty reworkings of the mechanical masterpieces which made up their godlike recent 68 Million Shades... album. It marks the point ...

The Prodigy: Prodigy: End Fest, Bremberton, Washington

Live Review by Gillian G. Gaar, Rolling Stone, 19 September 1996

ON THE one hand, it was hard to see why Prodigy were chosen to close End Fest; the annual daylong outdoor music festival is usually ...

Moby: Animal Rights (Mute 12 tks/54 mins)

Review by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 21 September 1996

MOBY WAS responsible for 'Go', not just one of the few techno/pop crossover hits to endure in the affections of non-dance aficionados but also one ...

Josh Wink: Winx: Left Above The Clouds (XL 28 tks/74 mins); Josh Wink: A Higher State Of Wink's Works (Manifesto 7 tks/43 mins)

Review by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 21 September 1996

DREAD PRESIDENT Clean techno crusty JOSH WINK is a star now. Why? ...

Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, New Order, Rockers Revenge: Arthur Baker: Baker Groove

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 28 September 1996

This week Vibes hops across to the Emerald Isle to hook up with one of the founding fathers of modern dance, the fabulous ARTHUR BAKER ...

DJ Shadow

Profile and Interview by Bethan Cole, i-D, October 1996

What happens when you remove all the boundaries? DJ Shadow's debut album, Entroducing, is a record without frontiers. ...

LTJ Bukem, MC Conrad: LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad in... Mission Possible

Report and Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, October 1996

LTJ Bukem, the man behind the 50,000 selling Logical Progression album, the excellent Good Looking and Looking Good labels and drum 'n' bass classics 'Music', ...

Nitin Sawhney : Nitin Sawhney: Displacing The Priest (Outcaste) ***

Review by David Bennun, Muzik, October 1996

SAWHNEY'S SECOND album is so omnivorously eclectic that it would be easy to mistake it for a new David Toop compilation. All the same, there ...

Mike Oldfield, Orbital: Pleased To Meet You: Mike Oldfield & Orbital

Interview by David Quantick, Q, October 1996

Without "funny" Mike Oldfield ambient music as we know it might never have existed. Without ex-baldies Orbital the Royal Albert Hall might never have hosted ...

Andrea Parker: 'The Rocking Chair' (Mo' Wax EP)

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 25 October 1996

The chill factor: Dave Simpson enjoys a spooky orchestral set ...

The Chemical Brothers: The Chemistry Set — The Chemical Brothers: Academy, Manchester

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 26 October 1996

Dave Simpson takes some Anadin with The Chemical Brothers ...

Josh Wink: Lands Techno at a Major Label

Profile and Interview by Frank Broughton, Rolling Stone, 31 October 1996

JOSH WINK stands in a Manhattan office building's elevator, displaying a dark scab on his leg. "I call it my Ibiza tattoo," the 26-year-old Philadelphia ...

Norman Jay: Chop Chop!

Interview by Sonia Poulton, Muzik, November 1996

Chopper fanatic, sound system supremo, founder member of Kiss FM, former Talkin' Loud A&R guru, all-round celebrity and man of the people... What more do ...

Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant (1996)

Interview by Steven Daly, Rock's Backpages audio, November 1996

Starting off with an hilarious account of how 'Go West' became a football chant, Neil Tennant goes into a treatise on British pop culture: the limitations of irony; the ideologies of the '80s against the triumphalist '90s; sexuality as cultural choice, and politics. He also looks back on his time at Smash Hits, and feeling beaten to it musically by New Order's 'Blue Monday'.

File format: mp3; file size: 56mb, interview length: 58' 17" sound quality: ***

Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant (1996) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Steven Daly, Rock's Backpages transcripts, November 1996

This is a transcript of Steven's audio interview with Neil. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

The Chemical Brothers: The Lucifer-y Freak Brothers: The Chemical Brothers: The Academy, Manchester

Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 2 November 1996

THE BOY ONSTAGE looks surprisingly calm and bright eyed. He gazes out at the mass of seething bodies, hunches his shoulders in a quietly at-one ...

Aphex Twin: Teddy or Not

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 9 November 1996

Techno's eccentric ginger prince APHEX TWIN likes to make noises that upset people. Incredible, then, that he's sold tons of records and made a wad ...

Aphex Twin: The Clink, London

Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 9 November 1996

WHAT... what... what the fuck is going on? Frenzied breakbeats and oppressive bursts of synth are emanating from the front of the venue, but the ...

Bryan Gee, DJ Dazee, DJ Die, DJ Krust, Flynn & Flora, Henry & Louis, Massive Attack, Peter D. Rose, Roni Size and Reprazent, Smith & Mighty, The Wild Bunch: Bristol responds to Bass

Report and Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, December 1996

More than any other British city Bristol has always had an identifiable musical sound. From Smith and Mighty, Massive Attack, Tricky and Portishead, to current ...

Juan Atkins, Afrika Bambaataa, The Chemical Brothers, Tricky: Who Put The Bleep In The Boom-Chi Bleep?

Overview by Pat Blashill, Details, December 1996

PAT BLASHILL TRACES THE HISTORY OF ELECTRO, THE UNSUNG SOURCE OF RAP, TECHNO, AND TRIP-HOP ...

Neneh Cherry: Cherry Picker — Neneh Cherry: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 December 1996

Caroline Sullivan on the sultry charms of Neneh Cherry at Shepherds Bush Empire ...

10 Years of House

Retrospective by John McCready, The Face, 1997

TEN YEARS IS A LONG TIME. Three score short of a lifetime, I know, but long enough to establish your own space programme and see ...

Giorgio Moroder

Retrospective by Jon Savage, Request, 1997

SO YOU THINK Giorgio Moroder and you think of Donna Summer's pornographic 'Love To Love You Baby' and all that followed, but there's more to ...

Why does everyone ignore "Jump Up" jungle?

Interview by Bethan Cole, Mixmag, January 1997

Even Goldie has been dissing "jump up". But wasn't it the ragga stuff that put jungle back in the frame in the first place? ...

Daft Punk: Homework (Virgin CDV 2821 £14.99)

Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 17 January 1997

ONE OF the intriguing side effects of the techno revolution is the way it has re-trained the ears of the pop market to accept instrumental ...

Daft Punk: Ready, Study, Go!: Daft Punk: Homework (Virgin)

Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 18 January 1997

AS A RULE, the better a country's cuisine, the worse its pop music. Hence the illustrious rock'n'roll lineage of Great Britain, land of lardy stodge ...

David Bowie: Earthling (RCA 7432144944 2)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 21 January 1997

What comes through most strongly is the way Bowie retains an obsessional interest in the sheer variety and extremity of sound ...

Daft Punk: Going for Gaul

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 25 January 1997

ONE SOUND rings out above all others in DAFT PUNK's uncluttered office in Paris' beautiful Montmartre district. Not music but... whirr! A fax machine working ...

Daft Punk: Homework (Virgin CDV2821)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 31 January 1997

FRENCH DUO Daft Punk's take on techno strips away any artistic pretensions to leave just a jackhammer beat and a few squelchy noises looping over ...

Aphex Twin: Richard D. James (Sire/Elektra)

Review by Will Hermes, Spin, February 1997

IF EVERY DJ IS essentially a critic, as Robert Christgau once noted, then Aphex Twin Richard James is a critic's critic, using rave music signifiers ...

Daft Punk: Clubs: Daft Punk

Interview by Emma Warren, The Face, February 1997

ANYONE WHO'S ever found themselves propelled on to the middle of the dancefloor as soon as the twisted "wah wah" strains of 'Da Funk' hit ...

Daft Punk: Homework (Virgin)

Review by Calvin Bush, Muzik, February 1997

PHIL SPECTOR would have been proud. If there's one trick the French pair can pull off with constant aplomb (and they do it repeatedly across ...

Daft Punk: Frog Rock

Interview by Calvin Bush, Muzik, February 1997

DAFT PUNK. They're not daft They're not punks. Just two young French funkateers putting France on the house map with one of the most hyped ...

Eyewitness: The Twist

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, February 1997

THE TWIST WAS the most remarkable dance phenomenon in the history of the rock era. Here's the story of how it happened in the words ...

The Prodigy: Road Rage!

Report by Kris Needs, Jockey Slut, February 1997

THE PRODIGY HAVE TAKEN LIVE DANCE MUSIC TO ANOTHER LEVEL, INCORPORATING ROCK ICONOGRAPHY, PARENT-QUAKING HAIR AND A FIERCELY LOYAL AUDIENCE. KRIS NEEDS REPORTS FROM THE ...

Coldcut, DJ Krush: Coldcut & DJ Food Vs DJ Krush: Cold Krush Cuts (Ninja Tune/CD only)

Review by Keith Cameron, Melody Maker, 1 February 1997

CHILLER ON THE LOOSE ...

David Bowie: Drum 'N' Bass Oddity

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 1 February 1997

Forget the '80s. Forget Let's Dance and Tin Machine. Forget the mullets. 'Cos DAVID BOWIE'S discovered jungle and he's back with a vengeance. STEPHEN DALTON ...

Daft Punk: Act De Triomphe: Daft Punk: The End, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 15 February 1997

NO QUESTION, it is the hottest ticket in town. A night on the tiles with Paris' new dance sensations — at a party hosted by ...

The Orb: Orblivion (Island)

Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 22 February 1997

AFTER FIVE years of squandered promise, wrong turnings, bitter splits and experimental muck-spreading, how much can we honestly expect from Alex Paterson? Five years in ...

Masters at Work, Nuyorican Soul: Masters At Work: Shock of the Nu

Interview by Kris Needs, Muzik, March 1997

You know MASTERS AT WORK, you're familiar with the studio prowess of Mr Gonzalez and Mr Vega, you appreciate their high quality, chart-busting, dancefloor output, ...

Moby: Tech no!

Interview by Eric Weisbard, Spin, March 1997

One-time electronic-music evangelist Moby has converted to alternative rock. Talk about bad timing. ...

Goldie, Menswear, Tricky: Pre Millennium Tension

Report by Bethan Cole, i-D, March 1997

Adolescent angst and twentysomething trauma used to be something of a cliché. But no longer. With admissions of young people to hospital at an all-time ...

Death In Vegas: Dead Elvis (Concrete/All formats)

Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 15 March 1997

FOR SUCH trendy purveyors of Londoncentric dance music, Death In Vegas are surprisingly steeped in rock'n'roll lore. ...

Terry Callier, Beth Orton: Beth Orton: The next Dusty springs from the trailer park to centre stage

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 19 March 1997

Beth Orton is an unlikely creature: a beautiful, long-limbed folk singer who's got the grapevine buzzing. Her pop comes from the American trailer park and... ...

Daft Punk: Plastique Fantastique

Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 29 March 1997

It's taken a while, but mainstream America is finally welcoming dance music with open aims. Now they're going crazy over the Chemicals and are poised ...

Death In Vegas: "Men talking about their record collections are like dogs sniffing each other's bottoms"

Interview by Andy Crysell, Muzik, April 1997

SPOOKY. VERY spooky. It's 11 am in deepest Clapham and in a cafe full of wheezing old men and cackling women, Richard Fearless, the sharp-dressing ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Warfare

Interview by Pat Blashill, Details, April 1997

THEY DON'T PLAY ANY INSTRUMENTS, BUT THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS HAVE INVENTED DANCE MUSIC'S BRAND-NEW BEAT. PAT BLASHILL MIXES IT UP WITH ELECTRONICA'S PREMIER BOOGIE BAND. ...

Village People: "Macho Types Wanted, Must Have Moustache"

Retrospective and Interview by William Shaw, The Face, April 1997

Young man! There's no need to feel down... Until you've heard the strange and tragic tale of the man behind the biggest disco sensation of ...

Fatboy Slim, The Housemartins: Fatboy Slim: The Norman Conquest

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 19 April 1997

In the beginning, he was a Housemartin. In between, he's been Pizzaman and a Mighty Kat. Now he's FATBOY SLIM. But no matter what NORMAN ...

Faithless: Wir Sind Berliners!

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, May 1997

Faithless: in no way Eurosceptic. ...

Speedy J: Follow The Speeder

Interview by Push, Muzik, May 1997

DON'T MENTION the war. Unless you are in Rotterdam. Because if you are in Rotterdam, you really should know that on 14 May 1940, a ...

808 State, Happy Mondays, New Order: The Haçienda: Working on a Building of Love

Retrospective by John McCready, The Face, May 1997

It gives us such great joy to sayThat fifteen years ago todayA club was born — the HaçiendaA venue for the maddest bendersSo as you ...

Bentley Rhythm Ace: Blue Note, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 3 May 1997

BRUM PUNCH ...

Faithless: Faith, Hope And Clarity

Profile and Interview by Ian Gittins, Melody Maker, 3 May 1997

FAITHLESS are successfully grafting poetry, intelligence and stoner philosophy onto their floor-filling euphoric dance. Dare you follow?                                                        * ...

Squarepusher: Hard Normal Daddy (Warp/CD/LP)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 3 May 1997

TOM JENKINSON, the one-man band who is Squarepusher, has no doubt inherited many fine things from his Hard Normal Daddy. But being normal is most ...

Village People: 'YMCA'. Why?

Retrospective and Interview by Peter Silverton, The Observer, 4 May 1997

The song that makes bad dancers worse. ...

Bentley Rhythm Ace: Bentley Rhythm Ace (Skint/LP/CD)

Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 10 May 1997

WILD IN THE BLACK COUNTRY ...

Plaid, Squarepusher: Squarepusher, Plaid: The Blue Note, London

Live Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 17 May 1997

APHEX TWIN is blocking the bloody stairs. Paul Hartnoll out of Orbital is getting crushed and Björk is lost in her own little world down ...

Talvin Singh: The Blue Note, London

Live Review by Ngaire Ruth, Melody Maker, 17 May 1997

HOW ARE all the people in this queue going to get into a place that small? ...

The Prodigy: Festimad, Madrid

Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 17 May 1997

MADRID FOR IT!! ...

Tori Amos, Armand Van Helden: Armand Van Helden: Widow shopping

Interview by Calvin Bush, Muzik, June 1997

"It's gotta be big" sang Tori Amos. And lo, it was! ARMAND VAN HELDEN's remix of the petite songstress put him right up there in ...

The Chemical Brothers: Who, Us?

Interview by Eric Weisbard, Spin, June 1997

The world wonders: Can a shlumpy pair of English breakbeat obsessives rescue rock music from its current doldrums? Ugh, groan the Chemical Brothers. Ugh, seconds ...

The Prodigy: The Fat Of The Land (XL Recordings XLMC 121) KKKKK

Review by Paul Elliott, Kerrang!, 28 June 1997

LAND OF HOPE & GLORY ...

1988 and All That

Comment by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, August 1997

The summer of love that grew out of the Balearic scene wasn't as revolutionary as some claim, says Sheryl Garratt ...

Paul Oakenfold: House Music: Promised Land

Overview by John McCready, The Face, August 1997

What have we got to celebrate after ten years of non-stop ecstatic dancing? Loads, says John McCready ...

Chic: Props: Chic

Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, August 1997

AFTER THE riots, bullets, and civil rights battles of '60s America, the national spirit desperately needed uplifting. Tragic visionaries like Marvin Gaye and Sly Stone ...

The Prodigy: The Fat Of The Land

Review by Paul Morley, Uncut, August 1997

CHRIST ALMIGHTY. It moves vertically through salted pressures with a head that can see sideways. It is red in tooth and claw. It swoons and ...

The Prodigy: Who Will Rave Your Soul?

Interview by William Shaw, Details, August 1997

They started a fire on MTV Now everyone expects them to heat up Lollapalooza. William Shaw butts heads with the Prodigy, rock's most reluctant heroes. ...

The Prodigy: Keith Flint Is the Firestarter

Profile and Interview by Chris Heath, Rolling Stone, 21 August 1997

How a faceless ass-rumbling hard rock techno band found a voice (and a haircut) and set the world on fire. ...

The Prodigy: Anarchy In The US!

Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 23 August 1997

With a Number One album and a headlining spot on Lollapalooza '97, THE PRODIGY are America's most wanted right now. Which means mainman Liam Howlett ...

Bentley Rhythm Ace: A bad back won't stop a good man

Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 29 August 1997

The really interesting story about the irrepressible lads of Bentley Rhythm Ace is the gruesome accident that you don't get to see on their promotional ...

Primal Scream, The Prodigy: The Prodigy, Primal Scream: Glasgow Green, Glasgow

Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 31 August 1997

They're like the Sex Pistols. Via Mothercare ...

Coldcut: Solid Cold

Report and Interview by Calvin Bush, Muzik, September 1997

Ten years in the business and COLDCUT are still sticking firmly to their original philosophy of always being ahead of their time. Revolutionary software. System-booting ...

Earth Wind and Fire: Earth Wind & Fire: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 1997

NO ONE levitates tonight. Nor are there any Sphinxes. And the sequinned Egyptological-spaceman costumes are conspicuous by their absence. But we do get 12 instrumentalists ...

Aphex Twin, Si Begg, Squarepusher, Cristian Vogel: Richard James, Tom Jenkinson et al: A Taste Of Wonderland, Ministry Of Sound, London

Live Review by Rob Young, The Wire, September 1997

AH, A DUMBSHOW — now that's entertainment. In the middle of the floor in the largest of the Ministry Of Sound's three shapeless spaces, the ...

Speed Garage: Sound Of The Future

Report and Interview by Bethan Cole, Muzik, September 1997

It's harden faster, sharper and more bass-heavy than ever before, it has MCs, rewinds, ragga vocals and time-stretching. Its energy and hedonism is hard to ...

The Chemical Brothers: The Big Boom Theory

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, September 1997

Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons — aka The Chemical Brothers — are rewriting the rock'n'roll rule book with their earth-moving amalgam of big beats, old ...

Todd Terry: Ready For A New Day (Manifesto)

Review by John McCready, MOJO, September 1997

Disco legends guest on album that's mostly club deity and his drum machine. ...

Roni Size and Reprazent: Roni Size & Reprazent: Against the current and in the mainstream

Interview by David Sinclair, The Times, 5 September 1997

For Roni Size and his drum and bass army, winning the 1997 Mercury Music Prize is a means to an end, writes David Sinclair ...

David Holmes: Let's Get Killed (Go! Beat/All formats)

Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 September 1997

AS FAR AS career opportunities go, being a top-level DJ in the '90s is on par with being an early-'70s rock star... More money than ...

Coldcut: Heat to the Beat: Coldcut at 333, London

Live Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 6 September 1997

"HOW COLD can Coldcut get?" When sweat is dripping off your nose, your T-shirt has stuck and the most strenuous thing you've done is light ...

Coldcut: Let Us Play (Ninja Tune 13 tks/77 mins)

Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 13 September 1997

Coldcut have come up trumps with a new album full of kitsch delights — and it's bloody good fun too... ...

Dannii Minogue: Dannii: Girl (Eternal 10 Tks/56 Mins)

Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 20 September 1997

"DANNII, DEAREST," come the plummy tones of an Eternal Records exec. "Could you step in here a moment?" ...

Kylie Minogue: Kylie Minogue (deConstruction 12tks/50mins)

Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 27 September 1997

Mission impossible: With yet another musical direction has Kylie finally found her niche? ...

Norman Jay, Kylie Minogue, Primal Scream, Danny Rampling: "This will not be a party weekend."

Report by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, October 1997

CAFE DEL MAR ALBUM ON ROTATION, TIM WESTWOOD SILENT, RECORD SHOPS SHUT AND CLUBS PLAYING 'WONDERWALL'. HOW DID DIANA'S DEATH AFFECT THE CLUB WORLD? ...

David Holmes: Holmes On The Deranged

Report and Interview by Calvin Bush, Muzik, October 1997

Celtic soul brother DAVID HOLMES heads for Noo Yawk to hang with the homies, freaks and weirdos. The result? The seedy core of The Big ...

A Guy Called Gerald: Have You Ever Ridden a Horse? A Guy Called Gerald

Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, October 1997

IS SPEED GARAGE SELFISH? IS EVERYONE A NUMBER? DOES DERRICK MAY LOOK LIKE EDDY MURPHY? GERALD SIMPSON THINKS SO AND HE'S SEEN BIGGIE AND TUPAC ...

Is the dance shop dead?

Report and Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, October 1997

WITH THE SHOCK CLOSURE OF LONDON'S FAMOUS FAT CAT RECORD SHOP, THE SHUTTERS OF PETE WATERMAN'S CHAIN OF SPECIALIST DANCE SHOPS FIRMLY SHUT AND THE ...

Spring Heel Jack: Why Does Everybody Hate Spring Heel Jack?

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Mixmag, October 1997

Is it because they produced for Everything But The Girl? Toured with ambient rockers Spiritualized rather than Goldie? Or because they're seen as the epitome ...

Loop Guru: Mental Guru!

Report and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 4 October 1997

As UK techno's second wave engulfs America, we join 806 STATE, SYSTEM 7, BT, GROOVERIDER and our hosts LOOP GURU on the Big Top Tour, ...

M People: Fresco (BMG 74321 52490 £14.49)

Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 10 October 1997

Listen without prejudice ...

Lo Fidelity Allstars: Lo-Fidelity Allstars: Allstars In Your Eyes

Report and Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 18 October 1997

LO-FIDELITY ALLSTARS are gonna be massive. Who says? They do. And we agree. We join them on the UK tour everyone will claim to have ...

Roni Size and Reprazent: Pet Projects Win Prizes

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 18 October 1997

RONI SIZE and REPRAZENT's Mercury Prize-winning brand of soulful drum'n'bass has made them the most successful junglist crossover act yet... NME finds out why. Breakbeats ...

Tuff Jam: Jam On It

Interview by Bethan Cole, Muzik, November 1997

Things are on the up for Tuff Jam. They've got a peak time radio show, records in the charts and followers all over clubland. They ...

Coldcut, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: You Spin Me Round

Overview by Martin Aston, Q, November 1997

"Two turntables and a microphone," are, says Beck, "where it's at." For more than a decade Technics 1200 record decks have provided the backbone of ...

Daft Punk: The Astoria, London

Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 20 November 1997

UNDERGROUND/OVERGROUND, spectacle/black-out, in-yer-face/faceless, pop/music. Dance has to make its choices. Either it believes in its own unique power, rejecting stages, identification, authenticity and the audience/artist ...

Liquid Liquid: Liquid Liquid

Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 27 November 1997

LAST TIME WE heard from them (in 1995), aging eye-shadow poster boys Duran Duran had a hit cover of Grandmaster Flash's eerie 1983 cocaine rap ...

M People: Just Pedestrian — M People, Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 November 1997

M People may do a lot for Peugeot, but Caroline Sullivan is not moved ...

Daft Punk: Guildhall, Southampton

Live Review by Calvin Bush, Muzik, December 1997

YOU COULD probably count the number of truly functioning live house acts on the cuticle of Mr Fingers' smallest digit. It's computer music, no fancy ...

The Anthill Mob, DJ Ride, KMA Productions, Skykap: Eastside Stories

Report by Bethan Cole, Muzik, December 1997

From the Krays to hardcore, London's East End has always nurtured its own club scene. A rawer, rougher, more honest flipside to the glitz you'll ...

Kraftwerk play Tribal Gathering

Report and Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, December 1997

HOW ON EARTH DID UNIVERSE ENTICE THE TECHNO INNOVATORS BACK ONTO A STAGE? LET'S FIND OUT. ...

Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers: Larry Heard: Heard it through the grapevine

Interview by Calvin Bush, Muzik, December 1997

The word is out: the original deep house pioneer Larry Heard has decided to stop making music. Or has he? ...

Propellerheads: We've been expecting you...

Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, December 1997

WITH THEIR DEBUT SINGLE SNAPPED UP BY ADIDAS TO SELL TRAINERS, A TOP TEN TUNE VIA A REWORKED BOND THEME, AND SHIRLEY BASSEY TAKING VOCAL ...

Roni Size and Reprazent: Roni Size & Reprazent: Academy, Manchester

Live Review by John McCready, MOJO, December 1997

I'D STOOD in the same spot a month or so ago watching David Bowie — an old man using drum'n'bass as a kind of fashionable ...

Sasha and Digweed play Twilo

Report and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, December 1997

JOHN DIGWEED stares at the sleek, black stretch limo we've ordered to take us from the hotel to the club in New York. "I usually ...

The Prodigy: Prodigy: G-MEX, Manchester

Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 13 December 1997

YOUR MUSICAL memory of tonight is reversed; I walked backwards as they got worse. To pin the Prod down, pin down why they still offer ...

The Chemical Brothers: Octagon Theatre, Sheffield

Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 13 December 1997

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS: A couple of girly-haired posho Oxbridge medieval language student chancers who claim that their 'big beat' mobile disco can knock any rock ...

DJ Shadow, UNKLE: "We've Just Made The Biggest, Most Expensive/Action/Entertainment Shit In The World!" It is the UNKLE album.

Special Feature by Craig McLean, The Face, 1998

It spans eight years, three continents and an aborted Fleetwood Mac cover. It features Richard Ashcroft, Thom Yorke and Mike D. How did DJ Shadow ...

Chic: Hammersmith Odeon, October 1979

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1998

SO FEW AND FAR between are the live performances that have made any real impression on me that they stick out in the memory like ...

Juno Reactor, The Orb: Living in Orblivion: The Orb

Report and Interview by JoE Silva, Remix, 1998

"THE RECORD COMPANY didn't have a clue what was going on." ...

Future Sound of London, Orbital, Ultramarine, Underworld: Our Electric Friends: Humanising the Highway, from ‘Autobahn’ to Orbital

Book Excerpt by Ben Thompson, 'Seven Years of Plenty', 1998

DRIVING ON THE M25 in a rusty Mini. Early evening, thick drizzle. Only one windscreen wiper works because someone has snapped the end off the ...

The Prodigy

Book Excerpt by Ben Thompson, Seven Years of Plenty, 1998

LIAM HOWLETT - soft-spoken mastermind behind The Prodigy's globe-subjugating juggernaut of organised chaos - is a very busy man. If you want some idea of ...

Asian Dub Foundation: Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

Live Review by Andy Crysell, Muzik, January 1998

FUCK POLITICS, let's dance, yeah? What say we wiggle across the dancefloor, gobble up the chemicals and frug our worries clean away? ...

Arab Strap, Dawn of the Replicants, David Holmes: David Holmes, Arab Strap, Dawn of the Replicants: Twelve-Inch Angry Men

Report and Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 10 January 1998

It's Sunday night and DAVD HOLMES, ARAB STRAP'S AIDAN MOFFAT and DAWN OF THE REPLICANTS' PAUL VICKERS are in a Brixton pub getting trousered and ...

Les Rythmes Digitales: Vibes: Ooh, You Are Eiffel!

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 24 January 1998

VIBES PLAYS TRICOLORE OR TREAT WITH WALL OF SOUND'S ONE-MAN BIG-BEAT FACTORY LES RHYTHMES DIGITALES... ...

Ed Rush & Optical: Ed Rush and Optical: Jungle Fever

Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, February 1998

ED RUSH AND OPTICAL HAVE JOINED FORCES WITH VIRUS, THEIR NEW IMPRINT DEDICATED TO DIRTY DRUM 'N' BASS. EMMA WARREN GETS INFECTED. ...

Goldie: Saturnz Return (Ffrr Records)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, February 1998

AFTER YEARS of failing to cultivate any homegrown hip hop talents comparable to the likes of Rakim or the Notorious B.I.G., the infamous noise scientists ...

Goldie: Saturnz Return (London)

Review by Calvin Bush, Muzik, February 1998

OF COURSE you want to hate it. A grand folly. A vain, epic conceit. You've heard about Noel Gallagher and David Bowie and wondered what ...

Goldie: Welcome to my world

Interview by Calvin Bush, Muzik, February 1998

He's finished with Björk. He's finished with Rob Playford. And he's finished with his mid-life crisis. He's just about to meet Val Kilmer, Laurence Fishburne ...

Matthew Herbert: Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Radioboy

Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, February 1998

MATTHEW HERBERT HAS KILLED OFF HIS EGG WHISK PLAYING WISHMOUNTAIN GUISE TO CREATE THE SUIT PEELING RADIOBOY! EMMA WARREN TUNES IN. ...

Goldie: Saturnz Return (FFRR, $16.98) ****

Review by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 February 1998

Goldie Takes A Dark Journey ...

Propellerheads: One giant leap for Big Beat

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 3 February 1998

Everyone wants a piece of their music: Steven Spielberg, Shirley Bassey, Coca-Cola... but the Propellerheads have their feet firmly on the ground. MAX BELL meets ...

Propellerheads: Chelsea Bridge Studios, London

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 14 February 1998

FUSSY LOGIC ...

Dubstar: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 21 February 1998

IF A BUILDING could 'Tsk' the 'Tsk' of having seen it all before, this one would surely be doing it now. The Empire, after all, ...

Dance Culture: One Nation Under A Groove

Essay by Bethan Cole, Muzik, March 1998

Ten years ago, a few hundred people were raving all night to the sounds of acid house. A year later there were a few thousand ...

Drugs: Ill Communication

Report by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, March 1998

Sheryl Garratt learns from those at our hospitals' sharp end that Ecstasy may not be the biggest threat to clubbers' health after all ...

Goldie: The Fun Lovin' Criminal

Interview by Tom Doyle, Q, March 1998

A youth spent shovelled from despair into care, a stint as a "shit" safecracker, a globe-trotting interlude ending in spectacular musical creativity: Goldie is the ...

Village People: Young Men! The Village People

Retrospective and Interview by Peter Silverton, MOJO, March 1998

"YOUNG MAN!" IT BUTTONHOLES YOU. And then it requires that your body shapes the letters which form the acronym for the Young Men’s Christian Association. ...

Armand Van Helden's Sampleslaya: Enter the Meat Market (Columbia/RuffHouse Records, $15.98) ***

Review by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 March 1998

Traditional Hip-Hop, East Coast Style ...

Madonna: Ray Of Light (WEA) ****

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, April 1998

She's dumped Warren Beatty, she's been Eva Peron and she's had Carlos The Tackle's child. Now it's time to go back to work... ...

A Guy Called Gerald, Bomb The Bass, Happy Mondays, Paul Oakenfold, Oasis, Orbital, Primal Scream, Danny Rampling, T-Coy, Andrew Weatherall: Acid House: '88 State

Retrospective and Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 25 April 1998

Disco biscuits, gurning, raves, sartorial bonkersness, and, um, Guru Josh! The ACID HOUSE scene brought us many things when it exploded in 1988; it also ...

Carl Cox, Dynamite MC, Fatboy Slim, The Jungle Brothers, Propellerheads, Roni Size and Reprazent: Lords Of The Dance

Report by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 30 April 1998

IS ELECTRONICA STILL THE NEXT BIG THING? AT THE WINTER MUSIC CONFERENCE, IT'S ALL THAT AND MORE ...

Gangsta House

Report by Simon Reynolds, Spin, May 1998

Speed garage, a hybrid of house and jungle, has conquered British clubland. ...

Les Rythmes Digitales: Les Rhythmes Digitales: ULU, London

Live Review by Calvin Bush, Muzik, May 1998

TEN MINUTES into the gig and Monsieur Jacques Lu Cont is about to have his cover blown, thanks to an oblivious Derek Dahlarge. "Stuart, Stuart!" ...

Thievery Corporation: Super sharp suiters

Interview by Andy Crysell, Muzik, May 1998

Smouldering bossa-nova, bespoke tailoring and white-collar audio criminality: are Washington DC's Thievery Corporation the new Kruder & Dorfmeister? Or just the new Corduroy? ...

Propellerheads: Metropolitan University, Leeds

Live Review by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 2 May 1998

'HEADS THEY LOSE? ...

Arab Strap, Asian Dub Foundation, Bedlam Ago Go, Campag Velocet, Norman Cook, Lo Fidelity Allstars, Regular Fries, Scott 4: Arab Strap, Campag Velocet et al: Breezeblock Rockin' Beats

Report by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 9 May 1998

Take an assorted bunch of like-minded skunk rockers, big beaters and eclectic groovers, ply with brain-curdling tequila'n'ale cocktails, and then put them out LIVE! on ...

The Chemical Brothers, Cornershop, Beth Orton, Primal Scream, Finley Quaye, Run-DMC, Roni Size and Reprazent: Run DMC, Chemical Brothers, Roni Size et al: Creamfields, Winchester

Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 9 May 1998

It's a Cream come true! We join the madness that's CREAMFIELDS in Winchester with Primal Scream! Cornershop! Roni Size! Run DMC! The full bloody monty! ...

Breaking's New Ground

Report by Frank Owen, The Village Voice, 26 May 1998

A CIRCLE CLEARS in the middle of the gloomy basement at Konkrete Jungle and into the arena glides 20-year-old Face, top rocking to the mechanical ...

Jeff Mills: Doing it on Purpose

Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, June 1998

JEFF MILLS, LAUNCHES HIS PURPOSE MAKER ALBUM, ABOUT LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY, WITH A PHOTO EXHIBITION OF HIS FAMOUS "FAST" HANDS AND LESS FAMOUS ...

Lo Fidelity Allstars: Allstars In Their Eyes

Report and Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, June 1998

LO FIDELITY ALL-STARS ARE TAKING OVER THE ROCK N' ROLL TOILETS OF BRITAIN. TOBY MANNING JOINS WREKKED TRAIN AND CO. ON THE ROAD. ...

Lo Fidelity Allstars: Mind Blowing!: Lo-Fidelity Allstars: How To Operate With A Blown Mind (Skint) *****

Review by Andy Crysell, Vox, June 1998

Violently impressive debut from the new pop/funk/rap/punk/techno/everything else heroes ...

Mogwai: You're experi-mentalists!

Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, June 1998

MOGWAI HAVE APPROACHED A BUNCH OF "DANCE" ACTS TO REMIX THEIR GUITAR NOISE TERRORISM. LET'S SEE HOW THEY ALL GOT ON. ...

Richie Hawtin: Immaculate consumption

Interview by Rob Young, The Wire, June 1998

In his Plastikman guise, Richie Hawtin used to bomb the dancefloor with bullet-hard Techno. Now he seeks solace and inspiration in the minimal artwork of ...

Lo Fidelity Allstars: Lo-Fidelity Allstars: The Cockpit, Leeds

Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 20 June 1998

THAT'S BLOWN IT! ...

Underworld: The Rocket, London

Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 27 June 1998

WE GOT NO 'Born Slippy' with its killer "lager lager lager" chorus tonight because sensitive artist Darren Emerson is "fucked off with it". Well excuse ...

Derrick May: Innovator (R&S) ★★★★★

Review by Calvin Bush, Muzik, July 1998

Domestic release of definitive Derrick May collection ...

Josh Wink: Herehear (Ovum/S2) **

Review by Andy Crysell, Muzik, July 1998

Original Philly dread returns from self-imposed hibernation ...

Carl Cox: Ambassador Of Dance

Interview by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 18 July 1998

"IT WAS either this, or scaffolding." Carl Cox, perhaps the biggest DJ on earth, in more ways than one, is relaxing in the Italian morning ...

Asian Dub Foundation

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 1998

"BRITPOP IS AN ATTEMPT TO REASSERT A sort of mythical whiteness," asserts Aniruddha Das, aka Dr Das, bassist of Asian Dub Foundation, leaning forward in ...

Cigarettes: 121,000 deaths a year; Alcohol: 33,000 deaths a year; Ecstasy: between twenty and one hundred deaths in the last ten years

Report by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, August 1998

CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL KILL 400 TIMES MORE PEOPLE EVERY YEAR THAN DEATHS FROM ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS PUT TOGETHER. SO WHY ARE THEY LEGAL WHILE OTHER ...

Disco Inferno

Report and Interview by Susan Corrigan, i-D, August 1998

Glitz and glamour, sex and celebs, drugs and death: Studio 54 was the ultimate New York nightlife hit. So is it any wonder they're trying ...

Ed Rush & Optical, Grooverider: Grooverider: New Funk Theory

Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, August 1998

DRUM 'N' BASS' MOST POPULAR DJ IS JUST ABOUT TO RELEASE HIS DEBUT LONG PLAYER. EMMA WARREN TALKS DOUBLE JAZZ INFLUENCED CONCEPT ALBUMS WITH THE ...

UNKLE: Psyence Fiction (Mo Wax)

Review by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, August 1998

New Adventures in Psy-Fi! ...

Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim: Ibiza: Big Beach Boutique

Report by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 15 August 1998

When Radio 1 decamped to Ibiza for a weekend of daft dancing, super funky anthems and celebs behaving badly, it seemed only polite for NME to join them. ...

Grooverider: Locked Groove

Interview by Rob Young, The Wire, September 1998

As one of the few drum 'n' bass starfighters still standing, is it too late for the lone Grooverider to save Jungle from burning out? ...

Gloria Gaynor, Tom Moulton, The Trammps: Interview: Tom Moulton

Interview by Bill Brewster, djhistory.com, September 1998

The man responsible for the 12" record talks about his incredible career ...

Rave: Countdown to Ecstasy

Book Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 1998

Simon Reynolds: Energy Flash – A Journey Through Rave Music And Dance Culture (Picador Books) ...

UNKLE: Psyence Fiction (Mo'Wax)

Review by Stuart Maconie, Q, September 1998

Thom Yorke, Richard Ashcroft, one of Metallica, a Beastie Boy: all on the same record. Whoo! ...

The Chemical Brothers, Funkmaster Flex: Funkmaster Flex: The Mix Tape Volume III: The Final Chapter (Loud); The Chemical Brothers: Brothers Gonna Work It Out (Freestyle Dust)

Review by James Hunter, Rolling Stone, 3 September 1998

PERFECT CHEMISTRY ...

Fix It in the Mix

Book Review by Simon Frith, The Village Voice, 16 September 1998

Simon Reynolds: Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture (Little, Brown) ...

Bentley Rhythm Ace: Say it LOUD! We're Brum and we're proud

Report and Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, October 1998

AFTER CAUSING CHAOS AT PRETTY MUCH EVERY FESTIVAL THIS SUMMER. THE BENTLEYS ARE FINALLY BACK IN THE MIDLANDS. TOBY MANNING GETS AN EXCLUSIVE TOUR OF ...

Faithless: "It's not just fucking chirpy nonsense"

Interview by Andy Crysell, Muzik, October 1998

FAITHLESS are back, bigger, better and bolder than before. They say God is a DJ. He's probably a Faithless fan ...

Grooverider: Mysteries Of Funk (Higher Ground)

Review by Andy Crysell, Muzik, October 1998

The drum & bass veteran finally gets his arse into gear ...

DJ Pierre, Marshall Jefferson, Frankie Knuckles: House Music: Jack in the Day

Book Excerpt by Sheryl Garratt, The Face, October 1998

Chicago's Eighties club scene was the tinderbox that sparked a global dance music explosion. Sheryl Garratt remembers the time... ...

On a Manumission!

Report by Kris Needs, Jockey Slut, October 1998

IBIZIAN VIRGIN KRIS NEEDS SPENDS A MONTH WITH MANUMISSION AND ENDS UP IN A WHEELCHAIR SURROUNDED BY BUNNY RABBITS. ...

UNKLE: HMV, Oxford Street, London

Live Review by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, October 1998

Back to the Futura! UNKLE may not have mastered playing live yet, but they can still put on a show with a little help from ...

Chic, Donna Summer: Your Booty, My 12-Inch: Disco Revisited

Guide by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, October 1998

YOWSAH, YOWSAH, YOWSAH. Twenty years after the dizzy heights of Discomania, the monster is back in our midst – in movies like Paul Thomas Anderson’s ...

David Mancuso (1998)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 3 October 1998

The Godfather of Disco takes us right back to NYC in the '70s and his legendary Loft parties: the gay/straight, black/white clientele; the search for perfect sound; the community of like-minded DJs and much more.

File format: mp3; file size: 73.5mb, interview length: 1h 20' 19" sound quality: ***

Mobo Workin'

Report by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 October 1998

The Music Of Black Origin awards are now pop's trendiest bash, reflecting the dominant R&B influence in the charts. ...

Fatboy Slim: You've Come A Long Way, Baby (Skint)

Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 16 October 1998

Big beats, monster choons — Norman Cook refuses to alter a chart-busting formula, says Caroline Sullivan ...

Fatboy Slim: You've Come A Long Way, Baby (Skint)

Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 17 October 1998

A FEW SHORT years ago, Quentin 'Norman' Cook was staring poverty, divorce and imminent nervous breakdown in the face. Despite a string of inspired chart-pop ...

4 Hero, Talvin Singh: Talvin Singh: O.K. (Talking Loud/Mercury); 4 Hero: Two Pages (Island)

Review by Marc Weingarten, Vibe, November 1998

Is electronic music turning into the underground equivalent of New Age music? ...

Atari Teenage Riot: The Garage, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 6 November 1998

The revolution has been postponed ...

Paul Oakenfold, Paul van Dyk: Trance: New Invader on the Dance Floor

Report by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 29 November 1998

THE ESPERANTO of electronic dance music, trance is probably the most popular rave sound in the world. Although this kinetic, hypnotic music has maintained a ...

Paul Oakenfold, Paul van Dyk: Trance: New Invader on the Dance Floor

Report by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 29 November 1998

THE ESPERANTO of electronic dance music, trance is probably the most popular rave sound in the world. Although this kinetic, hypnotic music has maintained a ...

Andrea Parker: Underwater Love

Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, December 1998

LONDON'S ANDREA PARKER WANTS TO RECORD IN A SUBMARINE AND MAKES MUSIC THAT REMINDS PEOPLE OF "LITTLE GREEN ALIENS". TOBY MANNING FOUND HER LURKING IN ...

Fatboy Slim: You've Come A Long Way, Baby

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, December 1998

Former Housemartin turns Big Beat pioneer ...

DJ Rap, Neotropic (Riz Maslen): Neotropic, DJ Rap: D.A.T. Girls

Interview by Will Hermes, Spin, December 1998

NEOTROPIC AND DJ RAP: TWO EAST LONDON DJ'S, TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SOUNDS ...

Shut Up And Dance

Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, December 1998

IN A SPARTAN East London front room, two of the '90s most innovative dance music pioneers are attempting to explain where they've been these past ...

Disco-Tex and His Sex-O-Lettes: Get Dancin'

Sleeve notes by Jon Savage, Castle Records, 1999

It's all about wonder the power to be like thunderexpressing electricity It's the greatest show with the best effectssince Disco Tex and the SexolettesPet Shop ...

Dot Allison, One Dove: Dot Allison in the Afterglow

Interview by Dave Thompson, Alternative Press, 1999

FAR BE IT from anyone to laugh at a label which drops the Chemicals and Andrew Weatherall, and keeps Scotland's answer to St Etienne instead, ...

Marshall Jefferson (1999) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1999

This is a transcript of Frank's audio interview with Marshall. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Roger Eagle 1942-1999

Obituary by Jon Savage, MOJO, 1999

ROGER EAGLE was an unsung hero of British pop, with ground-level involvement in successive youth/ musical subcultures from the Twisted Wheel and Northern Soul in ...

Timbaland: Tim's Bio – Life from da Bassment (Blackground)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, January 1999

MAYBE YOU'VE heard of the Jamaican tradition of "version" albums: a dozen or so tracks all built on top of the same bass-and-drum undercarriage. Different ...

The Prodigy: Prodigy: Chat Of The Landowners

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 1 January 1999

In the second of this two-parter with PRODIGY'S LIAM HOWLETT, NME has a word, Hello!-stylee, about his new country home, his pal Keith and his ...

Lo Fidelity Allstars: Out To Lurch: Lo-Fidelity All-Stars' How to Operate with a Blown Mind

Review by RJ Smith, The Village Voice, 19 January 1999

MAYBE THE SWELLEST thing about the first wave of electroboogie funk in the early '80s, 'Planet Rock' and the Jonzun Crew, Space Invaders and all ...

Black Star Liner: Bengali Bantam Youth Experience! (WEA)

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 29 January 1999

Dave Simpson adores Black Star Liner's mix of Bollywood soundtracks and skyscraping dance beats ...

Nicky Siano (1999)

Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 29 January 1999

The pioneering disco DJ remembers the revelation that was David Mancuso’s Loft; opening his own club the Gallery; DJing at Studio 54; his proteges Frankie Knuckles and, in particular, Larry Levan; and the end of the party and the rise of AIDS.

File format: mp3; file size: 62.3mb, interview length: 1h 08' sound quality: ****

Ed Rush & Optical: Quantum Drum'n'Bass

Interview by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 30 January 1999

IN CONTACT, Jodie Foster climbs into the capsule, straps herself in, and mentally prepares for the impending voyage. The aliens have kindly given Earth/the US ...

Armand Van Helden: You Don't Know Him!

Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, February 1999

ARMAND VAN HELDEN IS BACK ON FORM — AND BACK IN THE CHARTS. BUT WHAT'S THE MAN WHO SWAPS GENRES MORE OFTEN THAN SOCKS AND ...

Richard Grabel (1999)

Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 2 February 1999

The NME's NYC correspondent on the rise of hip hop and its impact on the downtown scene; clubs like the Roxy and the Funhouse; the dancefloor movers: Bambaataa, Arthur Baker, Jellybean Benitez and more.

File format: mp3; file size: 48.8mb, interview length: 53' 19" sound quality: ****

Francis Grasso (1999)

Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 4 February 1999

The pioneering disco DJ remembers the clubs, most importantly the Sanctuary; talks about his inventions: slip-cueing, beatmatching and the seamless mix; and on the scene, the drugs, the other DJs, dating Liza Minnelli and getting beaten up by the Mob!

File format: mp3; file size: 68.2mb, interview length: 1h 14' 30" sound quality: ***

Juan Atkins, Kurtis Mantronik: Juan Atkins: Wax Trax! MasterMix Volume 1 (Wax Trax!/TVT)***½; Kurtis Mantronik: I Sing The Body Electro (Oxygen Music Works) ***

Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 4 February 1999

Two techno pioneers prove why they're legends ...

4 Hero: Two Pages — Reinterpretations (Talkin' Loud)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 6 February 1999

JUNGLISTS AND wannabe jazz cats 4 Hero issued an album which veered from brilliant to noodly to downright dire last year. Here comes the inevitable ...

Death of a Disco Dancer

Report by Frank Owen, The Village Voice, 9 February 1999

New details about Tunnel drug overdose allegation ...

Fatboy Slim: Norman Conquest

Profile and Interview by David Bennun, The Guardian, 12 February 1999

At his lowest ebb, Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, nearly jacked it in to be a fireman. Now he's a chart-topper with a clutch of ...

Marshall Jefferson (1999)

Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 22 February 1999

The House music pioneer on the founding fathers of the music; DJs like Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles; the clubs — the Music Box, the Warehouse, the Power Plant; starting making tracks; key songs like 'I've Lost Control' and 'Move Your Body'; the Trax Records rip-offs, and Marshall's own definition of House.

File format: mp3; file size: 75.2mb, interview length: 1h 22' 08" sound quality: ****

Basement Jaxx: London — Basement Jaxx

Report and Interview by Andy Crysell, The Face, March 1999

Stupid dancing in a dirty Camberwell pub ...

New York — Body & Soul

Report and Interview by Bill Brewster, The Face, March 1999

Sunday afternoon disco classics down a Manhattan side street ...

Fatboy Slim, Lo Fidelity Allstars: Big Beat: Dance Music From England With a Dark Side

Report by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 7 March 1999

BIG BEAT, a boisterous hybrid of hip-hop and house music, is currently the most popular dance style in Britain. ...

Dot Allison, One Dove: Dot Allison: Experimental Breakbeat Diva

Interview by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 20 March 1999

THERE HAVEN'T been many Dots in pop — Dot Cotton from EastEnders has yet to commit to vinyl — so when you hear the name ...

Orbital: Town & Country Club, Leeds ***

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 22 March 1999

IS IT REALLY 11 years since acid house? Yup, the members of the Class Of '88 haven't reached for their pipe and slippers yet, but ...

Basement Jaxx: The House that Jaxx Built

Report and Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, April 1999

HAVING JUST COMPLETED THE ALBUM OF THE YEAR SO FAR, BASEMENT JAXX ARE ABOUT TO KICK HOUSE MUSIC INTO THE NEXT CENTURY: NOT BEFORE SHOWING ...

Fatboy Slim: Funk Sold Brother

Report by Marc Weingarten, Rolling Stone, 1 April 1999

With help from Nike, Miramax and TV Guide, Fatboy Slim puts some Rockafeller in his skank ...

Blur, William Orbit: Blur: 13 (Virgin)

Review by James Hunter, New York Observer, 5 April 1999

Blur's Tender Mercies Shine Through Sheen of 13 ...

Paul Oakenfold (1999)

Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 7 April 1999

The superstar DJ in wide-ranging discussion about DJ'ing and dance culture, from getting into hip hop and House to stadium tours with U2; the impact of Ecstasy; the performing DJ; remixing, and the techniques behind rocking a dancefloor.

File format: mp3; file size: 52.7mb, interview length: 57' 31" sound quality: ****

Paul Oakenfold (1999) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 7 April 1999

This is a transcript of Frank's audio interview with Paul. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

S.F. Club Scene Emerges From Underground

Report by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 April 1999

FOR THE electronic music lover or the curious night owl, San Francisco has something to offer seven nights a week, 365 days a year. Working ...

Basement Jaxx: House That Jaxx Built

Interview by Simon Reynolds, The Wire, May 1999

WITHOUT FANFARE, House has crept forward to become the leading edge of dance culture again — just like it was over a decade ago. It's ...

The Prodigy: Prodigy: Smack My Mix Up

Interview by Simon Reynolds, Spin, May 1999

EVER SINCE 'Firestarter' and 'Breathe' transformed Prodigy into rave'n'roll superstars, Liam Howlett, the band's leader and musical brain, has taken pains to distance Prodigy from ...

Danny Rampling (1999)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 6 May 1999

The dance music legend on the power of the DJ and the club as a place or worship; his pioneering club night Shoom, and the eventual corruption of the rave scene; becoming a radio DJ, and the evolution of the Superstar DJ.

File format: mp3; file size: 27.7mb, interview length: 30' 17" sound quality: ****

Atari Teenage Riot: 60 Second Wipe Out (Digital Hardcore)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 8 May 1999

There's A Riot Going On... and On ...

Atari Teenage Riot: 'I Would Die For This'

Interview by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 8 May 1999

...And Atari Teenage Riot's Alec Empire means it. So away, you doubters, and come on feel the mid-frequencies! ...

Basement Jaxx: Remedy (XL)

Review by Ted Kessler, New Musical Express, 8 May 1999

CAMBERWELL CARAT! ...

Groove Armada: Blissful Beats

Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 8 May 1999

MOST PEOPLE would have a raft of tunes. Andy Cato and Tom Findlay go one better. They're ain't called Groove Armada for nothing, you know. ...

Moby: Grow out the roots — Moby: Play (Mute) ****

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 14 May 1999

Dave Simpson on Moby's return to what he does best ...

Moby: Killer Wail

Interview by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 22 May 1999

Rave/punk crossover genius MOBY is known as the most clean-living and politically correct pop star an the planet. The Maker met him in a karaoke ...

Dom Phillips (1999)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 25 May 1999

The late Guardian journalist and sometime Mixmag editor talks about his first awareness of dance music; the role of the DJ and the rise of the superstar DJ; dance music's punk and hippie ideals; the multiple histories of the music and the evolution of rave culture; Fatboy Slim and Prodigy et al. as "the new rock'n'roll"; how dance music liberated men; the true financial value of DJs and the art of DJing, plus female DJs and the inherent sexism of the dance scene.

File format: mp3; file size: 37mb, interview length: 59' 44" sound quality: *** (background noise)

Dom Phillips: An Interview

Interview by Bill Brewster, unpublished, 25 May 1999

NOTE: This interview with the former Mixmag editor, murdered in the Amazon in June 2022 with his friend and activist Bruno Pereira, was conducted as ...

Moby: Play (V2) **½

Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 1999

HAVE PITY on Moby. Five years ago, he was techno's poster boy, the artist who was largely responsible for pushing electronic music up from the ...

Donna Summer: Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco by Alan Jones & Jussi Kantonen (Mainstream Publishing PB £9.99)

Book Review by Jon Savage, MOJO, June 1999

Party like it's 1977. In the depressed 1970s, one musical movement dared to say (mirror)balls to despondency. Don't get down, get down! urges Jon Savage. ...

Cornelius: Beck to the Future

Profile and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 1999

CORNELIUS is a pick 'n' mix match retro-futurist whizz-kid. Stephen Dalton meets the boy they're calling the Japanese Beck ...

Basement Jaxx: First Cuts: Today's New Names, Tomorrow's Big Stars... Basement Jaxx

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 1999

Hedonistic, house-based groovers with attitude ...

Basement Jaxx, Ed Rush & Optical, Norman Jay, Danny Rampling, Underworld: Homelands

Report by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 5 June 1999

Orbit's minute-by-minute descent into delirium ...

Spring Heel Jack: Treader (Tugboat)

Review by Carl Loben, Melody Maker, 5 June 1999

NOW UP to their fourth d'n'b album, Spring Heel Jack's John Coxon and Ashley Wales are nothing if not prolific. The orchestral artcore of There ...

The Vengaboys' Party Rules

Interview by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 10 June 1999

THE VENGABOYS' 'We Like To Party!' is a Big Gulp of bubblegum techno and the goofiest, most ubiquitous beach-party anthem since 'Rock Lobster'. But the ...

Underworld: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York NY

Live Review by Steven Daly, Rolling Stone, 10 June 1999

OUTSIDE UNDERWORLD'S only Manhattan show, dealers are touting coke and ecstasy. And judging by the euphoric mood inside, there are more than a few takers. ...

The Chemical Brothers: Beat generation

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, 12 June 1999

The Chemical Brothers are the Clark Kents of dance music — mild-mannered and thoughtful in private, impossibly fast, pile-drivingly powerful on stage. So how did ...

Lo Fidelity Allstars: Lo-Fidelity Allstars: Refugee Allstars

Report and Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 19 June 1999

Lo-Fidelity Allstars claim to be the most jinxed band in the universe. Pah! Their singer may have quit, but they're back from the brink and ...

The Agony of "Soft" Ecstasy is in the Price That Others Have To Pay

Comment by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 20 June 1999

ME AND ECSTASY had this fling once. What chemical virgins don't realise is that, for most of us, getting attached to a certain drug is ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Brothers: Surrender (Astralwerks 47610)

Review by J.D. Considine, Baltimore Sun, 22 June 1999

Surrender a heady mix Electronic music's Chemical Brothers simply dub over the torpedoes, go full speed ahead. ...

Fatboy Slim, Armand Van Helden: Fatboy Slim Vs Armand Van Helden: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 26 June 1999

SATURDAY FiGHT FEVER! ...

Mr. Scruff: Mr Scruff: Keep It Unreal (Ninja Tune)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 26 June 1999

WITH A four-year trail of often brilliantly wayward 12"s behind him, it's taken Manchester's Andy Carthy ages to release his debut album. He's no perfectionist, ...

The Chemical Brothers: Quantum Leaping — The Chemical Brothers: Surrender (Virgin XDUSTCD4)

Review by Ian Gittins, Q, July 1999

It may not have been broken, but they've certainly fixed it. ...

The Chemical Brothers: Back To The Lab

Interview by Simon Reynolds, Spin, July 1999

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THE BLOCK-ROCKIN' SOUND YOU INVENTED HAS BECOME THE SOUNDTRACK TO LAME TEEN FLICKS AND TAMPON COMMERCIALS? IF YOU'RE THE CHEMICAL ...

Todd Terry: Terry's All Gold — Todd Terry: Resolutions (Innocent)

Review and Interview by David Bennun, The Guardian, 2 July 1999

Todd Terry is huge — and if his latest album is anything to go by, says David Bennun, the house deity is about to get ...

Loud, Fast, and Out of Control

Report by Pat Blashill, Spin, August 1999

Welcome to the Hardcore Rave scene, where the DJs throw meat, the kids stick their heads inside speakers, and the scent of grape lollipops mixes ...

The All Seeing I, Jarvis Cocker: The All Seeing I: i Say i Say i Say

Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, August 1999

THEY'VE HAD TWO MAJOR HIT SINGLES, BUT YOU'D BE HARD-PRESSED TO NAME THEM BOTH. EACH SINGLE SOUNDS LIKE THE WORK OF A DIFFERENT BAND. THEIR ...

Todd Terry: Have you ever ridden a horse?

Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, August 1999

NEW YORK HOUSE MUSIC LEGEND TODD TERRY HAS ENTERED THE JUNGLE FOR HIS RESOLUTIONS ALBUM AND REMIXED THE HUGE 'IBIZA IN MY SOUL'. BUT CAN ...

Flat Eric: Eric Idol

Interview by Johnny Cigarettes, New Musical Express, 28 August 1999

He's got no ears and is a fetching shade of yellow. Who cares?! Just one of his fuzzy little paws is more rock'n'roll than all ...

Paul van Dyk: Follow The Leader

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Muzik, September 1999

On a mission to the Love Parade with two million German ravers and the biggest trance DJ in the world. Paul van Dyk on Berlin, ...

Simon Reynolds: Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture

Book Review by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, September 1999

IT SAYS MUCH about our compulsive pre-millenial navel-gazing that several tomes about the past decade's "ecstacy culture" - Matthew Collin's Altered State, Jane Bussman's Once ...

Basement Jaxx, Coldcut, Carl Cox, DJ Shadow, Gang Starr, Goldie, Grooverider, Leftfield, Paul Oakenfold, Pet Shop Boys, Scratch Perverts: Basement Jaxx, Pet Shop Boys et al: Creamfields, Old Liverpool Airfield

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 4 September 1999

THE SCOUSE THAT JAXX THRILLED ...

Leftfield: "We Waited. That's What We Did."

Interview by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 11 September 1999

...And eventu-bloody-ally, after four long years, Leftfield have got their she-iiit together on another mighty fine album. Or is it arse?! Have your say! ...

Leftfield: Best in field

Interview by David Bennun, The Guardian, 17 September 1999

Four years ago Leftfield made the Greatest Dance Album of All Time. Then everything went quiet until the release of their new album this month. ...

Moloko: Beefa: How Low Can You Go?

Report by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 18 September 1999

Ibiza — sun-kissed vibes central or merely an over-commercialised supermarket for disco dudes 'n' dollies? With the help of Balearic housers Moloko, NME went in ...

Leftfield: Rhythm & Stealth (Hard Hands/Higher Ground)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 18 September 1999

PHATS WALLOW ...

Faithless: Dig the New Creed

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 25 September 1999

From Euro-disco trance nutters to Mercury-friendly rock'n'soul pluralists finally getting the respect they deserve — you've heard the word, now come worship in the house ...

Armand Van Helden: 2 Future 4 U (Armed)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, October 1999

A YEAR AGO, Armand Van Helden was signed to Ruffhouse/Columbia. Now the DJ/producer is releasing 2 Future 4 U through Armed, his own fledgling indie ...

Chicks on Speed: Speed Queens!

Profile and Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, October 1999

MUNICH'S CHICKS ON SPEED: THEY CAN PAINT FAST! ...

David Mancuso: Flat Epic

Profile and Interview by Frank Broughton, The Face, October 1999

His home was The Loft. He played house before it existed. And New York's David Mancuso has a nun to thank for it all ...

Dot Allison, One Dove: Dot Allison: When Doves Sigh

Profile and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Spin, October 1999

FORMER ONE DOVE SINGER DOT ALLISON MAKES HER SOLO DEBUT ...

How Trance Got To Number 1

Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, October 1999

Music invented by Jean Michel Jarre and already declared passé twice in the last 10 years is all over the charts, packing out clubs and ...

Moloko: Home, London **

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 11 October 1999

"WE," DECLARED the blonde girl in the DJ booth, "are the Moloko sound system." This was bad news indeed. Every band currently has what it ...

Asian Dub Foundation: Forum, Kentish Town, London

Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 30 October 1999

PUNK IS DEAD! LONG LIVE, ERM, PUNK! ...

Marshall Jefferson: Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: The History Of The Disc Jockey By Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton (Headline Pbk £12 99)

Book Review by Dave Rimmer, The Wire, November 1999

ONE NIGHT IN the summer of 1996 I went to a rave in an unfashionable district of Prague. It was in a community hall on ...

Les Rythmes Digitales, Jacques Lu Cont: Jacques Lu Cont: The "French" Prince

Interview by Pat Blashill, Spin, November 1999

LES RYTHMES DIGITALES' JACQUES LU CONT IS AN '80s-LOVING FAUX-FRENCHMAN WITH A FORBIDDEN LOVE FOR PHIL COLLINS. HE'S ALSO MADE ONE OF THE MOST IRRESISTIBLE ...

The Chemical Brothers: Warhol: The Herald Of Sampling

Comment by Tony Scherman, The New York Times, 7 November 1999

MENTION ANDY Warhol's relationship to pop music, and the first name to crop up will be that of the Velvet Underground, the band Warhol championed ...

The Chemical Brothers: Dark Side of the Rave

Report by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 11 November 1999

Drug deaths and police crackdowns threaten the national rave scene ...

Death In Vegas: They're Satanic Majesties: Death In Vegas: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 13 November 1999

HALLOWEEN has been and gone. So has Guy Fawkes' Night. But Death In Vegas don't care. ...

Basement Jaxx: Academy, Manchester ****

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 16 November 1999

Big cheese party ...

Coldcut: Shepherds Bush Empire, London ***

Live Review by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 17 November 1999

Ramraiders of the past ...

Everything But The Girl: Forum, London

Live Review by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 20 November 1999

Smooth grooves ...

Basement Jaxx, The Chemical Brothers, Death In Vegas, Missy Elliott, Felix da Housecat, Layo & Bushwacka!, Leftfield, Moby, Underworld: Album of the Year: Never mind Talvin Singh, here's the bollocks...

Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, December 1999

High above central London, Jockey Slut assembled an illustrious panel to debate, Mercury Prize-style, the album of the year in the plush environs of Home's ...

Colleen "Cosmo" Murphy: DJ Cosmo: Cosmic Girl

Interview by Lulu Le Vay, The Face, December 1999

She was a mainstay of New York nightlife — until Mayor Giuliani sent in the cops. Now Cosmo's making it in London ...

Felix Da Housecat: This Katt is House Trained

Report and Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, December 1999

FELIX DA HOUSECAT HAS JUST MADE THE DANCEFLOOR ALBUM OF THE YEAR. TOBY MANNING FOLLOWS HIM FROM LIVERPOOL TO LONDON ANO TRIES TO MAKE HIM ...

Layo & Bushwacka!: Lowlife's Come...

Profile and Interview by Emma Warren, Jockey Slut, December 1999

LAYO & BUSHWACKA HAVE MADE AN ALBUM AS TASTY AS FOOD AT THE END'S AKA RESTAURANT. EMMA WARREN CHOWS DOWN WITH THEM ON SOME SUBTERRAIN ...

Craig David

Profile and Interview by Dan Gennoe, Making Music, 2000

CRAIG DAVID couldn't be more successful if he tried. At 19 he already has two No. 1 singles to his name – the first of ...

Norman Jay: Good Times: The Stately Sound of London

Sleeve notes by Frank Broughton, Nuphonic Records, 2000

"IT'S VERY SIMPLE," says Norman Jay behind his shades, as we drive round the hallowed sites of the Notting Hill Carnival. "Good Times is about… ...

Blondie: It was 40 Years Ago Today: The Story Of Blondie's Parallel Lines

Retrospective by Steve Pafford, 'The MOJO Collection' (Canongate), 2000

DESPITE BEING the last act out of the original New York punk scene to be offered a record deal, the blond ambition of ex-Playboy Bunny ...

Patrick Adams

Sleeve notes by John McCready, Counterpoint Records, 2000

THOUGH MANY have tried, it’s hard to free disco of the negative associations that have shadowed it. "Disco Sucks", they still say. Boney M and ...

Remembering the Fever

Sleeve notes by Carol Cooper, 'Hip Hop Fever' (Warlock Records), 2000

NOBODY'S TRYING to say that Disco Fever was the only important hip-hop club. But for various reasons, the Fever is still remembered as the most ...

Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: Tale Of Turntable Wizards Misses Several Beats

Book Review by Charles Shaar Murray, The Independent, 5 January 2000

Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: the history of the disc jockey by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton (Headline) ...

Norman Cook

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, February 2000

IN 1999, THE former Housemartin's career went supemova, earning him millions from his FATBOY SLIM records, remixes and DJ sets. Following the death of big ...

Clinton: Disco & the Halfway to Discontent (Astralwerks)

Review by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 2 February 2000

WHY IS THIS "beat-based" pairing of Cornershop's Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres not credited to Cornershop? ...

Armand Van Helden: Professional Weirdo

Report and Interview by Andy Crysell, The Face, March 2000

He's the house DJ who loves hip hop, the pop star "at war" with his record label, the New York City boy who was born ...

Vladislav Delay: Against the grain

Interview by Rob Young, The Wire, March 2000

"I'm quite a moody person and I like blue music," says Vladislav Delay, the enigmatic 23 year old musician from Helsinki, and the latest prodigy ...

Wire: Flies in the ointment

Interview by Ian Penman, The Wire, March 2000

23 years after their art attack first outpaced punk audiences, Wire have sprung back into action. Ian Penman meets the group in rehearsal and finds ...

Susumu Yokota: Ambient Confessions of a Japanese Technohead

Profile and Interview by Ben Thompson, The Independent, 1 March 2000

THE IDEA OF an ambient recording that stops you in your tracks might seem to be a contradiction in terms, but Susumu Yokota's Image 1983-1998 ...

Asian Dub Foundation: Community Music

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, April 2000

Storming new set of eclectic agit-pop from best live band in Britain ...

The Bee Gees: How the Bee Gees got into Disco: An Oral History of Main Course

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, April 2000

NOTE: This is a considerably extended version of the piece published in Q. ...

Dylan Group: Ur-klang Search

Review by Kodwo Eshun, The Wire, May 2000

Dynamic syncopators ...

Chic: The Very Best Of Chic

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 2000

Another Chic anthology — why buy? An intelligent sleevenote with participation from Nile Rodgers, full-length album cuts where applicable. La musique elle-meme. ...

Various Artists: Machine Soul: An Odyssey Into Electronic Dance Music

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 2000

From Kraftwerk to BT, via Throbbing Gristle, Moby and the Chemicals – the history of synthpop ...

Phoenix: It’s hip hop to be square

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 23 June 2000

Phoenix are French and funky and like some very uncool records indeed, says Lisa Verrico ...

David Holmes: Bow Down To The Exit Sign

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, July 2000

Belfast-born, New-York-based DJ-producer joined by Bobby Gillespie, Jon Spencer etc. ...

Moby: The Story So Far/Ambient/Early Underground/ Rare: The Collected B-Sides 1989 — 1993

Review by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, July 2000

Feted techno munchkin's prolific past catches up with him ...

Norman Jay (2000)

Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 13 July 2000

The legendary DJ talks in depth about growing up black in London: the racism of the police; underground soundsystem culture, and blues parties. He goes on to recount the history of his Good Times soundsystem; the impact of visiting New York in the early '80s; the Notting Hill Carnival riot of '76, and his own involvement in Carnival from their first try as a soundsystem in '79 up until the present day, with digressions into the meaning of dance and DJ culture.

File format: mp3; file size: 91.4mb, interview length: 1h 35' 13" sound quality: ***

A Guy Called Gerald: Essence of Gerald

Profile and Interview by Chris Campion, URB, August 2000

TWO YEARS AGO, A Guy Called Gerald walked away from his London-based label Juicebox and into a new life. He took his studio and his ...

Garage: Pure Garage: Mixed Live By E-Z; Underground Explosion: The Real Garage Mix

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, August 2000

Garage — the sound of the UK underground goes mainstream ...

Stanton Warriors

Profile and Interview by Lulu Le Vay, The Face, August 2000

The genre-defying DJs of diversity have faced shootings and bomb scares. Hard to believe they're only named after a manhole cover. ...

The Great Rave/Jam Band Crossover Syndrome

Report and Interview by Richard Gehr, Spin, August 2000

THE DISCO BISCUITS are onstage at Philadelphia's Trocadero surrounded by the entire contents of their living room: the bong-water stained sofa, a decrepit TV (with ...

Bleachin': Jeremy Healy and Amos Pizzey: Club Class

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 13 August 2000

Guest lists and free champagne, bright cocaine nights and dark, empty comedowns... Jeremy Healy and Amos Pizzey have the power to pack dance floors everywhere ...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: Spiller Queen

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 19 August 2000

Once the pouting princess of indie pretension, is former Theaudience singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor really set to become the new diva darling of the Ibiza club ...

Danny Tenaglia (2000)

Interview by Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 27 August 2000

From being a teenage record nut to the age of the superstar DJ, Tenaglia describes his travels in a lifetime in dance music: the great NYC clubs; his fellow DJs; the dynamics of the dancefloor and his philosophy on the ones and twos.

File format: mp3; file size: 94.8mb, interview length: 1h 43' 34" sound quality: ****

Fatboy Slim, Paul Oakenfold, Sasha and Digweed: Clubs: USA Special! America: What Time Is Love?

Report by Bill Brewster, The Face, September 2000

Dance music conquers America! Yes, really, this time! Bill Brewster on how Sasha, Oakie and Fatboy Slim are taking on the last bastion of rock'n'roll ...

Leila

Interview by Ben Thompson, The Independent, September 2000

"WHEN YOU'RE YOUNG", explains 29-year old North London electro-soul auteur Leila Arab, "you get into these strange emotional states - either of over the top ...

Moloko: These Boots Are Made For Walkin'…

Interview by Lucy O'Brien, Q, September 2000

…and today they're going to walk all over Q. For she is Roisin Murphy and they are Moloko, the Euro-chart topping Lee 'n' Nancy who ...

The Clash, King Tubby, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Lee "Scratch" Perry: Reggae: Back to the Roots

Essay by Simon Reynolds, The Wire, September 2000

According to the remixologists' gospel, the dub virus was so successful, it took out the word and eradicated its reggae song hosts. Simon Reynolds rediscovers ...

Danny Tenaglia: The DJs’ DJ: Danny Tenaglia

Profile and Interview by Frank Broughton, DJ Magazine, September 2000

THEY RAIDED Vinyl last week. The cops shut down the party, made some arrests, confiscated (allegedly) $15,000 of door money and (also allegedly, legal fans) ...

Boy George: The iJamming! Interview: Boy George

Interview by Tony Fletcher, iJamming.net, September 2000

I CAN only imaginewhat some of the rockists will be thinking when they come to this site and see a Boy George interview as a ...

Andrew Weatherall: My brilliant career

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 6 September 2000

Andrew Weatherall helped to invent both dance music and the superstar DJ. Then, burnt out and disillusioned, he went underground. As he emerges with a ...

Junior Vasquez

Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 28 September 2000

IN THE SUMMER of 1990, I was in New York for the New Music Seminar, as were many of the UK's emerging new DJs and ...

Moby: Definitely Moby

Profile and Interview by Andrew Smith, Observer Music Monthly, 15 October 2000

"I was a rigid punk rock Marxist. Then I was a rigid vegan dance music Christian." Today, he's loosened up and become one of the ...

Jazzanova: Remixes 1997–2000 (Jazzanova Compost)

Review by Kodwo Eshun, The Wire, November 2000

IF YOU LISTEN forward from mid-90s Adam F to late 90s Shy FX to early noughties Hospital Recordings, it immediately becomes apparent that 'jazziness' in ...

Roni Size and Reprazent: Reprazent: In The Mode (One Little Indian)

Review by Toby Manning, Select, November 2000

Mercury-winning Bristol drum'n'bass gang. Features guest spots from Zack De La Rocha and Method Man. ...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: "I'm number one … so why try harder?"

Interview by Toby Manning, Select, November 2000

One day you're the ex-singer of a forgotten indie band. The next, you're Number One and embroiled in a tabloid bitch fight with Posh Spice. ...

The Cinematic Orchestra, Coldcut, Kid Koala, Kid606, Mr. Scruff: Xen Cuts: Ten Years Of Xen (various London venues)

Live Review by Kodwo Eshun, The Wire, November 2000

LONDON's Ninja Tune label celebrated their first decade in the flirty, flighty, faddish, fickle world of UK dance with Xen Cuts — three consecutive nights ...

Artful Dodger (2000s): Artful Dodger: It's All About the Stragglers

Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 10 November 2000

Artful Dodger's debut is a glorious compilation of two-step hooklines. ...

Fatboy Slim: Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars

Review by Simon Reynolds, The Village Voice, 15 November 2000

FEATURING SAMPLES from a bootleg album of the Lizard King's poetry, Fatboy Slim's new single 'Sunset (Bird of Prey)' isn't the first time Jim Morrison's ...

Craig David: City Hall, Sheffield

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 27 November 2000

PEOPLE ARE DIVIDED on Craig David. For some, he is the spearhead of UK garage, whose pioneering "two-step" music has swept him to two number ...

Fatboy Slim: Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, December 2000

Can't Cook, Won't Cook: Macy Gray guest slot aside, disappointing follow-up to You've Come A Long Way, Baby ...

Fatboy Slim: He's Having A Ball!

Profile and Interview by David Quantick, Q, December 2000

No more doing cocaine off the London to Brighton line, but life is still sweet for the compulsive DJ, celebrity spouse and "geeky, nerdy, baldy ...

Moby

Profile and Interview by David Bennun, Hot Air, Summer 2000

THEY CALLED him Moby from the moment he was born. A tiny homunculus, small for his age even then – too small, they thought, for ...

2 Unlimited

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

Anita Doth, b. 28 December 1971, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (replaced by Marjon van Iwaarden, b. 18 June 1974, Kruiningen); Ray Slijngaard, b. 28 June 1971, ...

Deee-Lite

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

Lady Miss Kier, b. Kieren Kirby, Youngstown, Ohio, USA; Super DJ Dimitry, b. Dimitry Brill, Kiev, Ukraine; DJ Towa Tei, b. Doug Wa-Chung, Tokyo, Japan ...

Giorgio Moroder

Retrospective by Bill Brewster, bbc.co.uk, 2001

• Father of Eurodisco • Discovered Donna Summer • Winner of two Academy Awards for Best Song (Top Gun: 'Take My Breath Away' and Flashdance: ...

Inner City

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

Kevin Saunderson, b. 9 May 1964, Brooklyn, New York, USA; Paris Grey, b. Shanna Jackson, 5 November 1965, Glencove, Illinois ...

Masters at Work

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

Lil' Louis Vega; Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez ...

Rae & Christian, Bobby Womack: Rae & Christian

Profile and Interview by Bill Brewster, The Big Issue, 2001

A PAIR OF bespectacled northerners sits opposite me. If you were to formulate a picture in your mind of what hip hop producers might look ...

Shalamar

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001

Jeffrey Daniels, b. 24 August 1957, Los Angeles, California, USA (replaced by Micki Free); Gerald Brown (replaced by Howard Hewitt, b. 1 October 1957, Akron, ...

Ten City

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

Byron Stingily; Herb Lawson; Byron Burke ...

The Hues Corporation

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

H. Ann Kelly, b. 24 April 1947, Fairchild, Alabama, USA; St Clair Lee, b. Bernard St Clair Lee Calhoun Henderson, 24 April 1944, San Francisco, ...

Todd Terry

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 18 April 1967, Brooklyn, New York, USA ...

The Prodigy

Interview by Chris Campion, URB, January 2001

TEN YEARS AGO, rave spawned a monster. The Prodigy, a bastard progeny spat out screaming from a dirt chamber of sound. This twisted British mutation ...

Resolution — New Year's Eve concert: Alexandra Palace, N10

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 2 January 2001

BLIZZARDS, BLACK ICE and freezing fog meant that, for millions of Britons, the first New Year’s Eve of the millennium was spent tucked up at ...

John Digweed: Mixed Emotions

Comment by James Hunter, The Village Voice, 30 January 2001

DJ Music Builds Its Way Out of the Velvet-Rope Underground ...

Leeroy Thornhill: A Prodigy Returns

Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 18 February 2001

THERE WAS A tendency for bands coming out of the acid house club explosion to have dancers – Cressa in the Stone Roses, Bez with ...

Faithless, John Martyn, Sister Bliss: Sister Bliss & John Martyn

Interview by Dan Gennoe, 7, 21 February 2001

She's the first lady of house, he's a living folk legend. She likes gospel, he likes jungle. They are the odd couple and they're taking ...

Bright Eyes, Son, Ambulance, State of Bengal: Rack Jobbing

Review by Will Hermes, Spin, March 2001

More ace product with no market clout whatsoever ...

Daft Punk: Romocops: Daft Punk: Discovery (Virgin)

Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 10 March 2001

FOUR YEARS after Homework redefined dance music, turned handbag house into High Art and landed every disco chancer in Paris a record deal, can Thomas ...

Pete DJ Jones (2001)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 20 March 2001

One of the first to spin the same record on two turntables, Pete DJ Jones roamed the five boroughs with his mobile set up from 1970. Here he talks about (and plays!) the records; his influence on Grandmaster Flash and the early hip-hoppers and his MCs like Lovebug Starski.

File format: mp3; file size: 61.4mb, interview length: 1h 07' 01" sound quality: *****

Alabama 3: Underworld, London NW1

Live Review by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 25 March 2001

A shambolic and inspiring band prove that Alabama is a state of mind ...

Autechre: Mathematics is the new rock'n'roll

Interview by Mike Barnes, The Independent, 29 April 2001

Being formulaic is what techno duo Autechre do. Good, says Mike Barnes ...

Faithless: House Of The Holy

Interview by Paul Elliott, Q, May 2001

One speed demon rapper. One half-deaf DJ queen. And one studio Svengali who just happens to be Dido's brother. This is Faithless, dance music's holy ...

Matmos: A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure (Matador)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, May 2001

MATMOS' FOURTH ALBUM sheds new light on the notion of body music. This San Francisco glitch-techno duo-Drew Daniel and Martin Schmidt — have made a ...

The Avalanches: Since I Left You

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, May 2001

YOU SHOULD HEAR the things people say about The Avalanches: "Basement Jaxx meets The Beta Band," "Stardust crossed with Stereolab," sample-based music with the freshness ...

Orbital: The Altogether (ffrr) ****

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 2001

ON THE techno calendar, the present era isn't so much AD as AD&B – the post-drum'n'bass era. That genre followed a curious arc – it ...

Aphex Twin: Rephlex Records at 10

Report and Interview by Chris Campion, URB, June 2001

PART MALL, part Moroccan Souk, Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre is a dilapidated mish-mash of late '60s brutalist architecture that contains a bustling marketplace. It's ...

The Incredible Bongo Band: The Strange Life Of The Incredible Bongo Band

Retrospective and Interview by James Maycock, Daily Telegraph, June 2001

THE TALE OF the Incredible Bongo Band is, aptly, an improbable one. With a highly eclectic cast that includes Bobby Kennedy’s assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, ...

Goldie: Walford gets its golden boy

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 17 June 2001

Goldie is in Eastenders, wants to play Richard III, and then sculpt. Does the jungle star ever stop? ...

Matthew Herbert: Herbert: Bodily Functions

Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, July 2001

IS THIS a trend or what? Following Matmos' cosmetic surgery-sampling A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure, here's British producer Matthew Herbert with ...

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Music From the Motion Picture)

Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, August 2001

THIS SOUNDTRACK arrives from a country that doesn't exist (or maybe it's just called Britain). ...

Drugs: Out of Control?

Report by Toby Manning, The Face, August 2001

The pills are getting cheaper, the music's getting faster, the nights are getting longer. Now the club promoters have joined police and newspapers in telling ...

Fatboy Slim

Interview by Ian Watson, The Evening Standard, September 2001

THE INSTRUCTIONS are clear but minimal. Get to Ibiza Town and wait for an email with a mobile phone number. Try the number just after ...

Groove Armada: Mellow Fellows

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 9 September 2001

IT'S A HOT summer afternoon, Tom Findlay and Andy Cato have cold beers, and we're all sitting on a terrace in west London overlooking the ...

The Avalanches: Since I Left You

Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, October 2001

IN MUSIC, misery's got a monopoly on credibility — just ask Thom and Trent. A furrowed brow and a tormented soul are essential if you ...

Aphex Twin: Tank Boy: Aphex Twin

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 5 October 2001

From Limp Bizkit to Madonna, everyone wants to work with the Aphex Twin. But those high-paying jobs aren’t important, he tells Paul Lester. He’d only ...

Lamb: Happy as Larry...

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 14 October 2001

After babies and break-up, Lamb have grown up.  ...

Groove Armada: Leadmill, Sheffield

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 23 October 2001

ACKNOWLEDGED KINGS of chill-out, Groove Armada's music works best in certain environments, ideally a Mediterranean beach, hours after closing time. However, presenting chilled-out sounds within ...

Soft Cell: The Twelve Inch Singles (Mercury)

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2001

Every 12-inch single A and B-side of their career collected into o 3-CD set ...

Chic: These Are The Good Times

Retrospective and Interview by Daryl Easlea, Mojo Collections, Fall 2001

THINK CHIC, think chic – a passport back to Studio 54, 70s hedonism; good times, guaranteed to bring gravity to the flapping flares and mirrorball-twirling ...

Ian Dury, Chaz Jankel: Chaz Jankel

Interview by Bill Brewster, Faith, 2002

CHAZ JANKEL made his name as Ian Dury's collaborator and founder member of backing band, the Blockheads. As a solo artist, he's most well known ...

Faithless: Re-Perspective

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002

AS THIS COLLECTION of reworked tracks from last year's Outrospective album makes all too clear, Faithless don't wear remixes well. So reliant are their songs ...

Matthew Herbert

Interview by David Hemingway, unpublished, 2002

House producer Matthew Herbert has made music from underwear, rodents and lazer eye surgery, remixed artists as disparate as Serge Gainsbourg and Moloko and is ...

Mr. Scruff: Mr Scruff: Trouser Jazz

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2002

A DEVOTEE OF jumble sale chic, Andy "Mr.Scruff" Carthy's curious cut'n'paste creations – made famous-ish by the vintage jazz scatting of single 'Get A Move ...

Paradise Garage and the Lost Art of DJ'ing

Sleeve notes by Frank Broughton, Bill Brewster, Strut/Nuphonic Records, 2002

PUTTING A ROOMFUL of people in the moment. Amazing them, surprising them, challenging, even confusing them; pushing, electrifying, loving them; carrying them with you towards ...

What the Hell is Music?

Essay by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Mixmag, 2002

NOTE: This is the extended "directors' cut" version of the piece originally published in Mixmag.                                                      * ...

Boy George, Culture Club: Boy George (2002) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages transcripts, January 2002

This is a transcript of Bill's audio interview with Boy George. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Juan Atkins, Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Shadow, Richie Hawtin, Derrick May, Josh Wink: Six Machines That Changed The Music World

Guide by Pat Blashill, Wired, 5 January 2002

EVER SINCE Sam Phillips stuffed some wads of paper into an amplifier, inadvertently creating the fuzzed-up, overdriven electric guitar sound on Ike Turner's 1951 rave-up ...

Boy George, Culture Club: Boy George (2002)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 7 January 2002

The sometime Culture Club frontman talks about his involvement in the Taboo stage show; looks back at the '80s, the New Romantics and characters such as Steve Strange and Philip Salon; talks about Taboo's inspiration Leigh Bowery; discusses his relationship with the gay community; reflects on songwriting, clubbing, DJing... and reading Sasha's palm.

File format: mp3; file size: 59.8mb, interview length: 1h 02' 16" sound quality: ****

The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Brothers: Popping to the Chemist's

Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 18 January 2002

The Chemical Bros are just what the doctor ordered, says Lisa Verrico ...

The Chemical Brothers: Come With Us (Astralwerks)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, February 2002

No surrender: With dance music in a funk, the Chemical Brothers return to Big Beats ...

Norma Jean Bell, No-Neck Blues Band: The Fringe: Rackjobbing

Review by Will Hermes, Spin, February 2002

American music you can believe in ...

Carl Cox: The People's DJ: A Conversation with Carl Cox

Interview by Tony Fletcher, iJamming.net, February 2002

OVER A 20-year career, Carl Cox has not only garnered a reputation as one of the world's most formidable DJs, but has also become known ...

Groove Armada: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 18 March 2002

Getting back in the groove ...

Zero 7: The Teaboys Done Good: Zero 7

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 March 2002

Paul Lester meets Zero 7, the recording studio flunkies turned clubbers' favourites. ...

Moby

Report and Interview by Ian Watson, Sunday Herald, May 2002

FROM THE OUTSIDE, Moby Mansions looks like any other whitewashed townhouse in upmarket west London. Walk a little too quickly and you'd pass it without ...

Paul Oakenfold

Interview by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, June 2002

TWO YEARS AGO, Paul Oakenfold was getting profoundly bored. The original post-acid house superstar DJ, known to friends and relatives as ‘Oakey’ and to the ...

Pet Shop Boys: Steve Pafford does lunch with the Pet Shop Boys

Interview by Steve Pafford, GAY TIMES, June 2002

"IS THE OTHER half of the group coming?" queries a Cappuccino-consuming Neil Tennant. ...

DJ Shadow: King of the Vinyl Junkies

Report and Interview by Chris Campion, Daily Telegraph, 6 June 2002

DJ Shadow revolutionised hip hop with his first album and toured the world with Radiohead, but he is still regarded as a record-collecting nerd, he ...

Junkie XL, Elvis Presley: Junkie XL: The King is dead cool

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 17 June 2002

Elvis is back at No 1 with a soccer song. Lisa Verrico meets the DJ responsible ...

Norman Jay: Minister of Sound

Profile and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, Observer Music Monthly, 23 June 2002

It's a long way from illegal raves to Buckingham Palace. But Norman Jay, the godfather of club culture, has been there and done that – ...

DJ Shadow: Head Case

Interview by Will Hermes, Spin, July 2002

NOW THAT MOBY AND FATBOY SLIM HAVE BECOME POP-CULTURE POSTER BOYS, IS IT TIME FOR HIP-HOP MONK JOSH DAVIS, A.K.A. DJ SHADOW, TO CLAIM HIS ...

The Chemical Brothers, Matthew Herbert, Stephane Pompougnac, Rinôçérôse: Lifestyles of the Rhythm

Overview by James Hunter, The Village Voice, 2 July 2002

Dance music accesses an unseparatist pop sensibility ...

Global Ear: Izhevsk

Report and Interview by Don Watson, The Wire, September 2002

A survey of sounds from around the planet. This month: Don Watson travels deep inside Russia’s Volga Basin to eavesdrop on the region’s new electronica ...

Craig David: King of New York

Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Observer, 3 November 2002

He has immaculate manners, he likes hugging his fans and his worst vice is cookie dough ice cream... Small wonder America loves Craig David. Tim ...

New Order: "We've had it large"

Profile and Interview by Ted Kessler, The Guardian, 22 November 2002

A five-year split, a suicide, financial ruin, heavy cocaine abuse... New Order have survived the lot – and they're nowhere near quitting. Ted Kessler meets ...

Squarepusher: Do You Know Squarepusher (Warp Records)

Review by Todd L. Burns, Stylus, December 2002

SQUAREPUSHER's latest release, Do You Know Squarepusher mines a lot of the territory that his return to drill 'n bass, Go Plastic, did. He also ...

Bright Eyes, LCD Soundsystem, Liars, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Rapture, Secret Machines, Spoon, The Streets, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: 2002: The Year in Music — Yancey Strickler's annotated list

Guide by Yancey Strickler, Flak Magazine, 31 December 2002

Yancey's Tracks: 1. 'Losing My Edge' | LCD Soundsystem 2. 'No One Knows' | Queens of the Stone Age 3. 'Let's Push Things Forward' | The Streets 4. 'Soft ...

Underworld: The iJamming! Interview: Underworld

Interview by Tony Fletcher, iJamming.net, Summer 2002

IN THEORY, THEY'RE the greatest group on the planet. By which I mean that Underworld's Modus Operandi reads, to me, like a blueprint for how ...

David Mancuso And The Art Of Deejaying Without Deejaying

Retrospective by Greg Wilson, electrofunkroots.co.uk, 2003

CLUB CULTURE is a nowadays a global business, dance music transcending language, translating via rhythm rather than words. Inter-city has become inter-continental where the top ...

Way Of The Ninja: Ninja Tune Records

Retrospective and Interview by Dan Gennoe, New Routes, 2003

Dan Gennoe visits the HQ of boundary pushing independent record label Ninja Tune and views their break beat blueprint for world domination. ...

Asian Dub Foundation: Faces and Windows: Asian Dub Foundation

Profile and Interview by David Stubbs, The Wire, January 2003

Community, collectivism, connection are keywords in Asian Dub Foundation's irresistible assaults on cultural apathy. From their Community Music roots they have established a broad popular ...

John Peel: Peelin' In The Years

Interview by Daryl Easlea, Record Collector, January 2003

Radio 1's venerated platter spinner John Peel has just released his first dance mix CD. Daryl Easlea polishes up the wheels of steel ...

Asian Dub Foundation: Rappers With A Cause: Asian Dub Foundation

Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 24 January 2003

They helped secure the release of the warehouse worker Satpal Ram from prison. Now they're tackling domestic violence, asylum, the war on terror and the ...

Asian Dub Foundation: Foundation Course

Report and Interview by Stephen Dalton, unpublished, February 2003

JOHN PANDIT is hopping mad. We were supposed to be discussing the latest album by Pandit's multi-cultural protest-pop collective Asian Dub Foundation, but our interview ...

Massive Attack: He used to be massive

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 11 February 2003

Massive Attack have just one original member left. Robert Del Naja tells our critic about the struggle to create a fourth album alone. ...

One Foot In The Rave

Comment by Lulu Le Vay, Time Out, March 2003

IT'S MIDNIGHT on a Friday night. You're there on the dance floor trying to persuade your body to get into the groove. All you can ...

Colin Newman, Wire: Invisible Jukebox: Colin Newman

Interview by Mike Barnes, The Wire, April 2003

Every month we play a musician a series of records which they're asked to identify and comment on — with no prior knowledge of what ...

Autechre: The Futurologists: Autechre

Interview by David Stubbs, The Wire, April 2003

The world of electronica might have become overcrowded since their first releases a decade ago, but Autechre are still burrowing through microscopic cracks into the ...

Little Eva

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 14 April 2003

IT WAS HARDLY an original piece of choreography, but 'The Loco-motion' was certainly one of the most impressive records produced by the early 1960s vogue ...

Kraftwerk: Return of the Robots of Rock

Comment by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 4 July 2003

Kraftwerk are about to release their first album in a decade — probably. Stephen Dalton examines the mythical status of the men from Düsseldorf.  ...

Barry White 1944-2003

Obituary by Chris Roberts, Uncut, September 2003

THOSE OF US who thought Barry White was God will now look on the bright side and consider it official. So often rendered a figure ...

Fatboy Slim, Norman Cook: A Conversation With Norman Cook

Interview by Greg Wilson, electrofunkroots.co.uk, 1 September 2003

EARLIER THIS YEAR I e-mailed Norman Cook via Skint Records, telling him about the electrofunkroots project and my intention to document the early 80's period ...

DJ Shadow: The Private Press

Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 1 September 2003

IN 1996 JOSH DAVIS RELEASED ...Endtroducing, an expansive, intricate and morose tapestry of samples that wove brass, pianos, filtersweeps and hip hop beats together, creating ...

Moby: Play

Review by Todd L. Burns, Stylus, 1 September 2003

NOW, I DON'T HATE MOBY because he uses the same synth string sound in each song, a sound that feels like it needs something. I ...

Kosheen: Hard to Resist

Profile and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 6 October 2003

SIAN EVANS juggles being a mum with fronting THE FAST-RISING DANCE TRIO. ...

Basement Jaxx: Kish Kash

Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 21 October 2003

DANCE IS DEAD!, proclaim the British broadsheet press. No it isn't!, they say again, three months later, It's just gone underground again!. Whatever, Basement Jaxx ...

Electro-Funk – What Did It All Mean?: Dance Culture's Missing Link

Retrospective by Greg Wilson, electrofunkroots.co.uk, November 2003

ELECTRO-FUNK IS undoubtedly the most misunderstood of all UK Dance genres, yet probably the most vital with regards to its overall influence. ...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: What does Sophie Ellis-Bextor write after her autograph?

Interview by Sylvia Patterson, The Word, November 2003

"THE CHEWING GUM's two quid a packet… and this," husks Sophie Ellis-Bextor, fondling a tube of Berocca vitamin fizz-up, "is eight fifty. So I'm going ...

Basement Jaxx: Kish Kash

Review by Will Hermes, Spin, 13 November 2003

MAYBE THEY COULD change their names to the Jaxxes. With half-assed rock bands now enjoying all the hype once reserved for half-assed DJ acts, it's ...

Ron Hardy, Chicago Legend

Retrospective by Bill Brewster, Faith, 2004

If Frankie Knuckles is the Godfather of House, Ron Hardy was its Baron Frankenstein. ...

Salsoul Samples

Guide by Bill Brewster, Music Week, 2004

1. Black Box – 'Ride On Time' (Deconstruction/1989) Sampled: Loleatta Holloway's 'Love Sensation' ...

Arthur Russell: The Flying Heart

Retrospective by David Toop, The Wire, January 2004

Arthur Russell is the great enigma of New York's music scene. A cellist, Buddhist and former music director at the legendary Kitchen, he was seduced ...

Basement Jaxx: Kash In Hand

Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 2 January 2004

IN THEIR 10 years together, Basement Jaxx have sold more than two million albums, won a Brit Award for Best Dance Act and generally been ...

Arthur Russell: The World of Arthur Russell (Soul Jazz) *****

Review by Simon Reynolds, Uncut, February 2004

IT'S AN UNLIKELY STORY: avant-garde cellist sees the light in a disco glitterball at New York gay club The Gallery and decides disco is the ...

David Guetta: Just A Little More Love (Astralwerks)

Review by Todd L. Burns, Stylus, 26 February 2004

IF THE GREAT TREND of the moment is microhouse, it would follow that the eventual backlash would result in a reconfiguring of the dance music ...

Secret Machines: Altered States: Secret Machines' Narcotic Bliss

Interview by Stevie Chick, The Stranger, 17 June 2004

"THE FIRST TIME you take acid, or have any kind of a psychedelic experience, from that point on you look at the world a little ...

S'Express' Mark Moore (2004)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 20 July 2004

The pioneering DJ and artist takes us on a journey through London's clubland and the early days of electronic dance music, from Billy's and Blitz, via the gay club scene and the introduction of Ecstasy and House music, through to hitting with S'Express.

File format: mp3; file size: 60.5mb, interview length: 1h 06' 04" sound quality: *****

Basement Jaxx, Goldie Lookin' Chain: Basement Jaxx/Goldie Lookin' Chain: Bristol Canons Marsh

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, August 2004

AFTER A SLUGGISH start, the finale of Bristol's Grolsh Summer Set shows felt like a largely triumphant affair on Wednesday. Local acts featured on the ...

Fatboy Slim

Interview by Ian Watson, Rolling Stone (Australia), August 2004

NOT FOR the first time in the last few years, Norman Cook looks nervous. He fiddles with a roll of black gaffer tape, keeping his ...

The Prodigy: Liam Howlett: Never Outgunned

Interview by Ben Myers, Kerrang!, August 2004

"I REMEMBER being in our rehearsal room and Keith was picking holes in shit and I just thought 'What the fuck, man? What's happened to ...

Derrick May (2004)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 30 August 2004

The techno pioneer tells the whole epic story: his childhood in Detroit; meeting Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins; discovering Chicago house and seeing Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy DJ; making 'Nude Photo' and 'Strings of Life', and being recognised in the UK. Plus a whole lot more...

File format: mp3; file size: 153.4mb, interview length: 2h 39' 48" sound quality: ****

Derrick May (2004) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 30 August 2004

This is a transcript of Bill and Frank's audio interview with Derrick. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Groove Armada: Idle Warship

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), October 2004

Unlike their UK dance contemporaries Faithless, the rumours of Groove Armada's imminent demise remain firmly denied by the duo themselves. While Tom Findlay recently commented ...

Salomé de Bahia, Solu Music: Solu Music: Affirmation / Salomé de Bahia: Brasil

Review by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 4 October 2004

The "Other" R&B ...

Loleatta Holloway

Interview by Bill Brewster, djhistory.com, 6 January 2005

LOLEATTA WAS born in Chicago in 1946 and, like most of her peers, began singing in gospel groups before striking out on a solo career ...

The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk: The Turn Away from the Turntable: Daft Punk and the Chemical Brothers

Report by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 23 January 2005

IN THE FIRST months of 2005, two of electronic dance music's biggest bands will release what are generally referred to as long-awaited albums. ...

The Chemical Brothers: Dancing To The Death: The New Club Culture

Report and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Times, 28 January 2005

CLUB CULTURE is over so no music coming out of the dance arena can be interesting. It's not usually put so bluntly but I've read ...

The Chemical Brothers: Push The Button

Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 28 January 2005

IN THE MID-90S it looked as if dance music was on the verge of total crossover into the rock-oriented mainstream, and for a while I ...

808 State: Interview with Graham Massey

Interview by David Hemingway, Record Collector, February 2005

THE APHEX TWIN'S Rephlex imprint is to release a duo of 'acid house' remixes of New Order tracks on 13 September. 'Blue Monday (So Hot ...

LCD Soundsystem: Liquid ecstasy: LCD Soundsystem: LCD Soundsystem (DFA/EMI) *****

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, February 2005

New York's disco infiltrators put the "cross" in crossover ...

Soul II Soul's Jazzie B (2005)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 2 February 2005

The original Funki Dread goes deep into his roots, from a family background in reggae sound systems to Soul II Soul at the Africa Centre, via bunking off school to go to Crackers; DJs like George Power and Paul 'Trouble' Anderson; setting up S II S, and the original warehouse parties. Riveting stuff.

File format: mp3; file size: 87.2mb, interview length: 1h 35' 15" sound quality: *****

Soul II Soul's Jazzie B (2005) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 2 February 2005

This is a transcript of Bill and Frank's audio interview with Jazzie B. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Fabio, Grooverider: Fabio (2005)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 4 February 2005

The Drum & Bass pioneer talks about his Brixton background, blues parties and sound systems; his love soul as well as reggae, and lunchtime funk dances at Crackers; collecting records, and starting to DJ; Tim Westwood and the emergence of electro hip hop; pirate radio; Paul Oakenfold's house nights, and meeting future partner Grooverider; nights like Spectrum and Rage; techno, break beats and jungle; the dangerous jungle club nights; evolution of Drum & Bass, and Garage; taking the name Fabio, and his memories of the big outdoor raves like Sunrise.

File format: mp3; file size: 71.7mb, interview length: 1h 14' 39" sound quality: ****

Fabio (2005) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 4 February 2005

This is a transcript of Bill and Frank's audio interview with Fabio. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Terry Farley (2005)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 23 February 2005

The pioneering House DJ tells the whole story, from a tin bath in Notting Dale to Shoom and beyond: his youth in Slough; discovering the club Crackers; the soul all-dayers and weekenders; the warehouse scene and rare groove; the dawn of House and Ecstacy; the opening of Shoom; his and Andrew Weatherall's Boy's Own fanzine; Danny Rampling; the emergence of the superstar DJ... and House's longevity.

File format: mp3; file size: 117.9mb, interview length: 2h 02' 50" sound quality: ****

Moby: Hotel

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, March 2005

ONCE TAGGED the "Iggy Pop Of Techno", New York electronica geek Moby's come a long way. ...

The Prodigy: Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), March 2005

AFTER A SEVEN year wait for the follow up to 1997's The Fat of the Land and more than a decade on from the career-transforming ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Brothers: Apollo, Manchester

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 14 March 2005

FOR MUCH of the past decade, the Chemical Brothers seemed indestructible. They topped the charts, broke audience records at Glastonbury, and even won a Grammy ...

Daft Punk: Human After All

Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 19 March 2005

THE THIRD album from Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manual de Homem Christo, the self-styled cyborg rulers of Parisian disco-pop, was initially trailed as a harder and ...

Omar-S: Just Ask The Lonely (FXHE)

Review by Todd L. Burns, Stylus, 1 April 2005

THE FIRST TIME you listen to Omar-S (Alex Smith), especially his debut solo album for his own FXHE Records, you're going to be confused. Which ...

Faithless: Forever Faithless

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 16 May 2005

FAITHLESS'S SHOWINGS in the singles charts might not bag them as one of the biggest players of the '90s dance boom, but with 10 million ...

Moloko, Roisin Murphy: Roisin Murphy: Her Time Is Now

Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 May 2005

When Moloko split up, Roisin Murphy found herself without a band, a plan or a partner. She tells Caroline Sullivan how half an hour of ...

Armand Van Helden: Nympho

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, July 2005

BEING A SUPERSTAR DJ in the year 2005 isn't all it was once cracked up to be. The limos, the girls, the record sales and ...

Thievery Corporation: Gentlemen Robbers: Thievery Corporation

Retrospective and Interview by Daryl Easlea, Record Collector, July 2005

FOUNDED IN 1995, Washington-based dance duo Thievery Corporation is in that select band of acts, that even though they remain elusive to the great majority, ...

LCD Soundsystem: Soundsystem And Vision

Interview by John Doran, Disorder, July 2005

"I'm losing my edge. To all the kids in Tokyo and Berlin. I'm losing my edge to the art-school Brooklynites in little jackets and borrowed ...

Walter Gibbons: Salsoul Records: The Best Disco Label In The World... Ever

Retrospective and Interview by Bill Brewster, Record Collector, July 2005

We present a 30th birthday tribute to Salsoul, the label that changed club culture forever. Bill Brewster talks to the movers and shakers and celebrates ...

Walter Gibbons

Retrospective by Bill Brewster, Record Collector, July 2005

WALTER GIBBONS loved drums. As a young DJ, the beat-heavy records he played defined his sound and as a remixer he had the knack of ...

DJ Shadow (2005)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 8 July 2005

The erstwhile Josh Davis talks about how his world was changed by hip hop; how, in search of breaks, he became an obsessive collector; the ins-and-outs of sampling, and tells tales from the world of crate digging.

File format: mp3; file size: 61.1mb, interview length: 1h 06' 41" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Peter Shapiro: Turn the Beat Around

Book Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 17 July 2005

GIVEN ITS frivolous image and naff rituals – fright wigs and flares, revolving glitterballs and girls dancing around their handbags – a serious book about ...

Craig David: The Story Goes…

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 22 August 2005

COMEDIAN LEIGH FRANCIS, creator of Avid Merrion and Bo' Selector!, is a mercilessly savage and insightful impressionist. And of all the pop stars he's mocked, ...

Rave On… But Be Careful

Comment by Sheryl Garratt, The Times, 3 September 2005

IT IS EASY TO forget how grey and grim Britain seemed in the late 1980s. The Tories had been in power for ever; young men ...

Ladytron: Witching Hour (Island)

Review by Simon Price, The Independent, 2 October 2005

FIRST FRANZ FERDINAND, now this, with the Cardigans still to come: autumn 2005 is shaping up into a fine season for pop with a brain. ...

David Banner, DJ Shadow: DJ Shadow and David Banner: Two Worlds Collide

Interview by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, 4 November 2005

Regional rapper David Banner and turntable legend DJ Shadow make an unlikely pairing. Memphis plays a part. ...

Madonna: Koko, London

Live Review by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 16 November 2005

THE LAST TIME Madonna played this venue was, as she reminded us, 22 years ago. Then, she was just another struggling blond singer/dancer/actress living on ...

Madonna: Looks Good on the Dancefloor

Interview by Simon Garfield, Observer Music Monthly, 20 November 2005

With 'Hung Up' at number one and her new album also set to storm to the top of the charts, Madonna has taken back her ...

Italian DJ Daniele Baldelli created the Afro Cosmic disco scene

Interview by Bill Brewster, Wax Poetics, Spring 2005

IMAGINE CIRCLING the planet in a spaceship — weightless, far from home, listening to music on your gravity-modified iPod. Or imagine trying to sprint through ...

Grumpy Old DJs

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, 2006

IS IT STILL financially viable to employ a butler to carry one's record valise? Why can't you get wooden slipmats any more? Is 45rpm a ...

Aphex Twin, Barrabas, Vashti Bunyan, Terry Callier, Prince, Labi Siffre, R. Dean Taylor, Underworld: The 40 Most Collectible Records

Guide by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, 2006

Okay, so it's not really the 40 most collectable records (if it was, it would contain nothing but doo-wop, northern soul and classical music). It's ...

Nik Cohn: Rock Dreamer

Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, January 2006

He inspired Townshend and Bowie to create Tommy and Ziggy Stardust, wrote the article that became Saturday Night Fever and penned the greatest pop book ...

Coldcut: Cargo, EC2

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 23 January 2006

LONG BEFORE Basement Jaxx or Fatboy Slim, Matt Black and Jonathan More were Britain's original kings of big beats. ...

The Meaning of Rave

Retrospective by Bill Brewster, Springsix Festival brochure, May 2006

Well, someone had to explain what Quavers were to those funny foreigners. ...

Craig David: Hammersmith Apollo, London W6

Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 15 May 2006

CRAIG DAVID IS THE ONLY R&B SUPERSTAR this country has produced. His debut album, Born to Do It, sold eight million copies, while the "flop" ...

Fatboy Slim

Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, June 2006

THE SUN DECK of Norman Cook's seafront Brighton home juts out over a stony stretch of supposedly private beach. But it is not that private, ...

Fatboy Slim: Why Try Harder – The Greatest Hits

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, June 2006

AS NATIONAL institutions go, few are as loved as Norman Cook. Taken to the nation's heart as much for the not-afraid-to-make-a-fool-of-himself attitude of his Hawaiian ...

Burial: Burial

Review by Simon Reynolds, The Observer, 18 June 2006

Dubstep has finally thrown up an album that will work in your living room. Simon Reynolds soaks up the ambience. ...

20 Salsoul Classics

Discography by Bill Brewster, Record Collector, July 2006

RAFAEL CAMERON – 'BOOGIE'S GONNA GET YA' (INSTRUMENTAL) (SALSOUL 12-INCH/SG-362) £15 ...

CSS: Cansai de Ser Sexy (Sub Pop)

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 21 July 2006

IF A pile of 1979-80 disco and post-punk records washed up on a Brazilian beach, the lucky beneficiaries would party like CSS. ...

Audio Bullys: Electric Gardens festival: Mount Ephraim, Kent

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 9 August 2006

IT MAY BE a reaction to the vacuum left by the dormant Glastonbury, but there has been an unprecedented explosion in small-scale boutique festivals this ...

Kenny Gonzalez, L'il Louie Vega, Masters at Work: Pure Percussive Pleasure: Kenny Gonzalez and Louie Vega

Report by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 9 October 2006

GOTHAM'S HIPPEST and happiest underground nightlife owes its origins to the ever-streetwise and affable duo of Brooklyn's Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez and Bronx-bred "Little" Louie Vega, ...

Faithless: To All New Arrivals

Interview by Sophie Heawood, The Times, 24 November 2006

FAITHLESS have abandoned big rave anthems, but they'll still bite your legs ...

Basement Jaxx: Itchy and Scratchy: In Praise of the Basement Boys

Comment by Barney Hoskyns, eMusic.com, March 2007

BEING OF a certain (old) age, I’ve pretty much grown out of dance culture. If I’m really honest, I was already semi-alienated before the rave era ...

LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver

Review by David Stubbs, The Wire, March 2007

THE LYRIC to the title track of LCD Soundsystem's latest album is more of a mantra: "The sound of silver/Makes you want to be a ...

LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 9 March 2007

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM'S James Murphy is chiefly regarded as a man with a gargantuan record collection. ...

William Orbit: 'People Will See My Heart And Soul'

Interview by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 23 May 2007

POP MUSIC has been good to William Orbit. Two decades at the top of his game as one of dance music's leading producers and remixers ...

Calvin Harris: Beat Route

Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 June 2007

Calvin Harris had a solid career in fruit and veg to look forward to. Then the charts, fame and Kylie Minogue got in the way. ...

Calvin Harris: Scala, London N1

Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 11 June 2007

CALVIN HARRIS can't quite believe his luck. The lanky lad in the gaudy tracksuit top may have called his debut album I Created Disco, but ...

John Cale, LCD Soundsystem: John Cale meets LCD Soundsystem

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 15 June 2007

They are both stars of New York's music scene – pioneers of the coolest pop, separated by 30 years. James Murphy and John Cale get ...

Two Lone Swordsmen: Wrong Meeting II

Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 5 July 2007

MUSICIANS TAKE FAR TOO MUCH TIME between releases. Sure, prolonged touring / promotional schedules and the relentless search for perfection would be valid reasons for ...

Love Goes To Buildings On Fire: 1977 New York gets the VH1 treatment and, oh my, wasn't it fun back then!

Retrospective by Will Hermes, The Village Voice, 31 July 2007

OH YES, it was wicked cool: getting jacked at machete-point on the subway after a night of clubbing, and at bayonet-point outside of high school. ...

Frankie Knuckles, David Mancuso, David Morales: Def Mix: The house that Judy built

Retrospective and Interview by Bill Brewster, Pacha, August 2007

AT THE CENTRE of every story is what philosopher Malcolm Gladwell calls a "connector". Connectors are people who know lots of other people. They are ...

The Bee Gees, Robin Gibb: Robin Gibb remembers Saturday Night Fever

Retrospective and Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, September 2007

FOR BABY BOOMERS, this year marked the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love. For hipsters worldwide, 2007 means that it's been three decades since ...

Madonna: For the first time, her friends and lovers speak out

Retrospective by Lucy O'Brien, Independent on Sunday, 2 September 2007

How did a destitute dance student become the princess of pop? ...

Public Enemy: The Public Enemy Remix Project's 'Bring the Noise' b/w 'Give It Up'

Review by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 26 September 2007

ALTHOUGH TECHNO (and its subsequent sub-genres) is now associated more with its white European exponents than its black American progenitors, Ultra Records' new series of ...

Underworld: the Guildhall, Southampton

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 12 October 2007

THERE WERE MORE grey-haired Disco Dads than fresh-faced Nu Ravers in evidence when Underworld began their first British tour in five years. Karl Hyde and ...

Burial: Untrue (Hyperdub)

Review by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 15 November 2007

To a different beat: With jagged, fragile soundscapes, the mysterious Burial has created a modern classic, writes Jude Rogers ...

Patrick Adams: Disco's Secret Master: Patrick Adams

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, eMusic.com, December 2007

NOTWITHSTANDING the splendid Hercules & Love Affair, Disco has precious few cult heroes. That once-reviled dilution of funk boasts its share of cult DJs and ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Brothers: Chemical Romance

Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 7 December 2007

WHILE MANY OF their 1990s superstar DJ peers have fallen by the wayside, the Chemical Brothers remain a phenomenal British success story. Duo Ed Simons, ...

M.I.A.: Coronet Theatre, London SE1

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 22 December 2007

SHE IS LESS well-known than Amy Winehouse's hair and her sales to date wouldn't fund Beyoncé's laundry bill, yet Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., has ...

Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers: Going to a Go-Go: Hip-Hop Repays Its Debt to Chuck Brown

Report and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore City Paper, 26 December 2007

CHUCKY THOMPSON was just a teenager from the streets of Washington when he became a drummer for Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers in the ...

Groove Armada: Soundboy Rock

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, Summer 2007

SOME ACTS whip up a frenzy of anticipation and excitement without even trying. Groove Armada aren't one of them. ...

Underworld: Dubnobasswithmyheadman

Review by Barney Hoskyns, eMusic.com, 2008

NOT FOR NOTHING is the first track on this almost unpronounceable album called 'Dark & Long'. Almost all the tracks by this UK techno trio ...

Burial: Untrue (Hyperdub)

Review by David Stubbs, The Wire, January 2008

THE RELEASE of Burial's second album Untrue chimes in well with the coming of British winter, as the air turns chill and dirty, the days ...

Hot Chip: The League of Very Ordinary Gentlemen

Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Spin, February 2008

Everybody seems to love Hot Chip's catchy, endearing dance pop. But are these bookish Brits ready to love everybody back? ...

Hot Chip: Super Fry Guys: Hot Chip's Made In The Dark (EMI)

Review by John McCready, The Word, February 2008

Hot Chip: Brains from Thunderbirds and his science-block mates create wonderful dance music — that you don't have to dance to. ...

Fatboy Slim's cooking up another monster festival by Loch Ness

Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 1 February 2008

HE IS THE original funk soul brother and superstar DJ, the presiding expert in showing dance-floor filling crowds the world over how to have it ...

Autechre: Digital, Newcastle

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 4 March 2008

ROCHDALE'S SEAN BOOTH AND ROB BROWN have become leading practitioners of what has been tagged "intelligent dance music", a term synonymous with former ravers who ...

Are Re-edits the Real Revenge of Disco?

Report by Marc Rowlands, Guardian Unlimited, 5 May 2008

Homemade, unlicensed reworkings of disco classics are taking over clubland ...

Moby: Last Night (Mute)

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 21 May 2008

FOR A MINUTE there, it looked like it had all gone horribly wrong for Moby. The underground techno geek who shot from basement club obscurity ...

CSS: Donkey

Review by John Doran, The Quietus, 3 June 2008

TO CELEBRATE 20 years producing left field heavy rock music, Sub Pop this month release bookended albums of a sort. ...

Donna Summer: Too hot to handle

Retrospective and Interview by Craig McLean, Daily Telegraph, 13 June 2008

A devout Christian, Donna Summer was an unlikely queen of disco, particularly one who wore her crown with such raunchy abandon. Now a 59-year-old grandmother, ...

Health: Health//Disco

Review by John Doran, The Quietus, 13 June 2008

SO BY NOW you are aware of the Smell, the Los Angeles art space/studio/gig venue from which emanate the evil sounds of bands such as ...

Grace Jones: Still a Slave to the Rhythm

Profile by Andy Gill, The Independent, 18 June 2008

She's belted Russell Harty, beaten James Bond and brought the house down with her fashion sense. Now the inimitable Grace Jones is back at Meltdown. ...

Donna Summer: Crayons

Review by Chris Roberts, The Quietus, 23 June 2008

DONNA SUMMER'S FIRST ALBUM of new material for seventeen years doesn't so much announce that she's still got it as knock the door down, stride ...

Kieran Hebden: Close-Up: Kieran Hebden

Profile and Interview by John Lewis, Independent on Sunday, 13 July 2008

IF ONE WERE to draw a Venn diagram illustrating London's myriad music scenes – with circles depicting, say, rock, folk, jazz and techno – then ...

The Bug: London Zoo

Review by Ben Thompson, The Guardian, 13 July 2008

ALL THE GREAT British writer/producers of the past two decades have found their own trademark equilibrium between guest vocals and backing tracks. ...

Blondie: The Making Of 'Heart Of Glass'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2008

A reggae song? By a "cult folk band"? Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and taskmaster/producer Mike Chapman relive the disco-punk boot camp that built a gleaming, ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Brothers: Talking about new album Brotherhood

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Daily Telegraph, 23 August 2008

They started out playing the back rooms of pubs, and now fill stadiums around the world. But despite being Britain's biggest dance act, the Chemical ...

Underworld: Celebrating the Underbelly: Underworld

Retrospective and Interview by Daryl Easlea, Record Collector, September 2008

UNDERWORLD HAVE been at the forefront of electronic music for the past 15 years. The partnership at the group's core, Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, ...

The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die first listen

Review by John Doran, The Quietus, 28 November 2008

Long time Prodigy fan and self-confessed knackered old cheesy quaver, John Doran gets invited to the first listen of the new Prodge album Invaders Must ...

Grace Jones: Grace Under Pressure: Grace Jones

Interview by John Doran, The Stool Pigeon, December 2008

PLAYING BACK MY phone interview with Grace Jones, I notice that at the start of the transcript while I'm waiting for someone to pick up ...

New Order: The Making Of 'Blue Monday'

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, December 2008

A stone classic, for sure, but the best-selling 12" of all time was a bastard to play live and lost money on first release. "We ...

The Prodigy: Glasgow Academy

Live Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 10 December 2008

IN 1996, WHEN Keith Flint – the face that soonest springs to mind when people think of the Prodigy – shovelled on the kohl and ...

Robyn: Body Shot

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 2009

Robyn's fronting on mighty pop moments such as 'Konichiwa Bitches', 'U Should Know Better' and 'Criminal Intent' have projected the Swedish star as a bad-ass ...

Various Artists: A Complete Introduction To Northern Soul (Universal)

Review by Stuart Maconie, The Word, January 2009

A COMPLETE HISTORY? Yes. A Short Introduction? Yes. But A Complete Introduction? Surely a contradiction in terms. ...

The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die (Cooking Vinyl)

Review by John Doran, The Quietus, 12 February 2009

A CRITICISM often levelled at Cooking Vinyl is that it resembles a second division football team with enough money to buy once gloriously talented players ...

Fatboy Slim, Paul Oakenfold: Superstar DJs: Here We Go! by Dom Phillips

Book Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 1 March 2009

They're mostly gone now, but back in the 1990s Britain's superjocks could coin thousands for a single night. A lucid history charts their excesses ...

Pet Shop Boys: Our Back Catalogue Is 25 Years Of Social Commentary

Interview by Julian Marszalek, The Quietus, 19 March 2009

Julian Marszalek meets pop renaissance man Neil Tennant to talk Potemkin, production and pop ...

Andrew Weatherall (2009)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 28 May 2009

The legendary DJ and producer looks back at his suburban childhood and mispent youth; starting the dance music fanzine Boy's Own; the whole acid house scene and its effects; what it means to be a DJ, and his move into the recording studio and his work with Primal Scream.

File format: mp3; file size: 49.2mb, interview length: 53' 44" sound quality: ****

Why "Disco sucks!" sucked

Retrospective by Ben Myers, The Guardian, 18 June 2009

The "Disco Sucks!" campaign in 1979 had racist and homophobic undertones — and, 30 years on, has proven to be a resolute failure ...

Kraftwerk at the Manchester International Festival

Report and Interview by Simon Witter, Daily Telegraph, 19 June 2009

The unlikely rock star Ralf Hütter talks about cycling and the Kraftwerk concert at Manchester. ...

Crystal Fighters: New band of the week: Crystal Fighters

Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 23 June 2009

This East London five-piece bring traditional Basque folk music screaming and kicking into the 21st century by fusing it with heavy dance rhythms and synthesisers. ...

Michael Jackson: Michael Reinvents Pop

Retrospective by Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone, August 2009

Recorded before he turned 21, Off The Wall made him a superstar — and the most important young R&B artist in America. ...

The Grand Story Of Beach Music

Retrospective by Robot A. Hull, Rock's Backpages, 5 August 2009

IT IS WITH much trepidation that I write of "beach music", a phenomenon that has consistently been making waves across America and the world (yes, ...

Tiësto: DJ Tiësto: Victoria Park, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 6 August 2009

DJ TIËSTO'S brand name and face are plastered either side of the stage. You may also see him modelling underwear on giant Times Square billboards, ...

Orbital: Rave Review

Profile and Interview by John Lewis, Hotline, September 2009

Rave pioneers Orbital were the surprise hit of this summer's festivals. They tell John Lewis about finding fresh inspiration. ...

Steve Goodman keeps on pioneering

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Sunday Times, 11 October 2009

NOTE: This is the original "director's cut" version of the piece that ran in The Sunday Times. ...

Various Artists: Disco Discharge – Classic Disco, Euro Disco, Gay Disco, Disco Ladies

Review by Jon Savage, The Word, December 2009

AS IS THEIR wont, the Pet Shop Boys really summed it up on 'Can You Forgive Her?':"She's made you some kind of laughing stock/Because you ...

Delphic: Why Delphic are music's Next Big Thing

Profile and Interview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 15 January 2010

Green tea, genre-defying dance music and the band who have re-invented the Manchester sound for a whole new generation ...

Hot Chip: One Life Stand (Parlophone)

Review by Simon Price, The Word, February 2010

THE NAME, of course, is one of pop's great double entendres. As well as carrying the sense of overloaded silicon circuitry, "Hot Chip" — like ...

Fingers Inc.: Fingers, Inc: 'Mystery of Love' (Club Version)

Retrospective by Jon Savage, The Guardian, 2 March 2010

FIRST RELEASED in 1985 (on Alleviated Records), then remixed by Larry Heard for a DJ International 12", 'Mystery of Love' seemed to come out of ...

Deadmau5 promises more than just music

Interview by Evelyn McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 16 April 2010

THE IMAGES were grainy, the lines obscured — as if they were photos taken by a surveillance camera. The backdrop appeared to be a giant ...

Lady Gaga: Aladdin Sane Called, He Wants His Lightning Bolt Back: On Lady Gaga

Essay by Mark Dery, True/Slant, 20 April 2010

"HOW NOT DUMB is Gaga?" asked the New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones, in the first flush of Gagamania. Almost exactly a year later, his ...

LCD Soundsystem: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 26 April 2010

HAVING VOWED to disband LCD Soundsystem when he turned 40, James Murphy – who reached that milestone in February – is currently on his (presumably) ...

Grace Jones: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 28 April 2010

FOR ALL OF its high production values, perhaps the most surprising thing about this one-off show was just how little it took to derail it. ...

Arthur Russell

Retrospective and Interview by Kris Needs, MOJO, May 2010

"I'VE GOT so much to do. All the music in the world," wrote Arthur Russell to a San Francisco friend after arriving in New York ...

Marshall Jefferson, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs : Marshall Jefferson and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

Comment by Paul Morley, The Guardian, 28 May 2010

To Paul Morley's left, '80s Chicago dance DJ Marshall Jefferson. To his right, Orlando from up-and-coming producers Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. Can Morley find the ...

ABBA: A Matter Of Blood, Sweat And Tears: ABBA's Voulez-Vous (Deluxe Edition)

Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Music, 31 May 2010

HINDSIGHT IS A wonderful thing. When studying the track list of compilation albums such as ABBA Gold, or perusing chart statistics, it is easy to ...

Envy, Kelis: Givin' It To The Homegirl: The Trouble With Kelis 


Comment by Neil Kulkarni, The Quietus, 10 June 2010

With Neil Kulkarni finding something rotten in the state of girl-pop, he turns up his nose at Kelis' curdled Milkshake and explains why Brit Envy ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Brothers: The sound of grown ups at play

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Sunday Times, 20 June 2010

NOTE: This is the original "director's cut" version of the piece that ran in The Sunday Times. ...

Stromae: Cheese (Mosaert)

Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 September 2010

IT'S DARING of Belgian rapper Stromae to give his first album a title that encourages gags about it being a load of fromage, and equally brave to ...

Flying Lotus

Profile and Interview by Stephen Dalton, The National, October 2010

ONE OF THE MOST exciting breakthrough artists of 2010, Flying Lotus has been hailed as the Jimi Hendrix of his generation. Besides his own genre-blurring ...

The Rise Of Dubstep

Overview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, October 2010

THE FIRST THING that hits you, quite literally, is the sledgehammer bass sound. Walk into any dubstep club and these gnarly, spine-twisting shudders almost knock ...

Deadmau5: O2 Academy, Bournemouth

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 9 December 2010

JOEL "DEADMAU5" ZIMMERMAN has turned facelessness into a brand, elevating his polished electro-trance anthems into a dazzling audio-visual spectacle that owes more to Kraftwerk or ...

Chase and Status: No More Idols (Vertigo)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 28 January 2011

I'VE NO idea who's responsible for the African rap on 'No Problem', which opens Chase and Status's album, but he deserves the kind of star ...

Toro y Moi: Underneath The Pine (Carpark)

Review by Simon Reynolds, The Wire, February 2011

HAVE YOU noticed? Pop music sounds shit these days.  ...

Lady Gaga, Valentino: Lady Gaga's New Gay Anthem

Comment by Jon Savage, The Guardian, 14 February 2011

Has Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' got what it takes to be a classic gay anthem? Jon Savage on the debt she owes to a ...

LCD Soundsystem: Give It Up! Ten Reasons We Loved LCD Soundsystem

Comment by Tony Fletcher, iJamming.net, April 2011

On Saturday April 2, 2011, at Madison Square Garden, LCD Soundsystem gave it up for good. Here are Ten Reasons We Loved Them... ...

Katy B, Jamie Woon: Jamie Woon: Mirrorwriting, Katy B: On A Mission

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, April 2011

TWO GRADUATES from the school of dubstep — a brooding introvert and a Saturday-night extrovert— bypass the awkward stage. ...

LCD Soundsystem: Madison Square Garden

Live Review by Iman Lababedi, Rock NYC, 3 April 2011

JAMES MURPHY is Irish, so why not a wake? Following his decision to kill off the LCD Soundsystem franchise, lead singer Murphy announced a last hurrah ...

Black Eyed Peas, Taio Cruz: Never Mind The Balearics: The Ibiza-ification Of Pop

Comment by Simon Reynolds, The Guardian, 14 April 2011

From Black Eyed Peas to Taio Cruz, much recent pop looks to Ibiza for inspiration. And yet for all the hands-in-the-air moments, this music is ...

Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Chubby Checker, Joey Dee & the Starliters: Let's Twist again

Retrospective by Richard Williams, The Guardian, 4 June 2011

Fifty years ago, a new dance craze swept the world and changed for ever the way people move. Richard Williams, up on his feet when it ...

Giorgio Moroder: Ex Machina

Retrospective by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2011

The Italian from Munich changed how records were made ...

Chic, Norma Jean Wright: Norma Jean Wright: Norma Jean

Sleeve notes by Daryl Easlea, Demon Records, July 2011

NORMA JEAN WRIGHT'S sole album on Bearsville, released in 1978, is something of a curio, and is notable for the fact it was the first ...

Goldie, Pat Metheny: When Goldie Met Metheny

Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, August 2011

Obsessed drum'n'bass muscle writes daily letters to jazz wizard (and to Beethoven and Elgar). Eventually he posts one. Word arranges a summit ...

David Guetta: Nothing But the Beat

Review by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 29 August 2011

David Guetta's Dance Music Melting Pot ...

August Darnell, Kid Creole & The Coconuts: Kid Creole: "I'm not a party man anymore"

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 7 September 2011

He was a zoot-suited wise guy who crooned out hit after hit. Now Kid Creole is back. Paul Lester meets the man who blew a ...

David Guetta: Nothing But the Beat

Review by Iman Lababedi, Rock NYC, 13 September 2011

IT IS NOT THAT Nothing But the Beat is substantially worse than One Love; it is worse but not substantially. It is that it is a stylistic dead ...

Kid Koala: "I always wanted to work on The Muppet Show"

Profile and Interview by John Lewis, Metro, 16 September 2011

Musician, cartoonist, graphic novelist, DJ, primary school teacher… Metro meets the many sides of Canadian polymath Kid Koala. ...

Frankie Knuckles: The House That Frankie Knuckles Built

Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 13 October 2011

Frankie Knuckles is back, minus a foot but loaded with plaudits including a street named after him in Chicago ...

Justice: Audio, Video, Disco (Ed Banger) ***

Review and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, November 2011

Pioneering electro-punk duo make nostalgic rock trip on LP2 ...

Chic, Nile Rodgers: Nile Rodgers: The Winter Of Our Discotheque

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, November 2011

Chic's Nile Rodgers recalls the chilling dance-music backlash of 1979 — "the more dominant tribe basically saying, It's time to thin out the herd" ...

Rustie: Maximal Nation

Essay by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 6 December 2011

Electronic music's evolution toward the thrilling excess of digital maximalism. ...

Dobie Gray, 1940-2011

Obituary by Richard Williams, The Guardian, 11 December 2011

American singer and songwriter held in special affection by Northern Soul fans ...

Swedish House Mafia: Madison Square Garden, New York NY

Live Review by Iman Lababedi, Rock NYC, 18 December 2011

THE DIFFERENCE between House as the prevailing form of dance and house as a texture in modern pop is the difference between foreground and background. ...

D-Train: You're the One for Me

Review by Daryl Easlea, bbc.co.uk, 2012

Groundbreaking, gospel-influenced debut from 1982 ...

Various Artists: For Northern Soul Collectors Volume 1 (EMI)

Review by Mike Atherton, Echoes, 2012

OVER THE YEARS, the mighty EMI company has come to control many American catalogues, from giants like Capitol, Liberty and United Artists to smaller and ...

Enter Shikari: A Flash Flood of Colour

Review by John Calvert, Drowned in Sound, 9 January 2012

JESUS. WHERE DO YOU START with A Flash Flood Of Colour? Well let's try... at the start, all the way back to Korn's Jonathan Davies ...

Don Cornelius: Love, Peace, and Hair Grease: Remembering Soul Train's Don Cornelius

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Complex, 2 February 2012

Artists from Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys to Charlie Wilson of the Gap Band reminisce about the life and legacy of the late Don Cornelius, whose show ...

Labrinth: Jazz Cafe, London

Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 15 February 2012

POP STARS become producers, but producers rarely become pop stars. Mark Ronson, for one, has unintentionally demonstrated the pitfalls awaiting studio wizards who step from ...

Azari & III: Heaven, London

Live Review by Luke Turner, New Musical Express, 18 February 2012

Filthy, fabulous and downright f… f… f...freezing, the sexy foursome realise dreams of disco utopia ...

Madonna: MDNA

Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, March 2012

THIRTY YEARS INTO her career yet still at the apex of the pop world, Madonna is a victim of her own success in that she ...

Neneh Cherry: Unsung Hero/ine

Retrospective by Don Snowden, Rock's Backpages, March 2012

THE ORIGINAL TITLE for this piece was "Ticked Off at a Tick". The reason being that I spent more than a few years operating under ...

Madonna: MDNA

Review by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 6 March 2012

SHE HAS A STOCK answer for it now. American news anchor Cynthia McFadden recently questioned Madonna about the uncanny resemblance between her 1989 hit 'Express ...

Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday – Roman Reloaded

Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 2 April 2012

WHO NEEDS stylistic, conceptual unity, when you have seven producers and Lil Wayne for a financier?  ...

Skrillex: 02 Academy, Glasgow

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 22 April 2012

HERE THEY come — the tiger-print leggings, the vest tops, the T-shirts soon to be removed. It is 8.40pm. This 80-year-old art deco venue in ...

Donna Summer: Thoughts on Donna Summer

Comment by Mark Shipper, Rock's Backpages, May 2012

BY NOW YOU'VE HEARD about the sad passing of Donna Summer or, as she's always referred to, "Disco Queen Donna Summer" – she hated that ...

Donna Summer: 
Last Dance... and Gone

Memoir by Holly Gleason, Rock's Backpages, 17 May 2012

IN THAT FLOOD of ebony hair, there was always that one gardenia. Floating on top of the satiny waves of almost-porn star mane, it spoke ...

Donna Summer, 1948-2012

Obituary by Daryl Easlea, Record Collector, June 2012

WHEN DONNA SUMMER relocated from the US to Germany to star in the Munich production of Hair, she unwittingly set a course that would result ...

Chic, Friendly Fires, Grace Jones, Kelis, Lana Del Rey, Stooshe: Kelis, Grace Jones, Lana Del Rey, Chic, Friendly Fires et al: Lovebox Festival, Victoria Park, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 18 June 2012

...

Donna Summer, 1948-2012

Obituary by David Hepworth, The Word, July 2012

AT A TIME when pop music seems to be dominated by solo female artists, it's hard to imagine that they were once a relative rarity. ...

Deadmau5, Skrillex: EDM: How Rave Music Conquered America

Profile by Simon Reynolds, The Guardian, 2 August 2012

After 20 years, electronic dance music has made it big in the US. And big means big. With Las Vegas's Electric Daisy Carnival grossing $40m, ...

Skrillex: 100% Shock & Awe: Skrillex Blasts Tiny Venue

Live Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 29 August 2012

THE SCENE IN the Shacklewell Arms is fairly typical of any gentrified boozer in the Hackney precinct, come Sunday night.  ...

Lady Gaga: This Megalith Reality: Lady Gaga Live

Live Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 11 September 2012

I KNOW IT'S COMING, but when it finally does it's different to how I expected. It's far worse. Less than real.  ...

Afrika Bambaataa, Terry Farley, Larry Levan, David Mancuso: How Clubbing Changed The World

Essay by Greg Wilson, Rock's Backpages, 14 September 2012

LAST MONTH I was over in Chicago chilling out in my hotel room ahead of my first gig in the city, at Smart Bar, a ...

Santigold: New Gold Dream

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), November 2012

If Santi "Santigold" White's strong and independent voice on her two studio albums Santogold and Master Of My Make-Believe hadn't already marked out the performer ...

Kylie Minogue: The mysterious popstar who can do no wrong

Report and Interview by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 29 November 2012

As an album of "reimagined" Kylie songs emerges, Kate Mossman goes in search of the singer herself. ...

Calvin Harris: My Single Friend: Calvin Harris: 18 Months (Columbia) **

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, December 2012

Dumfries pop Midas toils to connect the hits on disappointing third. ...

Seal: Apollo, Manchester

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 10 December 2012

"C'MON," says Seal, holding back the first verse of his signature tune 'Killer' until the audience is clapping from front row to back. Then he leaps ...

Gwen Guthrie: Portrait (1983)

Review by Daryl Easlea, bbc.co.uk, 2013

A superior selection of dub-infused disco from one of soul's most underrated talents. ...

Modestep: Evolution Theory (Max)

Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 January 2013

IF PENDULUM rule the teen-rave market, Modestep seem destined to reel in their little brothers and sisters. ...

Four Tet: Heaven, London WC2

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 5 March 2013

HALFWAY BETWEEN a cult figure and an underground superstar, Kieran Hebden has been forensically crafting haute-couture electronic music under his Four Tet alias for 15 ...

Daft Punk: Disco Now Disco Then

Retrospective by Greg Wilson, electrofunkroots.co.uk, April 2013

DAFT PUNK ARE sitting pretty at the top of the UK singles chart for the first time. The track in question, 'Get Lucky', taken from ...

Daft Punk: Random Access Memories

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, May 2013

FRENCH DUO Daft Punk helped create our current stadium-shaking, Coachella-dominating dance-music moment, and their new album is by far the year's most anticipated EDM set. ...

Daft Punk: Random Access Memories

Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, May 2013

DAFT PUNK'S FORTE has always been their sleek, glistening futurism, the sense of mischievous glee they take in the very textures of electronic sound. ...

Chvrches: Village Underground, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 May 2013

SEEING CHVRCHES (pronounced "churches") live is akin to discovering a 1980s edition of Top of the Pops, in which Clare Grogan of Altered Images has teamed ...

Daft Punk: Almost Human

Interview by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 19 May 2013

THOMAS BANGALTER, half of the influential French dance-music act Daft Punk, has a house high in the Hollywood Hills here. He and his musical partner, ...

Daft Punk: The Midas Touch

Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 19 May 2013

IT IS A PECULIAR experience meeting the most famous faceless musicians in the world. Daft Punk are certainly well known. Eight years after their last ...

Daft Punk, Giorgio Moroder: Daft Punk: Random Access Moroder

Comment by Greg Wilson, Rock's Backpages, 20 May 2013

THE MOST talked about album in many years, Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, is released in the UK today, and it's all set to blitz ...

Disclosure: Settle

Review by John Lewis, Metro, 31 May 2013

IF SURREY DJ outfit Disclosure illustrate anything, it's the endlessly cyclical nature of dance music. ...

Mike Oldfield: An Interview

Interview by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, June 2013

HE IS, OF COURSE, Mr. Tubular Bells and, regular as clockwork, the 40th anniversary of the release of his greatest hit delivers what a lot ...

Disclosure: Settle

Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 3 June 2013

CLUBLAND HAS been polarised between two dispiriting extremes for close on a decade now. If the DJ isn't playing twitchy, edgy, introspective grime or dubstep, ...

Neneh Cherry, RocketNumberNine: Neneh Cherry and RocketNumberNine: Pavilion Theatre, Manchester

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Daily Telegraph, 5 July 2013

NOT KNOWING what's coming can work both ways. In keeping with Manchester International Festival's remit of unveiling original and provocative new work, Neneh Cherry and ...

Earth, Wind & Fire 'Promise' to Keep Rocking

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 5 August 2013

WHEN EARTH, Wind and Fire's bass player extraordinaire Verdine White speaks affectionately about his influential group playing shows in the mid-1970s, one is instantly transported ...

Katy B: XOYO, London

Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 2 October 2013

London's dance-music doyenne unveils a euphoric new set that sounds exactly the way a great night out clubbing can feel. ...

David Bowie Lands In The Jungle

Interview by Jim Sullivan, JimSullivanInk.com, November 2013

N.B. This interview is taken from a story originally printed in the Boston Globe on 9 February 1997 ...

Tom Moulton: Zing Went The Strings: Tom Moulton's Disco Remixes Reviewed

Review by John Doran, The Quietus, 5 November 2013

"You wait forty years for a boxset of Tom Moulton Philly disco remixes on heavyweight vinyl, and then two turn up at once." John Doran ...

Cabaret Voltaire: Justified Fascination: Richard H Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire Interviewed

Interview by John Doran, The Quietus, 9 December 2013

Did Cabaret Voltaire lose their way when they lost Chris Watson? Far from it, they entered their imperial period... John Doran talks to Richard H ...

Katy B: 'Success Wasn't Even On My Radar'

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 26 January 2014

She's the Peckham girl who won't dance to anyone else's tune: interviewed back on her old manor, Katy B proves the perfect modern British pop ...

Katy B: In Conversation: Katy B

Interview by Mike Diver, Clash, 5 February 2014

BRITAIN MIGHT BE smitten, as much of the world is, by a Queen B from H-Town, but we've our own pop princess coming through the ...

Disclosure on disco, Sting and their new romantic parents

Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 13 February 2014

They craft immaculate dance-pop hits with big names from Lorde to Mary J Blige, but when we caught up with them on their US tour ...

Rudimental: Academy Brixton, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 February 2014

Joined by a robust supporting cast — including Prince's new BFF Lianne La Havas — the London quartet deliver a ramshackle yet oddly cohesive sold-out ...

Neneh Cherry: "People ask me where I've been for 18 years…"

Report and Interview by Kate Mossman, The Observer, 23 February 2014

On the cutting edge of pop in the '80s and '90s, the singer paved the way for today's sassy female stars. Now she's back with her ...

Hamilton Bohannon: Return of a Disco Legend: Hamilton Bohannon

Report and Interview by Edward Helmore, The Guardian, 17 March 2014

The disco pioneer Hamilton Bohannon played his first show in 30 years this weekend. We were there, and caught up with him afterwards. ...

Avicii: True: Avicii By Avicii

Review by Iman Lababedi, Rock NYC, 29 March 2014

TRUE, WHEN it comes to EDM you have to be a little conservative and reactionary at the same time because if dance ain't dance, well, ...

Frankie Knuckles, 1955-2014

Obituary by Bill Brewster, The Guardian, 1 April 2014

Trailblazing American record producer and club DJ hailed as the Godfather of House ...

The Soft Pink Truth: Why Do The Heathen Rage? (Thrill Jockey)

Review by Frances Morgan, The Wire, June 2014

I ONCE SAW Drew Daniel in his Soft Pink Truth guise provoke such a negative response from an audience member that he must have been ...

Disco Inferno '79

Memoir by Michael A. Gonzales, Cuepoint, 8 October 2014

I lost my disco virginity at the hottest club in town, the same night a wild crowd tried to burn the genre down. ...

Underworld's Dubnobass... 20 years on

Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 9 October 2014

THE PLAN, in the beginning, was that there was no plan. No album, no record label, no tours. Karl Hyde and Rick Smith of Underworld ...

Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers: Chuck Brown Band, still crankin'

Report and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, The Washington Post, 26 December 2014

CHUCKY THOMPSON had to lie about his age to play with Chuck Brown. It was 1984, and Thompson, 16 years old and already one of the ...

Steve Aoki: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 10 February 2015

EDM's poster boy indulges in bone-headed gimmicks that range from hurling cakes at the front row to crowd-surfing in a rubber boat. ...

Giorgio Moroder: Dr. Love Machine

Retrospective and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, MOJO, May 2015

BETWEEN 1974 AND 1986 GIORGIO MORODER TRANSFORMED POP AND DISCO WITH A NEW KIND OF EUPHORIC MACHINE MUSIC. NOW, AFTER HIS 2013 SPOT ON DAFT ...

Jungle: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 June 2015

JUNGLE'S SHOW begins as more gigs should: with a terrifyingly poised eight-year-old breakdancer spinning on her head, effortlessly eclipsing the adult musicians behind her. Having ...

Crown Heights Affair: Dreaming A Dream (The Best of Crown Heights Affair)

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, Sanctuary Records, July 2015

'DREAMING A DREAM' was a game-changer in the world of dance music in 1975, and its impact cannot be overestimated. In 1975 the funk revolution ...

Brits Are Still in Love with Rave Culture

Comment by Carl Loben, Huffington Post, 12 August 2015

"HALF OF UK nightclubs close as Brits abandon rave culture," reported the Daily Telegraph yesterday morning (Tuesday 11th August). Other titles led with "Clubs close as dancing ...

Lizzy Mercier Descloux: Rockfort: Remembering Lizzy Mercier Descloux

Retrospective by David McKenna, The Quietus, 10 September 2015

David McKenna looks back at the life of Parisian poet, painter and post punk musician, Lizzy Mercier Descloux. ...

Boogie Wonderland: Disco's hottest '70s nightclubs

Retrospective and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 26 September 2015

IT WAS President Jimmy Carter's mother, Lillian, who first brought photographer Bill Bernstein to the legendary Studio 54 nightclub in New York one evening in ...

Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles, Jamie Principle: 1986: Clubbing In Chicago With Frankie Knuckles & Ron Hardy

Report by Simon Witter, Sabotage Times, 12 October 2015

In July 1986, having talked i-D Magazine into letting me cover the nascent Chicago house scene for them, I found myself in the Windy City ...

Rudimental: Alexandra Palace, NW1

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 20 October 2015

JOHN NEWMAN turned up unannounced, did some daft dancing and instructed fans to "make some f***ing noise".  ...

Afrika Bambaataa, Mark Ronson: Afrika Bambaataa and Mark Ronson: Uptown and Downtown Funk Masters

Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 27 October 2015

The pair remember two influential generations of hip-hop dance parties ahead of being honoured next month for their contributions to New York City's club scene. ...

Hudson Mohawke: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 11 December 2015

With synths that screech like air brakes and crushing, abrasive beats, a night of Mohawke's musical maximalism is both exhilarating and wearying ...

Caravan Palace: O2 Academy, Bristol

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 15 December 2015

Caravan Palace jived and jitterbugged through a sanitised 90-minute mix of sassy hot jazz and contemporary electronics ...

Michael Jackson: How Off the Wall Launched Michael Jackson into Orbit

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 27 January 2016

As Spike Lee's new Sundance-debuting documentary celebrates Off the Wall, vintage visionary Michael A. Gonzales pieces together the making of MJ's blackest album. ...

Anita Ward (2016)

Interview by Tom Graves, Rock's Backpages audio, May 2016

Ms. Ward talks about her Memphis upbringing and family life; making waves on the local gospel circuit as a girl; going to college and attracting attention as a singer; the rapid success of 'Ring My Bell' and her opinion of the song; being a one-hit-wonder and the slog of touring; her return to performing and belatedly getting paid... and her near-fatal car crash.

File format: mp3; file size: 86.8mb, interview length: 1h 30' 23" sound quality: *****

Anita Ward (2016) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Tom Graves, Rock's Backpages transcripts, May 2016

This is a transcript of Tom's audio interview with Anita. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Klara Lewis: Happy Accidents: Klara Lewis

Interview by Frances Morgan, The Wire, June 2016

The open canvases of Klara Lewis explore a landscape of found sounds, re-recordings, pop songs and audio byproducts. By Frances Morgan. ...

"Landmark clubs are evidence of creativity and energy in a city": why Fabric's closure matters

Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 8 September 2016

Britain's clubland is shrinking but the world-famous London venue had survived the trend – until now. What does its loss mean for the capital's cultural ...

Joe Hertz talks about the How It Feels EP

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 6 October 2016

Joe Hertz talks early mornings and post-Brexit Britain on new EP How It Feels. ...

Craig David: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 21 October 2016

The likable pop-soul veteran hasn't lost his sentimental side, but he reveals a slightly harder edge with stage-prowling antics and tongue-tying raps. ...

Light Years: The Golden Age of the Night Club

Retrospective by James Medd, The Rake, December 2016

When you think of the '70s, what do you see? How about Bianca Jagger on a white horse at Studio 54, or Grace Jones on ...

Elder Island: Track By Track: Elder Island on their Seeds In Sand EP

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 8 December 2016

Elder Island discuss the varied influences on their Seeds In Sand EP, including a much-missed feline friend and acid house vibes in their live show. ...

The xx: I See You

Review and Interview by Tom Doyle, MOJO, February 2017

Wandsworth trio's third retains the darkness while letting in more light. ...

Patrick Adams: A Celebration of Patrick Adams

Retrospective and Interview by Jason King, Red Bull Academy Magazine, 8 May 2017

Exploring the back catalogue of the black musical genius whose work defined '70s and '80s soul, funk, disco and post-disco ...

Leftfield: O2 Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 16 May 2017

Steam rose from a crowd determined to rave, whatever their age. By the finale, soaked bodies littered the floor of the foyer ...

Clean Bandit: Many Strings to their Bow

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 11 June 2017

With a trail of monster hits and guests such as Elton John and Jess Glynne, the Bandits rule, says Lisa Verrico. ...

Gorillaz: Dreamland, Margate

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 13 June 2017

Damon Albarn's one-time cartoon band should have been spectacular, but too often the songs amounted to less than the sum of their parts ...

Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer: Song from the Future: The Story of Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder's 'I Feel Love'

Retrospective and Interview by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 29 June 2017

Forty years after its release, the ingenious studio gurus behind the robot-funk masterpiece talk about how it came to be. ...

Chase and Status: Chase & Status: Tribe

Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 18 August 2017

Bereft of originality ...

Gladys Pizarro: The Street-Savvy Talent Scout That Shaped New York Dance Music

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Cooper, Red Bull Academy Magazine, 30 August 2017

Going from working in construction to co-founding Strictly Rhythm, Gladys Pizarro's commitment to street culture helped make her one of the most influential dance music ...

LCD Soundsystem: Manchester Warehouse Project

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Daily Telegraph, 17 September 2017

THERE ARE PLENTY of us who'd given up on ever seeing LCD Soundsystem again. In April 2011, the New York ensemble bowed out with a ...

Burial: Why Burial's Untrue Is the Most Important Electronic Album of the Century So Far

Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 26 October 2017

Delving into the politics, emotion, and musical history behind the disquieting masterwork a decade after its release. ...

Boards Of Canada: Why Boards of Canada's Music Has the Right to Children Is the Greatest Psychedelic Album of the '90s

Essay by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 3 April 2018

Unlocking the mysteries behind the Scottish electronic duo's hallucinatory classic, which turns 20 this month ...

Jon Hopkins: Singularity (Domino)

Review and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 2018

Versatile collaborator follows up Immunity with ambitious psychedelic epic.  ...

Moloko, Roisin Murphy: Róisín Murphy: "Pop's about putting across the primitive parts of yourself"

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 21 June 2018

The former Moloko singer on the freedom and heartbreak that inspired her favourite tracks from her back catalogue ...

Electronic shock treatment: how dance music was born

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 11 July 2018

30 years on from 1988's Second Summer of Love, a flurry of eye-witness accounts of the rise of electronic dance music are hitting shelves. ...

Dannii Minogue: Stepping Out of the Shadow

Profile and Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, August 2018

Fifteen years ago, Dannii Minogue reinvented herself as a dance icon with Neon Nights, a classic of the genre which bears favourable comparison with big ...

Mahmoud Guinia, James Holden: Moroccan gnawa: "It's a healing sound"

Interview by John Lewis, Uncut, August 2018

Why Moroccan gnawa music continues to seduce Western artists, from Hendrix to Holden ...

Aphex Twin's Collapse EP Reviewed From The Gwennap Pit

Review by John Doran, The Quietus, 3 September 2018

John Doran was on his way to the Gwennap Pit in Cornwall when he received the new Aphex Twin EP by email. But is the ...

Chic: What Is Chic in 2018? It's About Time Gives an Unsatisfactory Answer

Review by Alfred Soto, Spin, 4 October 2018

WEALTHY AND COOL ENOUGH to maintain a reputation on the sweet fragrance of thirty years' worth of fumes, Nile Rodgers nevertheless wanted a new Chic ...

Judge Jules: How we made: Ministry of Sound

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 13 November 2018

"I found a car park in Elephant and Castle, south London, with a roof covered in pigeon poo. I walked in and thought, 'This is ...

Anita Ward: Last of the Disco Queens

Interview by Tom Graves, Memphis Downtowner, Summer 2018

IN 1979 AN unknown singer from Memphis named Anita Ward was talked into recording a disco song she did not particularly like to complete her ...

SOPHIE: Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides

Review by Laura Barton, Q, Summer 2018

Cutting-edge producer delivers dizzying dance-pop hybrid. ...

Chic, Nile Rodgers: Nile Rodgers: The Next, Not the Last

Report and Interview by Alan Light, Savoy Magazine, Fall 2018

Nile Rodgers has long been considered one of the coolest artists on the music scene, and shows no sign of slowing down. Following his victory ...

Chaka Khan: Hello Happiness (Diary/Island)

Review by David Bennun, Metro, 10 February 2019

Ch-arge of energy from Chaka bursting with life and joy ...

Hot Chip: Trinity Centre, Bristol

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 8 April 2019

This London band are likeable crowd-pleasers live, but they need to step out of their cosy pyjama-clad comfort zone more often. ...

Mark Ronson: Late Night Feelings (Columbia)

Review by David Bennun, Metro, June 2019

Mood music: Ronson keeps it subtle ...

Hot Chip: A Bath Full Of Ecstasy

Review by David Bennun, Metro, 18 June 2019

ALMOST A decade ago it wouldn't have been a stretch to call Hot Chip Britain's best pop band. They produced wonderful, warm-hearted electro floor-fillers with ...

Patrick Cowley's pioneering electronica

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 30 October 2019

Today, Patrick Cowley is barely known outside record-collecting circles: but his ecstatic electronic disco left an indelible mark on the music scene. ...

Hank Ballard and the Midnighters: Hank Ballard: A Simple Twist of Fate

Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, Vintage Rock, November 2019

Chubby Checker may have become synonymous with 'The Twist', but that didn't bother the song's composer. "It was a blessing for me," said Hank Ballard ...

The Beatles, Bert Berns, The Isley Brothers: How 'Twist and Shout' Shook the World

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, November 2019

UNLIKE MOST stories, this one begins with a twist. "Come on, baby," Hank Ballard commanded, "let's do the Twist," immortalizing a dance that was catching ...

Cerrone: The DNA Of Dance

Retrospective and Interview by Daryl Easlea, Record Collector, January 2020

With his new album imminent, Record Collector takes the opportunity to get supernatural with Cerrone. Daryl Easlea stares into the crystal ball. ...

Caravan Palace: O2 Academy Brixton

Live Review by Jasper Murison-Bowie, Rock's Backpages, 30 January 2020

Wind them up and watch them go. ...

Andrew Weatherall, 1963-2020

Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 18 February 2020

THE LIST OF ANDREW WEATHERALL'S achievements as DJ, musician, songwriter, producer and remixer could fill a hefty volume. His career took him from working as ...

Working Men's Club: Working Men's Club (Heavenly)

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 2 October 2020

The West Yorkshire band take the stark electronics of the post-punk scene and warm them with Detroit techno and Italian house – while addressing Andrew ...

Regis: Let the Night Return

Review by Luke Turner, The Quietus, 29 January 2021

A recorded live performance by Karl 'Regis' O'Connor makes for a unique and delightfully daft visual album, finds Luke Turner ...

The Ultimate Top 10 Pirate Radio DJ guide to Underground Black Music clubs and Anthems

Guide by Paul Wellings, Vice, April 2021

1. The Four Aces, Dalston, London I was never one to go to those mainly white clubs that the suburban househeads went to. I was partly ...

Rose Royce: How we made 'Car Wash'

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 12 July 2021

"THIS WILL never be a hit, we told each other — we are literally singing about a car wash!" ...

David Lasley, 1947–2021

Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 15 December 2021

Singer-songwriter whose four-octave vocal range made him one of the most sought after backing singers in American music ...

The Prodigy: Mountford Hall, Liverpool

Live Review by Patrick Clarke, The Guardian, 15 July 2022

The late vocalist is etched in lasers for a comeback show that proves the fiery veterans are still a source of euphoria ...

Saul Williams: Neptune's Lair

Interview by Neil Kulkarni, The Wire, August 2022

With a visionary new African based film, vocalist, poet and actor Saul Williams has found a place to explore the polyglot power of language and ...

Baccara: The smut and laughter of Baccara's 'Yes Sir, I Can Boogie'

Retrospective by Steve Pafford, stevepafford.com, 29 October 2022

"I LOVE SEEING artists years after their sell by date has expired, and yet they are still clinging on by their fingerprints. ...

Gloria Gaynor: The story of Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive'

Retrospective by Steve Pafford, stevepafford.com, 15 October 2023

It's the disco song to end all disco songs, and the ultimate karaoke tune that even ole Madonna's appropriating on her current tour. A triumphant ...

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