ISSUE ARCHIVE
NO. 171 | Nov 2025
NO. 170 | Sep 2025
NO. 169 | Sep 2025
NO. 168 | Jul 2025
NO. 167 | May 2025
NO. 166 | Mar 2025
NO. 165 | Jan 2025
NO. 164 | Nov 2024
Nov/Dec 2015
I'll bet a lot of our readers know this feeling. You labor over a recording, working so hard, and eventually the music gets released into the world. You feel proud knowing something good has been accomplished. And then it starts - the "reviews" trickle in. It may begin with an offhand comment by a friend ("Oh, it was interesting, but it just didn't grab me."), or some anonymous post online ("Who really needs their new album?"). Next comes the local or regional reviews where the writer makes odd assumptions about the style of music you are presenting ("We're a ska/metal/polka/surf band?"), or dumps on it because it doesn't sound like some album that has sold millions ("This is certainly no Hotel California."). Down the line, bigger magazines and websites might weigh in ("Pitchfork only gave us 1.3? Why? Did we piss someone off?").
You've all spent days, weeks, and maybe even months getting the recordings to sound how you wanted them. Relationships between all involved have grown. Everyone is focused on making this album, or release, as good as it can be. But then, at the end of this intimate process, someone may listen once (hopefully they even listen) and pass judgment quicker than it might have taken to record a single keyboard overdub. You know what? Screw the critics. Believe in what you do. And trust your love of music and the desire to create.
— LARRY CRANE,EDITOR & FOUNDER
I've seen Gareth Jones' name on records since the '80s and have always wanted to meet him. My imagination created a stuffy, meticulous character; an engineer/producer driven by a need for electronic p...
Daniel Miller has been a figurehead of cutting edge music since he released his first single, "Warm Leatherette," as The Normal in 1978. The rise of his label, Mute Records, soon followed, with a rost...
Harmonia's five LP box set, Complete Works, contains all the released material of this fascinating German band from 1973 to 1976, including their 1976 collaboration with Brian Eno and four unreleased tracks (Documents 1975). Harmonia was Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius, of the sublime electronic-ish combo Cluster, as well as Michael Rother (of the propulsive combo NEU! and later solo adventures). The box set includes a lush 36-page booklet, a live poster, and pop-up artwork presenting the Harmonia headquarters in Forst, Germany. I chatted with Michael Rother about his days in Harmonia and more.
The silver sedan parked outside has a license plate that read "Dr. Vibb," a nickname I was very familiar with. I knocked on the door and a man — who could've easily been my brother — invited me in whi...
A collector of guitars. Owner of Major Label and Ecco-Fonic Records. Record producer and engineer at his Ecco-Fonic Studios. Band leader. Guitarist. Author of two volumes of The Strat in the Attic. Th...
For most of 1997, it was nearly impossible to avoid hearing "Lovefool" by The Cardigans on a regular basis. As one of the rare hits heard on both popular and college radio at the time, its chorus was stuck in the heads of millions, much in the way the whistling pre-verse of Peter, Bjorn & John's "Young Folks" would be a decade later. However, it's safe to say neither of these would have reached the world's ears had they not been shown the way by the Swedish indie pop band, Eggstone. The scene this group created, both culturally and by laboring in Malmö's now legendary Tambourine and Gula Studios, not only launched world-famous bands but also drew in outsiders like Franz Ferdinand, Saint Etienne, Idlewild, and Boss Hog, to name a few. Eventually their studios would even host the inimitable Tom Jones and legendary producer George Martin. Founder Per Sunding not only continues to produce quality pop in Tambourine's hallowed halls, he remains Sweden's ambassador of Bonving [a sport invented by Eggstone that involves tossing shoes].