1980 Demos from Composition Of Sound, the post-punk band which became Depeche Mode:
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/depeche-mode-before-they-were-actually-depeche-mode.html
A piece about the Melbourne post-punk “little band” scene of the late 70s/early 80s:
A walk through the musical landscape of Glasgow:
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/nov/17/why-glasgow-is-britain-best-city-for-music-lovers
A comprehensive study by independent researchers at SceneStats confirmed that posers are the sole reason DIY music scenes across the country are able to stay afloat:
https://thehardtimes.net/culture/study-posers-only-reason-scene-economically-feasible/
Ever wonder what Life Without Buildings would have sounded like as glitchy Berlin laptop electronica? Well, wonder no more:
Currently listening to: Dominic Pierce — “Hoop Loop$”
http://pierce.bandcamp.com/album/dominic-pierce-hoop-loop
I found it via the recent Bandcamp blog post on neo-New-Jack-Swing, though it’s more a chopped-up, vaporwave-adjacent instrumental hip-hop, all low-key beats and R&B harmonies on digital synths, the smoothness sublimated into a hazy sense of dèja vu. Somewhere between Vektroid/Macintosh Plus and Japanese instrumental hip-hop like Kuromoji,
Laetitia Sadier (of Stereolab) in conversation with Victoria Legrand (of Beach House):
https://believermag.com/laetitia-sadier-in-conversation-with-victoria-legrand/
How Echo & the Bunnymen Changed the Way We Pretend to Be Into Obscure ’80s Bands:
Interesting interview with Jenny Hval about her (excellent) new album, The Practice Of Love: “How Dried Figs, Norwegian Coffee, and Rotting Porn Magazines Inspired The Practice of Love”:
https://pitchfork.com/features/moodboard/jenny-hval-the-practice-of-love-interview/
RIP visionary antifolk songwriter Daniel Johnston:
It looks like Apparat Organ Quartet (the Icelandic krautrock/electropop combo the late Jóhann Jóhannsson was in) have not disbanded, and have a new track. This one has a bit of a roller-disco vibe.
Icelandic industrial EBM gimps/Eurovision contenders Hatarí interviewed by The Line Of Best Fit:
A playlist of (Stuart Memo, formerly of Bis's selection of) top tracks featuring the Roland TR-808:
https://raygum.com/stuartmemo/lists/OgIUfen5tZcBKZK4lFFo/roland-tr-808-the-playlist
includes, among others, Marvin Gaye, Charanjit Singh, S.O.S. Band, A Guy Called Gerald.
Tim and Laetitia of Stereolab talk to the Guardian about their history, some of their songs: 'There was craziness in getting lost and dizzy':
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/04/stereolab-songbook-tim-gane-laetitia-sadier
Glen Johnson of Piano Magic talks about their recordings and influences and the impending 20th-anniversary (!) rerelease of “Low Birth Weight”
https://concreteislands.com/larval-stage-piano-magics-low-birth-weight-revisited/
It’s slightly disappointing that nothing similar is planned for the follow-up, “Artists’ Rifles”, which carried the post-This Mortal Coil, post-shoegaze poetic melancholia even further IMHO
I comment about music here, and other things elsewhere.
STHLM ← LDN ← MEL