The Guardian: Phil Elverum's songs of loss gave me a language for that shapeshifter, grief

After my first boyfriend died, Elverum’s music as The Microphones and Mount Eerie helped me make sense of a bleak world.

Pitchfork: Decolonizing Electronic Music Starts With Its Software

With the release of two free programs that encourage experimentation with global tuning systems, the musician and researcher Khyam Allami is challenging the Western biases of music production software.

New York Times: For a Kyiv Techno Collective, ‘Now Everything Is About Politics’

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the team behind Cxema parties have shifted its focus, but political engagement is nothing new for the artists.

The Guardian: Umm Kulthum, Arab music's eternal star

With a voice adored by Bob Dylan, Robert Plant and millions across the Arab world, Umm Kulthum rejected gender norms with her powerful, political music.

Resident Advisor: Stihia — An Electronic Dawn In Uzbekistan

The site of one of the modern history's worst environmental catastrophes is now home to a bold new music festival. Tom Faber travels to Moynaq to find out more.

Resident Advisor: Floating Points - Cascade, Album Review

After years composing in the jazz cosmos, Sam Shepherd takes a left turn with a bumper pack of unapologetic club bangers.

Financial Times Life and Art Podcast: Arabic pop is going mainstream, and we love it

Arabic pop music is joining the ranks of Latin pop, K-pop and Afrobeats on the world stage. Contributor Tom Faber tells us why it’s happening and what to listen to.

Financial Times: Arabic pop is having its breakout moment

Musicians such as Bahraini duo Dar Disku and Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna are leading the charge.

Financial Times: In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats is a thrilling VR immersion in acid-house culture

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery hosts a recreation of 1989 club life which really takes you there.

Resident Advisor: De Schuurman - Bubbling Forever, Album Review

Bubbling's feverish musicality is best suited for one place: the headiest dance floor, in the hands of its Caribbean originators.

Kinfolk: Sven Marquadt interview - the Berghain bouncer who curates the world's best club

The Berghain bouncer talks about his punk roots in East Berlin and his role in maintaining the vibe of the world's best nightclub.

The Face: Why the Gaza conflict is tearing apart Berlin’s music scene

The city’s world-renowned clubs and galleries attract liberal-minded young people from all over the world. So why are pro-Palestine artists choosing to boycott them?

Financial Times: Musician Jlin has gone from the steel mill to the dance floor

Jerrilynn Patton developed her dense, singular sound while working as a machinist.

Hadara: Eclectic Sounds from the Arab World

Record label Habibi Funk revives Arabic music’s forgotten sounds.

New York Times: Finding Community, and Freedom, on the Virtual Dance Floor

On any given weekend, there are dozens of parties happening on VRChat, a platform where users assume fantastical avatars of their own design.

Kinfolk: Hunee interview on DJ philosophies

Hun Choi outlines his dancefloor philosophy.

New York Times: A Cutting-Edge Music Festival in Uganda Keeps the Beat

Despite being called “immoral” by some politicians, this year’s Nyege Nyege festival celebrated diversity and innovation in contemporary African music.

The Guardian: Rapper’s delight or weapons-grade nonsense? The app that uses AI to help MCs bust a rhyme

New tech is promising to take rap artists to new lyrical heights. But will its algorithm be able to handle our novice writer’s rubbish rhymes?

Financial Times: From Zelda to the Proms, gaming music is reaching new heights

Soundtracks are being programmed alongside classical works but must still be ‘tightly woven with the player’s experience’.

The Bridge: 10 of the best clubs in gaming history

From the Berghain-inspired dance floor of Hitman 3 to the disco balls of Mario Kart 8, Tom Faber explores ten of the best gaming dance floors.

New York Times: For a Kyiv Techno Collective, ‘Now Everything Is About Politics’

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the team behind Cxema parties have shifted its focus, but political engagement is nothing new for the artists.

Kinfolk: Fatima Al Qadiri interview on the future of Arabic electronica

The shape shifting star of contemporary electronica.

Financial Times: Nils Frahm — the piano ‘will always be my medicine’

After an exhausting world tour and a new album with FS Blumm, the German musician is happy to shift back a gear.

Resident Advisor: What Twitch Means For Dance Music

From Disclosure to Addison Groove, Amazon's livestream platform has offered artists a way to build audiences and make money during the pandemic—but will it last? Tom Faber investigates.

The Guardian: Phil Elverum's songs of loss gave me a language for that shapeshifter, grief

After my first boyfriend died, Elverum’s music as The Microphones and Mount Eerie helped me make sense of a bleak world.

Resident Advisor: How to Start a Record Label

Tom Faber guides us through the particulars of launching your own outlet, with expert advice from leading label owners.

Pitchfork: Decolonizing Electronic Music Starts With Its Software

With the release of two free programs that encourage experimentation with global tuning systems, the musician and researcher Khyam Allami is challenging the Western biases of music production software.

Kinfolk: Max Richter

An interview with the classical composer whose delicate compositions fill stadiums.

Resident Advisor: Palestinian techno DJ Sama' Abdulhadi detained by authorities

More than 50,000 people have signed a petition to help secure her release.