'Power to Consume' and Lou Reed's Metal Machine Afterlife
From Suicide's Martin Rev to Merzbow, Shaun Cohen's 'Power to Consume' series traces the long, crooked line between Lou Reed's 'Metal Machine Music' and the noise artists it inspired.
Music History
DJ Amir and the Second Life of Strata Records
DJ Amir discusses his acquisition and revival of Strata Records, the defunct Detroit jazz label founded by pianist Kenny Cox, whose six original albums and trove of unreleased recordings have become some of the most sought-after music in jazz.
Frank Fairfield — Around the World at 78 RPM
Born Frank Martinez and raised as a Mennonite in Guatemala, the self-taught musician scoured junk shops and swap meets around the country and abroad for 78 RPM records, reinventing himself as a pre-war folk and blues character during a brief recording career.
Hans-Joachim Roedelius — Cluster, Harmonia, and the Endless After
With Cluster and Harmonia now recognized as foundations of experimental music, Hans-Joachim Roedelius considers a career built alongside Conny Plank and Brian Eno and insists, at ninety-one, that the only direction worth moving is further into the unknown.
'Piano Decompositions' and the Politics of Instruments in Decay
Heidi Hart and Beate Schirrmacher's 'Piano Decompositions' follows Annea Lockwood's Piano Transplants into an argument about ecological crisis, political control, and why a burning instrument unsettles us in ways a burning forest does not.
The Strange Afterlife of Agustín Barrios-Mangoré
Elsa Monteith relates how Agustín Barrios-Mangoré's story runs through Paraguay's post-war reckoning, the politics of the classical guitar canon, a persona borrowed from a Guaraní chief, and a death under suspicious circumstances.
Peter Baumann, Conrad Schnitzler, and the Fun of Destruction
The former Tangerine Dream keyboardist discusses his friendship with Conrad Schnitzler, a man who proudly announced, "I'm not a musician, I just make noise," the serendipitous origins of 'Romance 76', and a Berlin underground he considers irretrievable.
'One Year' and a Lifetime — Colin Blunstone's Winding Road
Colin Blunstone discusses the new 'One Year: Live from Union Chapel' box set, the Zombies' tangled path from British Invasion hitmakers to cult favorites, and a solo career that keeps surprising six decades after it nearly ended in an office job.
Imaginary Space, Real Feeling — Bayeté's Electric Gospel
Reissued more than fifty years after its creation, Bayeté's 'Seeking Other Beauty' finds the Bay Area composer tracing the line between his grandmother's church organ and the electric possibilities that pulled him away from the jazz masters.
Putting the Performance First — Michael Graves on Archival Audio
The five-time Grammy winner discusses the daily tension between preservation and intervention, his analog-first approach to archival audio, and what his restoration of unreleased Stax songwriter demos revealed about the ethics of serving the archive.
Audrey Golden's 'Shouting Out Loud' Brings The Raincoats Into Focus
In 'Shouting Out Loud,' Audrey Golden brings her background in law, gender studies, and human rights research to the Raincoats' full story, from art school in North London to the cells of the Maze.
Fifty Years Under the Radar — Armageddon's Unlikely Return to the Record Shop
Guitarist Martin Pugh looks back on the making of 'Armageddon,' the lost opening slot with Eric Clapton that could have changed everything, and the 50th-anniversary reissue that brings the band's sole album back to life.