Veteran Chicago footwork producer Jana Rush says that Painful Enlightenment, only her second album since she debuted in 1995, isn’t a footwork record. She might be right: Painful Enlightenment’s abstract passages, tortured rhythms, and sprawling webs of sound have little… Read More
Jersey club hinges on breathless, exhilarating speed. It’s a style of music almost impossible to listen to without wanting to dance: The jittery, sped-up samples and seamless blend of house, R&B, and hip-hop insist on movement, even if you can’t… Read More
John Glacier’s confessional dictaphone raps sound like intimate notes to self, intended for one listener only. She writes to untangle her mind. “Got weed for the low times too/What’s low times two? I dunno/Double negative makes a positive, or so… Read More
Raytheon Technologies wants to wish you a Happy Pride. The defense conglomerate and military contractor is on a mission to “celebrate and uplift [its] LGBTQ+ employees.” So is Axon, a taser and body cam manufacturer. So is Uber—did you know… Read More
Texas musicians mari maurice (more eaze) and claire rousay make music from field recordings, found objects, Internet noises, and the other everyday ephemera that define the idle stretches of our lives we might otherwise forget. an afternoon whine is their… Read More
Footwork isn’t just dance music, it’s meant for competition. At roller rinks, raves, and other functions on Chicago’s South and West Sides, DJs cue up tracks with syncopated layers of percussion to mirror the rapid movements of battling dancers. (At… Read More
As modern Britain lurches from crisis to crisis, deeply divided and seemingly at war with its own interests, it may seem futile to look to a mix CD in search of the positives of UK life. Yet fabric presents Overmono,… Read More
Two dates figure crucially in Bahati Sapiens Moïse Dhekana’s artistic career. In 2002, in his hometown of Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo—a city of 900,000, located near Lake Albert—he formed his first band. Rapping over Congolese soukous, he earned his… Read More
Spend a minute listening to jungle and you’ll feel its torrential power right away: the immediacy of whiplashing breakbeats; the incessant drive of sinuous melodies; the triumphant integration of Black music, from jazz to ragga to techno to hip hop.… Read More
Koreless’ debut single sounded like the work of someone who’d already been whittling his ideas down for a good long while. Released in 2011, “4D” and its B-side, “MTI,” were elegantly stripped takes on the nebulous style known simply as… Read More