Outliers in the Ukrainian underground during the last days of Soviet rule, a long overdue compilation surveying the career of Cukor Bila Smert provides a mosaic of anxiety, surrealism, cabaret, paranoia and darkness.

I write more in The Quietus
👉 bit.ly/cukorbilasmert

We need to stop seeing grassroots gig venues as stepping stones to a career in a broken industry model, but as vital spaces in which the joy of music is shared, whether to two people, twenty or 200. A Black Sky Thinking by Luke Turner #ItStartedHere

thequietus.com/articles/34004…

From the folks who lived it: Slate's oral history of @Pitchfork documents the indie bible's rise & fall from its goofball origins & buzz-building heydey to its eventual corporatization and— well, whatever it is now. 40 interviews, 12,000 words, 0.0 fucks. slate.com/culture/2024/0…

'In his Oscar acceptance speech, Jonathan Glazer issued a universal moral warning against dehumanization. His aim was not to descend to the level of political discourse.

Critics who expected a clear political stance or a film solely about genocide did not grasp the depth of his…

'I felt like we had to pretend to be excited about it [...] I think we all just felt a little bit dirty, to be honest'

LANKUM's Ian Lynch on his mixed reaction to their Mercury Nomination

buff.ly/3wJrpzp

Jacqueline Nova, Beatriz Ferreyra, Elsa Justel, and more artists are highlighted in Switched On, a new book chronicling Latin American women in electronic music

Read more ↓
p4k.in/CXzCLNm

'Those who've seen Ex-Easter Island Head's recent shows will know how beautiful their new material is. The title track from their first LP in 8 years is simply transcendent'

Ex-Easter Island Head – Norther is a Quietus Track of the Month for February

buff.ly/3OZFFdu

Hey, here's that 3,300 word essay on Irish drone you asked for

Mapping the terrain between ancient horns, uilleann pipes, sean-nós, found sounds and electronic exprmnts. Hope u like it.

Thanks Fire Draw Near, Paddy Shine and ~ for yr insight

linktr.ee/eoin_murray

Beautifully intimate home recordings made by an Ethiopian nun reflecting on exile, probably never intended for anyone but herself, have taken on an astounding universality in 2024.

In The Quietus I write about Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru's 'Souvenirs'

thequietus.com/articles/33889…

Right so. First edition of Anois, Os Ard, a newsletter about underground Irish music, is up!

Featuring music from Roslyn Steer, Nyahh Records, ~, BITTEN TWICE and plenty more.

Would mean a lot if you gave it a read and a share linktr.ee/eoin_murray

Big thanks Jakub Knera for this in-depth Yirinda review! 🙏🎉 Chapter Music

polskieradio.pl/377/7414/Artyk…

Damo Suzuki: Can’s free-floating vocalist gave us some of the 1970s’ most exotic rock music theguardian.com/music/2024/feb…

Damo Suzuki has died aged 74

thequietus.com/articles/33841…

Some of the only “Asian representation in music” I cared about as a kid was listening to Can and having my mind blown, and then watching videos of them performing and seeing Damo Suzuki look like the coolest dude in the room, freely traversing his different vocal deliveries. RIP.

'Swinging in directions that might evoke bands as broad as Shining, ZU, The Psychic Paramount or The Mars Volta.'

TDK / ТДК – Nemesta - Inner Ear: Bulgarian Music For February

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Jakub Knera

'The post punk spirit of the songs sometimes harks back to Fugazi or The Ex, while at the same time the musicians draw on samples to create a cinematic atmosphere'

Voyvoda – Autochthonous - Inner Ear: Bulgarian Music For February

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'Broken beats are tinged with guitar patches that can be either dense or delicate, complemented by hazy vocals. The music unfolds gradually, sometimes reminiscent even of 80s rock'

EVITCELES -Velvet Room - Inner Ear: Bulgarian Music For February

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Jakub Knera

My survey of the scenes of Central and Eastern Europe for @thequietus returns, with this edition exploring the drones, darkness, and beauty of the Bulgarian underground 🇧🇬

👉 thequietus.com/articles/33804…

EVITCELES Opal Tapes Angel S. Emilian Gatsov

Piotr Kędziorek nowym dyrektorem radiowej Dwójki. Zarząd przyjął rezygnacje Małgorzaty Małaszko-Stasiewicz i Jacka Hawryluka. polskieradio.pl/art4598_3327717

'We are far more than just than a glorified Argos catalogue' tQ's John Doran makes the case for music journalism in today's The Guardian. This is why we keep doing what we do: 'We mustn’t let such a beautiful thing be broken and cast aside.'🖤

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…