Spotlight

The long read, interviews and stories that we focus on.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

Favourite Albums of 2022

We asked some of our friends and collaborators to share their favourite albums of 2022.

Dragoș Rusu

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

Favourite Albums of 2021

We asked some of our contributors, collaborators and friends to share their favourite albums of 2021.

Dragoș Rusu

FOCUS ON

Excavated Shellac: An Alternate History Of The World’s Music

Excavated Shellac focuses on music recorded across the non-Anglo world, offering a taste of the music being made in myriad communities at the dawn of recorded sound.

Garth Cartwright

IN CONVERSATION

Everything You Are About To Hear Is Absolutely Real

At the edge of two (imaginary) worlds of electronic music, academic and popular, M. C. (Martin) Schmidt and Drew Daniel from Matmos discuss their work.

Miron Ghiu

IN CONVERSATION

Lăutărie Then and Now: Inside Romania's Romani Musical Heritage

Conversations with four lăutari from different backgrounds and generations about the journey of the Romanian-Romani music genre known as "muzica lăutarească".

Shaun Williams

CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Polyphonic Search for Authenticity in a Balkan Country

From archaic phonos to “Made in Romania“, here's a look on how the term “Balkan” is used in the construction and perception of rock music and manele.

Claudiu Oancea

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

Favourite Albums of 2020

We asked some of our contributors, collaborators and friends to help us and share their favourite albums of 2020.

Dragoș Rusu

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Jana Winderen – Uncovering the Hidden Sounds of the Environment

Jana Winderen’s sonic artworks are deeply representative of the contemporary moment and her practice focuses on recording and sharing difficult-to-access audio environments.

Andrew Choate

ACOUSTIC ECOLOGY

Ros Bandt and Vicki Hallett – Listening to the Barwon River in...

Two of Australia’s best known field recordists, Ros Bandt and Vicki Hallett are sensing this slice of the planet – the Barwon Estuary in Victoria, Australia, a project that interrogates place as an acoustic space where sound, place, time and culture collide.

Jane Cornwell

FEATURE

On the Manelization of Romania in Identitarian Times

Manelization is a term used to describe the "threat" of transforming Romania into a manele-country.

Paul Breazu & Mihai Lukács

IN CONVERSATION

A Sense of Identity

The story of the Syrian oud musician Mohamad Zatari, who moved to Romania to study music at the Conservatory of Bucharest.

Dragoș Rusu

IN CONVERSATION

Chasing the Irish Folk Tradition with Lankum

Inherently bond between folklore and DIY-underground, the Irish group Lankum shines a new light on the lost folk of Ireland.

Bulat Khalilov

IN CONVERSATION

No Lights, No Stage - Blixa Bargeld

Blixa Bargeld discusses Einstürzende Neubauten's latest album, quarantine concerts, Berlin and Iggy Pop.

Miron Ghiu

IN CONVERSATION

Inner Travels with Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto)

A close-up look into the artistic universe of German musician Carsten Nicolai.

Miron Ghiu

IN CONVERSATION

Modern Mythologies - a talk with Raffaele Pezzella

A glimpse into the world of the creator of the elusive Unexplained Music Group.

Miron Ghiu

IN CONVERSATION

A Conference of Three Positions of the Past

Phillip Sollmann tries to bring together certain works by sound pioneers Hermann von Helmholtz, Harry Partch and Harry Bertoia.

Dragoș Rusu

VIEWPOINT

Improvised Music – an Act of Racial Liberation?

To what extent can improvised music liberate, and what power exactly does it hold today?

Marithé Van der Aa

NATURE & ECOLOGY

The Voice of All There Is: Shamanism, Harmony and Ecology

Shamans are medicine people, healers, seers, future tellers reading signs in the human body, and in the environment.

Andreea Tincea