While most clubbing films centre contextless euphoria, 120 BPM, Millennium Mambo and Aftersun remind us that the dance floor is both a personal and political space. Cinemas and nightclubs are cousins. Both are dark rooms filled with strangers, primed to simultaneously overwhelm and deliver sensory deprivation. Both are common sites of transformative personal experiences related [...]
Released 40 years ago, Talking Heads’ fifth album was a firm fixture in Larry Levan’s tastemaking Paradise Garage record bag. A stone-cold new wave disco classic filled with now-iconic hits, it spread through New York’s clubs like wildfire. Here, Ben Cardew learns how ‘Speaking In Tongues’ enshrined one of the era’s least classifiable bands [...]
On one level, Anané’s new EP, ‘Take A Ride’, is a playful throwback to the musical opulence of the disco era. But it cuts deeper than that. As the vocalist and songwriter explains, it’s also an ode to unity, freedom, and her own sense of confidence There’s an attention-grabbing point at the four-and-a-half-minute mark [...]
In this extract from DJ Paulette's memoir, out later this month, she confronts the discrimination she and other women faced—and celebrates some of the scene's unsung heroines. I have long been aware that there is a marked difference in the way that Black women are allowed to occupy space in the workplace, and how [...]
A mix of RA staff and contributors—including Elijah, Joe Delon and journalist Delilah Friedler—unpack some of the year's key trends and themes. The fascinating thing about so-called underground electronic music spreading its tentacles further around the world is how the culture morphs and takes on new meaning. Every raver, worker or business owner in this [...]
Explore Claptone's take on house music's evolution in 2023 & his predictions for 2024, featuring industry insights and top tracks Claptone's unique journey through global dance floors and chart-topping productions over the last two decades offers a unique perspective on the genre's evolution and its vibrant future. In 2023, house music blew up more than ever, infusing faster [...]
“Most of the great writers I learnt stay away from writing too much on an instrument. They just hear the melody and then everything else kind of comes from that.” In a new interview, former collaborators of ’80s disco pioneer Giorgio Moroder discuss what it’s like working for the legend himself as well as [...]
In his 40 years as a DJ, Sean “DJ Spen” Spencer has seen it all. As a teenager, he watched hip-hop become a cultural force, opening for acts like Run-DMC and LL Cool J with his group Numarx. He’s spent decades producing and remixing dance records, running labels, and DJing around the world and [...]
Idealistic, passionate … Larry Levan (left) and David Depino at Trax - Photograph: Tina Paul/BBC Studios This wonderful series documents the passion and idealism of the 70s music scene. It’s an immaculately soundtracked history lesson – and so much more besides After the tumult of the last few years, UK nightlife is in a perilous [...]
https://youtu.be/Tiv6WEevwbQ?si=ZTuM4urXcjHsZ1Mt Robin S. gives us an exclusive insight into the making of her irreplicable club anthem, 'Show Me Love', three decades on from its release. Robin S. gives us an exclusive insight into the making of her irreplicable club anthem, 'Show Me Love', three decades on from its release. Initially shelved [...]