Crucial Listening

No kick drum, three sounds and humour, the power of multidirectional expression. The Hungarian electronic producer discusses three important albums. Gábor's picks: Nicron – Transfer Completed ( Youtube link ) Errorsmith – 2 AGF – Westernization Completed Gábor's new album is called Reflex , and it's out now on Raster. Check it out on Bandcamp or over on the Raster site. Gábor's website is here and...

Perfect trumpet voice, music as prayer, Ben Monder's right hand. The improviser and songwriter discusses three important albums. Wendy's picks: Mary Lou Williams – Black Christ Of The Andes Robert Wyatt – Old Rottenhat Theo Bleckmann And Ben Monder – No Boat Wendy's new album, Viewfinder , is out now on American Dreams. Check it out on Wendy's Bandcamp . They're also on Instagram and X , and their...

Noisy artefact discovery, spilling soft toys at the parade, heartbroken AI minds. The Swiss-Philippine composer and musician discusses three important albums. Annie's picks: Eliane Radigue – Trilogie de la Mort Charlemagne Palestine – Jamaica Heinekens In Brooklyn Holly Herndon – PROTO Annie's debut solo album, It's Not Quiet In The Void, is out now on Everest Records . Check it out on Bandcamp. A...

IBM 7090 hypnosis, black jeans on the beach, music for crying and driving. The Venezuelan experimental musician and writer discusses three important albums. Carlos' picks: Horacio Vaggione – La Maquina De Cantar Pita – Get Out Low – Double Negative Carlos' new album, Dream Walker , is out now on Ideologic Organ. Check it out on the Ideologic website or on Bandcamp. Carlos is on Instagram , where y...

Isolation and electroacoustics, listening and openness, putting rock into the coffin. The artist, musician and theorist discusses three important albums. Mattin's picks: Roberta Settels – Isolation! Meinhof In Memoriam AMM – The Crypt Lou Reed & Metallica – Lulu Mattin's new album, Expanding Concert (Lisboa 2019-2023) , is out now. Check it out here. Mattin's website is here and he's also on I...

Proto-disco black hole disintegration, leaving in the flubs, "Shake Your Hips" at number 3. The American bassist discusses three important albums. Brian's picks: Can – Soon Over Babaluma His Hero Is Gone – Fifteen Counts Of Arson The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main St. The new Sumac album is called The Healer , and it's out now on Thrill Jockey. Check it out here or on Bandcamp. Find Brian on X and...

Life partner collaborations, Alice Coltrane signature bends, nomadic explorations in tuning. The Los Angeles-based musician discusses three important albums. Tashi's picks: Bley-Peacock Synthesizer Show – Revenge: The Bigger The Love The Greater The Hate Alice Coltrane – Live at the Berkeley Community Theater 1972 Laurie Spiegel – Obsolete Systems Tashi's new album, What Is Not Strange?, is out no...

Making work out of bones, Bach in intergalactic excess, pre-admin ABC karaoke. The composer and improviser discusses three important albums. Jennifer's picks: Meredith Monk – Our Lady Of Late Voyager – The Golden Record ABC – The Lexicon Of Love Jennifer's collaboration with Tony Conrad, In The Merry Month Of May , is out now on Drag City affiliate label Blue Chopsticks. Check it out on Bandcamp....

Fountains of ideas, mind blown in Rap City, candy wrapper responses. The New Brunswick-based trumpet player, improviser and composer discusses three important albums. Nicole's picks: Wayne Shorter – Speak No Evil A Tribe Called Quest – Low End Theory Steve Lacy – Snips: Live at Environ Nicole's album Saudade is out on Ansible Editions. Check it out on Bandcamp. Find all of Nicole's other links (so...

Dizzy rhythms, slippery transitions, sincerity and playfulness. The Oakland-based composer and performer discusses three important albums. Michelle's picks: Zeena Parkins – Zeena Parkins and The Adorables Duke Ellington – The Best Of Duke Ellington And His Famous Orchestra Caetano Veloso – Transa Michelle's new record, Late Morning , is out now on AKP Recordings. Check it out on Bandcamp. Her webs...

Obstetric ambient, sullen atmospheres, episodic engulfment. The classical ambient composer discusses three important albums. Adam's picks: Environments (Irv Teibel) – Environments 2 Talk Talk – Spirit Of Eden Main – Hz Adam's new album, Eleven Fugues For Sodium Pentothal , is out now on Kranky. Check it out on his Bandcamp. Adam's website is here. Donate to Crucial Listening on Ko-fi: https://ko-f...

Train breakdown Feldman epiphanies, radical flatness in the primeval forest, the Gary Numan barracks theft. The New York-based composer discusses three important albums. Kenneth's picks: Gary Numan – The Pleasure Principle Morton Feldman (Kronos Quartet with Aki Takahashi) – Piano And String Quartet Glenn Gould – Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1955) Kenneth's new album, Three Cellos , is the first...

Aggressive pianos, bursting arpeggios, music for the cool kids. The Australian composer and producer discusses three important albums. Madeleine's picks: Philip Glass – Glassworks Dirty Three – Whatever You Love, You Are Tim Hecker – Virgins Madeleine's new album, Bodies, is out now on Room40. Check it out on her Bandcamp. Her website is here and she's also Instagram. Donate to Crucial Listening o...

Black metal for midwest drives, post-apocalyptic collage, ragas for John. The Manchester, UK-based ambient folk artist discusses three important albums. Ethan's picks: Wolves In The Throne Room – Two Hunters Godspeed You! Black Emperor – F# A# ∞ Pelt – Ayahuasca The new Black Brunswicker EP, A Moment Of Clarity , is out April 26th on Nettwerk. You can hear several tracks over on the Black Brunswic...

Cathartic tragedies, dog-eating opera, guitar improviser spirit animals. The vocalist, lyricist and composer from 9T Antiope discusses three important albums. Sara and Nima's picks: Scott Walker & Sunn O))) – Soused Ben Frost – The Wasp Factory Sidsel Endresen & Stian Westerhus – Bonita The new 9T Antiope album, Horror Vacui , is out 12th April on American Dreams. Check it out here. 9T Ant...

Voice drips like milk, rays of soprano sunlight, filthy metal bass face. Producer, vocalist and DJ Felicia Chen discusses three important albums. Felicia's picks:   Arvo Pärt – Te Deum Portishead – Dummy Goth-Trad – Psionics The collaborative record between Dis Fig and The Body is out now via Thrill Jockey. Check it out here. Dis Fig is on Instagram and Soundcloud. The Body and Dis Fig will debut...

Driving in fury, letting the endings be real, slow and lonely. The free improvisation percussionist discusses three important albums. Mark's picks: Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, Ed Blackwell – Old And New Dreams (1979) Evan Parker – Monoceros Rebecca Saunders – Fury II As always, Mark has a bunch of upcoming live dates. These include Evan Parker's 80th birthday residency at Cafe Oto , f...

Caught by howling, three people at the 2pm concert, vivid colour changes. The Berlin-based singer and artist discusses three important albums. Rosa's picks: Julia Shortreed – Violet Sun Low – Double Negative Tear Garden – To Be An Angel Blind, The Cripple Soul Divide Rosa's new album Interior is out 23rd February on KLANGBAD. Check out her music on Bandcamp . Rosa's website is here . She's also on...

Post-apocalyptic industrial environments, pseudo-music, twisted proto-typicalities. The sound artist and experimental musician discusses three important albums. Francisco's picks: David Lynch + Alan Splet – Eraserhead (OST) Mnemonists – Horde Meshuggah – Chaosphere Francisco's work is available on Bandcamp , including the recent Conveyor Belts [USA]. His website is here. Donate to Crucial Listenin...

The dirt aesthetic, non-relinquishable frequencies, opening up that filter. The London-based sound artist and "mutant dancehall" practitioner discusses three important albums. Aniruddha's picks: Miles Davies – Dark Magus Robert Hood – Minimal Nation Hallucinator – Landlocked Check out Dhangsha's music on Bandcamp here. His Hard Return EP "Aberrant" is over here. Dhangsha plays London's Cafe Oto on...

Slowing everything down, emotionally devastating lines, the snare on Faucet. The Portland-based producer discusses three important albums. hyacinth.'s picks: DJ Screw – Bigtyme Vol II All Screwed Up Earl Sweatshirt – I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside MIKE – War In My Pen Check out hyacinth.'s music over on the peradam tapes. label. They're on Twitter – @hyacinthindecay . Donate to Crucial List...

Mellow ingenuity, drowned in reverb, London at its most gloomy and miserable. London-based multidisciplinary artist Sam Ashton discusses three important albums. Sam's picks: Explosions In The Sky – The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place Grouper – Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill Burial – S/T You can check out Sam's music over at the Fortresses Bandcamp or over at Dragon's Eye Recordings. He's also on In...

Weird symphony, no crazy vibrato, Terry Riley on the discman. The violist and composer discusses three important albums. Jessica's picks: Beethoven - André Cluytens, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – Symphony No. 9 John Cage, Arditti String Quartet – String Quartet In Four Parts Terry Riley – You're Nogood Jessica's new album Clamor is out now via Out Of Your Head Records. Her website is here. Donat...

High-altitude Bryars, trash on the walls, desperate shamans. The Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist discusses three important albums. Dorian's picks: Gavin Bryars – The Sinking Of The Titanic / Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet Nearly God – S/T George Michael – Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 Dorian's new album, Excesiva , is out now on Dragon's Eye Recordings. Check it out on Bandcamp. Dor...

Emotional rollercoasters, impossible Neo Tokyo, perfect snares. The London-based Swedish producer/sound designer discusses three important albums. Julia's picks: Esbjörn Svensson Trio – Leucocyte Akira Yamaoka – Silent Hill 2 OST Pinecone Moonshine (label) – [PCMS 2020​.​1] Vector Space The new aircode album, titled Surface Tension , is out now via Gin&Platonic . Check it out on Bandcamp. Airc...