Irene Haro has built her practice around live music and the spaces that contain it. Here, the Spanish-born, Bristol-based photographer takes us inside underground music venue The Island.
Admina’s Crack Mix moves through experimental electronic sounds, global bass, leftfield club and abstract textures, featuring tracks by the likes of DJ Narciso and Exile Di Brave & Time Cow. Dive in.
The revenge of the fatally online outcasts. DIY DJing. The rising tide of sloponomics. Power to the people. Artists defying Big Tech. A new wave of British rap. We asked some of our favourite writers, contributors and scene-setters to pick apart the bones of music and culture in 2025.
Beyond the Valley Festival returns to Victoria this December to celebrate its 10th birthday and welcome in 2026.
On tour for her second album ‘Juniper’, Joy Crookes reflects on pushing her sound beyond her comfort zone, her favourite nights out this year, and creating spaces where people can feel free.
A new wave of artists is illuminating the present day with often strange, experimental music that blends traditional and elemental sounds with notions of queerness, ancestry, diaspora and resistance.
Now focusing fully on her alias, valverdina, the Madrid-based artist is moving away from the city’s indie-pop scene into a more experimental one.
The live music bookings industry has long been tangled in red tape and middlemen. GigPig, a UK-based hospitality music marketplace, says it’s time for a cultural reset.
Chicago’s returning motorik post-rockers Tortoise prove there’s always fresh terrain to explore with ‘Touch’ – a shape-shifting project crafted across cities and pulsing with restless curiosity.
South London’s DoomCannon puts together a restorative Sunday Mix with tracks from the likes of Donny Hathaway, James Brown and Kamasi Washington.
As he gears up for his next act, Thundercat is channelling the wisdom gleaned from his friend Mac Miller and his beloved boxing regime to stop forcing it and trust the process.
The photographer and DRIP co-founder documents the energy of his city’s queer scene with photographs that feel sweaty, immediate and alive.
The Brighton band on their debut album, ‘The New Eve Is Rising’, being real, and being ready to get called weird.
The tracks that defined the year, in ways big and small.
Where to start with 2025? Start here.
London-based photographer Mariana Pires documents a community keeping Brazil’s samba culture thriving through music, movement, and collective practice.
Jessie Reyez is unstoppable. She’s collaborated with Lil Yachty and Miguel, penned hits for Dua Lipa and, most recently, released her second book of poetry. Now, after years of laying the groundwork, the Canadian-Colombian is stepping into a radical, fearless confidence.
Frances Morgan of the Daphne Oram Trust reflects on the composer and musician’s radical vision and lasting influence.
Mexican-American DJ and producer x3butterfly takes over this week’s Crack Mix with an hour of peak-time party sounds, darting from bass to electro to breakbeat and back again.
The filmmaker and choreographer breaks down her collaboration with Charli xcx for her post-‘brat’ era.
Jerskin Fendrix emerged from south London’s idiosyncratic Windmill scene before being tapped by Yorgos Lanthimos to compose the scores for ‘Poor Things’ and ‘Bugonia’. His second album is a similarly strange and evocative meditation on memory and grief.
Digging in to uphold true independent music values for communities and cultures from all over the world, Utrecht’s flagship alternative festival was a four-day beacon of innovative music and raw emotion.
The bassist, producer, DJ and Kilengi Dance Party founder reflects on reconnecting with her Congolese heritage through music, learning through collaboration, and how shared intention can turn a crowd into a community.
Returning for its third – and biggest – edition yet at The Warehouse Project, Nia Archives’ club series returned to the Manchester venue last week for a five-stage, day-to-night takeover.
Morris Kolontyrsky of cosmic metal band Blood Incantation praises ambient icon William Basinski, who recently opened a show for them in a Chicago cemetery.
Welcome back to Selections, a series of artist-curated playlists from those in the know.
Bristol’s boundary-pushing all-day festival returned this month with an extensive programme co-curated by Crack Magazine, Team Love and the Bristol Beacon.
This week, London collective caroline take over the Sunday Mix with a 45-minute selection of warm, laid-back tracks made for a weekend spent with loved ones. Lean back and listen.
In her third feature, ‘Alpha’, the Palme d’Or-winning director crafts a family drama that navigates trauma, stigma and hysteria during a global pandemic. Here, she and actor Tahar Rahim reflect on her use of dual-timeline storytelling and symbolism to explore the entwined dynamics of fear and love.
At this year’s Paléo Festival, Flava D delivered a fast and fluid ride through drum ‘n’ bass and UKG, full of sharp turns and deep grooves. Dive in.
