CRACK

The Year in Crack Magazine Quotes

22.12.16
Words by:

To celebrate 12 issues across the year, we’ve collated some of our favourite images and quotes from the printed magazine to celebrate the artists who have define Crack Magazine in 2016. The gallery is designed by Plinth.

Visit 2016.crackmagazine.net for more end of year coverage.

"On this record, we created a sense of warmth. A sense of communication, a sense of urgency, of wanting to feel alive" - Jehnny Beth

Issue 60: cover feature with Savages discussing their raw, passionate take on post-punk and the need for love and light. The issue also features a look into the murky world of Atlanta collective Awful Records, an in-depth disco record rummage with Norway’s Prins Thomas and an examination of the aesthetic of Berlin label PAN with its Art Director Bill Kouligas.

“As long as we’re all together in one spot, and there’s a little less sunlight out and we’re drinking, or smoking, or… drinking” - KeithCharles Spacebar

Issue 61: Kehlani delves deep into her determination. Also featured are Toronto four-piece Dilly Dally, designer Christopher Shannon, DIY dancefloor killers Golden Teacher, Islam Chipsey & EEK of Cairo’s Elector Chaabi scene, Latvian artist Ivars Gravlejs and minimalist composer William Basinski.

“I don’t think I’ll ever feel like my mission’s complete. I don’t think any true artist does. Every day is a step towards what I want to accomplish”

Issue 62: Pusha T discussing how to stay ahead of the game. The issue also features Moderat, Molly Nilsson, Maisie Cousins, Jimmmy Cauty, Plattenbau and that other leviathan of Berlin clubbing: Tresor.

“[Me and Kanye] were in the gym and he was just thinking out loud like ‘Man, I just feel like Pablo!’”

Issue 63: A cover feature with Holly Herndon on her radically progressive approach to making art. Also feautred are the original upsetter: Lee Scratch Perry, Anderson .Paak, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Josey Rebelle and a longread on the triumphantly resurgent zine scene.

“I have too much energy! Atomic power heart, atomic power mind, atomic power truth”

Issue 64: Metronomy discusses excitement in making music, Myspace and having a good looking band. Also featuring are John Cale, Apeiron Crew, The Big Moon, Kamasi Washington, Steve Gunn, Sebastiaan Pieter and Thomson & Craighead.

“When I come in to do a record, I try to break as many rules as I can remember”

Issue 65: Abra on her imminent blow-up. Also featured are Moritz Von Oswald and Juan Atkins on the lasting communion between Detroit and Berlin, an interview with Luca Lozano on his wild artistic and musical whims, Frankie Cosmos on her unbelievable work rate and a think piece on Hip-Hop’s angry dismissal of its former infatuation with Donald Trump.

"Creativity's like a possession, like a conviction I couldn't stop if I wanted to"

Issue 66: Dev Hynes AKA Blood Orange, an interview with the the harbinger of Dancehall’s new wave Popcaan, a chat with the legendary Tony Allen looking backwards and forwards in equal measure, NON Worldwide members sharing their ideas on resistance and revolution and Nikesh Shukla’s rousing cry of hope in post-brexit Britain.

“Slipknot was probably my biggest obsession. I still am a huge Slipknot fan. There was a weird period six or so years ago when I was emailing with Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan about doing something. It fell through somehow”

Issue 67: Warpaint reflect on their enduring connection as friends. Also featured is AJ Tracey on taking on America, Preoccupations on moving on from Viet Cong, a look at the style and substance of Kelsey Lu and a visual exploration of the evolution of the black dandy via Ekow Eshun’s documentation of the trend.

“Some people are just still set in society’s ways of telling you ‘that’s not hot, that’s not cool, that’s not sexy’, people will always have something negative to say, but you’ve just gotta keep strolling.”

Issue 68: A cover feature with the unsurpassable songwriter Björk. The issue also feautres an interview with her visual collaborator Andrew Thomas Huang, a styled shoot with ScHoolboyQ, Mykki Blanco’s bold reflection on subverting hip-hop culture and a longread about how DJ collectives like SIREN are reshaping club culture.

“One of my favourite things is the feeling of going into the unknown. Put on my rucksack, and march into some unknown terrain”

Issue 69: Our ccover story sees experimental electronic luminary Nicolas Jaar unravels the Sirens of his discontent, Diagonal records leader Powell discusses dosing dance music with humour and New Jersey rapper Cakes Da Killa discusses post-breakup partying. There’s also a conversation with ascendant DJ and producer Avalon Emerson.

“I think there’s some of the desert in my music, for sure… Heavy, powerful, straightforward – but that can also be really delicate. It doesn’t have to be all grit”

Issue 70: Teen rap sensation Lil Yachty addresses the haters in his first major cover story. Elsewhere, Nina Kraviz uncovers the ethos behind her Trip label, DJ Earl flies the flag for footwork’s new school, Bristol experimental collective Young Echo assess the evolution of their sound and Iceage frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt clings to underground adolescence in our styled Aesthetic feature.

“I was making music for fun, I wasn’t trying to be no lyricist. That’s what people don’t understand. All these blogs and old hip-hop MCs don’t understand… I’m just having fun.”

Issue 71: In an unmoderated conversation, Dean Blunt and GAIKA debate issues ranging from Trump’s victory to the post-apocalyptic essence of modern England in an exclusive dual cover feature. Kelly Lee Owens finds her own voice having spent years embracing the world of electronic music, Japandroid’s battle uncertainty with optimism and London soul singer Jorja Smith preps for stardom.

“It’s mad to be making music or art in this era where telling the fucking truth automatically makes you different” - GAIKA

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