Posts by Crack Staff (@crackmagazine)

2023: The stories behind 8 of the year’s best music videos

The making of 2023’s best music videos, as told by the directors behind the visuals. Featuring Oscar Hudson, Cissi Efraimsson, Yoonha Park, Tom Emmerson and more

Bella Báguena shares new video for La Calle

The Valencian artist, who forms part of the SHAPE+ 2022/23 roster, marks the end of an era within her work with this new video

Danny L Harle has collaborated with Olly Alexander on the UK’s Eurovision entry for 2024

The Years and Years singer will be representing the UK in the contest, held in Sweden next year

Stream Crack Magazine’s Top 25 Tracks of the Year

We’ve put together a handy playlist of our top tracks of 2023, featuring Bar Italia, Olivia Rodrigo, Jorja Smith, Verraco, Overmono and more

Sunday Mix: Fantastic Twins

Julienne Dessagne – aka Fantastic Twins – provides “a hallucinatory Sunday at the Twins’ church of hi-fi”

ESNS talent initiative, ESNS Exchange, celebrates 20th anniversary

The talent programme, from European showcase festival and conference ESNS, turned 20 this year

p-rallel

Party heat by way of garage and house bangers from the London producer and DJ

PinkPantheress, Little Simz and Central Cee nominated for 2024 MOBO Awards

The likes of Shygirl, Strandz, Tyla and Stormzy are also among the 2023 MOBO Award nominees

Staff Lists: The Crack Magazine team pick their 2023 highlights

The music and moments, new discoveries and trusty items, that got us through the year

Davido and Adekunle Gold announced for Nigeria’s BlockParty festivals

Davido will headline the Island iteration of the youth festival on 26 December, while Adekunle Gold a.k.a AG Baby will play the mainland event on New Year’s Day

Pop Zone: Knife Girl

Spice up your week with 40 minutes of throwback dance and pop bangers curated by Finnish producer Knife Girl

Thundercat announces anniversary edition of Apocalypse, featuring two unreleased tracks

The reissue marks ten years since the album’s original release on Brainfeeder and is set to come out on 1 March 2024

Sunday Mix: And Is Phi

“My Sunday Mix picks instrumentals and songs that bump up against emotional rises and falls. There are leftfield, heart-on-your-sleeve ballads to segues of funk and sonic meditation”

ESNS shares full line-up for 2024

The four day event returns to Groningen, the Netherlands, from 17–20 January 2024

Gift guide 2023: The best Christmas presents for music fans

From rave-inspired perfume to the TraTraTrax scarf, Kylie’s ‘Tension’ candle, the Sports Banger book and Caroline Polachek’s ‘Bunny Is a Rider’ thong

What are friends for: 3 artists call upon their contacts for advice, memories and memes

A new social series featuring Saoirse, TYSON and SIPHO. Made in collaboration with Minor Figures. Watch all three videos here

Kelela shares RAVE:N, The Remixes tracklist, with Shygirl, Yaeji and more

The ‘Raven’ remix project is slated for release on 9 February

Kwes

London-based composer and producer Kwes joins us for a free-flowing, fast-moving Crack Mix that connects the dots between scrapbook of styles he’s collected or enjoyed over the years

The Top 25 Tracks of 2023

The best songs of 2023, according to Crack Magazine. Featuring Jorja Smith, NewJeans, SofTT, Overmono, Mitski and more

Ruth Mascelli

Special Interest’s Ruth Mascelli comes through with a “mix that gestures towards the dancefloor” balancing “full frontal embodiment music with an undercurrent of seasick ambient”

Brazil’s Feminine Hi-Fi selected for Ballantine’s True Music Fund

The collective is creating welcoming and safer spaces for women within Brazil’s sound system culture

Massive Attack announce Act 1.5 all day event in Bristol

The Clifton Downs show is a climate action acelerator event and will take place on 25 August 2024, aiming to be the lowest carbon show of its size staged so far

Kamal. curates an emotive playlist themed around “the loneliness of the youth of today”

Featuring King Krule, Mitski, Mica Levi, Leon Vynehall and more, the Dave collaborator provides a range of tracks that evoke “either a sense of existentialism, loneliness, or melancholia”

The Top 50 Albums of 2023

The albums that captured the many moods of 2023, starring Troye Sivan, Klein, Kara Jackson, Lankum, Laurel Halo and more. Our top 50 albums of the year

Crack Magazine’s Annual Report 2023

It’s that time again. Crack Magazine’s annual breakdown of the year in music, featuring the best albums and tracks of 2023, along with Christmas gifts and staff picks, mixes and more

Sunday Mix: Vagabon

Vagabon a.k.a. Laetitia Tamko presents an upbeat, uptempo collection of sounds and songs that give her pep and vigour on unhurried days

Listen to a playlist of “deeply felt tunes” from Russell E.L. Butler

Featuring the likes of KeiyaA, 8ULENTINA and Laraaji, the Brooklyn DJ and producer describe their playlist as “a breadth of deeply felt tunes that move the body in many ways”

L’Rain, Space Afrika and Rainy Miller join line-up for Simple Things 2024

The Bristol based festival has announced a second wave of acts set to play its upcoming 10th edition, taking place across various venues on 24 February

Nyra

Crack Mix 536 from Canoe label boss Nyra locks into its irresistible groove from the off, beckoning listeners to the dancefloor through a choice blend of big vocals, big emotions and even bigger energy

Space Afrika, LVRA and V/Z announced for Luminate series at Kings Place

The London venue has announced a new season of its Luminate experimental music series, with shows confirmed for 2023 and 2024