Crucial Listening

Releasing your giant, rural music in the city, stealing the cat from the temple. The Bangkok-based artist discusses three important albums.

Invocations for judgement and destruction, sons of nature, reimagining the music of Indonesia. Wukir Suryadi and Rully Shabara discuss three important albums.

Battling the beast of boredom, choosing the bloodstream over the live stream, being cooler than Santa Claus. The Portland-based abstract sound musician discusses three important albums.

Ethereal spatiality, appropriated memories of home, millennial mythos. The multimedia artist from Mexico discusses three important albums.

Lockdown dance parties, loosening the Nutcracker's limbs, finding space to breathe. The songwriter and saxophonist discusses three important albums.

Consolidations of love, breaking fourth walls, strength with machines. Camila de Laborde and Daniel Hermann-Collini discuss their important albums.

Resonances in empty libraries, unseen Mingus vibing, high school post-rock discoveries. John Daniel discusses three important albums.

Beautiful choreography, explorations of cinematic spaces, cassette collections in the back of the photograph. Sarah Badr discusses three important albums.

Banning all cymbals, post-hardcore road trips, low frequency earworms. The New Orleans musician discusses three important albums.

The omnipresence of data, Bandcamp soul/sound-searching, goofy classical. The scientist, artist and community organiser discusses three important albums.

Dub reggae masterclass, cacophonous veganism, ambient treasure troves. The musician and producer discusses three important albums (and an honourable mention).

Waves of timelessness, electromagnetic chandelier recordings, Minilogue improvisations. The Nairobi-based sound artist discusses three (well, four) important albums.

Fearless four-track improvisations, spiritual jazz recurrence, manipulations of passing time. Lorena Quintanilla discusses three important albums.

Volcanic psychedelia, flanger sweep obsessions, monuments in the mountains. The musician, poet and teacher discusses three important albums.

Listening to assholes, inner/outer presentations of self, power chords over trap beats. The Texas-based artist discusses three important albums.

Excursions into outer jazz, marbles against metal, Tokyo at dawn. The New York composer, performer and sound designer discusses three important albums.

The case for BTS, a complicated relationship with jazz, drunken birthday improvisations. The cellist, composer and improviser discusses three important albums.

Black Sabbath backseat boombox, clearing the room with The Melvins, 100 miles of Neurosis. The author of Doomed To Fail: The Incredibly Loud History Of Doom, Sludge And Post-Metal discusses three important albums.

Lost and hopeless, Gaspar Noé colour palettes, ghosts in the city. The Paris-based musician discusses three important albums.

Choral jet engines, childhood dictaphones, not giving a fuck. The vocalist, composer and improviser discusses three important albums.