10 questions with Kasra
Critical Music boss Kasra is globally acknowledged as a pioneer of underground drum and bass. He established the forward-looking label in 2002 and covers all aspects of cutting-edge drum and bass, from putting out Sam Binga and Rider Shafique’s dancehall-flavoured Champion EP, to launching the career of Mefjus; whose forward thinking jungle with allusions to …
PLAYLIST // Explore Lanagaland’s alternative stages with Menstrual Cramps & more
While it’s surely tempting to focus on main stage acts to sell festival tickets, Devon’s lovely Lanagland Festival ain’t about that. The teeny, tiny 500-capacity festival sets up camp on Whitmoore Farm each year to put smiles on faces and celebrate the superior musical talent of the South West – with every penny of proceeds going …
INTERVIEW // The Bug: ‘If no one else is trying to do it, I’ll do it’
Kevin Martin has been busy. So far this year, he’s dropped projects via his most recent JK Flesh collaboration Zonal, King Midas Sound, as well as a solo album under his new, most personal moniker yet, Kevin Richard Martin. Though fans of his club music will be pleased to hear that he is now working …
10 questions with Cruelty
Handpicked right from the womb by IDLES to play the after show to their Joy as an Act of Resistance homecoming show, the elusive Cruelty arrived on the Bristol scene late last year. Their debut single Disgraced spun our heads in a big way. The frenetic two-minute track is as aggressive as it is vulnerable, …
Gilles Peterson announces Bristol show this October
BBC 6 Music presenter, Worldwide FM founder, label head and world renowned record fanatic, Gilles Peterson has announced a Bristol show this October. With a leaning toward world-influenced music spanning soul, jazz, hip hop, house, electronica and more, he has some 30,000 records in his collection and the attentive ears of the world circuit: a …
The Downs: Speakers, Extinction Rebellion & IDLES-curated band lineup
The Downs is more than a music festival. Finding its beginnings in collaboration with Massive Attack in 2016, Team Love and Crosstown Concerts worked together with the landscape-changing group to build a music and information lineup around their 13-years-coming hometown show on Clifton Downs. representing diverse, boundary-pushing artists alongside homegrown Bristol talent Now a …
Meet the 17-year-old-producer who’s won a huge set at NASS festival 2019
Earlier this summer, Nitelife teamed up with NASS to scout out a DJ talent deserving of a set on one of NASS festival’s main stages. More than 70 hopefuls submitted a 20-minute guestmix, which the public whittled down to five finalists before a judging panel, including NASS director of music Mike Lightford, 1Xtra’s DJ Jonezy …
INTERVIEW // St. Pierre Snake Invasion crash back onto the punk scene with Caprice Enchanté
After four years, Bristol punk rock band The St. Pierre Snake Invasion are back with new album Caprice Enchanté – and it goes in hard. Opening up with a wall of sound as though the song is already in motion, we’re forced into aural submission with the frantic The Safety Word is Oklahoma. Halfway through …
Thekla launches summer pop-up series as ship undergoes £1m refurb
A bastion of Bristol’s music scene, Thekla sets sail tomorrow for a £1m spruce up at Albion dry dock that should see it through another 50 years of music history. Bristol’s best-known club, Thekla has been a part of the local music and arts scene since the early 80s, when it was converted into a …
‘Kings of the Rollers is the big thing for us now’: Serum, Bladerunner & Voltage unite
Comprising three of the scene’s best, drum and bass producer dream team Kings of the Rollers headline the Hospitality Bristol BBQ at Motion this month. With a history collabs between them spanning more than 10 years, Serum, Bladerunner and Voltage joined forces as a trio after an impromptu back-to-back-to-back on Rough Tempo radio in 2016. …