Vice
Vice tracks the escalating beef between Halsey and critic Anthony Fantano after she fired back at his pan of The Great Impersonator. Familiar turf — Halsey once wished aloud for Pitchfork's offices to 'collapse,' forgetting they sat in One World Trade — now a barometer of the artist-critic divide.
First Floor
First Floor profiles ABADIR, the Berlin-based Egyptian producer who's made a pointed argument of rejecting electronic music's futurist default — not as aesthetics but as ideology. He traces futurism's roots to liberal, capitalist, and even fascist thought, and argues it maps poorly onto artists from the Global South. His 2022 record Mutate, which braided maqsoum loops with jungle and footwork, made the case sonically.
Futurism Restated
Futurism Restated talks to Axel Willner about his return as The Field after eight years away — and the conversation turns quickly to copyright anxiety as a creativity killer. He describes how sample clearance fears crept into his process mid-career and never left, and how Tracklib finally let him use a full vocal verse. The most different album he's made, by his own account.
Line Noise
Line Noise catches a Nile Rodgers and Chic live set in Barcelona and uses it as a jumping-off point for a Cardigans spiral — specifically the argument that First Band on the Moon and Super Extra Gravity are badly underrated, and that Mitski owes them a debt nobody's acknowledging. Digressive in the best way.
CABBAGES
An interview with veteran turntablist Marcus Pinn about his new mixtape "Music Has The Right To Scratch," a homage to Boards of Canada created by scratching over their tracks. Pinn discusses his journey from competing as a DJ in his youth to creating this project after gaining viral attention on social media.
Breaking Ranks
Garry Drake's entry in his Rolling Stone 250 ranking series lands on Playboi Carti's Die Lit — and the album holds up. Drake frames it against J. Cole's The Off-Season, ranked one slot above, and the contrast does real work: Carti's hypnotic repetition and synthesizer-driven trap feel genuinely visionary where Cole feels radio-ready and safe. A reminder of how much Die Lit quietly reset the ceiling.
POW MAG
A review of Tierra Whack's album WHACK'S MUSEUM, exploring how her characteristic sparsity becomes a sign of mastery and control. The piece describes the album as resembling a superb rapper executing a tightly rehearsed set with precise syllable delivery and considered disdain.
Can't Get Much Higher
Chris Dalla Riva digs into why British music has lost its grip on the American charts — and works backward through history to build the case. Starting with the British Invasion's structural conditions (post-rationing economic boom, end of conscription, a peaked baby boom), he frames transatlantic dominance as a specific cultural moment, not a permanent export advantage.
Flagging Down the Double E's
An interview with Conor, an Irish musician who served as Bob Dylan's stand-in during a film production, recounting his experiences working on set, his brief encounter with Dylan, and reflections on the production experience.
