Features

Kraftwerk :: Live in Lajatico, Tuscany (July 18, 2025)

On Friday July 18th, I had the chance to see Kraftwerk live in Lajatico, Tuscany—a rare Italian stop on their European tour, and one of the most surreal concert settings imaginable. Performed at Andrea Bocelli’s hilltop Teatro del Silenzio, the show blended stunning visuals, razor-sharp sound, and decades of electronic music legacy into an unforgettable night.

Stars of the Lid :: Music for Nitrous Oxide (30th Anniversary Reissue) (Artificial Pinearch Manufacturing)

In 2025, the record feels as vital as ever—it reminds us that silence, space, and subtlety are not signs of absence, but of deeper presence. Music for Nitrous Oxide remains a benchmark of ambient music’s emotional potential, a quietly monumental achievement whose influence continues to unfurl, like a sunrise that never quite arrives—and never needs to.

Boards of Canada :: Music Has The Right To Children (Warp/Skam) — [flashback]

Boards of Canada’s Music Has the Right to Children stands as a quintessential cornerstone of downtempo electronic music—a seminal release that propelled the enigmatic duo of Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin into a boundless realm of nostalgic reverie. In this edition of our “Flashback” column, Anne Jackson revisits the album’s haunting landscapes, with particular focus on “Telephasic Workshop,” a track that encapsulates a paradoxical beauty: at once claustrophobic and transcendent in its sonic intricacy.

Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson :: Detroit Techno — [flashback]

In this [Flashback] column, Anne Jackson explores the origins of Detroit Techno, a genre born in the early 1980s from the city’s underground dance scene. Pioneered by African-American artists Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson—collectively known as the Belleville Three—techno fused elements of funk, electro, and early electronic music. Shaped by Detroit’s industrial backdrop and the socio-economic challenges facing its residents, the genre became both a form of artistic innovation and a powerful outlet for expression within the African-American community.