"Rap purists wouldn't dig us as we weren't straight-up rap. We weren't an indie group, or a rock group": Stereo MC Rob Birch on the making of classic '90s album Connected By Roy Spencer published 4 May 24 The dance classic dissected
Juno Reactor's Ben Watkins on the 1997 Goa trance classic Bible of Dreams: "What really gave the album its sound was the Raindirk Symphony desk. It was like another member of the band… suddenly we had a three-dimensional sound in the studio" By Roy Spencer published 9 March 24 How the fusion of multiple genres and cultures helped inspire Juno Reactor's influential fourth album
Speedy J on the 30th anniversary of ambient techno classic Ginger: "My approach was to take more time for tracks to develop - be less focused on the impact of the drums, and give everything a bit more space" By Roy Spencer published 3 March 24 Recently celebrating its 30th birthday, Speedy J tells us about the making of his 1993 Warp Records debut
Daniel Avery on Drone Logic: “I was taking synthesizers and drum machines and putting them through these effect pedals - it was techno with a shoegaze aesthetic” By Roy Spencer published 23 February 24 Avery talks us through the making of his recently-reissued 2013 experimental electronica debut Drone Logic
Mo Kolours: "For basslines I’d use GarageBand, until I borrowed a microKORG off somebody. Man, I loved it so much - I was cranking out 20/30 beats a day" By Roy Spencer published 21 February 24 Mo Kolours on crafting the electic melting pot of trip-hop/dub/jazz fusion that made up his 2014 debut
How a lightning storm fried Richie Hawtin's gear and created the sound of F.U.S.E.'s Dimension Intrusion: "My equipment glowed and then shut down. After that, there was something wrong with my Wavestation; it was even more distorted" By Roy Spencer published 16 February 24 Hawtin talks us through the electrifying story behind the making of his 1993 ambient techno classic
K-Klass: "I used the redundancy payout to buy a Roland TR-505 and my dad kicked me out the house! He only apologised when we had a record in the charts..." By Roy Spencer published 15 August 23 Paul Roberts and Russ Morgan join us to pull a rewind on one of UK dance music's most influential LPs, Universal
Fila Brazillia: "Growing up, we were super analogue – guitars, bass, drums; proper bands. But as we got into machines, we used the best of both worlds" By Roy Spencer published 31 July 23 Steve Cobby and David ‘Man’ McSherry talk us through the making of their sample-happy 1995 album Maim That Tune
Attica Blues: "This album opened doors for other people. We played our part so the Little Simz of the world could come through" By Roy Spencer published 1 June 23 Attica Blues' self-titled 1997 debut album coined a new sound in British Black music. We find out how it was made
DJ Sprinkles on Midtown 120 Blues: "The album is a critique of the commodification of old school deep house. A lot of people miss that point" By Roy Spencer published 27 April 23 Terre Thaemlitz's 2009 LP calls out house music for the old lie of ‘life, love and happiness’ and tells the stories of the marginalised communities from which it emerged
Palm Skin Productions on Remilixir: "Virgin were hoping for a Daft Punk record, but what I thought was, ‘Now I’ve got a chance to go really deep!’ That’s how you get dropped after one album" By Roy Spencer published 13 March 23 Fresh from Mo' Wax and signed to Virgin, Simon Richmond plundered the major-label coffers to produce his most daring release yet. Here's how the album was made
Classic album: Om Unit on Threads By Roy Spencer published 20 February 23 Om Unit unravels the non-conformist DnB of Threads, his 2013 album that fused dubstep, jungle, and garage rhythms with progressive beatmaking and grandiose sound design
Classic album: Clark on Body Riddle By Roy Spencer published 28 September 22 "I was really skint at the time, basically eating cabbage and bean soup. But, I was the happiest I think I’ve ever been, because I just knew I had this album"
Classic album - Underworld’s Rick Smith on Second Toughest in the Infants: "No plugins, no compressors, no gates… I don’t know how I did it!” By Roy Spencer published 23 September 22 Back in 2010, Underworld’s production mainstay talked us through the band's seminal mid-’90s long player
Classic album: Fred Everything on Light of Day By Future Music, Roy Spencer published 14 April 22 The deep house maestro reflects on the making of his 2004 classic
How to stream a DJ set By Future Music published 28 March 22 Twitch, please! Streaming is part of the new normal, and bags of fun. If you’ve been meaning to make the leap, read on
Fatboy Slim on You've Come a Long Way, Baby: "At this point, I’d cracked the big ‘drug build’" By Future Music, Roy Spencer published 30 October 20 Classic album MTS special! The story behind a multi-platinum big beat masterpiece
10 gamechanging ‘90s electronic music albums that still sound great today By Roy Spencer published 9 April 20 Classic records made without powerful DAWs and plugins
The 20 best electronic music movies and documentaries to watch right now from your sofa By Roy Spencer published 1 April 20 Clubbing classics, gear celebrations, artist profiles and, er, Zac Efron
Jazzy Jeff’s 6 top tips for scratch DJs By Roy Spencer last updated 25 April 22 The legendary hip-hop DJ breaks down some hard-learned hints and tips that’ll have you cutting it up like a pro in no time.
Classic album: Danny Byrd on Supersized By Roy Spencer published 29 May 19 “I was in a state of sheer fear making this album – that was my main memory."
Classic Album: 808 State on ex:el By Roy Spencer published 8 April 19 Track by track with Graham Massey
Jazzy Jeff: “I don't care how much a machine can do something, it's not going to be enough to replace a DJ” By Roy Spencer published 10 April 18 The legendary DJ defends Pioneer DJ’s DDJ-SB3 controller, calls out so-called “purists”, and sorts his Christmas list
Pioneer DJ PLX-500 review By Roy Spencer last updated 16 September 21 A low-cost deck from a name you can trust?
Pioneer DJM-S9 review By Roy Spencer last updated 16 September 21 £1269 €1799 $1999 The best battle mixer on the planet?