As the pioneering minimalist composer turns 90, Sean Kitching offers ten points of entry into his back catalogue, and wishes him a Happy Birthday. Portrait by Carolyn Cole

A trailblazing contemporary composer with a career spanning over six decades, Steve Reich’s field of influence extends considerably beyond the classical sphere. Considered to be one of the founders of musical minimalism, Reich’s work has been an inspiration to the likes of Philip Glass, John Adams, the ensemble Bang On A Can and Max Richter, as well as to numerous pop and electronic musicians. Talking Heads, The Feelies, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Owen Pallett, Jonny Greenwood, Battles, Bryce Dessner of The National, Richie Hawtin (Plastikman), DJ Spooky, Aphex Twin and William Basinski –…

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source https://thequietus.com/interviews/strange-world-of/steve-reich-best-music/

The new release will feature remastered audio, rarities and unreleased live recordings

Talking Heads’ 1979 album Fear Of Music is getting a super deluxe edition reissue.

The classic album will be newly made available in 2xLP and 6xLP vinyl editions, as well as on 3xCD/Blu-ray. Both vinyl releases will feature the full original album in remastered form, as well as a collection of rarities. The more extensive vinyl edition will also take in unreleased audio from concerts that the band performed during the Fear Of Music era in Boston and New Jersey.

The Blu-ray included with the CD release will feature Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround sound, and high-resolution stereo mixes of the album, along with rare film footage of the band performing two…

The post Talking Heads’ ‘Fear Of Music’ Set for Super Deluxe Reissue appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/news/talking-heads-fear-of-music-set-for-super-deluxe-reissue/

The new cut, the first link-up between the two artists, draws on EBM

Marie Davidson and Pearson Sound have teamed up for a new song.

‘Heat’ draws on EBM and lower tempos, and marks the first time that the two artists have collaborated on record. The track arrives with an additional extended mix and a remix by Autumns. The latter version of the track is due to be released on 30 October.

Listen to ‘Heat’, which follows Davidson’s standout 2025 album City Of Clowns, below.

‘Heat’ is out now on Pearson Sound.

Heat by Pearson Sound & Marie Davidson
…

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source https://thequietus.com/news/marie-davidson-collaborates-with-pearson-sound-on-new-song-heat/

Back after a decade with a new, career-best album, A.C. Williams and Alex Townend open up to Bernie Brooks about their hiatus and subsequent return to Vision Fortune

III by VISION FORTUNE

“We’re both pretty therapy-pilled at this point,” says A.C. Williams of Vision Fortune.

“But we haven’t had group therapy like Metallica or anything,” replies his partner-in-crime Alex Townend, dryly. “I do just want to mention that.”

“That is one of our favourite documentaries!” laughs Williams.

At the moment, I’m reasonably certain that Williams and Townend – formerly known to the public as the brothers Peru – aren’t lying to me. Once incorrigible obfuscators sowing confusion, treating interviews as “creative writing sessions”, the newly resurfaced prodigal sons of the ATP set are back on…

The post Honesty is the Best Policy: Vision Fortune Interviewed appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/interviews/vision-fortune-interview/

Claire Biddles decides that less is more when it comes to settling who the coolest Bripop band (with the coolest Britpop album) were

Since Britpop began, there have been endless arguments about the best Britpop band, the best Britpop album, the defining Britpop image. Choices vary, but it feels inarguable that Elastica – and Elastica – remain the coolest in all the above categories. The four-piece were cemented as elegant, eternal stars on their self-titled 1995 debut album: a collection of short, sharp songs, with equally short, sharp haircuts on the cover. Like the supernatural pop ideal immortalised in 1998’s Velvet Goldmine – a film they cameoed in – Elastica came from London but also seemingly arrived fully formed from another, sexier, less effortful dimension. Untouchable…

The post Reissue of the Week: Elastica’s Debut Album is “Untouchable Louche Perfection” appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/reissue-of-the-week/elastica-album/

Susanne Sundfør

Revelations of Divine Love

With just her voice and an a pipe organ, the Norwegian singer-songwriterpays tribute to Julian of Norwich

Revelations of Divine Love by Susanne Sundfør with Kit Downes

Even at her most austere and experimental, Susanne Sundfør has a way of creating amenable and approachable music that is infused with her own brand of idiosyncratic enchantment, and so it is with Revelations of Divine Love. The singer-songwriter’s seventh album is inspired by recent motherhood and a profound connection with the texts of the fourteenth-century English mystic and anchoress Julian of Norwich. Sundfør recorded this album live in an empty but acoustically conducive Norwegian church with just her voice and the accompaniment of a pipe organ. If that configuration sounds…

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source https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/susanne-sundfor-revelations-of-divine-love/

Catch up with all the music we wrote about last month

September is always when things get into gear after the quiet music summer, and last month was no exception – as you’ll be able to hear in over four hours of fantastic music in the Subscriber-exclusive playlist below. Remember, you can access all this instantly, with your first month free, by becoming a Subscriber or Subscriber Plus tier member here.

Just in case you missed any of your perks over the past four weeks, here’s a quick reminder of what both the Subscriber and Subscriber Plus tiers have had in their inboxes. In the Low Culture Essay, Jon Buckland explored depictions of masculinity in Dumb And Dumber, the Organic Intelligence newsletter…

The post Subscriber Exclusive Playlist & Perks Round-up: September 2026 appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/subscriber-area/monthly-playlists/subscriber-exclusive-playlist-perks-round-up-september-2026/

Absence makes the art grow bolder says Will Ainsley about Archives, which sounds like Chiastic Slide-era Autechre reimagining the Wicker Man soundtrack

Archives by Vanishing Twin

The idea that an album could be made piecemeal, in different countries, via the internet, would have been inconceivable forty years ago. Such technology would have seemed strange; stranger still might have been the idea that the traditional method – that is, recording a series of songs in one place during a set period of time – is far less viable these days. The logistical demands of creative practice in 2026 mean a piecemeal approach is an all-too necessary solution for many artists. Studios and practice spaces are expensive to rent. It’s difficult to organise a…

The post Album of the Week: Vanishing Twin’s Archives appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/album-of-the-week/vanishing-twin-archives-review/

The Fat White / Decius frontman has announced his second book, Tears Of The Patriarch; we’re delighted to present an extract from it. Portrait: Brian David Stevens. Other photographs: Yaz Saoudi

Tears Of The Patriarch is Lias Saoudi’s second book, due to be published by White Rabbit early next year. In 2014 Lias and his brother Yaz travelled to North Africa to recreate the ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ for an experimental Fat White Family single about circumcision. Which was all fun and games until the pair ended up in Algerian jail…

All these bands speaking in regional accents instead of singing, it vexed me. Vexed me because I have no region. Vexed me because it seemed like a cult of authenticity, a provincial fetish…

The post Today You Become Man, New Writing by Lias Saoudi appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/culture/books/lias-saoudi-tears-of-the-patriarch-book/

Public Enemy’s fourth album is often overlooked but it’s a true killer, says Angus Batey

When the greatness of Public Enemy is discussed – which is often, for the band were, and indeed still are, one of the most consistently inventive, provocative and excellent outfits of the recorded-music-as-business era – the focus inevitably falls on their second and third albums. It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back routinely turns up near the top of the all-time lists assembled by people who care about ensuring their opinions are thought sage; Fear Of A Black Planet, its follow-up, is actually its better, though its sonics had been well enough trailed and it perhaps therefore lacked the element of surprise. Yet…

The post Public Enemy’s Apocalypse 91 The Enemy Strikes Black Revisited 35 years on appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/opinion-and-essays/anniversary/public-enemy-apocalypse-91-review/