Helen

Linda’s Head

Ahoy! Liz Harris of Grouper draws up the anchor of her 2013 slowcore side project and sets sail once more with drummer Jed Bindeman on the high seas

Linda's Head by Helen

On 27th March 1980 Mt. St Helens erupted. Two months later, Liz Harris (AKA Grouper) was born. In 2013, she teamed up with drummer Jed Bindeman and Scott Simmon on bass, introducing the world to their shoegaze band Helen with the double A-side single ‘Felt This Way’ / ‘Dying All The Time’. Their dreamy debut The Original Faces followed two years after with the band subsequently laying dormant… until now.

The reappearance of this Pacific Northwest slowcore trio a decade later is less an eruption, more a profusion. Or, better…

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The band’s second studio album has been newly remastered for the updated release

Photo by Steve Gullick

Mercury Rev’s 1993 album Boces is being reissued.

The record has been newly remastered for its updated release, and will be made available on vinyl and CD. A digital release of the remaster is currently not scheduled to happen.

Originally released in June 1993, Boces was Mercury Rev’s second studio album, and was their final LP to feature original frontman David Baker, who was asked to leave the band shortly after they finished touring the record. It folded in elements of jazz, pop, noise, psychedelia, folk and doo-wop, among other sounds.

Beggars Banquet will release Boces on 13 November 2026.
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Next year’s event will mark the Barcelona festival’s 25th anniversary edition

Primavera Sound has revealed the full lineup for its 2027 edition.

The Barcelona festival marks its 25th anniversary next year, and will take in headline sets from the likes of Massive Attack – returning after the weather-enforced cancellation of their 2026 appearance at the event – FKA twigs, Doechii, Phoebe Bridgers, Robyn, Turnstile and The Chemical Brothers, among others.

Also lined up to play are Pavement, Arca, Tinashe, Underworld, ANOHNI, EsDeeKid, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, Shygirl, Underscores, Boy Harsher, Underworld, Gilla Band, Mabe Fratti, B0YG1RL, Tirzah, Carmen Villain, Joy Orbison, Roly Porter, Blackhaine, and Mark Fell & RP Boo.

Primavera Sound will take place from 2 to 6 June 2027. Find…

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source https://thequietus.com/news/massive-attack-fka-twigs-and-more-to-play-primavera-sound-2027/

Neubauten’s uncompromising debut album ‘Kollaps’ is 45 years old. Jeremy Allen explores the bombed-out terrain of their West Berlin and wonders if, despite the penurious conditions, it was easier to make art then

“[West Berlin is] a surrealist cage in which those inside are free.”György Ligeti.

Feral musicians emerging from the rubble of bombed-out West Berlin and creating themselves out of their own blood and guts very much feels like a tale from another age. In a world of coffee shop startups, utilitarian computer software and ersatz bedroom electronica as aural wallpaper, building your own percussive instruments from scrap might seem primitive, complex, redundant even. But in 1981, when Einstürzende Neubauten made Kollaps, it was revolutionary.

For the briefest of moments they…

The post Concrète Dschungel: Einstürzende Neubauten’s Kollaps At 45 appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/opinion-and-essays/anniversary/einsturzende-neubauten-kollaps-review/

Wayne Gooderham salutes the shocking horror film that has influenced relatively many while being seen by relatively few

In the early winter of 1967 Brian Wilson took a break from the fraught sessions for Smile – the Beach Boys’ planned follow-up to Pet Sounds – and treated himself to a visit to the cinema. According to Jules Siegel’s account of the evening in Goodbye Surfing, Hello God! Brian Wilson returned home even more distracted than ever:

“‘I walked into that movie,’ he said in a tense, high-pitched voice, ‘and the first thing that happened was a voice from the screen said “Hello, Mr Wilson.” It completely blew my mind […] the whole thing was there. I mean my whole life. Birth and…

The post Under Wraps: John Frankenheimer’s Seconds turns 60 appeared first on The Quietus.

source https://thequietus.com/opinion-and-essays/anniversary/john-frankenheimer-seconds-review/

Megiapa

Intentions

LA-based artist is adventurous and experimental, still emanating warmth

Intentions by megiapa

Born out of a period of change and movement, Intentions is a debut album that acts as a snapshot of producer, vocalist and visual artist Megiapa’s journey over the past couple of years. Featuring expressive grooves, mellow textures and an array of guest appearances from the likes of The Growth Eternal, pianist Ahmad Muhammad aka Kafari, and drummer Mekala Session, Intentions is a quietly confident collection that maps a multitude of experiences, from heartbreak to healing.

Album opener ‘Open Your Eyes’ provides an alluring introduction, as a slap-bass sound welcomes you to the record’s soundscape, Megiapa’s soft voice and velvety vocal delivery enveloped by soulful harmonies. As it ends, the track…

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source https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/megiapa-intentions-review/

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…

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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…

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