Electronic music

The 50 best albums of 2024: 50-31

Adrianne Lenker makes a record in the woods, Jack White returns with ripping riffs and Mach-Hommy gives a lyrical masterclass as we start counting down our critics’ picks of the year

Laura Snapes and Ben Beaumont-Thomas

09, Dec, 2024 @2:00 PM

‘A road trip like no other’: my epic drive on Kraftwerk’s Autobahn

Fifty years ago, the electronic pioneers released a 23-minute song about a road – and changed pop music for ever. Our writer hits the speed-limit-free highways of Düsseldorf and Hamburg in search of its futuristic brilliance

Tim Jonze

19, Nov, 2024 @1:00 PM

Poppy: Negative Spaces review – screams and sweetness as metalcore meets loungecore

On her sixth album, the multi-genre star seems to be having an identity crisis – but amid the industrial guitars and synthpop, she clearly trusts her own instincts

Dave Simpson

15, Nov, 2024 @8:30 AM

Actress: Дарен Дж Каннінгем review – elegant mixtape leans into abstraction

British producer Darren J Cunningham mixes electronics, found sounds and fleeting vocals that both sooth and disrupt

Kitty Empire

08, Nov, 2024 @11:00 AM

‘It’s shocking no-one’s done this before’: the 13-hour gig digging up the African roots of global pop

With a marathon performance and album, the wildly ambitious Chromesthesia charts centuries of intercontinental music. Its creator explains why she’s asking big questions about the true owners of culture

Ammar Kalia

06, Nov, 2024 @1:46 PM

Ekleido review – Floating Points’ brilliant beats propel duo’s dazzling dance

Hannah Ekholm and Faye Stoeser’s double bill pairs precise poses with a compelling electronic score

Lyndsey Winship

06, Nov, 2024 @12:04 PM

Delicate ballads, bold brass and the thrill of Thriller: 10 of Quincy Jones’s greatest productions

From his sumptuous vocal jazz with Sarah Vaughan and Helen Merrill to funk with Donna Summer and George Benson, the late producer had astonishing versatility

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

04, Nov, 2024 @1:43 PM

Fishing lines, mobile phones and Wirral wind: the oddly harmonious music of Ex-Easter Island Head

For 15 years, the Liverpool band have been making some of the boldest experiments in British music (around their day jobs). They explain why quietness and community are so important in a chaotic world

Laura Snapes

31, Oct, 2024 @10:15 AM

The mysterious world of Two Shell: ‘Our pranks don’t mean we’re not sincere’

They promised us an in-person interview – then sent along two decoys. So who are the enigmatic musicians who make it so hard for fans to hear their thrillingly alien music?

Shaad D'Souza

29, Oct, 2024 @4:30 PM

Underworld: Strawberry Hotel review – sweet bangers and sad laments

The techno giants’ 11th album finds them ranging from cut-up dancefloor fillers to gentle experimentation

Kitty Empire

25, Oct, 2024 @10:00 AM

Composer Oliver Coates on the cello, chaos and connection: ‘The best music is out there in nature’

He has been hired by Radiohead, Steve McQueen and Charlotte Wells for Aftersun. But the British prodigy is less interested in virtuosity than connection – and chasing an ineffable ‘shimmer’