Electronic Sound is the best electronic music magazine in the world. In-depth coverage of the current scene, the pioneers, the machines, and the current thinking of the electronic music world. Kraftwerk + The Divine Comedy ‘Radioactivity’ / ‘The Synthesiser Service Centre Super Summer Sale’
Ahead of their final studio album coming out in September, we’re saying a fond farewell to SAINT ETIENNE with this month’s Electronic Sound cover story and an exclusive blue vinyl seven-inch from the group. One side is a sparkling new offering and other is the track that launched the band way back in 1990. It’s incredible to think that it’s 35 years since Saint Etienne released their groovy version of Neil Young’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ as their debut single. Their forthcoming album, the wonderfully upbeat ‘International’, will be their 14th studio set but also their last – as Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs explain in our extensive and hugely entertaining interview. It will conclude a recording career that’s been both tirelessly eclectic and deeply indebted to their love of classic pop music. And with the list of guests on the new album including Vince Clarke and Nick Heyward, as well as radio and television presenters Katie Puckrik and Colin Murray, it’s a splendid way for the trio to bow out.
Red alert!! Ahead of a UK tour to mark the 45th anniversary of his seminal ‘Telekon’ album, we’re delighted to have GARY NUMAN on the cover of this month’s Electronic Sound. We’re bundling the issue with an awesome red vinyl seven-inch too, which is an exclusive release featuring two tracks from ‘Telekon’ selected for us by the great man himself. Gary Numan’s ‘Telekon’ album was a stark and futuristic landmark of electronic music, but it was also the sound of a young man struggling to come to terms with his sudden and often overwhelming fame. At one point in 1980, with three records sitting in the UK Top 20, everybody wanted a piece of him. ‘Telekon’ is one of the main topics of our lengthy and detailed conversation with Numan, in which he talks candidly about death threats, stalkers, plane crashes, ghosts and much more, explaining what it was really like to live with the machines while the world lost its head all around him. It’s a hugely entertaining read, both for ardent Numanoids and curious onlookers alike.
55 Synth Plugins reviewed – Which ones do you really need? Synths are simply indispensable! With the flood of new releases, however, it can be difficult to keep track and find the perfect plug-in for your sound. But don‘t worry, we‘ll do the work for you! On 22 pages, we evaluate the latest instruments, show them in use case workshops and provide audio demos so that you know exactly which synth is right for you. Of course, there are evergreens and freeware gems that no setup should be without. And as a bonus, there are over 10,000 presets to download so you can get started right away!
Electronic Sound is the best electronic music magazine in the world. In-depth coverage of the current scene, the pioneers, the machines, and the current thinking of the electronic music world.
BRIAN ENO and BEATIE WOLFE are gearing up for the release of their third collaboration of 2025, so it’s fantastic to have them on the cover of the latest Electronic Sound. We’re bundling the magazine with a lush purple vinyl ENO & WOLFE seven-inch too, one side of which features a track previously only available in Japan. Brian Eno’s partnership with composer and conceptual artist Beatie Wolfe, who Vice called “a musical weirdo and visionary”, has already given us two albums this year. Another is coming out next month. All three records – ‘Luminal’, ‘Lateral’ and the forthcoming ‘Liminal’ – blend dreamy, mesmeric and opulent ambient atmospherics with snatches of hushed Americana. The results are alluring and fascinating, as is our interview with the pair, which sees them talking about everything from the joys of hauling abandoned speakers out of skips to the very idea of creativity itself. Exploring the zone where music, art, science and technology come together, it’s a perfect cover story for Electronic Sound.
This month’s Electronic Sound cover star is sci-fi electronica legend and space boffin JEFF MILLS, whose many career highs include an acclaimed series of radio shows for NASA. From co-founding the fearsome Underground Resistance in Detroit in 1989 to beaming out epic transmissions via his long-running Axis label, Mills has spent decades crafting his singular vision of electronic music, taking in alien soundscapes, cosmic operas, symphonic collaborations and more. As well as delving into his huge back catalogue, our interview with this sonic adventurer and edgy futurist covers subjects such as Marvel comics, 1920s movies, black holes, technology, telepathy, and the similarities between musicians and astrophysicists. It’s a gripping read, as you’d expect from a man with one foot in tomorrow and the other somewhere near Alpha Centauri.
