Sign In

Sign in to your account to access your personalized experience.

Become a Member
From Lagos to Bogotá — La BOA's Rhythmic Dialogue with Tony Allen Post feature image
Featured post
Spotlight
La Boa
Tony Allen
Colombian Artists

From Lagos to Bogotá — La BOA's Rhythmic Dialogue with Tony Allen

Colombian ten-piece La BOA used recordings from 2011 to create an innovative posthumous collaboration with Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen. Producer Daniel Michel discusses how they transformed drum tracks into a transcontinental musical conversation.

Teenage Kicks in a War Zone — The Discreet Radicalism of Northern Irish Punk Post feature image
Featured post
Perspectives
Irish Arists

Teenage Kicks in a War Zone — The Discreet Radicalism of Northern Irish Punk

When The Undertones sang "Teenage Kicks" amid Derry's barricades, they weren't avoiding reality—they were demanding one worth living in. How the everyday yearnings of Northern Irish youth became a revolutionary statement in a world that expected them to choose sides or die trying.

Beautiful Collisions — Michael Dorf Stages a Carnegie Tribute to Patti Smith Post feature image
Featured post
Spotlight
Michael Dorf
Patti Smith

Beautiful Collisions — Michael Dorf Stages a Carnegie Tribute to Patti Smith

That scrappy Knitting Factory on Houston Street planted seeds for two decades of tribute concerts that have raised millions for music education. Dorf's persistent courtship of Smith finally bears fruit as an inspiring lineup of performers gathers on March 26 to reinterpret her revolutionary catalog.

Rhythm and Echo — Adrian Sherwood and Style Scott's Dub Revolution Post feature image
Featured post
Spotlight
Adrian Sherwood
Dub Syndicate
Reggae + Dub

Rhythm and Echo — Adrian Sherwood and Style Scott's Dub Revolution

As Sherwood returns to Dub Syndicate's multitrack tapes a decade after Scott's tragic passing, he uncovers new artifacts within familiar terrain—the resurrected albums documenting how the partnership of two sonic architects continues to cut through space and time.

Six Strings to Software — The Reinvention of Greg Lisher Post feature image
Featured post
Spotlight
Greg Lisher
Camper Van Beethoven
Guitarists
Electronic Music

Six Strings to Software — The Reinvention of Greg Lisher

After decades as guitarist with Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom, Lisher embraced "the beginner's mind" through piano lessons and software manuals. His latest album 'Underwater Detection Method' documents this creative rebirth.

welcome

The Tonearm cover image
Welcome to The Tonearm!

interviews, commentary, and creative kudos

'putting a needle on the cultural wax'

Become a Member

Discover

Anupam Shobhakar's Musical Voyage from Slayer to Sarod Post feature image
Discover
Anupam Shobhakar
Indian Music

Anupam Shobhakar's Musical Voyage from Slayer to Sarod

Shobhakar's musical awakening began in the most unlikely circumstances — a metal kid in a Slayer t-shirt seated among India's musical elite. Now the Mumbai musician's double-neck guitar carries him from headbanging teen to microtonal master on his new album 'Liquid Reality.'

The Moonlit Melodies of Captain's Audio Project Post feature image
Discover
Captain's Audio Project
Portland Artists
Americana

The Moonlit Melodies of Captain's Audio Project

Veteran Portland musician James Cook transforms camping trips into heartfelt songs on his album 'Waiting For The Moon' and embarks on a musical quest through the wilderness with his National Tenor Resonator guitar.

Excerpt from 'Key Changes: The Ten Times Technology Transformed the Music Industry' Post feature image
Discover
Live Events

Excerpt from 'Key Changes: The Ten Times Technology Transformed the Music Industry'

In advance of our live discussion and Q&A with authors Howie Singer and Bill Rosenblatt, we bring you this preview from their chapter on the vinyl revolution and how the transition from 78s to vinyl LPs dramatically changed the consumer music experience.

Needle Drops Post feature image
Discover
Needle Drops

Needle Drops

This week's essential listening includes a military drummer's debut, a memory-seeking Scot, an Australian trumpeter's electronic-classical fusion, and a Belgian's Vietnamese audio travelogue. Each creates its own climate regardless of the calendar.

Anupam Shobhakar's Musical Voyage from Slayer to Sarod Post feature image
The Moonlit Melodies of Captain's Audio Project Post feature image
Excerpt from 'Key Changes: The Ten Times Technology Transformed the Music Industry' Post feature image
Needle Drops Post feature image
Anupam Shobhakar's Musical Voyage from Slayer to Sarod Post feature image
The Moonlit Melodies of Captain's Audio Project Post feature image
Excerpt from 'Key Changes: The Ten Times Technology Transformed the Music Industry' Post feature image
Needle Drops Post feature image
Teenage Kicks in a War Zone — The Discreet Radicalism of Northern Irish Punk Post feature image
Featured post
Perspectives
Irish Arists

Teenage Kicks in a War Zone — The Discreet Radicalism of Northern Irish Punk

When The Undertones sang "Teenage Kicks" amid Derry's barricades, they weren't avoiding reality—they were demanding one worth living in. How the everyday yearnings of Northern Irish youth became a revolutionary statement in a world that expected them to choose sides or die trying.

David Bowie's Wild Ride Through American Counterculture Post feature image
Featured post
Perspectives
David Bowie

David Bowie's Wild Ride Through American Counterculture

Mondo 2000 founder R.U. Sirius unpacks Bowie's remarkable evolution from hippie fellow traveler to critical observer, tracking the artist's fifty-year dialogue with American counterculture.

Kendrick Lamar Wrestles With the Devil's Samsara Post feature image
Perspectives
Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar Wrestles With the Devil's Samsara

From Tupac's fear of reincarnation to Buddhist concepts of suffering, Kendrick Lamar weaves together hip-hop history and religious philosophy to examine what it means to return to life eternally — and whether such return might be the Devil's own prison.

The Haunting Echo of Rubén Blades's 'Desapariciones' Post feature image
Featured post
Perspectives
Rubén Blades
Latin America
Music History

The Haunting Echo of Rubén Blades's 'Desapariciones'

In 1984, Rubén Blades wrote four stories of everyday people who vanished without explanation. Four decades and countless covers later, their ghostly presence still echoes through Latin American music, memory, and consciousness.

Kendrick Lamar and the Weight of a Hip-Hop Prophet Post feature image
Perspectives
Kendrick Lamar
Hip Hop

Kendrick Lamar and the Weight of a Hip-Hop Prophet

In "Watch The Party Die," Kendrick grapples with his calling as a musical prophet, torn between peaceful Christian ideals and the violent justice he feels compelled to deliver.

Latest Posts