Field Day review – Aphex Twin’s live comeback raises the temperature

The one-day festival has a gigantic new Barn stage, suitably filled by Aphex Twin’s spine-tingling live return, supported by an eclectic lineup of pop, rap and dance for every taste under the sun

Goldfrapp review – electrifying performance marks a return to 80s futurism

Carriageworks, SydneyElectronic duo deliver a gloriously slick show that maintains the energy of the dancing crowd

Dua Lipa: Dua Lipa review – a pop debut high on summery nonchalance

Originally slated for release last September and then again for February, rising British-Albanian singer Dua Lipa delayed her debut album in part to include some “exciting collaborations”. Presumably she was referring not only to the presence of R&B smoothie Miguel … Continue reading →

Pixx: The Age of Anxiety review – riveting, cliche-free electropop joy

The title of 21-year-old Hannah Rodgers’ first album may seem like an attempt to capitalise on the zeitgeist but, satisfyingly, is actually taken from a 1947 Auden poem about industrialisation. There’s plenty more pleasingly cliche-defying action from Pixx here – … Continue reading →

Leftfield review – bone-quaking revival of a dance music revolution

The electronic mavericks prove they can still bring down the house for a performance of their genre-shattering 1995 debut album, Leftism – even if no longer quite so literally

Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson: American Style review – avant-garde pioneers going nowhere

The boundary-crossing musicians’ state-of-the-nation collaboration has melancholy and charm, but proves less than the sum of its parts

Juana Molina: Halo review – unsettling folktronica from arch experimenter

Juana Molina is a quietly unsettling singer-songwriter from Argentina who specialises in experimental folktronica, mixing acoustic styles and electronica in songs that constantly switch between charming and quirky to downright spooky. On the album cover, her face appears to have … Continue reading →

Sylvan Esso: What Now review – peppy, irreverent bleep-pop for coffee lovers

US pairing Sylvan Esso released their self-titled debut record in 2014, full of oh-so-quirky electropop seemingly engineered for artisan cafes (unapologetically or inadvertently, it even featured a track called Coffee). Now they’ve followed it up with a second, slightly meatier … Continue reading →

Gas: Narkopop review – austere and immersive

Last year, the storied Cologne label Kompakt released a box set of Gas’s ambient, techno-derived works: Box. With hindsight, that well-received retrospective now seems like a palate-cleanser for this first new Gas album in 17 years, from Kompakt co-founder Wolfgang … Continue reading →

Anderson .Paak review – bristling funk and fevered ballads from the R&B ace

.Paak barely pauses for breath in this irresistible sprint through his hard luck/good fortune tracks: this is a man unafraid to break a sweat to bring the house down

Little Dragon: Season High review – an overdue day in pop’s sun

Having seemed on the verge of a breakthrough for so long, Sweden’s eccentric electronic four-piece finally indulge in pure musical pleasure

Spoek Mathambo: Mzansi Beat Code review – lightening up for the dance floor

(Teka Records)

Actress: AZD review – electronic maverick gets playfully deep

(Ninja Tune)

Spoek Mathambo: Mzanzi Beat Code review – triumphant collision of South African styles

As well as a singer, producer and instrumentalist, Spoek Mathambo is a curator, bandleader and street hawker on his new record, championing talent from across his native South Africa. The country’s various dance styles get triumphant airings: there’s robust, Black … Continue reading →

Actress: AZD review – a brilliantly twisted, introverted take on dance music

The fifth album from one of electronic music’s most admired producers comes with a lot of high-concept baggage, but the music speaks for itself