Stories & Editorial
Long-form writing about the music that matters. Artist portraits, scene reports, cultural criticism, and listening guides from inside the MoS universe.
Kael Solis and the Lineage of Afro-Tech
How Lagos built a sound that the world hadn't heard yet — and why the global electronic scene is still catching up.
Long before the term 'afro-tech' entered the vocabulary of European festival programmers, it existed as a lived practice in the clubs of Lagos — a music born from polyrhythm, survival, and the spiritual inheritance of communities that never stopped dancing. Kael Solis didn't invent the sound. He carried it.
The Purist: Mira Cascade on Modular Synthesis
Amsterdam's most precise electronic architect explains why she builds every instrument she plays — and why she'll never stop.
Mira Cascade's studio is quieter than you'd expect. The custom modular rig she has spent five years designing sits in the corner like a living architecture — hundreds of patch cables creating connections she knows by touch. 'I stopped using presets in 2018,' she says. 'Everything you hear me play is happening in the moment, routed through a system I designed to express exactly what I want it to express. No more, no less.'
Into Silence: Drift Protocol and the Art of Ambient Space
Tokyo's most meditative producer talks about why restraint is the most radical act in contemporary electronic music.
In the genre economy of 2024 — where algorithms reward density, drop intensity, and relentless information — Drift Protocol has built a career on the opposite: space. His albums are exercises in patience. His live performances have been described as 'hypnotic to the point of dissolution.' When asked why, he offers the simplest answer: 'Because it's what I need. And apparently other people need it too.'
The Clubbing Renaissance: What's Actually Happening
A scene report from inside six cities and twelve venues — and what it tells us about where underground culture is going.
Something changed sometime around mid-2023. The rooms got smaller. The programming got stranger. The queues got shorter, but the people inside seemed more committed. Whether you were in Berlin or Barcelona, Lagos or Lisbon, the texture was different — less industry posture, more genuine seeking. After a year of reporting, here's what we actually found.
Axiom Ren: Where Electronica Goes From Here
London's most restless producer has never made the same record twice. That's the plan.
Axiom Ren has made records that sound like cathedrals. Records that sound like static. Records that sound like nothing you could comfortably label. He approaches this as a feature, not a bug. 'I'm allergic to doing the thing I already know how to do,' he says from his studio in Hackney. 'Once I've figured something out, I need to break it open and find what's inside.'
Stories, Straight to Your Inbox
New features, scene reports, and listening guides — curated weekly, no spam.