Vladimir Kuzmin, the engineer behind the Polivoks synth, has died
Vladimir Kuzmin, who designed the Soviet Polivoks synthesizer in 1980 and gave the underground one of its most aggressive filters, died on 12 June 2026.
Nikolai V. · 4 min read
Articles
657
M-VAVE put a battery-powered DX7 in a desktop box, and it loads your old SYSEX patches
M-VAVE previewed the FM-1, a budget desktop FM polysynth with six operators, 32 DX7 algorithms and Yamaha DX7 SYSEX import, putting the sound that built late-80s house into a portable, battery box.
Samir H. · 4 min read
The $399 MPC that keeps selling out is back in stock in Europe
Akai's MPC Sample, a battery-powered pocket sampler that runs the classic MPC60 and MPC3000 workflow for $399, is finally in stock again at Thomann and Amazon.de after months of being near impossible to find.
Samir H. · 4 min read
Bonobo announces new album Distance In Static, led by club-facing single 'Me and You', and hints it may be his last in this form
Bonobo announced his eighth album Distance In Static, out 11 September 2026 on Ninja Tune, led by the club-facing single Me and You, with Simon Green suggesting it could close out his traditional album-and-tour cycle.
Marco R. · 5 min read
Ecstasy is fading from Europe's dancefloors while ketamine and cocaine climb, the wastewater says
The EUDA's 2026 wastewater study found MDMA down 16 percent across European cities while ketamine jumped 41 percent and cocaine 22 percent, a quiet shift in what the floor is actually taking.
Nicky V. · 5 min read
A Connecticut musician is suing Spotify over the 1,000-stream rule that pays small artists nothing
Musician and lawyer Mark M. Kratter filed suit in Connecticut on 3 June 2026, arguing that Spotify's stream filtering and its 1,000-stream payout threshold are unfair and deceptive practices that strip royalties from independent artists.
Elena R. · 5 min read
France's free party movement is fighting the Ripost anti-rave bill with sound trucks in 30 cities
On Saturday 13 June the Tekno Anti Rep collective rolled sound systems through about 30 French cities against the Ripost bill, which would jail rave organisers for up to two years and fine them 30,000 euros.
Noémie V. · 4 min read
Tomorrowland brings back its Avicii Tribute Experience, 15 years on from his 2011 debut
Tomorrowland will run a 144 square metre immersive Avicii installation across both 2026 weekends, with a large LED film, personal artefacts on loan from Stockholm, three remastered Tomorrowland sets on Apple Music, and a clothing line funding the Tim Bergling Foundation.
Josh D. · 4 min read
Behringer's D Mini puts a Model D voice in your pocket for 99 euros
Behringer opened pre-orders on 8 June 2026 for the D Mini, a 99 euro three-voice paraphonic synth built on the Minimoog Model D circuit, with a 16-step sequencer and 27 touch keys. Stock is expected around mid-August.
Samir H. · 3 min read
Oliver Tree, the voice behind dance-crossover hit 'Miss You', dies at 32 in a Rio helicopter collision
Oliver Tree, the American singer and producer born Oliver Tree Nickell, died on 14 June 2026 at 32, killed when two helicopters collided in mid-air southwest of Rio de Janeiro; his biggest dance moment remained 'Miss You' with Robin Schulz. Weeks before his death, he had told an interviewer he wanted his fortune to go to other artists through a foundation he had already set up.
Sarah H. · 3 min read
Carl Cox Gets an OBE: the British State Finally Bows to the Dancefloor
Carl Cox, 63, has been made an OBE for services to music in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours, with Judge Jules awarded an MBE in the same list.
Sarah H. · 3 min read
Nina Kraviz took her techno to a Vidigal favela rooftop in Rio
The Russian techno headliner played a rooftop party at Visão Vidigal, high up in Rio's Vidigal favela, on 24 May 2026, the latest sign of how deep her Brazil obsession now runs.
Finn M. · 4 min read
Psychedelics on the dancefloor may help heal childhood trauma, and a study finds the rave works as well as the ceremony
A peer-reviewed study tracked 85 adults with childhood-trauma histories before and after a psychedelic experience, and found large drops in PTSD and shame two months later, with the dancefloor matching the ritual circle.
Charlie M. · 5 min read
Ibiza's UNVRS hit with a capacity complaint as GEN-GOB asks authorities to inspect the hyperclub
The environmental group GEN-GOB has filed a formal complaint asking Ibiza's authorities to inspect UNVRS, claiming the self-styled hyperclub ran far over the 4,000-person limit historically licensed at the site.
Elena R. · 4 min read
Why underground clubs keep closing in 2026, and what actually saves one
Across Europe, beloved underground clubs are closing because the maths stopped working: turnout is down and irregular, costs keep rising, and Prague's Ankali is the human face of a structural squeeze the UK and Berlin numbers spell out in full.
Noémie V. · 6 min read
Unfiltered Audio's Battalion drum machine is now in VCV Rack, and it runs on hardware Eurorack too
Battalion, one of the most powerful experimental software drum machines around, has landed in VCV Rack as five modules at $10 each or $30 for the bundle, which also means its drum engines now run on the 4ms Meta Module in hardware Eurorack.
Samir H. · 4 min read
Catalyst Audio built a Eurorack line around Soviet MiG fighter-jet tubes
Catalyst Audio and Electroserf have launched MIG, a full range of vacuum-tube Eurorack modules built around obsolete Cold War-era Soviet subminiature tubes that once flew in MiG fighter avionics, with only about 1,500 tubes in stock.
Samir H. · 4 min read
Hot Since 82 returns with 'Obsessions', his first album in six years, led by a 'Sound of Eden' rework
Daley Padley breaks a six-year album silence with 'Obsessions', a nine-track record out 4 September 2026 on Knee Deep In Sound, fronted by 'Shaded', which reworks Shades of Rhythm's 1991 rave classic 'The Sound of Eden'.
Marco R. · 4 min read
EDC heads to Colombia: Insomniac plants its flagship in Medellín, and the underground rides along
Insomniac and Colombian promoter Páramo Presenta will stage the first EDC Colombia at Medellín's Atanasio Girardot sports complex on October 10 and 11, 2026, pairing stadium-scale headliners with Factory 93, Time Warp and a real house and tech house cast.
Josh D. · 5 min read
Germany moves to call clubs culture, not vice, and it could be a lifeline against Clubsterben
Germany's federal cabinet has approved a planning-law change that would reclassify nightclubs as cultural institutions instead of grouping them with casinos and brothels, giving venues stronger protection against developers, rent hikes and noise complaints. It still needs the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
Elena R. · 5 min read
Beatport built a Shazam for the club, and it might finally fix the missing-setlist royalty hole
Beatport's Track ID is a music-recognition tool inside its mobile app built specifically to name electronic tracks in noisy clubs and through pitch-shifted, time-stretched DJ blends, and the company says it could eventually feed accurate setlist data to recover unpaid performance royalties.
Samir H. · 4 min read
Sonar 2026 Barcelona: dates, lineup and the OFFSonar house and techno guide
Sonar 2026 runs 18 to 20 June at Fira Gran Via, with OFFSonar to 21 June. Dates, prices, headliners, and the Keinemusik, Adriatique and elrow showcases worth planning around.
Noémie V. · 4 min read
Anjunadeep takes over an Albanian beach: inside a sold-out Explorations 2026
Anjunadeep's Explorations runs 11 to 16 June in Dhermi on the Albanian Riviera, a sold-out, six-night festival-meets-beach-holiday built almost entirely on the label's deep and melodic house roster, with first appearances from George FitzGerald and Orbit.
Josh D. · 4 min read
The Edgehog EH-01 is a pocket sampler-synth with no screen, 3D-printed parts and a $179 price
Australian maker Edgehog has opened a Kickstarter for the EH-01, a compact eight-voice sampler-synth with no screen, hands-on controls and 3D-printable parts, priced from $179.
Samir H. · 5 min read