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Daily stories about music and vinyl: albums, artists, labels. Read on the web or in the CrateCore app.
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October 3, 2026
STORY · Classical
How Steve Reich Turned Tape Loops Into Living Music
Steve Reich discovered phase shifting when two tape recorders in a San Francisco studio drifted out of sync. The technique reshaped his early career and led to Music for 18 Musicians.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Metal
How Herman Li Made a Guitar Sound Like an Arcade
Born in Hong Kong in 1976, Herman Li turned the arcade bleeps of his childhood into the signature sound of DragonForce. He co-founded the English power-metal band in 1999.
3 min read
Balthazar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Eddie Cochran: The Rock and Roll Life Cut Short at 21
Eddie Cochran died at 21 after a 1960 taxi crash in Chippenham, England, leaving behind 'Summertime Blues' and a career that had barely begun.
4 min read
Ekko Records, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Why Did Green Day Walk Away From Their Winning Formula on Warning?
In 2000, Green Day produced their sixth album Warning themselves after a planned collaboration with producer Scott Litt fell apart. The record traded punk speed for acoustic guitars and folk textures.
4 min read
Cover of “Warning” by Green Day. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How Stevie Ray Vaughan Turned One Festival Gig Into a Blues Revival
Stevie Ray Vaughan turned a booed set at the 1982 Montreux Jazz Festival into a David Bowie invitation, an Epic Records deal, and a blues-rock revival.
3 min read
Don Hunstein, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
STORY · Pop
How Kevin Richardson Left the Backstreet Boys and Found His Way Back
Kevin Richardson left the Backstreet Boys in 2006 after thirteen years. He returned in 2012, and the group released In a World Like This with all five original members in 2013.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Metal
How Did Tommy Lee Turn a Drum Solo Into a Flying Circus?
Tommy Lee, drummer of Mötley Crüe, turned his solo into a rotating and suspended drum kit that swung out over the audience. The boy born in Athens, Greece, became the visual center of the band.
4 min read
Toglenn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Josh Klinghoffer: From Teenage Drummer to Hall of Fame
Josh Klinghoffer went from a self-taught teenage drummer to lead guitarist of Red Hot Chili Peppers. He replaced John Frusciante in 2010 and was replaced by him in 2019.
3 min read
Fastback2641, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
3 min read
October 1, 2026
STORY · Electronic
Why Did Daft Punk Hide Alive 1997 on a Website?
Daft Punk's first live album, Alive 1997, was originally hidden behind a password on the Daft Club website. Virgin Records later gave the Birmingham recording a physical release in October 2001.
4 min read
Cover of “Alive 1997” by Daft Punk. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
October 2, 2026
STORY · Folk
How Dylan's Box Set Turned a Misprint into a Mystery
Bob Dylan's 2007 compilation Dylan shipped in a vinyl-style deluxe box set. Its liner notes dated 'You Ain't Goin' Nowhere' to 1967, though the recording was from 1971.
3 min read
Cover of “Dylan” by Bob Dylan. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Alternative
How The Killers Bet the Neon on a Casino Sign
The Killers named their second album Sam's Town after the Las Vegas casino sign bassist Mark Stoermer grew up staring at. The 2006 record split critics and fans in two.
3 min read
Cover of “Sam's Town” by The Killers. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
Iron Maiden's The X Factor: The Risk of a New Voice
Iron Maiden's tenth studio album, The X Factor, arrived on 2 October 1995. It introduced Blaze Bayley on vocals in place of Bruce Dickinson.
3 min read
Cover of “The X Factor” by Iron Maiden. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Alternative
Oasis and the Album That Outran Everyone
Oasis released (What's the Story) Morning Glory? on the 2nd of October 1995, and it went on to become the most-purchased studio album in UK history.
4 min read
Cover of “(What's the Story) Morning Glory?” by Oasis. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Alternative
Radiohead's Kid A: The Album That Almost Broke the Band
In a barn in Oxfordshire, the biggest guitar band of the late nineties sat surrounded by modular synthesizers and a growing pile of unfinished tape. Radiohead, …
4 min read
Cover of “Kid A” by Radiohead. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
Pink Floyd's 23-Minute Gamble: Atom Heart Mother
Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother arrived on Harvest in October 1970. It was built around a 23-minute orchestral suite that gave the band their first British number one.
4 min read
Cover of “Atom Heart Mother” by Pink Floyd. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Metal
Jim Root: The Last Man into Slipknot
Jim Root nearly turned Slipknot down before joining as guitarist #4 in 1999, becoming the last member of the lineup that held from 1999 to 2010.
3 min read
bill from jersey city, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
3 min read
STORY · Hip-Hop
Proof: The Detroit Rapper Who Refused the Easy Route
DeShaun Dupree Holton, known as Proof, spent years as Eminem's hype man. He then founded Iron Fist Records and released Searching for Jerry Garcia on his own terms.
3 min read
AI-generated illustration
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Don McLean's Eight-Minute, 36-Second Gamble
Don McLean recorded an eight-minute, thirty-six-second song on May 26 in New York, a gamble that became the longest track ever to top the American chart.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Classical
Why Ton Koopman Had to Buy Back His Own Bach
Ton Koopman bought back the rights to his own Bach cantata recordings after Warner Classics shut the French label behind them in 2002. He then finished the cycle himself.
3 min read
AI-generated illustration
3 min read
STORY · Soul
How Xavier Naidoo Lost His Stage
In 2015 Xavier Naidoo was named Germany's Eurovision entry, then dropped by NDR two days later over lyrics and political sympathies. The Mannheim singer had sold over a million copies of his debut.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Classical
Neville Marriner and the Orchestra That Refused to Stop
Neville Marriner founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 1958. He became the most-recorded conductor in history, with over 600 recordings to his name.
3 min read
AI-generated illustration
3 min read
STORY · Rock
Why Mike Rutherford Built a Guitar That Was Two Instruments
On stage in the early 1970s, Mike Rutherford of Genesis often had seconds to switch between a rumbling bass line and a chiming 12-string guitar part. His soluti…
3 min read
Andrew St.Denis, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
3 min read
STORY · Classical
Giya Kancheli's Slow Thunder
Giya Kancheli died in Tbilisi on 2 October 2019. He left seven symphonies and a sound the world heard as slow fragments of minor melody over humming string dissonances.
3 min read
Gia_Kancheli_&_Boris_Berezovski.jpg: George Melderivative work: Gaeser (talk), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
3 min read
STORY · Pop
How Romina Power Shed the Scandal and Found Pop Fame
Romina Power was born in Los Angeles in 1951 and named for Rome, then spent her teens in Italian films before Al Bano turned her into a pop star.
5 min read
Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
5 min read
October 1, 2026
STORY · Pop
Kylie Minogue's Fever at 25
Kylie Minogue's eighth studio album Fever came out on 1 October 2001. Released by Parlophone, it turned a career in trouble into one of the biggest pop stories of the decade.
4 min read
Cover of “Fever” by Kylie Minogue. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · World
What Is Youssou N'Dour's Mbalax?
Youssou N'Dour helped invent mbalax, the dense Senegalese dance sound that carried his voice from Dakar clubs to global radio.
5 min read
AI-generated illustration
5 min read
STORY · Other
How Mediopia Became Stone Music Entertainment
Mediopia opened in May 1993 as an electronics maker. It became a CJ Corporation affiliate in 2006 and today operates as Stone Music Entertainment, a Korean music distributor.
4 min read
AI-generated illustration
4 min read
STORY · Classical
Vladimir Horowitz, the pianist who kept changing labels
Vladimir Horowitz was born in Kyiv on 1 October 1903. He recorded for HMV, RCA Victor, Columbia, Deutsche Grammophon and Sony Classical across six decades.
4 min read
Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Pop
How Porcelain Black Fought the Pop Machine
Porcelain Black, born Alaina Marie Beaton, signed with Virgin Records as a teenager and spent years fighting labels over the music she wanted to make.
3 min read
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3 min read
September 30, 2026
STORY · Pop
Gavin Creel: The Man Who Walked Through Every Broadway Door
Gavin Creel, the Broadway star who originated Elder Price in The Book of Mormon and won a Tony for Hello, Dolly!, died in September 2024 at 48, two years after his final stage work.
4 min read
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4 min read