XLR

Latest

On the calendar

· Trade shows and launch events, this week's stories from each corner of the industry, and what its press is covering.

On view

This week, from that corner the newest stories from the corner of the industry you picked

The wire their own posts, translated

How records get made in 2026 from the industry's own reports

Sources

Fetched every three hours, linked to the original

About

XLR is a magazine, a radar and a diary about music gear and the making of music — for the people who make records and put on shows, wherever they do it.

The name is the three-pin connector that every signal in the business passes through: the microphone on stage and in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX cable that runs the lights. Studio, stage and lighting rig share it, and so does this magazine. Every few hours XLR collects what the makers shipped, what the reviewers heard, what the studios and the touring crews are doing, which producers and collectives are surfacing and what they are saying — synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lights, the rooms and the people — from a few hundred sources in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and more, then plots what is moving. The editor writes a letter every few days. Nothing is sold here; when a link leads to a shop, that is the maker's shop, not ours.

← XLR Archive

The 13th FloorScenes

It must be love! Madness are back | February & March 2027

September 15

The original Nutty Boys of Camden, British cultural institutions and purveyors of some of the greatest songs ever written, Madness will return to Australia and New Zealand in 2027 for the ALL ABROAD FOR THE MADNESS HIT P

Read at The 13th Floor ↗

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

It must be love! Madness are back | February & March 2027

Related

ScenesAubory Bugg – i think i had something once (Dualtone) (13th Floor Album Review) The 13th Floor

ScenesAnthrax – Cursum Perficio (Nuclear Blast) (13th Floor Album Review) The 13th Floor

ScenesOceania’s Eleven – Basement Theatre: September 15, 2026 (13th Floor Theatre Review) The 13th Floor

ScenesSlow Pulp – Melodie (Anti-) (13th Floor Album Review) The 13th Floor

ScenesAsh – The Tuning Fork: September 14, 2026 (13th Floor Concert Review) The 13th Floor

ScenesDavid Greer – Merry Go Round: 13th Floor New Song Of The Day The 13th Floor