Three pins, and nearly every signal in this business passes through them.

The magazine is named after the cable: the microphone in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX run that fires the lights. Studio, stage and rig share the same cable. Most magazines pick one of the three. This one covers all of it, because the people we read do too — the engineer mixing a record on Tuesday is on front of house by Saturday.

Around a hundred and sixty sources, in English, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Chinese and Italian: makers and their release notes, reviewers who put a hand on the thing, studios and touring crews, the producers and collectives surfacing this month and the scenes they came out of. Synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lighting. What the trade is talking about is counted and plotted. The editor's letter has just started; it will find its rhythm.

For each story: a headline, a short excerpt, one picture and the link out. We never reprint the article, and the picture belongs to the maker or the photographer. A German review appears in German and a Japanese one in Japanese, as the writer published it; the link goes to the original.

Nothing is sold on this site. When a link leads to a shop, it is the maker's shop, not ours.

← XLR MAG Archive

The Line of Best FitScenes

On second album Mammoth, Flora Hibberd is more expansive but not yet exhilarating

10.23

There's no doubt that Mammoth is a statement of bigger ideas that Flora Hibberd aims to reach for, but it's hampered by a lack of real commitment and vocal creativity to get there.

Albums

Read at The Line of Best Fit ↗

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

On second album Mammoth, Flora Hibberd is more expansive but not yet exhilarating

More from The Line of Best Fit on XLR MAG

ScenesWelsh quartet Slate announce new EP with music video shot in remote cottage The Line of Best Fit

ScenesUgly are anything but on their sparkling, proggy debut The Line of Best Fit

ScenesHorse Vision, Meg Shanian, Threshold, Leah Cleaver, Hank and Slate lead this week's New Music Discovery playlist The Line of Best Fit

ScenesJames Acaster talks about skateboarding for this week's Talk The Line podcast The Line of Best Fit

ScenesLA trio Touching Ice sign to Technicolour and drop new single, “Trace me on2 u”. The Line of Best Fit

ScenesEcco2k returns with first new solo release in nearly five years, “Aldehydes and Ketones” The Line of Best Fit