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

Rolling Stone MusicScenes

Richard Lloyd, Television’s Virtuoso Guitarist, Dead at 75

11.07

Guitarist, who was diagnosed with bile duct cancer in March 2026, died Saturday from Cholangiocarcinoma, his family announced

Read at Rolling Stone Music ↗

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

Richard Lloyd, Television’s Virtuoso Guitarist, Dead at 75

More from Rolling Stone Music on XLR MAG

ScenesDeep Purple’s Ian Gillan Undergoes ‘Successful’ Surgery After Medical Emergency Rolling Stone Music

ScenesHoundmouth’s Matt Myers No Longer Has to Be Sad to Write Great Songs Rolling Stone Music

ScenesHear Fiona Apple and the Bolt Cutters Cover Mother Earth’s ‘Revolution’ Rolling Stone Music

ScenesMacklemore Says Nine U.S. Venues Turned Down ‘Free Palestine’ Tour: ‘They Got Me F-cked Up’ Rolling Stone Music

ScenesTegan and Sara Celebrate the Season With ‘I Love Christmas’ and ‘A December to Remember’ Rolling Stone Music

ScenesSkepta, Twisted Teens, Sufjan Stevens, and All the Songs You Need to Know This Week Rolling Stone Music