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

Happy MagScenes

The Chicks’ 20th Anniversary Tour opens with the album that cost them everything

October 2

Happy Mag https://happymag.tv Entirely on their own terms. The Chicks kicked off their Taking the Long Way 20th Anniversary Tour at Detroit’s Fox Theatre on September 30.

Vintage & reissues

Read at Happy Mag ↗

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

The Chicks’ 20th Anniversary Tour opens with the album that cost them everything

Related

ScenesOasis block the auction of 1990s rehearsal recordings Happy Mag

GearChip Sound of the 1990s with Hardware in 2026: Way More Than Retro! – Perfect Match Gearnews

AsiaBlue to celebrate 25th anniversary with Manila, Davao & Cebu shows in January 2027 Bandwagon Asia

GuitarsJohn Lennon had a plan to keep the Beatles going into the 1970s. Paul McCartney rejected it. The rest is history Guitar Player

IndustryA Zombie’s Odyssey: The Legendary Colin Blunstone On His Solo Tour, Bus Mishaps, Zombie Fest, More (Q&A) Pollstar

ScenesTalking Heads Detail Massive ‘Fear of Music’ Reissue Rolling Stone Music