Chris Zaldua

Writer, music liker, sometimes event producer. Bay Area-based.

nowlistening

Now Listening: Introspective Dance Music, Crab-Walk Rhythms, Diasporic Drum'n'Bass

Records by Mineral Stunting, Plumes of Enceladus, Lara Sarkissian, Yetsuby, and Cahl Sel.

longform

Silicon Valley Hates You

The Silicon Valley death drive is the resoundingly anti-human, anti-creative conceit at the root of generative AI development.

wordswith

Words With Jefre Cantu-Ledesma: Root Strata, the San Francisco Scene, and Music as Gift

The roots of Root Strata and its S.F. scene; the genesis of "Gift Songs"; ambient music as phenomenon; the creative process.

nowlistening

Now Listening: Deep Drone, New Industrial, Downtempo Freak Rippers

New records from Grand River, Civilistjävel!, Rivet, Torn Hawk, and Enxin/Onyx.

Words With: TRjj, TRii, TRii Group

Conversations with a mysterious German artist on authorship, the intimacy of music, sharing art as a means of sharing oneself, graphic design, and more.

nowlistening

Now Listening: Cosmic Ambience with a Side of Jazz Drumming

New records from Reed Michaels, Freivogel / Sinclaire, DOVS, ASC, and Raven.

longform

Techno and the Chinese Century: 'The Last Year of Darkness' in review

This 2023 film about club culture and queer nightlife in Chengdu, China, is a compelling watch—and an eye-opening one.

wordswith

Words With: James Whipple (Hesaitix, M.E.S.H.)

Musical hiatuses, production flow, artistic growth, connecting with listeners, doing your own thing.

nowlistening

Nine Records I Loved in 2024

Hesaitix; Thomas Bush; Daria Lourd; V/Z; Shackleton & Six Organs of Admittance; Young Echo; TRii Group; Danny Daze; Dregs.

lookback

Look Back: Icee Hot, a Bay Area Club Culture Moment

An interview with San Francisco club organizers Icee Hot, originally published in 2015.

wordswith Featured

Words With: Kiernan Laveaux

Growing up queer and trans in Ohio; DJing as an artform; music as a communal force and conduit for love and joy.

nowlistening

Now Listening: Charles A.D., False Aralia, 29 Speedway, Daisy Moon, Fergus Jones

Home-listening techno-house; micro-dub minimalism & phantom acoustics; body music as tesseract; techno-pop obsessions; bass music as galaxy.

lookback

Look Back: Superpitcher — "Hollywood"

Mentioned: The Postal Service, 12-LP albums, Pachanga Boys, Burning Man, $1500 records, Brian de Palma's "Body Double," Philip Glass, Sufjan Stevens, philosophical inquiry, Ship of Theseus.

longform

Longform: A Spectre is Haunting Electronic Music

Marx would surely have loved the club, but would have been aghast at the economic conditions therein.

wordswith

Words With: Ani Phoebe

Hong Kong, pop-up vending, records as journaling, cultural currency, sustainability, retail as cooperative ecosystem.

nowlistening Featured

Now Listening: A New Industrial Roundup

For New Industrial artists and labels, the refusal to be categorized is the category.

Paid-members only

wordswith

Words With: Autechre, Vol. 2 (2015)

The complete transcript of my 2015 conversation with Autechre, published for the first time—in two parts.

Paid-members only

wordswith Featured

Words With: Autechre, Vol. 1 (2015)

The complete transcript of my 2015 conversation with Autechre, published for the first time—in two parts.

Look Back: A Ghost in the Machine (an Autechre feature from 2015)

A nearly 10-year old feature on Autechre—with the complete interview transcript to follow.

longform

Longform: The New Industrial

Or why Dean Blunt might be the truest spiritual successor to Throbbing Gristle.

wordswith

Words With: Simon Popp & Polygonia

Collaboration, musical backgrounds, Ableton vs. hardware, alternative percussion instruments, spontaneity, techno-jazz intersections, Munich and the midsize-city advantage.

nowlistening

Now Listening: Black Decelerant, Lara Sarkissian, Darlynn, Geier aus Stahl, Hotspring

Meditative jazz textures, filmic soundscapes, sunny vocal-led house music, funky machine music, ambient-ish songwriting with dub sensibility.

lookback

Look Back: CS + Kreme – "Snoopy"

Déjà vu, haunted-romance R&B, lysergic downtempo, occult sensibility, "The Wicker Man," Coil.

longform

Longform: Exiting the Vampire Algorithm

A defense of human-led music discovery in the digital age—with apologies to Mark Fisher.

wordswith

Words With: Cone Shape Top

Bay Area-Philly-NYC rave history, hiddenness vis-à-vis intentionality, artistic collaboration, community building, alternative commerce.