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by Chal Ravens & Tom Lea
No Tags is a podcast and newsletter from Chal Ravens and Tom Lea chronicling underground music culture. notagspodcast.substack.com
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- 1 weeks ago1h 40m
72: When is a festival not a festival?
Is this the way they say the future’s meant to feel? Or just 20,000 people milling about at the White Claw gazebo?This summer Tom and Chal attended a LOT of different festivals, which got us thinking about not just what makes a festival good, but what makes a festival a festival.As well as rating and slating our 2026 jollies, we look back at the half-forgotten lifestyles that birthed British festival culture in the first place, talk about our personal festival histories (guess who hates camping!) and figure out what distinguishes a proper festival from a temporary cluster of outdoor stages and energy drink activations taking over a city park.Let us know what you think. What makes a festival a festival in your eyes? What are your best and worst festivals – and what’s the saddest festival brand activation you’ve ever witnessed?No Tags is a self-funded project that we squeeze in around our day jobs. If you want to keep us topped up on White Claw and Happy Tuesday pills, consider joining the paid tier. Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- 3 weeks ago2h 3m
71: Second quarter report – the best music of 2026 so far
Closing a hectic summer, we’re back with our regular report on the best music of the last three months.We’re joined as always by No Tags third Beatle and zillennial savant Henry Bruce-Jones to talk us through the more fried corners of his musical diet. Can he sell these stubborn uncs on DMV crime-rap, Ivorian plugg and people who simply refuse to rap on beat? Or will we just have to find our middle ground at the altar of Kwengletarianism?We’ve listed all the music that we discuss on the show below – so if one particular corner’s not your thing, it’s easy to skip along. Get the full details from notagspodcast.substack.comPop Corner : Kelela, Chanel Beads, Charli XCX, M.I.A., QendresaHome Listening : DJ Plead, K Wata, Leo, Lifted, Dance Fountain, Lilen, Amil RajaDance Corner : Yushh, LWS, Will Hofbauer, Jenny Sparks, RustieRap Corner : Jeune Morty, Twentythree, Jaeychino, RealYungPhil, Tony Bontana, KiboReal Music : Nirosta Steel, Father Dionysios Tabakis, Horse Lords, feeble little horseExperimental Coda : Laurie Anderson, Rabit Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Jul 22, 20261h 45m
70: The true story of real dubstep
“Is this dubstep?”There was a time in the 2010s when approximately 23% of all YouTube comments were a variation of this question. One of the UK’s most influential yet misunderstood dance exports, dubstep is also one of those rare genres that can trace its origins to a handful of people working in a few rooms.That unusual origin story is definitively told in a new book, Aftershock: The Seismic Impact of Dubstep. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews by journalist Lauren Martin, it weaves together testimony from the main players (including Benny Ill, Skream, Hatcha, Loefah, Mala, Coki, Youngsta, Plastician, Sgt Pokes, Kode9, Shackleton, Pinch, Joker and Rusko) with thoughtful framing from the likes of Martin Clark and Ammunition’s Neil Jolliffe, plus stacks of of flyers, ephemera and unseen photos.We had a blast going through the archives in preparation for this conversation with Lauren, where we talked about Croydon in the early 2000s, the school-age crew that formed around Big Apple Records, the closed loop of creativity that allowed the nascent genre to develop, the particular magic of FWD>> at Plastic People, the impact of Radio 1’s Dubstep Warz broadcast, and the competing explanations for dubstep’s demise in the 2010s, among many other things.Before the episode’s big drop into dubstep, Tom and Chal compare notes on a very ‘Merican month in the stunned afterglow of the World Cup half-time show, UFC on the White House lawn, a pretty decent Madonna album and Tom’s trip to the sunshine state.We do No Tags for the love of the game, but you can support the podcast in material ways by buying our latest book or subscribing to our paid tier for £5 per month. Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Jun 4, 20261h 29m
69: Your favourite DJ is a psyop
Keep honking, piggies: I’m listening to whatever rockslop the algorithm just sicked up for me!So we’ve been circling a certain topic for a while now – in order to be fashionably off-cycle rather than just late to the party, of course – and we’ve finally done enough muck-raking to present you with our red-hot take.It’s verifiable: your favourite DJ is a psyop.We jest, mildly. But why is it so satisfying to point to popular things and call them a psyop? And it’s not just Geese, the perfectly solid rock band that launched a thousand hysterical thinkpieces. Angine de Poitrine? Évidemment. Rita Ora? Innit. But what about the current numerical titans of dance music? Your Josh Bakers, Kettamas, Silva Bumpas and, of course, your Freds Again? What does it take to reach the premier league in the age of algorithm?In this episode we break down the tectonic shifts underway in the game of selling yourself, and how video clips, vlogging, ‘content seeding’ and engineered virality are becoming standard promo tools from the mainstream to the underground. Is your favourite DJ paying low four-figure sums to have someone manufacture a viral moment during their next set? Honestly, they might be. Should No Tags join the party?* Let us know!—*If you do think we should join the party, these things don’t come cheap. You can support the podcast by buying our latest book, or by subscribing to our paid tier for a mere £5 per month. Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- May 21, 20261h 46m
68: Djrum or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Clang
Why be seamless when you can go KLANGGG? This week’s guest is living proof that doing things wrong, backwards, upside-down or simply not at all can reap creative dividends.We speak, of course, about Djrum. Recorded at our book launch at London’s ICA last December, our conversation with the Oxford-dwelling DJ-producer followed up on the wild acclaim for his 2025 maybe-opus, Under Tangled Silence.The interview starts at 48:00, but before that we debrief on some new music from old favourites. Is the spirit of 2011 still haunting dance music? We couldn’t possibly say.Look out for our third listening session at 180 Studios, to be announced soon! Our second book, No Tags: Conversations on underground music culture Vol. 1 is out now. Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Apr 30, 20261h 55m
67: Sheffield, Synth City
Sheffield punches well above its weight when it comes to tunes. From #1 synth-pop hits to underground techno classics, clattering industrial funk to accidental Britpop icons, the Steel City might have produced more brilliant music per capita than any other world metropolis.And yet, no one has published the definitive book on the subject – until now! Daniel Dylan Wray is one of the UK’s best music writers, and his new book Groovy, Laidback and Nasty: The History of Independent Music in Sheffield chronicles the maverick artists, chart invaders, parties, labels, venues and even Christian cults that shaped the city’s musical history.We talked to Dan about why Sheffield wasn’t swept away by punk rock but instead loved Kraftwerk and Wendy Carlos, how Peter Stringfellow became a crucial early mover in Sheffield’s club scene, and why there are no murals of Jarvis Cocker in the city centre. We also heard about the unlikely chain of events that birthed Warp Records, and one of the most important yet undersung ‘80s club nights, Jive Turkey.We also unveil a major expansion of our Rockufiction canon of ‘music films that bend reality’, including Frank Zappa, Daft Punk, Macca and S Club 7. That’ll probably be the final update on Rockufiction, but if you have any burning additions then get them in quick…As ever, if you like what we do on No Tags, please do consider signing up to our paid tier for a mere £5 per month! Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Apr 16, 20261h 15m
66: First Quarter Report – the best music of the last three months
The Q1 report is here and the charts are clear: buy underscores. 📈On this episode of No Tags, we talk through our favourite releases of 2026 so far – not to mention some music that we’re more mixed on but felt like it was worthy of discussion regardless.Before we get into it, on 5th May we’ll be returning to 180 Studios for our second session at their audiophile listening room. Following March’s session with Call Super and Parris, this time we’ll be joined by Al Wootton and Valentina Magaletti, collaborators in Holy Tongue and live bandmates in Moin, to play records from their collections and explore where their musical tastes meet. Tickets are on sale now, it should be a treat!If you discover something you love on this episode, why not send us a tip? We have a paid tier which allows you to support No Tags for £5 a month, and also gives you a discount on our book – which is out now.Discussed on this episode, in order:Maara – Ultra Villain (Naff)Zora Jones – Angel Crisis (Bellyfat)Kim Gordon – PLAY ME (Matador)Mandy, Indiana – URGH (Sacred Bones)Fcukers – Ö (Ninja Tune)2charm – star scum city (self-released)Slayyyter – WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA (Columbia)Charli XCX – Wuthering Heights (Atlantic)underscores – U (Mom+Pop)Sade Olutola – Arrow Heart (Rogue Collective)Shy One – Mali (Touching Bass)PACH – The Wake-Up Call (Peach Discs)SY3 – 梦游 Sleepwalker (Music from Memory)Simo Cell & Abdullah Miniawy – Dying is the Internet (Dekmantel UFO)Egg Meat – The most Pathetic poem is small people on fire (Mutualism)Mammo – Lateral (Short Span)Crespi Drum Syndicate – Colada Talk (Cinnamon Disc)Valentina Magaletti & Upsammy - Seismo (PAN) Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe
- Apr 1, 20261h 55m
65: The indies fight back! Damon Krukowski on the value of sound
We all know what sound is, but are we any good at describing it?This week’s guest is a musician, writer and one of independent music’s wisest observers. Damon Krukowski has been playing in bands since the ‘80s, drumming for dreampop originals Galaxie 500 and, for the past 30 years, fronting Damon & Naomi with his partner Naomi Yang.He’s also written three books about sound and its strange, intangible properties (most recently Why Sound Matters) and he's a proud member of UMAW, a cool young labour union for music workers.It was a privilege to talk to Damon about the full spectrum of sound – from noise pollution and sodcasting to the merch table, from the ‘red herring’ of intellectual property to the hidden value of hanging out backstage.Unsurprisingly he had several excellent movies to recommend to us, including one for all you Coen Brothers fans out there.Before that, we debrief our recent nights out and the last ever weekend at Corsica Studios, which could still be going as far as we know. We also hear your Rockufiction feedback and offer a hot new entry to the canon: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. Get full access to No Tags at notagspodcast.substack.com/subscribe
About No Tags
No Tags is a podcast and newsletter from Chal Ravens and Tom Lea chronicling underground music culture. notagspodcast.substack.com
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