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About

XLR is a magazine, a radar and a diary about music gear and the making of music — for the people who make records and put on shows, wherever they do it.

The name is the three-pin connector that every signal in the business passes through: the microphone on stage and in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX cable that runs the lights. Studio, stage and lighting rig share it, and so does this magazine. Every few hours XLR collects what the makers shipped, what the reviewers heard, what the studios and the touring crews are doing, which producers and collectives are surfacing and what they are saying — synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lights, the rooms and the people — from a few hundred sources in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and more, then plots what is moving. The editor writes a letter every few days. Nothing is sold here; when a link leads to a shop, that is the maker's shop, not ours.

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Crack MagazineScenes

SOMBR announces debut UK arena show at The O2

September 2

The artist will play the London venue in June 2027 as part of its 20th anniversary celebrations. SOMBR has announced his first UK arena show, set to take place at The O2 in London on 22 June 2027. The date forms part of

New producers & collectives

Read at Crack Magazine ↗

ScenesWOS Festival x SON Estrella Galicia announces the first artists for its 2026 edition Crack Magazine

GearYamaha Creator Pass Review: A Subscription Built For The Budding Bedroom Producer Attack Magazine

ScenesHaywire sign to Roadrunner, announce new LP & video, threw $$ into the crowd at Sound & Fury, keep touring & stuff (BV-exclusive vinyl) BrooklynVegan

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SOMBR announces debut UK arena show at The O2

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