Matt Anniss
banner
sellbydave.bsky.social
Matt Anniss
@sellbydave.bsky.social
Author, journalist, researcher, dance music historian, PhD candidate. Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music’ out now on Velocity Press. www.jointhefuture.net
Pinned
Delighted to share this one, as it has been on the cards for ages: a conversation with Holly Dicker about hardcore dance music movements and her essential new book on the subject, Dance Or Die: A History of Hardcore. Listen to the conversation via the article below

jointhefuture.net/2025/09/09/l...
LISTEN: ‘THE HARDCORE CONUNDRUM’ – A CONVERSATION WITH HOLLY DICKER
In a specially extended bonus episode of Join The Future’s ongoing radio show/podcast series, author Holly Dicker talks in depth about her history of hardcore, ‘Dance or Die’, gabber, Rotterdam rav…
jointhefuture.net
Enjoyed Sabres of Paradise earlier - having missed them in the 90s I was impressed how their catalogue worked live. The heaviness and dub ones particularly apparent - and hearing a live translation of the David Holmes take on ‘Smokebelch II’ was particularly special
November 26, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Some words I wrote about Cabaret Voltaire in Birmingham the thee night.

www.juno.co.uk/junodaily/20...
www.juno.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 2:22 PM
👏👏 Great to see this announced - have been looking forward to reading it ever since @danieldylanwray.bsky.social told me he was working on it a few years back. I have no doubt it will be very special. Big up the Steel City!
This - finally - is the definitive musical history Sheffield so richly deserves.

GROOVY, LAIDBACK AND NASTY is @danieldylanwray.bsky.social's authoritative and hugely entertaining story of the city, told through its independent artists, scenes and spirit.

Coming May 2026 geni.us/GroovyLaidba...
November 20, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Headed up to Brum tonight to see Cabaret Voltaire and… well, it was ace. The funkiness and inherent heaviness of their electro to bleep techno period tracks was on full display. Excellently done and sounded great. Props to Mal and Chris (and the much missed RH Kirk)
November 20, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Kenny McLean!! Absolute scenes - the Mayor of Norwich strikes again
November 18, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Blimey, that MxTominay goal for Scotland was a big special. The script probably says they concede a late equaliser and end up in the play offs, but would be great for them to qualify automatically for the WC.
November 18, 2025 at 8:42 PM
With less than shocking predictability, the boiler, which has been flawless and fault free for years, decided to break as soon as it got a bit cold outside. What a vibe.
November 17, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Tonight, the door/security guy at a venue I occasionally frequent made a point of coming over and telling me I “carry myaelf well” and am always very polite to staff. How it should be, surely? Basically, don’t be a dickhead.
November 15, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Made the mistake last night of watching two documentaries about Trump aligned silicon valley tech bros back to back. The resulting sense of dread was almost overwhelming.

Crooked Man’s cover of this sweary Jarvis gem fits the mood and moment

youtu.be/Q6buNGDoYUY?...
Crooked Man - Cunts
YouTube video by The Vicious Charm Video Channel...
youtu.be
November 4, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Happy Halloween to those who celebrate. Here’s a little something I did alongside my Bedmo Diaxo partner a couple of years back - our “spell of love” version of Zenana’s ‘Witches’. Well, this is the night for it!

youtu.be/sQgIpAsXXMY?...
Witches 85' (Bedmo Disco's Spell of Love)
YouTube video by Release - Topic
youtu.be
October 31, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Back in Glasgow for the fourth time this year. Each time I return I get under the city’s skin a little more, and my love of it grows. Suspect I’ll be up a fair bit in 2026 too. No complaints about that!
October 29, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Back on the virtual wireless (via noodsradio dot com) at 15:00 BST today with the latest episode of #JoinTheFuture. This one features excerpts from recent interviews with Glenn Underground and Freeform Five, plus lots of ace music
October 22, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Looks like I picked a good day to have other plans and pay zero attention to #NCFC. Instead, I was in Neath on media manager duty for the Combined Southern Regions rugby league team. They beat Wales’ community/amateur national side, the Dragonhearts, 30-16 (a bit of a surprise)
October 18, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Matt Anniss
I’ve managed to squeeze in a fair bit of niche music into the pages of the Guardian over the years, but especially chuffed with getting to cover the waltzer sound system wars of Hull Fair. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
Oggy oggy oggy! The donk-tacular dance music of Hull’s huge funfair
With 600,000 people attending, Hull Fair is the UK’s biggest – and has a thrilling but overlooked musical subculture. We follow the blaring soundsystems to meet the DJs and MCs facing off in waltzer b...
www.theguardian.com
October 17, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Excited for you all to hear the next #JoinTheFuture show next week. Lots of ace music, some thoughts on the great JD Twitch, and bits from recent interviews with Glenn Undeground and Anu Pillai AKA Freeform Five. Airs on Wednesday 22nd at 15:00 BST via Noodsradio dot com
October 16, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Saw “OpenAI Ethics” trending and my first thought was “what ethics?” Altman and co appear to have none
October 15, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Cat versus Lego: a story in two parts
October 14, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Matt Anniss
On the centenary of Thatcher's birth, there have been predictable calls for a memorial to her memory. But Britain's 2300 food banks serve that purpose already.
October 13, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Last week I spoke to Elle Clark for a special episode of her Curved Track show on Rinse FM devoted to JD Twitch. Nice to share some memories and select a couple of tunes

www.rinse.fm/episodes/ell...
Welcome to Rinse FM | Rinse FM
Rinse has dominated London’s radio airwaves for 30 years as a hub of the capital's thriving urban music community
www.rinse.fm
October 13, 2025 at 8:55 AM
That Kemi Badenoch Tory conference speech in full: nothing is our fault, even though we crashed the economy; rich people should pay less tax; hate is fine when it is aimed at the “woke”; here’s a load of unaffordable electoral bribes aimed at people that are already wealthy and need zero help.
October 8, 2025 at 3:24 PM
On the latest instalment of the ‘Reapptaised’ series, I’ve revisited Paul McCartney and Youth’s second album as The Fireman, an overlooked 90s ambient gem that I picked up on wax way back in 1998

jointhefuture.net/2025/10/07/r...
REAPPRAISED: 04 – THE FIREMAN: RUSHES
Matt Anniss dusts down an overlooked 1998 collaboration between Youth and Paul McCartney, a fine example of the latter’s love of risk-taking and experimentation
jointhefuture.net
October 7, 2025 at 10:54 AM
In a huff about not being fed on demand, the cat has confiscated my office chair again. Good excuse to go and do some reading elsewhere in the house!
October 3, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Paging @samcoatessky.bsky.social , Chris Mason, Beth Rigby etc. This is who you are cheerleading for - a bunch of corrupt Russian assets and Putin cheerleaders. Your viewers need to know this stuff!
🚨 BREAKING: The former leader of Reform UK in Wales, Nathan Gill, has pleaded guilty to #bribery, admitting he received corrupt payments as a Brexit Party MEP in exchange for making statements in the European Parliament to promote Russia’s interests in #Ukraine.
Reform UK’s ex-leader in Wales Nathan Gill pleads guilty to bribery charges
Gill admits to eight charges while an elected member of the European parliament
www.theguardian.com
September 26, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Since @petshopboys.co.uk have announced a new volume of their Disco series, it gives me an excuse to re-up this 2024 @thequietus.com article of mine about their relationship with dance music

thequietus.com/opinion-and-...
Pet Shop Boys, Pop and the Irresistible Rise of Electronic Dance Music
Matt Anniss links the history of Pet Shop Boys with the history of dance music culture disco, house and hi-nrg
thequietus.com
September 25, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Matt Anniss
I wrote a little about Optimo's JD Twitch futurismrestated.substack.com/p/mixes-dige...
Mixes Digest 22: Remembering Optimo’s JD Twitch
8 enduring sets from the late Keith McIvor (plus links to 20 more)
futurismrestated.substack.com
September 25, 2025 at 3:20 PM