Bana Haffar’s Ancient Future mutates memory and meaning in machines

If you feel at sea in a starless night, Ancient Future might summon charts from the ancestors, fragmented through samples and voltages, a hauntology of modular deconstruction. Bana Haffar, co-founder of Modular on the Spot in LA and Beirut Synthesizer Center in Lebanon, has an essential offering out this month.

Juneteenth lineup round-up and Black Techno Matters scorchers

Juneteenth is about emancipation, and it’s expressed in musical joy across the USA today. Here are our friends from Black Techno Matters with their community calendar of events today — one might be near you — plus two recent releases you should hear wherever you are.

Peter Kirn - June 19, 2026

Best of show: walk NAMM with us in a gear-mas gallery

Who stood out at this year’s NAMM show, that festivus of gear that brightens our winters from Anaheim? We’ve given you some idea with NAMM and LA’s Buchla & Friends. Here, in images, are our favorites from NAMM, as captured by LA photographer Mehdi Hassine and veteran Berlin hardware guru Gösta Wellmer.

Peter Kirn - February 3, 2026

Soundbites: the music inventions of NAMM, Buchla and Friends

Nadia Says - January 30, 2026

As much triggering as you can handle: Noise Engineering Multi Repetitor

Peter Kirn - January 22, 2026

LA fires: resources for music and mutual aid; music gatherings press on

Peter Kirn - January 14, 2025

Spike Jonze meeting Björk, in a free zine with photos and … wontons

Peter Kirn - February 27, 2024

Fire mix from Janus Rose, full of unreleased music: latest POST

Peter Kirn - December 1, 2023

From the Beirut Synthesizer Center and Bana Haffar, a free introduction to modular synthesis

Peter Kirn - July 21, 2021