The No RipCast: Volume 18

After nearly two years of podcasting, we've decided the time is ripe for a re-launch of sorts, making The No RipCast fresher and snappier, whilst still retaining its key features.

First up this month, we used Mark Davison's marvellous review of the latest album from The Knife, Shaking The Habitual, as a jump-off point for a discussion on why artists nowadays don't seem to be as politicised as their outspoken predecessors. It's a rich and diverse topic, and we didn't get the time to cover it fully in the time we had. For example, we barely touched on the role of hip-hop, and there wasn't a chance to discuss Pussy Riot. With that in mind, we'd certainly welcome your thoughts on the aspects we missed, as well as feedback on the actual feature itself.

Second up, rather than a big list of all the albums we've been listening to, we've refined it down to each writer bringing in one track from an album - old or new - that's been rocking their world this past month. Therefore, we're discussing the recent Francis Bebey retrospective (featuring New Track), the new mixtape, Acid Rap, from the up-and-coming Chance The Rapper (featuring Good Ass Intro) and the debut album that never was from Jai Paul (including Jasmine).

Finally, we take on a micro-genre that appears to have been killed off as quickly as it originally appeared: vaporwave. It was extensively profiled by Dummy Magazine last year, and had its death knell sounded in February by Chicago Reader, so we decided it was high time we got a handle on it to see whether its influence had permeated beyond its own community.

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Let us know what you think of the all-new podcast, and happy listening!