Andreea Ivanescu, Author at Totally Wired Magazine

Crate Digging with Slack Alice

March 31, 2023

Ever wondered what your favourite musicians listen to when they need inspo? Slack Alice saw its dawn back in 2014 when resident DJs and old friends Kelan and Yokel decided to put on regular nights at The Surrey Vaults. It wasn’t long before the collective reached its final (and most powerful) form. Bristol legends Nadoone and Anina joined Slack Alice, and their vision helped unlock new levels of creativity and expression. Music lovers and fellow DJs started attending Slack Alice events regularly, and most of them remained time-tested supporters and collaborators. It could have been the need to escape trite Bristol line-ups or the identity of a

The BIGMUTHA of all

April 4, 2022

Tennessee rapper Brittnee Moore (aka bbymutha) adds another jewel to the crown with her latest EP – left4dead. With 3 songs and under 15 minutes long, it is a compelling journey through the visionary power that fuels bbymutha. Her ethos? As clear as ever: bold, sex-positive, and stress-free. The “part 1” EP is one of the few bite-sized tapes that Moore has been putting out since she announced last summer that she intends to retire. We’re glad she decided not to, for now, although her ambivalence to fame is keeping us on our toes. The former Miss Cherry Cocaine struck gold when she returned to making music

IRATION STEPPAS – DUBS INNA 3000 STYLE

November 4, 2021

This month for your favourite bus read, I want to discuss dub music. It’s a deeply influential genre that never disappoints and still, little is known about it and its protagonists. Digging into its fascinating history is always a treat, not so much through written accounts but by witnessing a tradition that still prevails on the dancefloor, almost 60 years from its inception in Kingston, Jamaica. I recently went out to see Iration Steppas celebrate their 30th birthday at Trinity Centre in Bristol and it was as neat as I hoped it would be. It had been a while – I almost forgot how potent and uplifting

Why We Love – DATKID

October 4, 2021

“One day I’ll fall in love with you like my ears did for hip-hop” is what my favourite poster on the wall of my childhood den said. I must’ve had it up for ages; I always loved hip-hop and spent countless hours listening and dancing to it in my bedroom, in the studio, and on stage. It was probably its mood and cadence that I really enjoyed at first before I started grasping the essence of it, the meaning behind the slang in verses about battles with poverty and crime. Years later I moved to Bristol and was introduced to Datkid – he’s got a sound I’ve

Don’t Die in the Waiting Room of the Future

September 5, 2021

Tim Mohr’s Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution and the Fall of the Berlin Wall is an essential history that reveals punk’s wrath and how it contributed to the downfall of the East German dictatorship. Throughout history, reigns of terror crushed hopes, ideas, behaviours; we’ve seen it all – intimidation and manipulation, violence. We’ve seen walls. Tall, made of concrete and strengthened with steel, with a strip of land guarded by merciless apostles of havoc by whose hands hundreds died. You would think nothing can break through it, but soundwaves don’t stop at borders. Soundwaves travel. Mohr’s book is a compelling account of untold stories that

Why We Love – Salac

August 4, 2021

Salaċ is a Gaelic industrial duo whose music creates a Pagan dystopia as they whisper labyrinthine speech-to-song poetry over mystic beats. Clíona Ní Laoi and Max Kelan Pearce resemble some modern-day blue Bards, moulding audiovisual sorceries and anagogic poetry into a ritual of lunacy. Part of the avant-garde Bristol collective Avon Terror Corps, the two orchestrate a resurgence of primal sound. Slithering noises and intricate inflections of their voices come together almost as if life and death are revealed to one another. Ceremonialists that speak to the wicked, Salaċ creates an epitome of disturbing magnetism through their ensembles of electronic distortions with obscure cadences. The 13 songs

Why We Love – Rocks FOE

July 4, 2021

Wandering the rowdy streets of Bristol I stepped into one of the city’s most loved bars only to witness the performance of the best young lyricist in the scene: Rocks FOE. The UK’s finest fire spitter, the bona fide beat sculptor, was finally up on the stage among a dozen other Bristol youths. I’ve been a big fan of his ever since his first Legion EP back in 2015 and let me tell you – his live performance was better than I could’ve dreamt of. Born and raised in Croydon, Rocks FOE took the scene by storm with his first self-produced rap-grime hybrid EP released on Black

Andreea Ivanescu