Jonnie Robinson, Lead Curator for Spoken English writes: The mixed reception among my children and their peers to Arctic Monkeys’ sixth studio album, Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino, is, I suspect, the equivalent of my Kid A moment. I’m probably not qualified to contribute to the debate on the album’s…

This week’s selection comes from Lucia Cavorsi, Audio Project Cataloguer for Unlocking our Sound Heritage. Serious/Speakout was a UK promotion company to which artists submitted their demo tapes when seeking performance opportunities during the 1990s. This particular recording features an excerpt of Concerto for Percussion and Embroidery Machine. It world…

By Jonathan Summers, Curator of Classical Music Jack Johnson c.1908 The legendary Jack Johnson (1878-1946) is remembered as the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion, a title he held from 1908 to 1915. At a time when race relations were extremely volatile in the United States, Johnson caused a sensation…

This week’s selection comes from Dr Eva del Rey, Curator of Drama and Literature Recordings and Digital Performance. Live recording of THE FREQ_OUT ORCHESTRA performing freq_out 7 as part of the Happy New Ears Festival celebrated in the city of Kortrijk, Belgium, 13 September 2008. Kortrijk. Photo by: Erf-goed.be on…

Amanda House, Data Protection and Rights Clearance Officer for Unlocking Our Sound Heritage reflects on how the new data protection regulation will impact the sharing of audio archives online. GDPR is a new regulation designed to strengthen and combine the existing protection provided by the Data Protection Act (1998) for…