Rough Trade Essential

Put simply, the title awarded to a core selection of diverse and brilliant albums that every record collection should be proud to house.
21 posts
Rough Trade Essential

Rough Trade Essential: Great British Bands

"It’s the sound of a gang meeting life’s slings and arrows with a unanimous grin." With contribution from Huw Thomas, Rough Trade…

In Profile

In Profile: Saâda Bonaire

The story of Bremen band Saâda Bonaire. The 80s synth-pop project fronted by Stephanie Lange and Claudia Hossfelh, standing singular from their fellow German new wave…

Rough Trade Essential

Rough Trade Essential: Britpop

"If punk was about getting rid of hippies, then I’m getting rid of grunge!" Damon Albarn Regional accents, a new upbeat form of…

Rough Trade Essential

Rough Trade Essential: Pop

Memorable melodies, accessible anthems, music consumed on mass appeal. Pop music has always been music of the moment. It's hard to pin down what…

Rough Trade Essential

Rough Trade Essential: Women in Music

This International Women's Day, we join our community in celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women by highlighting favourite Rough Trade…

Rough Trade Essential

Rough Trade Essential: Funk and Soul

"It’s albums like this which gave artists a cornerstone with which to hone their talents and produce some of the most engaging and beautifully…

Rough Trade Essential

Rough Trade Essential: Greatest Guitar Albums

"Replace the generic cliches with genuinely raw lyrics, the pristine, over-the-top production, with grit and power, and the trite, self-indulgent guitar solos, with a style…

Rough Trade Essential

Rough Trade Essential: Shoegaze

One of indie-rock's finest subgenres. With warm waves of distortion, limitless guitar texture and the most ethereal vocals - shoegaze is music for dreamers.…

Rough Trade Essential

Rough Trade Essential: Goth Before Goth

The likes of Bauhaus, The Sisters of Mercy and The Cure summoned the darkness inside all of us through cold industrial sounds, gruesome imagery and lots…

Rough Trade Essential

Rough Trade Essential: Folk

"Whatever it is you define as folk, one thing is universally agreed – Simply put, folk music is music for the people by the people."…