ListenUp

Tanner Ross' live ELITA set, Polar-prize recipient Chuck Berry, Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté and more in the music we tweeted this week

Clarens: Trust A whirlwind tour performing with French synth-pop duo Juveniles prompted Senegal-born, Paris-based musician Ousseynou Cissé to create a song about his experience. The emerging artist—who now goes by Clarens—told Interview magazine his new track “Trust” is “a song about lost friendships.” Set to a downtempo beat that feels like raindrops falling on a snare drum, his sweetly melancholic voice perfectly complements the lyrical …

The Album Art of Leif Podhajský

We speak with the mixed-media artist about his mesmerizing designs for Kelis, Tame Impala and more

In Leif Podhajský’s studio (an old converted stable in Shoreditch, East London) there is a shelf filled with albums that he’s designed; their colorful spines lined up one after the other. Designed by mixing digital images with painted textures and drawings, the artist and creative director has created artwork that’s trippy, visually arresting and entirely complementary for the music it represents. That mix of mysticism …

A Conversation with Composer Cliff Martinez

The brains behind the film music for Solaris, Drive and Spring Breakers on his newest bloody project with Steven Soderbergh and more

A Q&A with film score composer Cliff Martinez at Moogfest this year attracted a mix of curious festival attendees and die-hard fans—many of whom cared much more for Martinez’s dark, ambient scores than the actual movie plots. The regular Steven Soderbergh collaborator (“Sex, Lies and Videotape,” “Traffic,” and “Solaris”) has reached even more prominence lately since scoring critically acclaimed films such as Nicolas Winding Refn’s …