Disco Pogo #10
200 x 270 mm, 192 pages
London, UK
Biannual
Published since 2022
Editors-in-chief: Paul Benney & John Burgess
Editor: Jim Butler
Art director: Chris Jones
The perfectly-named electronic music mag Disco Pogo, created by the founders of nineties mag Jockey Slut, returns with its tenth issue. ‘We never had any intention of re-launching Jockey Slut,’ say founders Paul Benney and John Burgess, ‘and then events of recent years made us rethink. The world has changed and so we decided that a new magazine with a new name was best.’ Now a much anticipated title at the shop, the mag lives up to the hype; it’s packed to the brim with in-depth articles covering the old and the new.
This latest edition stars Goldie, The Avalanches, and Mike D across the covers, and is all about reflection—‘making peace with the past, celebrating and learning from it’—with all three cover stars touching on hardship and growth inside, delving into addiction, grief, and spirituality. Elsewhere, photographer Mark McNulty reflects on five decades documenting the scene surrounding 90s dance music in Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds, sharing some iconic moments he caught on camera; Daniel Dylan Wray reflects on the Kraftwerk gig that kickstarted Sheffield’s love affair with electronic music, speaking with attendees who recall the ambivalent mood of the crowd at the time, and the chain reaction that inspired future stars including Human League’s Martyn Ware; and activist rave duo Paranoid London recall an expedition they embarked on to the barren Aral Sea in Uzbekistan to play a set raising awareness surrounding the climate crisis.