Raphael Helfand

Freelance Writer, Senior Editor @ ANTICS, More Weird Stuff @ Apollo Frequencies

United States

Writer/reporter/editor/producer at large: raphael@raphaelhelfand.me

Senior Editor at ANTICS Magazine: raphael.helfand@anticsmag.com

Personal website: raphaelhelfand.me

Substack: apollofrequencies.substack.com

Previously: The FADER (Associate Editor), Laid Off NYC (Editor-in-Chief), ANTIGRAVITY Magazine (Associate Editor)

Portfolio

Selected Features

BKMAG
01/15/2026
Last Call at The Owl

Scenes and sentiments from the last few nights at The Owl, a utopian PLG music parlor that shut its doors on New Year's Eve after a 10-year run.

ANTICS Magazine
01/18/2026
The Year In Brain Rot

2025 might be the year we achieve peak dumb. Until next year.

The FADER
Thou's punishment ritual

Thou, Louisiana's heaviest band in a generation, discuss the compromises and reckonings behind their latest album, Umbilical.

The FADER
12 hours at a rave in the Tulum jungle

Read our scene report of Damian Lazarus' Day Zero festival in Tulum, complete with a swimmable cenote and sets from Fatboy Slim, Major League Djz, and more.

The FADER
David Berman's purest poetry

"Like Like the the the Death," the Silver Jews' strangest song, exists between the indoors and the outdoors of David Berman's mind.

Expressionless—Listening
11/12/2020
Considering Scott Walker

An accelerated listening guide through Scott Walker's expansive discovraphy.

The FADER
A rap trio too fun to fail

Following a legendary skatepark show, POLO PERKS <3 <3 <3, FearDorian, and AyooLii dropped by the FADER office to discuss their zany masterpiece, A Dog's Chance.

The FADER
Machine Girl vs. The Machine

Machine Girl discuss their new album MG Ultra, an LP full of obsessive, paranoid anthems for the end of world.

Selected Interviews

The FADER
duendita is overflowing

Queens singer-songwriter-producer duendita discusses the solitude, community, crises, and rebirths behind her latest album, 'the mind is a miracle.'

The FADER
Chrystabell is the dreamer

Singer, actor, and longtime David Lynch collaborator Chrystabell discusses the mind meld that inspired the duo's new album Cellophane Memories.

The FADER
The Necks are keeping it normal

Renowned Australian free-improvisation trio The Necks discuss their 38-year career as a band and their new album, Bleed.

The FADER
Hanif Abdurraqib is building new worlds with a concert series

Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, podcaster, and curator of worlds. His ability to find parity in the disparate, along with his exquisite command of the English language, has made him one of the 21st century's most celebrated cultural critics.

The FADER
Mabe Fratti's tension-release game

Guatemalan experimental cellist Mabe Fratti talks paranoia, elastic thoughts, FOMO, and the rockstar moves of her new album, Sentir que no sabes.

Selected Reviews

The FADER
Richard Dawson's hyperrealism

On 'End of the Middle,' English singer-songwriter Richard Dawson chooses domestic drama over the fantastical sagas of his earlier work.

Pitchfork
03/17/2022
Emma Ruth Rundle: Engine of Hell

Emma Ruth Rundle lives on a gloomy planet. Drop a needle on one of her records and imagine her shuffling down an otherwise sunny street beneath her own personal raincloud, shivering in an oversized trench coat. The clouds gather as you listen, and before long, darkness has fallen.

The FADER
Dancing with DJ E

Chuquimamani-Condori's 2023 album DJ E sounds unlike anything else. At UNSOUND last week, they conjured the same strange magic behind the decks.

The FADER
Peak DOOM

20 years after its initial release, MM..Food is still the brightest star in MF DOOM's universe.

Pitchfork
jackzebra: Hunched Jack Mixtape

On his first release for Surf Gang, the Chengdu plugg rapper embraces his outsider persona atop the strongest, most cohesive production of his career.

Pitchfork
Squanderers: If a Body Meet a Body

David Grubbs, Wendy Eisenberg, and Kramer-under a tongue-in-cheek alias borrowed from one of Grubbs' books-meet for a spontaneous, exploratory improv session on dual guitars and electric bass.

Pitchfork
bbymutha: Cherrytape EP

The Tennessee rapper’s latest four-song EP is a concentrated burst of energy with perfectly paced flows and a vibe that's always ready for the dancefloor.

Pitchfork
quinn: stars fell on trench

The 20-year-old rapper and producer smushes Top 40 samples, idiosyncratic bars, and cartoonish quirks into a blend that's alternately razor sharp and deep fried.

Bandcamp Daily
07/23/2021
Anika, "Change"

ALBUM OF THE DAY ​ ​ The age of "I actually wrote this album pre-Covid, but it feels prescient now; I guess I was channeling something..." is finally coming to a merciful close.

Pitchfork
Pearl & the Oysters: Flowerland

The third album from the duo of Juliette Pearl Davis and Joachim Polack takes on the soft psychedelic hues of Stereolab and Wendy Carlos, shot through with malaise and a curious sense of overstimulation.

Pitchfork
Connan Mockasin / Ade: It's Just Wind

New Zealand psych rocker Connan Mockasin’s collaborative album with his dad, Ade, has bad jokes, stream-of-consciousness poetry, and an odd, undeniable appeal.

Apollo Frequencies

Substack
Welcome to Apollo Frequencies

Hello and welcome to Apollo Frequencies™, a property of Raphael Media Group©, the world's premier live-work music journalism company.

The FADER Podcast

Spotify
FADER Podcast (Spotify)

Listen to The FADER Podcast on Spotify. The FADER Podcast is the new home for The FADER Interview, plus brand new podcasts like Songs You Need In Your Life, The FADER Culture Show, and New Music Friday.

Apple
11/04/2022
FADER Podcast (Apple)

Music Interviews Podcast · Updated Weekly · The FADER Podcast is the new home for The FADER Interview, plus brand new podcasts like Songs You Need In Your Life, The FADER Culture Show, and New Music Friday.

The FADER
Protomartyr love to rock

On The FADER Interview, Protomartyr's Joe Casey discusses the warily hopeful philosophy behind the band's new album, Formal Growth in the Desert.

The FADER
John Cale remains in flux

John Cale shares wisdom on the avant garde's past and future on the new episode of The FADER Interview podcast.

The FADER
SQÜRL's ecstatic ambitions

SQÜRL's Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan discuss their inspirations and assembly process on The FADER Interview.

Gen F & Opener Profiles

The FADER
MIZU's many movements

MIZU's new album, initially conceived as the score for a dance piece, finds the experimental cellist exploring her strangest textures and darkest colors yet.

The FADER
Black Fondu's secret is simplicity

Read our interview with 20-year-old London rapper-producer Black Fondu, who's building buzz with only one official track on the books.

The FADER
BRAT's hot-pink hell

New Orleans band BRAT are blasting through punk pieties on the path to something much more fun.

The FADER
Anastasia Coope's warped folk curios

21-year-old painter-singer-songwriter Anastasia Coope discusses her unconventional path to the strange songs on her debut album, Darning Woman.

Explainers

More Features, Interviews, Reviews

The FADER
Zsela is listening

Zsela discusses unlikely dualities, fire escape reveries, and Ween in the context of her brand new debut album, Big For You.

The FADER
How much should rappers worry about Eric Adams' war on drill?

The FADER: What's your initial reaction to Eric Adams' recent statements on drill? Jack Lerner: To me, this is just one incident in a long line of policy makers, the media, and law enforcement scapegoating the artistic expression of young Black men to stoke fear and redirect attention away from the bigger problem.

ANTIGRAVITY Magazine - Your New Orleans Alternative to Culture.
04/07/2025
The Convenience Don't Overthink It

"In 2022 / Yeah we've got cellular / Yeah, we've got driving cars / They move like cartoon vampires," Nick Corson sings on "2022," a late-album cut from The Convenience's second LP, Like Cartoon Vampires. Cue the detuned violins. On the forthcoming record (due out April 18 via Winspear), Corson and the duo's other half, [...]

The FADER
Lupe paints Amy

Lupe Fiasco discusses the deep intention behind his new album Samurai, a portrait of Amy Winehouse as a mythic battle rapper.

ANTIGRAVITY Magazine - Your New Orleans Alternative to Culture.
07/10/2018
LETTING IT FESTER WITH GUTS CLUB

Guts Club is not your granddad's folk singer. Lindsey Baker has only been writing and playing music seriously for a few years, but she's already dropped three albums' worth of sinister, violent folk country. She began her career in earnest during a brief stint in Brooklyn, putting out Guts Club's first LP, The Arm Wrestling [...]

The FADER
Bolis Pupul's way back

Read experimental dance artist Bolis Pupul on his upcoming solo album, Letter To Yu.

The FADER
Geneva Jacuzzi's high-art camp-pop

Geneva Jacuzzi discusses her new album 'Triple Fire,' a tight collection of campy bangers fit for the dance floor and the walls of the Getty.

ANTIGRAVITY Magazine - Your New Orleans Alternative to Culture.
03/11/2019
THE EXTRA LIVES OF AF THE NAYSAYER

Amahl Abdul-Khaliq (AF THE NAYSAYER) is a driving force in Louisiana's often overlooked electronic music community. In the late '00s, he waded into a scene dominated by dubstep and helped steer the ship toward deeper waters. He founded Dolo Jazz Suite, a loose collective of like-minded producers across coastal Louisiana who burst the sonic barrier [...]

ANTIGRAVITY Magazine - Your New Orleans Alternative to Culture.
07/08/2021
Sound or Space: an Interview with Oscar Rossignoli

Oscar Rossignoli is the musician New Orleans' downtown scene didn't know it needed. No other pianist in the city can currently boast the level of chops or the improvisational acumen that have become the keyboard phenom's calling cards. Trained at conservatories in San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Rossignoli started to dabble in non-classical forms [...]

The FADER
Xiu Xiu's switchblade pop

13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips might be Xiu Xiu's most approachable album, but it cuts as deep as their darkest work.

The FADER
Heems and Lapgan's magic mind meld

LAFANDAR, the debut collab from Heems and Lapgan, is a return to form for the former Das Racist rapper and a breakout moment for his new producer.

The FADER
A Japanese folk legend rides again

A recent rerecording of Japanese singer-songwriter Sachiko Kanenobu's 1999 album Fork in the Road sheds light on a fascinating career.

The FADER
What was NOISE?: UNSOUND, wrapped

At UNSOUND 2024, a stacked lineup - Chuquimamani-Condori, Bill Callahan, Keiji Haino, and more - gathered in Krakow to present their takes on NOISE.

The FADER
Drone music isn't just one note

Kali Malone, William Basinski, Stephen O'Malley, and six more experimental music titans played Pioneer Works in the space of 30 hours last week.

The FADER
The artists of UNSOUND define NOISE

Krakow's UNSOUND festival starts today. In honor of its theme, we asked Bill Callahan, Chuquimamani-Condori, DJ Anderson do Paraiso, and more a deceptively simple question: What is noise?

The FADER
The duality of Mount Kimbie

Mount Kimbie's Kai Campos and Dom Maker break down their new split double album for The FADER, track by track.

Brian Lehrer Show clips

Fun Little Stories

The FADER
ACLU files amicus brief for Afroman

The ACLU has filed an amicus brief on behalf of Afroman, who's been sued by Ohio police after using footage of them raiding his home in music videos.