The Portal
The Portal: 16 March 2026
Word reached tQ last week of something rather lovely happening in the cosmos thanks to one of our articles. Back in 2024, Mabe Fratti praised Bill Orcutt in her Baker’s Dozen interview, choosing his self-titled album and saying “He has an energy to him like he’s floating.” After reading the BD, Orcutt got in touch with Fratti, and the duo have ended up collaborating, with the fruits to be heard on the forthcoming album Amost Waking, due in the spring. To mark this, we’ve got that Baker’s Dozen below, along with an archival interview with Orcutt. The second Baker’s Dozen is with Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai, who are marking the 30th anniversary of their debut single ‘Tuner’/’Lower’ on 18 March, as well as being announced as one of the headliners for this year’s Green Man Festival. Today we published an extract from new Alice Coltrane biography Cosmic Music, and have dug into the archive for our Strange World Of… guide to her transcendent career, along with the Low Culture Podcast on Journey In Satchidananda. Michael Stipe has been in the news discussing his long-awaited solo album, so we thought we’d hunt for Jude Rogers’ exit interview from the end of R.E.M.. With The Bug playing one of the final gigs at Corsica Studios for our pals at Baba Yaga’s Hut this week, we’ve got the review of London Zoo for you below – the first ever Quietus album of the year. Speaking of The Bug, on Monday 16 March we reported that Ninja Tune (who released London Zoo is being acquired by music publishers Concord. Back in the day we ran a Ninja Tune week on tQ, the Roots Manuva interview from which you can read below. And finally, we head to Berlin for a drink in the chaos of “Nick Cave’s bar”.
Baker's Dozen
Feel What You Don’t Know: Mabe Fratti’s Favourite Albums
Following new album Sentir Que No Sabes and ahead of her guest curation at this year’s Le Guess Who?, Mabe Fratti takes Laura Snapes through thirteen favourite records spanning her Central American adolescence, cult dream pop and French post-punk Zeligs
A Quietus Interview
Unacceptable Ideas: An Interview With Bill Orcutt
Ahead of his performance at Le Guess Who? next month, Vanessa Ague speaks to Bill Orcutt, who charts the series of serendipities and chance encounters that led to one of the most boundary-pushing and varied careers in experimental guitar playing
Black Sky Thinking
Risky Business: A Look Inside West Berlin’s Legendary Risiko Bar
When Aug Stone explored a rumour he’d heard about “Nick Cave’s Bar”, he found a joint where Blixa Bargeld bartended, bizarre performance art took place, and the drugs meant everyone kept drinking long into the morning
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