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Forty years on from its release – and with the band’s popularity in question more than ever – Wyndham Wallace returns to The Unforgettable Fire, U2’s incendiary denial of expectations and their first encounter with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. (This feature was originally published in 2014)
The diaristic title of the Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico's live record demands it be put into some kind of historical context. Michael Bellis looks at a highly unusual album released in a time of great cultural and social change
From making groundbreaking electro to working with Whitney Houston via boozy sessions with Motörhead, plus avant explorations of thrash, drum & bass, grindcore, gnawa and disco, Bill Laswell has been on more great records than you've had hot dinners. Zachary Lipez offers ten points of entry to his bewilderingly vast back catalogue
Roy Ascott’s Groundcourse rewired the brains of a generation of art students and turned Brian Eno and Pete Townshend on to cybernetic thinking. In an exclusive extract from his new book *Blank Canvas: Art School Creativity From Punk to New Wave*, Simon Strange explores the ideas behind the course and the strange activities it inspired
It doesn't matter how much you love his solo work, Roxy Music were twice the band after Brian Eno left the fold, says Jeremy Allen in the latest instalment of our lockdown essay series. All photographs from Roxy Music Archive
Hundreds of musicians, curators, academics and more, from Brian Eno to Nitin Sawhney, Shirley Collins to Stewart Lee and Roisin Murphy, sign an open letter to the BBC about their disastrous cuts to their scheduling
As Brian Eno prepares to reissue his influential 'ambient' albums, William Doyle asks what significance the genre still has in a world of Spotify playlists designed for wellness pursuits and making admin bearable
About to turn 84 and still going strong, Hans-Joachim Roedelius has led a long and extraordinary life, which has taken in Nazi Germany, postwar turmoil, the birth of Krautrock and working with Michael Rother and Brian Eno among others. His mind, however, is fixed on the present and the future, he tells David Stubbs
Before the release of Listening To Pictures: (Pentimento Volume One), his first new album in nine years and the launch of his own imprint label on Warp, experimental trumpeter and composer Jon Hassell talks Claire Sawers through ten important works in his back catalogue -- including one he wished he’d put his name to, and one still stuck in the pipeline
Yui Onodera’s music has the power to transform your listening space using insights the Tokyo-based composer gained from studying architectural design. With new pieces featured on the latest instalment in Kompakt’s Pop Ambient series, we discuss acoustics, ambient music and audio technology
And here it is... the Quietus' favourite albums released between January 1 and June 30, 2016, as voted for by John Doran, Luke Turner, Karl Smith, Laurie Tuffrey and Christian Eede (with some assistance from Mat Colegate and Bobby Barry)
In the wake of David Bowie's death, some have rushed to 'expose' the 'problematic' nature of some of his political views and aesthetics. But, argues Agata Pyzik, the true picture was far more complex and nuanced
Legendary producer Tony Visconti has recently been revisiting one of his classic Bowie recordings, The Man Who Sold The World, with a tour and a live album. Simon Price asks him about the Dame, Bolan, Sparks, the Manics, and more
Thirty years on from its release – and with the band’s popularity in question more than ever – Wyndham Wallace returns to The Unforgettable Fire, U2’s incendiary denial of expectations and their first encounter with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois
Getting stuck in to David Stubbs' more-than-just-an-index new book, Future Days: Krautrock and the Building of Modern Germany, Stewart Smith considers the unique egolessness and socio-historical peculiarities that gave rise to the enigmatic genre and Stubbs' effectiveness as guide
As the BFI launches a major season Derek Jarman's live and work, longtime musical collaborator Simon Fisher Turner talks The Quietus through 'Blue's genesis, creation and release, and his subsequent part in keeping Jarman's memory alive.
The legendary Bryan Ferry has just released Olympia, his best album in two decades, and continues the Roxy Music revival tour in the new year. Chris Roberts visits him to discuss the past and present, art, controversy, Keats, Kate Moss, and being stuck in a lift with Charlton Heston
Echo & The Bunnymen’s Will Sergeant takes Richard Foster through thirteen favourite albums from The Residents to Love, recalls making records with his dad’s electric shaver and a stringless guitar, explains why it’s time to stop bashing prog rock, and much, much more
Ahead of his excellent latest album, Great Spans of Muddy Time, William Doyle - fka East India Youth, whose debut EP was first ever record released on The Quietus Phonographic Corporation - talks us through his Baker’s Dozen. William Doyle photo by Ryan MacPhail
With a show at London's Under The Bridge on 5 April, Michael Rother of Neu!, Harmonia, and a newly-boxsetted solo career takes Patrick Clarke through his life in 13 records, from Little Richard to Fuck Buttons, even though he doesn't really listen to music any more
As well as being the lynchpin of suited rock howlers Gallon Drunk, James Johnston has played with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and PJ Harvey - but we're not going to hold the fact that he's picked both of them for his Baker's Dozen against him. Portrait by Steve Gullick.
Our series of articles curated by Kevin 'The Bug' Martin continues with a Baker's Dozen from Mika Vainio, solo artist and former member of Pansonic. He tells us about how the likes of Suicide, Neubauten, the Alex Harvey Band, King Crimson and more soundtracked a life of working in slaughterhouses and vegetarian restaurants
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