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Definitive conversations with our favourite artists
22 years into their career the perennial outsiders of 21st century queer American art rock have announced a potentially game-changing album in the shape of 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto With Bison Horn Grips. Words by Natalie Marlin. All pictures by Eva Luise Hoppe. Contains video arguably NSFW
Lori Goldston has just released a lowkey but wonderful album of cello improvisations recorded on the road in the RoI; she talks to Stevie Chick about her love for the instrument and the joy she felt playing live with Nirvana and Earth
In the first podcast from Kyiv's 20ft Radio, we're taken deep into the otherworldly folk sounds of the Ukrainian underground of the late 80s and early 90s. New Voices Ukraine is a collaboration between The Quietus, 20ft Radio, Neformat, the Ukrainian Institute and the British Council.
As he tours the third installment in his Cwmwl Tystion trilogy, an ambitious combination of jazz and folk music that explores Welsh national identity, culture and history, Tomos Williams tells Gail Tasker about the connections between Paul Robeson and the Welsh labour movement, reclaiming Wales' traditional music after centuries of repression, and confronting the ugly sides of his country's past
Multi-disciplinary artist Lola De La Mata speaks to Patrick Clarke about how her experience with severe tinnitus and vertigo, groundbreaking work in the field of audiology, and stigma around hearing loss in the musical community fed into her new album Oceans On Azimuth
As they surprise-release their first album in six years, the Bristol trio speak to Alastair Shuttleworth about how ambiguity, a Welsh farmhouse and a departed pet all played a part in their astonishing new music. Cover portrait by Andre Habermann
Iron Maiden's larger than life frontman talks to author John Higgs about magical practice, the hallucinatory mandrake root, how to survive a rough childhood and why William Blake is an artist we should look to for inspiration. All photographs by John McMurtrie
Thou’s new album takes a brutal back-to-basics approach, all under the ruthless glare of frontman Bryan Funck. Dan Franklin speaks to him and guitarist Andy Gibbs about holding their feet to the fire, roughly dispensing with melody and, most surprisingly, The Mighty Boosh. Main picture of Thou live by Mae Cravotta
As they prepare to release their second album and embark on their debut UK tour, Canadian improvisational ensemble Earth Ball tell Julian Marszalek about advertising on an old mattress, their unconventional base in a “dirty, weird coal mining town,” and the cooperative joy of instant composition
The Paraorchestra is a collaboration between disabled and non-disabled musicians, composer Charles Hazlewood and singers including Brett Anderson and Nadine Shah. Anderson, Hazlewood and Paraorchestra members speak to Jude Rogers about the strange joy in singing songs about death. Photos by Kirsten McTernan
At the start of the 90s the astounding noise rock band Silverfish were everywhere – their shows nearly as ubiquitous as their Hips Tits Lips Power T-shirts – but since then they seem to have fallen irrevocably (and unfairly) down the memory hole. Keith Kahn-Harris catches up with band members today and asks: What happened?
Marc Riley, Craig Scanlon, Paul Hanley and Steve Hanley speak to Daniel Dylan Wray about a new release of archive recordings capturing Slates performed live in its entirety, how it’s helping them regain agency in a world awash with ropey Fall bootlegs, and what Mark E. Smith might have made of their plans
Apartment House leader Anton Lukoszieveze discusses 30 years of combining intricate compositions with a straightforward approach, the band’s performance of Nico’s The Marble Index at this month’s Bristol New Music, and the importance of beekeeping
When Einstürzende Neubauten formed in West Berlin 44 years ago, few would have predicted the speed-fuelled, metal-bashing industrial pioneers would be easing into their fifth decade by releasing their most coherent yet varied body of work so far. Frontman Blixa Bargeld tells Wesley Doyle how biological determinism, public improvisation and feather boas all fed into its creation
Having reached a peak of heavy music on last year’s Nature Morte, Montreal’s Big Brave speak to Patrick Clarke about embracing the intensity of quietness on new album A Chaos Of Flowers, and how taking lyrical influence from long-dead poets provided deep political resonance
“The internet is literally Thatcher’s Dream: an entire society of strangers out there working for themselves.” Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton are back and – despite their protestations, says Elizabeth Aubrey – they patently care now more than ever
Arrests in Algeria, family blood feuds, unreleasable drone music, permanently broken friendships, magic mushroom vomit... Fat White Family may be poised to release a brilliant new album Forgiveness Is Yours, but as he reveals to Daniel Dylan Wray, the stress of keeping the show on the road is becoming too much for Lias Saoudi. All portraits by Louise Mason
The sixth record from Julia Holter is a layered and heartfelt exploration of the sublime everyday. Ahead of her performance at Rewire Festival next month, she talks to Skye Butchard about its difficult creation, parallel soundtrack projects, and the attention economy in the streaming era
A year after their gloriously nightmarish session for BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction, the two improvisers are finally sharing the recordings that didn’t make the airwaves... and taking their blistering show on the road. They speak to Alastair Shuttleworth about birdsong, fear, and their new audio-visual shows backed by the Outlands Network
Lynks takes Bella Spratley through his journey from a Bristol basement party dressed in binbags and rubber gloves to next month’s dizzying debut album Abomination, and talks fluidity, anger, representation and more. Photos by Mars Washington
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