Getting to the heart of what artists are thinking
After providing Severance with the soundtrack to its "defiant jazz" scene, the endlessly explorative work of legendary multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee is enjoying a moment of rare mainstream crossover. With a new taster compilation coming this autumn, Stewart Smith provides 10 points of entry into his sprawling discography
As she releases a new deluxe edition of Like A Ribbon, one of the year's finest albums, boundary-pushing East London rapper, producer and poet John Glacier speaks to Claire Biddles about childhood poems on the failure of humanity, the enduring influence of Hackney, disability, self-advocacy, grime and more
Ahead of the North American premiere of their ongoing collaboration at this year’s MUTEK Festival, upsammy and Valentina Magaletti speak to Jennifer Lucy Allan about architecture as an instrument, and striking a balance between turbulence and clarity
Long before vocalist Rachel Brown began pursuing music, they dreamed of writing for the small screen. Ahead of releasing their disorientating, technicolour new album with Water From Your Eyes, they explain this lifelong passion to Alastair Shuttleworth
DJ K, pioneer of a new brand of hectic, visceral and politically charged electronic music called bruxaria funk, speaks to André Forte about soundtracking Brazil’s favelas, and how his new album Rádio Libertadora has added polish to his sonic warfare
On superb new album Offshore, Nadeem Din-Gabisi speaks through a football kit clad alias to explore issues of belonging and identity as a second-generation immigrant in the shadow of empire. He tells Patrick Clarke about imagining a better future, the need to antagonise the far right and much, much more
Jasamine White-Gluz, aka No Joy, tells Claire Biddles about how a move to rural Quebec inspired the shift to multi-faceted maximalism that defines her new album Bugland
Ahead of their show at this year’s Skaņu Mežs festival, Jack Barnett of These New Puritans takes Claire Biddles through an eclectic Baker’s Dozen, taking in everything from flamenco and Greek traditional music to Steely Dan and Bob Dylan
From teenage awakenings at the hands of Björk and Stereolab via English folksong, a lockdown obsession with Dead Can Dance and a newfound love of Lili Boulanger, Patrick Wolf takes Luke Turner through the thirteen records that have defined his life
Ahead of their show at this year’s Skaņu Mežs festival, Jack Barnett of These New Puritans takes Claire Biddles through an eclectic Baker’s Dozen, taking in everything from flamenco and Greek traditional music to Steely Dan and Bob Dylan
From teenage awakenings at the hands of Björk and Stereolab via English folksong, a lockdown obsession with Dead Can Dance and a newfound love of Lili Boulanger, Patrick Wolf takes Luke Turner through the thirteen records that have defined his life
Ahead of the release of her new album 2t2, Cosey Fanni Tutti is interviewed by inimitable film director Peter Strickland, before the tables are turned, with both parties free from any kind of interference from us
We left two of our favourite musicians, Gazelle Twin and Gary Numan, alone to answer the kind of questions they wish they were always asked, talking ghost encounters, weirdness in pop music, parenthood, the end of humanity and more
We left musician Hayden Thorpe and the writer Robert Macfarlane alone to answer the kind of questions they wish they were always asked
Ahead of the release of the This Is Memorial Device album, based on the play, which was in turn based on the novel, musician Stephen Pastel and writer David Keenan interview one another, without any interference from us
Ahead of the release of her new album 2t2, Cosey Fanni Tutti is interviewed by inimitable film director Peter Strickland, before the tables are turned, with both parties free from any kind of interference from us
We left two of our favourite musicians, Gazelle Twin and Gary Numan, alone to answer the kind of questions they wish they were always asked, talking ghost encounters, weirdness in pop music, parenthood, the end of humanity and more
Ahead of the release of the This Is Memorial Device album, based on the play, which was in turn based on the novel, musician Stephen Pastel and writer David Keenan interview one another, without any interference from us
Lyra Pramuk talks to Lucy O’Brien about the transformative power of astrology - how it provides a framework for her new album Hymnal, and a wider code for being human. Words by Lucy O'Brien. Portraits by Krzysztof Bagiński
People say doomscrolling is tearing apart the social fabric – and they're probably right – but, says Kevin Lee Kharas of Real Lies, it's a problem he's learning to like. Here, he tells us what it's taught him about life and people
People say doomscrolling is tearing apart the social fabric – and they're probably right – but, says Kevin Lee Kharas of Real Lies, it's a problem he's learning to like. Here, he tells us what it's taught him about life and people
From Rock's Backpages this month, an infamous NME pop summit from 1989. James Brown and Sean O'Hagan took Mark E Smith, Nick Cave & Shane MacGowan to the Montague Arms (RIP) in New Cross. Great merriment ensued... (republished 24th January 2018)
Fifteen years after the release of Radiohead's phenomenal OK Computer, we visit the Rock's Backpages archive for Paul Morley's Uncut magazine review
The Quietus are proud to be hosting the Village Mentality stage, headlined by Tortoise, at Field Day this Saturday. Writing for the Melody Maker in February 1996, Simon Reynolds heralded their album Millions Now Living Will Never Die as the future...
From Rock's Backpages this month, an infamous NME pop summit from 1989. James Brown and Sean O'Hagan took Mark E Smith, Nick Cave & Shane MacGowan to the Montague Arms (RIP) in New Cross. Great merriment ensued... (republished 24th January 2018)
The Quietus are proud to be hosting the Village Mentality stage, headlined by Tortoise, at Field Day this Saturday. Writing for the Melody Maker in February 1996, Simon Reynolds heralded their album Millions Now Living Will Never Die as the future...
Ahead of a headline slot at the Baba Yaga's Hut 19th Anniversary Party, Part Chimpers past and present speak to Stevie Chick about an illustrious career in higher-function-shattering rock music
For 40 years, Jon Spencer has been playing a mutant strain of rock & roll. Here he offers Mark Andrews 10 entry points to his vast back catalogue, from his earliest days in Pussy Galore, through the Blues Explosion all the way up to his still-nameless new band
Franz Treichler guides David Stubbs through the archives of the Swiss trio who repurposed the sampler to give rock a new, industrial lease of life in the 1980s, before venturing into space influenced by ambient and techno. Portrait by Charlotte Walker
For 40 years, Jon Spencer has been playing a mutant strain of rock & roll. Here he offers Mark Andrews 10 entry points to his vast back catalogue, from his earliest days in Pussy Galore, through the Blues Explosion all the way up to his still-nameless new band
Franz Treichler guides David Stubbs through the archives of the Swiss trio who repurposed the sampler to give rock a new, industrial lease of life in the 1980s, before venturing into space influenced by ambient and techno. Portrait by Charlotte Walker