End Of Play 2010: A Hip-Hop State Of The Art Report

Neil Kulkarni rages about mainstream hip-hop and cowardly criticism in his end-of-year report, as well as telling you what you should be listening to

LISTEN: Goat – Words

Second track from Commune, with full album playback at Nothing Is... this Friday at The Alibi in Dalston

Spools Out: The Best Of November’s Tapes Reviewed

It’s the penultimate Spool’s Out of a tumultuous year, and the cassette tape underground shows no signs of slowing down. Belgian Stoner Rock, imaginary SNES and Czech TV soundtracks, techno noise from Poland, and droney modular synths from none other than Surgeon himself keep our master of tapes Tristan Bath in a good mood. Anthony Child photographed by Cathrin Queins

Of Montreal

Skeletal Lamping

David Karsten Daniels

The Four Immeasurable Minds

Raw Takes: Richard Fearless’s Favourite Tracks

Before the release of their sixth album this week and appearance at Atonal in Berlin this August, the Death In Vegas head honcho, producer and DJ scours the fruits of his record-collecting history and picks 13 tracks that have informed Transmission for Joe Clay

An Eastern Spring: Memoir Of A Second Generation Immigrant. Part Two

Neil Kulkarni compiles more transmissions from Planet Cov for your entertainment and illumination

Of Electricity And Water: A Thomas Dolby Interview

As he curates the TED symposium, Thomas Dolby talks to Emily Bick discusses collaborations, copyright, the environment and his return to an East Anglia now threatened by the North Sea. Photos by Jana Chiellino

Having A Bawl: Why Does Music Make People Cry?

Robert Barry investigates the biology behind music's capacity to make us cry, and explains how emotional responses to music might have influenced our social evolution