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Clear-sighted and well informed opinion on the culture of our past, present and future
With music venues in crisis, does celebrating them as places where bands appeared on the way to fame overshadow their true purpose as the places in which music is played for the sake of communal joy, asks Luke Turner
When Haitao Yang was shot in the head, it brought him to within touching distance of death, an experience that has profoundly influenced his music ever since, but he's not alone. Jak Hutchcraft investigates the bizarre and sometimes disturbing world of music and the near death experience. With thanks to Daniel Hall
Squarepusher's new album is a palate-cleansing summary of work to date displaying an admirable breadth of technique with some amazing peaks, says John Doran, but as a continuity LP it points more clearly to a crisis in criticism rather than IDM
After Dhruva Balram's family emigrated from India to Canada, he came of age in a new city, the optimistic soundtrack provided by emerging megastar Drake. Here he celebrates the breakthrough mixtape which provided the background to first love but also looks back and asks, what went wrong?
Audrey Golden, the author of I Thought I Heard You Speak: Women At Factory Records, celebrates the life of the Haçienda’s mould-breaking security person and examines the history of female bouncers
A viral question about jungle on University Challenge gave everyone the chance to be an expert and get a few laughs – but it also revealed some pernicious underlying assumptions, says Joe Muggs.
After Dhruva Balram's family emigrated from India to Canada, he came of age in a new city, the optimistic soundtrack provided by emerging megastar Drake. Here he celebrates the breakthrough mixtape which provided the background to first love but also looks back and asks, what went wrong?
A viral question about jungle on University Challenge gave everyone the chance to be an expert and get a few laughs – but it also revealed some pernicious underlying assumptions, says Joe Muggs.
As festival season approaches, writer, memoirist and founder of the Class Festival of literature Natasha Carthew looks back to the 1980s and reflects on the influence of the anarchic Elephant Fayre on her life and work. Images courtesy of Port Eliot / Michael Barrett
In this month’s Low Culture Essay, Jimmy Martin revisits Ministry’s much-maligned synth pop debut With Sympathy and asks, with the distance of 40 years, if it’s actually Al Jourgensen’s finest work
In this month's Low Culture essay, Jude Rogers reflects on Penelope Farmer's novel Charlotte Sometimes, its influence on The Cure, and how it captures the fraught time between childhood and adolescence that we perhaps never leave
As festival season approaches, writer, memoirist and founder of the Class Festival of literature Natasha Carthew looks back to the 1980s and reflects on the influence of the anarchic Elephant Fayre on her life and work. Images courtesy of Port Eliot / Michael Barrett
In this month's Low Culture essay, Jude Rogers reflects on Penelope Farmer's novel Charlotte Sometimes, its influence on The Cure, and how it captures the fraught time between childhood and adolescence that we perhaps never leave
Joni Mitchell's sixth album was a change of gear, coming deep from within the ME decade, its romantic entanglements dissolving to reveal a deeper search within but far from being solipsistic Mitchell’s rumination strikes a universal chord, says Matthew Lindsay
On its 40th anniversary, Eden Tizard explores The Fall’s Perverted By Language, an album where Mark E. Smith turns his focus to the suburbs and its inhabitants. A key record in The Fall saga, featuring a group at a crossroads, on the hunt for a new mode of attack
Joni Mitchell's sixth album was a change of gear, coming deep from within the ME decade, its romantic entanglements dissolving to reveal a deeper search within but far from being solipsistic Mitchell’s rumination strikes a universal chord, says Matthew Lindsay
On its 40th anniversary, Eden Tizard explores The Fall’s Perverted By Language, an album where Mark E. Smith turns his focus to the suburbs and its inhabitants. A key record in The Fall saga, featuring a group at a crossroads, on the hunt for a new mode of attack
Sade superfan Alex Macpherson celebrates the release of a career-spanning box set by selecting lesser known gems from their back catalogue
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
Surveying more music from the French fringes, David McKenna looks forward to two shows at Cafe OTO this month and delivers your essential guide to an array of new rap, folk and experimental releases. Homepage photo, Erwan Keravec by Atelier Marge Design
In his latest survey of the French fringes, David McKenna celebrates polyvalent drummer and composer Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy, a thrilling Franco-Japanese collaboration, a fusion of folk and reggaeton and French-Algerian R&B. Homepage photo, PoiL Ueda by Paul Bourdrel
In his latest report on the contemporary music scenes of Eastern and Central Europe, Jakub Knera compiles his highlights from Hungary, and talks with artists about the scene, the meaning of ‘underground’, and how they operate under the country’s political situation
In a special, British bands-only summer edition of his punk and hardcore round-up, Noel Gardner surveys superb new releases from Chain Of Flowers, Yfory and more, as well as a highly-reccomended new compilation of classic anarcho punk. Homepage photo: Fashion Tips
Kez Whelan turns his Sauronic eye on the lazy use of AI in metal design this month and praises bands – Judas Priest, High On Fire, Coffins, Inter Arma & more – still using their organic intelligence. Coffin Storm portrait by Christian Kickan Holm