As he releases new Magnetic Fields album 50 Song Memoir, Stephin Merritt doesn't delve into the past for his Baker's Dozen list but instead gives tQ an A-Z of some contemporary favourites, from Japan to Marc Almond, bawdy cockney songs and the BBC Radiophonic Workship. Pic by Marcelo Krasilcic
Australian avant garde mainstay Anthony Pateras and Faith No More's Mike Patton release extraordinary music together as tētēma. The former speaks to Patrick Clarke about their zealous, raging, multifaceted new album.
The astral hip hop of Seattle's Shabazz Palaces conjures up a disorienting and thrilling patchwork of shifting moods and sensations. Laura Snoad speaks to vocalist Ishmael Butler about new album Lese Majesty, the science fiction of Octavia Butler, and the importance of ambiguity