Jockstrap

Spool’s Out: Cassette Reviews For March By Tristan Bath

An unusually high amount of fresh ground feels trodden in this month’s tape roundup by Tristan Bath, including a new tape featuring Stara Rzeka, red raw Welsh psych, a surreal retail satire, cosmis Portuguese improv, and more.

No Obligatory Excuse: Is ‘The Classical’ By The Fall Racist?

Coming just a year after Mark E Smith's death, Cherry Red's wonderful reissue of Hex Enduction Hour and Paul Hanley's engrossing book, Have A Bleedin Guess, forced John Doran to reassess the most notorious lyric in The Fall's four decade long career

After The Break: Unsound 2021 Reviewed

From bejewelled hydrofeminism to burning pianos, Unsound is back. John Doran and Jennifer Lucy Allan report on the Polish festival's return

Loop, With New Line-Up, To Play Levitation

Band announce new three-track EP Array, due for release later in the year

The Marshall Suite: Cat Power’s Favourite Albums

Chan Marshall guides Diva Harris through 13 albums that have soundtracked her life, from stealing cars to heartbreak and escaping difficult times

Nothing Matters: The Decline Of British Sea Power 20 Years On

Richard Foster revisits Sea Power's debut album and finds a record for the ages; and one that has not lost its mystery

Skepta

Ignorance Is Bliss

Skepta returns with a new album, but this one's less of a trailblazer, more of a consolidation, finds James Ball

In Fair England: Fairport Convention’s Liege & Lief At 50

Yes they probably invented folk rock but also, on their landmark third album, Fairport Convention, presented a view of England that has now been lost... one of violent division along lines of class and gender but one that was also positive and questing, says Michael Hann

East India Youth Remix Package

William Doyle rounds off year with remixes from Blanck Mass, Truss and more

Final Meltdown Lineup

Princess Nokia, Fakear, Soulwax and more join the M.I.A.-curated lineup

Primitive Painters: Drinks With The Long Blondes

Ahead of its Rough Trade reissue, Richard Foster maps out the backstory of The Long Blondes’ debut, Someone To Drive You Home

The Month’s Electronic Music: Pirate Radio Techno

In this month's electronic music column, Rory Gibb casts an ear over a slew of new UK club music releases, plus new records by Laurel Halo and Kyle Hall

Dedications: An Interview With Jeff Parker

Riding high in our top 100 albums of 2020 so far, Jeff Parker's Suite For Max Brown is a delight. He speaks to Patrick Clarke about the making of an extraordinary record, which was dedicated to his mother

The Gold Standard: Imperial Triumphant Interviewed

Imperial Triumphant’s sixth album sharpens up their avant metal sound and polishes it to a burnished sheen. Cooking up a storm that mixes Stanley Kubrick, Art Deco and jazz, with a huge dollop of New York City, Dan Franklin speaks to Zachary Ezrin about how self-imposed restrictions expanded their modernist vision. All portraits by Shannon Void

Everything But The Girl

The Language Of Life, Worldwide, Amplified Heart

Grace Jones-Curated Meltdown Festival Postponed To 2022

The likes of Solange and Peaches remain on the bill for the rescheduled event