Plus: After Adele — Is the diva leaving the building once and for all?
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Picks of the week
English Teacher are worthy Mercury winners – but the question of the prize’s future hangs heavy
English Teacher are worthy Mercury winners – but the question of the prize’s future hangs heavy
Alexis Petridis
The smart, strange Leeds quartet clearly have a bright future ahead of them. But with no sponsor and a straitened ceremony, the same can’t be said for the Mercury
Beauty and the beat  
Why do so many models shoot for pop stardom?
After Adele  
Is the diva leaving the building once and for all?
The reader interview  
LL Cool J: ‘Hip-hop isn’t underdog music any more’
Reviews
Alexis Petridis's album of the week  
Nala Sinephro: Endlessness – heavenly harp swaps easy ambience for agitation
Nala Sinephro: Endlessness – heavenly harp swaps easy ambience for agitation
Floating Points  
Cascade – an enthralling record of out-and-out bangers
Global album of the month  
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Party: Chain of Light – rediscovered raw emotion of a qawwali genius
Fat Dog  
Woof – a boisterous debut with more bark than bite
Spotlight
Watchdog to investigate Ticketmaster over Oasis ticket sales
Business  
Watchdog to investigate Ticketmaster over Oasis ticket sales
Competition and Markets Authority to look at how ‘dynamic pricing’ may have been used to increase prices
Classical
Album review  
Elgar: Violin Concerto – Vilde Frang’s exceptional performance makes this one of the finest to appear on disc
Elgar: Violin Concerto – Vilde Frang’s exceptional performance makes this one of the finest to appear on disc
Album review  
72 Preludes: Chopin, Scriabin, Yashiro – Fujita’s no-frills approach brings care and clarity
72 Preludes: Chopin, Scriabin, Yashiro – Fujita’s no-frills approach brings care and clarity
Prom 58  
Orchestre de Paris/Mäkelä – electrifying music-making from an elite team
Orchestre de Paris/Mäkelä – electrifying music-making from an elite team
Proms 55 and 56  
Berlin Philharmonic/Petrenko – spellbinding magic
Berlin Philharmonic/Petrenko – spellbinding magic
You may have missed
How we recreated the Beatles to make Backbeat
‘Let them kick the crap out of the songs’  
How we recreated the Beatles to make Backbeat
‘I knew people who said John Lennon was angry, insecure and cruel in the early days. When I met Ian Hart, I saw he could provide that’
‘We were exhausted – mentally unwell’  
Empire of the Sun on the downside of success – and rising again
In the eight years since Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele’s last album, there have been hits, clashes, babies and illness – and a new appreciation for one another
‘Ghostface Killah wanted to be a homicidal eagle!’  
Def Jam: Fight for NY at 20
Marking the anniversary, the creators of the rap beef beat-em-up sequel share memories of transforming Flavor Flav and Snoop Dogg into legendary video game characters
Britain’s first gay anthem?  
Why the UK’s pioneering LGBTQ+ protest band reunited
Written by members of the Gay Liberation Front in 1972, A Gay Song is a joyously defiant rallying cry. Artist Ian Giles explains why he persuaded its unruly creators to return to the studio
A supersonic swindle  
My £1,423 Oasis Ticketmaster hell
With only seconds to decide whether to buy £361 standing tickets after hours of queueing, fans may feel exploited rather than exhilarated
Live music this week
Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve  
50 years of hits only improved by age
50 years of hits only improved by age
End of the Road festival  
Engagingly eclectic weekender never fails to surprise
Supersonic festival  
An awesome windmill of noise and connection
Kitty Empire's artist of the week  
Fontaines DC – Dublin rockers strike out into the stratosphere
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