Plus: Steve Albini was a button-pushing musician of uncompromising brilliance
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Sleeve Notes
Picks of the week
I’m still arsing around on instruments like when I was a kid
Jonny Greenwood  
I’m still arsing around on instruments like when I was a kid
The Radiohead guitarist changed rock music, then conquered the world of soundtracks. But can he revolutionise the church organ with an eight-hour composition?
‘The music industry is smoke and mirrors’  
How DIY duo the Lovely Eggs are keeping the north weird
Steve Albini was a button-pushing musician of uncompromising brilliance
‘Coming out, it was like a veil was lifted’  
Indigo Girls on homophobia, hope and their big Barbie moment
‘The truth was just too painful’  
The highs and lows of Mama Cass
‘My bandmates looked like escaped prisoners’  
Farewell to queer punk icon Gary Floyd
Reviews
Album of the week  
Knocked Loose: You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To – hardcore punk’s dark stars go supermassive
Knocked Loose: You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To – hardcore punk’s dark stars go supermassive
Jazz album of the month  
Wadada Leo Smith and Amina Claudine Myers – an elegiac homage to New York’s green lung
Album review  
Dehd: Poetry – a sparkling dialogue with rock’n’roll history
Let It Be review  
Reissued Beatles film takes long and winding road to eventual acclaim
Album review  
Kings of Leon: Can We Please Have Fun – polished but tired
Album review  
Yaya Bey: Ten Fold – a free-ranging tribute
Spotlight
Drake and Kendrick Lamar don’t get that women’s pain isn’t a punchline
Opinion  
Drake and Kendrick Lamar don’t get that women’s pain isn’t a punchline
The rappers’ fiery diss-battle has raised allegations of domestic violence and sex abuse – but for the wrong reasons
Classical
Classical album of the week  
Sherratt/Drake: Fear No More – drinkably deep bass at his peak
Sherratt/Drake: Fear No More – drinkably deep bass at his peak
Concert review  
Belcea Quartet/Zimmerman/Queyras – exquisite, unbuttoned Brahms
Belcea Quartet/Zimmerman/Queyras – exquisite, unbuttoned Brahms
Album review  
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas 1, 6 and 8 – characterful and infectiously gleeful
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas 1, 6 and 8 – characterful and infectiously gleeful
Russian protest punk and symphonies might seem worlds apart. But the idea is the same: weaponise your art
Russian protest punk and symphonies might seem worlds apart. But the idea is the same: weaponise your art
Concert review  
Sansara/Manchester Collective – an exquisitely colourful tribute to Rothko Chapel
Sansara/Manchester Collective – an exquisitely colourful tribute to Rothko Chapel
Concert review  
BBCSO/Brabbins: Italian Radicals – politically charged, expressive and technical
BBCSO/Brabbins: Italian Radicals – politically charged, expressive and technical
Add to playlist
‘Full of secrets and promises’  
Dusty Springfield’s 20 greatest songs – ranked!
Dusty Springfield’s 20 greatest songs – ranked!
From Big Black’s noise to Joanna Newsom’s hush  
10 of Steve Albini’s greatest recordings
‘He growls death metal in his pants!’  
The Eurovision 2024 bangers to watch out for
One to watch  
Fat Dog
‘People think it’s just for emo or gothic kids’  
The Kenyan metalhead leading a new wave of African rock
Sabrina Carpenter  
How the Espresso singer became a piping hot pop prospect
Advertisement
You may have missed
Mick Harvey on songwriting, staying straight and ‘survivor’s guilt’
‘I can’t take Michael Bublé seriously’  
Mick Harvey on songwriting, staying straight and ‘survivor’s guilt’
As he releases his first solo album in a decade, Nick Cave’s former right-hand man reflects on ageing well – and his peers who weren’t so fortunate
‘I thought it was a speech by Kurt Vonnegut’  
Baz Luhrmann on making Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
‘Some kid had credited a column of life advice in the Chicago Tribune to the writer of Slaughterhouse-Five. It then spread on a new invention called the world wide web. I thought it would make a great spoken word song’
Drukkje min broderѕ blod!  
Why the best Eurovision songs are no longer in English
While Europe’s lingua franca remains dominant, there has been a definite shift since a Portuguese song triumphed in 2017
‘I’ve got the Hovis ad in one ear and the Battle of Orgreave in the other’  
My obsession with brass bands
Why has a folk musician spent the last three years exploring the world of brass bands? Martin Green on how his obsession led to a documentary series, an audio drama, an album and, now, a live show
Keane’s Tom Chaplin and Tim Rice-Oxley look back  
Long friendships are like a marriage. You have to adapt to each other’s madness
The founding members of the band on early gigs, a magical brush with a Beatle, and being lifelong friends
‘I feel super gassed’  
Lady Unchained, the prison radio host playing inmates’ raps
Hosted by poet and broadcaster Lady Unchained, Free Flow lets prisoners phone in their raps – and one has even recorded a single. We go behind the scenes of the show, which is up for three awards
Live music this week
The Pogues  
Triumphant tribute to energy and poetry of band’s early days
Triumphant tribute to energy and poetry of band’s early days
Elbow  
A charged night of insatiable yearning and rollicking laments
Olivia Rodrigo  
Raging rock opera from a gen Z powerhouse
Kacey Musgraves  
Sweet and salty country-pop magic
Dionne Warwick  
Fascinating look back is a little short on songs
Tenacious D  
Jack Black’s daft duo are deeply schooled in rock
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