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‘Somebody’s up there saying: good karma!’
Phil Manzanera on Roxy Music, Cuban grooves and making a fortune off Jay-Z and Kanye West

Born into a line of pirates and possible spies, the guitarist went from Castro-era Cuba to art-pop’s greatest group. As his solo work is reissued, he explains why he was too adventurous for his old band

Fishing lines, mobile phones and Wirral wind
The oddly harmonious music of Ex-Easter Island Head

The mysterious world of Two Shell

Our pranks don’t mean we’re not sincere

‘She straddled love and illusion, a hell of a sacrifice’
Kristin Hersh on meeting Sinéad O’Connor

‘We tried to get Mariah Carey … and found out she costs $1m’
The songs musicians chose for their first dance

Reviews

Alexis Petridis's album of the week
Peter Perrett: The Cleansing – a late-career triumph that dances in the face of death

Peter Perrett: The Cleansing – a late-career triumph that dances in the face of death

Global album of the month
Annarella and Django: Jouer – flute and west African lute shine in expressive new partnership

Tyler, the Creator
Chromakopia – early midlife crisis triggers a freaked-out psychodrama

IDK
Bravado + Intimo – bright beats, retrograde rhymes

Autre Ne Veut
Love, Guess Who?? – long-awaited return is like peak Magic FM

Spotlight

A forest of questions
Take our quiz on the Cure!

Ahead of the band’s first album in 16 years coming out on Friday, superfans can test their mettle with this trivia spanning their entire career

Classical

Groping, greed and the lust for great power
What Wagner’s Ring Cycle tells us about Trump v Harris

Album review
Holst: Sāvitri – underrated jewel of 20th-century British music

Holst: Sāvitri – underrated jewel of 20th-century British music

Album review
Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos 1-5 – complete survey opens with bite and promise

Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos 1-5 – complete survey opens with bite and promise

Live review
Rigoletto – Miller’s mafioso take still brings style and insights to Verdi’s masterpiece

Rigoletto – Miller’s mafioso take still brings style and insights to Verdi’s masterpiece

Live review
Pagliacci – Mid Wales Opera send in the clowns for a stylish and emotive evening

Pagliacci – Mid Wales Opera send in the clowns for a stylish and emotive evening

Live review
Nonclassical at 20 – synths, screams and bubble wrap as record label celebrates with the LSO

Nonclassical at 20 – synths, screams and bubble wrap as record label celebrates with the LSO

You may have missed

The reader interview
Dolly Parton: ‘I was sorry when Dolly the sheep died – though I don’t want to be cloned’

As she launches a new LP and her own wine, the country legend answers your questions on her tough childhood, how she recorded Jolene, and why she’ll never retire

‘I wanted a hit!’
Bryan Ferry on recording Slave to Love in Bette Midler’s house

‘Its first performance was at Live Aid. The drummer broke his kit, the bass was in a different tuning, David Gilmour’s guitar wasn’t working – and my mic was inaudible’

‘Julian Cope told me: you’re unemployable in the real world’
David Wrench, the Welsh studio wizard behind pop’s A-list

Wrench has mixed music for Frank Ocean, FKA twigs, Blur and dozens more – all drawn to what have been called ‘the finest ears ever’. He explains how he went from the dole to the big time

Writer Amy Key

Knowing I’d finally hear Joni Mitchell sing live left me woozily panicked

The author of an acclaimed memoir inspired by the singer’s album Blue fulfils her dream of seeing the reclusive star in a rare concert at the Hollywood Bowl

‘These were tough dudes – and notoriously romantic’
Why lowrider soul, LA’s music and car subculture, still thrives

Lowriding cars are synonymous with rap, but their Chicano drivers prefer sweet soul music. The scene’s movers and musicians explain how they went from being police targets to esteemed cultural cornerstones

Sick of overpriced gig tickets? Here’s the Cure

Stewart Lee

Robert Smith, defiant leader of the post-punk stalwarts, has shown that secondary markets can be bypassed, enabling ordinary people to benefit from culture

Live music this week

Ice Spice
Rapid-fire hits from rap’s new princess

Beak>
Cosmic rockers’ noisy, glorious send-off for Geoff Barrow

Coldplay
There’s simply too much going on

Mk.gee
Is this the world’s most exciting young guitarist?

Laura Marling
Gently transcendent songs of motherhood and domesticity

Iron and Wine
Shadow puppets and folk-pop combine in singular gig

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