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The Libertines co-frontman is 40 – an age few expected him to reach. Yet he’s back with a new band, a seaside hotel and an unorthodox approach to dog-handling -
Does the placement of a name on a poster really matter? According to insiders, it’s the music world’s touchiest topic
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From the teen romance of her 2006 debut single to Me!, released today, we rate them all, charting her transformation from teenage country sensation to all-conquering pop titan -
The queen of pop hits it with her Latin shtick, Beck and Pharrell team up, while something else sounds like drunk Massive Attack -
4 out of 5 stars.
The singer’s death hangs heavy over this album, finished by her bandmates, but the songs, which are some of their best, are superb
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She was the rubber-knickered peroxide bombshell who put the sex into the Pistols. Now she’s written a memoir of her years causing outrage at the heart of punk -
As the legendary label’s house band, the Funk Brothers played on hundreds of era-defining hits – then they were cut loose and left to find work on the assembly line. Their guitarist holds no grudges -
‘I turned up at Sérgio’s house with every record he ever made and said: “Bro, I’m your biggest fan.” He started tearing up and replied: “This is too much!”’ -
He played ‘anxious weirdo nerds’ in Pitch Perfect and Dear Evan Hansen, but on his soul-baring new album Ben Platt has a new role ... himself
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4 out of 5 stars.
Steam Down Orchestra Jazz collective share the spirit
4 out of 5 stars.Born out of a weekly jam session, this furiously energetic band of musicians step on to a bigger stage to showcase the British jazz renaissance -
4 out of 5 stars.
Daryl Hall and John Oates Elegantly crumpled soft-rock statesmen
4 out of 5 stars.Resorts World Arena, Birmingham
Few septuagenarians could rock a leather jacket like these two, let alone belt out classics like Maneater, Out of Touch and I Can’t Go for That -
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4 out of 5 stars.
Stella Donnelly Playful guitar-pop with witty, gritty truths
4 out of 5 stars. -
3 out of 5 stars.
Opera Billy Budd – magnificently sung production is slow to focus
3 out of 5 stars. -
4 out of 5 stars.
Weyes Blood Titanic journey reaches a mellow peak
4 out of 5 stars.
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4 out of 5 stars.
Alexis Petridis's album of the week Aldous Harding: Designer – cryptic charm and shimmering psychedelic pop
4 out of 5 stars.Her lyrics are inscrutable and her vocal and visual stylings eccentric, but Harding’s third album is a thing of beauty
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4 out of 5 stars.
Contemporary album of the month Ishmael Ensemble: A State of Flow – Bristol native's classy, clubby astral meld
4 out of 5 stars.Combining genres from jazz to minimalism with a great city’s musical heritage, without resorting to pastiche, is no mean feat -
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To honour the passing of Pete Shelley, we revisit Dave Simpson's feature on 40 years since the Manchester band’s first release reshaped pop music with one of the first ever independent releases
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In focus
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Her songs are streamed in the millions and her music is beloved by Janet Jackson. But who is HER, the songwriter who hides her identity with a pair of sunglasses? -
The Canadian rapper’s speech was cut off, further damaging the standing of the ceremony in the hip-hop community, despite championing more women
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From the teen romance of her 2006 debut single to Me!, released today, we rate them all, charting her transformation from teenage country sensation to all-conquering pop titan
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French pianist and composer who applied jazz improvisation and swing to Bach’s exquisite symmetries
By genre
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4 out of 5 stars.
Indie Mountain Goats: In League With Dragons review – deliciously detailed indie rock
4 out of 5 stars.John Darnielle’s four-piece have made an album of melodic character studies and mournful stompers. Hard to believe it’s their 17th -
Three decades after their inauspicious start, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons think the spirit of 90s rave culture, as captured on their new album, can help heal Brexit wounds
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Sacha Jenkins’ impressive doc explores the evolution of hip-hop. Plus: smart espionage thrills in The Looming Tower. Here’s what to watch on TV tonight
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3 out of 5 stars.
R&B Pink: Hurts 2B Human review – grown-up Pink is as underdog as ever
3 out of 5 stars.The singer’s eighth album reflects on love, loss and maturity, but it seems to tread familiar ground -
4 out of 5 stars.
Experimental music Aldous Harding: Designer review – cryptic charm and shimmering psychedelic pop
4 out of 5 stars.Her lyrics are inscrutable and her vocal and visual stylings eccentric, but Harding’s third album is a thing of beauty
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Kristin Hayter believes extreme music is overdue a reckoning with misogyny and violence – and uses her own ‘survivor anthems’ to spread the word
You may have missed
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Instead of radio or the music press, today’s teens are discovering songs in the background of YouTube videos – creating a new breed of superstars unknown to adults
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As the 78-year-old producer embarks on his first ever solo tour, we rate his greatest work – including a No 1 that is still the sound of the future -
A quarter of a century ago, before acts like Orville Peck and Brandi Carlile, Lang was already mixing queer and country
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In The Women of Whitechapel, it is not the serial killer who’s the star, but three generations of formidable ENO singing talent evoking colourful lives in the slum streets he stalked -
Six and Waitress are the latest shows to find singalong success – and without a jukebox hit between them. What’s their secret? -
From architecture to drug policy, nightlife quietly incubates ideas that then flourish in the mainstream. But, with brands moving in, club-cultural innovation is under threat
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