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sorey
Music Review / 26 June 2026
26 June 2026

CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear

time's echo
Book Review / 23 June 2026
23 June 2026

DAVID YEARSLEY is fascinated by the account of four composers who transformed their experiences of the second world war and the Holocaust into deeply moving works of art

KB albums
Music / 22 June 2026
22 June 2026

Re-releases from Iain Matthews, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and The Charlie Daniels Band

madness
Live Music Review / 15 June 2026
15 June 2026

GEORGE FOGARTY is unsettled by a brilliant concert that stands on the shoulders of immigrant Jamaican heritage without reaching out a hand to the Jamaican people

IS
Music / 15 June 2026
15 June 2026

New releases from Steve Swallow, Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts, and Ady Johnson

MB albums
Album reviews / 12 June 2026
12 June 2026

New releases from Simone White, Brass Funkeys, and Souad Massi 

songs 4 workers
Gig Review / 11 May 2026
11 May 2026

STEVE JOHNSON relishes the inspirational nature of an event which combined great songs with historical narrative

Playtime
Jazz preview / 4 May 2026
4 May 2026

ANGUS REID recommends that you discover a uniquely intimate community venue in central Edinburgh for an evening of beer and ambitious jazz

covers
Music / 19 April 2026
19 April 2026

New releases from Kneecap, Sam Blasucci, and Juni Habel

GR
Global Routes / 10 April 2026
10 April 2026

New releases from Peruvian Ranil y Su Conjunto Tropical, Leve Leve: Sao Tome & Principe, and South African BCUC

ochs
Appreciation / 8 April 2026
8 April 2026

JORDAN PHIZACKLEA-CULLEN reminds us of a sometimes overlooked political singer-songwriter, on the 50th anniversary of his untimely death

MPF
Interview / 1 April 2026
1 April 2026

Ben Cowles speaks with Manchester Punk Festival 2026 organiser IAN ‘TREE’ ROBINSON about this weekend’s upcoming shenanigans 

groove
Book Review / 27 March 2026
27 March 2026

ROGER McKENZIE grooves to the message that jazz supports, expresses and sparks fresh political movements and ideas

sanders
Jazz Preview / 27 March 2026
27 March 2026

CHRIS SEARLE urges you not to miss Mark Sanders’ three night residency at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London

IS
Music / 23 March 2026
23 March 2026

New releases from Joe Pernice, Arlo Parks, and Marilyn Crispell & Anders Jormin

KB
Music / 13 March 2026
13 March 2026

Rereleases from Andrew Gold; John McFee, Stu Cook, Keith Knudsen; and The Outer Limits

IS
Music / 9 March 2026
9 March 2026

New releases from Shabaka, Squeeze, and Roswell Road

connection
Interview / 4 March 2026
4 March 2026

CHRIS SEARLE speaks to Nicaraguan guitarist OMAR RIOS MELENDEZ

CS
Music / 2 March 2026
2 March 2026

Releases from Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Maggie Nicols/Robert Mitchell/Alya Al Sultani, and Gordon Beck Trio and Quintet

IS
Music / 9 February 2026
9 February 2026

New releases from Pat Metheny, Greazy Alice, and Momoko Gill

bragg
BenchMarx / 5 February 2026
5 February 2026

BILLY BRAGG on the role that music can play in resistance to state-sponsored violence

SD
Album Reviews / 2 February 2026
2 February 2026

New releases from The Orb, Meredith Monk, and Marconi Union

IS
Music / 26 January 2026
26 January 2026

New releases from Keeley, Lucinda Williams and Ye Vagabonds

GR
Album reviews / 19 January 2026
19 January 2026

New releases from Zulu Guitar Blues, Fela Kuti, and Amadou & Mariam

monk
Jazz preview / 19 January 2026
19 January 2026

CHRIS SEARLE urges you not to miss two powerful performers playing three nights that will celebrate the great pianist/composer Thelonious Monk

suntou
Global Routes / 9 January 2026
9 January 2026

TONY BURKE speaks to Gambian kora player SUNTOU SUSSO

covers
Round-up / 31 December 2025
31 December 2025

A year of rich offerings that would have pricked any and all ears

covers
Music / 3 January 2026
3 January 2026

New releases by Porridge Radio, The Cribs, and Bjorn Meyer

(left to right, facing) Bobby Gillespie, John Squire and Liam Gallagher, and Ian Brown (left, back to camera) and Alan 'Reni' Wren (right, back to camera) carry the coffin from the funeral service of former Stone Roses and Primal Scream bass player Gary 'Mani' Mounfield, December 22, 2025
Rock'n'Roll / 22 December 2025
22 December 2025

Stone Roses and Priminal Scream bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield laid to rest in Manchester

SD
Best of 2025 / 22 December 2025
22 December 2025

SIMON DUFF picks his favourites, from radical African-inspired electronic rhythms to improvisations on the organ

IS best
Best of 2025 / 22 December 2025
22 December 2025

From pop anthems that take on patriarchy to masterful Gaza-themed Oud-playing, IAN SINCLAIR picks his best albums of the year

cs 2025
Best of 2025 / 17 December 2025
17 December 2025

CHRIS SEARLE picks his favourite albums of the year

IS
Album reviews / 15 December 2025
15 December 2025
SJ
Music / 11 December 2025
11 December 2025
THRILLINGLY VITAL: Chris T-T performs at the 100 Club [Pic: James Walsh]
Gig Review / 18 November 2025
18 November 2025

JAMES WALSH wallows in the triumphant reappearance behind the mic of former Morning Star columnist Chris T-T

kuti
Global Routes / 17 November 2025
17 November 2025

TONY BURKE recommends a new podcast about the legenary Nigerian musician and political activist FELA KUTI

kb
Music / 10 November 2025
10 November 2025

New releases from the archives of The Original Blues Project, Guru Guru, and Faces

flowers
Album Review / 4 November 2025
4 November 2025

STEVE JOHNSON salutes the mellifluous tones and clear-minded political message of a uniquely relevant Birmingham-born singer-songwriter

69
Music / 8 October 2025
8 October 2025

WILL STONE applauds a comprehensive survey of love in its many moods and musical forms

tosca
Opera review / 17 September 2025
17 September 2025

DAVID NICHOLSON is thrilled – and shocked – by an opera that seethes and sizzles with passion and the depraved use of power

covers
Music Reviews / 12 September 2025
12 September 2025

TONY BURKE reviews new releases from Cheikh Lo, Mishra & Deepa Shakthi, N’Faly Kouyate

webb
Music review / 9 September 2025
9 September 2025

MARK TURNER holds on tight for a mesmerising display of Neath-born ragtime virtuosity

guthrie
Album Review / 14 August 2025
14 August 2025

TONY BURKE revels in the publication of previously unreleased tracks by the great US folksinger

tuscherer
Album Review / 13 August 2025
13 August 2025

STEVE JOHNSON recommends a protest album with a harder edge than many in the genre

ozzy
Appreciation / 25 July 2025
25 July 2025

WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne

dankworth
Interview / 23 July 2025
23 July 2025

CHRIS SEARLE speaks to vocalist Jacqui Dankworth

CS albums
Album Reviews / 7 July 2025
7 July 2025

Re-releases from Bobby Wellins/Kenny Wheeler Quintet, Larry Stabbins/Keith Tippet/Louis Moholo-Moholo, and Charles Mingus Quintet

glasto
Festival Review / 1 July 2025
1 July 2025

WILL STONE witnesses a thrilling festival super-charged with opposition to the British government’s policies on Gaza

wayne
Music / 1 July 2025
1 July 2025

This is a concert of ambition and courage by organist and improviser Wayne Marshall, says SIMON DUFF

THE MUSIC OF ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS: Lana Del Ray plays Anfield
Music / 1 July 2025
1 July 2025

SUSAN DARLINGTON is charmed by an arena show that crosses Great Gatsby glamour with Jane Eyre madness

IS
Music / 16 June 2025
16 June 2025

Reviews of More, Remembering Now, and New Vienna

amazed
Book Review / 10 June 2025
10 June 2025

MATTHEW HAWKINS enjoys a father’s memoir of life with his autistic son, and the music they explore together

monster
Music review / 4 June 2025
4 June 2025

CHRIS SEARLE urges you to hear the US saxophonist Joe McPhee on livestream tonight

16
Album Review / 2 June 2025
2 June 2025

SIMON DUFF recommends an outstanding album of choral works that range from the 12th century to the present day

fishbone
Music Review / 13 May 2025
13 May 2025

MIK SABIERS wallows in a night of political punk and funk that fires both barrels at Trump

TB
Music / 12 May 2025
12 May 2025

A New Awakening: Adventures In British Jazz 1966 - 1971, G3, and Buck Owens 

sky
Album Review / 12 May 2025
12 May 2025

SIMON DUFF recommends a new album from renowned composer and oud player Anour Brahem.

lunn
Marxist Notes on Music / 6 May 2025
6 May 2025

BEN LUNN alerts us to the creeping return of philanthropy and private patronage, and suggests alternative paths to explore

SOUL47
Music / 2 May 2025
2 May 2025

GEORGE FOGARTY is stunned by the epic and life-affirming sound of an outstanding Palestinian musical collective

KB Albums
Music / 28 April 2025
28 April 2025

New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott

IN THE RING: The Tenementals play The Revelator, Glasgow. Pic: Tommy Breslin
Music Review / 28 April 2025
28 April 2025

MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion

Steve Knightley
Music / 15 April 2025
15 April 2025

STEVE JOHNSON, CHRIS SEARLE and TONY BURKE review new releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ

Interview / 14 April 2025
14 April 2025
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to drummer Steve Noble
The crowd at Manchester Punk Festival 2024
Culture / 11 April 2025
11 April 2025
Ben Cowles speaks with IAN ‘TREE’ ROBINSON and ANDY DAVIES, two of the string pullers behind the Manchester Punk Festival, ahead of its 10th year show later this month
Hania Rani
Culture / 8 April 2025
8 April 2025
WILL STONE is impressed by Hania Rani who is already making a name for herself in the male-dominated world of modern classical music
Music / 6 April 2025
6 April 2025
New releases from Ibex Band, Lucy Dacus, and Various Artists
Music / 31 March 2025
31 March 2025
New releases from The Tenementals, Nik Bartsch’s Ronin, and Kuunatic
Little Richard, 1984
Interview / 26 March 2025
26 March 2025
BRETT GREGORY speaks with TOBY MANNING, author of Mixing Pop and Politics: A Marxist History of Popular Music
Album reviews / 24 March 2025
24 March 2025
New releases from Black Country, New Road, Anouar Brahem, and Jaywalkers
TOMORROW'S WARRIOR: Nubya Garcia
Live Music Review / 19 March 2025
19 March 2025
GEORGE FOGARTY is mesmerised by the messages made when jazz is played by people who grew up steeped in jungle and hip-hop
STRONG SOCIAL CONSCIENCE: Zara McFarlane
Jazz album review / 19 March 2025
19 March 2025
MARK TURNER is thrilled by the the British singer’s tribute to the late great Sarah Vaughan
Music / 17 March 2025
17 March 2025
New releases from Jenn Butterworth, Liz Overs, and Gigspanner Big Band
Reg Meuross at Bush Hall, March 2025
Music review / 14 March 2025
14 March 2025
STEVE JOHNSON recommends that you catch an unforgettable tribute to Woody Guthrie
Music / 10 March 2025
10 March 2025
Reviews of Ella Fitzgerald, My Morning Jacket, and Toria Wooff
Ineza
Interview / 26 February 2025
26 February 2025
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to Rwanda-born jazz vocalist INEZA
Reg Meuross, 2019
Album Review / 21 February 2025
21 February 2025
STEVE JOHNSON recommends a stunning new tribute from one great folk artist to another
Florian Weber in concert at Stadtgarten Koln, Germany, 2012
Album review / 17 February 2025
17 February 2025
SIMON DUFF reviews a new composition by German composer and pianist Florian Weber that blurs the line between where improvisation ends and composition begins
Peter Somuah
Interview / 5 February 2025
5 February 2025
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to Ghanaian trumpeter PETER SOMUAH
AT HIS BEST AND BLUNTEST: Oberst in 2010 performing at the H
Opinion / 4 February 2025
4 February 2025
JOHN NEWSHAM draws attention to the uncompromising path of US singer/songwriter CONOR OBERST
Album reviews / 3 February 2025
3 February 2025
New releases from Loudon Wainwright III, Flamin’ Groovies, and Wishbone Ash
Austrian composer Beat Furrer
Marxist notes on music / 29 January 2025
29 January 2025
In advance of their performances in London BEN LUNN speaks to PETER PAUL KAINRATH, artistic director of Klangforum Wien
Vaughan Hawthorne-Nelson in concert at the Vortex with the T
Jazz / 28 January 2025
28 January 2025
An unlikely venue hosts a memorable concert, and has future treats in store
Album reviews / 27 January 2025
27 January 2025
New releases from Nadia Reid, Manic Street Preachers and Mathias Eick
Opinion / 24 January 2025
24 January 2025
It is painful that Donald Trump used David Bowie’s music during his campaign when the singer’s work was directly critical of his politics, judges PETER KENWORTHY 
Roella Oloro, 2021
Interview / 22 January 2025
22 January 2025
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to British Nigerian/Jamaican pianist ROELLA OLORO
Franz Ferdinand play The Dome, Liverpool
Music review / 14 January 2025
14 January 2025
EWAN KOTZ relishes a veteran Glasgow band that have lost none of their verve for live performance
Ethel Cain performing at Gunnersbury Park in London, August
Album review  / 13 January 2025
13 January 2025
EWAN KOTZ tunes into a chilling and subversive album that speaks for a splintered US, its political apathy and complicity in war-crimes
Album reviews / 13 January 2025
13 January 2025
New releases from Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwart; The Weather Station; and Sam Amidon 
REMEMBER THIS: Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl
Album review / 6 January 2025
6 January 2025
DAVID NICHOLSON draws attention to an album of music and poetry that channels a first-hand experience of Gaza
Nate Wooley
Interview / 6 January 2025
6 January 2025
CHRIS SEARLE speaks with US trumpeter NATE WOOLEY
Protesters gather during a rally demanding South Korea's imp
Opinion / 3 January 2025
3 January 2025
HYUN KYONG HANNAH CHANG draws attention to the role that music has always played in South Korean protest
Rory Gallagher in 1973
Culture / 30 December 2024
30 December 2024
A horn of plenty, no less!
The performance
Culture / 30 December 2024
30 December 2024
BEN LUNN highly recommends a cantata that encapsulates the Palestinian peoples' profound desire for peace
Pat Metheny Orchestrion
Culture / 27 December 2024
27 December 2024
Concert of the Year? No doubt, Pat Metheny at the Barbican in late November...
Jon Boden and the Remnant Kings
Culture / 27 December 2024
27 December 2024
The abundance of quality is heartening and bodes well for the future
Culture / 22 December 2024
22 December 2024
New releases from Steve Knightley, Sunjay, Sociograss
Music / 12 December 2024
12 December 2024
New releases from Ghais Guevara, Kim Deal and Hardwicke Circus
Aboubakar Traore
Global Routes / 2 December 2024
2 December 2024
Two new releases from Burkina Faso and Niger, one from French-based Afro Latin The Bongo Hop, and rare Mexican bootlegs
Album reviews / 2 December 2024
2 December 2024
John Cale's rediscovered classic album 1919, and new releases from Father John Misty and Lucinda Williams
Carmen Souza
Interview / 27 November 2024
27 November 2024
Chris Searle speaks to singer CARMEN SOUZA
Strike leader addressing strikers during the Great Steel Str
Album review / 26 November 2024
26 November 2024
STEVE JOHNSON applauds an outstanding album that is a celebration of achievements won through collective struggle 
FEELING THE CHILL: Le Concert Spiritual play St James Spanis
Music review / 25 November 2024
25 November 2024
PETER MASON shivers in the under-heated ecclesiastical setting of a concert featuring five 19th-century French composers 
Album reviews / 25 November 2024
25 November 2024
A new release from Nick Lowe, and reissues of Taj Mahal and Paul Williams
Pat Thomas, Steve Noble and Seymour Wright play Cafe Ito
Music review / 22 November 2024
22 November 2024
CHRIS SEARLE translates the fusion of four jazz maestros into a mental image of Hackney Carnival
INSPIRATIONAL: (L) Musicians take part in a Nakba 76 pro-Pal
Marxist Notes on Music / 19 November 2024
19 November 2024
BEN LUNN draws attention to the way cultural expressions of solidarity with Palestinians in the UK are being censored by Israeli-sponsored lawfare
Pat Metheny plays the Barbican
Music review / 19 November 2024
19 November 2024
SIMON DUFF is transported by the sweetly seductive tones of experimental guitarist Pat Metheny
Album reviews / 18 November 2024
18 November 2024
New releases from Jennifer Castle, Primal Scream and Keith Jarrett
DEMOCRAT STOOGE: will.i.am, Founder and President of the i.a
Opinion / 14 November 2024
14 November 2024
DAVID YEARSLEY reads the political subtext in the injudicious misfire of will.i.am’s resurrection of his Obama video for the Kamala Harris campaign
Arooj Afta
Gig review / 11 November 2024
11 November 2024
WILL STONE relishes the subtle demonstations of political awareness that accompany two standout performers at Brighton’s Mutations festival
Album reviews / 11 November 2024
11 November 2024
New releases from Propaganda, David Gilmour and Jon Hopkins
Pandit Anindo and Anubrata Chatterjee perform at the Barbica
Music review / 6 November 2024
6 November 2024
GEORGE FOGARTY introduces himself to the healing power of traditional Indian music
Music / 30 October 2024
30 October 2024
New releases from Miguel Zenon, Angelica Sanchez/Chad Taylor, Paul Dunmall
THE ETERNAL TRIANGLE:  Trevor Watts, Jamie Harris and Veryan
Interview / 25 October 2024
25 October 2024
CHRIS SEARLE interviews veteran pianist VERYAN WESTON 
Nomade Orqestra
Global Routes / 25 October 2024
25 October 2024
Brazilian groove, Black Africa and Malian mixtures
Album reviews / 18 October 2024
18 October 2024
New releases from Hannah Scott, Porridge Radio and previously unreleased Jimi Hendrix
ENDLESS TOUR: Los Fastidios performing at the Empress Ballro
Interview / 17 October 2024
17 October 2024
Tim Lezard and Doina Cornell meet a band whose passion for politics is matched only by the power of their music
Tangerine Dream play the Barbican
Gig Review / 10 October 2024
10 October 2024
WILL STONE is happily transported on a spaceship whose entire crew have been replaced
Aja Monet
Interview / 9 October 2024
9 October 2024
George Fogarty speaks to US Surrealist Blues poet AJA MONET
Casper Clausen, frontman of Efterklang
Gig review / 7 October 2024
7 October 2024
WILL STONE overlooks the corn to find the beauty in the music of the Danish indie-pop oddities
Neil Charles
Music review / 7 October 2024
7 October 2024
CHRIS SEARLE is transported by a superfine tribute to James Baldwin
Music / 7 October 2024
7 October 2024
New releases from Iris DeMent, Japandroids and Aaron Parks
Naseem Alatrash
Interview / 2 October 2024
2 October 2024
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to jazz cellist NASEEM ALATRASH of the IZE Trio
Music / 30 September 2024
30 September 2024
New releases from The The, Memo Comma and Anna Gourari/Orchestra della Svizzera italiana 
Duck Baker, Incus Festival, 2009
Interview / 18 September 2024
18 September 2024
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to celebrated US guitarist DUCK BAKER
Street musician playing drums, North Fourth Street, Ann Arbo
Book Review / 17 September 2024
17 September 2024
TONY BURKE enjoys a rare history of those who play music on the street
Music review / 6 September 2024
6 September 2024
CHRIS SEARLE is transported by a combative fusion of US and UK instrumentalists and landmark evening of jazz
Culture / 2 September 2024
2 September 2024
James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Art Tatum Trio and Kevin Figes
Rock band, Hard-Fi, perform at the Love Music Hate Racism fe
Britain / 28 August 2024
28 August 2024
Dickey Betts in 1978
Music / 26 August 2024
26 August 2024
KEVIN BRYAN, CHRIS SEARLE and TONY BURKE review new releases from Dickey Betts, Little Johnny England, Greenslade, Benet McLean, Sam Newbould, Sofia Jernberg/Alexander Hawkins, compilation: Walking To New Orleans, compilation: This Is Goldwax: 1964-1968, Jack Bruce
One of the many workshops
Workers’ Music Association / 26 August 2024
26 August 2024
PHIL HARGREAVES sings the praises of a unique annual music encounter
Nduduzo Makhathini performing in Amsterdam on 28 October 202
Interview / 21 August 2024
21 August 2024
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to South African pianist NDUDUZO MAKHATINI 
Albums reviews / 9 August 2024
9 August 2024
New releases from Sedibus, Burial/Kode9 and Iceboy Violet & Nueen 
David Murray & Class Struggle at INNtöne Jazzfestival 2018
Interview / 7 August 2024
7 August 2024
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to renowned US tenor saxophonist DAVID MURRAY
Music / 5 August 2024
5 August 2024
New releases from Why?, Johnny Blues Skies and Chris Cohen
Album reviews / 5 August 2024
5 August 2024
New releases from George Boomsma, Pete Morton and Jack Badcock
Hopkins in 2022 at Sentrum Scene, Oslo.
Gig review / 1 August 2024
1 August 2024
WILL STONE savours an utterly unique voice in electronic music
Album reviews / 29 July 2024
29 July 2024
New releases from Liana Flores, Hamish Hawk, and Meshel Ndegeocello
Music / 22 July 2024
22 July 2024
Re-releases from Lindisfarne, Gene Clark, and Albert King
The Klittens play The Old Blue Last
Gig Review / 22 July 2024
22 July 2024
MIK SABIERS savours the diverse songwriting and tight musicianship of a Dutch band founded as a platform for their political ideas
Culture / 19 July 2024
19 July 2024
Music from the Ghanaian diaspora and classic Cuban mambo
Music / 15 July 2024
15 July 2024
New releases from Common & Pete Rock, Joni Mitchell and Pat Metheny
Faradena Afifi
Interview / 10 July 2024
10 July 2024
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to violinist Faradena Afifi 
(L) Earl Sweatshirt performing with the rest of Odd Future i
Opinion / 8 July 2024
8 July 2024
PAUL STEPHEN ADEY explores how rap can create catharsis for both artists and fans