Music
Julien Baker is embracing a slower pace
Lessons Learned — The 25-year-old artist has followed up a period of prolonged introspection with her most expansive work yet – a collection of songs that accept the messiness of modern life in all of its various facets.
Written by: Niall Flynn
Steelpan pioneer Fimber Bravo is a musical revolutionary
Still fighting — The Trinidadian artist, who has been living in Britain since the ’70s, has long used his instrument as a tool to fight oppression. His new album is the latest instalment in a life defined by resistance.
Written by: Jeremy Allen
South Africa’s jazz upstarts are imagining a new nation
Moving pictures — A new release from some of the country’s most exciting musicians challenges the notion that the fight for freedom is a battle of the past.
Written by: Hugh Morris
The Mitchell Brothers, British rap’s forgotten duo
Geezers with skills — In the early noughties, Owura “Tony” Nyanin and Kofi “Teddy” Hanson were signed to Mike Skinner’s label and two of the UK’s most influential MCs – then they disappeared. Now reunited over a decade later, the pair say the world wasn’t ready for them.
Written by: Sam Davies
Stewart Lee on the post-punk band that shaped his career
King Rocker — The comedian discusses his new documentary about the relatively forgotten band, The Nightingales, and its renegade frontman, Robert Lloyd, which raises timely question around ideas of artistic success.
Written by: Fergal Kinney
Black Country, New Road make music for a warped world
New sounds — BC,NR aren’t just anxious young people making music for other anxious young people: they’re a raw reflection of the society that surrounds them. Here, they explain why it’s important to find laughter in the darkness.
Written by: Charlie McQuaid
Why we started a club night for our teacher, Mark Fisher
For k-punk — Ahead of an event hosted at the ICA in his memory, three of the late Mark Fisher's students remember their lecturer and describe the ways they have endeavoured to keep his fierce spirit and energy of his music writing alive.
Written by: Natasha Eves, Archie Smith and Kitty McKay
Chuck D on his tried and tested guide to resistance
Lessons Learned — The hip hop legend shares what he’s picked up after almost four decades spent speaking truth to power – explaining why, at 60 years old, he believes it’s time for a new generation to set the pace.
Written by: Niall Flynn
The Facebook group where it‘s always 2009
#TBT — While the rest of the world entered the uncertainty of 2021, in recent months, hundreds of thousands of Facebook users have signed up to groups that offer an escape from our current times.
Written by: Andrew Lloyd
The radical album art of revolutionary Cuba
Latin rhythms — Gilles Peterson discusses a new book he helped co-edit about Cuban record sleeve design, which traces the country's rich cultural Latin musical legacy, as well as the political and aesthetic influence of revolutionary Communism.
Written by: Miss Rosen
