music
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Metallica's lost riffs, Macca's millions and moreOur weekly music news roundup, featuring the latest Tidal troubles, the guitar riffs lost to history, Kurt Cobain’s flat, and the first dance music Proms -
Alex Reece, Roy Davis Jr, Leviticus, Zero BAs UK bass culture festival Found announces its Born & Bred lineup, one of its performers, the Metalheadz label boss and drum’n’bass pioneer Goldie, picks the UK underground’s most pivitol tracks
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Songs to make hitting 50 seem not so badOur musical agony aun prescribes tunes to ease the passage into your 50s -
Virginia Wing (No 51)South London three-piece who ally the buzz and drone of indie with the sweetness and light of pop -
What we learned from the download chartIt’s the anniversary that nobody is celebrating – the download chart’s 10th birthday. Here’s a rundown of its impact on the industry, and the way we buy and listen to music
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The BBC Proms go clubbing: 2015 lineup includes Ibiza dance nightA Radio 1 dance night and a Sherlock Holmes celebration are among the more unusual proms in the 92-concert season – which feature more matinees this year and put the piano centre stage
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Chemical Brothers announce new album, premiere new trackSometimes I Feel So Deserted is the first song to be heard from Born in the Echoes, which will be released this summer
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Independent festivals have put more than £1bn into the UK economyPeople attending independent events spent £466 each on going to events last year
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Godspeed You! Black Emperor: classical precision, heavy-metal heftA few audience members sought respite from the intense Quebec eight-piece in the bar, but they missed out on the oceanic grooves of the four-song suite at the heart of the band’s set
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Plaza Francia review – a sassy, witty and powerful tango lessonA trio of world-music veterans treated La Linea festival to a hybrid evening of breathy balladry and feisty anthems
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The Magic Whip – friends reunited for a beautiful comebackBlur’s made-in-Hong-Kong album, their first for 12 years, overflows with lovely songs and touchingly reveals a band now happily reconciled
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Lucid Dreaming review – immaculately polished dream-popForget the mixed messages of their videos. This debut from the Kilbey-Jansson twins aches with longing and a strange allure beyond the sum of its parts, writes Everett True
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How hip-hop heavyweights compare with WWE starsA$AP Rocky says hip-hop acts are adopting the same theatrical antics of WWE’s superstars. Here’s a look at rap’s biggest acts and their wrestling counterparts
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The Vine king turned bona fide pop starThe Canadian pop star started life on Vine, garnering millions of fans. Now he’s the youngest person to top the Billboard chart since Bieber. But just who is he?
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video
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Squarepusher's Damogen Furies
Veteran electronic producer Tom Jenkinson's 14th album as Squarepusher is completely impossible to ignore, says Alexis Petridis
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Tyler, the Creator's Cherry Bomb
How does the artist once known as the world's most controversial rapper fare when the hype and outrage has died down? Remarkably well, says Alexis Petridis
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Shame live in session – video
Mercury prize-winning Scottish trio Young Fathers perform Shame from their album White Men are Black Too
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Why the Lilac Time's No Sad Songs is the one album you should hear this week – video
Stephen Duffy's folk rock project the Lilac Time have reconvened. And they are as out of step as ever, says Alexis Petridis
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Northern Territory's Eastern Reggae Band perform in the studio
The Eastern Reggae Band record one of their songs on a recent visit to Alice Springs
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Watch Argerich and Barenboim perform the final movement of Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos – video
Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim perform the third movement of the Mozart Sonata for Two Pianos in D major
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The day the wall came down
As he prepares to play his landmark album Berlin live on stages across Europe, Lou Reed does the unthinkable: he opens up to an interviewer. By Ed Pilkingon.
interviews
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'I’m too raw for straight men. They are tortured by my shows'Almost 25 years since her debut album, the ‘Cornflake Girl’ has a teenage daughter, knows how to handle onstage malfunctions and still loves Madonna
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‘I sound gritty because I was vaping for a week’The Canadian singer on being pigeonholed, going super-viral and getting hooked on fake cigarettes
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‘I amplify who I am 10 times when I’m on stage’He’s the classic tight-trousered, big-haired rock lothario. But these days the Whitesnake leader watches Downton and chases bear cubs round his garden
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Red Wedge: bringing Labour party politics to young music fansIn the runup to the election, Rock’s Backpages turns to the March 1996 edition of Q magazine to resurrect an oral history of Red Wedge, the political initiative set up by the likes of Billy Bragg, Paul Weller and Tom Robinson 30 years ago
quizzes
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How well do you know Beatles memorabilia? – quiz
Test your knowledge of unusual, auctioned Beatles memorabilia
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Which pop stars made these feminist statements?
Can you match the pop artist to their stance on feminism?
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Which songs sound suspiciously alike? – quiz
See how many of these sonic similarities you can identify
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Who are these unmasked musicians?
Can you identify the normally masked musician from their photograph?
in pictures
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Your photos from Record Store Day 2015Saturday 18April marked the eighth annual Record Store Day, and we asked you for photos and experiences of the event. Here is a selection of our favourites
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Coachella 2015, day one – in picturesDespite blistering heat, there was plenty of fun on the first day of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, including excellent sets from Azaelia Banks, Charles Bradley, Alabama Shakes and AC/DC
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A life in picturesBillie Holiday was born on 7 April 1915. To mark what would have been the 100th birthday of one of the greatest singers in music history, here are images of her life
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Björk retrospective at MoMA – in picturesThe Icelandic singer is the subject of a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The show includes a specially commissioned film, Black Lake, costumes from her live shows and videos, and a section where visitors walk through rooms dedicated to her albums with an augmented audio guide
you may have missed
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The classical music festival in Beirut that survives war and assassinationsIn its 22 years, the festival has cancelled only a single concert. As its founder says: ‘Every year there’s some crisis and we say: “My God, are we going to carry on?” and we always do’
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10 of the bestThe past week may have left you with the impression that Kanye West is most famous for annoying rock fans. It turns out he’s made a whole load of music, too
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How music can capture the spirit of EasterA cycle of cantatas on the different parts of Christ’s crucified body could be a grisly affair, but is truly uplifting
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Being deaf doesn't mean you don't care about musicYou can be hearing impaired and still want to follow your favourite bands – so thank goodness for a new initiative to caption gigs for deaf fans
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The godmother of rock’n’rollShe could outplay Chuck. She could outsing Aretha. We celebate the guitar-toting gospel singer for what would have been her 100th birthday
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Follow the webchat – as it happenedHe never listens to music, thinks America has better opportunities for women, and loves a Tesco shortcake. The electropop pioneer was here to answer your questions. Read the answers in full here
Living forever Why the world still seems obsessed by Oasis