Quiet please: Lloyd Cole can hear you but he doesn't want to listen any more

Having made his reputation with words and melodies, the British singer/songwriter is now hoping for silence and no words he can understand.

Under the influence of David Bowie

A year after Bowie's death, musicians and singers who spent decades playing with him are happy to celebrate his legacy and influence.

The year in live music: royalty, roots and rip-offs

Madonna was late, late for a very important date but Prince was early, Gillian Welch right on the money and Crowded House was full - a big year in gigs.

Global star who demanded we listen without prejudice

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A teen pop star who became a worldwide figure of substance, and substances, he earned the right to sit alongside his heroes Elton John and Freddie Mercury.

They want to be alone ... with the bugs

The Sydney duo prefer to hide away in isolated pockets of the world with nothing but feral beasts and rising damp to inspire their acid-dance recordings.

Dori Freeman's Appalachian state of mind

Music has always helped the people of the Appalachians get through the hard times, but when Dori Freeman was child, she wanted nothing to do with it. So why did she change her mind?

The blandness of being Keith Urban

Being a top bloke can't make up for giving away what soul you once had. The blandness of being Keith Urban.

A perfectly proportioned pop show

Like their songs, Coldplay go big, very big, but just on the right side of huge.

Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen: 2016 really was the year the music died

While the world went off the edge, some of the biggest names in music walked off for good and others stood up and demanded to be heard at least one more time. What a year.