music
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Sir Rod Stewart says mock execution was Game of Thrones prankRock star says he was re-enacting TV scene after video appears to show him acting out Isis-style beheading in desert -
Rebirth of the uncool: why landfill indie should finally get its duesAs the Cribs and the View return to celebrate early albums, perhaps its time this mid-00s scene was re-evaluated. Should we be digging out the winklepickers?
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Miguel & DJ Premier’s 2 Lovin U: a funky, bass-led sex bangerAlso this week, indie-schmindie band the Shins return to bring the lovely noise while Future’s new one has a questionable approach to women and cars
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Green Light review – comeback track signals new dance diva directionThe 20-year-old New Zealand singer makes a triumphant return with a stellar 90s-inspired pop song about her first heartbreak
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Rock star Ronnie James Dio set for world tour – despite having died in 2010Former Rainbow and Black Sabbath singer is to front the Dio Disciples, making him the first holographic frontman to tour the world posthumously
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Share your songs about purpleMake your nomination in the comments and a reader will pick the best eligible tracks for a playlist next week – you have until Monday 6 March
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Birmingham set to become the capital of ‘people’s classical music ’ says Julian Lloyd WebberCellist looks foward to heading new £57m conservatoire but is concerned about government cuts
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One Direction's Louis Tomlinson arrested after row with photographerSinger, 25, released on bail after allegedly ‘pulling photographer to floor’ as his girlfriend argued with onlookers who were filming incident
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Ed Sheeran album set to break records, whatever the critics might sayDespite a two-star review in the Guardian, 12 hours after its release ÷ was topping the iTunes charts across the world
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Paul Lewis review – intensity, elegance and wit from Weber to the Minute WaltzLewis combined muscularity, tenderness and intelligence with unshowy dexterity to create interpretations of great insight and power
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Kehlani live review – slinky slow-jams … and life advice for teensThe former PopLyfe singer adds a dash of cabaret poise to her maximalist make-out music, dispensing bracing tips on consent and self-care in between
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English Tapas review – a bruising, brilliant post-Brexit tiradeThe speed at which they work makes Sleaford Mods’ albums feel more topical than almost any other band’s – and their first post-referendum album finds them on typically furious, funny form
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Bartók: The String Quartets CD review – profound understandingVégh Quartet
(Praga Digitals) (2 CDs) -
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How music is being used to treat autismClinicians in Detroit have seen that for people with autism, music speaks louder than words – and improvised music can help them express emotion effectively
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The YouTube channel that undercut the music industryWith a grainy recording of a college rap battle, Jamal Edwards started an £8m empire that released the talent of British estates and emboldened a generation of black British artists
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video
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Katy Perry’s dancer falls off stage as she performs with Trump and May effigies - videoAs Katy Perry performs her single Chained to the Rhythm at the Brit awards, one of her dancers falls off stage
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Brit awards 2017: George Michael tributes, Little Mix, Skepta and more – video highlightsThe 2017 Brit Awards take place night at the O2 Arena in London on Wednesday night
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Inside Jamaica's most chilled-out reggae studio – videoThe Inna De Yard project invites legends of the Jamaican reggae scene to record outdoors, high up in the hills surrounding Kingston
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Watch a clip from The Depraved Appetite of Tarrare the Freak – videoPuppets and opera aren’t such strange bedfellows, as this exclusive video of Wattle and Daub’s new show proves
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Bruce Springsteen: 'We are part of the new resistance' in the age of Trump – videoThe rock star, who is on tour in Australia, says ‘our hearts and our spirits are with all the millions of people’ who marched against the new US president
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David Bowie remembered by two of his biggest fans – videoMusician Gary Kemp, a lifelong fan, and Nicholas Pegg, author of The Complete David Bowie, reflect on life without the Starman as they take a tour of some of Bowie’s London haunts
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‘No one's asking you to inspire a revolution. But inspire something’The Manchester rockers’ debut brought them teen adoration and topped the charts. As they prepare to release their second album, frontman Matt Healy talks about stardom, drugs and Taylor Swift
interviews
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‘Trump is trying to convince us we have no rights’The band’s leader, Alynda Lee Segarra, is defiantly Puerto Rican, but she wants to stand up for all America’s marginalised voices. Now, with a new concept album, she is doing just that
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Cockney Rebel’s Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)Steve Harley: ‘No one knew it at the time, but the song is about the guys who walked out of the band’
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Spoon frontman Britt Daniel: ‘I wanted to be a musician, not a rockstar’The Austin act may not be famed for their wild exploits – but they’re one of the finest bands of their generation. They explain how a love of new wave and the Young Ones gave them a pop-culture education
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‘Artists are private people, observers’Ahead of the release of Goldfrapp’s new album, Silver Eye, the singer discusses creativity, sexuality, fame and Desert Island Discs
quizzes
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How well do you know the life of Freddie Mercury?It’s the 25th anniversary of the death of the Queen frontman on 24 November – test your knowledge of his life and times
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Were you paying attention? Classical music in 2016 – quizHow many of the classical world’s comings and goings, openings and closings, bouquets and brickbats do you remember from the past 12 months? Try our quiz
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How well do you know the Triple J Hottest 100? Try our infinite quizThis quiz features randomised questions dynamically generated from Hottest 100 data between 1993 and 2014
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From Jessie J to Jerry Lee, how well do you know this week in music history – quizIt’s our weekly test of your knowledge of pop arcania – come and have a go if you think you know enough
in pictures
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Guns, gore and ice cream: rap mixtape artworkA new book collects the Photoshopped fantasies of rap mixtape covers – from riffs on Top Gun and Game of Thrones to sadistic violence and political commentary
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Uncovering the forgotten punks of San Francisco – in picturesPhotographer Jim Jocoy’s Order of Appearance is the latest book to shed light on the punk scene in San Francisco which produced bands like the Dead Kennedys
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Highlights, lowlights and shutouts of the Brit awards 2017 – in picturesLittle Mix, the 1975 and the late David Bowie emerge as the night’s big winners while grime artists go home empty handed and George Michael is remembered
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Grammys 2017: Golden Gnarly Davidson, Prince tributes, Adele's awards and more – in picturesHighlights from this year’s award show, from Blue Ivy Carter’s pink Prince homage to Metallica and Lady Gaga’s fiery collaboration
you may have missed
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The enigmatic Godfather of GrimeThe Long Read: After more than a decade of being fetishised and then written off, grime now dominates British pop culture. To understand why, you need to understand the man who created it
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‘Being the voice of a generation is not a pretty place to be’Their seventh album made them superstars. But the fame cost REM a band member and, nearly, their friendships. In a rare interview, five years after splitting, they discuss legacy, Trump and why they’re still sorry for Shiny Happy People
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The rising music stars to look out forFrom squat rock to laptop futurism, 2016’s most creative music is being made away from focus groups, major labels and publicists. Meet the most exciting independent minds in music
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‘Drugs were a crutch for me’Abel Tesfaye’s tortured, genre-bending R&B has brought him millions of fans, a triple platinum album and collaborations with Daft Punk and Beyoncé. Will mainstream success make him happy?
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‘You can change a life in three minutes with the right song’The global superstar talks about the masculine facade of Donald Trump, the strength he inherited from his mother, the philosophy he shares with fans, and the joy he delivers on stage
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‘I sat in a room for 20 years, taking crack and watching the Alien films’In the 80s, the bitchy, ‘bloody gorgeous’ singer was groomed to be the next Boy George. Stardom beckoned – until drugs and a very lengthy breakdown got in the way
Ed Sheeran: ÷ review Everybloke charm fails to mask Divide's calculating soul
Ed Sheeran ‘I got hammered and cracked Justin Bieber in the face with a golf club’
Ed Sheeran, Prince, !!! and the art of the unpronounceable album name