The world's greatest print and online music magazine. Independent since 1982. News, features, audio, video, shop and subscribe.

Bumper double issue . On the cover: 2024 Rewind: the Year in Underground Music , including the Top 50 Releases of the Year ; the Top 50 Archive Releases of the Year ; Critics’ Reflections : our writers discuss their memorable cultural experiences of the past 12 months. Columnists’ Charts : our specialist critics delve deep into their musical niches from …

Issue 490 December 2024 Subscribers: read this issue online. Subscribe to the magazine. Buy issue 490. Inside our brand new issue: A R Kane: The dreampop originators return with an archival retrospective, live performances – and a brand new line-up. By Simon Reynolds Intermodulation: A hidden history of UK electroacoustic experimentation is told via an extensive new reissue. By Julian Cowley ...

Subscribers: read this issue online. Subscribe to the magazine. Buy issue 481. Inside our brand new issue: The Haxan Cloak: From his bedroom in Wakefield to the City of Angels, the UK born producer, composer and musician talks darkness, light and scoring the unspeakable. By Joseph Stannard Linda ...

On the cover: David Lynch & Chrystabell : As their new album Cellophane Memories marks the culmination of 20-plus years of collaboration, the director and singer unpack their dream-like songs over a damn fine cup of coffee. By Britt Brown. Plus: The Sound World Of David Lynch : The Wire ’s writers decode the strange audio messages embedded in the work of the visionary film director, with ...

The Wire ’s Releases of the Year chart for 2024 was compiled from the individual votes of the magazine’s staff and contributors – here are those votes in full

On the cover: Keiji Haino : From Black Blues to grey hairs, the Fushitusha figurehead keeps pushing into rock’s outer limits. By James Hadfield. Plus: The Primer: John Butcher : A user’s guide to the saxophone innovator, from groups and collaborations to solo meditations. By Seymour Wright; Seppuku Pistols : Danko Iida’s anarchic performance troupe brings together the legacy of punk with ...

5 days ago · Joe McPhee Straight Up, Without Wings, The Musical Flight Of Joe McPhee Corbett vs Dempsey Pbk 170 pp “I love noise. Noise interests me because it’s everywhere, and it can be organised to make what we think of as music. Everybody has access to it, and everybody can fashion it anyway they want to.” So begins Joe McPhee’s memoir, Straight Up, Without Wings. It’s a statement that ...

Issue 479/480 January 2024 Subscribers: read this issue online. Subscribe to the magazine. Buy issue 479/480. Inside our brand new issue: Releases of the Year: We asked our contributors to vote for their top ten records, CDs, streams and more, then added up the votes Critics’ Reflections: Our writers discuss their memorable cultural experiences of …

Subscribers: read this issue online. Subscribe to the magazine. Buy issue 474. Inside our brand new issue: Annea Lockwood: Having explored the outer reaches of sound across a multi-decade career taking in burning pianos, animals and pulsars, the New Zealand composer turns her attention to love and ...