Nobody will help us; we’ll do everything ourselves. Despite the odds, Newcastle’s vibrant DIY music scene is thriving

Left to right: Kenosist, Mariam Rezaei, Me Lost Me, Geoff Kirkwood and Late Girl. Composite: Guardian Design; Fairlight Photography; Michelle Allen; Anya Clayton   Although funding is running out and venues are shutting, the underground music scene in the north-east is booming, with everything from pagan folk to deep techno to raw noise   A 40-minute […]

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Madonna recycles “the shock value of her heyday” on TikTok

In May, Madonna visited Brooklyn. Picture: Al Bello via Getty Images   To the dismay of fans like Cardi B, the diva is using the platform to claim credit for her image   Madonna wants to remind everyone that she created sex. Or at least made the necessary sacrifices to enable the alleged “pornification of […]

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Inside Kurt Cobain’s last days opera

Blind casting … Agathe Rousselle in Last Days at the Royal Opera House. Photograph: © Camilla Greenwell 2022   It contains a thinly developed narrative, garbled speech, a recurring motif of cereal bowls, and a fast-talking cattle auctioneer who portrays his manager. We meet the group behind the risk-taking new production at the Royal Opera House. […]

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Bill Callahan: “My daughter makes me listen to Harry Styles 20 times”

‘Listening to your voice is like trying to tickle yourself – it doesn’t really work’ … Bill Callahan. Photograph: Thomas Ato   The American composer takes us on a musical tour of a few days, playing everything from Traxman and local Mexican radio stations in Texas to his son’s enjoyment of the Hamster Dance   7.13am […]

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Joni Mitchell became a bold, futurist auteur in the 1980s

A number of people believed that Wild Things Run Fast, who turns 40 next month, had betrayed her origins. Looking back, the truth is far more nuanced     During the summer of 1981, travelers to the Caribbean may have seen something unexpected: In the middle of the action at a disco, Joni Mitchell is […]

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