I believe it’s OK to refer to myself as an outsider artist. It took a long time for me to join the group.” Michael Hurley, a freak-folk singer-songwriter and artist of over 60 years, is pondering his place in the world on Thanksgiving Friday. He’s phoning from his little house in rural Oregon, nestled amid […]

Alvin Lucier, a composer whose investigations into the physical qualities of sound established him as a key figure in the US avant-garde, has died at the age of 90. According to the New York Times, his daughter said that difficulties after a fall were the reason. “The great Alvin Lucier has died,” his ex-wife Mary […]

Even though the sausage-roll-loving dad and his family have yet to disclose if they are fighting for this year’s prized Christmas Number 1, the bookmakers’ choice is LadBaby. According to the bookmakers, Adele, Elton John, Ed Sheeran, and Abba are all in the race. However, they are suddenly up against competition from an unusual source. […]

Little Simz is a prominent lady in British rap and an MC whose wit matches that of more well-known artists. Both Stormzy and Kendrick Lamar have praised her abilities. However, on the first night of a UK and Ireland tour, she seemed to be less concerned with hefty labels and more concerned with having a […]

Leo Nocentelli is impossible to pin down. When I ask how the renowned funk guitarist’s astonishing solo record Another Side came to be published after 50 years in obscurity, he gives me the whole tale in a seven-minute monologue, but I can’t confirm his age. “It’s not important,” he adds, his Louisiana accent thick as […]

Taylor Swift’s attempt to re-record (and reclaim ownership of) the six albums she released for label Big Machine, which were allegedly sold out from under her to an old rival, continues with the release of Fearless earlier this spring. Red, released in 2012, is one half of some of the greatest pop songs of all […]