Plus: how music streaming became a hotbed of fraud and fakery

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Sleeve Notes
Picks of the week
Everyone else in music needs a kick up the hole!
CMAT, pop’s gobbiest, gaudiest star  
Everyone else in music needs a kick up the hole!
Playing stadiums and causing dance crazes, the Irish singer-songwriter is going supernova – and whether opining on trans rights, body shaming or capitalism, she’s more forthright than ever
AI, bot farms and innocent indie victims  
How music streaming became a hotbed of fraud and fakery
‘Yes, there was a riot, but it was great’  
Cabaret Voltaire on violent gigs, nuclear noise – and returning to mark 50 years
‘I’m in pain from smiling so much’  
JoJo Siwa on surviving Mickey Rourke and finding love on Celebrity Big Brother
Reviews
Alexis Petridis's album of the week  
Turnstile: Never Enough – flute solos and formidable tunes from hardcore punk’s great crossover band
Turnstile: Never Enough – flute solos and formidable tunes from hardcore punk’s great crossover band
Pulp  
More – anthems and rage for the next life stage
Global album of the month  
Witch: Sogolo – Zamrock originators in joyously punchy form
Lifeguard  
Ripped and Torn – this brilliant post-punk racket sounds like a trip to a rivet factory
 
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Spotlight
Kate Nash on her new single about trans rights
‘British feminism needs reshaping’  
Kate Nash on her new single about trans rights
The British pop musician questions the gender-critical movement in her new song GERM, and argues that cis women need to stand up for the trans community
Classical
Album review  
Furtwängler: Symphony No 2 – conductor’s own massive work has real curiosity value
Furtwängler: Symphony No 2 – conductor’s own massive work has real curiosity value
Album review  
Ligeti: Violin and Piano Concertos, etc – As always, Faust’s performance is perceptive and immaculate
Ligeti: Violin and Piano Concertos, etc – As always, Faust’s performance is perceptive and immaculate
Add to playlist
Add to playlist  
The genre-swerving chaos of eight-piece collective Parade and the week’s best new tracks
The genre-swerving chaos of eight-piece collective Parade and the week’s best new tracks
The ones we love  
All 16 of REM’s albums – ranked!
‘If you don’t dance to Earth, Wind and Fire, there’s something wrong with you’  
Himesh Patel’s honest playlist
You may have missed
How McAlmont & Butler made Yes
‘It was an I Will Survive for the 1990s’  
How McAlmont & Butler made Yes
‘David only had words for one verse. “Just sing it twice,” I said. “We can worry about that later.” But we never got around to it – and people don’t seem to notice’