music
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He’s crafted hits for dozens of some of pop’s biggest stars, but the British songwriter was once an aspiring tennis player who almost gave it all up
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The oddball, lo-fi music show is returning to Channel 4 – bringing creative positivity to post-millennial Generation Z without a trace of condescension
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A new compilation, inspired by its sunset parties, aims to reclaim the island’s eclectic spirit from the “glass and vomit” of San Antonio’s superclubs
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What’s the best-designed album sleeve? The Beatles’ White Album or Kraftwerk’s Autobahn? Miles Davis’s Tutu or Pixies’ Doolittle? Designers of modern album covers including Peter Saville, Vaughan Oliver and more pick their favourites
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Meanwhile, Andy Black does his best Marilyn Manson impression and Cage The Elephant continue to produce relentless inoffensiveness
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Few were interested in the grimily thrilling LA punk scene, but two fans chronicled every spit and snarl – and now their work has been anthologised
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The cagoule-favouring house DJ on his club stuffers and duffers, from Half Man Half Biscuit to Miles Davis
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Singer says Republican candidate offers ‘simple answers to very complex solutions’ and backs Hillary Clinton for president
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The pop act is following in the footsteps of Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez to set up shop at Sin City’s popular Planet Hollywood for a limited run of shows
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Nashville songwriter was best known for two songs that became huge hits for rock bands
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Thomas Dausgaard’s debut as chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, with works by Bruckner and Helen Grime, was measured and, in parts, magnificent
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Artifice is the key to Jan Philipp Gloger’s stagey production of Mozart’s comic opera, lucidly realised by conductor Semyon Bychkov and a committed team
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Bowie performed an extraordinary stylistic pivot between Diamond Dogs and Young Americans, and made it look easy – but as this new box set shows, it was a more convoluted and problematic shift than it appeared at the time
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The music industry’s blowout season is upon us, and with that comes the rumors from a Jay Z-Beyonce duet to another Frank Ocean LP. Let’s debunk and dissect
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Make your nomination in the comments and a reader will pick the best eligible tracks for a playlist next week – you have until Monday 26 September
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video
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Brian May announces the news that an asteroid is to be named after his former Queen bandmate Freddie Mercury to mark the occasion of his 70th birthday on 5 September
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Fashion aficionados and Kanye West fans queue up in east London on Friday to gain entry to a pop-up shop dedicated to Kanye West’s latest album The Life of Pablo
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Stevie Wonder performed in London’s Hyde Park on Sunday, and he urged the crowd to choose ‘love over hate’ and proclaimed that black lives matter
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Paloma Faith tells Owen Jones that she thinks few musicians discuss politics because of the abuse directed at them on social media
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The singer and Tibetan spiritual leader attended a conference in Indianapolis on Sunday hosted by the US Conference of Mayors that focused on bringing more kindness to a violent world
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John Harris talks to Glastonbury revellers waking up to a damp day on Friday and the news that Britain had voted for Brexit
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Over the last months of his life, the singer was able to shake off late career doldrums and, despite his illness, find a final creative surge
interviews
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The Swiss electronic pioneers are performing live for the first time in 40 years. Dieter Meier and Boris Blank discuss their bizarre lives as accidental pop stars
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The rock singer talks about his new (and final?) album Braver Than We Are, serial comebacks, and how he’s never lost a fist fight
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The two songwriters decided the best way to explore the songs of the railroad was to record them on the railroad – and then they found themselves in Robert Johnson’s old hotel room …
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A year ago she was ready to pack in her pop dream. Now the 26-year-old Backbeat singer has hit the big time. We join her vintage shopping spree for her next gig
quizzes
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A delinquent Door; a rapping Ramone; a generation of Whitesnakes; and a TV dispatch from our own correspondent
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As the 25th-annual event approaches, test how well you know the past winners, losers and all-round award show bothers
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Test your pop knowledge with our Friday quiz
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Who was unamused at 2003’s MTV Video Music awards, how many ‘baby’ songs came out in 1963 and how did Guns N’ Roses make the skies less friendly?
in pictures
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The Guardian goes backstage at the Royal Opera’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and follows baritone Vito Priante, who sings Figaro
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Photographer Teri Pengilly was given exclusive access to the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday to watch preparations for the biggest night in classical music’s calendar
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With Prince’s Paisley Park complex due to open to the public, here’s a whistlestop tour of locations known for their musical significance – from the evocative Joshua Tree to the miserable M5 motorway near Portishead
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How Glyndebourne has tackled the Benjamin Britten opera, from Peter Hall’s 1981 production to the latest revival, which will debut on 11 August
you may have missed
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The blistering revenge of a superstar scorned, an anthem to the rise of gender fluidity... Observer and Guardian writers to pick the songs that most reflect the state of music – and the world – right now
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She was subjected to decades of vilification. Now everyone from Gaga to Sparks are lining up to pay tribute. How does the 83-year-old artist feel about the world catching up to the Yoko Ono sound?
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Why did these two men hang around Huddersfield railway station asking young people what they did today? Electronic duo Darkstar explain their most daring LP yet
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In 1969, Rolling Stone shocked the world with an issue about the rock ‘supergroupie’. A new book tells all
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Atlanta’s Young Thug is the gender-fluid, surrealist rapper who’s being anointed as hip-hop’s next titan. Don’t know what to make of him? You’re not the only one
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Back in Hong Kong, where they recorded their album The Magic Whip, Damon, Graham, Alex and Dave talk about falling out and making up, the state of British pop music and why 90s Britpop was a wasted opportunity
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Amy being alive meant there was hope for my heroin-addicted younger sister. When the singer died, my world caved in. What chance did we have now?
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