CATEGORIES

SOUND OF THE SOUL

John McLaughlin said of Debashish Bhattacharya that \"he has no equal\" on slide guitar. High praise indeed but fully justified by his 28-album career of serenely virtuosic guitar. We meet the master himself to talk about the hard road he took to pioneer Indian classical music on guitar, the deep spiritual connections between American blues and the rāgas, and his sublime new album, The Sound Of The Soul

In The Mix

Mixing speakers is relatively common - but mixing speakers of different sizes is a different ballgame. Paul Gough of Zilla Cabs checks out the pros and cons

Alice Cooper – "We Didn't Mind a Litle Violence"

How Alice Cooper, veteran shock-rocker and influence on every theatrical rock act from David Bowie to KISS to Slipknot, is still with us at the age of 75 is beyond human comprehension. Alcohol and cocaine couldn’t kill him. The guillotine blades and hangman’s nooses he uses onstage every night haven’t killed him (yet). Even being a part of the 80s poodle-rock scene couldn’t finish him off. If anything, the monster created by the sometime Vincent Furnier is stronger than ever. Joel McIver meets the gothfather.

MYSTERY RUSHENT RECORDING

Ian Shirley uncovers the story behind post-punk/synthpop producer Martin Rushent’s 60s group, The Nett, and meets his band-mate from way back when, Gerry Shadbolt

SACRED & ROUND

Set up by Eddie Singleton with Berry Gordy’s ex-wife Raynoma (Miss Ray) in 1964, the Shrine label, based in Washington DC, has been highly collectable for over 50 years. Shrine had no hits – in fact, they had very few sales at all. What it did have was musical talent and a business plan that ended in glorious failure – thereby making the 20 singles that were pressed sought-after by soul aficonados. As a new Ace Records compilation rounds them up in one place, Ady Croasdell gazes enviously down the list of their releases – with estimated asking prices in Mint condition

SILENT SHOUT

With an acclaimed final album on the shelves, Janis Ian was on one last lap of glory, with a lifetime achievement award and the European leg of her farewell tour to look forward to. Then everything changed. She tells Charles Donovan what happened…

33% minutes with...Chuck D

The Public Enemy founder is Zooming Record Collector from his study at his LA home. It’s the middle of the night, which is when he works best, he says. Dressed in de rigueur black T-shirt with baseball cap, he’s sat with rows and rows of neatly filed CDs to one side and, to the other, a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf crammed with art books. He’s just become the subject of his own, Livin’ Loud, which collects over 250 of his paintings, sketches and drawings of musical and sports heroes from Gladys Knight and James Brown to basketball player Julius Irving aka Dr J. In between are political cartoons and satirical skits. Always the restless creative, he’s also just launched the cultural app, Bring The Noise, and published his first of what he calls ‘naphic grovels’ on his own Enemy Books. “I was raised with an artist’s mentality,” he says

musictovisit

Bob Stanley carries pop’s baggage everywhere Britain’s secret radio hits

COOL VARIATIONS

At the start of the 80s Tom Waits felt trapped. Hemmed in by the persona he’d created over the previous decade, his salvation came with the album Swordfishtrombones, an artistic volte-face that celebrates its 40th birthday this month. Wesley Doyle looks at its creation – via an album-byalbum run-through of what led up to it – and reassesses the peerless work that followed

RIGHT SAID 'FRED

Paul Jones celebrates the 60th anniversary of the band formerly known as Manfred Mann, with help from Mike d’Abo and guitarist Tom McGuinness. Man in the middle: Michael Heatley

NOT FADE AWAY 1973's IMMORTAL LIVE DEBUT LPs

‘THE 1973 LIVE LP WAS THE ALBUM ON STEROIDS’

UNDER THE RADAR

Artists, bands, and labels meriting more attention

THE ENGINE ROOM

The unsung heroes who helped forge modern music

Latest BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists revealed

2021 Leeds International Piano Competition winner among this year's recruits

GUY TALK

On the eve of his farewell tour, living legend BUDDY GUY looks back on his nearly 70-year career (and a particularly unforgettable Fender Bassman amp)

Positive Undertones

BECAUSE WE FELT LIKE IT, WE ASKED THE UNDERTONES’ DAMIAN O’NEILL ABOUT THE NORTHERN IRISH ROCKERS’ OUT-OF-LEFT-FIELD 1981 ALBUM, POSITIVE TOUCH. THANKFULLY, HE OBLIGED US!

Ancient & modern

When Christopher Hogwood founded the Academy of Ancient Music 50 years ago his focus was firmly on the past, yet together they helped to propel music-making into a new era, as Nicholas Kenyon explains

The Grange Festival England

Jeremy Pound drives into the Hampshire countryside where, behind the neo-classical columns, an evening of tantalising Tchaikovsky awaits

COURSES FOR COMPOSERS

Clare Stevens investigates the opportunities offered to budding creatives by the UK's schools, universities and music colleges

Alar Karis - President of Estonia

Alar Karis trained as a molecular geneticist and developmental biologist, and after a distinguished academic career became director of the Estonian National Museum. In October 2021 he was elected as the sixth president of Estonia. Travelling for work, he listens to classical music and subscribes to BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone for recommendations.

Obsessive repetition

Ravel's Boléro may be the composer's single most popular work, but there's a lot more to it than its two beguiling melodies may suggest, says Tom Service

The Gold Standard

CHARVEL PRO-MOD SO-CAL STYLE 1 HSS FR E

Melanie Faye

THE R&B GUITARIST AND PRODUCER TALKS US THROUGH HER NEW D’ANGELICO SIGNATURE MODEL, HER UNIQUE APPROACH TO NEO-SOUL GUITAR AND THE ONE CHORD SHE JUST CAN’T STOP PLAYING

Believe the Hype(r)

SEYMOUR DUNCAN HYPERSWITCH

CRÜE TO THE 5TH POWER

MONSTER GUITARIST JOHN 5 DETAILS HIS ASCENSION INTO THE RANKS OF MÖTLEY CRÜE

Life at the front

Even as war rages, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine continues to rehearse and perform - and in October undertakes a 17-date UK tour. Tom Stewart meets some of its brave musicians

DIMARZIO SUPER DISTORTION HUMBUCKING PICKUP

THE REPLACEMENT PICKUP is so commonplace these days that most guitarists have swapped pickups on at least one of their electric guitars to improve its sound

Hardcore Breakdown

HOW GUITARISTS FROM DRUG CHURCH, MILITARIE GUN AND SCOWL ARE LEADING THE MELODIC MOVEMENT IN HARDCORE PUNK

One Piece

One Piece

When I see a rainy day, I think that nature is crying. A tide is nature breathing

THE BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE INTERVIEW Tan Dun | The Chinese-American composer has risen from humble origins to global success, yet his concerns - balance, humanity and the natural world - remain the same, writes Claire Jackson