Songwriters on the Run by Robert Forster review – Go-Betweens frontman hits a dud note
There’s little melody or rhythm in Forster’s prose, while the dialogue is plodding and full of exposition
Vocal Break by Lauren Elkin review – a celebration of the female voice
From Édith Piaf to Charli xcx, a moving study of the ways women express themselves – and the obstacles they face
Buyers of Liza Minnelli memoir claim it was not signed by hand
Premium editions of Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! cost up to $250 but some say signatures are unnaturally identical
Amandaland to Olof Dreijer: the week in rave reviews
Lucy Punch’s middle-class antihero is back, and one half of the Knife presents an album of dazzlingly inventive psychedelia. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviews
Primavera review – Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is school-of-Salieri backdrop for period musical biopic
The composer has a musical relationship with a teenage violinist in this lifeless adaptation of a novel by Tiziano Scarpa
Kae Tempest on creativity and his gender transition: ‘I’m just glad to be alive’
Ten years after his debut novel, the poet and musician has written a follow-up exploring self-discovery and a life lived on the edge. He talks about sexuality, pronouns and drawing strength from the literature he loves
‘This craving to go viral is tiresome’: the artists sick of the pressure to promote on social media
From Stewart Lee in his wolf costume to Werner Herzog’s big steak sizzle-up, artists are now under huge duress to ‘chase the algorithm’ and reach audiences. Many of them are hitting burnout – and hitting back
Gillian Anderson and Cara Delevingne to hit Cannes as auteur heavyweights dominate festival lineup
The 79th edition of the film festival will see work by Pedro Almodóvar, Hirokazu Kore-eda and László Nemes considered for the coveted Palme d’Or
The Guide #237: Fab 5 Freddy, the street artist at the heart of New York’s creative zenith
A new memoir by Fred Brathwaite offers an insight into the city’s emerging underground scene in the 70s and 80s – and shows us the power of subcultures in difficult times
Fainting in front of Michael Jackson and feuding with Monica: inside Brandy’s jaw-dropping memoir
The R&B singer’s must-read autobiography candidly describes a life of heady highs and horrific lows
‘African people are surreal’: songwriter and blues poet Aja Monet on Black resistance and love as spiritual warfare
Radicalised by the inventiveness of groups such as the Harlem Renaissance, the LA-based artist is determined to reclaim the radical possibilities of culture in an age of institutional and algorithmic exploitation
No New York by Adele Bertei review – a vivid, vibrant, musical coming of age
1970s and 80s New York are viscerally evoked in this potent memoir of the ‘no wave’ scene
Country star Ty Herndon: ‘The drugs could be forgiven. Being gay definitely could not’
In an honest new memoir, the musician opens up about being closeted in country, sexual assault and finding love in his 60s
Shoplifting, sex shows and sheepdog-breeding: great artists and the side-hustles they did to get by
John Cage appeared on an Italian quizshow. Jean Genet stole rare books. Emily Carr reared bobtails. And Kathy Acker did X-rated acts with her boyfriend … we explore the unlikely sidelines of struggling artists
Sex with Scorsese, beef with Sondheim … and inventing the moonwalk? The wildest moments in Liza Minnelli’s memoir
From Peter Sellers dressing like a Nazi, to having to manage her mother Judy Garland’s addiction, jaws will drop at Minnelli’s anecdotes