The Strokes: Reality Awaits review – a perfect marriage of mayhem and melody on their best album in years

Allying the crackpot strangeness of Julian Casablancas’ side projects with his band’s gift for pop minimalism, the New Yorkers are on playful, joyous form

Tyla: A*Pop review – old-school pop superstar transports us back to more carefree times

The South African singer reflects on love’s highs and lows on her second album, nimbly flipping between moods but with her voice always holding attention

The Zarabanda Variations review – free jazz project is a thrillingly original dive into colonial history

US composer Keir GoGwilt’s collaborative album uses poetry and atonal music to trace the roots of Spain’s sarabande dance: a fascinating listen, though not easy

John McCabe: Symphonies 2 & 3 and Cello Concerto album review – writing of enormous scope and colour

The pianist and composer, who died in 2015, deserves a wider audience for the edgy, lucid soundworld of his compositions

‘It’s more than backcombing a beehive!’ How tribute acts got massive – and put the live music scene back in the black

Versions of Amy Winehouse and hundreds of other musicians are generating millions for beleaguered UK venues. But what is the emotional toll for the imitators, and are they pushing out original artists?

Prosecutors say blood stains on objects in D4vd’s home probably of victim

Defense attorneys question LAPD criminalist on third day of hearing to decide whether singer will stand trial

Charli xcx: Music, Fashion, Film review – slippery search into selfhood that hits just as hard as Brat

How do you follow up the album that made you a star – and a caricature? In classic Charli style: with a pivot to guitar and a meta masterpiece about the instability of identity

​’Ian Curtis didn’t have a chance’: the Durutti Column on departed friends, Factory Records and fun with Morrissey

As they release their first album in 16 years, the Vini Reilly-fronted band answer your questions on sandpaper record sleeves, having Harry Styles as a fan and inventing a new style of guitar music

Beethoven: The Last Three Sonatas/Mitsuko Uchida album review – the music emerges as if new

There are no major surprises in this live recording, just the simple but sublime sense that the music is being passed from composer, through pianist, on to us

‘My life’s work was being delightful. That really hurt me’: breakout Americana star Brennan Wedl on freeing herself through song

​With her roots stretching from the Catholic church to riot grrrl, the US singer-songwriter explains how sobriety and self-analysis powered her classic new Waxahatchee-produced album

The music in Nolan’s Odyssey is as well-crafted – and bloodlessly forgettable – as the film itself

Ludwig Göransson’s meticulous score uses instruments of the era to create an earthy, raw and bleak soundscape, but it merely supports the portrayal of an uncomplicated hero

How a boy’s own song about eastern rosellas went viral and was covered by Ben Lee

Miles Phillips’ hit has been viewed 1.5m times and played on the radio. The seven-year-old was inspired after feeding birds and realising one ‘main bird stood out’

‘We didn’t care what the client wanted!’: Sheffield’s Designers Republic on their art for Aphex Twin, Pulp … and Pringles

Their eye-popping designs burst out of Sheffield in 1986, making them the toast of the music scene. Founder Ian Anderson reveals why some fans think his art is worth remortgaging the house for

Possible bloodstains were detected at D4vd’s home, LA police officers testify

Gory details about tarp, mats and inflatable pool come to light during hearing over death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez

Do you suffer from organ failure? Here’s why you should give this mightiest of instruments a hearing

A Sunday morning Prom showcases the magnificent RAH instrument, but the organ’s not just for Bach – check out pioneering musicians from Jonny Greenwood to Kali Malone. Plus, Igor Levit is cancelled – and at the top of the German charts