Big science and uncanny prescience: Laurie Anderson’s greatest songs – ranked!

Forty years since her pioneering concert film Home of the Brave, and ahead of a European tour, we count down the best of a surprisingly poppy avant garde catalogue

‘Brits are not as groovy as us – but they’re less square than Europeans’: how drum’n’bass united Brazil and the UK

When drum’n’bass grew stale in the 90s, it got a samba-splicing Brazilian twist. As that style returns, the scene’s legends and newcomers celebrate a cross-cultural triumph

Kraftwerk review – after more than half a century of techno supremacy, they still sound like the future

Ralf Hütter and his bandmates show how profound their influence has been on huge swathes of popular music – and they give a tender tribute to the late Ryuichi Sakamoto

‘I had been silent for a very long time’: how a chance meeting at a burger van revived techno genius the Field

A run of immaculate albums ended in 2018 with an identity crisis and the producer becoming a kindergarten chef. Now he’s back with a blissed-out new record

‘Live music is the new status symbol’: can New York’s C2C beat festival burnout by embracing the niche?

With performers Arca, Los Thuthanaka and YHWH Nailgun, New York’s C2C proved the thrills – and limits – of staying independent amid a festival boom

Fire up the Furby synth! Meet UK Eurovision entry Look Mum No Computer at his mind-boggling music museum

Sam Battle is a retro audio tech obsessive. Our writer gets a tour of his museum just as he plays his prized exhibit: a 1,000-oscillators-strong Megadrone!

PinkPantheress review – singer proves she’s ready for pop’s A-list at sensational New York show

The viral star electrified Brooklyn with winking visuals, self-aware humor and a slew of special guests

Olof Dreijer: Loud Bloom review – the Knife star’s debut solo album is a garden of earthly delights

On a floral-themed LP, squiggling melodies and quizzical distortion banish the winter gloom Dreijer brought to the Knife and his tracks with Fever Ray

‘In times like this, it pays to be Italian’: Mind Enterprises, the Campari-necking Italo disco revivalists who became a meme

A video of the Italian duo huffing cigarettes and pouring aperitifs on a Mediterranean balcony might have gone viral – but there’s nothing slapdash about their blissful electro evocations of la dolce vita

Serokolo 7: Maramfa Musick Pro review – South Africa’s latest club export is a relentless adrenaline shot

Reinvigorating the South African mapanta subgenre, producer Serokolo 7 blends folk vocal melodies with seething 180bpm rhythms, creating a barrage of sound

Jean-Michel Jarre urges music and film industries to embrace AI

French musician’s comments are in stark contrast to fears expressed by artists such as Elton John and Dua Lipa

DJ Shadow: ‘Kraftwerk are a touchstone for every phase of my career’

The hip-hop producer, remixer and crate-digger on staying fresh creatively, the influence of David Lynch and giving away his most valuable record

Massive Attack: Boots on the Ground (ft Tom Waits) review – first single in a decade is a dark hymn for our times

Unsettling breathing, arrhythmic clatter, gloomy piano and military snares underpin a Beefheartian portrayal of a boorish warmonger on the band’s ominous return

The xx at Coachella review – indie trio reunites for spellbinding, rangy set

The English band’s first festival set in eight years hypnotized with their atmospheric dance sound

Pet Shop Boys review – no hits? No problem on first night of a masterful obscurities run

The era-defining duo’s ultras are suitably spoiled in the first of this intimate five-day run, showered with rarities that put a different spin on their well-known history