The 10 best global albums of 2024
DJ Love celebrated car horns, Kenyan metalhead Lord Spikeheart traversed trap and doom, while 82-year-old Milton Nascimento joined forces with Esperanza Spalding
‘Blokes who would normally fight would get off their boxes and dance’: Sanctuary, the club that made Milton Keynes massive
It eventually got turned into an Ikea, but for over a decade this warehouse unit galvanised hard dance, grime and more. At a big reunion, former ravers recall the magic
‘A road trip like no other’: my epic drive on Kraftwerk’s Autobahn
Fifty years ago, the electronic pioneers released a 23-minute song about a road – and changed pop music for ever. Our writer hits the speed-limit-free highways of Düsseldorf and Hamburg in search of its futuristic brilliance
Poppy: Negative Spaces review – screams and sweetness as metalcore meets loungecore
On her sixth album, the multi-genre star seems to be having an identity crisis – but amid the industrial guitars and synthpop, she clearly trusts her own instincts
Actress: Дарен Дж Каннінгем review – elegant mixtape leans into abstraction
British producer Darren J Cunningham mixes electronics, found sounds and fleeting vocals that both sooth and disrupt
‘It’s shocking no-one’s done this before’: the 13-hour gig digging up the African roots of global pop
With a marathon performance and album, the wildly ambitious Chromesthesia charts centuries of intercontinental music. Its creator explains why she’s asking big questions about the true owners of culture
Ekleido review – Floating Points’ brilliant beats propel duo’s dazzling dance
Hannah Ekholm and Faye Stoeser’s double bill pairs precise poses with a compelling electronic score
Delicate ballads, bold brass and the thrill of Thriller: 10 of Quincy Jones’s greatest productions
From his sumptuous vocal jazz with Sarah Vaughan and Helen Merrill to funk with Donna Summer and George Benson, the late producer had astonishing versatility
Fishing lines, mobile phones and Wirral wind: the oddly harmonious music of Ex-Easter Island Head
For 15 years, the Liverpool band have been making some of the boldest experiments in British music (around their day jobs). They explain why quietness and community are so important in a chaotic world
The mysterious world of Two Shell: ‘Our pranks don’t mean we’re not sincere’
They promised us an in-person interview – then sent along two decoys. So who are the enigmatic musicians who make it so hard for fans to hear their thrillingly alien music?
Underworld: Strawberry Hotel review – sweet bangers and sad laments
The techno giants’ 11th album finds them ranging from cut-up dancefloor fillers to gentle experimentation
Composer Oliver Coates on the cello, chaos and connection: ‘The best music is out there in nature’
He has been hired by Radiohead, Steve McQueen and Charlotte Wells for Aftersun. But the British prodigy is less interested in virtuosity than connection – and chasing an ineffable ‘shimmer’
The Prodigy’s Leeroy Thornhill on fame, raves and his late best mate Keith Flint: ‘I love him and I always will’
He and Flint joined the band as teenagers, leaving Essex to travel the world and mix with royalty. As Thornhill publishes a book of photographs from that era, he talks about the fun, friendship, chaos – and sorrow
The Blessed Madonna: Godspeed review – a sprawling dancefloor odyssey
Featuring Kylie Minogue, Jacob Lusk and more, the American producer and DJ’s solo debut offers something for everyone
Kelly Lee Owens: Dreamstate review – dancefloor transcendence by a true pop shapeshifter
The Welsh producer’s latest handbrake turn takes her from dark-hued ambience to hypnotic euphoria on her poppiest record to date