Maribou State review – UK duo turn darkness into light after existential crisis
With Chris Davids recovered from a brain condition, the electronic act’s first tour in years is full of committed, emotionally resonant performances
One to watch: Honesty
The Leeds collective prefer our attention be focused not on them but their moodily atmospheric electronic sound
FKA twigs: Eusexua review – a hymn to the healing power of the dancefloor
Coining a word to describe a particular state of euphoria, twigs effortlessly juggles left-field digitals and club pop tunes on album No 3
‘In her own out-there world’: FKA twigs’ 20 greatest songs – ranked!
As she prepares to release her new album, Eusexua, we rate the best of an artist who orbits pop in a truly singular style
Desi rap, deep jungle and truck-stop concrète: five-star albums you may have missed this year
From Jordana’s sprightly soft rock to Pataka Boys’ collagist UK-Punjabi hip-hop, our writers pick their must-listen gems from 2024
‘Too many people try to over-intellectualise music’: RIP Magic, London’s buzziest buzz band
Splicing indie-rock with weird electronics and snottily menacing vocals, this duo stick out from the rest of the capital’s scene – and have turned Tyler, the Creator’s head
The 50 best albums of 2024: No 1 – Charli xcx: Brat (and Brat and It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat)
Smart, funny, moving and full of big tunes, the in-your-face masterpiece was the right album at the right time, striking a cultural nerve and defining a change in mindset
The 50 best albums of 2024
Topped with Charli xcx’s swaggering yet vulnerable Brat, here are the year’s finest LPs as decided by 26 Guardian music writers
Aphex Twin: Music from the Merch Desk (2016-2023) review – Santa’s sack overspills with AFX bounty
Compiling the highly sought-after limited vinyl releases sold at recent festival sets, this surprise 38-track release filled with bangers and beauty is a trove for fans
The 10 best contemporary albums of 2024
Astrid Sonne’s sonic odyssey led her to Auto-Tune experiments, Caroline Shaw took Emily Dickinson into junkyard hip-hop and Nala Sinephro went space-age
‘Like Depeche Mode, but evil’: the sweaty, sexual music of 80s EBM
As documented in a new book, electronic body music swept Belgium and Germany as its artists strove to make something entirely new – but their militaristic look became controversial
Bubble Love: Bubble Love review – Ross From Friends’ high-energy pop-club side project
Producer Felix Weatherall adopts another guise, swapping lo-fi analogue for a disorienting burst of alternative dance music
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