"From guitars, bass, drums and a bit of keyboards, that dry set of stuff, they created a whole other world, a mysterious world. And I still don’t know what they’re doing going to a graveyard in a Cadillac at midnight..." #PeterCapaldi on Television - Marquee Moon buff.ly/XKR7PQS

"I had hoped the plight of these brave people would have been amplified across the world. The Iranian people need your support. This is a humanitarian crisis. This is beyond mere left and right politics.” Kavus Torabi The Writing’s on the Wall for the Betrayal of Iran buff.ly/bL70kF6

'Taxi Driver ends with Travis in his cab reunited, temporarily, with Betsy. Chivalrously, he doesn’t take her fare and they part forever.' Question: Do you consider the endings of Taxi Driver and King of Comedy real, or imagined by their protagonists? buff.ly/szc04F4

Off the back of an incendiary debut record in 2025, Leather.head speak to Cal Cashin about the importance of keeping things political, uncompromising collaborations with poet Zia Ahmed, the reclamation of emo and more Direct Action Gets the Goods: An Interview with Leather.head buff.ly/W2OVmCC

'Listeners drawn to Milton Nascimento’s spiritual introspection or Cesária Évora’s quiet gravitas will find much to resonate with here. Costa’s album succeeds not by explaining its meaning, but by trusting the ritual' Nilza Costa - Cantigas buff.ly/YvZn72j

'The 12th instalment of Betwixt & Between - masterminded by Jacken Elswyth (extraordinary banjo player and member of Shovel Dance Collective, The Greater London Banjo Trio and more), is to be the last' Elspeth Anne, Côr Meibion Gwalia - Betwixt & Between 12: Folk Music for Winter buff.ly/faSJA4o

'Building on the power of Pyr from 2016, Stoic amped the low end to a mighty concave rumble, building a deeply hypnotic baseline atop which sat a tundra of intense jagged noise.' Ghold – ‘Nothing Dreamt’ from Stoic (2017) - The Strange World Of… Crypt of the Wizard buff.ly/jjYVJOC

"I love the way Jarvis has that fabulous ability to appear very colloquial and chatty while at the same time following these dark, epic themes. And the whole band building the mood behind him." #PeterCapaldi on Pulp - This Is Hardcore buff.ly/baykENE

'Taxi Driver quotes Walt Whitman: “I am the man. I suffered. I was there.” Male insecurities: those Schrader calls, “God’s lonely men”. Males are said to be three times more likely to be homeless or addicted; twelve times more likely to be incarcerated.' Taxi Driver turns 50 buff.ly/szc04F4

'Mandy, Indiana combine righteous anger with an incendiary sound and a loud call for unity in dark times. As Valentine Caulfield puts it on ‘Ist Halt So': "We walk together, angered, in solidarity"' Urgh by Mandy, Indiana is tQ's Album of the Week buff.ly/mItp2DL

"There was so much invention in it, sound-wise, and it was really at the cutting edge of what you could do technically - the collaging sounds, and using samples of voices. She can delve into the subconscious and touch it very deeply" #PeterCapaldi on Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love buff.ly/YH4j4xs

In an exclusive extract from his new book, author Keith Jopling looks at the curious phenomenon of the 'vanishing LP' What Makes a Classic Album in the Streaming Era? or What Charli XCX Could Learn from The Police buff.ly/tQNT7uj

"Apparently there’d been a terrible argument before everybody went on stage about the deal they were being paid, so they’re very disgruntled, but there’s this epic urgency to it." #PeterCapaldi on David Bowie - David Live buff.ly/O6ANwwJ

Pavement’s Bob Nastanovich has donated his own RIAA gold disc to an auction to support Margate music venue WhereElse. The auction closes at 10am GMT on Monday 9 February buff.ly/NqVSqc7

'Duval Timothy and C.J. Mirra have produced a score that feels like a psychogeographic map of a city holding its breath - a subterranean minimalism that prioritizes texture over melody and atmosphere over anthem.' OST Of The Week: Duval Timothy & CJ Mirra – My Father’s Shadow buff.ly/qz8rSJe

Seb Rochford has shared ‘Til The Day I’m Gone’, a new track via his Finding Ways project, featuring the late guitarist Patrick Walden. Listen to it here: buff.ly/AnZCmP0

Welsh Iranian artist, Roshi Nasehi, speaks to fellow musicians about the dangers of allowing the protest movement to be hijacked by hard left anti-imperialist ideologues and outlines how practical help can be offered The Writing’s on the Wall for the Betrayal of Iran buff.ly/bL70kF6

Sam Slater's highly collaborative new LP plays out like an elegy for a world and way of living we’ve yet to lose but are on the verge of losing, says Bernie Brooks Sam Slater - Lunng buff.ly/cDFte2X

'Throughout the project was an idea of 'retracing the journey of the banjo from West Africa to the plantation in the Caribbean, to the American South.' "It feels really significant to re-establish the connection to that instrument and where it comes from." Folk Music for Winter buff.ly/faSJA4o

'More drum kits here, this time with a Juno-60. the first track comes on in drifts of arpeggiated synths from somewhere out in the Laurie Spiegel extended universe.' Bono / Burratini - Ora Sono Un Lago - Rum Music for January buff.ly/MA698it

"One of my favourite tracks is ‘The Overload’, which talks about the digital world. There’s this sense of darkness and the closing down of something that will unleash a kind of malevolent force. It’s very Doctor Who, actually." #PeterCapaldi on Talking Heads - Remain In Light buff.ly/huPsqkh

“The last metal shop in London closed in the early 90s, so we kinda got to write the blueprint for what a metal shop looked like in 2015. We said, ‘Fuck it; we’ll get a room, then we’ll paint it black, then we’ll put some records up.'” The Strange World Of… Crypt of the Wizard buff.ly/jjYVJOC

'The former Marc Almond and Einstürzende Neubauten collaborator conjures sensual rituals and half-dirges. An intense listen, but a beguiling experience – where the veils that separate desire, death and longing are worn thin' Annie Hogan - Tongues In My Head buff.ly/9uiHWJc

'Nick Cave and Mick Harvey had already started down the dark road leading to Murder Ballads when they were gnawing at the entrails of Australian punk’s bloated carcass in The Birthday Party' Many Happy Returns to Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds’ Murder Ballads, which turns 30 today! buff.ly/oR0Cwcv

"When I was at art school, I often didn’t do the work I should have during the day, so I’d have to pull all-nighters to catch up. I’d play albums to accompany me through the night. The one that was always on was Berlin." #PeterCapaldi on Lou Reed - Berlin buff.ly/oydxqd4

Patrick Clarke speaks to the figures behind the new Black British Folk Collective about their story so far, and reviews eleven new records including harsh noise bodhran, an extraordinary Occitan freakout, Armenian duduk, Polish oberek Radical Traditional: Folk Music for Winter buff.ly/faSJA4o

Mandy, Indiana haver never sounded so direct, so fierce, so angry as on this, their 2nd album, a record which forcefully calls out rape culture and toxic masculinity amidst racing polyrhythms and a barrage of noise Urgh by Mandy, Indiana is tQ's Album of the Week buff.ly/mItp2DL

Clock DVA’s 1981 album Thirst is getting reissued, 45 years since its original release. The reissue will also include live and alternate versions of tracks from the record You can listen to the remastered ‘4 Hours’ here: buff.ly/cS5vdee

Ricardo Villalobos has curated a new remix compilation of work by Sun Ra Arkestra. Underground Resistance, Calibre, Chez Damier, A Guy Called Gerald and Villalobos rework material from the Arkestra’s 2022 album Living Sky buff.ly/12NXWq3

As he prepares to embark on his first headline music tour, Peter Capaldi takes Jude Rogers through 13 records that have defined his life, from parallels between Talking Heads and #DoctorWho, to the time he found himself in a room with Kate Bush Peter Capaldi’s Favourite Albums buff.ly/A1jP8dc

Harry Sword explores the world of the cult London shop and record label – a vital imprint for adventurous leftfield heavy metal – offering ten entry points into one of the most beguiling and bewitching catalogues out there The Strange World Of… Crypt of the Wizard buff.ly/jjYVJOC

'Here, the darkened dancefloor doubles as the basement or cursed attic of a haunted house; the sticky floor smothered in blood not beer. The heartbeat is not the penetrating bass coming through the floor but a strange, unworldly hum in the pipes.' Shackleton - Euphoria Bound buff.ly/ng4jBYy

Arca has remixed Robyn’s recent single ‘Sexistential’ - the title track from Robyn’s forthcoming album, which is her first in eight years You can listen to it here: buff.ly/GAJqko4

Xylitol, the production moniker of Catherine Backhouse, has a new album on the way for Planet Mu You can listen to the album closer, Falling, here: buff.ly/ewcA5VB

"Just so powerful, so ahead of the game in understanding politics and understanding religion and respect for humans, not just going by what a priest says or patriarchal methods." #Peaches on Sinead O’Connor - The Lion And The Cobra buff.ly/KtQjFbt

Your Rum Music roundup returns for 2026, where Jennifer Lucy Allan presents early AOTY contenders from Silvia Tarozzi, Tashi Dorij and more Rum Music for January buff.ly/MA698it

'The new deluxe edition of Café Bleu is a welcome reminder of just how audacious the early Style Council was, how eager to put the public on its back foot.' Reissue of the Week: The Style Council’s Café Bleu buff.ly/40jL3Xy

In the run up to the release of his new book, Still In A Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers And The Reinvention Of Rock, 1984–1994, revisit an archive Quietus interview with Simon Reynolds #ThePortal: Simon Reynolds Discusses Retromania buff.ly/DV6uGcJ

'This Nottingham quartet drag noise-rock and psych into some dank, unwholesome places. Like Loop, or The Bevis Frond or The Fall there’s an insular sort of world-building at play, albeit one where the door’s been left on the latch.' Bloody Head - Bend Down And Kiss The Ground buff.ly/sCYuP85

Featuring the likes of MPTL Microplastics, Dry Cleaning, The Soft Pink Truth, Craven Faults, Qasu, Peaches, Jane Weaver, Zu, Sleaford Mods, Lightning Bolt, Megadeth, Thundercat, Bruce Springsteen, Robyn and Shackleton... The January Subscriber Playlist is Here! buff.ly/IRzXbJV

Last week we shared the news that Simon Reynolds next book will be Still In A Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers And The Reinvention Of Rock, 1984–1994 We’ve updated #ThePortal with pieces on several of the artists featured in the book, as well as an archive Simon Reynolds interview buff.ly/RjqnUou

"When I heard this album, I was starting to make electronic music, but I also loved the energy of rock. ‘Rollin’ And Scratchin’’ made me realise where punk and rock and dance music could come together." #Peaches on Daft Punk - Homework buff.ly/vk6f3gS

Ahead of the release of new album Domestic Bliss and an appearance at Acid Horse festival in May, the 'amniotically-linked trio' speak to Archie Forde about recording in binaural stereo Voka Gentle Interviewed buff.ly/Y5xdsnB

'A small, boxed-in whole: an expansion of ideas shown in a different light. In some ways, an outsider album, with its own microcosm and musical language that can take you out of what is now and here.' Dialect - Full Serpent is a Quietus Album of the Month for Jan 2026 buff.ly/63csq32

'Carries the vastness of a desert with archaic formations and sparse flora, fusing elements of krautrock and prog jazz, incorporating drone and chanter strings on a hurdy-gurdy into sounds that are both electronic and traditional' Geologist - Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights? buff.ly/0iPM0mw

#LaurelHalo is set to release her soundtrack for Julian Charrière’s film Midnight Zone You can listen to Midnight Zone lead track ‘Sunlight Zone’ here: buff.ly/Q0RUzwy

Simon Reynolds is releasing a new book, Still In A Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers And The Reinvention Of Rock 1984–1994 buff.ly/haXZ9vR

"When I was 12, I think my friend gave me this album and it was just so otherworldly. I’d never heard any music like that. Later on, it was such an exciting time when Hounds Of Love came out and it was such a hit." #Peaches on Kate Bush - The Kick Inside buff.ly/anuMdEn

“Under the Ivanishvili regime, power is quiet, opaque, and cowardly. It doesn’t need tanks – its atmosphere and aspirations are enough oppression. If the system is choking culture, then culture has to push back with its full body." Underground Music in Tbilisi, by Nick Hudson buff.ly/JSfiqBR

In an exclusive extract from his new book, Living in a D.A.I.S.Y Age, West Virginia University Professor Austin McCoy recounts the group's early years Ain’t Hip To Be Labelled A Hippie: The Suburban Origins of De La Soul buff.ly/khqnq2I