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With their eighth album Paradises out this week, Simon Price asks Ladytron founder Daniel Hunt to shed some light (and magic) upon ten entry points into the Scouse-based synth lords' (and ladies') pristine body of werk The Strange World Of #Ladytron buff.ly/bKzsgIT

'Hot new bands like Franz Ferdinand were citing The Fall as an influence. While MES was soon threatening to sue them for sullying his good name, it fuelled a phenomenon: the fans were getting younger...' Reissue of the Week: Fall Heads Roll by #TheFall buff.ly/Msi90E1

Actress and Suzanne Ciani are releasing a new album together - Concrète Waves. They will also play two shows together, at Rewire festival in The Hague on 9 April and Nantes’ Variations on 11 April buff.ly/Ymx0GRl

'Charlotte Gainsbourg’s albums are a lot like tattoos, souvenirs that evoke strong memories of important moments in her life...' #ThePortal: Your Weekly Quietus Archive Dive - Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Favourite Albums buff.ly/vdK9u6M

"Debbie Harry is the greatest frontwoman of all time. Her voice is incredible; she is deeply cool, beautiful, gritty, and a gifted songwriter and actor." Sarah Nixey on #Blondie - Parallel Lines buff.ly/QIa5B0P

'Shockingly contemporary, yet vibrating with an ancient political significance that interrogates the future of the Democratic Republic of the Congo—the sound of a society’s refuse being hammered into something transcendent' Kinshasa in Action by KinAct is tQ's Album of the Week buff.ly/eR1Vrqu

In this month's Low Culture Essay, Natalie Marlin explores how a under-regarded soundtrack became part of understanding her evolving trans identity Natalie Marlin on #TheChemicalBrothers’ Hanna OST buff.ly/BcG4Fyl

Vince Clarke has launched a new project devoted to cover versions, together with Benge and Blancmange’s Neil Arthur. You can listen to Doublespeak’s take on Fad Gadget’s ‘Back To Nature’ here: buff.ly/UGEqCvM

Half a century ago – between the release of Sad Wings Of Destiny and Sin After Sin – Judas Priest were engaged in a revolution of image and sound, one that would cement the heavy metal aesthetic for good Happy Birthday to Judas Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny, which turns 50 today! buff.ly/8PjnktA

Tim Burrows explains how a conversation on a park bench led to an inventive film about a unique, much missed voice in political philosophy and cultural criticism Why we made a film about #MarkFisher called We Are Making A Film About Mark Fisher buff.ly/piC4ARL

Lee “Scratch” Perry’s final album, produced in collaboration with Mouse On Mars, is due to be released this June, almost five years on from the dub pioneer’s death You can listen to lead track ‘Rockcurry’ here: buff.ly/ElDxChu

FKA twigs has filed a lawsuit against 90s duo The Twigs in a bid to secure rights to her artist name amid a long-running legal dispute between the two acts buff.ly/YbVK8E7

james K is releasing a remix album for her 2025 LP Friend, featuring reworks by the likes of Objekt, Drew McDowall, JASSS, Priori, Loidis and Roza Terenzi buff.ly/BKigzYA

EFG London Jazz Festival has shared the first wave of acts playing its 2026 edition later this year. Fatoumata Diawara and Emma-Jean Thackray are among the first announced artists for this year's event buff.ly/XLSYDw7

Self-penned between the release of her latest solo album and the return of her much-loved band Black Box Recorder, Sarah Nixey charts her life in listening from Carpenters to The Cure, via encounters with David Bowie... Outside the Box: Sarah Nixey’s Favourite Albums buff.ly/hhAaA9A

You can now sample the perks of subscribing to The Quietus for free for 30 days. Sign up here: buff.ly/U0WWJK5 [Terms apply]

'Are you enjoying the thunder of bird song as soon as the spring dawn cracks the blinds? Well then naturalist, broadcaster and activist Chris Packham’s love of punk rock is for you...' #ThePortal: Your Weekly Quietus Archive Dive buff.ly/yKUaPzs

'What is paradise? It is probably a place where the wash of ethereal voices that herald in Ladytron’s epic new album, Paradises (or the breathy synth sounds that carry it out), will be on tap all day, every day...' Ladytron - Paradises buff.ly/ef6Pcu7

'In all likelihood, none of the other big indie bands of 1991 would have started their record with 10 seconds of Moog, still then a borderline obscure modular synthesiser favoured by 1970s prog rock giants...' Ben Cardew on The Pivotal Role of #Stereolab’s ‘Super-Electric’ buff.ly/DTHGwXv

In his latest missive from the French fringes, David McKenna digs into the archives of the Sonic Protest festival and a recent book on the post-68 French underground, and reviews new noise, folk, rap and indie pop releases Rockfort! #FrenchMusic for March buff.ly/OUFZ2Og

Our Strange World of Ed Kuepper piece now comes with a playlist of classics and deep cuts from The Saints and Laughing Clowns guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Become a Quietus Subscriber Plus tier member to access this plus many other wonderful perks: buff.ly/10hOug2

'In the quarter of a century since the its release, #PetShopBoys have shape-shifted and experimented with a range of artistic media and each one of these personas has a umbilical rooting within Please.' Many Happy Returns to Pet Shop Boys' Please, which turns 40 today! buff.ly/wK7RTd8

'As gorgeous and marrow-cooling as an outdoor sunset where you’re floored by the beauty but also beginning to wonder if you shouldn’t have brought your coat, there's is an eerie majesty threaded through this record.' The Leaf Library - After the Rain, Strange Seeds buff.ly/6Qhi80C

'The album channels Black Midi’s surging, maximalist spirit into an acoustic setting. "I was frustrated with the landscape of singer-songwriter music. One of the few ambitions for this record was to make another case for how it could be.”' Cameron Picton on My New Band Believe buff.ly/sVThRMJ

'Known for her collaborations with Gnod, Marlene Ribeiro crafts music that feels intimate yet cosmic. Her work weaves psychedelic textures, drones, and softly haunting vocals into introspective soundscapes' Marlene Ribeiro – Toquei no Sol - Organic Intelligence: Psychedelic Porto buff.ly/FDg0fZi

'The Brisbane of Saints songs was a corrupt police state in classic British colonial style under the thumb of tinpot premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen from 1968-1987. ‘(I’m) Stranded’ was an S.O.S.' The Saints – ‘Brisbane (Security City)’ from Prehistoric Sounds (1978) buff.ly/10hOug2

As his sprawling project My New Band Believe prepares a debut LP, Cameron Picton discusses life after #BlackMidi, the loss of former bandmate Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin, ambition, and rethinking the possibilities of singer-songwriter records Cameron Picton on My New Band Believe buff.ly/sVThRMJ

"I was at art college when I bought this record. Annette’s ‘Dream 17’ is the one I listened to most. Whenever I hear it, if I’m out, it reminds me of the Cocteau Twins; it has that haunted Liz Fraser quality." George Shaw on V/A - North: The Sound Of The Dance Underground buff.ly/mvbN5gZ

'U offers a warm hug to those who fondly remember the iTunes era and pop music of the 2000s and 2010s whilst craving it with a burst of nostalgia. Surely, the album heralds the breakout of Underscores as a major popstar' Underscores - U buff.ly/vZD6t3P

'When Scott Kelly was fired from Neurosis in 2019, it raised a troubling question about the function of their music. An Undying Love For A Burning World doesn’t provide any easy answers. But it does thoroughly explore the question.' Neurosis - An Undying Love For A Burning World buff.ly/XVF3id6

'The B-side of ‘(I’m) Stranded’, which the Saints self-released in 1976, beating the first-wave of UK punk to the punch and parlaying their DIY guile to gobsmacked reviews and a record deal.' #TheSaints – ‘No Time’ from (I’m) Stranded (1977) - The Strange World Of Ed Kuepper buff.ly/10hOug2

'One of the greatest artists of the 20th century, with a sublime musical vision that encompasses jazz, blues, gospel, Indian classical, North African music, and European modernism...' #ThePortal: The Strange World Of Alice Coltrane buff.ly/MUdMhPA

"I was into Grandmaster Flash and Public Enemy. This sounded as though they’d been listening to John Coltrane, but they looked like they were having fun on MTV, revelling in a landscape of childishness" George Shaw on De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising buff.ly/saujRWi

'Stoner rockers no longer, this Warsaw quintet have progressed so far it seems that any prolonged passage of über-heaviness could be interpreted as an affront to their bold evolution. They now specialise in intricate and dreamy material.' Weedpecker - V: Rock Music for March buff.ly/kWEqXRK

"Everything collided at the same point in this record. It was as though Johnny Marr had been listening to all the music I loved, then warped it." George Shaw on #TheSmiths - The Queen is Dead buff.ly/OR4PsEK

Ben Cardew's new book recounts the tale of Stereolab in 20 songs that represent certain vital aspects of the band’s make up (from romance, to collage and repetition). Ben Cardew on The Pivotal Role of #Stereolab’s ‘Super-Electric’ buff.ly/DTHGwXv

'With a bite and psychedelia all its own, this new music is carefully constructed, cerebral, intrinsically heavy, and has the quiet amazement of someone looking at their near-forgotten reflection.' Neurosis - An Undying Love For A Burning World buff.ly/XVF3id6

Bill Orcutt charts the series of serendipities and chance encounters that led to one of the most boundary-pushing and varied careers in experimental guitar playing #ThePortal: An Interview With #BillOrcutt buff.ly/hmNj08F

Neurosis have released their first new album in a decade, which sees SUMAC’s Aaron Turner join the band on vocals and guitar An Undying Love For A Burning World is out now on Neurot Recordings buff.ly/MB3628H

"A college friend introduced me to African Head Charge, Dub Syndicate, and Bim Sherman. He got me into this album. There’s something about what On-U Sound make explicit, which is that dub is the counterculture speaking." George Shaw on Gary Clail - End Of The Century Party buff.ly/pu7qCR6

Mary Chiney gets to grips with a holy grail of Antillean music, Roland Brival's seamless marriage of American spiritual jazz with the ancestral roots of Martinique’s bèlè and carnival traditions. Reissue of the Week: Roland Brival’s Créole Gypsy buff.ly/z9sEtbR

'‘Know Your Product’ combines Stax horns, the swing and swagger of Elmore James and an almost impossibly snotty expansion of ‘Satisfaction’ that makes its allusion explicit: these are lies and brainwashing...' The Saints – ‘Know Your Product’ The Strange World Of... Ed Kuepper buff.ly/10hOug2

A new collaboration between Leila Bordreuil and Kali Malone captures candlelit conjurations that unfurl into warning sirens, says Bernie Brooks Leila Bordreuil + Kali Malone - Music for Intersecting Planes buff.ly/ZKLCRM3

The Afghan Whigs have shared a new song, ‘House Of I’, their first release of new material since 2022 You can listen to it here: buff.ly/CamDdgl

'Though Emperor Tomato Ketchup would (almost) mark the end of Stereolab’s affair with motorik rhythms, tracks like ‘Les Yper Sound’ and ‘Emperor Tomato Ketchup’ are the band’s best, most interesting expressions of that beat.' #Stereolab's Emperor Tomato Ketchup at 30 buff.ly/auhppd8

"I’d known bands like Cabaret Voltaire since the John Peel years. Sheffield was like a fucked up Manchester, more sardonic, more humorous. This group sounded like the music of the future, siphoned from a speaker from 1942." The artist #GeorgeShaw on The Human League - Dare buff.ly/3GmtikU

'Transformation lies at the heart of Dust To Dust. The sounds never settle. They’re always shifting, changing, evolving. It’s in a state of flux, of uncertainty.' Teerath Majumder - Dust To Dust buff.ly/7rOPTBM

'To mark Mabe Fratti and Bill Orcutt's forthcoming collaborative album Almost Waking, we've got Fratti's 2024 Baker's Dozen in which she praised Orcutt, resulting in the duo's initial communication...' #ThePortal: Your Weekly Quietus Archive Dive buff.ly/yKUaPzs

In the latest antidote to the algorithm, Jakub Knera takes us to the wildly diverse and hypnotic sounds of the Portuguese city Organic Intelligence LIV: Psychedelic Porto buff.ly/FDg0fZi