Simon Hopkins grapples with the genre-busting output of John Zorn. This article originally appeared in The Wire 156 (February 1997).

Mark Sinker uncovers ideas in black music - about present identity and future possibility - that run counter to all the comfortable old stories. This article was originally published in The Wire 96 (February 1992).

The Incredibly Strange Music books are mondo archaeology for vinyl fetishists. They exhume a hidden world of plastic where exotic Easy Listening, modern primitives, suburban astronauts, Bavarian sex symbols and singing psychics co-exist in fabulous Living Stereo. David Toop provides a guide to the delights of incredibly strange records. This article originally appeared in The Wire 128 (October 1994).

Edwin Pouncey surveys La Monte Young's recorded legacy. This article originally appeared in The Wire 178 (December 1998).

What's the connection between Neil Young, Lou Reed, Miles Davis, Marvin Gaye, David Bowie, Frank Zappa and John & Yoko? They are all contract breakers, stars who got sick of playing the music industry fame game. Mark Sinker listens to the musicians who pissed off their record companies and fans alike. This article originally appeared in The Wire 148 (June 1996).

Following in the footsteps of Brian Jones, Ornette Coleman, William Burroughs and others, Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo headed into Morocco's Rif mountains to seek out the legendry trance music of The Master Musicians of Jajouka. In this extract from his diary, he describes his intoxicating encounter with the village musicians, and outlines the battle currently raging over the music's birthright. The Wire 150 (August 1996).

David Toop is your guide on our whistlestop tour through the echo chamber. This article was originally published in The Wire 123 (May 1994).

A full collection of tributes to the late musician, including a number of pieces which were not published in the magazine.

Web only Epiphany by The Wire's intern Imogen Decordova

Panda Bear, whose Person Pitch album was voted third in our Top 50 Albums of 2007 chart, gives his verdict of the year just gone

Immerse yourself in mid-80s pirate nostalgia with mastermix.org says Jason Gross

African Music blogs offer a conduit to the mass of African music that remains unreleased in the West says Jennifer Allan

Julian Cowley on the enduring pre-digital cassettes issued on Vonna-Michell’s South London imprint

Edwin Pouncey on Jamaican Dancehall's bulletins from the frontlines

Music history as we once knew it is unravelling, says Dan Warburton

Phil Freeman on bootleg culture