The Wire 502. Cover photography by Gilleam Trapenberg
Issue 502
December 2025
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Inside our brand new issue:
On the cover: Mulatu Astatke: Deep into his latest tour, the pioneering 81 year old Ethio jazz vibraphonist is finding new ways to be himself. By Francis Gooding
Griot Galaxy: Faruq Z Bey’s enigmatic cosmic messengers fused Detroit’s underground jazz modes with Afrofuturist sci-fi themes. By Mike Rubin
Alpha Maid: UK based guitarist/vocalist/producer Leisha Thomas creates her own unique language of time loops, dub swirls and grungy licks. By Claire Biddles
Emergence Collective: The simple practice of pattern recognition opens up improvised utopias for this Sheffield crew. By Daryl Worthington
Konrad Smoleński: The Polish artist connects art and activism through alpine bell and sculptural instrument installations. By Robert Barry
Invisible Jukebox: Test Dept: Can South London’s industrial veterans prove their metal with our mystery record collection? Tested by Mike Barnes
Debit: The Mexican-American producer reanimates 1990s cumbia rebajada. By April Clare Welsh
Klinck Trio: Belgian chamber musicians are networking across improv and avant pop. By Clive Bell
Global Ear: Underground resistance to the rise of the far right in Vilnius. By Andy Hamilton
Unlimited Editions: Enigmatic digital dispatches from jb glazer’s glint music. By Misha Farrant
The Inner Sleeve: Helado Negro on ESG’s ESG
Against The Grain: Rave’s countercultural spirit is under threat in an era ruled by social media, argues Holly Dicker
Epiphanies: Andy Hamilton asks: why did Keith Jarrett stop composing?
Soundcheck: [Ahmed]; Rodrigo Amado The Bridge; Christer Bothén. Burn Into Sleep & Dream Skills; CxBxT; Amelia Cuni; Alejandra Cárdenas; Neil Charles; Sylvie Courvoisier & Wadada Leo Smith; Lucrecia Dalt; The Dwarfs Of East Agouza; JJJJJerome Ellis; Christoph Erb/Magda Mayas/Gerry Hemingway; The Gall; gushes; HAYWARDxDÄLEK; ; Giuseppe Ielasi & Jack Sheen; yaz lancaster; Eve Libertine & Eva Leblanc; ILYICH; Kali Malone & Drew McDowall; Masma Dream World; Merzbow/Bernocchi/Cavalera; Meredith Monk; Natural Information Society; Katsuya Nonaka; Oneohtrix Point Never; Otherlands Trio; DJ Premier & Roc Marciano; Éliane Radigue/Rhodri Davies; Raining Spiderling; claire rousay; Sacred Lodge; SANAM; Sara Serpa & Matt Mitchell; Širom; Son Of Punk; Lord Spikeheart; SPRING; Sunn O))); Kalia Vandever; Pamela Z; Various vari/ations: Ode; To Oram
Columns: Avant Rock by Edwin Pouncey; Critical Beats by Joe Muggs; Dub & Reggae by Steve Barker; Electronics by Steph Kretowicz; Hiphop & R&B by Mosi Reeves; Jazz & Improv by Daniel Spicer; Modern Composition by Julian Cowley; Noise, Industrial & Beyond by Raymond Cummings; Size Matters by Byron Coley
Boomerang: L’Ambassadeur Des Ombres; Aufruhr Zur Liebe; Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers; Chicks On Speed; Dazzling Killmen; Debris'; Dog Soup; Fini Tribe; Ben Frost; Hüsker Dü; Joseph Kamaru; Bill MacKay & Ryley Walker; Yusuf Mumin; Neuntage Alt; Pharoah Sanders; Swell Maps; WIM Fanfare; XTC
Print Run: Audible Heat by Milo Thesiger-Meacham; Listening To Landscape: Hauntology And The Echoes Of Albion by Phil Hubbard; Now Jazz Now: 100 Essential Free Jazz & Improvisation Recordings, 1960–80 by Thurston Moore, Byron Coley & Mats Gustafsson with Neneh Cherry & Joe McPhee; The Jazz Pictures by Lisette Model, edited by Audrey Sands with additional texts by Langston Hughes & Loren Schoenberg; Freedom Rhythm & Sound: Revolutionary Jazz Original Cover Art 1965–83 by Gilles Peterson & Stuart Baker; Inside The Moment: Iconic Blues, Soul, Jazz, Rock, And R&B Images And History by Joseph A Rosen; Don’t Say Please: The Oral History Of Die Kreuzen by Sahan Jayasuriya; The Composer’s Black Box: Making Music In Cybernetic America by Theodore Gordon; Music Stones: The Rediscovery Of Ringing Rock by Mike Adcock
On Screen: Guillaume Maupin & Pablo Guarise The Magic City: Birmingham According To Sun Ra; Aaron Anderson & Elise Tyler William Tyler: Time Indefinite
On Location:Moers Festival, Moers, Germany; Tomeka Reid Quartet, London, UK; SWOONFEST, New York, US; Dirar Kalash + Kalash Bedford Maslan Trio + Holome + Alex Izaak Milling & Territorial Gobbing, Leeds, UK; Lunchmeat, Prague, Czech Republic; Fri Resonans, Trondheim, Norway; XMTR/Sono-Electro, St Leonards-on-Sea, UK; NikNak, Glasgow, UK; Skaņu Mežs, Riga, Latvia; 2035, Paris, France; Robert Ashley: Celestial Excursions, New York, US; Tati Au Miel + Sanctuary Of Praise + Charles Verni, London, UK