An automatic composing machine, capable of inventing new tunes long before the age of autonomous artificial intelligence driven devices. Or was it? By Robert Barry

Val Wilmer remembers the cloaked coffee bar performer who took a new approach to poetry reading inspired by skiffle, jazz, rock ’n’ roll and the blues

US composer Kelly Moran releases her new Warp EP Origin on 17 May. She spoke to The Wire’s Deputy Editor Emily Bick before a performance at London's Southbank Centre on 5 April

US guitarist Davey Williams died from spinal cancer on 6 April at the age of 66. Writer and friend Lee Shook recalls how their friendship expanded his musical universe

The history of Western music is built upon the work of Indigenous musicians whose voices must be heard, says tanner menard

The Paris based improvising musician shares an interview with the Japanese sound artist originally undertaken for the Oscillation festival

Mike Barnes recalls meeting the singer whose music made his listeners get a bit too carried away

A resource of music orientated organisations that have been set up by and for people with learning disabilities

“This uneasy interface between Alan Lomax and the record team is also where some errors crept into Voyager’s liner notes, many of which would last for decades”

Pierre Crépon and Richard J Koloda speak to the bass player and poet who worked with Albert Ayler and Black Unity Trio, among others

A reading list of over 20 music books intended to teach or educate, compiled by Wire staff to accompany The Great Learning special issue

Ahead of his performances at Big Ears Festival, the US electronics composer discusses process and his love of radio with The Wire’s Deputy Editor

Rob Young pays tribute to the former Talk Talk frontman

Ilia Rogatchevski catches up with the Polish quartet’s front man to discuss Gdansk’s tumultuous history, the films of Werner Herzog and the importance of boredom to the creative process

Roger Robinson and Kevin Martin share and discuss their new album, a meditation on loss and loneliness

“Why and how can a rock band like The Observatory exist in such a silent dream state?” Yan Jun discusses censorship amid the noise and silence of Singapore

The Art Ensemble Of Chicago frontman died on 9 January. Howard Mandel recalls several encounters with the musician, and a gig cancellation that had him dodging the collective for several years

In her memoir of the great US jazz drummer, educator and pharmacist, Val Wilmer recalls her visit to Alvin Fielder’s hometown of Meridian, Mississippi, where he introduced her to leading Civil Rights activists for her project to photograph the lives of black women

Extracts from Mark Sinker’s introduction to A Hidden Landscape Once A Week: The Unruly Curiosity Of The UK Music Press In The 1960s-80s, In The Words Of Those Who Were There