Grouper is the subject of a feature by Nick Richardson in The Wire 334. A I A: Dream Loss/Alien Observer is out now, self released by Harris and available here.

File sharers uploading rare and out of print records challenge official histories of music by confronting hand-me-down narratives with the source artefacts, argues Mutant Sounds blogger Eric Lumbleau.

File sharers uploading rare and out of print records challenge official histories of music by confronting hand-me-down narratives with the source artefacts, argues Mutant Sounds blogger Eric Lumbleau.

The culture of copying is intrinsic to all music, argues Marcus Boon. So get over it – copyright buccaneers are roadtesting creative alternatives to obsolete capitalist models.

Marcus Boon is the author of The Wire 333 Collateral Damage article, part of our ongoing series looking at changes in the economy of music and its distribution.

The culture of copying is intrinsic to all music, argues Marcus Boon. So get over it – copyright buccaneers are roadtesting creative alternatives to obsolete capitalist models.

Paul Gilroy's Epiphanies article on two 1970 performances from The Voices Of East Harlem choir at the Isle Of Wight Festival and Albert Hall is featured in The Wire 333. Gilroy's latest book is Darker Than Blue: On The Moral Economies Of Black Atlantic Culture (Harvard University Press). On the cusp of the 1990s Gilroy wrote about jazz-funk and fusion for The Wire, in reviews and a regular column called New Fusion.

The combination of digital technology and the easy accessibility of samplers and computers have irrevocably changed the way sound is produced and perceived. As electronic music moves further away from the conventions of the club culture that spawned it to become a profound means of expression in its own right, a new breed of musician is emerging to forge new directions in Ambient and Techno with the parallel sciences of multimedia and electronic networking. Here we profile four such acts: Global Communication, The Black Dog, Bedouin Ascent and the Sähkö collective. This article originally appeared in The Wire 131 (January 1995).

Musician and composer DJ /Rupture aka Jace Clayton is featured in The Wire 333 in an article by Peter Shapiro.

The folks at Krakow's Unsound festival are putting together a publication that they'll distribute during the fest (9–16 October, supported by The Wire). Below, read contributions and listen to tracks from artists who will be performing at Unsound, including William Bennett, Christelle Gualdi aka Stellar OM Source and Natural Snow Buildings.

For seven days in May [1995], Liverpool reverberated to the signal of the UK's first experimental radio station. That media-styled 'telephone terrorist', Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner, tuned in. This article was originally published in The Wire 137 (July 1995).

Chicago based electronic music producer Hieroglyphic Being aka Jamal Moss is featured in The Wire 332 in an article by Robin Howells.

Carter Tutti aka Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti are featured in The Wire 332 Invisible Jukebox, tested by Mike Barnes. Chris and Cosey will be performing at Unsound, Krakow this month. Click here for more details.

Philip Clark's Primer on Militant Tuning in The Wire 332 looks at how Just Intonation, microtones and overtones are used as secret weapons in the fightback against the sonic tyranny of equal temperament.

When Fela Anikulapo-Kuti died in August 1997, Nigeria lost one of its most controversial and inspirational cultural figures. Here, the Africa-based writer Lindsay Barrett maps the extraordinary trajectory of Fela's life, detailing the emergence of his patented brand of Afrobeat, his anarchic lifestyle, and the ongoing battles with the Nigerian authorities. This feature was originally published in The Wire 169 (March 1998).

Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner hails the new community spirit of social networking sites that encourage direct communications between artists and listeners.