Nico-Icon
From Vogue cover girl to anonymous Euro-junkie, the mercurial life of the former Velvet Underground chanteuse is revealed in a remarkable new film. Report by Louise Gray

Bites
Neotropic Ninja Tune's femme fatale Guy Barker Hard bop heroics Endemic Void Danny Coffey's breakbeat saga Shelley Hirsch Street level arias Corpus Hermeticum Nomadic New Zealand noizeniks

Nonplace Urban Field
A core node on the global electronic network, Burned Friedmann is exploring the eroticism of digital circuitry via his releases on Germany's Incoming! label. Interview by Rob Young

Hans-Joachim Roedelius meets Julian Cope
In a central London record store, Rob Young witnesses an encounter between a Krautrock hero and the UK's very own chronicler of the Great Kosmische Musik

Rome
Following in the wake of Tortoise, Ui, et al, this Chicago duo are enhancing their impeccable post-rock credentials with the electrifying power of dub. Interview by Christoph Cox

Simon Fisher Turner & the Soundtrack Syndrome
From the cinematic music of Derek Jarman's favourite composer to the imaginary soundtracks of Howie B's Pussyfoot label, musicians everywhere are falling in love with the silver screen. Story by Rob Young

Global Ear: Vienna
Kodwo Eshun attends an Austrian hypersymposium and gets some lessons in supersonic theory, Techno kinaesthetics and the didactics of DJ culture

Steve Reich
Aged 60, this New York Minimalist is still making future music, incorporating sampling, found sounds and video art into new works like the ebullient City Life. Interview by Mike Barnes

Invisible Jukebox: Diamanda Galas
Mike Barnes listens as the warrior queen of apocalypse-operatics tries to identify the music of Yoko Ono, Cecil Taylor, Penderecki, Laurie Anderson, Skip James and more

Stacey Pullen
An unsung lynchpin of Detroit Techno, this charismatic DJ/producer is still fusing the black heat of Afro-futurism with the cool sophistication of Euro Electronica. Interview by Peter Shapiro

David Tudor
UK composer Howard Skempton pays tribute to the electronic music pioneer, long-term collaborator with John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. who died this August aged 70