Timbaland
Does avant garde music have to wear a hairshirt? Not in the Cookie Factory, the production house run by this 26 year old Virginian. Sasha Frere-Jones meets the most bankable producer in HipHop and R&B

Invisible Jukebox: Derek Bailey
The crusty old sage of free music listens with prejudice to tracks by Conlon Nancarrow, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Alec Empire and more. Tested by Ben Watson

Portishead
Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley, the brain’s behind Bristol’s most unlikely pop phenomenon, reveal the agony of touring and the ecstasy of constructing their electric torch songs. By Rob Young

Global Ear: Lanzarote
On a lump of volcanic rock located off the coast of North Africa, the Festival of Visual Music offers a Utopian fusion of sun, sea, sand and Ambient sound. Report by Tony Herrington

LaMonte Young Meets Mark Webber
The turbulent life and times of a true American pioneer: Pulp guitarist Mark Webber’s epic, exclusive interview with the reclusive Minimalist composer

Marc Ribot
John Lurie, John Zorn, Tom Waits, Tricky, David Sylvain and Elvis Costello have all called on the services of the most in-demand guitarist in avant rock. By Julian Cowley