Bites
Tony Allen Afrobeat machine US Maple Hard rock hairballs Nobukazu Takemura Transformed B-boy Michael J Schumacher Dreaming of drones

Carl Craig
One of the original legislators of Detroit Techno has returned behind a new alias: Blakula, the vampiric conductor of The Innerzone Orchestra. Ken Hollings hears some tales from America's darkside

The Then And Now Sound
Is the Fender Rhodes electric piano the greatest instrument even invented? Techno auteur Kirk Degiorgio pays tribute to the Rhodes, and hails the musicians who made it famous, from Herbie Hancock and Sun Ra

Otomo Yoshihide
Since disbanding his sample-ridden noise group Ground Zero, this honour-roll member of Japan's sonic underworld has dedicated himself to ear-splitting explorations in digital sound. By Clive Bell

Undercurrents 7: Concrete Rock
A series of articles uncovering the hidden wiring of 20th century music. This month, Edwin Pouncey wonders why a generation of disaffected 60s rockers jumped into bed with the classical avant garde

Michael Gira
For over a decade America's Swans produced body music of blood-curdling intensity. Now the group's former leader has reinvented himself as an avenging Angel Of Light. By Ian Penman