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The Wire 505. Cover photography by Rafael Rios

Issue 505

March 2026

Subscribers: read this issue online.

Subscribe to the magazine. Buy issue 505.

Inside our brand new issue:

dälek: The New Jersey hiphop duo’s new album continues an extraordinary orbit taking in improv, hardcore and metal along the way. By Joseph Stannard

The Primer: Bring The Noise: From scratched vinyl to the cyborg kick of a Roland 808, hiphop beats have always been built from noise. By Rob Turner

O Ghettão: The Portuguese producer supergroup turbocharging batida’s dance music evolution. By Joseph Francis

Vic Bang: The Buenos Aires musician shapes homespun computer music using global folk sources. By Daryl Worthington

Pascal Comelade; Toy instruments and song shards are moving parts in the Catalan musician’s sly minimalism. By Julian Cowley

Invisible Jukebox: Daniel Blumberg: How will the soundtrack composer score against The Wire’s mystery record selection? Tested by Claire Biddles

Zu: Doom mongering monsters of industrial skronk. By Miloš Hroch

London Clay: Post-punk palimpsests. By Leah Kardos

Global Ear: Creative solutions to gentrification in Marseille. By Mathias Kulpinski

Unlimited Editions: High tech meets noise rock in Julien Fernandez’s Computer Students label. By Louis Pattison

The Inner Sleeve: Evicshen on Lightning Bolt’s Hypermagic Mountain

Against The Grain: Capitalist and patriarchal modes of listening neglect spiritual dimensions of music, argues Julia Úlehla

Epiphanies: A late night Egyptian Lover set changes the game for RP Boo

Soundcheck: Arcibanda; Babau; Tony Bontana; Leila Bordreuil & Kali Malone; Diego Caicedo; Kris Davis & The Lutoslawski Quartet; Deliluh; The Early; Foetus; Beverly Glenn-Copeland; Gong Slayer; Kim Gordon; Ipek Gorgun; Laurel Halo; Hen Ogledd; Henry Now; Dave Holland/Norma Winstone/The London Vocal Project; Suk Hong; KMRU; Konx-Om-Pax; L; Mary Lattimore & Julianna Barwick; Logic Lost; Seán Mac Erlaine & Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh; Mandy, Indiana; Ben Marc; Mo’ong & Bilawa; Neo Geodesia; Nkisi; Oberkas Travel; Mary Ocher; Bart De Paepe; Shane Parish; Ivo Perelman & Nate Wooley; Phew & Danielle de Picciotto; Qasu; Red Largo; Tomeka Reid Quartet; Paul Riedl/Hanging Moss; Scattered Purgatory; Brandon Seabrook; Shabaka; Claire M Singer; Tyshawn Sorey; Various Dub Dystopia Vol 1

The Columns: Avant Rock by Noel Gardner; Critical Beats by Misha Farrant; Dub & Reggae by Steve Barker; Electronics by Sam Davies; Hiphop & R&B by Richard Stacey; Jazz & Improv by Andy Hamilton; Modern Composition by Julian Cowley; Noise, Industrial & Beyond by Raymond Cummings; Size Matters by Byron Coley

The Boomerang: Joe Chambers; Slim Dunlap; Michael Garrick; Griot Galaxy; Stan Hubbs; Thelonious Monk; Evan Parker/Paul Rogers/Louis Moholo; Charles Tyler; Alan Vega

Print Run: Music Films: Documentaries, Concert Films And Other Systematic Representations Of Popular Music by Neil Fox; The Sound Atlas: A Guide To Strange Sounds Across Landscapes And Imagination by Michaela Vieser & Isaac Yuen; Everybody’s Head Is Open To Sound edited by Anaïs Ngbanzo; A Brief History Of Sound Recording by John Kannenberg; Ingram Marshall: A Personal And Musical Appreciation by Peter Garland

On Screen: Chuck Smith Fugs Film; Simon Poulter We Are Making A Film About Mark Fisher

On Location: Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Huddersfield, UK; Jazzfest Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Sacrum Profanum, Krakow, Poland; LCMF x Wigmore Hall: The Artist Is Not Present, London, UK; Deep Time: I See Red, Edinburgh, UK; Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival, Lausanne, Switzerland; GIOfest XVII, Glasgow, UK; Wet Ink Ensemble, New York, US; Le Guess Who?, Utrecht, Netherlands; OUT.FEST 2025, Barreiro, Portugal; Plunder Blunder Asunder, London, UK

On site: Afrosonica: Soundscapes, Geneva, Switzerland