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Inside our brand new issue:

On the cover: special commemorative silver gatefold Wire 500 artwork by Savage Pencil.

Natural Information Society: Exploring the time-stretching possibilities of longform improvisation with Joshua Abrams and Lisa Alvarado’s group. By Emily Pothast

OvO: The heavy theatrical performances of the Italian duo raise questions of mortality and identity. By Claire Biddles

Weston Olencki: Grappling with trombones and banjos poses questions of place and colonialism for the South Carolina born musician. By Daryl Worthington

Bitchin Bajas: Going with the flow is the MO for the shape-shifting Chicago trio. By Bill Meyer

Fay Victor: Giving voice to the catalogue of Herbie Nichols is just the latest project for the free thinking vocalist. By Stewart Smith

Signing and Interpretation: Three practitioners explain the unique art of performing and translating experimental music for Deaf audiences. By Jo Hutton

Invisible Jukebox: Lea Bertucci: Will the saxophonist and tape composer go loopy hearing The Wire’s mystery record selection? Tested by Clive Bell

Cerys Hafana: Giving a voice to the Welsh triple harp. By Francis Gooding

Cleaning Women: Laundry rack-mounted equipment. By Ilia Rogatchevski

Unlimited Editions: The Collapsing Drums label tells the stories that matter in a post-pandemic world. By Spenser Tomson

The Inner Sleeve: Lucrecia Dalt on Tindersticks’ Trouble Every Day (Original Soundtrack)

Global Ear: Balkan beats rise out of Pula, Croatia’s industrial/punk past. By Robert Rigney

Against The Grain: New ruptures in culture can be found within the wreckage of the present, argues Mattie Colquhoun

Epiphanies: A recent London gig opens up questions about the racialised dynamics of performance for Theodora Laird aka feeo

Soundcheck: Rafiq Bhatia; Sofie Birch & Antonina Nowacka; Sir Richard Bishop; Bitterviper; Black Sites; David Byrne; Cardiacs; Christina Carter; Chime Oblivion; Chuquimamani-Condori; Mike Cooper; Baxter Dury; Evening; Mark Fell; Mark Fell with Studio Dan; Michael Finnissy; Fuckwolf; Ellen Fullman & The Living Earth Show; Melvin Gibbs; David Grubbs; Hand To Earth; Kieran Hebden & William Tyler; Home Secretary; Kev Hopper; Ho99o9; Eiko Ishibashi & Jim O’Rourke; Jung An Tagen; Piotr Kurek; Lider Mit Palestine; Geoff Mann; Donny McCaslin; Sergio Merce; Mistake Band; Joe Morris; Joe Morris & Elliott Sharp; múm; Nad Spiro; The Necks; New Chance; Hatis Noit; Obscuress; Aki Onda; OSEES; Harry Partch/Partch Ensemble; Jonathan Richman; Ignaz Schick; Shapednoise; ShrapKnel; Squanderers; Sun City Girls; Henry Threadgill; ujif_notfound; Ziúr

The Boomerang: Grateful Dead & John Oswald; Harry Pussy; Cindy Lee; Der Moderne Man; Reducer; SYPH; The Shadow Ring; Six Finger Satellite; Sly & The Family Stone; Wayne Smith; Susumu Yokota

The Columns: Avant Rock by Tony Rettman; Dub & Reggae by Steve Barker; Electronics by Leah Kardos; Hiphop & R&B by Tim Fish; Jazz & Improv by Phil Freeman; Modern Composition by Julian Cowley; Noise, Industrial & Beyond by Raymond Cummings; Size Matters by Byron Coley

Print Run: Everything We Do Is Music: How 20th Century Classical Music Shaped Pop by Elizabeth Alker; Boulez In Context edited by Edward Campbell; Blitz: The Club That Created The 80s by Robert Elms; Shouting Out Loud: Lives Of The Raincoats by Audrey Golden; Tough Breaks: The Story Of Baltimore Club Music by Al Shipley; Synths, Sax & Situationists: The French Musical Underground 1968–1978 by Ian Thompson; James Tenney: Writings And Interviews On Experimental Music edited by Robert Wannamaker, Lauren Pratt & Tashi Wada; Unearthing The Music: Footnotes To Sonic Resistance In Non-Democratic Europe (1950–2000) edited by Alexander Pehlemann, Rui Pedro Dâmaso & Lucia Udvardyova

On Screen: Dennis Harvey & Lars Lovén Útóipe Cheilteach (Celtic Utopia)

On Location: Makoto Oshiro + Satoshi Yashiro + Sun Yizhou + Toshimaru Nakamura + Yan Jun + Hannah + Lu Zheng + He Guangxu, Shenzhen, China; Jesse Darling vs Gentle Stranger + AMRA + Fondant + Semionightmarekatz, London, UK; Akinola Davies Jr rituals: unionblack, London, UK; Musik Installationen Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany; Blackhaine And Now I Know What Love Is, Manchester, UK; Adrienne Herr + Agnieszka Szczotka + Dan Rhys Wakefield + victor_a, London, UK; Dudù Kouaté, London, UK; Boundary Condition, London, UK; Tianzhuo Chen TRANCE, London, UK; Harrison Birtwistle Earth Dances, London, UK; Zoh Amba, London, UK

On Site: Dubmorphology: Black Industrial Noise, London, UK; Momentum Nordic Biennale Of Contemporary Art, Moss, Norway