Global Ear: Malibu
By the Pacific Coast Highway, the Cortical Foundation excavate 30 years of Minimalist droneworks

Bites
Workshop Cologne dream syndicate Noel Akchote Rectangular rockist id battery/in be tween noise lower case musos Label lore: ¿What Next?

Return of the DJ
From New York to Montreal, HipHop DJs are turning the tables on scratchadelic funk, redefining the world of backspins, transforming, flares and crabs. Peter Shapiro meets the new demons of the decks

Nurse With Wound
For two decades, Steven Stapleton's music has been shrouded in mystery, describing a twilight zone hybrid of Gothic horror and surrealist subversion. David Keenan meets a legend of underground music

AR Rahman
Feted by nigh on everyone from the Dalai Lama to Talvin Singh, this Bollywood composer is now recording music designed to bring about subcontinental spiritual unity. By Iain Scott

Pierre Henry
From his custom-built Paris studio, the 70 year old pioneer of musique concrète tells Rahma Khazam how he created the building blocks that form the cornerstones of today's electronic music edifice

John Russell
A pivotal figure in the UK's avant-jazz community, this London guitarist, club-runner and label owner instructs Ben Watson in the joys of living life on the edge

As One
A quiet presence on the global electronic network, Kirk Degiorgio's music puts the funk back into Techno's corroded circuits. By Tony Herrington

The Electric Cinema
Philip Brophy splices together the synthesized soundtracks of Walter Carlos, Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter, Howard Shore and Vangelis

Invisible Jukebox: Ivor Cutler
Everyone's favourite septuagenarian Scottish poet tries to identify tracks by Thelonius Monk, The Beatles, John Cage, Allen Ginsberg and more. Interview by Mike Barnes