Music as medicine, sound as universal grammar: Phil Freeman hears the philosophy of the free jazz legend, curator of this month's UK Meltdown Festival

Ex-V/Vm prankster James Kirby converts pre-war nostalgia into modern-day haunted audio, healing emotional and political memory loss. By Mark Fisher

Nearly 40 years after their demonic First Utterance scourged hippiedom, the vanished British progressive folk outfit are back from the woods. By Rob Young

Anne Hilde Neset uncovers the American artist's musical connections, from Glenn Branca and Sonic Youth to fan worship, in his Rock My Religion film

The Ex guitarist grapples with The Wire's anarchic record selection. Tested by Mike Barnes

Robots and treated objects extend the Korean- American's vocal acrobatics. By Kurt Gottschalk

Nick Cain meets the former Shadow Ring member who's using his home as a sound palette

The free folk visionary throws overtone singing, Fire Music and dance into the pot. By Daniel Spicer

Robert Carroll discovers qat power is the biggest influence on Yemen's ageless desert music

Raymond Salvatore Harmon tells Jack Sargeant about the magical traditions celebrated in London's festival of esoteric music and film this month

Erik Davis gets entangled in the sonic cobweb of György Ligeti's awe-inspiring Requiem

Cut & Splice Festival's Living Room series, Gareth Williams & Mary Currie, Louis Armstrong's artworks, the Avant Garde Project

Alex Neilson on Bob Dylan's Planet Waves

This Ain't The Summer Of Love: Conflict And Crossover In Heavy Metal And Punk by Steve Waksman

I Got Two Wings: Incidents And Anecdotes Of The Two-Winger Preacher And Electric Guitar Evangelist Elder Utah Smith by Lynn Abbott

A Language Of Song: Journeys In The Musical World Of The African Diaspora by Samuel Charters

L'Underground Musical En France by Eric Deshayes & Dominique Grimaud

High Rise, Psychedelic Speed Freaks Live 1986 (DVD)

Henri Pousseur: Hommage Au Sauvage (DVD)

Musically Mad (DVD)

Dengue Fever, Sleepwalking Through The Mekon (DVD)

Dub Echoes (DVD)

Wilco, Ashes Of American Flags (DVD)

Sound By Artists, Paris, France

Sara Velas, Los Angeles, USA

Donaufestival, Krems, Austria

Ether 09, London, UK

MaerzMusik, Berlin, Germany

Merce Cunningham with John Paul Jones/Takehisa Kosugi/Sonic Youth, New York City, USA

Aaron Dilloway + Nate Young, London, UK

PJ Harvey & John Parish, London, UK

Planet Mu presents FILTH, London, UK

Akron/Family
Tony Allen
alva noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto with
Ensemble Modern
Laurie Scott Baker
Apricot My Lady
Asher
Au Clair De La Lune
William Basinski
Black Flowers
James Blackshaw
Lawrence Casserley & Adam Linson
Don Cherry
Chicks On Speed
Michael Cleis
Crackleknob
Jim Denley & Kim Myhr
Digitaline
Bob Downes Open Music
Benedict Drew
Dub Echoes: Sonic Excursions In Dub And
Beyond
Fabrique
Ernesto Ferreyra
The Field
Richard Garet & Brendan Murray
Groupshow
Robert Hampson
Harappian Night Recordings
Erdem Helvaciolu
Robert Hood
The Inner Space
Phillip Johnston
Junior Boys
Greg Kowalsky
Christof Kurzmann & Burkhard Stangl
L'Ocelle Mare
Radu Malfatti & Taku Unami
Jon Mueller
The Nether Dawn
Not Given Lightly
The One Ensemble Orchestra
Panama! 2: Latin Sounds, Cumbia,
Tropical & Calypso Funk On The Isthmus
1967–77
Andrea Parkins
Phantom Limb & Earth's Hypnagogia
The Present
Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio
Respect Sextet
Sissy Spacek
The Skull Defekts
snd
SoiSong
Sonic Youth
Satoshi Sonoda
Spectre
Spunk
Igor Stravinsky
Sun Circle
Sun Ra
Ghédalia Tazartès
Teenage: The Creation Of Youth
1911–1946
Tenniscoats
Tortoise
Trembling Bells
Greg Kelley & Alex Neilson
Tussle
Peter Walker
Zach Wallace
John Wiese
Paul Wirkus & Mapstation
The World Is Shaking: Cubanismo From
The Congo, 1954–55
Seymour Wright & Eddie Prévost