Pink Floyd’s legal victory over EMI is a triumph for artistic integrity

The prog-rock band’s court win against their record label is a vindication of the album as a creative format
They do not often look cheery in pics – and at least two of them can barely stand to be in the same room – but Pink Floyd have a lot to ...

Why urban acts are long overdue as art critics

Grime MCs rapping about Chris Ofili paintings? If it challenges white, middle-aged art critics then it can only be a good thing
The art world thrives on the reactions of critics. Sensationalist work damned as “gratuitous” or “pretentious” is what makes the Turner prize so exciting. The most media-worthy pieces of ...

Readers recommend: Midnight songs

Last week was all about celebrating pulchritude in pop. Now we want songs that signal the witching hour
I was back in the chair for one week, just one week, and blow me down if it was not tougher than a tank of teak. One of those weeks when the more ...

Music Weekly podcast: The Knife

In this week’s show, we analyze the Knife’s new Charles Darwin-inspired opera, Tomorrow, in a Year, with Olof Dreijer. Be warned, his voice is distorted, but we do have Planningtorock (Janine Rostron) on hand to talk (in a normal voice) about collaborating with Sweden’s most talented siblings on the unlikeliest ...

Errors: The sound of the future | Alan McGee

The Glaswegian group’s new album, Come Down With Me, is a statement of intent to beautifully bewilder the listener
Since getting hold of Errors’ new album, Come Down With Me, it hasn’t left my computer. It has occupied my iTunes non-stop, even more than their debut, It’s Not Something But It ...

It’s great when you are straight … yeah, Shaun?

You’d think there was not much left that Happy Mondays hellraiser Shaun Ryder could do to shock people. Then he settled down …
How did this happen? How did the original 24-hour party person and leader of Manchester bad boys Happy Mondays and Black Grape end up middle-aged with new teeth ...

Scene and heard: Drag

Inspired by hip-hop’s screwed brigade, drag’s heavy atmospherics and tormented outlook are pure musical entropy
When Salem first stepped from the shadows in late 2007, people had fun describing their creepy and creeping sound: screwgaze, cave crunk, ghost juke and crimsonwave were just a few of the proposed monikers. Now, as ...

Minority language report: Meet the bands singing in Irish, Manx and Breton

From Galway to Galicia, the future is looking bright for musicians making themselves heard in minority languages
Wikipedia might be available in Cornish, but have Celtic minority languages totally moved into the 21st century? Will we forever be beholden to covers of Beatles songs in Gaelic? Or are minority languages making ...

And in other news … Snoop’s UK visit, TLC’s reality show

All the news that is fit to link
• Shizzle, the Snoop Dogg Dizzle, may soon be able to enter the United Kingdizzle (via BBC)
• The video for Goldfrapp’s new single, Rocket, tells us that messing with Alison is a bad idea (via YouTube)
• Jessica Simpson keeps her cool on Oprah ...

Under the influence of John Dankworth

His determination to open British ears to new ideas meant the John Dankworth memorial went beyond narrow definitions of musical genre
This week, the Asian-American jazz virtuosos Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa will mix south Indian rhythmic complexities with post-hip-hop jazz live across the UK. Then 2 Tone founder and star ...