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Bicep: Isles review – dance duo create the ultimate living-room rave

The Northern Irish producers kick over the dinner-party table with an album that matches the scope and ambition of 90s dance artists

Four Tet: 871/Parallel review – chaotic ambition with bells on

Veering from squalling howls to symphonic loveliness, Keiran Hebden’s two new albums are equally rewarding

Yvette Janine Jackson: Freedom review – vivid voyage through hate

The composer’s two new works, exploring slavery and homophobia, are like immersive non-visual films

Farhot: Kabul Fire Volume 2 review – gut-shaking hip-hop collage

The Afghan-born producer skilfully explores his heritage with an unruly collage of vocal samples blended with diasporic sounds

Rico Nasty: Nightmare Vacation review – offbeat rapper is impossible to ignore

The high-volume delivery may be an acquired taste but there are gems to be found in this album of chaotic experimentalism

Flohio: No Panic No Pain review – rapper leaves no mould unbroken

The south London rapper broadens and deepens her emotional range, while continuing to select unexpected production partners

Cabaret Voltaire: Shadow of Fear review – a fittingly dystopian fantasy from Sheffield’s industrial pioneers

The first Cabaret Voltaire album in more than two decades feels oddly of the moment, their grim presentiments about disinformation, curfews and crackdowns fulfilled

Gorillaz: Song Machine Season One: Strange Timez review – playful and potent collaboration

Damon Albarn provides the melodic anchor to this pioneering album that balances concept and fun

Sun Ra Arkestra: Swirling review – out of this world

The Arkestra’s first album in 20 years is an intoxicating, cosmic tribute to Sun Ra

Ela Minus: Acts of Rebellion review – techno-pop for dancing, thinking and resisting

Making her debut album alone on analogue machines, Minus has come up with an inspiring manifesto for 2020

Autechre: Sign review – electronic masters soar and fall in negative space

A surprisingly melodic proper album is welcome from the electronic pioneers, but its dystopian soundworld is now in a crowded market

Jónsi: Shiver review – ethereal steel for strange times

Jónsi’s first album in a decade is a clever mix of crunchy electronica and floating vocals

Working Men’s Club review – synthpop of every stripe on outstanding debut LP

The West Yorkshire band take the stark electronics of the post-punk scene and warm them with Detroit techno and Italian house – while addressing Andrew Neil with mischievous one-liners

Róisín Murphy: Róisín Machine review – still inventing new moves

Pop outsider and lockdown living-room star Murphy distils her disco expertise and musical idiosyncrasies in songs pulsing with dancefloor power

Sleaford Mods review – a bracing stream of class consciousness

The Nottingham punk duo let rip with a battery of barbed lyrics, bizarre noises and back-to-basics beats

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  • St Vincent review – majestic orchestral transformations of jagged art-pop
  • BBCNOW/Bancroft review – conductor takes final bow in imaginative programme of vivid colours and emotions
  • Krishna review – the mystery of John Tavener’s ‘mystic pantomime’ is why it has been staged
  • Taylor Swift: I Knew It, I Knew You review – giddy up! Song for Toy Story cowgirl Jessie is Swift’s best in years
  • Zoh Amba: Eyes Full review – raw, rugged country rock also has real tenderness
  • Gintė Preisaitė: Instruments of Forgetting and the Singing Bone review – atmospheric, unsettling ambience
  • Hourglass album review – Simone Dinnerstein gives Glass room to breathe
  • Lizzo: Bitch review – a spirited star who just can’t rediscover her groove
  • Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas Vol 1 album review – fresh-as-a-daisy performances from a duo with a gift for storytelling
  • Mike D review – ex-Beastie Boy’s first UK gig in two decades, in a Tyneside bingo hall, is uproarious fun
  • Saint Levant review – Palestinian pop star makes Australian debut to an ecstatic, sold-out crowd
  • Vespers review – haunting clash of cultures conjures Vivaldi’s Venice
  • Jack White review – former White Stripe’s art is like a 12-year-old visiting Tate Modern for the first time
  • Lise Davidsen and James Baillieu review – superstar soprano unleashes her inner Valkyrie
  • Orlando review – a confident romp through Handel’s flimsily plotted opera
  • Take That review – stadium redux of Circus tour has maximal razzle-dazzle
  • Hampson and Sidorova review – style over substance with a whiff of the cruise ship
  • Matías Aguayo: Anenoa review – the funkiest, freest singer in the business hits the dancefloor
  • Violet Grohl: Be Sweet to Me review – alt-rock arriviste aces the part
  • Dvořák: Symphony No 9 album review – Shani brings a natural freshness to a familiar work
  • La Traviata review – gripping and genuinely moving staging opens Garsington’s summer season
  • Colin Matthews: Seascapes album review – the songs teem with detail
  • Iceage: For Love of Grace & the Hereafter review – Danish punks ace sixth stellar album on the trot
  • La Fanciulla del West review – insightful staging reveals the power of Puccini’s maverick masterpiece
  • 125th anniversary gala concert review – back to 1901 as Wigmore celebrates birthday playing to its strengths
  • Sugar review – Bob Mould’s reunited band still in a sweet spot between noise and melody
  • Paul McCartney: The Boys of Dungeon Lane review – at 83, his gift for melody still astounds
  • Boards of Canada: Inferno review – after 13 years away, their prodigal return is a big disappointment
  • Tosca review – Puccini’s high-octane bloodbath bonanza makes for a shocking festival kick-off
  • Dido and Aeneas review – close your eyes and this was a tremendous performance

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