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Anohni and the Johnsons: My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross review – piercing heartache

Recorded at speed, Anohni’s first album since 2016 adds a soulful swagger to poetic, cathartic rock

Japanese Breakfast review – a two-way high-wire act

Korean-American songwriter – and bestselling author – Michelle Zauner revels in an expansive set of dreampop and electronica laced with heartbreak and joy

Parklife festival review – northern rave culture clearly in rude health

The in-demand Fred Again eclipses Aitch’s confident homecoming headline set, while the Prodigy chime with Parklife’s rave ethos

Christine and the Queens: Paranoïa, Angels, True Love review – a grief-stricken masterpiece

A howl of despair sublimated into beautiful experimental pop, the artist’s fourth album is his best yet

Four Tet review – Kieran Hebden’s spiritual techno lights up the room

In collaboration with lighting artists Squidsoup, Hebden has found a way to make his wistful dance music seem thrillingly tangible

Overmono: Good Lies review – certified bangers galore

The Russell brothers mix weapons-grade nostalgia with two-step, trap and sped-up vocals in a set full of emotional ambushes

Overmono: Good Lies review – UK rave history is distilled to perfection

Knitting garage with techno and chopped-up vocals, the pounding yet poppy debut album from Monmouth brothers Ed and Tom Russell is masterfully done

Fred again.. and Brian Eno: Secret Life review – dull ambient set reveals both men’s weaknesses

While their signature sonic flotsam and spartan melodies are present, Eno’s contributions prove witlessly unimaginative while his mentee’s are trite

Adjunct Ensemble: Sovereign Bodies/Ritual Taxonomy review – a disorientating act of resistance

Free jazz, opera, hymns and newscasts intermingle in an oddly compelling sonic collage addressing issues of asylum and migration

Nabihah Iqbal: Dreamer review – between dream pop and the dancefloor

Her studio equipment stolen, the London musician began with a more acoustic sound on this second album – but pure electronics are still her strong suit

Bongeziwe Mabandla: amaXesha review – South African singer in his own lane

The singer-songwriter elevates his reimagining of Xhosa folk music with synth-pop hooks and his melismatic voice

Everything But the Girl: Fuse review – still staking out pop’s frontier after 40 years

Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt have absorbed the revolutions in dance and electronic music since their previous album in 1999, and shaped them into melancholic, finely detailed stories

Yaeji: With a Hammer review – pop-facing rage and candour

The Korean-American singer-DJ examines complex questions of heritage on a debut album proper that expands her beatscape to include moments of grace

Tim Hecker: No Highs review – ambient music that reflects our polluted world

Full of alarms, arrhythmic pulses and deep bass, Hecker’s eerie work feels as if it’s bracing for cataclysm – but is nevertheless rich, warm and inviting

Katie Gately: Fawn/Brute review – beguilingly disordered pop

A third album whips up a maelstrom of dislocated voices and junkyard-style percussion as the US musician plots a trajectory from her daughter’s imagined childhood to adolescence

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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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