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Green Man festival review – Kneecap and CMAT lead the charge in a utopian Welsh idyll

Progressive, independent and more sonically diverse than ever, the Brecon Beacons festival offered sterling sets from MJ Lenderman to Mike, Jasmine.4.t to Joshua Idehen

Sault review – GCSE-level drama performance borders on the pretentious

Standout moments included Chronixx captivating on stage, Yasiin Bey delivering a seamless guest verse and Cleo Sol’s ethereal appearance – but the theatrics felt alienating

Rise Against: Ricochet review – slick shift doesn’t skimp on righteous anger

Blood-and-guts emotion with the energy of the punk veterans’ early years meets high-sheen recording craft in a hulking 10th album

Cass McCombs: Interior Live Oak review – double album doubles the pleasures of one of indie-rock’s finest

With existential lullabies and ritualistic stomps, tear-jerking odes and ballads worthy of Sinatra, US indie’s steadfast storyteller makes a wonderfully unhurried double album his best yet

Rita Wrote a Letter: Paul Kelly’s sequel to How to Make Gravy is an affectionate goodbye to Joe

Almost 30 years after Kelly released his Christmas classic, we finally learn what became of his cast of characters

For Those I Love: Carving the Stone review – bracing anger at Irish social stasis

The raw grief of David Balfe’s first album may have faded to a bruise, but his spoken-word fury is as strong as ever in these hyper-focused stories of poverty and exploitation

Ninajirachi: I Love My Computer review – a surprisingly moving tribute to 2010s EDM

The Australian producer’s debut album pays homage to the blustering, bombastic genre of her adolescence. The BPM soars and so do the feelings

Amaarae: Black Star review – ​glamour, glitz and lust from a pop star who should be a supernova

With a sleek dancefloor-facing sound, the Ghanaian American singer is deliriously in thrall to wealth and celebrity – but most of all love

Mariah Carey at Brighton Pride review – even the shirtless dancers can’t distract from how stop-start this is

Playing to a crowd of devotees, Carey’s voice largely still holds up, but the energy drops off due to a rushed setlist and too many interludes

Dick Diver review – beloved ‘dolewave’ band’s one-off reunion brings out Melbourne for four magical shows

Thornbury Theatre, MelbourneIt has been 10 years since their last album but you’d be forgiven for forgetting any time had passed at all – they sound as tight as ever

The New Eves: The New Eve Is Rising review – imagine if the Velvet Underground scored Midsommar …

Velvets-style drone rock, trad folk, anarcho-punk and hippy whimsy are all discernible in the Brighton quartet’s debut album – all played with white-knuckle intensity

Blackpink review – K-pop queens bring fun to New York with a little fatigue on the side

An oppressively humid night takes its toll on the maximalist pop quartet who deliver moments of sugar rush exuberance but with less power than before

Kesha review – a triumphant and electric return for pop’s comeback kid

The millennial-beloved pop star brings the house down in an emotional and energetic chance to show off her new, return-to-form album

Madonna: Veronica Electronica review – Ray of Light rarities range from perfect to perfunctory

Much anticipated set of remixes and lost songs give a glimpse of a great pop mind trying out new tricks

Justin Bieber: Swag review – inane lyrics undermine a gorgeously produced R&B passion project

The surprise seventh album from the former tween idol is musically expansive, abetted by a host of star producers. If only he’d thought about the words a bit

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  • Giulio Cesare in Egitto album review – Sabine Devieilhe’s exquisite Cleopatra could make stones weep
  • War Requiem review – in the cathedral where it premiered, Britten’s masterpiece has lost none of its power
  • Blackhaine: Saints in the Wethouse review – spectacularly intense UK rap that will swallow you up and wring you out
  • BBCSO/Oramo review – yes, Inmo Yang is phenomenal but the BBC Symphony shone even brighter tonight
  • U2: Carnaval de Luz review – rousing, restorative rock from a band ready to take on the world again
  • Beethoven: Symphony No 3 album review – thrilling, but Minasi’s determination to shock often feels self-conscious
  • Orbiting Orbital review – Nitin Sawhney casts a spell inspired by Samantha Harvey’s Booker winner
  • Iphigénie en Tauride review – stylised staging of opera of bloodthirsty priestesses and divine intervention
  • La Bohème review – Opera Australia’s new take on Puccini is a lush frenzy of visual excess
  • Spice Girls: The Singles Collection review – stop fleecing your fans right now, thank you very much
  • Enrico Rava Fearless Five with Joe Lovano: Corners review – daring dialogues from 87-year-old Miles Davis disciple
  • La Roux: Old Flames review – a breezy, hook-packed twist on a breakup album
  • Bassvictim: Peace + War review – like a thrillingly chaotic house party that goes on too long
  • Stravinsky: The Firebird album review – Rattle revels in colour, crackles and bites
  • BBCSO/Stasevska review – Caroline Shaw’s cosmic visions meet Barber’s lyrical brilliance
  • Tosca review – ENO’s new staging abandons Puccini’s realism for baffling and near-constant violence
  • Strauss: An Alpine Symphony album review – monumental work’s mystic vision guides Petrenko
  • LSO/Pappano review – Kendall’s engaging new work has a tea kettle, tremolo and slam-dunks of timpani
  • Sampa the Great: Nu Zamrock review – a full-circle moment for a world-class act
  • Carmen review – Costa-Jackson’s smouldering heroine blazes brightly
  • Radie Peat: No Human Tongue Can Tell review – Lankum singer’s solo debut is the year’s best folk album
  • Kali Malone: Burning Song review – drone composer wields Bach’s organ to breathtaking effect
  • The Mad Lover review – eccentric charm and baroque brilliance as duo move from Eccles to Indiana Jones
  • Colin Currie Group review – Steve Reich’s music is still bedazzling
  • Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings album review – Wilson explores British music’s highway and byways
  • The Big Moon: Forever review – the hell of hearing loss inspires a defiantly hopeful pop-disco marvel
  • LPO/Gardner review – Mark Simpson’s piano concerto leaves its audience panting
  • Macklemore’s Free Palestine tour review – a triumph of a show with performances from Hozier, Kneecap and more
  • Mac DeMarco review – glowing melodies and shirtless antics at Carnegie Hall
  • Aberfan: From Darkness to Light review – Mealor’s requiem offers hope amid the tears

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