BBC Music Magazine
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
The British composer enjoyed major celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic, only to be cut off just as he reached his peak, reveals Terry Blain
6 min |
August 2025
BBC Music Magazine
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Pick a theme... and name your seven favourite examples
3 min |
August 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Concert Heaven Concert Hell
Top artists recall their best and worst performances
3 min |
August 2025
BBC Music Magazine
Tour de force
Liszt was paid a small fortune for his exhaustive tours of Britain in 1840 and “41, but the reality was hard slog and a paltry profit, writes Andrew Green
6 min |
August 2025
BBC Music Magazine
A jolly good cello
Guy Johnston has played many fabulous instruments – but none compares to his 300-year-old Stradivari which, he tells Michael White, challenges him every day.
7 min |
August 2025
BBC Music Magazine
The queue to happiness
From an indicator of ongoing popularity to an unlikely dating service, the queue to buy tickets for the Proms is an institution we should cherish, says Tom Service
2 min |
August 2025
Record Collector
20/20 VISIONARIES
In the space of two days in June, we lost two giants of popular music, aged 82: Brian Wilson and Sly Stone. Both were leaders of family bands, both deeply troubled, yet both created radically beautiful/brilliant music in the studio. Here, Bob Stanley pays tribute to the adored Beach Boy while on page 84, Kris Needs salutes the genius formally known as Sylvester Stewart.
10+ min |
August 2025
Record Collector
CHILD'S PLAY
Before he became a world-conquering songwriter/ producer, Desmond Child tore up New York for one glorious year at the end of the 70s with his rock-R&B-disco fusion group, Desmond Child & Rouge. Now, the Laura Nyro-adoring 70s Scissor Sisters™ tell Charles Donovan they're coming back to finish what they started.
10+ min |
August 2025
Record Collector
AI Quality
Back in the mid-70s, when all sorts of imaginative music could be heard emanating from the city of Canterbury, Hatfield And The North ranked as one of the most interesting groups on the scene. Little wonder, when you consider they featured ex-members of Caravan, Gong, Matching Mole and Egg. It was a short, fascinating trip, with a lengthy genesis, as Hatfield's bassist and singer Richard Sinclair and keyboardist Dave Stewart tell Chris Wheatley
9 min |
August 2025
Record Collector
"STOP TRYING TO BE CLEVER, AND JUST GO WITH THE FLOW"
A leading figure in the 60s UK folk revival, Martin Carthy always relied on a simple songwriting philosophy, through his friendship with Bob Dylan and Paul Simon to his role in moulding the folk-rock movement with Steeleye Span. Since then, his creative and romantic partnership with late partner Norma Waterson helped create the “first family” of British folk. “There have been several ‘me's’ through the years, and some of them are very interesting,” he tells Rob Hughes.
10+ min |
August 2025
Record Collector
The Collector
This month: Rob Wheeler
7 min |
August 2025
Record Collector
SUGAR COPPER BLUE
I bought Sugar's Copper Blue in 1992 on the back of a great review in the NME and I also got to see the band live when they toured the UK.
6 min |
August 2025
Record Collector
33½ minutes with...Skin
Skunk Anansie singer Deborah 'Skin' Dyer OBE, born in Brixton, London in 1967, was the first black British artist to headline Glastonbury in 1999. Skin once described her band's dynamic music as 'clit-rock', but she can't be confined to a single sound, as her two solo albums demonstrated in 2003 and again in 2006.
4 min |
August 2025
Record Collector
ROBERT FORSTER & THE GO-BETWEENS
As co-founder of The Go-Betweens, Robert Forster was one half of the greatest songwriting partnership in Australian pop, alongside the late Grant McLennan. His solo career hasn't been too shabby, either, and the latest fruit of his labours is new album Strawberries, in which he responds to more challenges in his personal life with some of his most luminous songwriting to date. He takes Johnnie Johnstone through his back catalogue.
10+ min |
August 2025
Record Collector
Generation Z- the future of collecting?
BPI report spotlights music habits, interests and priorities of the Y2K-plus cohort
4 min |
August 2025
Record Collector
THE SUPERBAD SUPERNOVA OF SLY STONE
Fronting his livewire mixed-race, multi-gendered Family Stone, Sly Stone looked like he could have stepped out of a blaxploitation film, except that era was still to come in 1968 when he ignited his psychedelic soul inferno with Dance To The Music and changed black music overnight.
10+ min |
August 2025
Record Collector
HITE MAN'S BLUES
Just as Canned Heat were reinventing electric blues for the Woodstock generation, their founder members were avidly collecting old records. Their leader Bob 'The Bear' Hite's death saw him leave behind a trove of 78s, 45s and old blues recordings. Tony Burke tells the story of a band of blues-obsessed record collectors
7 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
TUNNNG
Few guitarists are loved as equally for their acoustic work as their electric playing but such is the unique talent of Richard Thompson. We meet him to find out how he's preparing to go head-to-head with Tommy Emmanuel, chat about the end of his touring days, and talk alternative tunings
9 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
MEASURE FOR MEASURE
Time to put your soldering iron down and consider a few oft en overlooked facts and figures about the guitars we play. Dave Burrluck answers some questions...
4 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
Dirty Duo
Rose-Morris resurrects a long-gone brand in conjunction with ThorpyFX for a reissue of a vintage fuzz pedal
2 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
Bounce Back
Danelectro brings back its real spring reverb pedal in a more compact 'board-friendly form
2 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
Sunny Skies
Neville Marten recalls interviews with one of his musical idols, the singer-songwriter supreme and total legend, the great JT himself
3 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
Rosewood Or Mahogany
Michael Watts reflects on how the choice of the two most popular back and sides woods affects your acoustic sound
4 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
Master Maker
While international trade is causing concerns, we look to the York-based guitar maker to cut to the chase. Maybe the best guitars out there are under our noses...
10 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
Timeless Tone
A brand-new model from Martin's long-running Road Series that won't bust the budget but might just break the tone barrier
4 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
Gas Supply
Our pick of the month's most delectable and wallet-bothering new gear
5 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
Silver Machine
Taking cues from Steely Dan but bringing their own unique vibe to the 70s AOR genre, Young Gun Silver Fox have grown a devoted fanbase. We join guitarist and co-founder Shawn Lee to see how rare, oddball and collectible guitars have powered their sound
10 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
Chris Buck
With their 2022 debut album, Cardinal Black showed the world how the budding guitar hero in their ranks could thrive in a band environment. Here, Chris Buck explains how its follow-up has taken his playing and songwriting to the next level
9 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
Tension & Release (PART 2)
In the second part of this lesson, Richard Barrett asks you to lend your ears to the sounds of the silver screen for real-life context
1 min |
August 2025
Guitarist
SUNDRAGON AMPS
It’s not guaranteed that they'll make you sound like Jimmy Page, but Sundragon’s fastidiously accurate replicas of two of his favourite amps may well get you close
7 min |