Here are our favourite albums of the last 12 months, as voted for by tQ staff, columnists and core writers

One of the scant benefits bestowed by editing a countercultural magazine born in a time of great financial turmoil is that you eventually develop a state of permanent readiness for the next disaster. In the very early days of the Quietus, when my good friend Luke Turner and I were first unceremoniously shown out of the start up office door onto the street in 2008 – thanks Global Financial Crisis! – our magazine was just a matter of weeks old. We had barely established ourselves in a proper headquarters when we realised our existence was to be one of indefinite threat…

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De La Soul

Cabin in the Sky

The Long Island hip hop legends have always been a darker, edgier group than most give them credit, but their first new album in nearly a decade proves them more than capable of taking the 2020s rap sxcene head on, finds Liam Inscoe-Jones

For a while, you would have beeen forgiven for thinking that, as per the promise of their 1991 album, perhaps De La Soul were, finally, dead. It had been quiet for some time. Twenty-one years of label strife and copyright skirmishes, with only 2016’s And the Anonymous Nobody serving as a brief intermission. Then, tragedy struck. In March 2023, when Dave “Trugoy” – one of the groups’ two MCs; a soft spoken, Dadaist…

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Several more acts have thrown their support behind the initiative, geo-blocking their music from streaming platforms in Israel

My Bloody Valentine

A number of artists have joined the more than 1000 acts supporting the No Music For Genocide campaign, signing up to have their music geo-blocked from streaming platforms in Israel.

Among the latest backers of the initiative are My Bloody Valentine, YHWH Nailgun, Shygirl, Denzel Curry, Saba and Germany’s Innervisions label. Paul Weller and Massive Attack have also received long-awaited geo-block approvals from their respective major labels, Warner and Universal.

They join the likes of Björk, caroline, Kelela, Loraine James, Lorde, Caribou, KMRU, Orbital, Julia Holter, Lankum, Sleaford Mods, Primal Scream, Young Fathers and Black Country, New Road and many others in supporting…

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The online station’s special run of shows will take in performances from Arca, Oneohtrix Point Never and more

NTS Radio is set to mark 15 years of broadcasting this April with a series of special London events.

The online station has shared early details of six events so far, including a live show from Arca at HERE At Outernet on April 17, and a performance by Oneohtrix Point Never at the Barbican on the same date.

Other events will take in sets from Juana Molina, Mark Leckey, Yves, Weed420 and more across venues such as the ICA, EartH, Venue MOT, Ormside Projects and Avalon Cafe. Details of a further nine parties will be announced soon.

Launched by Femi Adeyemi, NTS has mainly operated…

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The streaming platform is planning its first US price raise since mid-2024, according to reports

Spotify is set to increase the cost of its US subscription plans in the first quarter of 2026.

The price rise will be the streaming platform’s first in the territory since mid-2024, and follows subscription price increases in the UK, Switzerland and Australia in recent months. The increase is happening in an attempt by Spotify to show sustained profitability, according to a report by The Financial Times.

A standard Spotify subscription in the US currently costs $11.99 a month. It’s not yet known exactly how much the price rise will be.

The company added lossless audio for premium subscribers in September, and its CEO, Daniel Ek, is soon to…

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The collective of artists, known as Together For Palestine, are releasing ‘Lullaby’, a new version of the Palestinian song ‘Yamma Mweel El Hawa’

Brian Eno, Neneh Cherry, Nadine Shah and a number of artists have united as Together For Palestine to record a new charity single, ‘Lullaby’.

A cover of the traditional Palestinian song ‘Yamma Mweel El Hawa’, the English-language version has been written by Peter Gabriel, while the Palestinian musician Nai Barghouti arranged and recomposed the song alongside Shards’ Kieran Brunt. It will be released next month with an aim to hit the Christmas No. 1 spot in the UK charts.

In a statement, Eno said: “After a year defined by unimaginable loss, grief and injustice, we want to end with an act…

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Tentative Decisions collects early demos and live recordings of songs that appeared on the band’s first two albums

A number of rare recordings by Talking Heads have been collected for a new compilation to be released for the Black Friday edition of Record Store Day.

Featuring 13 tracks, Tentative Decisions collects early demos of songs that would eventually appear on the band’s first two albums: 1977’s Talking Heads: 77 and 1978’s More Songs About Buildings And Food. It also includes a live recording of ‘Artists Only’ from the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club, and versions of ‘Psycho Killer’ and ‘Warning Sign’ credited to David Byrne and Chris Frantz’s first band, The Artistics.

The release will only be available at record stores participating in Record Store Day Black…

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‘Zahl am1 live track 1’ and ‘Zahl am1 live track 1c f760m1 unfinshd’ are alternate versions of the same song

Aphex Twin has shared two new songs via his user18081971 SoundCloud account.

The two tracks are titled ‘Zahl am1 live track 1’ and ‘Zahl am1 live track 1c f760m1 unfinshd’, and are alternate versions of the same song. Aphex Twin shared them alongside a cover image featuring himself and his partner swimming on holiday.

“Got many requests for this one from a few years back,” the artist wrote in the ‘Zahl am1 live track 1c f760m1 unfinshd’ SoundCloud description. “Italy, pic with my love from Sicily recently. Need sun, relentlessly raining in the UK. Mixed down on the Zähl, think there are better…

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The Amsterdam festival will take in special early performances from Jeff Mills, DJ Sprinkles and more next summer

Photo by Woody Bos

Dekmantel has announced the addition of morning programming to its festival offering next summer.

The Amsterdam event returns to its usual Amsterdamse Bos home in August, and doors will now open two hours earlier each day, at 11am. Across the festival’s Selectors, Greenhouse and RADAR stages, a number of acts will play special sets in those extra hours to open the day.

Dekmantel At Dawn will include a live improvisation-based opening performance by James Holden & Surgeon, as well as special sets by Jeff Mills, DJ Sprinkles, Jane Fitz, Eris Drew, Channel One, Colin Benders, and Satoshi Tomiie & Kuniyuki. Sampha is…

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Caterina Barbieri and Actress & Suzanne Ciani are among those heading to The Hague in April

Photo by Alex Heuvink

Dutch festival Rewire has revealed the first wave of acts playing its 2026 edition.

Taking place across four days in its usual home of The Hague, the event will feature two special performances by Caterina Barbieri. One of those will see her play in collaboration with ONCEIM, an orchestra of over 30 musicians for whom she has written a new composition. For the other set, Barbieri will play solo, premiering a selection of new music.

Also listed to play are Actress & Suzanne Ciani; Oneohtrix Point Never; Einstürzende Neubauten; Beverly Glenn-Copeland; Tortoise; SUMAC & Moor Mother; Jim O’Rourke & Eiko Ishibashi; Oliver Coates; Joanne Robertson;…

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