Wire Magazine 513 - November 2026 - Matthew Shipp

Inside this issue:

On the cover: Matthew Shipp: Despite having over 100 albums under his belt, the US pianist, composer and writer is still searching for answers. By Phil Freeman

Edward George: The film maker and founder of The Strangeness Of Dub listening sessions retells history through sound. By Francis Gooding

Tears|Ov: The London performance art trio use the cut-up method to allow the uncanny to emerge. By Ilia Rogatchevski

Inside Prepared Piano: Tracing the history of keyboards and strings experimentation from John Cage to the present. By Jo Hutton

Gigi Masin: Currents past and present flow through the Venetian synthesist’s jazz infused compositions. By Abi Bliss

Invisible Jukebox: Liz Harris: Will the Grouper artist strip away the noise in The Wire’s mystery record selection? Tested by Leah Kardos

Nick Nicely: The outsider artist unearths the strangeness in suburbia. By Joseph Stannard

Tiiva: Hyperpop infused collages from Cumbria. By Claire Biddles

Bruno Silva: The guitarist linking Lisbon’s creative circles. By Antonio Poscic

Global Ear: Netherlands neighbours Tilburg and Breda. By Christiaan de Wit

Unlimited Editions: Inside the four walls of Steve Bishop’s Concentric Group. By Robert Barry

The Inner Sleeve: Brigitte Fontaine on Serge Gainsbourg’s Confidential

Against The Grain: The state of metal. By Antonio Poscic

Secret History of Film Music: Philip Brophy considers Ludwig Göransson’s scoring of The Odyssey and Tenet

Epiphanies: A Clockwork Orange kicks off Mona Mur’s teenage transgressions.

Soundcheck: Actress; Archimboldos; BBBBBBB; BBBBBBB/Fatboi Sharif/Ratsmagick; William Basinski; Samuel Beckett/Trevor Bača/Paul Griffiths/JACK Quartet; Bow And Arrow; crys cole; Cornelius; Mike D; Aaron Dilloway; Dis Fig; Dis Fig & The Bug; Djrum; Jesse Draxler; Faust; Friday Night Plans & The Bug; Alex G; Genital Shame; Ghost Dubs; Gnod; Godflesh; Betty Hammerschlag; Peter Hammill; Jon Hassell; Greg Hatem; Agnes Haus; Helen; Julia Holter; Kill Alters; Klein; Krallice; Kraus; A Large Sheet Of Muscle; Lucy Liyou; LULE; Dina Maccabee; Kali Malone; Kevin Richard Martin; Bróna McVittie; Monopoly Child Nightlife; Andrew Nolan; PISS; Sarah Belle Reid; Jules Reidy; Reigns; Ray Russell; Sairie; Shovel Dance Collective; Space Afrika; Andy Stott; Suppression Field; Trio Imagination; Typhonian Highlife; White Dune; Saul Williams; Andrew WK; Wolf Eyes; Wolves In The Throne Room; Uche Yara; Yr Knives; Various 10 Years Of Intervention Part 1; Various 10 Years Of Intervention Part 2

Columns: Avant Rock by Joseph Stannard; Critical Beats by April Clare Welsh; Dub & Reggae by Steve Barker; Electronics by Spenser Tomson; Jazz & Improv by Andy Hamilton; Modern Composition by Julian Cowley; Noise, Industrial & Beyond by Raymond Cummings; Size Matters by Byron Coley

The Boomerang: Acid Casuals; Aphex Twin; CM Ensemble; Brian Eno; Brian Eno & J Peter Schwalm; Hood; Movietone; µ-Ziq; Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia; Various Japanese New Wave On Dub 1980–1985

Print Run: Hauntology, Nostalgia And New Music by Martin Iddon; The Trembling City: The Sonic And Atmospheric Violence Of Vibrational Warfare by Gascia Ouzonian; “They’re So Nice...” by Russell Lee Fine; Bridge To An Unseen Shore: New Age Music As Visionary Art by Jacob Smith; Bone Flute To Auto-Tune: Forty Thousand Years Of Music Technology by Deirdre Loughridge; Flyboy In The Buttermilk: Essays On Contemporary America by Greg Tate; Energy Center: A History Of Studio Rivbea by Ed Hazell

On Screen: Matty Wishnow The Last Critic

On Location: Balladeste + Harry Górski-Brown, Berlin, Germany; Ultima Festival 2026, Oslo, Norway; Scottish Ensemble & Brìghde Chaimbeul, Edinburgh, UK; Sound & Gravity, Chicago, US; Elaine Mitchener, Isle Of Bute, UK; TOPOS, Troy, US; Tyshawn Sorey, Paris, France; Mamer, Shenzhen, China; SEED, London, UK; Cleveland Watkiss/Orphy Robinson/Neil Charles, London, UK

On Site: London Interzone: Burroughs & Beats Rewired, London, UK; Mungangga Garlagula, Melbourne, Australia