The Wire bookshop An online store dealing in selected specialist music and art books. Many of the books stocked in the shop have been signed by the authors (many of whom are regular contributors to The Wire). All subscribers to the magazine get special discounts on all titles in the shop For details of prices, signed copies and how to order, go to thewire.co.uk/shop

Listening To Noise And Silence Salomé Voegelin Continuum Pbk 232pp

The Resistible Demise Of Michael Jackson Mark Fisher (Editor) Zer0 Pbk 310pp

Fear Of Music David Stubbs Zer0 Pbk 144pp

Sinister Resonance David Toop Continuum Hbk 156pp

Invisible Jukebox Tony Herrington (Editor) Quartet Pbk 250pp

Welcome To Mars Ken Hollings Strange Attractor Pbk 292pp + CD

Electric Eden Rob Young Faber & Faber Pbk 664pp

Undercurrents Rob Young (Editor) Continuum Pbk 282pp

The Wire Primers Rob Young (Editor) Verso Pbk 198pp

Arcana V John Zorn (Editor) Hips Road/Tzadik Pbk 460pp

Fanzines Teal Triggs Thames & Hudson Pbk 256pp

How To Wreck A Nice Beach Dave Tompkins Melville House/Stopsmiling Hbk 336pp

A Long Time Between Suns The Otolith Group Sternberg Press Pbk 158pp Inside The Wire 327 | May 2011

Amanda & Britt Brown photographed by Bryan Sheffield

The Masthead 4

Letters 6

Bitstream 8 News and more from under the radar

Trip Or Squeek 9 Cartoon strip by Savage Pencil

Bites 10 Thurston Moore, VHS Head, Mark Leckey and Ivan Seal, plus Unofficial Channels

Charts 44

Out There 89 Festivals, concerts, gigs and club listings

Subscriptions 96

Below The Radar +The Wire Tapper 97 Free downloads and CDs

Reviews Index 45

Soundcheck 46 This month’s selected CDs, vinyl and downloads, including skweee singles, Gang Gang Dance, Mickey Newbury and Trax Records. Plus avant rock, critical beats, dub, electronica, global, hiphop, jazz & Improv, outer limits, unusual formats and reissues

The Inner Sleeve 67 Sam Prekop on Earle Brown/Morton Feldman

Print Run 68 New music books: a history of protest songs, contemporary music theory, Pauline Oliveros’s writings, a life of Umm Kulthum and more

On Screen 71 Films & DVDs: Steve Reich and Delia Derbyshire documentaries on DVD

On Site 72 Exhibitions, installations, etc: Downtown Pioneers and Haroon Mirza in London

On Location 74 Festival and concert reviews: Présences Electronique, Lux Æterna, Resonance & Geography, Michel Chion + Ghédalia Tazartès and more

Micachu & The Shapes 14 London maverick Mica Levi sharpens her chopper to take on the London Sinfonietta. By Steph Kretowicz

Ekoplekz 16 Mark Fisher talks blasted beats, vintage sci-fi and gutterbreaks with the Bristolian analogue fetishist

Global Ear São Paulo 18 Russ Slater observes state incursions and inward migration affecting Brazilian pop and leftfield music

Cross Platform Herbert Distel 20 The Swiss artist creates transports of delight via radio works, floating eggs and more. By Julian Cowley

Invisible Jukebox Daniel Miller 22 The Mute Records founder settles into a warm leatherette to check out The Wire’s mystery record selection. Tested by Rob Young

New rap bratz 26 Andrew Nosnitsky hails the resurgence of anarchic hiphop, headed by Odd Future, Lil B, Clams Casino, NRK, Pyramid Vritra and more

Mellow soul 30 David Toop tastes sugar and poison in the smouldering soul of Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone, The ChiLites, Teddy Pendergrass and others

Not Not Fun 36 Simon Reynolds finds dub, disco and DIY driving the LA label that’s home to LA Vampires, Pocahaunted, Ducktails, Sun Araw, The Deeep and others

Epiphanies 98 UbuWeb’s Kenneth Goldsmith on how the internet intensifies the record collector’s thrill of the chase