Plus: Peter Capaldi on his punk rock past
Sleeve Notes | The Guardian
Sleeve Notes
Picks of the week
Bon Iver on romance, retirement and his rapturous new record
‘Have the courage to walk away’  
Bon Iver on romance, retirement and his rapturous new record
Riven with anxiety from years of touring, Justin Vernon found he couldn’t leave the house. Then a new relationship changed his concept of love. His radiant new album shares the revelations
TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe  
I remember thinking I never want to do this again
‘My players are Olympians’  
Meet Bradford legends the Black Dyke Brass Band
‘I thought I was going to die – and it was so freeing’  
Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus on stardom, breakups and surviving cancer
‘It is about all of humankind’  
Ukrainian violinist Valentina Goncharova on her cosmic call to compose
‘The people of Glasgow frowned on all the spitting’  
Peter Capaldi on his punk rock past
Reviews
Album of the week  
Sherelle: With a Vengeance – UK dance debut is dizzyingly doof-doof-doof
Sherelle: With a Vengeance – UK dance debut is dizzyingly doof-doof-doof
Single review  
Pulp: Spike Island – Jarvis Cocker and co’s joyous second coming
Album review  
Valerie June: Owls, Omens and Oracles – a soul-recharging exercise in radical positivity
Global album of the month  
Negros Tou Moria: Mavri Ellada – a rebetiko rap riposte to Greek social division
Album review  
Real Lies: We Will Annihilate Our Enemies – lad laureate meets euphoric synths
Album review  
Salif Keita: So Kono – the Golden Voice still has it
Spotlight
‘Everybody seemed thrilled they’d made it inside’: sizzling images from Studio 54
Gallery  
‘Everybody seemed thrilled they’d made it inside’: sizzling images from Studio 54
The disco mecca was arguably the most famous nightclub of all time – and certainly the most decadent. Between 1978 and 1980, Tod Papageorge captured its glamorous dancers and drinkers
Classical
Classical album of the week  
Ravel: Complete Songs – Martineau’s survey is full of treats
Ravel: Complete Songs – Martineau’s survey is full of treats
Opera review  
Peter Grimes – WNO’s production of Britten’s masterwork seethes like a wild and cruel sea
Peter Grimes – WNO’s production of Britten’s masterwork seethes like a wild and cruel sea
Album review  
Brahms: Piano Quartets Nos 2 and 3 – high-class chamber music with a star team player
Brahms: Piano Quartets Nos 2 and 3 – high-class chamber music with a star team player
Concert review  
Aurora Orchestra/Collon – reduced Mahler still packs a punch
Aurora Orchestra/Collon – reduced Mahler still packs a punch
Opera review  
Carmen – Akhmetshina and Elder make this an outstanding evening
Carmen – Akhmetshina and Elder make this an outstanding evening
Concert review  
Yunchan Lim – young pianist’s Bach dazzles and intrigues
Yunchan Lim – young pianist’s Bach dazzles and intrigues
Add to playlist
She’s got the Midas touch  
Shirley Bassey songs – ranked!
Shirley Bassey songs – ranked!
‘Goths don’t have sex – we just stare into the black sun’  
Billy Corgan’s honest playlist
One to watch  
Model/Actriz
You may have missed
The pop stars who refuse to bury the hatchet
‘It ain’t over till one of us is gone’  
The pop stars who refuse to bury the hatchet
Madonna and Elton John thawed their frosty relationship this week – but from Mariah and J-Lo to David Gilmour and Roger Waters, plenty more are still at loggerheads
Scottish rappers, deaf composers and an AI song called Zygotic Washstands  
The biggest hoaxes in pop
Ex-Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flür was conned into believing he was collaborating with a member of Daft Punk – but it’s far from the first time musicians and audiences have been fooled
‘They didn’t call us for Live Aid’  
The stars behind Black Britain’s forgotten charity record
In 1985, a star-studded lineup of Black UK musicians, including Aswad, Dennis Brown and Janet Kay, recorded a charity single to raise funds for famine-stricken Ethiopia. Why are their efforts so little known?
Critics may sniff at Ed Sheeran’s Persian fusion hit Azizam – but we Iranians love it
Nadia Khomami
With its Iranian melodies, instrumentation and backing singers, Sheeran’s joyful new single is a reminder of how culture transcends borders
Everyday people  
The parking wardens, estate agents and more who inspired classic songs
After the death of Joe DePugh, the high school baseball player hymned in Springsteen’s Glory Days, we look at the ordinary inspirations for extraordinary hits
How we made  
‘I wrote it while bored on a health farm’: how Mike and the Mechanics made All I Need Is a Miracle
‘The demo had my singing on it. When I played it to the band, the look on their faces said, “We’re in trouble, boys”’
Live music this week
Kitty Empire's artist of the week  
Kae Tempest – a brave, intimate set where the personal is political
Kae Tempest – a brave, intimate set where the personal is political
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com
Manage your emails | Unsubscribe | Trouble viewing?
You are receiving this email because you are a subscriber to Sleeve Notes. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Registered in England No. 908396