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James Blake: Trying Times review – platitudes about politics and Kanye can’t detract from an excellent album

Amid the stylistic shifts of Blake’s seventh record come samples of Dusty Springfield and Dizzee Rascal: gripping distractions from some preachy sentiments

Simo Cell and Abdullah Miniawy: Dying Is the Internet review – a virtuosic voice cuts through digital noise

The latest collaboration between the French producer and Egyptian singer pairs soaring musicality with frenetic electronics to examine the age of AI

Fred Again review – guest-heavy homecoming for the golden boy of UK dance is an eclectic triumph

Following a six-night stint in NYC, Fred Gibson returns to London for a brilliant, five-hour melange of his own tracks and wildly energising guest-star mini-sets

Ikonika: Sad review – vocal-led new direction is a hit for the Hyperdub veteran

(Hyperdub)The dancefloor producer weaves seductive and steely lyrics with their trademark production in a convincing embrace of pop

Debit: Desaceleradas review – Afro-Latin club sounds slowed to a seductive crawl

The producer’s second album is a granular dissection of cumbia rebajada, forcing the listener to focus on the strangeness of every moment in her ambient soundworld

Oneohtrix Point Never: Tranquilizer review – uncanny ambient music for an agitated era

Made using a cache of Y2K sample CDs that Daniel Lopatin salvaged from the internet’s fringes, the kaleidoscopic result speaks to contemporary information overload

Mohinder Kaur Bhamra: Punjabi Disco review – rediscovery of an 80s trailblazer

Punjabi folk vocals backed by hammering electronic percussion, disco basslines and fizzing synth melody: a key predecessor to the Asian dance music explosion

Fridayz Live Sydney review – Mariah Carey is impeccable but Pitbull steals the show

Dual headliners capped a R&B festival with fever-dream energy, including self-help sermons and Pitbull cosplayers everywhere you looked

Blawan: Sick Elixir review – it’s man vs machine in an oppressive, ominous trip down the rabbit hole

Jamie Roberts’ unsettling take on bass music is crammed with glitchy rhythms and jolting sounds. It’s as disorienting as it is immersive

Kieran Hebden and William Tyler: 41 Longfield Street Late ’80s review – Four Tet fries his formative country influences

Lyle Lovett meets brain-scouring distortion on the electronic musician’s surprisingly un-nostalgic collaboration with former Lambchop guitarist Tyler

Sacred Lodge: Ambam review – heady, hypnotic beats inspired by the hollers of Equatorial Guinea

Matthieu Ruben N’Dongo amps up the intensity on a second album that makes an uncanny atmosphere out of swarming electronics, grisly vocals and polyrhythmic percussion

End of the Road review – from industrial rackets to pristine folk, festivals don’t get more varied or vital

Full of warmth despite the rain, highs include Mexico City experimentalists Titanic and Vermont songwriter Lily Seabird’s gorgeously open-hearted voice

Autumns: Basic Face review – sinister vocals, metallic sounds and mutant cowbells

With its beefy rhythms and intense, unrelenting tracks, the prolific Irish producer follows the classic EBM formula to sweaty effect

For Those I Love: Carving the Stone review – bracing anger at Irish social stasis

The raw grief of David Balfe’s first album may have faded to a bruise, but his spoken-word fury is as strong as ever in these hyper-focused stories of poverty and exploitation

Ninajirachi: I Love My Computer review – a surprisingly moving tribute to 2010s EDM

The Australian producer’s debut album pays homage to the blustering, bombastic genre of her adolescence. The BPM soars and so do the feelings

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  • BBCPhil/Noseda/Selaocoe review – a proms concert that was everything the festival does best
  • Ariadne auf Naxos review – Laurent Pelly’s staging has plenty of wit but lacks weight
  • Spanish National Orchestra/Afkham review – Proms debut sees orchestra’s celebrations kick off early
  • Shania Twain: Little Miss Twain review – rootsy revival strays from the dirt track to the middle of the road
  • Bruno Mars review – half seedy club, half church service as diminutive singer answers fans’ prayers
  • First Night of the Proms review – 250th anniversary of US independence takes centre stage
  • Jill Scott review – joyous phones-free show is a taste of how all concerts should be
  • Amadigi di Gaula review – inflatables and appoggiaturas as Handel takes a trip to Love Island
  • Norma Winstone and NDR Radio Orchestra: A Timeless Place review – peerless vocalist at her very best
  • Loathe: A Stranger to You review – metalcore masters offer stylistic swerves and surprising beauty
  • Robert Laidlow: Reality Eaters album review – wildly imaginative and intricate, but eminently approachable
  • La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’Isola di Alcina review – 17th-century rarity is fun when it forgets to be earnest
  • Pergolesi: L’Olimpiade album review – pacy conducting and a fine cast animate baroque rarity
  • Nia Archives: Emotional Junglist review – breakbeats and heartbreak combined by a brilliant British one-off
  • Shakira review – she-wolf roars again in playful victory lap from Colombian superstar
  • Karim Sulayman/Sean Shibe review – tenor and guitarist beguile in wide-ranging and joyful recital
  • James Taylor review – 70s legend’s golden baritone shines best when stripped bare
  • System of a Down review – perverted pop and anti-war anger mixed into a metal melee
  • Gracie Abrams: Daughter from Hell review – bloodless anthems hit like a faceful of icing sugar
  • The Importance of Being Earnest review – gloriously madcap opera achieves new heights of delirium
  • Jay-Z review – rap legend dazzles New York City with lavish spectacle, sharp bars and Beyoncé
  • Bon Jovi review – rockers make a surprisingly poignant return to the stage
  • Baby Rose: Yearnalism review – gloriously cinematic soul from the edge of emotional collapse
  • Wild Gods: The Glorious Abysmal review – truly fascinating songs born of tweed-beating and psychedelic trips
  • Mahler: Songs of Youth and Awakening album review – exuberance and intensity from fine cast of singers
  • Sueye Park: Goldmark and Sibelius album review – Korean violinist’s silvery tone is ideal for Goldmark rarity
  • Jack White: Frozen Charlotte review – brutal, squalid blues-rock that just about sells its own ridiculousness
  • BTS review – pure joy and astonishing versatility at K-pop titans’ first UK show in seven years
  • Kazuki conducts Harmonium review – John Adams’ wild ride centres an elegant showcase of US composers
  • The Rolling Stones: Foreign Tongues review – stomping blues and anti-Musk politics make this another late triumph

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