Wire #498

Every copy of the August issue comes with a free CD of The Wire Tapper 68 attached to the cover. This latest edition of the Tapper features a cover designed by Firpal and contains 16 new tracks by Nadah El Shazly, Lyra Pramuk, RG Rough, Bhajan Bhoy, Annie A, Hyperreve + CoH and more.

On the cover: Bill Orcutt

In this Issue:

Former Harry Pussy guitarist, Palilalia label boss and post-punk blues survivor, Bill Orcutt has been especially prolific in recent years. A sustained proliferation of live and studio-based activity has consolidated his profile as both a collaborator, mentor and leading light to a new generation of six-string explorers such as his guitar quartet bandmates Shane Parish, Ava Mendoza and Wendy Eisenberg. By Tony Rettman

Michael Ranta: The veteran ex-pat American percussionist and founder of Cologne's Asian Sound has worked closely with an illustrious cast of composers including Stockhausen, Harry Partch, Helmut Lachenmann and Luc Ferrari. But the recent Transits series of releases has lead to a renewed appreciation of his work in its own right. By Derek Walmsley

Slikback: The Kenyan producer and DJ has built a profile over the last seven years with a frenetic hybrid of trap, footwork and gqom spliced with more traditional East African musics. He has released extensively on Kampala's Nyege Nyege Tapes and it's sister label Hakuna Kulala. July will see his first release on the UK's Planet Mu. By Hannah Pezzack

Vanessa Rossetto: The work of the US painter turned composer refracts the most quotidian field recordings of daily life through an electroacoustic lens using both extended and traditional techniques. By Ilia Rogatchevski

Zifzafa: An investigative multi-platform project spearheaded by artist and researcher Lawrence Abu Hamdan of Forensic Architecture, Zifzafa conduct analysis of the use of sonic weaponry against protesters in Belgrade and the killing of Red Crescent paramedics in Gaza. By Anton Spice

& More.

The Wire is an independent, monthly music magazine covering a wide range of alternative, underground and non-mainstream musics. The Wire celebrates and interrogates the most visionary and inspiring, subversive and radical, marginalised and undervalued musicians on the planet, past and present, in the realms of avant rock, electronica, hiphop, new jazz, modern composition, traditional musics and beyond. Passionate, intelligent and provocative