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The Quietus
@thequietus.com
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Black Sky Thinking since 2008.

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The Quietus @thequietus.com · Dec 1
Hark! The Quietus Albums of 2025 chart is here! Prepare to be astounded, thrilled and (potentially) perplexed. tQ subscribers can also dive into selections from all 100 albums in our bumper 9-hour playlist. #tQCharts

What have been your top picks of the year?

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thequietus.com
"John Litweiler’s The Freedom Principle really opened me up to European free improvisation. That side of the ocean created an identity away from the typical model of free jazz coming out of the African-American culture..." TM

The Strange World Of… Free Jazz & Improvised Music

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Black and white photograph of Thurston Moore in an outdoor seated area, with an unused table and chairs behind him.
January 19, 2026 at 3:00 PM
thequietus.com
"I love the sonics of this album, and the way The Beatles went from super lo fi, but amazing, harmonies when they were young, to making some of the greatest-sounding records ever."

Mike Dirnt (Green Day) on #TheBeatles - Abbey Road

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The Beatles - Abbey Road album cover. The famous shot of the band crossing the road.
January 19, 2026 at 12:00 PM
thequietus.com
When the band PVA asked if they could do something slightly different for their interview we were only too happy to assist, with the help of a witchcraft shop in Hackney and a deck of tarot cards...

A less Oblique Strategy: reading PVA’s #Tarot

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January 19, 2026 at 10:00 AM
thequietus.com
The instrumental supergroup featuring members of Tortoise, Come, Rex and Eleventh Dream Day, return after three decades for more fuzz clouds, soft drones and gentle shimmers

Pullman - III

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Pullman - III album cover. Close up photograph of a large white moth, with blurry out of focus background.
January 19, 2026 at 8:00 AM
thequietus.com
"The storytelling of it was what I really loved, and the fact that no stone was unturned when it came to finding all the countermelodies and the little sub-harmonics"

Mike Dirnt (Green Day) on #DavidBowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars

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David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars album cover. Bowie in a brightly coloured street scene.
January 18, 2026 at 10:00 PM
thequietus.com
"Dave Burrell’s Echo would be the first totally “free jazz” LP experience for my already noise-exposed ears and mind, sometime in the late 80s/early 90s..." Thurston Moore

Dave Burrell – Echo (1969) - The Strange World Of… Free Jazz & Improvised Music

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Dave Burrell – Echo album cover. Photograph of the artist in the centre of the image.
January 18, 2026 at 8:01 PM
thequietus.com
'Though Joe Meek's music isn't present here, his spirit is. Plenty of spacewards tinkering, lots of torrid sentiment and hyper-maudlin stylings that switch to existential, horror-tinged passages at the drop of a hat'

Covers Album of the week: Xiu Xiu’s Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol 1

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January 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM
thequietus.com
Luke Richards celebrates the centenary of the 1st public screening of Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, on January 18, 1926, and the myriad interpretations of its soundtrack which keep it relevant and radical today

Rhythmic Cinema: #BattleshipPotemkin still connects 100 years on

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Battleship Potemkin poster in yellow, black and sepia, with big guns emerging either side of the sailor's head.
January 18, 2026 at 2:00 PM
thequietus.com
“It wasn’t like punk rock started this business of having an alternate universe of recording. It was going on with these experimental jazz and improvisation musicians, and these labels" - Thurston Moore

The Strange World Of… Free Jazz & Improvised Music

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Photograph of Thurston Moore playing guitar in a church.
January 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM
thequietus.com
'The Basque Country’s punk lineage is obliquely woven into this modern experimental recording, which uses the idea of feedback as a way to connect music of the past and present.'

Enrike Hurtado – Hardcore Punk Dissasters - Organic Intelligence LII: Treasures of the Basque Country

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Enrike Hurtado – Hardcore Punk Dissasters CD album cover in a faded blood red, being held by a human hand.
January 18, 2026 at 9:01 AM
thequietus.com
'Created over a period that spans both Trump presidencies as well as the pandemic, Thirlwell hasn’t had to look far for fuel for his ire. Dread is a leitmotif throughout the Foetus catalogue and Halt is no exception'

Baroque and Roll: Halt by Foetus is tQ's Album of the Week

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Halt by Foetus CD variant.
January 17, 2026 at 8:00 PM
thequietus.com
The Ljubljana festival MENT has revealed the full lineup for its 12th edition

There will be live sets from Valentina Magaletti, Holy Tongue, Ho99o9, and aya will also present last year’s Hexed! LP live alongside visual artist MFO

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Colour photograph of aya.
January 17, 2026 at 6:00 PM
thequietus.com
#KimGordon has shared details of her third solo album, PLAY ME

Watch a video for lead track ‘NOT TODAY’ here:

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January 17, 2026 at 4:00 PM
thequietus.com
Caterina Barbieri and Bendik Giske have collaborated on a new EP, titled At Source

You can listen to lead track ‘Alignment, Orbits’ here:

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Caterina Barbieri and Bendik Giske, colour photograph.
January 17, 2026 at 2:00 PM
thequietus.com
Bandcamp has formally introduced a new policy banning music and audio generated wholly or largely by AI from purchase on its platform. Bandcamp said: “With this policy, we’re putting human creativity first."

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Bandcamp logo.
January 17, 2026 at 12:00 PM
thequietus.com
'Its slick 70s soul influences suggest the Sharrocks were aiming for a more commercial sound. But then how commercial can an album full of wordless vocals and unhinged slide guitar be?'

#SonnySharrock And #LindaSharrock – Paradise (Atco, 1975) - The Strange World of Linda Sharrock

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Sonny Sharrock And Linda Sharrock – Paradise album front cover. Linda Sharrock with red plumes sticking out of her ponytail hairdo. Sonny Sharrock And Linda Sharrock – Paradise album back cover. A bird of paradise with red plumage matching Linda's hairdo on the front cover.
January 17, 2026 at 10:00 AM
thequietus.com
Sunn O))) have shared details of a self-titled new album, their first full-length release since signing to Sub Pop in 2025

You can listen to lead cut ‘Glory Black’ here:

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Colour photograph of the duo Sunn O))), wearing black robes with hoods, stood next to a disused rural wooden shack.
January 17, 2026 at 8:00 AM
thequietus.com
"I remember hearing this album a lot in cars, back in the 70s. They say that Stevie Wonder’s left hand is the best bass player in history; I’m pretty sure that just one finger on his left hand is better than I am"

Mike Dirnt (Green Day) on Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life

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Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life album. cover.
January 16, 2026 at 10:00 PM
thequietus.com
"A nuclear blast of a free improv record. That was my introduction to what’s going on in that [FMP label] world and there was no other record that was as high energy."

#PeterBrötzmann Octet – Machine Gun (1968) - The Strange World Of… Free Jazz & Improvised Music

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Peter Brötzmann Octet – Machine Gun album cover. A ink stamped style illustration of a soldier at a machine gun with a belt of bullets being fed into it and the title underneath in roughly stamped text.
January 16, 2026 at 8:00 PM
thequietus.com
tQ called Cardiacs LSD "a testament to the enduring uniqueness of Tim Smith’s artistic vision." The current incarnation of the band begin a 4 date UK tour on 9 March. Tickets are still available for Portsmouth, Manchester and Glasgow

Revisit a Quietus Strange World of piece here:

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Cardiacs live 2026 poster, featuring the 9 March date at Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms and the kangaroo from the cover of their recent album, LSD.
January 16, 2026 at 6:00 PM
thequietus.com
Today marks a year since #DavidLynch left the planet

You can revisit the story of the origins of Eraserhead here:

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Colour photograph of David Lynch. Film poster of Eraserhead with Jack Nance in the hair raising protagonist role.
January 16, 2026 at 4:00 PM
thequietus.com
Toby Manning looks beyond woeful sleeve art to find the UK's underrated Be-Bop Deluxe, serving up a unique blend of art rock, pop prog and late period glam in 1976

Sunburst Finish by Be-Bop Deluxe, 50 years on

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Sunburst Finish by Be-Bop Deluxe album cover. An unpleasantly retro image of a naked woman in a glass on a table top holding up a flaming guitar. The entire image is saturated in red and yellow hues.
January 16, 2026 at 2:00 PM
thequietus.com
'Many of the songs Xiu Xiu have chosen are songs of heartbreak, defiance, or despair. Richard Foster peels back the multiple layers of this collection of heavenly covers belted out as if at a karaoke bar in Hell'

Covers Album of the week: Xiu Xiu’s Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu: Vol. 1

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January 16, 2026 at 12:02 PM
thequietus.com
'Sidings is a powerful statement of love for a place [Yorkshire moors] and understanding of its people and history, muted and yearning. Crisp, rich tones leave space for the imagination to flood in, and take us to a location that exists only in the mind'

Craven Faults - Sidings

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Craven Faults - Sidings album cover. Black and white photograph of some rail lines and a signal box (?) in mountainous wilderness.
January 16, 2026 at 9:00 AM
thequietus.com
"It’s a beautiful looking record, I mean they’re just two stunning creatures with this beautiful, exalted yet calm visage. Really striking and really welcoming. And that music. It was heavy."

#SonnySharrock – Black Woman (1969) The Strange World Of… Free Jazz & Improvised Music

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Sonny Sharrock – Black Woman album cover. Linda and Sonny Sharrock in a striking black and white photograph.
January 15, 2026 at 11:00 PM