Sleeve notes: this week in music

Sleeve notes Friday 06 Mar 2015 g Most read More » Come on pilgrims, let rock'n'roll shrines rest in peace As with other rock ‘holy grails’, the campaign to turn Ian Curtis’s home into a museum misses the point: the magic was in the music  Madonna says guardian angels of the metaphysical world saved her after Brits fall Singer says both the physical world and the metaphysical world were at work to protect her after she tumbled down steps while singing  Jack White was mystery buyer who paid $300,000 for first Elvis recording White’s Third Man Records is to reissue the acetate of My Happiness and That’s When Your Heartaches begin on vinyl for Record Store Day

Editors' picks Farewell then, Sunday evening chart show. I have loved you well The top 40 rundown looks likely to go the way of those other Sunday institutions: church attendance, full roast dinner and Sunday closing  Graham Coxon on the Blur reunion: ‘Pop doesn’t have to be a fleeting thing’ The former Britpop superstars surprised everyone by announcing their first album together for 16 years. Guitarist Graham Coxon explains how it began with a chance meeting in Hong Kong …  The ballad of James Bay Too handsome, too talented, Hertfordshire’s finest troubadour is an easy target for critics. His response, he tells Tim Lewis, is to keep on singing Joy Division fans fail in bid to save singer’s home for a museum The Macclesfield house where Ian Curtis took his life in 1980 is for sale but a campaign to buy it seems doomed

Today's top stories More » Ex Hex: 'It's empowerment that we're expressing' The DC trio talk fake friends, creating a scene and discovering the power of powerpop  Why Ghostpoet's Shedding Skin is the one album you should hear this week – video Alexis Petridis recommends Shedding Skin, the third album by Coventry's Mercury-nominated anti-rapper Ghostpoet  Original angstas – why the stars of sad rap aren’t afraid to cry Following on from Drake’s mainstream success, the ‘sad boy’ scene – led by artists with names such as Suicideyear and Sobbin Williams – is taking hip-hop in an unexpectedly introspective direction  Years & Years: from Riot Club posh boys to No 1 stars The off-kilter electropop trio is tipped to top the charts in the UK this weekend, hot on the heels of being named Sound of 2015. They talk about hanging out with fans, being unlikely sex symbols – and accusations that they’re too middle-class  Florrie, Calvin Harris, The Vaccines: this week’s new tracks rated and slated In the Guide single reviews, no one is safe, especially that chancer Calvin Harris  On the blog More » Readers recommend: songs about control | Peter Kimpton Whether losing, gaining, maintaining or fighting it, let the music take over and name songs about all emotional, physical or practical ways we take on turmoil, says Peter Kimpton  Women composers: genius is gender blind – and so should we be Classical music’s past might be dominated by men, but we can ensure its future isn’t. I’m delighted to be part of Radio 3’s International Women’s Day celebrations  Mid-concert selfie stage invasions – hasn't Dvorák suffered enough? What punishment for the narcissist who leapt on the Royal Festival Hall stage to take a selfie during Dvořák’s New World symphony? If only life were like the Simpsons...  Playlist: Middle Eastern and north African – Klash, Trio Da Kali and more In our latest playlist series, John Doran listens to 80s love songs from Lebanon, Saudi rappers and some freaky music from the year 2087  Trampolene – Health & Wellbeing (At Wood Green Job Centre): Video premiere Trampolene frontman Jack Jones specialises in spoken word tracks, such as this poem about zero hours contracts and life on benefits  Watch and listen More » Ghostpoet performs Off Peak Dreams live in session – video Ghostpoet, alias London MC Obaro Ejimiwe, performs Off Peak Dreams from his latest album Shedding Skin  Madonna on Brits fall: ‘The universe was trying to teach me a lesson’ - video Madonna talks to ITV's Jonathan Ross about her fall on stage at the 2015 Brit Awards  Marc Almond: The Velvet Trail Watch the video for the title track of Marc Almond's new album, The Velvet Trail, premiering here exclusively  Why Songhoy Blues's Music in Exile is the one album you should hear this week – video review It's the music, not the circumstances in which Songhoy Blues's Music in Exile was made that makes it worth hearing, says Alexis Petridis  Kimberley calling: Dan Sultan on his family's stolen generation past - video Singer-songwriter Dan Sultan talks about his APRA-nominated song, inspired by his search for his mother's mother  Further reading More » The Charlatans – watch them performing So Oh live As they tour the UK, here are the Charlatans performing the first single from their Modern Nature album  Womadelaide: family ties bring Gotye and guru Djalu Gurruwiwi together | Paul Daley The pop singer will perform with Djalu Gurruwiwi, a spiritual keeper of the didgeridoo, his Yolngu gospel musician son Larry and their Bärra band following a meeting last year that made Gotye one of the family  Matthew E White: Fresh Blood review – a delicious second helping It lacks the impact and otherness of his 2012 debut, but Matthew E White’s follow-up is still a delight

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