10 Questions for DJ-producer Dave Clarke

10 QUESTIONS FOR DJ-PRODUCER DAVE CLARKE The techno don talks new music, Brexit, cars, Gustav Holst and much more

The techno don talks new music, Brexit, cars, Gustav Holst and much more

Dave Clarke (b. 1968) is, arguably, Britain’s greatest techno DJ. Although, in fact, he has lived in Amsterdam since 2009. He is also a producer of repute. His Red singles of the mid-Nineties are regarded as groundbreaking productions.

Starlight Express, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre review - freight is kinda great

★★★★ STARLIGHT EXPRESS, TROUBADOUR WEMBLEY PARK THEATRE Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1980s spectacular skates into a new era

Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1980s spectacular skates into a new era

The reinvigoration of Andrew Lloyd Webber continues apace. New York is now hosting a ballroom culture, drag-inflected Cats, and the Olivier-laureled Sunset Boulevard, a breakaway hit last year on the West End, hits Broadway in the autumn.

Album: Jeff Mills - The Eyewitness

40+ albums in and the Detroit luminary is still creating bamboozling mesmerism

Jeff Mills has always been a musical sophisticate. Even in the early 90s when he was best known for derangedly pummelling techno DJ sets in the most insalubrious of sweat-pits, and even though his minimalist production style back then was used as a blueprint by the most mindless of producers, the artistry to what he did was always mind-boggling.

Album: Charli XCX - Brat

★★★ CHARLIE XCX - BRAT One of Britain's most compelling pop stars fires out an intriguingly personal curveball

One of Britain's most compelling pop stars fires out an intriguingly personal curveball

Charli XCX has been making scrambled eggs of pop for a decade. She’s written songs for/with artists including, but far from limited to, Lady Gaga, Iggy Azalea, Giorgio Moroder, Selina Gomez, BTS, David Guetta, Ty Dolla $ign, Blondie, Gwen Stefani, Raye, BTS, Camila Cabello, Benga, Caroline Polachek, Haim, and James Blunt. And then there’s her own albums. Six of them, including this one. But she’s not yet a full star. At least that’s what she reckons. And that’s what her enjoyably abrasive new album is about.

Passing Strange, Young Vic review - exuberant pocket musical with a thoughtful core

★★★★ PASSING STRANGE, YOUNG VIC Giles Terera excels leading a livewire cast in an irreverent look at Black identity

Giles Terera excels leading a livewire cast in an irreverent look at Black identity

From New York’s Public Theater, the venue that nurtured Hamilton, comes another estimable pocket musical, Passing Strange. It was first staged in 2008, to Tony-nominated acclaim, and it shows. Its forthright cheek and irreverence are refreshing and welcome.

Album: Justice - Hyperdrama

★★★ JUSTICE - HYPERDRAMA French electronic dance stalwarts return in fine fettle

French electronic dance stalwarts return from eight-year break in fine fettle

Justice are a couple of super-suave rock star analogues. Leathers and aviators, yes, but with a very Parisian insouciance. Their music is the same. It has a rocker-friendly je-ne-sais-quoi, but air-brushed with the glitzy sci-fi futurism one might expect from a couple of guys whose origins lie in design.

Album: Kim Gordon - The Collective

★★★ KIM GORDON - THE COLLECTIVE Maintaining a jagged trajectory

Second album by ex-Sonic Youth-er and producer Justin Raisen maintains their jagged trajectory

Some icons sit back and bask. Kim Gordon does not. She has occasionally intimated that her New York cool and relentless work rate may be down to a smidgeon of imposter syndrome, even after all her years on the frontline. Whatever the truth of it, her output since Sonic Youth (and her marriage) dissolved in 2011 has been prodigious.

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