101 Records of 1981

As UNE, BBC Radio DJ Mark Radcliffe and beats-obsessed boffin Paul Langley pay homage to the war memorials of the former Yugoslavia with their third album, ‘Spomenik’

Gudrun Gut moved to West Berlin in 1975 and she’s been there ever since. Initially enticed by the smell of kebabs wafting through the air, which represented freedom to her, Gudrun Bredemann hunkered down in the political enclave and artistic demi-monde, gradually becoming punk’s answer to Marlene Dietrich.

Starting in 1968, San Francisco musician Doug McKechnie was one of the very first people to play a Moog. Stand by for a remarkable story involving Hell’s Angels, FBI agents, concrete caverns and a pyramid of Mexican weed

Descended from the esteemed Penguin Cafe Orchestra – founded by the incomparable Simon Jeffes – Penguin Cafe’s Arthur Jeffes reflects on his father’s legacy, making music on his own terms and being endorsed by Kraftwerk

Colombian producer Montañera makes deeply hypnotic and emotive music that fully draws you into her sonic world – all rich, expansive electronic textures and warming ambient hues

While it hardly seems possible, Nightmares On Wax’s ‘Smokers Delight’ is 25 years old. As the album gets a welcome reissue, we talk to big chief George Evelyn about his labour of love, and where it all came from…