Issue 1469

Band’s best friend
Loud in sound and loud in opinion, Mogwai have surprised themselves with their longevity. And at their upcoming gigs they’re allowing Big Issue North to fundraise. Frontman Stuart Braithwaite tells Richard Smirke why they take their music seriously but their song titles less so.

Miss a beat
For a moment in the mid-sixties, Liverpool bathed in the reflected glory of the Beatles and became the centre of consciousness in the human universe, according to American beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Clare Bucknell tells us why it couldn’t last and how it’s preserved for future generations.

It’s in the stars
The International Monetary Fund’s prediction that Britain will be the worst-performing major economy in the world this year is only a forecast, and could be wrong. But economist James Meadway argues that structural weaknesses from way back mean it’s more likely to be right.

Plus
How dancing in a nightclub can be a source of renewable energy, arts and entertainment, columnist Roger Ratcliffe puts a wet blanket over Dry January – and more.