Weekly feature in the award-winning The New European.

Issue 251, 8-14 July 2021. CYCLE TRACKS: THE MUSIC OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE Long before Kraftwerk plugged in their synthesizers, the epic bike race has been an inspiration for musicians.

Issue 252, 15-21 July 2021. POLISH POP IDOL WHO WANTS TO CHANGE REALITY How can pop respond to politics? With this year’s album BRUT, Polish alt-pop star Brodka has provided an object lesson.

Issue 253, 22-28 July 2021. THE END OF EUROCHEESE? Covid travel restrictions have dealt a serious blow to the import of holiday tunes from the continent.

Issue 254, 29 July – 4 August 2021. ROCK ‘N’ ROME Can Eurovision winners Maneskin continue their artistic progression as they climb the UK charts?

Issue 255, 12-18 August 2021. THE ACCORDIONIST OF AUSCHWITZ Esther Béjarano lied when she told an orchestra conductor she could play the accordion, and it was a lie that saved her life.

Issue 256, 19-25 August 2021. THE MAN WHO WANTS US TO TAKE A CHANCE ON CHANSON Mathieu Boogaerts has set himself an ambitious task: teaching the English about French chanson.

Issue 257, 26 August – 1 September 2021. TRACTORS AND DETRACTORS President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus joins the ranks of dictators who have been musically mocked.

Issue 258, 2-8 September 2021. AN ALTERNATIVE ANTHEM GIVES RUSSIANS THE GOLDEN TOUCH This summer, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was reimagined on the Olympic field for Russian athletes.

Issue 259, 9-15 September 2021. ABSORBING THE RHYTHMS OF ZORBA’S REBEL COMPOSER The composer prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the “universal Greek” died last week. Few have had the relationship with revolution that Mikis Theodorakis did.

Issue 260, 16-22 September 2021. WIGHT NOISE ON DEVASTATION HILL The Isle of Wight Festival is the foundation of British festival music. But in 1970, infamous events took place on ‘Devastation Hill’.

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