Guardian Music — Xiu Xiu, On tourFrom America, and named after a Chinese film, it might be tempting to think of Xiu Xiu as a cosmopolitan and exotic sort of band. One listen to the voice of main man Jamie Stewart, however, and you'll feel right at home. Arch, meticul... more info

The Vinyl Villain — I'll often defend Franz Ferdinand if anyone ever has a go at them. For one thing, their 2004 self-titled debut LP remains an excellent and consistent piece of work which deservedly made them not just media darlings but hugely popular with the record... more info

The Vinyl Villain — I don't think anyone else has ever come up with consistently better song titles than Gordon Macintyre.A primary school teacher by profession, Gordon Macintyre formed the band Ballboy in 1997, and they have gifted us 5 LPs (if you include a compilati... more info

The Vinyl Villain — I'm conciosus that more people have discovered TVV over the past 12 months or so than ever before, and it's a very fair bet that not many go back too far in the archives, especially as the mp3s attached to the writing have long been made unavailable... more info

Guardian Music — Roundhouse, LondonThe magazine Roots has played a key role in promoting folk, world music and the varied fusions of the new roots scene, and this brave, unexpectedly slick 30th-anniversary show managed to mix experiments, history and surprises, with ... more info

Roundhouse, LondonThe magazine Roots has played a key role in promoting folk, world music and the varied fusions of the new roots scene, and this brave, unexpectedly slick 30th-anniversary show managed to mix experiments, history and surprises, with ... more info

Guardian Music — It's not a sin to love mainstream music or painting. Sometimes it's good to stand with the crowdIt's always tempting to prefer the underdog to the champion, the obscure to the illuminated. That is probably how most of us first discovered we had a "se... more info

The Vinyl Villain — A wee cheat here......the sleeve above is that of the CD released in the USA. The UK version was red instead of green.....Yup, despite there being a few Billy Bragg compilations over the years, not to mention 2 x Boxsets, most of the tracks that he ... more info

Guardian Music — (Anti-)John Peel's description of the Fall - "always different, always the same" - might equally apply to the Austin, Texas band Spoon, who have made it to seven albums without any significant variation in high quality. Leader Britt Daniel is a maste... more info

Guardian Music — The Pulp singer's new 6 Music show got off to a promisingly eccentric start, complete with echo effect and Betjeman singleListen to Jarvis Cocker's 6 Music show via iPlayer It's been a diverse few months for Sheffield's thinnest and tallest ever pop ... more info