Guardian Music — SCUM Amber Hands (Mute) This glorious four-minute dollop of swirling shoegazey prog-bobbins sees SCUM moving further away from the Horrors' nonsensically-coiffured shadow. It's a taut, swooshing cloud of grubby psychedelia that wafts about your head ... more info

Guardian Music — (No Evil)Young New Yorker Devin Therriault is unashamed of his love for the city's rock'n'roll heritage: "I pretty much exclusively listen to music that's before my time," he has said. That's apparent throughout his debut album – hints of the New Y... more info

Guardian Music — Teenage angst has paid off well … with this RR playlistYouth is wasted on the young, as jealous old George Bernard Shaw once said. But that didn't seem true of the subjects of many songs you suggested last week. Anyway, with grownups hurling so man... more info

Guardian Music — Xan Brooks reveals the second of seven films to be offered for free to Guardian Extra members through Curzon on Demand. Julian Schnabel's film of a 2006 performance of Lou Reed's 10-song tragedy captures all the greatness of this bleak and beautiful ... more info

Guardian Music — From Ricky Martin on Broadway to Ashlee Simpson and Melissa Etheridge, many pop stars struggle in the theatre. Maybe it's time they steered clearRicky Martin has jaunty hair, shockingly white teeth, flexible limbs, shakeable hips, and a voice as smoo... more info

Guardian Music — An RR a day helps you work, rest and playChocolate makes for a rich metaphor. It's sweet, it melts, it's velvety and smooth – it's the most sexual of sweet stuffs. Its colour, too, lends it resonance – though only in the hands of black artists. S... more info

Guardian Music — Viva Brother's split and Samantha Brick's Daily Mail article provoked torrents of abuse. Why? Can't we separate a person's worth from the quality of their workIt's a commonplace in consideration of art: separate the work from the person. Larkin's poe... more info

Guardian Music — Theatre Royal, NewcastleSusan Boyle has not sung live on stage since her participation in the 2009 Britain's Got Talent tour, prior to which she cemented her new celebrity status by spending five days in the Priory clinic. So the news that she was to... more info

Here Comes The Flood — Johnny Dowd sounds like no one else. The Ithaca, NY singer-songwriter follows his own path, releasing a string of memorable albums that have gained him a avid cult following, mainly in Europe. His new record is called No Regrets, 13 songs about 15 ... more info

411 Mania — From Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" and Lou Reed's "Underneath the Bottle" to Bob Dylan's "Moonshiner," Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" and more, the 411 staff readies for St. Patrick's Day with their lists of the top 5 songs about alcohol! more info