Swedesplease — Halina Larsson is an ex-pat from Sweden who has lived in LA and now resides in Brooklyn. She’s go a diverse sound and a variety of influences including Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, Erykah Badu, Feist and Elliot Smith. She’s a trained jazz vocalist ... more info

Guardian Music — The 24-year-old musician with the peroxide quiff who stopped studying medicine and started writing songsGood hair. The peroxide quiff is immense. She calls herself Emeli, but her real name is Adele. Which she dropped in favour of her middle name when... more info

Guardian Music — (ECM) From Norwegian folk singer and harpist Sinikka Langeland comes a seductively subtle contemporary jazz album. The lyrics are all Norwegian or Swedish (the sleeve notes have translations), and celebrate the poetry of Edith Södergran and Olav Hå... more info

Guardian Music — State Opera House, PraguePrague's lavish neo-rococo State Opera House is a long way from HM Prison Highpoint in Suffolk, where George Michael spent four weeks last September after piloting his Range Rover into the window of his local Snappy Snaps whi... more info

Guardian Music — (Roc-a-Fella/Roc Nation/Def Jam)Rappers are obsessed with power. The 48 Laws of Power, an infamous manual by Robert Greene, has long been required reading for hip-hoppers of a certain stature, from 50 Cent on down. One day Jay-Z might get around to r... more info

Guardian Music — In her songs, she gave a compelling account of a woman mentally unravelling in gut-wrenching everywoman styleFew could claim that the tragic early death of Amy Winehouse was entirely unexpected. But it is still deeply shocking, precisely because it f... more info

Stopcryingyourheartout.com — Noel has guest edited this month's Mojo Magazine, which is on the shelves now. The magazine also comes with a personally compiled covermount CD titled 'Well... All Right!' which features artists as diverse as Nina Simone, Black Mountain, Yage and Buf... more info

Guardian Music — Barbican, LondonEsperanza Spalding is one of those jigsaw pieces you never knew was missing from the world of music. Until she surprised everyone by winning the recent best newcomer Grammy that seemed destined for Justin Bieber, it never occurred to ... more info

ContactMusic — Mary J. Blige is spending the summer researching the life of jazz and blues legend Nina Simone ready for an upcoming biopic. The schedule of Blige's current film Rock of Ages has forced film bosses to delay the start of the Simone story until October... more info

Guardian Music — Barbican, LondonFrom the opening harmonies of Tina Turner's Bold Soul Sister to a carousing finale including Miriam Makeba's African hit Pata Pata, this two-hour tribute to 50 years of female musical fearlessness never came off the boil. Singing star... more info