Guardian Music — Shepherd's Bush Empire, LondonBetween them, Adele and PJ Harvey dominated most of 2011's end-of-year polls to the point of tedium, but there was one genuine surprise amid the dreary consensus. The Pazz & Jop, the long-running, respected annual awards... more info

Guardian Music — Organisers blame lack of artist availability and scheduling problems with London 2012 OlympicsThe Big Chill festival has been cancelled this summer with organisers blaming a lack of suitable artists for the event.Melvin Benn, managing director of Fes... more info

411 Mania — How many times did Robert Plant use the word "Baby" in Led Zeppelin's music? What are some of the best uses of licensed songs in commercials? What's the difference between a Mod and a Rocker? All this and more covered this week in Ask 411 Music! more info

Guardian Music — We gotta get out of this place, if it's the last thing we ever do. But not before your favourite songs in search of something newWe're off! Let's go, on a journey into sound: taking in some records that leave the others behind, all nominated over the... more info

CNN Showbiz — You can take the band out of the garage, but you can't take the garage out of the band. That's the message behind the Black Keys' awesomely down-and-dirty seventh album, which caps off a stellar year that found the Ohio blues-rock duo ... more info

411 Mania — Is Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant the ultimate frontman? Why do so many bands record live albums at the Budokan in Tokyo? Are Extreme and Tesla really hair bands? All this and more in this week's edition of Ask 411 Music! more info

Guardian Music — Its writer refused to record it. Pat Boone almost killed it. Then it was resurrected as a B-side to an indie prestige project. Martin Aston on how Tim Buckley's Song to the Siren became a modern classicIt's a Jim'll Fix It fantasy for any musical o... more info

Chicago Tribune — Louie Perez and David Hidalgo have been writing songs together for 40 years, providing the backbone for Los Lobos albums and a couple of Latin Playboy projects. Their tunes have been covered by artists ranging from Robert Plant and Pop Staples to Phi... more info

Guardian Music — Royal Festival Hall, LondonAlison Krauss wears her celebrity lightly. A refreshingly unassuming performer, she came on stage clutching her fiddle as if she was appearing at a bluegrass festival back in the midwest, and after just one song stepped bac... more info

ContactMusic — Adam Sandler abandoned his daughters birthday party when Roger Daltrey Robert Plant and the Foo Fighters performed a charity show in his new neighbours back garden The funnyman was competing with the soundcheck for the low-key charity gig as he celeb... more info