Guardian Music — Band on the Wall, ManchesterAfter support slots for Ed Sheeran and Emili Sandé, this budget tour has its limitations – but Mahalia’s charm and honeyed voice carry her throughRising star Mahalia Burkmar explains how she started writin... more info

Guardian Music — Shorter DJ sets mean a need to get people dancing quick, and today's turntablists don't care about the baggage. Hence surprise rewinds for Jacko, Bedingfield and Phats & SmallThere was a time when the term "wedding DJ" conjured images of Showaddywadd... more info

Guardian Music — Dirty Projectors have become more accessible without sacrificing their originality – whether they meant to or notDirty Projectors' mastermind David Longstreth has talked up the Brooklyn collective's Swing Lo Magellan as "an album of songs". As a US... more info

Guardian Music — The hard rocker has handpicked a veteran Dutch post-punk group to open for him at Hammersmith. Is this the strangest support choice ever?Sometimes, even in music, it's wiser to go with your head than your heart. The big romantic gesture is all very w... more info

Guardian Music — People have been walking out of the RSC's risqué new production of Marat/Sade. Are critics ever tempted to follow them? Guardian reviewers reveal the times they just couldn't take any moreAlthough the play is nearly 50 years old, Peter Weiss's Marat... more info

Guardian Music — Behold: the 54-year-old responsible for mis-selling the Iraq war shoving the 22-year-old responsible for All Time LowNow and then, what passes for showbiz throws up a vignette that represents everything wrong with modern life. Consider the moment it ... more info

Guardian Music — Yesterday's must-have discs became today's embarrassments, so they had to go – violentlyIt was November 1977 and a mate and I took Tina Charles's 1975 disco hit I Love To Love into the garden, surrounded it with fireworks and laughed hysterically ... more info

Altsounds — Britain's sweetest music festival,* Summer Sundae Weekender 2011* are delighted to announce the next tantalizing wave of acts to add to this year's bill. It looks like it is set, yet again to deliver one of the most diverse and inspiring line ups of ... more info

Guardian Music — Yes, it's back on our screens! No, it's not a new series but a run of repeats starting on BBC4 in the year 1976 . . .Age: 47.Appearance: The oldest swinger in town.Good old TOTP! Not just British TV's longest-running chart show, but a reminder that ... more info

Guardian Music — Songs in the UK chart in 1976-77 that are likely to be included in BBC4's archive showsTop 40 hits of early April 1976 1 Brotherhood Of Man Save Your Kisses For Me2 Barry White You See The Trouble With Me3 John Miles Music4 Billy Ocean Love Really Hu... more info