These New Puritans come with a manifesto of sorts, declaring themselves "anti-experimental, anti-distortion, anti-avant garde", like an audio wing of the Stuckists.

In this fast-moving age, is it not rather civilised to be given almost nine years' notice of a change? But perhaps this is how long it will take to wean us off a habit grown up over 350 years. The cheque, it seems, is to be phased out in 2018.

Northern souls win more hearts

Technology experts have warned that mankind should think before rushing into a world of autonomous robots as their development outpaces the ethical and legal issues surrounding their use.

Graham Lindsey? Not, as it turns out, an accountant from Luton but a woolly and possibly wild songwriter from Montana.

Sometimes, a good idea isn't quite enough. Always a fan of 1960s British folk-rock and prog, Decemberists songwriter Colin Meloy was inspired to create this concept album by hearing Anne Briggs's rare 1966 EP The Hazards Of Love.

Mica Levi, a 21-year-old from Surrey whose versatility is hinted at by the fact that she has both composed for the Philharmonic and released a grime mixtape, is breaking her shackles wide open.

Colin Matthews's vivid orchestration of Debussy's Préludes reverses the technique used in Stephen McNeff's chamber orchestration of 'Pelléas et Mélisande'.

It's not often that you see a parental advisory sticker on a classical CD, but unless your children are fluent in Renaissance Italian, Michael Nyman's 2007 settings of Pietro Aretino's sonnets are unlikely to corrupt.

Who'd have a landline? Thanks to cunning new call-centre tactics, millions of us have to put up with automated messages, silent calls or someone trying to sell us a new gas supply. But you can avoid this irritating phone-spam with a device called the trueCall. Simply plug your phone into this little gizmo and you can create a friends and family user list of callers. The idea is, if a random number appears, the trueCall intercepts it, and lets you know who is calling without putting them through. www.truecall.co.uk ; 0800 0336 339