The hippy tastes of Bob Harris were blown away by glam rock and punk
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Album: Helado Negro, Canta Lechuza (Asthmatic Kitty)

The impeccably hip credentials of HN's Roberto Carlos Lange (exotic Ecuador to Florida to Brooklyn background; he's an artist doing a "project"; album recorded in the middle of a field in Connecticut, etc) are rather at odds with the wonderfully gloopy Latin-cheese of this Spanish language, old school synth-session's best tracks.

Prince announces first UK show in four years

Prince is to play his first UK show in four years at the Hop Farm Festival.

Cheltenham Diary: Westwood's pain is Motty's pleasure as Savage is silenced

Sometimes it doesn't pay to be a multimillionaire. Take Lee Westwood yesterday. The world's second-best golfer found his day ruined by the fog and couldn't travel down from Worksop.

Roxy Music, 02 Arena, London

Only quite late on in the evening, somewhere between Bryan Ferry's plaintive whistle in "Jealous Guy" and the longed-for intro to "Virginia Plain", is Roxy Music's O2 audience roused to something like excitement. It's clearly a huge relief to Ferry, but it's the band's own fault: with as elegantly innovative a back catalogue as Roxy's, this should have been a torrent of exuberant memories, but for substantial portions of the set the longueurs are alleviated only by the consistently exciting guitar work of Phil Manzanera, as the band leads us around some of the less sparkling corners of their history. It's like going through a photo album and finding several of the most important snapshots missing: where are "Ladytron", "Both Ends Burning", "Dance Away", "Pyjamarama"?

Jessie J, Scala, London<br/>Richard Thompson, Royal Festival Hall, London

The industry insiders' current favourite seems to have come from nowhere, and it's difficult to see what else is there besides her kooky image

How We Met: Dan Clark &amp; Noel Fielding

'I used to say, "Dan, you're so funny at a party, you've got to try to get that into your comedy"'

Album: Bryan Ferry, Olympia (Island)

Pop's pre-eminent lounge lizard returns to more familiar territory after his patchy album of Dylan covers: Olympia is full of Eurotrash dancefloor motorik like the single "You Can Dance" and romantic languor like "Alphaville", the latter an exercise in dissipated alienation.

Smoke Fairies: Folk heroines' long odyssey

With support from Jack White and Bryan Ferry, Smoke Fairies are no ordinary folk-oriented outfit. Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies met as part of a school choir in rural Sussex, gaining further inspiration from their parents' Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young records and a desire to get the hell out of Chichester.

Devendra Banhart, Koko, London

"Alternative-folk", "freak-folk", even "psych-folk" are expressions that have been used to describe the Texan-born singer Devendra Banhart and his band The Grogs. But at Koko, it became clear that the group, part of the New Weird America movement, has morphed into a very different beast from the quirky, folky hippies who produced Cripple Crow in 2005.

David Beckham set for Jonathan Ross' 'Friday Night With' swansong

David Beckham and Hollywood star Jackie Chan will be the final guests as Jonathan Ross bows out from his BBC1 chat show, it was announced today.

The Sketch: There he was, with his fragrant wife and Bryan Ferry hair

It was Nick Clegg who fired the starting gun. Straight into his foot. It was 7.30 and no one was there because only drug addicts, brokers and political activists are up at that hour.

Album: Groove Armada, Black Light (Cooking Vinyl)

Is this really a Groove Armada record?

Album: Various artists, Ethiopiques 24 (Buda)

The wealth of sublime music produced in Ethiopia in the 1970s (before a military junta stopped the party) seems to have no end.

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Special report: Tamil asylum-seekers to be forcibly deported

Special report

Tamil asylum-seekers to be forcibly deported
The problem with social mobility

The problem with social mobility

Politicians who say they want to break down Britain's social barriers have been told to unlock closed-shop professions – starting in their own backyard
France's sixth biggest city* goes to the polls (*that's London, by the way)

France's sixth biggest city* goes to the polls (*that's London, btw)

Next month expats in the stronghold of South Kensington will have a big say in who is returned as the first French overseas MP
Aftershock: How Haiti's quake hit the whole of Hispaniola

Aftershock: How Haiti's quake hit the whole of Hispaniola

Two years on from the disaster that shook the Caribbean state, its eastern neighbour, the Dominican Republic, fears a new wave of illegal immigrants could hurt its economy
Mean streets at the movies

Mean streets at the movies

Plan B's new film explores the urban tensions that led to last summer's riots – and he's not the only one finding cinematic inspiration in social unrest
Romney hits the magic number, but his smartphone app fails crucial spelling test

Romney hits the magic number...

... but his smartphone app fails crucial spelling test
Car-crash TV: Ferrari quits news after gaffes, rows and poor ratings

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Weeks after the demise of Sarkozy, the TF1 star he's said to have dated finds herself out of office too
Meet your doctor (please don't unplug it)

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Can a network of hi-tech terminals and online medics make the connection?
The 10 Best cycling gear

The 10 Best cycling gear

It’s summer, it's sunny... it’s the perfect time to get on your bike.
Song of the suicide bomber: How 'Babur in London' negotiated a cultural minefield

Song of the suicide bomber

Daring new opera 'Babur in London' features British terrorists planning an attack.
The school that brought the International Baccalaureate to the East End

Bringing the IB to the East End

The International Baccalaureate is not just for pupils in leafy suburbs.
England must beware brilliant Belgium

England must beware brilliant Belgium

They may have missed out on the Euros but the Belgians have a rash of young players who, thanks to the unifying skills of their coach, look to have a bright future
James Lawton: Liverpool must show new man the respect he needs to do the job

James Lawton

Liverpool must show new man the respect he needs to do the job
2012: the year when England's support decided to stay at home

2012: the year when England's support decided to stay at home

Three Lions will play their Euro 2012 games in front of only a few thousand of their fans
What's wrong with Rory?

What's wrong with Rory?

Is the trouble with the defending US Open champion in his head, in his swing, with his girlfriend – or is it all in the minds of others?