This weekend's Field Day festival in east London is packed with storming new acts.

Chairman, Dick Olver, endured a torrid time at his final AGM as protesters against its deals with Saudi Arabia were ejected amid stormy scenes

Louis Armstrong singing spiritual-jazz anthem "The Creator Has a Masterplan" (and sounding great) is one of the more bizarre experiences on this neat compendium of black consciousness from the vaults of Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label.

Whilst most people struggle to learn one new language, a 16-year-old from New York has managed to master 23 different tongues.

The daughter of a Malian diplomat, Rokia Traoré is perhaps the most naturally cross-cultural of her country's abundant musical offspring, effortlessly blending styles and sounds as easily as she switches between languages.

Whether Portico Quartet ever were a jazz act is debatable, but they certainly don't sound like one now.

It's fair to say that most who heard the former Czars frontman's solo debut Queen of Denmark would have happily lapped up more of the same: channelling struggles with drugs, alcohol and sexuality into beautiful, baroque soft-rock, it cropped up on many an end-of-year list in 2010.

British rider wins third stage in a row to extend overall lead

Pere's persistence pays off with some gripping grooves

Outlook Spare a thought for Paul Tucker, who had every reason to think he was a shoo-in to replace Sir Merv at the helm of the Bank of England, an institution he understands as well as anyone.

With pesky priapic cherubs One Direction having nabbed Lewis's "most popular X Factor act" crown, this long-delayed third album sets out to make the Hackney diva "current" again.

Not, as you might anticipate given the title, one of the mixmaster's outpourings of noise-rage, but a quiet, meditative, even warm exploration of slooooow, in dub.

Trainer Aidan O'Brien maintains his stranglehold on this year's Classics and the best may be yet to come

It's the muted ring of steel drums that gives the game away that this 1976 re-release is of Caribbean rather than African provenance.