A guitar played by Beatles pair John Lennon and George Harrison sold for 408,000 US dollars (£269,000) at a New York auction today.

The National's quiet, steady ascent presents the Cincinnati band with a problem on their sixth album: how to crown their rise without losing the ATP/Pitchfork crowd which nurtured them.

Album of the Week: Alt-rock's lurkers cement a stealthy rise to success

Since the 1980s, John Zorn has composed 500 songs inspired by traditional Jewish music, a series known as the Masada Book, variously recorded by adventurous musicians such as Marc Ribot and now Pat Metheny.

A keenly autobiographical Rod writes his first songs in 20 years – and nobody gets kicked in the head.

This UK ensemble have followed up a collaboration with Mulatu Astatke with their most compellingly immersive work to date.

Normally when a film director moves into music-making I would handle with care – but art-house maven Jim Jarmusch has decent music pedigree, stretching back to New York's early-80s no wave/new wave era, when he was involved in a number of music projects.

Maines is the bell-voiced lead singer of the Dixie Chicks and, as such, worthy to be admired.

The Child Of Lov is Cole Williams, a reclusive bedroom soundscaper flushed into the open courtesy of this debut album, which marries disjointed beats with hoarse, high soul vocals.

James McNair talks to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's latest inductees

You get a sense of frontman Charlie Fink’s ambition early on, when his band reveal their idea of a “stripped-back set” involves Tom Hobden’s violin soaring over a string quartet in the midst of a rollicking "Tonight’s The Kind Of Night".

French quartet Phoenix's follow-up to their 2009 breakthrough, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, continues in a similar vein of throwback pop whose retro leanings are neatly signalled by the nostalgic jet-set imagery of “Drakkar Noir”.

Andy Gill recalls how Richie Havens, who died this week, was a supremely talented musician who put his mark on an entire era

Junip's second album, although less cloying than singer Jose Gonzalez's solo stuff, still resides in the folktronica zone.