Brandon Flowers & Co's previous album brought forth the famous (infamous) lyric: "Are we human, or are we dancer?" But the artwork for the Nevadans' new LP Battle Born ups the ante. It features not only a lovely cod-metal lightning strike but a horse and a car (a mustang and a Mustang!) playing a game of chicken.

Well, yes. Rebirth. Jimmy Cliff has been reborn as exactly the same person he was 40 years ago, when his high-energy skank and wail adumbrated the Marley breakthrough into mainstream tastes: Cliff was a sort of reggae John the Baptist.

Dub Colossus's young Ethiopian pianist is an incandescent talent.

Racism is so prevalent in some Eastern European countries that a black singer could not hope to win the Eurovision Song Contest, Andrew Lloyd-Webber has claimed.

It's easy to see why David Cronenberg was attracted to his fellow Canadian electropop outfit as contributors to the soundtrack to his recent film Cosmopolis.

A convenient back-story for their record label is a brutal reality to this young Malawian band whose name derives from the fact they sell mouse kebabs to passers-by in order not to starve to death themselves.

English folk buoyed on a current of ethnic rhythm: tabla, sitar, cittern, dhol, electronica ... It's not an easy trick to pull off without sounding self-conscious and contrived – and in truth contrivance is close to the essence of the project.

A couple of years ago, on an evening from which I was regrettably absent, a few friends of mine ended up partying with Andrew W.K.. If you're familiar with the 32-year-old American rock star/celebrated hedonist/motivational speaker, you'll know that this is a big deal. The man has made it his mission to party; it's his religion.

Rehab clinics probably don't have guest books – "lovely stay, can really recommend the cold turkey" – but if they did, the children of the rich and famous would loom large. It's no easy matter being born into the limelight, growing up with one or both parents appearing to belong as much to their fans as to you, and in some sad cases even more so.

The flowerpot is no more. The north London pub, famous as a venue where you could see bands tipped as "the next big thing" – and A&R men hoping to sign them – has been forced to shut after its building lease was sold.

There is more fun to have at Battersea Power Station than the launch of the Conservative Party manifesto earlier this year. This weekend, it is transformed into a ski resort with 500 tonnes of real snow. And as the sun sets over the 32m high and 100m long ski jump, Mark Ronson and his band the Business Intl, I Blame Coco (aka Coco Sumner, Sting's daughter) and the indie band New Young Pony Club will perform on the main stage in a tent at the temporary alpine-style ski resort.

Don't blame Coco. I mean, what would you do if you were the 20-year-old daughter of Sting? Time's up.