If Xfm’s festive knees-up truly reflects the station’s character, its male-dominated line-up chafes against most other annual charts and round-ups.

Bob Dylan turns 70 this week – and the road that inspired one of his best-loved albums remains as seductive as ever for those drawn to the heartland of American music: the Deep South

The sharp-suited Hawaiian looks great, has an album at the top of the charts and a calculated charm that works. What a shame that his easy funk-pop has all the sentiment of a Hallmark card

It is regrettable that the debate over student fees and the abolition of the education maintenance allowance has been undermined by violent attacks led by far left groups, who have utter contempt for democracy.

Reclining on a partially submerged lounger in the infinity pool, watching buffalo lazily munch through fields to each side as the Arabian Sea crashes on to a palm fringed beach beyond... it's a very different picture to the neon full-moon parties and bustling beaches of North Goa.

The good news is that Tinashé is a gifted singer-songwriter, way above the norm, with a winning way with a Facebook-generation couplet and a USP in the shape of a smattering of African influence (think Jack Johnson with a Zimbabwean background).

A model looker with friends in hyped places (Mumford and Sons, Noah and the Whale), Pownall has everything going for him but his music.

Too old for the Hollister generation, Johnson now sells albums to the likes of Gavin and Stacey's Uncle Bryn, who, erm, dig the laid-back grooves and the idea they are down with the kids.

Beautiful and expensively groomed twentysomethings arrive to cram into the Borderline doorway. They air-kiss (both sides), and spread rumours along the queue that little-known singer/songwriter Alan Pownall, has massively oversold the cosy venue by at least 80 tickets.

Vampire Weekend are set to make a return to the UK this summer headlining the Cornish music event, Eden Sessions on June 24 with special guests Broken Bells.

The New York indie quartet first played the Eden sessions in 2008 when they were special guests to The Raconteurs.

Christmas is no time for messing with the formula, but just because that happens to be the case doesn't mean you have to start reaching for the Cliff Richard records.

Hip-hop has evolved so much in the past decade that it's hard to tell what makes the definitive rap fan. At one end of the spectrum, you have the rowdy types, who'll happily chew off their legs for the opportunity to pump their fists to the euphoric triumph of MOP's "Ante Up". Then there's the new rap intelligentsia, motivated to wax lyrical about social injustice and the politics of love then reel off their various sexual exploits as if they've been knocking back jars of Viagra. At one point, Mos Def pleased both varieties, offering his weighty rap roots and enlightened persona which validated him as one of the performers who could sing or do anything he pleased. Major label defiance? His rock project The Jack Johnson band. Alternative income stream? The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Moral relapse? "Drunk and Hot Girls" with Kanye West.

"I never defined myself as a rapper," says Jack Allsopp, but as "a singer-songwriter who had a little bit more to say".

Macabre fate so often awaits world champions stalked by homicide and suicide