The voice is scrunched a little tighter now, and frayed, and the tunes seem worn to the bone, but… Well, you can't keep a good man down.

Warp's latest signing is the rapper/producer Jeremiah Jae. To mark the occasion, he's dropped a new mixtape which can be streamed/downloaded for free at snd.sc/1c6EBwH and ind.pn/163xb7p. The nine-track Bad Jokes mixtape trundles along in a haze of snippets, samples and Jae's tranquil, pop-culture-laden raps in one blunted, weed-infused sound, largely produced by the man himself. South Californian beat-scene influences abound throughout, as evinced by Flying Lotus showing up with production on one track.

The songs that are hot on our playlist this week

Dreams. Most of us never fulfill any. But now One Direction star Louis Tomlinson has aced two of the most common boyhood desires - to be a footballer and a member of a globally successful boy band - in one fell swoop (and at the tender age of 21).

Two old hands have found inspiration in their parents' lives

X Factor veterans had mixed fortunes at the top of the charts this week as Jahmene Douglas went straight in at number one with his debut album but One Direction lost out to all-conquering Avicii in the singles.

It's rather hard to describe the sound of Forest Swords, as evinced by the new track from the Liverpool producer (aka Matthew Barnes). The piece, “The Weight of Gold”, comes from his August released album Engravings and is streaming through his Soundcloud and at forestswords.tumblr.com. It's a murky, dark and experimental affair, with snippets of guitar tones, beats rolling through, fragments of vocals and various sonic and electronic effects. Whatever which way one describes the thing, it's probably best to say it sounds great and is worth attention.

Can you spot the difference between these three chaps? It’s hard I know. But the brooding, sex-in-a-suit type (near right) is Geoffrey Howe, chairman of Nationwide, who has compared the extravagant salaries of bank executives with those of “footballers” (such as Cristiano Ronaldo, centre) and “pop stars” (Jon Bon Jovi, far right).

Karen Gillan pulled off a surprise (and a wig) as she revealed a shaved head at the Comic-Con event in California.

This mass-marketisation of one our most highly-prized foods is now in evidence

Legend takes a less controversial tone, after God-baiting video for 'The Next Day'

Frank Skinner: 'It’s like those Japanese fish. You take all the nasty bits out and it’s not poisonous'

Eighteen-year-old Archie Marshall has been steadily garnering acclaim under his stage name, King Krule, for his hazy, dark melange of sounds: a touch of new wave guitar, some synths, a hint of dubstep, a bassy vocal growl. His self-titled 2011 EP was a particular standout. Now comes his debut album, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, out on 24 August, the occasion of young Marshall's 19th birthday. The record's opening track, “Easy Easy”, is streaming now at youtu.be/9i35KOGBYBo – and it's a fine, spare effort.

The Canadian pop star kept fans in Des Moines waiting for the fourth time on his Believe world tour