As well as turning Ryan Gosling into an action hero, the noirish thriller Drive has also given a nitro boost to the career of musician David Grellier. Under his pseudonym College, the French electronica producer provides the backing for one of the film's rare romantic interludes – when Gosling's getaway driver takes Carey Mulligan and son for a jaunt down that iconic urban idyll, the Los Angeles River.

The accessories

Doctors have saved a patient's life by killing off part of his heart with neat alcohol.

Hidden Orchestra's Joe Acheson characterises Archipelago as a voyage round a group of islands, all built from the same materials, but each with its own topography.

Best known for her work with Chase & Status, Delilah's impressive solo debut displays a versatile, inventive attitude that sets her apart from more routine R&B divas.

Robert Plant is back to his bluesy roots – and happy to put his rock god days behind him. By Tim Cumming

All Tomorrow's Parties' spring seaside festivals have stalled, but their hearty alterna-spirit parties on in this London spin-off, a three-day event thin on the chalet front but crackling with cult bands, rare reunions and evangelists of noise.

Radiohead's live drummer and Adele's pianist are jazz stars. They tell Nick Hasted how go-to players are restoring the genre's links to the mainstream

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“It’s going to be a whole lotta of fun tonight,” Liz Green sings, in her jazz-coated tones, on the perky 'Midnight Blues'. That’s about as jaunty as the 28-year-old’s music gets. She even warns us, jokily (and Green’s very droll, like a blend of Victoria Wood, Linda Smith and Beautiful South’s Paul Heaton), that “I’m going to try and depress you now,” before the exquisite lament 'Hey Joe', adding “it’s a sad song about my imaginary friend’s less than impressive love life.” 

Guitar - Stef Ketteringham
On guitar I've got a guy named Stef Ketteringham, from a band called Shield Your Eyes.

"Do you remember the first time?" Jarvis Cocker pleads on Pulp's opening number? I do. As a gob-smacked audience member witness-ing a libidinous Cocker perform "Underwear" – one of Pulp's best live numbers and sensational tonight – on TV's The White Room in 1995, on a bill shared with Portishead. Forget the dismal Blur vs Oasis debate, the two P-bands were the most spine-tingling acts to emerge from these shores since The Smiths. If Portishead evoked J D Ballard's dystopian science-fiction, then Pulp were more reminiscent of Alan Sillitoe's kitchen-sink dramas, particularly Tom Courtenay's lanky rebellious teen in The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner. Only with added smut, oodles of added smut.