Mind yer head," says Stephen Webster, indicating the low-hung chandelier with the giant crystal globes, "Mickey Rourke bashed 'is head on that, an' I thought 'e was done for." We are closeted together in the tiny buyer's boudoir at Webster's flagship store in Mayfair, surrounded by photographs of his devoted clients: Kate, Sienna, Madonna, Sharon, Jennifer... If the plush sofa in here could talk, it would purr for hours about the fabulousness of the celebrities that have perched on it, discussing gems with Mr Webster.

The latest in Kent Nagano's pairs of Beethoven symphonies, In the Breath of Time posits the 6th and 8th Symphonies and the "Grosse Fuge" as illustrating Beethoven's attempt to confront the dangers of the constant march of progress while simultaneously operating at its cutting edge.

Rick Hall, the owner and producer of Fame studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, liked to push his recording-meters well into the red, creating a slightly distorted sound-print that gave an extra grain of grit to his late 1960s/early 1970s, country-soul stylings.

The secrets in question are the less than "authentic" pop or simply perverse tracks that somehow made a brief splash on the dancefloors of Wigan or wherever in the days of Northern Soul.

This hugely enjoyable survey of the late, sorely undervalued Troy begins with a quartet of tunes that could rival anyone: the stunning Northern title track followed by singalong anthem "Face Up to the Truth", the still swoonable "Just One Look" (a massive influence on the Beatles), and then "What'Cha Gonna Do About It", a digest of soul's greatest virtues.

Standing in a new venue which was nearly closed down on its opening night, in a city brought to a standstill by a tube strike, watching a band who were shelved for five years thanks to their singer's breakout solo career, a series of highly improbable occurrences have coincided to throw together east London's huddled masses for tonight's show. Long odds and great performances often go hand-in-hand, though, and José González's band of synth-rockers are determined not to disappoint.

The fourth movie from the Kent-born Andrew Kotting is set in the French Pyrenees, and watches a family blow apart.

You can get these tracks on a compilation CD but this is a facsimile of the original 1969 Canyon LP: a 12-song concept album on the theme of the wronged woman, a role that Duke, a backing singer for Nina Simone, incarnates with extraordinary fidelity (and fidelity is a big issue here, as you'd guess).

Can Jonathan Kent and Paul Brown make 'Don Giovanni' as relevant today as it was when Mozart wrote it 223 years ago? Those lucky enough to hold Glyndebourne's golden ticket are in for a big surprise

Not the Galapagos, but Britain, where Darwin spent 40 years researching after his global adventure.

A rock journo does his best to remember the 1970s

A controversial council-run internet TV service is to be scrapped to save money.

You can hear why Oasis heavily supported the Soundtrack of Our Lives a few years back. The brassy guitar sound tonight could come straight from the Gallaghers in their pomp. The debt to the dirty swagger of the early 1970s Faces and Stones must have counted in their favour too. But these veteran Swedes have a vitality that goes beyond their influences: an idealistic conviction in rock'n'roll's power. With burly, bearded singer Ebbot Lundberg to the fore, they could be refugees from the Swedish commune in Lukas Moodyson's film Together, insisting on counter-culture verities in the 21st century. Their fine new double-album, Communion, makes the point explicit, with its sinisterly bland photos of the corporate rich who repulse them.

All good rock bands listento their inner thunder, aswell as the thunder theymake.