When Paul Simon released Graceland in 1986, who would have thought his mixture of wistful pop and African sounds would endure across generations? Harriet Walker salutes a political and cultural classic

The brief, cacophonous No Wave scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s in New York didn't bequeath us many bands with vast back catalogues.

So many negative noises have been made about Angles from critics and the band (guitarist Nick Valensi admitted "I feel like we have a better album in us"), that its actually-not-badness comes as a pleasant surprise.

In a troubled 2010, indie acts fromThe Drums to Best Coast looked to a hazier, lazier past for solace, says Gillian Orr

Vampires out of New York

The party conferences are over for another year, but were you paying attention? Our quiz sorts the political nerds from the know-nothings (answers at the bottom of the page)

It has helped a group of teenage actors become some of the hottest young stars in Hollywood, made a multi-millionaire of its author, and turned a small town near Seattle into one of America's hottest tourist destinations. Now the Twilight franchise is striking a blow for the fortunes of a cash-strapped New York hand model.

You might expect Avril Lavigne to have a fashion sideline – but Beth Ditto and Pete Doherty? It's all very wrong, says Gillian Orr

In 2008, Converse roped in Julian Casablancas, Santogold and Pharrell to promote their shoes via a one-off single. As far as music/commercial tie-ins go, it was probably one of the more reasonable marriages, considering Converse's long-storied relationship with rock music.

The New York quartet The Drums are perhaps the highest profile exponents of the current trend of American indie bands attempting to re-deploy the sounds and attitudes of the British new-wave era.

Compared to the claustrophobic Antidotes, Foals' second album is a breath of fresh air – as if someone had opened the windows of a hermetically-sealed rehearsal room upon the band's somewhat solipsistic math-rock exercises.

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.

Around about 2008, Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer and MGMT all hit the ground running with a sound that occupied a relatively similar sphere (give or take some different quirks here and there). The first two bands have kicked off 2010 with well-received new records and now it's getting to time for MGMT to re-enter the fray. Thus far, I can't say I've been fully convinced by the Brooklyn duo's brand of Dayglo, hipster-based wide-eyed psych-pop-rock – someone has probably come up with a more succinct label for their sound, but I'm going to ignore it. Perhaps their upcoming new album 'Congratulations' can sway me and other naysayers, when it lands in April. The first song to emerge from it is available as a free download from the band's website, whoismgmt.com. It's called "Flash Delirium", and is a promising opening salvo, full of the aforementioned elements but with more craziness added: shouty vocals, soft rock harmonies, flutes, swirling electronics, horns... Pretty much everything is thrown in there and it's an impressive mess.

On Fight Softly, The Ruby Suns leader Ryan McPhun goes it alone, writing, performing and producing these 10 songs virtually solo.