Animal collective

The trout mask slips: Captain Beefheart’s commercial ambitions revealed...

One bright Sunday morning, MC Taylor is driving through his patch of North Carolina, past New Hope Creek and the Eno River, over the Chatham County Line and the James Taylor Bridge in Chapel Hill, near the Haw River and the valley that he has meditated upon in song these past few years. Through apparently endless forests, Taylor's destination is Saralyn, a kind of hippy settlement just outside of Pittsboro.

An extinct 'water pig' with 'tactile lips' has been named after Mick Jagger. The 19-million-year-old anthracotheres - a species which has been likened to a kind of 'long-legged pig' - was named in honour of The Rolling Stones frontman because of its "tactile lips". Recently discovered in Egypt thanks to the finding of pieces of fossilised jaw, it has been named Jaggermeryx naida, which means 'Jagger's water nymph'.

Who's got the cleanest boots in the rain-sodden, mud-slicked Vale of Avalon this weekend? Kelis, that's who.

Paul McCartney joined Damon Albarn on stage at the Africa Express show in London on Saturday night [September 8]. Appearing as a surprise special guest, the former Beatle first appeared playing bass on Rokia Traore's "Dounia", with former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones on mandolin, before playing Wings' "Coming Up" and "Goodnight Tonight" with the Blur front man, Tony Allen and Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals among others.

From humble ivory-tickler to global sensation - the singer-songwriter's rise chronicled...

We count down from 150 to 101...see our choices here

“It’s hot as a witch's tit in this room,” says Club UNCUT headliner Jesca Hoop. “I’m going to have to retune my guitar real quick… cos it sounds like a witch's tit. So if you’ve ever wondered what a witch's tit sounds like, then this is it.” Today has been the hottest day of the year so far in the capital. Despite the welcoming evening cool outside, temperatures in the newly-refurbished Upstairs At The Garage in north London are unforgivingly high. But in some respects, you couldn’t have wished for a better line-up at Club UNCUT in heat like this.

A lot of records on the playlist this week, I think, probably due to the fact that I’ve kept a note of what we’ve been playing for three full days. I guess the big one here is “Veckatimest”, the new Grizzly Bear album, which we now have a copy of. Incredible record, which I’ll be writing about soon, possibly tomorrow.

Spiritualized, Super Furry Animals and Pentangle all set to headline this weekend