CD: Muse - Drones

CD: MUSE – DRONES Muse return to a more familiar landscape – a paranoid dystopian nightmare

Muse return to a more familiar landscape – a paranoid dystopian nightmare

Almost a decade ago, I went to a disappointing festival in Holland. Driven to distraction by the crowd – a sixth-form disco stuck between the third and fourth circles of Dante's inferno – I, on the advice of a friend, went to see Muse. Their theatrical pomp and overblown, muscular attack took the top of my head off and replaced my brain with a great big lump of wallop.

Sticky Fingers: unzipped

STICKY FINGERS: UNZIPPED Reissue with live tracks captures the Rolling Stones at their peak

Reissue with live tracks captures the Rolling Stones at their peak

Sticky Fingers is the Stones’ defining album, a record that preserves the band in all its ragged, outlaw rock'n'roll glory. It captured them, too, between worlds of their own making, as the exploratory Sixties solidified into the excessive Seventies, Mick Jagger turned left into the first-class jet-set life, and Keith Richards turned the other way, into an image-defining drug addiction, scoring his mythos as permanently as a prison tattoo. Some things never fade away.

Danny Collins

Al Pacino returns in irresistibly barnstorming form

Al Pacino gives it his barnstorming all as Danny Collins, an ageing, coke-rattled rocker who calls it quits in order to reconnect with his family and recharge his life. Sentimental (but not brazenly so) and buttressed by an ace supporting cast, the film finds Pacino hurtling through his 70s in irresistibly energiser bunny mode. Whereas such contemporaries as Gene Hackman and Jack Nicholson have pretty well faded from view, there's plenty of life in this celluloid mainstay yet.   

Mark Knopfler, O2 Arena

MARK KNOPFLER, O2 ARENA Prolific craftsman gives a tantalising reminder of his former self

Prolific musical craftsman gives a tantalising reminder of his former self

For many, Mark Knopfler will forever evoke a golden age of Eighties' soft rock. His headband might have been easy to mock but his blistering, finger-picking was undeniably thrilling. Latterly, though, Knopfler has travelled a less commercial path. Still, while his folk tendencies may not be everybody’s cup of tea, there's certainly more to Knopfler than just melancholy ballads. For much of last night he treated the O2 to tantalising glimpses of his former, more rocking, self.

Super Furry Animals, O2 Brixton Academy

SUPER FURRY ANIMALS, O2 BRIXTON ACADEMY The most inventive band in pop pick up where they left off for an emotional return

The most inventive band in pop pick up where they left off for an emotional return

The timing of this tour, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their self-released, lo-fi masterpiece Mwng, could not be more fitting. The album was inspired, in part, by Welsh language punk band Datblygu, and the left-wing political feelings that ran through that band’s work. Fast forward to now and London looks like an island of red surrounded by a sea of blue following the recent election – and there are a lot of people here aching for escape after Thursday's events.

CD: Mumford and Sons - Wilder Mind

Former hipster-folkies find their niche in AOR

Mumford and Sons, world conquering as they are, still fall victim to various accusations. Some, for instance, loathe their blandness. Others detect a whiff of smug middle class about them. Perhaps a more interesting observation, though, is how the band takes an intimate, personal musical form – folk – and turns it into something anthemic. Well, not any more. There’s nothing folk about Wilder Mind. Not a single banjo.

CD: Django Django – Born Under Saturn

CD: DJANGO DJANGO – BORN UNDER SATURN The Scottish band strike gold with a move towards the dancefloor

The Scottish band strike gold with a move towards the dancefloor

So, what I’m probably supposed to do when reviewing Django Django’s new album, Born Under Saturn, is mention the sleeper-hit success of their 2012 self-titled debut. I’m then definitely supposed to do a funny and find some suitable similes before summing up with something pithy and sage. The trouble is, I’m stuck here grinning like an idiot while thoughts flit in and out without ever finding room to land. Melodies can do that to you – stop you thinking and drag you into the moment, where meaningful reflection is all but impossible.

Tales From the Tour Bus: Rock 'n' Roll on the Road, BBC Four

TALES FROM THE TOUR BUS: ROCK 'N' ROLL ON THE ROAD, BBC FOUR A tale of bands in vans that, for the most part, stuck to familiar routes

A tale of bands in vans that, for the most part, stuck to familiar routes

This latest Friday night vehicle for archive footage and pop performances was the tour bus, as BBC4 invited us to hop into the back of the van for a quick spin through the "golden age" of touring rock bands (which the producers clearly felt ended with the Eighties).

CD: Blur - The Magic Whip

CD: BLUR – THE MAGIC WHIP Their eighth album - and first in over a decade - could be one of their best

Their eighth album - and first in over a decade - could be one of their best

Few would have predicted it back when they were gooning around in over-tight Adidas t-shirts, but with the benefit of hindsight it makes sense that Blur should have the most convincing longevity of the Britpop generation. Why? Because more than any of their contemporaries, and despite all the personality clashes and narcotic breakdowns, they were genuinely a band. Yes, Damon Albarn was the leader, but he never eclipsed the other three in the way that Jarvis or the Gallaghers did.