The Songlines Encounters festival is in its eighth year, and opened its doors on Thursday night at Kings Place in London with 3MA, (TroisMa in French), comprising Malian kora player Ballake Sissoko, Moroccan oud player Driss El Maloumi and Madagascan valihah player (that’s a member of the zither family) Rajery.

BBC Four is the TV music equivalent of those oldsters music mags like Q and Mojo. Have there been five, or is it six, documentaries about Queen on the channel?

Here to be Heard, made by US film-maker and punk rocker William E Badgley, has such a juicy, pertinent story to tell that it never palls. Over 84 minutes, contemporary interviews and old footage build a two act drama that reveals The Slits to be one of the most underrated bands of their era.

African Scream Contest 2 opens with a burst of distorted guitar suggesting a parallel-world response to The Chambers Brothers’ “Time Has Come Today”. Then, the song beds in and a James Brown groove plays off against spindly lead-guitar lines also evoking California in the psychedelic era: the extemporisation of Jefferson Airplane. At 3.06, the vocalist and percussionist are left to get on with it for 30 seconds. Next, a wheezy organ comes to the fore and injects some “Light my Fire” vamps.

There have been reports that as many as 50% of vinyl-buyers don’t actually listen to it. They keep records as a token of affection for the artist in question. This seems curious but, then again, most young people don’t own turntables and the idea is anathema to the way they consume music. However, while there’s a healthy market in reissues and older artists, the most cutting edge music imaginable is appearing on plastic. Check out our Vinyl of the Month! All musical life is reviewed below.

The death of “world music” is a wonderfully reassuring thing. That is to say, with every year that passes, it becomes less and less possible for media and consumers to bracket together music from outside the US and Europe as a single thing, and easier and easier for us to understand specific talents and currents within global culture for what they are. Obviously the fact I need to even say this means there's a good way to go. But talents like Baloji, the Congolese-born, Belgian-raised singer-songwriter, are blasting away the simplistic distinctions.

Is it fair to say that Seun Kuti’s fourth album is just more of the same? I believe it is, because more of the same is more or less the point with protest music, particularly if what you’re protesting hasn’t gone away. You have no choice but to keep singing that same tune (sometimes literally).

What is music? When pondering archive releases, compilations and reissues the question doesn’t come up. Knowledge of context and history means there’s never a need to muse on this fundamental issue. A package, say, dedicated to Northern Soul says what it is and the prime considerations are how well it has been executed and defining its place in the relevant narrative. The same applies to anything previously covered in this column.

A little over two years ago, The Arts Desk reviewed Hipnotik Tradisi, Black Merlin’s extraordinary first offering for Island of the Gods’ Island Explorer series. The idea is simple. Take an artist, invite them to Bali, let them soak up (and, crucially, record) the sounds, and see what happens when they process the results in a studio setting. As a business model for commercial growth, it’s unlikely to win The Apprentice, but as a clarion call to auteurs, it’s almost irresistible.

Texan trio Khruangbin are a rare concoction, psychedelic rockers, for sure, but seamed with all manner of global influences, notably Thai pop but also running the gamut from Latin sounds to Middle Eastern scaling. Hitting the UK in support of their second album, Con Todo El Mundo, they initially presented an aloof front, which was compromised briefly by a minor technical glitch.

This didn’t distract from the band’s striking retro-future aesthetic, especially bassist-singer Laura Lee, who wore a chic white leotard and red thigh-high boots like a supersonic empress from a kitsch old sci-fi film. The matching long black fringes of the two guitarists were also notably distinctive. The band’s overall look is glossy, yet not impersonal; guitarist Mark Speer wore a grey suit with white cowboy boots, undoubtedly a homage to his and the band’s Texan roots. A spirited crowd member shouted, “I love your shoes, man!”

It was interesting how, despite being a mostly instrumental band, the audience still sang along to the riffs. Khruangbin’s music manages to be very catchy without ever over-egging things. Songs such as “August Twelve” seemed to lull the audience into a low hum of accompaniment, the syncopation making the melodies even more charming and unique. “White Gloves”, their most popular track, and one of the few with lyrics, was serene and beautiful. I was struck by the playfulness of the band’s stage presence, adding a sense of flair with occasional teasing hip movements, or summoning each other across the stage with music.

“Evan Finds the Third Room”, from the new album, offered an unusual atmosphere, as the band play with lyrical form to create a captivating call-and-response between the two “not-vocalist” vocalists, bringing a gospel influence to light. There was a spoken word section which was particularly striking and funky. Laura Lee seemed a cold presence at first, but eventually her cold sheen dwindled, and she was smiling with the crowd. Apparently their first gig was in Bristol three years ago, when they released their first album, The Universe Smiles Upon You. Mark Speer toasted the crowd with a beer and agreed, “and it certainly does, Bristol”.

Khruangbin are born from all sorts of strange underground influences and offer a refreshing, unlaboured step out of the ordinary. Their effortless yet glossy stage presence seems likely to mean good things for the band’s future. They have already seen a dramatic rise in popularity over the past few months. Lurking beyond any definitive genre, they’re a tight instrumental unit, with memorable melodies, and the occasional glimmer of fearless and forward-thinking funk that, by the end of the night, left this capacity crowd sated.

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Overleaf: watch 54 minute Khruangbin Boiler Room live set