Patrick Wolf is often tipped as an alternative musician who is destined to break into the mainstream. That he has not yet actually done so is a blessing, as it means he can spend his time making intense and extraordinary music, rather than having to promote himself on telly.

Superficially, Wolf has much in common with Mika, the new pop sensation sweeping the British charts with his single "Grace Kelly". [...]

Girls Aloud are Britain's biggest pop sensation - so, naturally, they're all the rage in Westminster. John Reid, the Home Secretary, was recently pictured with them on the front page of the Mirror, having rushed over to declare his love at the newspaper's Pride of Britain Awards. (A member of Reid's entourage later asked for an autograph on his behalf.) David Cameron, in his down-with-the-kids interview for Radio 1, was [...]

Popular music has always walked hand in hand with the seven deadly sins, and the current crop of drug-guzzling stars is no exception. But while Mike Skinner and Pete Doherty headed to the Priory and wrote boring songs about it, Amy Winehouse didn't get past the check-in desk.

This may have been unwise mentally, but musically it was a canny move, as it's provided her with one of the least [...]

OutKast is that rare thing in the arts: an experimental act that outsells most of its mainstream contemporaries. With their flamboyant costumes, avant-garde musical explorations and falsetto vocals, the Atlanta duo make unlikely poster boys for the macho hip-hop culture of the American South - yet that's the position granted them by 20 million record sales. Big Boi and André 3000, as they like to be known, certainly do not [...]