Thirty Seconds to Mars - MTV Unplugged EP

I have to admit, I'm usually not the biggest fan of rock groups releasing live material to tide fans over to the release of their next album.

The versions of the tracks which fans have spent the last year or so ingraining into their consciousness are usually so close to the original studio takes to be unremarkable, or in the worst case scenario are frankly substandard and unreflective of the band's true quality.

30 Seconds to Mars are experienced in this respect - they've had their hits (their amazing version of Kanye West's Stronger), and their misses (Bad Romance...)

This MTV Unplugged EP lies firmly in the 'hit' camp though. The tracks are largely acoustic, but underscored with a sublime string section that brings out a kind of base, primal emotion in the songs.

Hearing Jared Leto's vocals soar on Hurricane and U2's Where the Streets Have No Name is truly inspiring stuff, a real reminder of the brilliance 30 Seconds To Mars can conjure up when they put their minds to it.

This Is War represented one of the best rock albums of the last few years, and with this EP acting as a kind of fitting epitaph to the era, it lies in the band's hands to deliver an equally fulfilling follow up.

The MTV Unplugged EP is available to download from iTunes now.

The Lancashire Hotpots - Achtung Gravy

You just can't beat the British for their sense of humour - and The Lancashire Hotpots sees that wonderful comic capability in fine health as they deliver their 5th studio album Achtung Gravy.

The art of parody, as simple as it might seem at times, is a very precise thing. Looks pretty easy right? Just throw together a couple of witty reposts and make it slightly relevant to current affairs? The trick is of course finding those crucial ingredients to elicit that key reponse - those deep, rumbling belly laughs that show you've worked your magic yet again.

The Lancashire Hotpots are clear pros - a career this long and illustrious proof of that. At its heart, parody in this format still revolves around good, quality songwriting, and that's here on Achtung Gravy for sure. And to be honest, the band have got me right there - before the first track has even started - with that title.

You can just imagine Bono twitching in frustration at the wryness of it all. As the man himself and his merry group of musicians took to the Pyramid stage at Glasto, the Lancashire Hotpots were simultaneously playing the Croissant Neuf stage. A neat little bit of union if ever there was one.

With their folky charms and endearing Northern accents, I'd dare anyone with a full functioning sense of humour not to at the very least break into a smile at the likes of You Could Get Hit By A Bus Tomorrow.

My personal favourite has to be album opener Mek Us A Brew, an anthem to all things 'oop North', if you will. In a hilarious assault on 'creamy lattes', this track takes on a more Brit-pop inspired sound, harking back to the likes of Wonderstuff or The Charlatans at their most poppy.

The accents, the Lulz; it's all here. You feel like the album has been cooked up in some rural pub; glass of ale in one hand, guitar in the other, rather than being spawned from any traditional recording process - and in this instance, that bears countless dividends.

With The Guardian proclaiming the band 'masters of parody' and a whole heap of other lovely praise surrounding them, Achtung Gravy is the sound of a group riding the wave of success, feet standing steady on the finest of comedy boards. Only in Britain could you have something so cheerily funny as the Lancashire Hotpots, and you can chalk that up as another point on the list of what makes this country so great.

Achtung Gravy is available to download from iTunes now.

Three headliners at Glasto, one true winner...

What can be said about Beyonce's Glastonbury set that hasn't already been said? Sometimes the simplest of descriptions is all that's needed. Simply: WOW.

You need only have looked across Twitter to see the social networking site dissolve in an ecstacy of awe at Beyonce. Pop fans, rock fans, all were united in their appreciation of the veritable Godess that walked out on stage to play to 175,000 people that night. Fan or non-fan, the sheer spectacle of Beyonce's set won everyone over - a unifying feat like no other.

U2's set two nights before was excellent - choc-a-bloc with hits from their best album, Achtung Baby. The sound quality was top-notch and Bono gave an empassioned delivery that served as a firm reminder that the Irish rockers are still very much 'with-it'. It was exactly the kind of performance you expect and hope for from one of the most experienced bands out there.

Likewise, Coldplay were on fine form; like U2, delivering a reassured confident set. All the big hits, a smattering of customary new material - it went down a treat with the crowd, including a certain Jay-Z and Beyonce who we saw cutely dancing away in the pit between the stage and the audience. Even mega-stars need some time to kick back and rock out.

But Beyonce had to be the true winner. As the woman herself pointed out in her intro VT, she was the first solo female to headline the festival's main stage - an achievement that cannot be understated. And just like her partner Jay-Z had done before her, she proved that Glastonbury is not just the domain of 'rock'. Something as immense and all-inclusive as Glastonbury should be a place for performers of all kind, and Beyonce came to hammer that fact home like her life depended on it.

An all-female backing band, impossibly skilled dancers and a jaw-dropping powerhouse vocal from Beyonce herself, emotions were running high as she pulled her set to a close with the tear-jerking Halo. Stepping down from the stage to touch the hand's of the front row, here you saw the very definition of a modern star.

In a set which made every track an event, a 'moment' that you simply couldn't tear your eyes away from, it was this final, towering performance which summed up what a landmark this night stood as. Or put simply, just WOW.

(In a neat little feature for this year, iTunes has put some of the Glasto performances up for download - including the amazing Irreplaceable. Seeing every single one of that crowd shouting 'TO THE LEFT' at the top of their voices was rather special.)