Wonder returned to the NIA, where he kicked off the tour last month, and turned in another remarkable two-and-half hour show.

As his band gathered around him front of stage before the final number, "As," the 58-year-old was cracking jokes and giggling like a "litte nappy headed boy."

A few gems for you this edition, the show kicks off with a classic piece of psychedelic garage rock from Betty & The Id, followed by a brand new track from Mayday. We have an exclusive track from Silent Space, and news of Sunset Cinema Club's impending album release. Enjoy!!!

The gig is totally free, so even in these hard times of the credit crunch you can get your hearing damaged with a clear conscience.

Miss Halliwell have been wowing me for some time now and their most recent release 'Pre-dateoralbum Launch Party' has cemented their place as a true Brumcast favourite. Seriously get your hands on a copy today!!! it will appeal in particular to fans of 'The Fall', indeed the legendary Mark E Smith himself was so impressed with Miss Halliwell that he asked them to support The Fall when they played at the Barfly last year. Support comes from The Clouds and The Mallory Heart so I won't be an evening for the faint hearted!

If you want to hear some of Miss Halliwell's music and videos online (and I urge you to do so!) go to this page See also The Mallory Heart and The Clouds

Oh and BTW a new Brumcast Lite will be coming to these pages soon!

This week we're funking it up with Munchbreak, going shopping with Miss Halliwell, rewiring kids toys with Modified Toy Orchestra, and have been provided with a mighty finish from Brummy experimental post-rockers Old School Tie.

Enjoy!

The Flapper and Firkin (formerly the Longboat) has seen thousands of tiny, sweaty, gigs over the years. It's one of the few places in Birmingham that a new band might be able to get on the bill, supporting a band that are on a national tour. Much needed practise, exposure, and ultimately culture for the city. After the loss of the similar venue The Jug of Ale earlier this year, it might be one blow too many for the local music scene to cope with.

I'm not anti-regeneration, I accept that on the whole the new buildings and facilities in Birmingham over the last ten years have been a good thing. But. If we remove the good stuff along with sweeping away the bad, we will become a souless city.

I've been to a few of their events previously and always find them to be enormously stimulating, not least because of the cast lists they assemble. There can be few places where your dining companions include a professional poker player, a young female Church of England Vicar, a National Lottery Commissioner, a whistle-blower on Ken Livingstone's administration, and a Scottish Chieftain. Oh, and Trevor Philips as the after-dinner speaker.

In trying to define what it meant to be British, all the usual hackneyed definitions were wheeled out by conference delegates: "if you can explain the rules of cricket and sing Jerusalem, you must be British" being my perennial favourite. Well forgive me, but being brought up in Scotland, neither cricket nor 'England's green and pleasant land' was high on the curriculum choices at my school.

It's normal for people who write about illegal downloading to give all sorts of reasons why the record companies are out of touch, out of time, monolithic and wrong, to say that piracy actually results in more sales not less ­ and then say that, of course, they buy all their music legally from iTunes. I won't, I'll admit that sometimes I've download albums, the odd TV or radio show and once ­ because I was absolutely desperate to watch a film involving penguins yet to reach the UK - a whole film. The film took ages and wasn't worth it, it was obviously recorded on a camcorder, the colours were washed out and someone went out for a wee right during a crucial squawk.

So this week I was expecting to be notified of the first of my "three strikes", with a kindly letter reminding me of the illegality of downloading, advice to keep my wifi connection secure and informing me that Feargal Sharkey was on to us.

Well, they've done a grand job those Guide guys at The Guardian and Observer. In the democratic and freethinking spirit that typifies the brave and wonderful world that is blogging and the internet, not to mention the sheer untrammelled niceness that is the hallmark of the Post, I recommend that you go to http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk and search out the Guitar Guide.

Full of great stuff and they've done a good job of trying to include some female players - not easy in a world where the instrument has unfortunate and obvious phallic overtones.

Well, if those greying, middle class, lefty types on The Guardian and The Observer can do it, we greying, middle class lefty types here on The Birmingham Post can do it too.

Tomorrow (that's May 10, 2008 for all digital librarians filing this for future generations when it will be sought out by millions, obviously) and on Sunday, the London-based newspapers are publishing a guide to playing guitar. I don't know what it will be, but it's billed as for absolute beginners and more advanced players. They've previewed it online today with a bit of pointless nonsense about air guitar.

There has now been over 90 shows put together and the response that I have received has been very positive. The charming folks at the Birmingham Post have asked me to put together a show for their new blogs to air the voice of the underground further which I 'm only too pleased to do.

I've been looking at pop record openings as part of another project and thought it would make one of those annoying/fascinating listy things for our little corner of the blogosphere.

Plaistow Patricia is the title of the Dury song which has the most arresting intro I can think of. It's just a series of very strong Anglo Saxon words if you can recall it. If you can't, it's worth seeking out on the iTunes explicit list, as is anything else by the Blockhead-in-chief of blessed memory.