In May, gig promoters Hidden Fruit hailed a London taxi, bundled singer-songwriter Johnny Flynn into it and filmed him playing a song as they cruised around town. Thus, the Black Cab Sessions were born (youtube.com/JustSoFilms). Since that first episode, two good things have happened: our enthusiastic host has stopped clapping along to the music, and the calibre of the acts joining her for a ride has steadily improved. Episode six offered a spirited performance from US indie icon Daniel Johnston, while the eighth episode found gravel-voiced alt-country dude Bill Callahan singing a typically tragic lament as Chalk Farm flashed by. The latest episodes, posted last week, feature Vincent Vincent and the Villains belting out a tune near the Tower of London, and rising US songstress St Vincent breaking new ground by cramming an electric guitar and amp into her Hackney carriage. Long may these endearingly intimate and pleasingly surreal sessions continue.

If you prefer your live performances without the risk of motion sickness and the constant background chug of an engine, check out the Spanking New Sessions on MTV's website (mtv.co.uk/sessions). Every Monday since mid-July, they've posted a three-song acoustic set by an upcoming act, ranging from a creditable attempt at unplugged rap by teen grime star Tinchy Stryder to the jaunty Blockheads-inspired scamp-rock of the Metros, and the puzzlingly popular MOR crooning of Newton Faulkner. The quality of the bands varies enormously, but all of them are enjoying some degree of hype, so the sessions provide a handy weekly opportunity to keep your finger on the pulse. MTV's site is also the one place you can watch Britney's disastrous VM awards performance online. It's so appalling it actually makes you feel a bit sad.

Having created mtv.co.uk/sessions in February 2002, New Yorker Matthew Perpetua is widely regarded as a founding father of MP3 blogging. Half a decade later, his blog is still among the best for literate, entertaining and easily penetrable musings about tunes from both sides of the Atlantic (he's recently shown infectious enthusiasm for Girls Aloud and Kate Nash). But being a blogging legend doesn't mean you'll be lucky in love. In an unusually personal post last Friday, Perpetua explained that he'd just arrived home from a night out in Brooklyn where he'd met "this really awesome girl". Sadly, despite chatting at length, they didn't swap numbers. Perpetua's long-shot plea for her to get in contact was accompanied by the MP3 of Tristesse/Joie by Yelle, an appropriately heart-broken slice of French electro-pop. As we went to press, there was still no word on whether she'd been in touch. Regular readers of Perpetua will be keeping their fingers crossed.

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2173136,00.html