KATY PERRY
Super Bowl Halftime Show  (2/5)
This year's Super Bowl half-time extravaganza had it all: robot lions, dancing sharks, midgets dressed as beach balls, and, according to a bunch of conspiracy sites I chanced upon, a whole mess of hidden Illuminati symbolism. Normally, I dismiss those conspiracy theorists as paranoid cranks. But when you consider Katy Perry has been one of music's biggest stars for the better part of a decade now, the idea of a secret cabal manipulating world events for its own nefarious amusement suddenly doesn't seem so far-fetched after all.

COURTNEY BARNETT
Pedestrian at Best (3/5)
Milk Records
"Put me on a pedestal and I'll only disappoint you . . ." In an industry dominated by ruth- less ambition, there's something refreshingly half-assed about Courtney Barnett. She's like a female Lebowski, her mumbled vocals, always dawdling half a yard behind the beat. Even her debut CD title, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, is a sloppy misquotation from Winnie The Pooh. She plays Whelan's on April 4th.

TOBIAS JESSO JR
How Could You Babe (5/5) 
True Panther  
If you've ever had your heart broken, well, you're in luck. This song is so sad a person could curl up and live inside it for a week. It's the latest offering from Jesso, whose debut album Goon is due on March 16th. And it might just be his most gorgeous to date. He plays the Unitarian Church in Dublin on May 10th.

JAPE
Seance of Light (4/5)
Faction Records
Director Dave Tynan says this new video from Jape's The Chemical Sea album was inspired by a short story by Dave Rudden. Although the premise, about a guy sitting for a job interview while off his head on drugs, surely also owes a debt to Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting. Either way, it's an amusing showcase for arguably the album's strongest track.