Staff Benda Bilili, Colston Hall, 20 May 11

This is a bit of a Goldilocks story. The first time I saw this band was in a club - too small. The next time I saw them it was on the Open Air stage at Womad - too big. Today I saw them at a medium-sized concert hall - just right, and SBB really are getting better all the time. When the band first burst upon the world music scene, some oh-so-cool critics said that beneath the gimmickry, SBB were just an average rumba outfit, but that is very far from the truth. For a start, theirs is one of the best rhythm sections of any band I've heard in ages. They sing sweetly and their songs are memorable. Their stage presence is obviously remarkable, and when they do some of their hell-for-leather rocking-out numbers, their music is nothing short of transcendental. The sticking point for many is the sound of the satonge - you either love it or hate it - but it doesn't dominate and was played quite sparingly tonight. SBB played a long set with a generous encore, and a packed Colston Hall loved 'em.

The support was excellent - Malian diva Fatoumata Diawara, who did a solo set of beautifully measured songs accompanied by her lovely guitar-playing. She reminded me very much of Nahawa Doumbia, and I can't think of a better recommendation than that.

Last Days of the Arctic: Capturing the Faces of the North

What a night on BBC4 - Noggin the Nog, early Doctor Who, Julia Bradbury striding along the Birmingham to Worcester canal in the rain and...best of all....photographer Ragnar Axelsson's utterly beautiful images flickering across my screen. Axelsson's documentary is a meditation on disappearing lifestyles and changing landscapes. His photos are truly extraordinary. Intensely Biblical faces appear at the corners of bleak snowscapes, their skin like fissured bark on ancient trees. They all look proud and sad and old, looking beyond the camera; seemingly focussed, like the lens that returns their gaze, on infinity.

With a backdrop of shimmering music that perfectly suits the austerity of icy landscapes, this film follows hunters in Greenland, documents the violence of Icelandic volcanoes, records the memories and fears of aged men in a changing world. As Axelsson concludes, whatever happens to Nature in this place, it will always present an immense challenge to the people who share in its resources.

Do yourself a favour and watch this magnificent film.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0110ghk