Here's a short, personal anecdote. Your reporter was spending a pleasant Sunday afternoon wandering the Glastonbury site (very slowly, of course), when he decided it was time for some sustenance. Perching at a stall just by the side of The Other Stage, there was an interminable wait for what you'd think was a pretty basic item of food to produce. I admit, it was a sausage baguette - I'm not proud - but it seemed to take eons to arrive. During the wait, the most beautiful music imaginable floated across from the Jazz World Stage. A strange combination of emotional, almost operatic vocals and bizarre Mexican mariachi-style trumpets, it was utterly beguiling, so I sloshed over to the stage once my grub had turned up.

Fumbling for my Q programme, I discovered it was none other than Beirut - much applauded, but not given any airing at my house. The brainchild of Santa Fe's Zach Condon, Beirut's first recordings were two albums inspired by Balkan music, Gulag Orkestar and Lon Gisland, released in 2006. Relentless touring caused Condon to be hospitalised for exhaustion late last year, but Beirut are back with a new album in September, The Flying Club Cup, on the legendary 4AD label.

See the video for Elephant Gun here:

Did you see any great acts at Glastonbury, purely by chance? What did you stumble across? Let us know.

More info:
www.beirutband.com