Bicornes. Love them or hate them, they’re everywhere this week. Whether you like it fore-and-aft à la the Duke of Wellington, or prefer Napoleon’s sideways style, with plume or without, cockaded or cocked up, there’s something for everyone. A bicorne is, essentially, an old hat. This introduction is, essentially, annoying and obstruse, but old hattage is what I’ve got for you in this bundle of the sublime and the ridiculous.

MIA: Paper Planes *****

Obviously, o discerning reader, you have had this song ever since Kala came out sodding ages ago. Discreetly tucked away towards the end of a bewilderingly brilliant album, ‘Paper Planes’ has been screaming out to be a single. But over a year on? There are only two reasons for this; to justifiably top end-of-year polls of the tunes of 2008, or to give us amazing remixes. This release is awash with them and they’re great fun, a godsend to uninspired indie DJs. But it’s hard to top the original; besides its flippantly political lyrics, devastatingly simple structure and ace sampling, the tremolo in the background instantly transports you to a place of otherworldly calm and sunshine. This deserves to be number one everywhere, for ever, but top 5 in the US ain’t bad for starters.

Kooks: Sway *

I saw these guys supporting The Thrills in 2004 and thought I quite liked Luke Pritchard’s voice. But then, von Papen thought it would be quite a good idea to make Hitler Chancellor of Germany in 1933. You can’t blame this song for sounding like The Kooks in general, so I’ll leave aside the turgid, lumpen production and troglodyte rhythms. But when it sounds exactly like the Kooks’ previous song ‘I Want You’ with the chorus chopped off and the ‘edgier’ elements removed, you have to start wondering if capital punishment isn’t such a bad idea after all.

Ting Tings: Be The One **

She can’t sing, their name is execrable, their album at once forgettable and unforgiveable. But Ting Tings are genuinely a great singles band. ‘That’s Not My Name’ sounded cheap and nasty but its nagging riff, ballsy hook and bubblegum-pop coda were far better than this band had any right to be. ‘Great DJ’ and ‘Fruit Machine’ had similar character. ‘Be The One’, however, seems to fly in the face of everything they had going for them. Where their earlier hits were crude, tinny, and impossibly catchy, this single is pleasant, melodious and totally non-descript. Its synthetic chimes are all warm and fuzzy; her voice is borderline pretty, but the spark is missing. If they survive to a second album, this unlikeable band might just combine their assets and come up with a classic. This is not it.

CSS: Move ****

The first record was savage, scruffy, superb. The second is slick, shiny, so-so. But the singles are incredible. CSS’ main asset, like The Concretes before Victoria Bergsman left, is that about three-quarters of the world would give anything to sleep with Lovefoxxx’s voice. ‘Move’ is the greatest aerobics soundtrack ever to come out of Brasil, mixing faux-naïve lyricism with a propulsive beat and languorous chorus. It sounds like a really nice shade of yellow. Metronomy’s remix on iTunes seems to be an entirely different song; Cut Copy’s is a sleazier, heavier affair that would be perfect to drive around London to at night. In a sped-up, neon-blur style video. CSS’ own track is the one to actually dance to.

MGMT: Kids ****

Like both the other ‘good’ songs out this week, this is a hat you should have been wearing for months now. It even surfaced in a demo version on the ‘Time To Pretend’ EP, undeniably their best release to date. The only conceivable reason to release this now is to offer us a radio edit that cuts out about a minute of this over-long, throbbing masterpiece. The Soulwax remix is a train wreck; the Train Wreck remix is downright lousy, and the single prunes just thirty seconds off the album version. But I still have to give it four stars because its juicy synth riff and elongated eee sounds are clearly the sound of evil happy genius.

Snow Patrol: Take Back The City **

Snow Patrol are clearly really really nice people and do not deserve the punishment meted out to the like of Kooks. And there is nothing wrong with good honest Scottish/Irish pub indie. Unless it’s Malcolm Middleton. This is, at any rate, a lot better than Malcolm Middleton, though it never threatens to hit the song-writing highs of early breakthroughs ‘Run’ and ‘Spitting Games’. The first line of the verse sounds exactly like something else and it’s driving me crazy but I can’t remember what. So I’ll let them off. It’s also the best thing about the song. The pre-chorus is picked out by focused stabs of slightly dirty guitars, and the chorus is distinguished by the drawn out syllables and close harmonies. But neither leap out at you, leaving the opening line of each verse as close to a defining hook as this song gets. Uninspired.

Top Of The Ox: local tune of the week.

This modern, danceable music is all very well. But what about when the party’s over and the red wine won’t come out of your shirt and it’s cold and damp and your cat just got run over? What good will electro-pop be to your broken heart then? None, that’s what. At such times, you need to fall back on some guy with a guitar. Enter Ross Cole, an Oxford music student with a voice like single malt whiskey and a finger-picking style with a touch of Bert Jansch about it. This Wadstock regular has a new EP, featuring his signature song, ‘Midnight Graffiti’. It rips off early Tom McRae and consists of Cole misanthropically grumbling about the state of young people these days whilst occasionally dropping in an irresistible ‘60s lick. It is an absolutely brilliant, meandering tune with a menacing, bluesy verse and a lilting major-key chorus and as usual you can get it here.

Send your suggestions for tune of the week to oskar.coxjensen[at]chch.ox.ac.uk.

Aldate is wondering when “nougth” week ends…

Can any OxStu types shed any light?

Summer’s over kids.

Aldate will unstaple the first issues tomorrow.

It’s done. Join me next Wednesday at 2am for the third, and final, presidential debate.

3.37am | In summary – All in all a not very dramatic debate. Both candidates gave reasonably strong performances and, whilst McCain shaking hands with the veteran provided a strong visual, there weren’t really any standout or break through moments. There was certainly no gamechanger.

Based on the outcome of the first debate, I wouldn’t be surprised if this one goes to Obama again in the snap polls and focus groups. He once again passed the commander-in-chief, ready from day one test, which, given his polling lead, was all he needed to do.

3.30am | Final question – The question is “what don’t you know, and how would you learn it.” Obama turns to his biography and talks about unanticipated challenges and the need for a new direction. McCain also turns to his personal narrative and says the country needs a “steady hand at the tiller.” I don’t know if it was a verbal slip, but McCain also says he will “rescue his record.”

3.25am | Israel – A good question this. If Iran attacked Israel, would the US wait for the UN Security Council before sending troops. McCain says he wouldn’t wait, but not before he thanks the member of the audience the question is from for their military service and shakes their hand.

Obama is slightly more balanced – he talks about avoiding the situation but admits that he wouldn’t want the UN to have a veto over the ability of the US to intervene.

3.19am | Russia – This is basically the latter part of the first debate on a loop at the moment. The candidates have moved onto Russia and McCain repeats his ‘I’ve looked into Putin’s eyes and seen KGB’ line.

3.09am | Pakistan – McCain has named both Ronald Regan and now Teddy Roosevelt as his personal heroes tonight. Meanwhile, both candidates are reiterating their positions on warning Pakistan in the event of operations across the border from Afghanistan.

Obama turns a McCain (really Teddy Roosevelt) line about talking softly but carrying a big stick into a hit over the “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” gaffe. McCain has to explain that he was “joking with a veteran.”

3.04am | Military intervention and genocide – Senator Obama talks about moral obligations: would you have standed by if you could stop the Holocaust, he asks. He also notes that the US has to work with her allies; American troops can’t be everywhere at once.

McCain has, I think, somewhat misjudged the tone of answering this one. He hits Obama on setting a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq straight away.

3.00am | The economy and military standing – How can America play an international peace-making role? McCain: “America is the greatest force for good in the history of the world.” He plays on his military past and judgement on foreign policy. This is real McCain territory and he’s answering well. He sounds less like a grumpy old man, and more emotionally resonant in this section.

Obama turns again to his, now traditional, judgement argument: “Senator McCain was cheerleading the President on going into Iraq.”

2.55am | Healthcare choice – Both candidates repeat the relevant portions of their stump speeches, livened only by McCain’s dig at hair transplants (aka. Senator Biden).

McCain says healthcare is a responsibility, not a right or privilege. Obama, by contrast, says it is a right and he mentions his mother dying of cancer in a hospital bed at 53 while arguing with insurance firms. It’s the first anecdote in a wave of policy detail, and one that might well connect with voters.

2.49am | Minutiae – This is getting increasingly bogged down in relatively minute back-and-forths between the two candidates, I can imagine a lot of people beginning to switch off. The losers here are the voters, but Obama is also not complaining. So far McCain hasn’t produced one of the gamechanging moments he needs.

In the meantime, McCain just called Obama “that one.” Perhaps not the best comment for someone looking to appear more respectful than he did in the first debate.

2.43am | Environmental issues – McCain repeats his support for nuclear power. Generally, so far both candidates have seemed pretty authoritative. No big moments so far, but strong performances from both. If anything, the answers have all been just a bit dull.

2.36am | Tax raises – Talking of past presidents, McCain brings up Herbert Hoover, ‘the last President to raise taxes during a time of economic crisis.’ Obama’s tax proposals are like jello – that there have been at least six but that the essence is that the Illinois senator would raise taxes.

2.28am | What can you do for your country – The question, from the internet, asks what sacrifices each American will have to make. McCain talks again about eliminating agencies that aren’t working. He mentioned a federal spending freeze in the last debate and he does that again here; he’s certainly staking out his Reagan-small government principles.

Senator McCain also hits back, pretty effectively, on Obama’s failure to say he can’t do all three of the priorities just listed at once. Tell that to the person desperate for health care, he says.

Obama brings up 9/11 and the country coming together, and then turns to fuel-efficiency sacrifices. He’s also looking to involve young people – he promises to encourage volunteering and to double the Peace Corps. If McCain is laying claim to Reagan’s legacy, Obama’s turning to JFK.

2.24am | One for me, one for you – Tom Brokaw the moderator gets to ask a question in between each audience question. He asks the candidates which order they place healthcare, energy and social security (entitlement reform) in. McCain refuses to prioritise and says he’ll do all three at once. Ronald Reagan gets a shout out again, so too does Teddy Kennedy – he’s bipartisan don’t you know.

Obama mentions the local price of petrol though it’s pretty obvious he doesn’t buy gas in Nashville so not sure quite how genuine that ‘man of the people’ remark really seems. Obama lists his priorities as energy, healthcare, education and then hits back at McCain on earmarks.

2.19am | Trust – The question is about how either candidate can be trusted when both parties are to blame for the economic situation.

Obama avoids his typical bi-partisan themes. He points out that Bush inherited a surplus and left a deficit and that McCain voted for 4 of 5 Bush budgets.

So far both candidates are criticising each other regularly but the format doesn’t quite allow them to engage with each other directly. they’re too busy speaking to the audience members. Not to hark on about this, but it’s somewhat disconcerting.

McCain’s up now, he’s pushing his bi-partisan credentials. However, he’s also turning to Obama’s excessive earmark spending. It’s an odd one to return to. Many voters get that $3m here and there doesn’t really matter in relation to a $700 billion deal, and pundits suggested that the earmark speech by McCain didn’t really work in the first debate.

2.11am | That Bailout – How will that bailout help real America? McCain notes that it’s hurting Main Street, but turns the question to Obama’s earlier support for Fannie and Freddie. Style-wise McCain continues to keep this very personal. He’s directly addressing the man who asked the question.

Obama follows suit, addressing ‘Oliver’ by his first name. They’re both putting in hits on each other, but it’s all remaining pretty cordial thus far. Obama seeks to correct McCain’s statements on his ties to Fannie and Freddie. McCain thinks American workers are great.

2.09am | Next Treasury Secretary – Both are asked who they’d name to succeed Henry Paulson. McCain opens with a joke “not you Tom”, and names Warren Buffet (who has supported Obama) and the former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Obama says Buffet might be a good choice, but moves on to his standard themes – pushing for a middle class tax cut etc.

2.04am | Economic crisis – Obama’s up first. He calls it the “worst financial crisis since the first depression.” McCain was criticised for not looking at Obama last time, he’s already done that. McCain is addressing his answer directly to individual audience members, he’s standing very close to the crowd.

This format really is very odd. The two candidates are free to roam in front of a small audience which surrounds, or rather is on, three sides of the stage.

2.02am | We’re underway – Tom Brokaw is hosting, and he’s introducing the rules. The questions are from 100 local voters covering a range of topics.

And here are the candidates, perched somewhat awkwardly on stools.

1.58am | Introduction – Better late than never, the second Presidential Debate is about to start in Tennessee so join me for live analysis as the liveblogging begins.

You can follow the debate live at cnn.com.