iTunes Live

These iTunes Festival Essentials bring together the best of our 2007 events held in London and Berlin, as well as the cutting-edge London Sessions from early 2008, into one vital virtual gig featuring some of the world's most exciting and worship-worthy artists. The great Paul McCartney gets things moving at Mach-speed with an age-defying rendition of "Jet" that would leave Alan Partridge breathless, while Amy Winehouse pours her incredible, golden vocal over "Love Is a Losing Game". West Coast rebels join a local soul girl in Next Steps.

Never mind the quality (that, dear listener, is assured) — just feel the variety, as we continue to stack up our iTunes Festival vaults with the homegrown soul of Beverley Knight, throwing the kitchen sink and more besides into Janis Joplin's signature track, "Piece of My Heart"; the funky pop-rap of Just Jack, who warns about the dangers of production-line celebrity on "Starz In Their Eyes"; and the California garage rock of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ("Weapon of Choice"). Let's hear it for the next big things, in Deep Cuts.

iTunes Festival has helped introduce the world to a select crew of breakouts and bubbling-under bands, and you'll find some of them here alongside established artists, like Ash (ripping through "Burn Baby Burn" with a vengeance). Bournemouth's Air Traffic turns on the afterburners for a sky-scraping performance of "Shooting Star", with frontman Chris Wall in stunning form, while Yorkshire's Tiny Dancers pour their hearts into "Hannah, We Know".

We figured there's no better way to celebrate great artists, and promote new voices, than with a festival: so, over the past couple of years, in both London and Berlin (as well as store gigs in New York and Tokyo), iTunes has invited a select group of musicians to venues like the Institute of Contemporary Arts and Air Studios to give it their all in front of intimate (and wildly appreciative) audiences. These tracks represent the cream of those performances to date: an eclectic one-stop selection where you can find Katie Melua mulling over sweet misery, Kasabian sampling what sounds like a tardis, and Nick Cave filling the distance between San Francisco and outer space.