After winning the 2008 Oscar for their music to the film Once, the Czech-Irish duo of Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard (who also starred in the movie) return to the Czech Republic on their new tour, The Swell Season.

And where else to launch the tour - 22 concerts in a dozen countries - than in Prague? The duo will appear at the Lucerna's grand auditorium on February 1, where they will introduce songs from their upcoming album "Strict Joy," to be released on October 26. Tickets

Following Massive Attack's concert last November, another trip-hop ensemble come to Prague this year. On February 5, Britain's Archive will appear at the Lucerna Music Bar. Originallu a duo, the group has transformed into a true collective of creative musicians. Archive's latest album, Controlling Crowds, was released in 2009. Tickets

Five women and four men - all of them Tuaregs from Mali's Timbuktu - make up the ensemble Tartit, which means "union" in the Tuareg language. Although they follow in the footsteps of other Malian musicians such as Tinariwen and Ali Farka Touré, they have their own sound: a calm and hypnotic music, with the women accompanied by their drums and the men playing the lute and guitar.