Entertainment

John Ruskin (8 February 1819 – 20 January 1900) was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He even wrote a fairy tale. He loved to express the connection between nature, art and society. In the course of his deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his ideal society. Ruskin first came to widespread attention in defence of the work of J. M. W. Turner in which...

Jack Peat reviews the refined and polished Charlie Simpson at the Roundhouse.  Charlie Simpson is a physical embodiment of the journey all young musicians embark on, yet his tremendous success has resulted in his particular journey being very much in the public eye. There are very few teenage bands that start up in their parent’s spare room punching out Thom Yorke melodies and Bob Dylan-esque lyrics with a young Keith Moon propped precariously on a plastic stool in the corner,...

By Andy Irwin Septembers - the debut novel from Birmingham-born writer Christopher Prendergast - charts the experiences of Matt, a young history teacher, through an on-off relationship and unstable career in Sheffield and Birmingham via episodes in the life of Franz von Papen (vice-Chancellor of Germany in the early 1930s). The novel charts a period of downfall in Matt’s life, with insecurities and disasters that span the personal and the professional. Despite those themes, there is a pervasive tenderness throughout...

By Harry Bedford, Music Editor Since the late 1970s, as the punk era took hold and music became a political weapon, rock music became very much about realism with musicians focussing on the ups and downs of everyday life. But back in the late 1960s things were slightly different. There was more fantasy in the music, more imagery in the lyrics and the music was generally more colourful. You only have to compare The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix to the...

By Charlotte Stringer, Style Editor at STYLIGHT.co.uk Imagine there was no… John Lennon. Actually, it’s not so easy if you try. The former Beatle left an indelible mark on the world before he was assassinated in 1980, having written and performed some of the world’s best loved songs, both with The Beatles and after in his later solo career. But, as we all know, John Lennon wasn’t just a pop star or another musician who faded into obscurity after initial...

By Alex Wignall Muse have stepped into the studio to record their seventh studio LP - it needs to be their best yet. Rewind the clock to five past ten on June, 17th 2007 - Matt Bellamy and co. are exiting the stage at the highest point of their career to date. They’ve just conquered a sold-out Wembley Stadium with two incendiary performances that have cemented their place as the best live act in Britain if not the world. It’s...

By Harry Bedford, Music Editor Elegance, swing, style and class, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels has it all. The Savoy Theatre, adjacent to the prestigious Savoy Hotel, plays host to the musical that could quite easily become a West End classic. It is a show centred around two con men on the French Riviera, one older and English and the other younger and American. The two men may have very different personalities but they both have the same goal of extracting cash...

By Jonathan Hatchman One of the country's finest alternative outfits to have exploded in to the public eye across the past ten years, The Horrors returned to their East London roots for a relatively intimate show at The Troxy to play a career spanning set and bring their long-awaited UK jaunt to a close. Eloquently gracing the stage of the 2,600 capacity venue, shrouded within a voluminous cloud of smoke that proved even potent enough to trigger the Art Deco...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  Bricks have long been a focal part of Shoreditch. The factory red of its industrial past, the distinctive yellow residential stock bricks and post-modern grey office blocks paint the canvas of London’s East End which, when you’re mindful of their presence, display a tapestry of colours tantamount to an autumnal walk in the park. And on this particular Sunday morning I had good reason to be mindful of their existence as I...