Entertainment

By Jonathan Hatchman,music writer The August Bank Holiday weekend is almost upon us, once more, thus proving inevitable that thousands of people will descend upon Richfield Avenue in Reading, and Bramham Park in Leeds for three days of live music played across two of the nation's most popular music festivals. Featuring a lineup that hosts plenty of big names, including headliners Queens Of The Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys and Blink 182, as well as Paramore, Jake Bugg, Disclosure and more....

By Alex Lodge @alexlodgemusic  I could go on and on about racial stereotyping, drug references influencing children, overt sex references influencing children, the glorification of alcohol and guns, but I’m sure the outrage brigade will cover off all of these points soon enough. They don’t really bother me that much anyway as if they did I wouldn’t be able to listen to Mobb Deep ever again. What really bothers me about this heinous song / video combination is that it’s...

By Alex Lodge @alexlodgemusic  The image that always comes to mind when I think about Werkdiscs – the shadowy techno label run by Darren Cunningham - is the memory of his musical moniker Actress' show at St John's in Hackney last year. It was a fantastically claustrophobic and terrifying performance, during which he stalked the stage, hooded and fiercely mysterious, surveying the dancers before him swaying to the hypnotic whisper of his hissing beats. The Werkdiscs output is so dominated...

By Richard C Roberts I vividly recall the 2001 last night of the Proms. I remember the tears rolling down my 12-year-old cheeks as Leonard Slatkin conducted a devotional rendition of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings in memory of all those who had died a few days earlier in the terrorist attacks of 9/11 – it was almost certainly the first time I cried at a piece of music (though by no means the last). When set alongside the manifold...

By John S. Locke I first saw Robin Williams on ‘Happy Days’, the classic American TV sitcom when I was a wide-eyed kid – he was electric! He was like a comedy Elvis! He was a comedic whirlwind – he changed comedy completely from that point onwards. This lightning rod, who zapped out of the big telly box and lit up our small 1970′s North Walian living room, was a laughter bolt which energised, enthralled and entertained like none before him. He literally...

By Alex Lodge @alexlodgemusic Everyone loves a back-story with their music – it puts everything in context – and as back-stories go, there’s nothing better than a rags to riches, underdog-takes-the-prize back-story. In today’s world of the relentless digital information tsunami, pop music has become much more this type of package deal, which is why everything you read about Tahliah Barnett aka FKA Twigs debut full length LP1 (Young Turks) plays on the fact that she began her career as...

By Dan Sampson @dan_sampson The debate over what constitutes ‘art’ is as old as art itself. Quite why there is such a divergence of opinion is difficult to tell but personal taste, whether admitted or not, is probably the most significant factor in the discussion and is also why it continues: people have different standards, dispositions, and preferences, and these drive their reaction to (and judgment of) works of art. A better question than what art is could be what...

By Jonathan Hatchman, music writer With Field Day, Wireless and last weekend's LeeFest having passed us by, the Capital's live music spotlight is now shining brightly upon this weekend's Lovebox Festival. Held in East London's Victoria Park, the event boasts two days of live music from a range of acts with a embracing a broad spectrum of, slightly more mainstream, musical tastes. Set to open its doors on Friday afternoon, we've compiled a handy guide of ten great acts that...

By Guy Dorrell @GuyDorrellEsq Sir Thomas Beecham, born in St Helens, Lancashire in 1879 will forever be associated with London. Grandson of the famous founder of the company behind Beecham’s Powders, Thomas was born into a family of immense wealth and of immense expectation. The path that his family had mapped out for him was stellar, following in his father’s footsteps to further enrich the family business. Ambitious though this path was, Thomas was to turn his back on it,...