Preview Footage: Tron Legacy (2010)

Words: Ced Yuen

Event: 'Tron Night' at BFI IMAX (28 Oct '10)

'Avatar' was the most visually spectacular film of 2009. It was also the most profitable, breaking the record for highest grossing film of all time. A part of that success is down to the amount of hype it manage to generate, and it was with that in mind that Disney organized Tron Night.

Like 20th Century Fox's "Avatar Day", Tron Night served as a an appetiser of upcoming delights. Free tickets were issued on DisneyScreenings.com for select cinemas across the UK. I was lucky enough to get a ticket for the BFI IMAX in London, and was treated to a 23-minute sneak preview of 'Tron: Legacy'.

BBC iPlayer: Dawn Of The Dead (1974)

Words: Saam Das

Director: George Romero
Cast: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H Reineger, Gaylen Ross

SYNOPSIS: "Four people barricaded in a shopping mall struggle to repel rampaging zombies in this gruesome sequel to the horror classic 'Night Of The Living Dead'." (bbc.co.uk)

Surfacing: Trophy Wife

Words: Saam Das

It seems a bit weak to be blogging about Trophy Wife when it feels like every UK blogger worth their salt has already mentioned them. But seeing as I featured fellow Oxford band Fixers recently (who are following a similar blog coverage trajectory but this time, I was onto them very early), I thought I should talk a bit about some of the other Oxford bands that are currently getting some attention.

I'm not really sure about Oxford's supposed Blessing Force collective, which Yannis from Foals has repeatedly name dropped over the past few months. It contains the aforementioned Fixers, as well as the much hyped about Chad Valley as well as the likes of Pet Moon and Rhosyn, who are on course for gratuitous blog love in the near future. Oh and the collective contains Trophy Wife too. I guess they're all just mates or something.

Album Review: Devil Sold His Soul - Blessed And Cursed

Words: Simon Opie

Devil Sold His Soul - Blessed & Cursed (Release: 12 July '10)

I really like Devil Sold His Soul – think Cult Of Luna plus And They Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead and then perhaps early Biffy Clyro. All great influences, of course, but what I most admire is their commitment to a genre that is unlikely to make them multi-platinum recordings or pack stadiums across the USA, however well they deliver it. In fact, they deliver it very well. And they’re British talent too, so hooray for that.

'Blessed & Cursed', their second album, was released back in July and is a great progression on the first, 2007’s 'A Fragile Hope'. It shows maturity and control which is not that surprising since this band is the successor to a band called Mahumodo, which split in 2003, and so most of these guys (four out of the six) have been playing together since 1998. The benefit of working for all that time producing post-metal hardcore has made them pretty expert at their chosen subject.

London Film Festival 2010: European Premiere Of The King's Speech

Words: Saam Das

European premiere of 'The King's Speech' (21 Oct '10)

Today may be the end of the 2010 London Film Festival, a sad occasion, you might say. So I figure I would talk about something happy related to the Festival. Thanks to a lovely PR called Alison, who also helped Paul get into the Aronofsky talk, I managed to get a ticket to the European premiere of 'The King's Speech' at the Festival. This is my account of a good evening.

I was one of several lucky "VIP" ticket holders for 'The King's Speech', thanks to American Express, who have been sponsoring this year's LFF. This so-called VIP experience entailed a champagne reception before the film, a ticket to see the film itself at the massive Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, and then an invite to the official afterparty in a swanky bar. Which was in Green Park, somewhat oddly.

Surfacing: The Good Natured

Words: Saam Das

It feels a bit wrong writing a Surfacing feature about The Good Natured, when she's been on the cusp of a mainstream crossover for at least a year now. But the crossover for 19 year old Sarah McIntosh hasn't quite happened. Yet. In the meantime, she seems to have added a couple of members to flesh The Good Natured out. Which might be handy for avoiding any further (inappropriate) comparisons to Lily Allen and Kate Nash.

The Good Natured's time seems to be coming though, with recent support from the likes of Jo Whiley and Fearne Cotton at BBC Radio 1. They've bigged up new single 'Be My Animal', which seems a little PG-13 (or rather, 12A) for daytime radio, considering it includes elements like a refrain that uses the phrase "kill me now".

Film Review: RED (2010)

Words: Ced Yuen

'RED' (UK Release: 22 Oct '10)

Director: Robert Schwentke
Cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman

A retired CIA operative, hunted by his own people, reunites his old team for one last mission. It's certainly not an original story, mashing together ideas that we've seen before in the Bourne series, 'The Expendables' and 'The Losers'. 'RED' (which stands for 'Retired, Extremely Dangerous') is the 4th film this year to be adapted from a graphic novel. It is also the 4th to feature men going on a mission, and the 5th with a plot involving the CIA. I couldn't help but feel sceptical.

Then I noticed the cast list and realised that this is meant to be a comedy. At this point I saw the project in a different light. 'RED' is a film in which John McClane, God, Cyrus the Virus and The Queen join forces and kill people for laughs. Clearly, this was going to be a film where story and sense came second to cast and chemistry.

Album Review: Torche - Songs For Singles

Words: Simon Opie

Torche - 'Songs For Singles' (Release: 22 Sept '10)

If you want to know why Torche have such a devoted following then watch the video for 'King Beef' below, their contribution to the recent split release, 'Chapter Ahead Being Fake', with Boris, the mighty noise/grunge Japanese metal band.

'Songs For Singles', an 8 track EP(/album?), isn’t quite in the same class as 2008’s 'Meanderthal', their last full-length. For a start they are now a three piece - since guitarist Juan Montoya quit the band - and 'King Beef' was the first recording to feature the three-man line-up of Steve Brooks (guitar, vocals), Jonathan Nuñez (bass), and Rick Smith (drums). 'Songs for Singles' features material that was intended to be the follow-up to 'Meanderthal' that somehow never got made.

DVD Review: Iron Man 2

Words: Saam Das

DVD: 'Iron Man 2' (UK Release: 25 October 2010)

Director: Jon Favreau
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell

Jon Favreau's first 'Iron Man' film proved to be a wildly successful and well received action blockbuster. His follow-up 'Iron Man 2' may have been just as commercially successful but unfortunately, fails to improve on the first installment.

What was particularly impressive, when looking back on 'Iron Man', was its quality in spite of shooting without a finished script. However, that lack of due care towards the writing side of filmmaking eventually caught up with Favreau on 'Iron Man 2'. Supposed studio interference led to the resulting sequel becoming more of a prequel to the forthcoming Avengers film rather than a legitimate second film in the 'Iron Man' franchise.

In The City Festival 2010: Round Up

Words: Saam Das

I don't normally do round up posts because it feels like lazy blogging. But that's just me being silly (because they actually take a while) so I thought I'd compile all the Surfacing features I wrote for the 2010 In The City, which regular readers know that I didn't actually attend. I have been before though! And may return next year...

In case of favouritism, I have organised the bands into alphabetical order. Even though they're all my favourites. Well, apart from one band. But that wasn't their fault. If you're nosy, you can find out who quite easily simply by examining each post's comments. Maybe add some of your own while you're at it.

BBC iPlayer: Sin City (2005)

Words: Saam Das

Director: Robert Rodriguez
Cast: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Benicio del Toro, Jessica Alba

SYNOPSIS: "Adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel. A collection of interweaving stories all based in the corrupt, crime infested hell-hole that is Basin City. Heavily influenced by film-noir, the main storylines concern a hulking brute called Marv, who is seeking the murderer of a beautiful woman who was killed while asleep in bed with him, a photographer called Dwight who is callously used and seeks revenge, and a soon-to-be-retiring policeman called Hartigan." (bbc.co.uk)

Surfacing: Ed Wood Jr

Words: Saam Das

It seems appropriate that I would come to the end of my run of In The City festival posts with a band (presumably) named after the film maker, who was more commonly known as Ed Wood. Not only that, Ed Wood Jr are not even from our fair isles, representing the international strand of the festival by being from lovely Lille, dans la France, bien sur.

While I wasn't at the festival and hence didn't see Ed Wood Jr play, I can imagine it being a ferocious experience. The instrumental band deliver math-rock at its heaviest, albeit combined with frequent spoken word samples. When I say band though, I should really say "duo", which is fairly remarkable considering the racket they seem to produce. Hopefully they managed to reproduce in their live performance but even if not, their debut album 'Ruban de Mobiüs', undoubtedly packs a punch.

London Film Festival 2010: Darren Aronofsky Q&A

Words: Paul Dean

American Express Screen Talk: Darren Aronofsky (23 Oct 2010)

It’s surely a good thing that Darren Aronofsky’s personality is absolutely nothing like the intense, disturbed and sometimes distressing films that he makes. He must be one of the most comfortable, casual and communicative filmmakers around, swivelling his chair as he answers questions and effortlessly delivering a great many friendly jokes and warm anecdotes. At one point he even performs a passable Sylvester Stallone impression.

It’s disarming to see a man considered one of today’s most impressive filmmakers so without ego, but he appreciates filmmaking is a process that can fail in many ways, something that has kept his feet very much on the ground. He has worked hard to not only see his films realised, but also to ensure they even get as far as being funded. He would love, for once, to be in a pitching situation “where I’m not the only person in the room who wants to make the film”.

His box office successes have never been ideas that were easy to summarise or to sell and he has plenty to say about the funding of independent film. Many projects collapse simply because nobody wants to pay for them, particularly if, like his own, such films “don’t hit a genre on the nose”.

Surfacing: Mojo Fury

Words: Saam Das

I imagine Belfast's Mojo Fury delivered more of a punch than most at this year's In The City festival. Indeed, having listened to what feels like hundreds of bands from the festival's line up, Mojo Fury deliver a sense of brutality rarely seen.

The band have actually been kicking around since 2004 but only last year, expanded to a four piece. They're also seemingly having trouble deciding whether their name is Mojo Fury or mojoFURY. I don't know about you but I'm going to stick with the more conventional spelling. Oh, the bitter conformity of it all.

Film Review: Endhiran (2010)

Words: Glen Byford

'Endhiran', also billed as 'The Robot' (UK Release: 1 October 2010)

Director: S. Shankar
Cast: Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai

Being a cultured gentleman, I am quite fond of watching foreign films. I revel in the slight pretentiousness of it and pride myself on my ability to read and keep track of what is happening on-screen.

Shocked that a Tamil language film was actually playing at our local cinema, me and my girlfriend decided to pop along and catch 'Endhiran'. I went into it knowing nothing about the film, other than the language it was in and presuming that there may be robots in it. Sometimes this is all I need to catch my attention. And boy, was I given more than just a dodgy sci-fi flick with subtitles - reportedly the most expensive movie in the history of the Indian film industry, it is a film with everything, almost literally everything, including the stuff you didn't even know you wanted.

Surfacing: Patterns

Words: Saam Das

I think we're winding down in terms of my faux In The City festival coverage, only a couple more bands to feature. Today's band are a more serene proposition, formerly known as Elmo Logic, I present Patterns.

Patterns attempt to bridge the gap between post punk and shoegaze by way of a soundscape of dreamy electronica. With only one track available to listen anywhere, that's about all I can give. That offering is the hypnotic 'Induction', which you can download by waiting until the loop finishes on their website. Or just listen/download below.

Competition: Win A 'Despicable Me' Family Ticket And Goodie Bag

In conjunction with Apollo Cinemas, we've got a competition to win a family ticket (2 adults, 3 kids) and a goodie bag for Universal's new animated feature 'Despicable Me'. The film is the studio's first foray into big scale animation, attempting to challenge the might of Disney Pixar, and stars Steve Carell, Jason Segal and Julie Andrews.

We're giving away a family ticket (for 2 adults and 3 children) to see the film at your local Apollo cinema as well as winning a prize pack that includes: t-shirts, school bags, car sunshades, stationery kits.

Surfacing: Vinyl Jacket

Words: Saam Das

Wylam's Vinyl Jacket made it down to In The City to peddle their infectious indie-pop wares to what I hope was a welcoming audience - at the risk of over-repeating myself, I wasn't there. I can tell you an "interesting" fact about Wylam in Northumberland though - it was the birthplace of what is now oldest surviving steam locomotive. I have to tell people this in real life, imagine their amazement....

Vinyl Jacket have an obsession with guitar twiddling and don't half love their harmonies. And you know what, I enjoy a fair bit of twiddling and harmonic generation too. It'll be hard to escape the tag of being the British version of Vampire Weekend but with a whole host of effervescent anthems in their locker, Vinyl Jacket may have a chance at matching their esteemed American counterparts one day. They actually sound more like my favourite Liverpudlians Hot Club de Paris anyway.

Film School 101: Film Posters

Film School 101 highlights overlooked aspects of film and television to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the screen. Well, that's the idea anyway.

Words: Saam Das

You might have noticed film posters tend to look quite similar. Check out the poster for the remastered 'Back To The Future', which is mostly just a sharpened version of the original poster. ORANGE AND BLUE. BLUE AND ORANGE?

Charlie from Ultraculture compiled a set of posters that show off the complementary colour scheme in its full, overused glory. If you're interested in how similar complementary colours are used in film-making, specifically post-production, I highly recommend watching this Red Giant tutorial video. However, that's not the only commonly found trope in movie posters. No, sir. Or madam.

Surfacing: Rapids!

Words: Saam Das

Rapids! are another of the plethora of In The City bands that I'm yet to feature but they are in the upper echelons of that group. The quintet are from Bournemouth, a fairly popular seaside tourist resort on the South Coast of England. Doesn't it just sound terribly exciting? Cast no aspersions on the feisty and animated Rapids! though.

The band put out a self-released EP (listen to it on Soundcloud, buy here) but are now signed to Heist Or Hit, who you may remember put out a Pomegranates record last year. They are kindly giving away one of those older tracks. 'Maps' mixes the shimmering guitars that made sporadic appearances on Bloc Party's debut album with the frenetic stylings of early Foals recordings.

Competition: Win VIP Tickets To The European Premiere Of 'The King’s Speech'

To celebrate its first year as headline sponsor of the BFI London Film Festival, we've teamed up with American Express® to give away two VIP tickets to the European premiere of the highly anticipated and Oscar tipped period biopic, 'The King’s Speech' - one of Saam's ten recommended films to watch at the LFF.

Starring Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, 'The King’s Speech' will premiere at the star-studded American Express Gala at the Odeon Leicester Square on Thursday 21st October giving the winner of this amazing prize a night to remember as they walk down the red carpet.

As special guests of American Express, the winner and their guest will be invited to a pre-screening champagne reception at a bar overlooking Leicester Square, where you can view all the red carpet action before being one of the first to view the film. The evening will finish with the official gala after party at an exclusive West End venue where winners will have a chance to mingle with the stars.

Surfacing: Fixers

Words: Saam Das

Manchester's In The City festival finished on Friday evening/the early hours of Saturday morning but there are still plenty of bands to plunder from the stellar line up. If you haven't already heard, I wasn't actually at the festival and was too busy keeping it real down in London, basking in my unemployment. But that doesn't stop me enjoying the bands through the beauty of our wonderful internet. All hail the internet.

Oxford five piece Fixers carry the same air of mystery that incessantly annoyed me at the beginning of the year with bands like Monarchy, Silver Columns, Summer Camp and WU LYF. So it takes a fair amount for me to overcome that prejudice. But I've just about managed it in this case.

Film Review: The Social Network (2010)

Words: Saam Das

'The Social Network' (UK Release: 15 October 2010)

Director: David Fincher
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer

Almost every single element of 'The Social Network' is astounding. It is a near-flawless film, crafted by the exceptional dialogue of Aaron Sorkin and the consummate directing skill of David Fincher. I could leave it at that but this film deserves a proper review.

'The Social Network' charts the origin and gestation of Facebook.com at Harvard University. Facebook did not exist until 2004. It now has over half a billion members. Jesse Eisenberg plays the driving force behind the site, Mark Zuckerberg, the youngest billionaire ever. The film examines two simultaneous lawsuits from Zuckerberg's closest friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) and three other students also studying Harvard University, as each party stakes a claim to the founding of the website.

Surfacing: Mammal Club

Words: Saam Das

Continuing the seemingly neverending saga of In The City festival band posts, I present Mammal Club from "oop North". I initially thought they formed in early 2009, adding former Yourcodenameis:Milo guitarist Adam Hiles to their ranks then. BUT NO. He was around long before and they simply changed names from The Eye Jab, who were on the XL imprint Salvia.

Anyway, enough of my investigative journalism. Time for some lazy journalism. Arguably, not even journalism at all. Andrew Marr certainly doesn't think so.

BBC iPlayer: Film 2010 (With Claudia Winkleman) Episode One

Words: Saam Das

'Film 2010' (Aired: 13 October 2010)

Claudia Winkleman made her debut as the new host off BBC's flagship film programme, replacing Jonathan Ross. Before I launch into my thoughts on the quality of the new presenter(s) and format, the first episode appears to have been fairly successful, pulling in 1.1 million viewers.

Many expected Mark Kermode to take the reins of the programme after Ross departed earlier in the year. Winkleman was widely seen as an leftfield choice, lacking a certain standing in the film arena, although she has many years of experience as both a television and radio presenter. Perhaps in an attempt to counteract this, the new format of the programme sees her joined by a co-presenter, Danny Leigh as well as a team of on-screen contributors - Antonia Quirke, Empire Magazine's Chris Hewitt, and Ultra Culture blogger Charlie Lyne.

Surfacing: Let's Buy Happiness

Words: Saam Das

One band I expect to "blow up" from their appearance at In The City is Let's Buy Happiness. In fact, I'll be disappointed if they don't. Not that they're lacking in recognition even at such an early stage in their career, having made a significant impression at this year's Glastonbury Emerging talent competition.

Older readers might know of my love for Southampton's Thomas Tantrum - who are a band, not a singer-songwriter or anything like that. The first time I heard Let's Buy Happiness, I was struck by similarities between Sarah Hall's vocals for Let's Buy Happiness and Megan Thomas, the lead vocalist of Thomas Tantrum. The similarities between the bands pretty much end there though.

Surfacing: Stealing Sheep

Words: Saam Das

Continuing on from my In The City festival coverage despite not actually being there, here are Liverpool-based trio Stealing Sheep. Who co-incidentally happen to be on the same label as Sophie's Pigeons. We salute you Red Deer Club.

Anyway, back to the band. Remember the "sirens" from Greek mythology? Well, Stealing Sheep are a lot like them - luring us poor saps with their irresistible harmonies. Unlike the sirens though, I'm assuming they won't lead us to our peril. Hopefully. Stealing Sheep capture that same magical folk essence as Blue Roses and First Aid Kit, producing a beautifully enchanting sound. Almost like the sound of falling in love.

Surfacing: Sophie's Pigeons

Words: Saam Das

Manchester's three day In The City festival/industry love-in is in full flow now, having started today. I had planned to go but ultimately, apathy and my frugal nature proved to be stumbling blocks. Maybe next year. Anyway, I'll probably be highlighting a few bands from the festival that I think are pretty ace.

The first[*] is Sophie's Pigeons, who happen to actually be from Manchester and all. They've just put out a debut mini album called 'Names And Pictures'. I haven't heard it yet but if it's anything like their other material, it'll be brilliantly off-kilter piano pop. With folk and jazz influences thrown in to spice things up further.

Film Review: The Town (2010)

Words: Saam Das

'The Town' (UK Release: 24 September 2010)

Director: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm

'The Town' sees Ben Affleck return to the director's seat, following his critically acclaimed debut directorial effort 'Gone Baby Gone' in 2007. 'The Town' is very much an old school cops-and-robbers film, pitting Ben Affleck’s band of bank robbers against the Jon Hamm-led police force in Charlestown, Boston.

The film opens with a heavy action beat, as Affleck’s four man crew hits a bank. They are, for the most part, consummate professionals but when a silent alarm is tripped, they panic and kidnap the bank manager (Rebecca Hall). Their successful escape means a blindfolded Hall is let free. However, they soon discover that she lives in the same area as her, and despite their efforts to conceal their identities, there are understandable concerns that she may recognise some of the crew on the street.

Competition: Win Babak Ganjei's Graphic Novel And Its Soundtrack

Babak Ganjei plays in a band, has a young son and writes a comic about a guy called Babak, who plays in a band and has a young son and is writing a comic book. 'Hilarious Consequences' is the result.

We're giving away a digital package including the graphic novel and its accompanying soundtrack. Ganjei, who plays in both Absentee and Wet Paint, has recruited a team of musicians to contribute to the soundtrack including Bloc Party’s Matthew Tong, Singing Adams (ex-Broken Family Band), Dan Michaelson & The Coastguards, Wet Paint and (the soon-to-be much hyped) new Records Records Records signing, Big Deal.

Surfacing: White Sea

Words: Saam Das

"Just listened to an absolutely incredible track that I randomly discovered on Soundcloud. These are the moments I live for." That's what I said on Twitter a few days ago. Well, I've finally got round to sharing that track with you.

Some people will know White Sea better as Morgan Kibby of M83. I didn't, to be honest. No matter, I've pretty much fallen in love with her. The track I was in awe of is the magically hypnotic 'Mountaineer' from White Sea's debut EP, 'This Frontier'

'Mountaineer' is the kind of track that transports you to another world. A beautiful, heavenly world. 'Mountaineer' somehow manages to find a glorious middle ground between Sigur Ros and eighties power pop, resulting in an anthem so magnificent, I can't seem to go five minutes without yearning to listen to it again.

Buried Treasures: Brother To Brother (2004)

Buried Treasures is a column dedicated to things we feel have gone underappreciated, often both critically and commercially. We encourage you to seek these moments out and hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Words: Paul Dean

DVD: 'Brother To Brother'

Director: Rodney Evans
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Daniel Sunjata, Larry Gilliard Jr, Aunjanue Ellis

Generally speaking, I like surprises. I suppose I don’t really like muggings, but mostly I find the unexpected to be quite the morale booster. I didn’t know quite what to expect from 'Brother To Brother' and I certainly had no idea it was going to be such a good film.

Album Review: Carl Barat - Carl Barat

Words: Simon Opie

Carl Barât - 'Carl Barât' (Release: 4 October 2010)

Just as there is a seemingly endless supply of excellent Death Metal bands in Scandinavia, so is England the prodigious source of Britpop. I’m thinking there’s probably a doctoral thesis to be written on the relationship between geographical location and music, but I’m sure there will never be a Britpop song on the subject. Since the somewhat invariant staples of Britpop are "birds", "booze" and "shagging" involving the both of them. But no matter how far back down the thread connecting Carl Barât, The Libertines, Blur, Pulp and The Kinks your memory stretches, it is very comforting to be reminded that there will always be an England – in song, at least.

Film Review: Buried (2010)

Words: Saam Das

'Buried' (UK Release: 29 September 2010)

Director: Rodrigo Cortes
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Stephen Tobolowsky, Robert Paterson

'Buried' opens to complete and prolonged darkness. Until, that is, Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) finds a cigarette lighter in his pocket, allowing the audience to discover the gravity of his current situation. Conroy is bound and gagged, and worse still, buried alive in a wooden box. For the next ninety minutes, we remain in this box along with Conroy.

Surfacing: The Vaccines

Words: Saam Das

I was extremely apprehensive about Jay Jay Pistolet's new band The Vaccines as I noted in the comments on the post over at A New Band A Day. While 'If You Wanna' showed plenty of promise, I've been burnt in the past by many a band, who have promised so much with one good/great track and fallen to the wayside almost immediately. I'm looking at you, Black Kids.

Awards: Virgin Media Shorts Awards 2010

Words: Saam Das

Back in June, I wrote about the Virgin Media Shorts Awards, asking people to enter. Somewhat unexpectedly, I was invited along to this week's actual Virgin Media Shorts Awards show at the British Film Institute. I even managed to wangle a +1 (thanks Sophie!) so I even went, instead of bottling it as I didn't know anyone else going. It turned out to be a wonderful evening. Bravo, Virgin Media, we salute you.

After 1600 entries for the short film competition, we got to see the twelve finalists. Many of which were terrific, and I think the vast majority of attendees were heartened by the winner, chosen by a panel of judges including Thandie Newton, Mike Newell, Duncan Jones, Chris Collins and James King.

Surfacing: To Kill A King

Words: Saam Das

Once upon a time, there was a Leeds band called Kid iD. Why they chose to include random capitalisation is beyond me. And now a pretty redundant question, as they re-emerged in late 2009 as To Kill A King.

Battery In Your Leg got the jump on everyone by talking about the band back in November but since then, exposure has been relatively minimal. Which is a shame as they're actually quite good.

DVD Review: Villa Amalia

Words: Paul Dean

'Villa Amalia' (Release: October 4th)

I can’t help but think that, had it featured a lead any less able than Isabelle Huppert, this might have ended up being a distant and perhaps even terribly dull experience which would feel far too remote and emotionally disconnected for anyone to appreciate it. Instead, we have a film largely held together by a fine performance expertly balanced between icy detachment and inner turmoil.

Album Review: No Age - Everything In Between

Words: Simon Opie

No Age - 'Everything In Between'

This is the third album from the No Age duo (Randy Randall on guitar and Dean Allen Spunt on drums) who are embedded in the LA scene around a club called The Smell with Straight Edge principles somewhat like the Washington DC scene of Fugazi and others.

Singles: September 2010

Words: Saam Das

I guess the defining moment in UK music during September was the announcement of the winner of the 2010 Mercury Music Prize winner, The xx. I mentioned them on the blog (more precisely, on one of my fabled podcasts) and was the one of the first bloggers to talk them up. Fast forward a couple of years or so and they are now critical darlings and have even managed to sell a fair few records. With any luck, some of the other artists or bands in this September singles column can do alright as well.

Competition: Win Sir Michael Caine's New Autobiography - 'The Elephant To Hollywood'

Words: Saam Das

Thanks to the wonderful people at Hodder & Stoughton, we've got SEVEN copies of Sir Michael Caine's new autobiography to give away.