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For six decades and counting, John Cale has lived on the edge of the avant-garde. A classically trained violist, he spent the mid-Sixties playing hours of drones with minimalist composer La Monte Young before co-founding the Velvet Underground with Lou Reed. The band transformed rock & roll into an art experiment, with Cale’s noisy electric viola flourishes and rejection of the genre’s verse-chorus-verse formality.

As a solo artist, he continued his experiments, combining classical and rock on 1972’s The Academy in Peril and 1973’s Paris 1919, embracing New Wave on 1981’s Honi Soit,...

Warning! Contains spoilers for Sweet Tooth season 3.

The upbeat soundtrack of Sweet Tooth season 3 sets an optimistic tone despite darker themes. The show softens darker elements of the original story to remain accessible to wider audiences. Bright visuals and heartwarming storytelling maintain the show's uplifting spirit even in dark times.

While walking through Gus and Big Man's final adventure to the Great North, Sweet Tooth season 3 features a range of songs that add more intensity to the show's drama and action. Based on Jeff Lemire's comic book series of the same name, Netflix's Sweet Tooth presents an uplifting fantasy drama that draws on the anxieties of the real-world pandemic but balances them themes with themes of hope and resilience. Unlike its predecessors, Sweet Tooth season 3 delves deeper into slightly darker narrative territory but maintains its family-friendly tone.

Instead of treading the same path as its source material...

I can't say if actor Tom Holland is well-suited to play Spider-Man, but I can say with absolute certainty that he is a first-rate teen heartthrob. He's handsome, affable, and dazzling in interviews. He has mastered the self-deprecating smile, and his tendency to give away the plot details of Avengers movies weirdly humanizes him. When it comes to acting in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it seems little else is demanded of its leading men. Acting is less important than ineffable charm. 

Holland, 27, has played Peter Parker/Spider-Man in six feature films, having appeared in several would-be blockbusters/prestige pictures in between, including "The Lost City of Z," "Cherry," and "Chaos Walking." He most recently starred in all 10 episodes of the miniseries "The Crowded Room." He also played the role of Nathan Drake in the video game adaptation "Uncharted." Nathan Drake is a younger, hotter Indiana Jones-like character who bounds about...

At his home in Catalonia, Spain, last year, Labi Siffre received the latest in a series of requests to use one of his songs in a soundtrack. Based on a synopsis of the movie, set in a boarding school in New England, the singer-songwriter signed off. “The storyline was quite nice, and I thought, ‘Yeah, Ok,’” he says. “And that’s all I remembered of it. You move on with the rest of the work you are doing.”

But a few weeks ago, the British musician heard from one of...

Clairo has shared a new demo recording called “Lavender,” released via Bandcamp with all the proceeds going towards Doctors Without Borders. Stream it below.

Like her previous Bandcamp demo for charity from this past April, “For Now,” the new single, “Lavender,” features a lo-fi arrangement spotlighting Clairo’s voice singing in harmony. In lieu of the electric piano carrying “For Now,” however, is a folksy acoustic guitar, with a fuzzy warmth and sense of intimacy similar to a Nick Drake or Townes Van Zandt record. “When I’m with you I’ll be alright,” she longingly sings, “No one beats you, baby/ No one takes your place from me.”

As of now, “Lavender” is exclusively on Bandcamp, and can be purchased for $1. Clairo posted the track along with a note that the funds raised would be going to Doctors Without Borders. She also included a link to a recent article...

Feist stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday to perform “Hiding Out In the Open,” a cut from her new album Multitudes. Watch her appearance on the show below.

Taking over the late night stage with a four-piece backing band, Feist sounded just as good — if not better — than the studio recording of “Hiding Out In the Open,” an acoustic ballad that attempts to navigate the baggage that’s brought into a romantic relationship: “Maybe he’s gonna let me down/ Love is not a thing you try to do/ It wants to be the thing compelling you,” goes some of the track’s standout lines. Although the stage backdrop emulated the seemingly-infinite images of the Multitudes album cover, the one real Feist was the true focus. Check it out below.

Earlier this year, Feist sat down with Kyle Meredith to discuss her new record, as well...

Today, Swiss songstress Mary Middlefield returns with a brand new single entitled “Sexless,” alongside its mesmerizing accompanying music video. Her newest release is a brash, rollicking, and raunchy number that really puts it all out there in a form of vulnerability separate from her past material.

The release of “Sexless” follows the arrival of her debut album, Thank You Alexander, which dropped on March 3. Born mid-pandemic, Thank You, Alexander was Middlefield’s cathartic response to heartbreak and sadness. The album reflects her journey through themes of infidelity, romance, and abuse, with songs such as her debut track “Band Aid,” “Two Thousand One,” and “This One’s For You,” garnering support from music publications like Clash, Notion, and The Line Of Best Fit.

Visualizer for Mary Middlefield’s “Sexless” Mary Middlefield Bio:

In Lausanne, Switzerland, wildflower-trails blaze with ultraviolet colour, mountains of myth surround a lake of sapphire. It’s a...

Anthony Hopkins recently played an elderly Jewish man who fled persecution as a child in James Gray’s Armageddon Time. He continues in this vein somewhat with One Life, this time playing British Jew Nicholas Winton, an actual historical figure, who in his youth helped child refugees flee Czechoslovakia during World War II. In some ways, it’s one of Hopkins’ best performances from the last few years, beautifully underplayed, eschewing mannerisms or silly accents. It’s just a shame the film itself, directed by James Hawes, with a script by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, is a bit worthy and diagrammatic. Still, that won’t stop it from traveling far to festivals and probably finding distribution as fare appealing to older viewers, especially in the U.K., where many seniors may remember the moment on TV show That’s Life! in 1988 that made Winton famous.

The film’s title is inspired by a Hebrew proverb,...

Exclusive: Six-parter produced by Rainmark Films readied for spring 2016.

The BBC has formally commissioned its “epic” Steve McQueen drama about the experiences of a black community in west London.

The corporation and UK indie Rainmark Films, the indie led by Game Of Thrones producer Frank Doelger and former BBC Films executive Tracey Scoffield, are aiming to shoot the as-yet-untitled six-part series in spring 2016.

McQueen, the Oscar-winning director of 12 Years A Slave, will direct and co-write the drama, alongside writers including Debbie Tucker Green, who won a Bafta TV award in 2012 for Channel 4 single Random.

The series will chronicle the lives of a group of friends and their families living in west London between the 1960s and the present day. It has been in development since January 2014.

In a bid to secure the services of in-demand director McQueen, BBC drama controller Ben Stephenson took the unusual step of commissioning the series before reading a script. Lucy Richer ordered...

Here's abstew with a tribute to an actor we lost too soon.

Today, April 4th, 2014, would have been Oscar winner Heath Ledger's 35th Birthday. Tragically, the talented young actor's career was all too brief. (It's crazy to think that 2 of the 5 Best Actor nominees from 2005 are no longer with us.) But let's not dwell on the sadness, but celebrate the life and work of this amazing Aussie.

This past week marked the 15th anniversary of the film that brought Heath to movie-goers' attention, 10 Things I Hate About You. (No, the Fox show Roar does not count as his breakthrough. Even though it co-starred TV's Felicity and I do actually remember watching it.) 

At the time, 10 Things seemed like just another late 90s teen movie based on a Shakespeare play. (You'd be surprised how much that was a thing back then. And they all starred Julia Stiles.) But there was...

After breaking through with”Torches’” hit “Pumped Up Kicks,” the most uplifting infectious song ever about a serial killer, Foster the People returns three years later with its second album, “Supermodel.” “Supermodel” relies on synthesizers and electronics as “Torches” did, but also brings in other elements: lead singer and band namesake Mark Foster traveled to Morocco, as well as wrote an orchestral score for the film, “Bella,” and both of these experiences inform “Supermodel”: it is much more expansive in its musicality than “Torches.” For example, an African flair flavors opening track “Are You What You Want To Be,” after it kicks off with a straight-ahead guitar rock riff. Foster the People aren’t veering into “Graceland” territory by any means (or even Vampire Weekend’s “Contra”), but it’s nice to hear the trio stretching a little. Also added here are more acoustic elements: a lovely piano line runs through first single,...

British culture was once open to 'messy kids' from secondary moderns. But if you want to make it in 21st century Britain, you'd best have a cut-glass accent and public school pedigree

Last week the actor Stephen McGann spoke out about how difficult it is for young people from working-class backgrounds to enter his profession. "Opportunities are closing down," he said in an interview with the Independent. "If you're a messy kid from a council estate today, I think the chances of you making it as a successful actor are a lot worse than they were."

McGann, 50, youngest of the family of acting brothers, grew up on the edge of Toxteth in Liverpool and was educated at a Catholic grammar school. "What counted for me and my brothers – and for mates of ours like David Morrissey and Ian Hart, all growing up in Dingle and Toxteth – was the real change in education,...

Welcome to EW.com’s Ya novel bracket game, a March Madness style tournament that will determine the best Young Adult novel of all time — as voted by you.

You’ve narrowed the field of 64 novels down to four — To Kill a Mockingbird, the Harry Potter series, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Fault in Our Stars (which handily overcame The Hunger Games’ early lead). Which will make it to the championship round?

Check out the full bracket here and vote below! Polls close Wednesday at 1 p.m. Et.

To Kill a Mockingbird The Harry Potter series

To Kill a Mockingbird...

Mojo | Antony And Cleopatra | 12 Angry Men | Solid Air | A Strange Wild Song; The Man In The Moone | The Recruiting Officer

Mojo, London

There's a star-studded approach to casting in Jez Butterworth's play about London gangs, Mojo. Harry Potter's Rupert Grint makes his stage debut after years of Ron Weasley, while Downton Abbey's Mr Bates (Brendan Coyle) adds to his years of fine theatrical endeavour. The top-notch cast also includes Ben Whishaw (Skyfall, Peter And Alice) and Daniel Mays (Mrs Biggs). Mojo, featuring rival gangs and grisly goings-on in 1950s Soho over the kidnap of a teenage pop star, was the first debut play to be performed on the Royal Court's main stage in 40 years since the kitchen-sink classic Look Back In Anger. It was a huge success, becoming a film in 1997, and Butterworth has since written the multi-award-winning Jerusalem. A surefire hit return.

Harold Pinter Theatre, SW1, Wed...

Review Cameron K McEwan 4 Oct 2013 - 12:30

Starring Saoirse Ronan, How I Live Now arrives in UK cinemas today. And it really deserves your support...

Director Kevin MacDonald returns to the world of fiction, after his well-received documentary Marley, with an adaptation of a hugely successful young adult novel. How I Live Now, based on the book by Meg Rosoff. It sees the filmmaker combine his documentary style (witnessed in Touching The Void) with his creative cinematic gaze (The Last King of Scotland), whilst it sees some extraordinary performances from an exceptional group of young actors and actresses.

The story finds young American girl Daisy, played by Saoirse Ronan (Byzantium, Hanna), who has been sent to her cousins' home in the beautiful English countryside (though actually filmed in equally beautiful Wales, fact fans). Her real name is actually Elizabeth but chooses to name herself against her given title, in an...

The musician and producer on Greil Marcus's writing, the wonder of Anthony Bourdain and the web's best arts magazine

Dave Stewart is a musician, record producer, songwriter and photographer, best known as one half of Eurythmics. Born in Sunderland in 1952, Stewart began performing in his teens, securing a record deal at the age of 18. In the late 1970s he formed the post-punk band the Tourists, and when that band split in 1980, he and singer Annie Lennox formed Eurythmics, going on to sell almost 80m records worldwide. Since their split in 1990 Stewart has collaborated with numerous other artists (including Terry Hall, Paul McCartney and Bono) and has had several successful solo projects. Two years ago he and Mick Jagger formed the supergroup SuperHeavy (which also includes Joss Stone, Damian Marley and Ar Rahman). His album Lucky Numbers is out on 7 October, and Ghost the Musical is on a national tour...

Natasha Khan has recorded a duet with Jon Hopkins for the soundtrack of Kevin Macdonald's new film How I Live Now.

'Garden's Heart' is released via Parlophone as a standalone digital single on October 7.

Khan, who releases her solo music as Bat For Lashes, has made her directorial debut for the single's video.

The promo features Saoirse Ronan, who stars in How I Live Now, based on the young adult novel by Meg Rosoff.

George MacKay, Tom Holland, Harley Bird and Anna Chancellor also feature in the movie, which is released on October 4.

Hopkins scores the movie, whose soundtrack also features songs by Daughter, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention and Amanda Palmer. It is released in November via Just Music.

"Having been fans of each other's work for some time, Khan and Hopkins have been looking for the right project to collaborate on," said Parlophone.

"While Hopkins was working...

Ellie Goulding has revealed plans to release acoustic material for an upcoming Hollywood film.

The singer explained that she has been influenced by Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake while writing the new music, which will be mainly guitar-led.

"The story is based in North Carolina," Goulding told the Daily Star.

"It's using Joni Mitchell, Bon Iver and Nick Drake as a guide soundtrack at the moment, but I'm writing new songs for the movie."

She added: "This will maybe show more of the guitar side of what I do."

Goulding recently claimed her first UK number one with 'Burn', while her repackaged album Halcyon Days was released earlier this week.

Watch the music video for Ellie Goulding's 'Burn' below:...

Until recently, Fidlar’s biggest following seem to come from the Lapd, which made a habit of shutting down the newbie skate punk’s raucous shows. But last week, their appeal went wide thanks to the cheeky, Nsfw video for “Cocaine,” starring Parks & Recreation alpha-male Nick Offerman. The track, a cover of the traditional song sometimes known as “Cocaine Blues” that’s been reinvented by everyone from Nick Drake to Townes Van Zandt, is technically about a man who murders his wife. Fidlar’s garage take on the country-folk standard, however, is an adrenaline-fueled anthem that finds a piss-drunk

read more...

Today sees the DVD and Blu-ray unleashing of Jason Statham in Parker, and the actor’s recent turn in Hummingbird (the Us have the snappier, and more prosaic title of Redemption) has been praised for allowing the actor to do more than his trademark kickery and gunplay.

As the man is unashamedly an action star and doesn’t care who knows it (how many other people could get away with being a character called Lee Christmas while sharing the screen with cinema’s hardest action heroes?) it’s nice to see him stepping outside of the expected.

So here, to celebrate the man, we’ve concocted five films in genres very definitely in the realms of the unexpected. Here are five Jason Statham films we want to see as soon as is possible please.

Film: Chitty Chitty Bang F*(%(ng Bang

Tagline: He’ll get fantasmagorical on your arse.

Genre:...

Warning Spoilers Hiding In Plain Sight: Hear that exceptionally loud noise? Peek out of the corner of your eye and you’ll spot spoilers and speculation concerning Doctor Who Series 7a and 7b, especially episode 10: “Hide”. Once you’ve seen the story, climb back out from behind the sofa and join us here for some out of this world theorizing.

“Hide” is Neil Cross’ second story for the Doctor Who universe though the first one he actually wrote. It takes place on November 25, 1974, in Caliburn house owned by Professor Alec Palmer. Palmer and his assistant, psychic empath Emma Grayling, are seeking to record evidence of objective (as opposed to physical or mental) phenomena. Basically they’re looking for ghosts, or rather a specific ghost in particular. The good professor is a war veteran seeking to allay his own troubled spirit while Emma is a sensitive who can’t resist the call of the wounded.

Welsh filmmaker Marc Evans' elegiac, semi-autobiographical high school musical "Hunky Dory," which played at SXSW last year after its UK release, is finally opening in NY and La theaters and on VOD March 22 via distrib Variance. The delightful comedy written by Laurence Coriat, set in the sweltering hot summer of 1976, stars a winning Minnie Driver as a drama teacher who mounts a glam rock version of Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Driver gets to display her skills as a singer (she has released two albums), along with an ensemble of young actors singing live on set--long before "Les Miserables"--led by the film's breakout, Aneurin Barnard ("Citadel"), who won the Olivier award as best actor in a musical for the West End "Spring Awakening." They all cover music from David Bowie to Elo, the Byrds, Beach Boys and Nick Drake in the service of a contemporary translation of Shakespeare's tale. The...

Dreamers, like the worlds they inhabit, come and go, leaving a profoundly vague impression in their wake. Kevin Ayers was never a major star. His songs were simply too idiosyncratic to garner mass appeal, but like many for whom fame was largely an irritant of the creative process, he exerted a greater influence than he imagined or really cared for. 

Morrissey is now viewed as the quintessential English pop icon, but the soil he sprang from was gritty, working class, and Northern. The product of an inner city education system, his brand of Britishness is not as universal as it might appear to outsiders. There are many variations of the national characteristic, and Ayers had a colonial, distractedly comfortable middle-class one. sullied by his public school incarceration, and the memory of distant sunshine from a childhood spent abroad. A slightly surreal confection of Nick Drake, Noel Coward, and country house fop,...

Check out the trailer and browse photos in the gallery from Marc Evans' Hunky Dory starring Minnie Driver and Aneurin Barnard. The film opens in theaters on March 22nd in New York and Los Angeles as well as VOD, and expands later. Hunky Dory is a British musical produced by Jonathan Finn (Billy Elliott) Dan Lupovitz (Good) and features the music of David Bowie, Elo, The Beach Boys, The Byrds and Nick Drake. Driver plays Viv, a fiery high school drama teacher determined to fire up her hormonal, apathetic students by putting on the best end-of-the-year show the school has ever seen… a glam rock-infused musical version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. But as the Welsh summer begins to heat up, can she compete with the typical teenage distractions of sex and drugs with some great rock and roll? Find out in this fantastic, rousing film- but remove all...

Check out the trailer and browse photos in the gallery from Marc Evans' Hunky Dory starring Minnie Driver and Aneurin Barnard. The film opens in theaters on March 22nd in New York and Los Angeles as well as VOD, and expands later. Hunky Dory is a British musical produced by Jonathan Finn (Billy Elliott) Dan Lupovitz (Good) and features the music of David Bowie, Elo, The Beach Boys, The Byrds and Nick Drake. Driver plays Viv, a fiery high school drama teacher determined to fire up her hormonal, apathetic students by putting on the best end-of-the-year show the school has ever seen… a glam rock-infused musical version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. But as the Welsh summer begins to heat up, can she compete with the typical teenage distractions of sex and drugs with some great rock and roll? Find out in this fantastic, rousing film- but remove all...

A clause in Adam Yauch's will prevents any Beastie Boys music being used in advertising. The rapper, filmmaker and founding member of The Beastie Boys, also known by his alter ego McA, died at the age of 47 on May 4, after a long battle against salivary cancer. DNA Info revealed that Yauch has instructed in his will that his image, music and art is strictly forbidden to be used in advertising, as has often been the case for other deceased musicians, such as John Lennon and Nick Drake. Yauch entrusted his estate and the right to manage and sell his artistic property (more)...

It is the delicate nature of Justin Ringle’s voice that creates space for the music of his music collective, Horse Feathers, whose fingerpicked guitars, building tracks and potent material has drawn comparisons to Nick Drake and Fleet Foxes. We caught up with Ringle to discuss his latest album, the baroque-pop-filled Cynic’s New Year, which was released last month through Kill Rock Stars. Ringle brought us up to speed on the album’s themes, the set of collaborators featured on the album and Portland’s influence on his music....

Mumford & Sons have denied claims their new album will be "doom-folk". Bassist Ted Dwane previously described the band's second studio album as "Black Sabbath meets Nick Drake". However, singer Marcus Mumford has now denied claims they are writing "doom-folk". Mumford told NME: "That was a joke to an American journalist who didn't understand the concept of sarcasm. I called Ted [Dwane, double bassist] and was like, 'Ted, what have you done? We spent our whole first album trying to avoid being pigeonholed!'" Mumford added that the follow-up to 2009's Sigh No More will serve as an "evolution, (more)...

MTV's Gil Kaufman and James Montgomery hope the top nine will buck convention and show their age — in a good way.

By Gil Kaufman and James Montgomery

Jessica Sanchez on "American Idol"

Photo: Fox

So far this season, the finalists on "American Idol" haven't done a great job when it comes to song selection. Whether it's rescuing an obscure hair-metal tune by White Lion from history's trash heap or stupidly picking the same Adele song in the same week, these kids don't seem to have the magic touch.

That's why this week's theme — songs from their idols — is so pregnant with promise. Finally, an opportunity for Heejun, Colton, Jessica, Hollie and the gang to break out of their predictable been-there-done-that-downloaded the-iTunes-single-and-already-deleted-it ballad ghetto. Show producer Nigel Lythgoe has already let slip on Twitter that we can expect to hear "Beyonce, Mariah, Miranda, Lifehouse, Daughtry, Led Zeppelin." Zzzzzzzzzzz.

So we know...

MTV's Gil Kaufman and James Montgomery hope the top nine will buck convention and show their age — in a good way.

By Gil Kaufman and James Montgomery

Jessica Sanchez on "American Idol"

Photo: Fox

So far this season, the finalists on "American Idol" haven't done a great job when it comes to song selection. Whether it's rescuing an obscure hair-metal tune by White Lion from history's trash heap or stupidly picking the same Adele song in the same week, these kids don't seem to have the magic touch.

That's why this week's theme — songs from their idols — is so pregnant with promise. Finally, an opportunity for Heejun, Colton, Jessica, Hollie and the gang to break out of their predictable been-there-done-that-downloaded the-iTunes-single-and-already-deleted-it ballad ghetto. Show producer Nigel Lythgoe has already let slip on Twitter that we can expect to hear "Beyonce, Mariah, Miranda, Lifehouse, Daughtry, Led Zeppelin." Zzzzzzzzzzz.

So we know...

A musical feature film set in Wales, Hunky Dory was a long time coming as it struggled for funding, with open castings held for 16 to 20 year old singers in London, Manchester and Swansea back in 2009.

Filming wrapped in September 2010 and the film is finally getting its UK release in cinemas on March 2nd.

The film stars Hollywood actress Minnie Driver, whose father originally hails from Swansea, alongside an ensemble of young British talent including Aneurin Barnard (represented by Ken McReddie Associates), winner of the 2010 Olivier award for best actor in a musical for the West End musical Spring Awakening, newcomer Danielle Branch (represented by Regan Rimmer), with Fresh Meat star Kimberley Nixon (also Ken McReddie), and George Mackay (soon to be seen in upcoming feature Private Peaceful).

Hunky Dory is an engaging British twist on the heartache and heartbreak of putting on a show. In the sweltering summer of 1976 in Swansea,...

With the 2012 Grammy Awards upon us and everyone already thrilled for the big Beach Boys / Foster The People / Maroon 5 reunion (finally!), let’s take a second to remind ourselves of something we all already know and complain about every year: The Grammys are, without a doubt, the weirdest and most arbitrary awards show in the entire entertainment world. To re-prove this time-tested theory, we’ve scoured Grammy’s checkered past and compiled some of its most bizarre winners in a desperate search of some meaning for this odd gramophonic statue. From the awesomely-random to the just flat-out terrible, here’s a list of 13 People You Can’t Believe Won A Grammy: 1. Zach Braff Without rehashing the internet’s eminent disdain for Garden State, let’s just take a moment to acknowledge that an actual physical golden gramophone was given to Zach Braff for being the “compilation producer” of the...

Despite the fact that most of the tv spots and other movie-related fare (step forward off a cliff Honda’s Ferris Bueller nonsense) were released online in the days leading up to the Super Bowl the most expensive minutes of airtime certainly gave us all something to talk about last night.

In amidst the confused tweets about the rules of American Football there was blockbuster talk and plenty of it. So much so that cunning statsters Way to Blue (our absolute favourite company named after a Nick Drake song) have compiled this infographic which sets out the twitterstorm created by each of the night’s biggest film ads.

Given the absence of a Nolan Batman spot, or an example of the Amazingness of Spider-Man there’s no surprise that Marvel’s The Avengers caused the assembled geekery to run riot over Twitter with their Os and their Ms and a few Gs along the way.

On the occasion of his latest film, Shadow Dancer, hitting Sundance and finding distribution, James Marsh is taking to the publicity circuit to discuss projects both current and future. And, as it so happens, one his stops along the way was ThePlaylist, with whom he shared details on three potential, narrative projects that lie ahead.

One we’re only hearing of now is The Silent Land, which Marsh describes as a “very interesting, unusual supernatural story.” Based on Graham Joyce‘s novel, the story — which has been given a first draft by the director and Nick Drake — follows Jake and Zoe, a married couple who, after digging themselves out from an avalanche, discover that their hotel in the French Pyrenees is empty. That’s bad enough; but there’s also a complete silence in the area, any sort of communication is dead, and another avalanche is coming. After a series...

And so we have the second of our lists. Myself and, fellow WhatCulture music writer, Rhys Milsom have compiled another list of 10 albums to watch out for this year, this time focussing the latter half of the year and some of the releases with unspecified release dates that are due for dropping this year.

Judging by the releases on display, the end half of this year is going to be of just as high a calibre as that of the first half; with some classics in the making, big artists returning, up and comers proving their worth and make or break time for other artists.

2012 looks set to be an exciting time for music new and old, so at least if the world does end come December, musically speaking at least, we’ll be going out with a bang, not a whimper.

Marilyn Manson – Born Villain (early 2012)

Marilyn Manson needs no introduction.

We also take a look back at Sanjaya Malakar, David Archuleta, Stefano Langone and other 'Idol' standouts from seasons six through 10.

By Jim Cantiello

Chris Richardson

Photo: David Livingston/ Getty Images

After Wednesday night's "American Idol" season 11 premiere, you've gotten a glimpse at the talent pool and spotted some potential superstars-in-the-making. But what about the last 10 seasons of singers?

We already looked back at standouts from "Idol" seasons one through five, and now we're walking down memory lane to see what the alumni from seasons six through 10 have going on:

Season Six

The One You Know: Winner Jordin Sparks is making her big-screen debut this August with TriStar's remake of the '76 Supremes-inspired movie "Sparkle," co-starring the one and only Whitney Houston. Music-wise, Sparks showed off a new adult image in 2011 with "I Am Woman" and provided background vocals for Demi Lovato's anthem "Skyspcraper." Her third album is still Tba,...

Leo Records was founded in 1979 by Leo Feigin, a Russian who had emigrated to England. Early in its history, back before the glasnost era, it was most noted for releasing avant-garde Russian jazz at a time when government authorities discouraged the style. As Alexander Alexandrov of Moscow Composers Orchestra says, "What the authorities really hated was free jazz and improvised music – for the reason we loved it, because it was a powerful symbol of individual freedom." Although somehow the Ganelin Trio's first album came out on the official Soviet record label, Melodiya, it was the group's many albums on Leo that earned both the band and Leo world-wide reputations.

Eventually Leo expanded enough that it even had offshoots: Leo Lab for new artists, Golden Years of New Jazz for vintage material. Especially notable from the latter are four superb four-cd sets comprising a series entitled Golden Years of the Soviet...

Mumford & Sons have said that they consider playing new tracks in front of a live audience to be an integral part of their songwriting experience. The 'Ghosts That We Know' band are currently in the process of completing the follow-up to 2009's Sigh No More and have teased that the sophomore effort will be 'Black Sabbath meets Nick Drake'. Lead singer Marcus Mumford said that the group enjoys trying out new creations during performances as they tend to take on a new life when played in the concert environment. "Most of them, we're letting people hear as we've played live shows. We've kind of always just done that. We've kind of written a song and (more)...

Mumford & Sons have described their new material as sounding like "Black Sabbath meets Nick Drake". The band are currently working on the follow-up to 2009's Sigh No More, which has been certified platinum in the Us and four times platinum in the UK. Speaking to Rolling Stone about their second studio set, bassist Ted Dwane explained: "The second record is just a reflection of our mindsets, where we're all at. It's doom folk, kind of like Black Sabbath meets Nick Drake." The musician also admitted that the band were not expecting such a high level of commercial success when (more)...

Describing it as “kind of Black Sabbath meets Nick Drake,” the members of Mumford & Sons says their second album will build on the musical tone set on 2010’s “Sigh No More.” "[It's] certainly more mature, I’d say," bassist Ted Dwane told Rolling Stone. says. "The second record is just a reflection of our mindsets, where we’re all at. It’s doom folk. The multiple Grammy nominees, including for record and song of the year, just finished their last show of the year on Sunday at Kroq’s Acoustic Christmas in Los Angeles. [More after the jump...] Keyboardist Ben Lovett stresses that, despite...

Peter Kimpton tops up our writers' favourite film series with an ode to Charles Laughton's 1955 thriller, a tale as dark and disquieting as a half-forgotten dream

Want to write your own review of the film? Do so here – or brave the cut-throat comments section below

Motionless for 90 minutes, I could not even remove my coat. I sweated and shivered. I felt in shock. Was the film recreating scenes from my sleep? I had never seen, as far as I can recall, The Night of the Hunter. That is until a cold, wintry night in the 1990s when, working in Glasgow, I went to the city's Gft cinema to catch a new 35mm print of Charles Laughton's 1955 masterpiece. It was his only film as a director. Critics panned it on its release, consequently killing off the actor's career behind the camera, and perhaps robbing history of further works of greatness.

There’s a particular joy that comes from an excellent soundtrack accompanying an excellent movie. When the music matches the moment, from The Full Monty to Pulp Fiction to Cool Runnings, we experience a moment of aesthetic contentment.

But what about when the soundtrack is infinitely superior to the film? Buying soundtracks is often a great musical choice, because you get songs from a variety of artists – but what if the film they accompany was mediocre? Or worse still, one you’d never consider (or admit to) watching in a million years?

Here are a few that deserve to be placed in brown paper covers, or filed in itunes under a different name:

The ok-movie-Kickass soundtracks:

10 – About a Boy is a feelgood romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant (how very surprising, I hear you gasp), with a lovely script. It’s one of those films you enjoy, but can’t really remember.

AP Scottish folk guitarist Bert Jansch

Bert Jansch, who helped invigorate the British folk movement of the 1960s, died today in Hampstead, London, following a bout with lung cancer. He was 67.

Born in Glasgow, Jansch was one of the most influential guitarists of the 20th century, counting among his fans and followers Bernard Butler, Donovan, Nick Drake, Johnny Marr, Jimmy Page, Paul Simon and Neil Young. As a solo artist, with guitarist John Renbourn and later as a member of Pentangle,...

With a title like The Mistress, the debut LP by erstwhile one-man band Yellow Ostrich suggests that the musician at its core, Wisconsin native Alex Schaaf, feels no fidelity for any one musical style or influence. Throughout The Mistress’ 13 tracks—remastered and expanded for this Barsuk reissue—Schaaf is a home-recorded Dirty Projectors (“Hold On”), a male equivalent to cut-and-paste artist Juana Molina (“Libraries”), a plugged-in Nick Drake (“I’ll Run”), and a fantastic mimic of Jack White (the rollicking, Get Behind Me Satan-esque coda of “Hate Me Soon”). The Mistress also suggests that Schaaf and the now-three-piece ...

For more than a decade, Norwegian singer-songwriter Thomas Dybdahl has been crafting wispy, folk-informed pop songs, relying heavily on arresting orchestrations and his own multi-octave whisper-to-an-angelic-croon vocals. Obvious touchstones for Dybdahl’s work include Nick Drake, Scott Walker, and both Buckleys, though he bears some similarities to José González as well, and to the wave of British and Scandinavian acts that emerged in the early ’00s, all committed to investing their records with a kind of dramatic, cinematic sweep. Dybdahl has yet to gain much of a foothold Stateside, but perhaps that’ll change with Songs, an artfully chosen ...

By Zachary Swickey

L.A. surf-pop scenesters Best Coast are about to give their song “Our Deal” the video treatment, and frontwoman Bethany Cosentino has revealed in an interview with Rolling Stone that a gal pal of hers – none other than Drew Barrymore – will be directing the clip. The two met backstage at a show in L.A. and really hit it off.

“She’s the nicest, most down-to-Earth person I’ve ever met,” said Cosentino, who was clearly taken aback by Barrymore’s nonchalant character. “We were like, ‘How can we work together?’”

A music video directed by Barrymore seemed like the logical solution, as the actress made her directorial debut two years ago with the roller derby romp Whip It, starring Ellen Page and current hot commodity Kristen Wiig. Barrymore is not the only celeb attached to the video either; it will include appearances from iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove,...

Ah, my saavy surfers, when crafting my daily Love letters to you, there are some internet memes I just skip right past because I'm certain you've already seen, smirked and moved on. Such was the case with Hipster Ariel. However, this little slice of meme cosplay is worth a link. Hipster Ariel Irl. (Epic Ponyz)

Irl means "in real life" you guys, just in case you didn't know. I didn't know before I landed this gig and started trolling the sometimes skanky shores of Reddit. Til (today I learned) that Gui means Graphic User Interface. Here's a collection of film's most recognizable GUIs. ))<>(( Back and forth forever! (Access Main Computer File)

Who uses emoticons to flirt, anyway? It's all about these 52 non-verbal signals. I assure you #3 (solitary dance) is not in my arsenal (love is a battlefield). Why do the White Girl's Overbite, when a firm #43 gets the job done every time?...

Radiohead press shot by Sebastian Edge. I divested about 75 percent of my emotions concerning Radiohead about a decade ago. It wasn’t because I was a rockist and Johnny Greenwood stopped playing those stonking power chords (although I missed them). It wasn’t because Thom Yorke’s voice was any less gorgeous (although he did indulge in a penchant for occasionally burying it under various appliances). It was simply because I got very tired of watching other people listen to the band’s post-Kid A (really post-o.K. Computer, if I’m honest) releases and nod like they were really “getting it.” Radiohead became a kind of shortcut to rock depth, the way placing a few New Yorkers on your coffee table is a shortcut to, well, lit depth. For a few dollars (or for free, if you took them up on their offer to download 2007’s In Rainbows for...

There’s a quote floating around today from Robert Pattinson (photos) that has the blogosphere up in arms. Pattinson apparently tells The Sun about his musical pursuits, “I am sure I’ll be one of those artists that people don’t pay any attention to while I’m alive, and when I am dead people will go yeah, man, that was a work of art.” Er, internet? We’re kinda Robert Pattinson experts (Are we embarrassed to admit this? Yes. But it’s true.), and we’re fairly confident that he was joking. In case you’ve never seen one of the 20974020190200423 interviews the guy has done since 2008, he tends to be self-deprecating, sarcastic, and doesn’t take himself too seriously at all. This is, after-all, why he’s the dreamiest piece of not-so-buff man meat on the planet. So try not to take everything he says so G-d seriously.

He’s been in the news already once this week after he jumped ship from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – and now he’s back mounting a video-game adaptation of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune for Columbia Pictures. It seems a movie based on a game is appealed more than a ‘literary mash-up’ involving Jane Austen characters fighting zombies.

Holllywood has never been ashamed where it mines its movie material, and games have opened up an entire new universe to plunder. It is quite interesting to see Russell take on such an endeavour. Uncharted and its sequel sold in excess of six million copies, so it’s no slouch.

The director clearly sees something in the material, too, which featuring a treasure hunter named Nick Drake up to his neck in high adventure! Russell is also attached to ‘dramedy’ Old St. Louis starring Vince Vaughn and Chloe Moretz.

Stay tuned for more on this bizarre venture.