Entertainment

By Alex Jones Part of the Arcade Fire family, Will Butler may not have been your first guess for which member of the nine strong indie legends would stray into solo territory. Then again, there’s so damn many of them, any bet would’ve been an outside one. The bassist/keyboardist/percussionist takes centre stage on this, his first full-length release away from the band. Actually, calling it “full length” might be a bit deceiving. Policy is only eight songs long and is...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Monday 15th June at the Royal Albert Hall will be a night to remember, celebrating the life and works of legendary blues guitarist Lead Belly. Van Morrison, Jools Holland and Laurence Jones had already confirmed some time ago, but now a number of great new artists have joined the an ever-growing lists of acts. Billy Bragg, Eric Bibb and Walter Trout are just a small selection of musicians, that have now announced their intentions to play. Lead Belly Fest is a...

By Esin Huseyin (@Esin_Huseyin) Bush Hall, London, 26/2/15 Grant Nicholas took to the stage last week to showcase his debut solo album Yorktown Heights. This full UK tour follows on from his sold-out shows earlier this year. The venue was beautiful Bush Hall, an intimate and decadent Victorian music hall - perfect for the likes of Grant Nicholas. The crowd slowly shuffled into the room awaiting the support act, only instead of five-piece WINTERHOURS we were greeted by one fifth...

A list of the top 15 greatest ever TV shows has been compiled by Sky Atlantic with Breaking Bad and the Big Bang Theory both landing in the top 5.  It seems we could be living in a second Golden Age of television with eight of the top 15 TV shows made in the past ten years. Along with Breaking Bad and the Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones landed in seventh place beating time-honoured British classic Doctor Who, which finished...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  “You have no idea how great the London Symphony Orchestra can sound in a great concert hall," Sir Simon Rattle told the BBC’s Will Gompertz ahead of a sold-out London residency with the Berlin Philharmonic at the Barbican. As news trickled through today that he is to join the LSO in 2017, one has to wonder, will this prompt a rejuvenation of British classical music? LSO is undoubtedly one of the greatest...

By Declan Roberts (DeclanMR) Making a second solo record when you're one half of the Gallagher brothers must be a very difficult task. Sure enough, we're not talking about Liam here. He's knocking around somewhere tapping his feet in secret to his brother's new single 'Ballad of the Mighty I' which even sounds like an ode to the triumph of Noel's non-stop rocket trajectory to victory. And now that always superior shoegazers Ride have returned to the limelight Liam has found himself kicked...

By Esin Huseyin (@esin_huseyin) Last week I got the chance to catch up with Kate, front woman of Gallows Ghost, a 6 piece band with influences in folk and electronic rock and roll. With the arrival of their EP Arrows, we get behind the band to talk about some of their best performances, hobbies, and influences. TLE: For people that aren't familiar with you guys, how would you describe your sound? GG: We have described it as electronic rock and...

By Steve Taggart To quote Adam Smith – is “Every man lives by sharing”. The simple fact of stepping onto a stage, with no idea of what your fellow improvisers are going to say or do, means you have to be open and receptive, and ready to reciprocate. A core improvisation rule is “Yes… and” i.e. take an idea, react positively and then respond.  Taking what is offered to you and adding something to that offer yourself is perhaps one...

With ten years, one name change and three critically-acclaimed albums under their belt, why aren't Leeds hard rockers Hawk Eyes on the radar of every punk, metalhead and heavy music enthusiast in the country? It's hard to say, but with the release of their  latest album 'Everything Is Fine' earlier this month; 'the most thrilling and visceral of listens',  the band looks set to seize a slice of the recognition they deserve. We caught up with Hawk Eyes drummer John Mackenzie at...