The Worst Gift is a Fruitcake

What a cracking title huh? 'The Worst Gift is a Fruitcake'. Is it though? We've had way worse. How about the history of Scotland, in Scottish? Now that's the worst present ever. Anyway, this show - curated by Charlotte Hopkins Hall - features lots of small works in a kind of arty/Christmas shop kind of exhibition. There's painting, drawing, photog... read on

The Future of Sketch Comedy

The Fix comedy magazine are always putting on interesting events and this week they're doing a sketch comedy gig   presenting 'ones to watch for 2009'. Bishop and Douch, Delete the Banjax, Harbingers, Four Sad Faces and LADMA will all be performing some of their best stuff. The Fix discovered Pappy's Fun Club, now one of the most popular sketch ... read on

The Watch Man

The Watch Man is an art/science video installation produced by contemporary artist Shona Illingworth in collaboration with Leeds University neuropsychologist Professor Martin A Conway, an expert in the field of trauma memory. The work documents the experiences of an 80-year-old watchmaker who was traumatised as a youth during World War II. An interes... read on

Moshi Moshi and Witchita

Moshi Moshi and Wichita team up to throw the mother of all Christmas Parties.

With Swedish indie pop duo First Aid Kit have being the first to be announced, the gang have added cute-as-a-button folksters Slow Club and alternative rockers Sky Larkin to the bill and there's still one more to come...

Click here or watch this space to find out who. read on

Tin Soldier

Aitherios Theatre bring their multi-national, multi-faceted interpretation of the Tin Soldier to The Courtyard for a festive residency. This Hans Christian Anderson story is of course a staple of Christmas time, but this avant-garde interpretation by a multi-national troupe of physical performers, while still enchanting for children, is rather diffe... read on

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Imagine if the Ramones traded in their leather jackets for anoraks, or Stephen Pastel actually threw Aggi off the bridge and married Black Tambourine's Pam Berry and had four babies that formed a pop band, then you'll be imagining The Pains of Being Pure Hearts, a weirdly alluring four-piece from New York who we shouldn't like but kind of do. An... read on

Rhod Gilbert

Rhod Gilbert finds himself standing in the Coffee shop bit, armed with a travel pillow, a flask and a very powerful torch, aggressively demanding to know more about an 'Award-Winning Mince Pie' on display on the counter. Suddenly aware of what he is doing, Rhod is forced to acknowledge that he may be having a very mild nervous breakdown. How d... read on

Kicker Conspiracy

Kicker Conspiracy presents an intriguing line up of up-and-coming artists at the Legion's Xmas bash. Liverpudlian singer-songwriter Eugene McGuinness tops the bill with his funny yet poignant indie-folk, with an eclectic supporting cast including Nick Harrison, Gold Teeth and Cosmo Jarvis.
read on

Stereolab

Not to be confused with the Stereo MCs (honestly there's a guy in our office who is convinced these guys did 'Get Yourself Connected') Stereolab was one of the first bands where the term post-rock could be applied, thanks to them pioneering a sound that mixes krautrock with '50s and '60s pop, lounge music and Situationist Marxism. Although the p... read on

The Thief of Baghdad

Sometime in the near future: three children find themselves caught up in a war raging across London. They take shelter in a theatre, where the Stage Door Keeper befriends them and tells them a story that plunges the children back into the magical world of the Arabian Nights. From futuristic London, to modern Syria, to ancient Persia, this is a fa... read on

Big Fat Trouble

Big Fat! beats for fatties courtesy of Trouble Vision and Chew The Fat!

The remarkable Trevor Loveys (Switch) is headlining. His new Tragic Magic stuff is simply sublime. High octane, jackin' house and techno.

He's joined tonight by Herve and some other bloody good chaps to serve you a loaded plate of electronic delights. read on

Rough Trade's Christmas Party

Man, we love Rough Trade. Not only is it the only place you can buy Dickies albums and super-strong coffee at the same time at their shop, they also make amazing how-the-hell-did-they-manage-to-convince-THEM-to-play-here parties happen. As it's Christmas, the guys have pulled out all the stops for this epic night of music down in Great Eastern S... read on

Friends & Family

Ahh, Friends and Family - the excellent longstanding showcase who manage to be both underground and ahead of the curve. F & F is organised by Fat City Recordings - specialists in the music staples that are hip hop, funk, soul and jazz - a label which originated in Manchester as a record shop. The guests they attract are always stellar. Tonight ... read on

Nine Lessons and Carols

Jimminy Crickets this looks good! For starters it's a show celebrating all things rational and scientific, debunking Winterval myths spouted by religious ninnies by way of comedy and song.  Rather than talking of the birth of Jesus, acclaimed science author Simon Singh will talk about the birth of the universe. Instead of talking about Gold, Frankin... read on

Nothing Wrong With Covers

Remember Stars in Their Eyes, where some bricky would sing a song dressed as Sheena Easton? Well There's Nothing Wrong with Covers is basically the same thing - a bunch of awesome bands dressing up and playing the music of another bunch of awesome bands. Tonight sees Popular Workshop running through a set of Nirvana covers, Lets Wrestle presentin... read on