The annual jaunt to Victoria Park for Groove Armada's Lovebox festival is always one of the highlights of the summer for us at Londonist. And 'cos the sun is shining today, we thought we'd remind you of summer by offering up three copies of the 'Lovebox Weekender' double CD compilation for you to win. Put together with some of the best artists from our Lovebox as well as the one in Ibiza, both Tom......

With V last weekend, and Reading zooming up on the horizon, we're feeling quite the festival goers at the moment and looking forward to the mighty Bestival in 3 weeks. Set up by Rob Da Bank in 2004 as a spin off from his Sunday Best clubnight at Tearoom Des Artistes in Wandsorth, it combines an anything goes (albeit it slightly leftfield) music policy with a whole bunch of fun from a fancy dress......

We're a big fan of gigs at Union Chapel in Islington and this Wednesday it's set to be blessed by various part of current British indie royalty with the debut solo show from Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows. We like Andy because he has to deal with Johnny Borrell on a regular basis, and we hear that's not a very easy feat. We also massively enjoy the fact that he wrote the band's biggest hit......

It was somehow appropriate that Bill Oddie should be in attendance to witness the final display of England's finest young songbird on the eve of her maiden migration to the winter warmth of Texas and California. Laura Marling closed her brief national tour on Sunday night playing to an audience entirely composed of purchasers of the lavish Songbox version of her debut album, "Alas, I Cannot Swim" in a performance at the Union Chapel......

Ahead of the opening of Terminal 5, Heathrow is trialling biometric security checks with passengers who transfer onto domestic flights from Terminal 1. According to BAA, the airport operator, the added checks are needed because international and domestic transfer passengers go through the same areas. Should you happen to be transferring onto a domestic flight through Terminal 1 between now and March 27 when Terminal 5 opens, and agree to having your photograph and......

On a cold winter night in North London, we meet with hotly tipped indie pop beat combo The Wave Pictures before their gig at the Islington Bar Academy. Counting Jeffrey Lewis, Dean Wareham, Darren Hayman and Herman Düne as fans David Tattersall (vocals, guitar), Franic Rozycki (bass) and Jonny 'Huddersfield' Helm talk to us about their inspirations and what it's like to be finally getting recognition after years of obscurity. How would you describe......

Fed up of the froth, mirth and sentimentality of the Yuletide muzak yet? To bring you an antidote and alternative soundtrack for your Christmas holidays we caught up with the utterly charming Roi Robertson of Mechanical Cabaret over a sorbet and peppermint tea and ruminated on the band's latest single, pastoral London views and the fact that we've never seen him and Noel Fielding in the same room together... Who's in the band? I......

Just out the Van: Autumn is definitely upon us - time to start wrapping up at home with a good book. Or you could throw caution to the (nippy) wind and head to Book Slam next Thursday to bask in the warm glow of literati (gliterati?) including Sarfraz Manzoor (reading from his memoir "Greetings from Bury Park"), Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Netsayi, and poet Polar Bear... Next Thursday at Neighbourhood, £5/£6, 12 Acklam Road, W10 5QZ,......

Having appeared as the Velvet Underground in I Shot Andy Warhol as well as frequently contributing to indie film soundtracks, Yo La Tengo is no stranger to the dark of the cinema aisles. The contrast between spacious noise drone and gentle melodies that dominates their songs sometimes evokes a mood reminiscent of days spent indoors watching old movies flicker across even older screens. The feeling that the next frame might just be the one......

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they......

Typically 80s nights can be either a bit naff or full of students singing along to songs they're not old enough to know, but we're happy to come across one that sounds like actual, amazing fun. Prom Night is in town at the Buffalo Bar this Saturday, and as it's the last one in a while, we thought it only fitting to catch up with the boys and girls for their last dance. When......

While enjoying an ever-growing following in his native land, David Cross isn't the household name he deserves to be on our side of the Atlantic. This may change in a few weeks, however, as tonight marks the first performance in a ten-day residency for the American comedian at Oxford Street's 100 Club entitled "A Really Lovely Night Out With David Cross And Friends". Supporting his stand-up routine and earning their "and friends" title will......

It’s a surprisingly busy Wednesday night at the Soho Revue Bar for a new acts showcase, and Londoner Alice McLaughlin has her work cut out. Sandwiched between two certified oddballs — louche kimono-clad innuendo machine Antony Elvin and equal parts junkyard blues-ster/mad inventor Thomas Truax, Alice is that far from rare breed: a girl with an acoustic guitar. How do you stick in the audience’s minds in that company? Here’s how. It helps if......

Tonight at Plastic People the creator of what is easily this year's best techno album makes his live UK debut. The Field (Stockholm's Axel Willner) will turn Shoreditch sublime with help from Kompakt labelmate Tobias Thomas (appearing in support of his new mix CD "Please Please Please") and Allez-Allez DJs. We've almost fallen in front of many a bus walking around the city lost in Willner's brilliant record. The safety of the club, and......

It's Eurovision down-time, and we've been a bit quiet. All the songs have been selected (they're selected early so the CD can be made). Now we're just waiting for Helsinki 2007 to kick off. So what to do during down-time? You could work out how much it would cost to go from London to Berlin, onto Paris to Tallinn, Helsinki, Prague and Amsterdam as Scooch sing. Fun! You could try to predict the winner!......

Eagle-eyed Londonist loyalists may have noticed that our obsession with Lucky Soul was reflected by BBC London who featured the band on the evening news a few weeks ago. A highlight of that little piece was a glimpse of the fantastic video for the new single 'Add Your Light To Mine, Baby', a YouTube version of which you can see below. As is now customary with Lucky Soul singles, we're celebrating the release by......

Tomorrow, the BBC announce the acts that will be in contention to represent the UK in Eurovision. Making Your Mind Up, the show, will be held sometime in the next few weeks. Whispers have been flying around for months about who'll be in the running, with some rumours hitting the headlines (yep, Morrissey), but as yet, nobody knows for sure. This year marks the UK's 50th Eurovision entry, as well as the 40th anniversary......

As we mentioned yesterday we went along to see Goodfinger last night and we weren't disappointed: Sorry to Johnny B for cutting his guitar solo short! Now we've had a chance to listen the the CD properly we're even more impressed and have no problem in recommending that you get yourselves down to The MacBeth, 70 Hoxton Square this Friday for their 10pm set.......

Since The Camden Crawl returned in 2005 we've always looked forward to the seemingly annual event. It's always a good place to catch people who are going to be massive in the year ahead and last year we ran round Camden watching The Automatic, The Guillemots, The Pipettes and Paolo Nuitini amongst others, and we assume 2007 will be no different. Tickets always go very quickly for the Crawl, often before the line-up is......

Every day this month the Londonist team will be pointing you in the direction of a Christmas present that (with a bit of luck) you won't already have on your list. Climb up onto our collective lap and we'll see what we can move from our sack to your stockings... You're reading this so there's a fair chance you like London. But how much? We've got a present here that really separates the full......

Last summer we came across The Modern - a London-based electro band - who finally were signed and began releasings singles earlier this year. Celebration turned into chaos though, when their second single Industry was disqualified from the charts due to irregular buying patterns and they were dropped by their label. But, now they're back. Hooray! Albeit with a brand new name, Matinee Club and slightly smaller line up. Tonight, Matinee Club, play at Too......

Just a quick reminder that you can catch The Woodentops at The Luminaire this Thursday and we've got some tickets and an exclusive tour CDs to give away. Failing that, if you're a big loser, you'll still be entitled to special 2-for-1 pricing on tickets for the Luminaire gig. To be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets or a copy of the CD you just need to give us the......

If you haven't already heard, The Woodentops are back, reforming for their first live dates in 14 years. Unlike other reformed bands, The Woodentops line-up will be the same people - front man Rolo, Benny Staples on drums, Frank de Freitas on bass and Simon Mawby on guitar - that scored a string of hits in the 80s, including Good Thing, Well Well Well and Move Me. They disbanded in 1992 but the enduring......

Oh no, not more sport! At the risk of sounding like a skipping CD, this is getting ridiculous. With Wimbledon added to the surfeit of sporting action on the small screen, there's even less room for actual, interesting programmes than ever. Summer of sport our collective arse (excluding our beloved sports desk of course!). Come, friendly clouds, and pour down rain on Wimbledon until the sexist pigs who run the thing are made to......

We always like to flag up the various free, secret or just downright weird gigs that occur in the capital from time to time, so as soon as we read the latest entry over at DJ Shadow's online diary we had to post the details up here: What's up everybody. The album's done. It's being mastered next week. In fact I'm presenting it to my label this friday in London. If anybody is in......

A day earlier than usual, here's the Londonist skinny on next week's giggage. Tonight: Not just the Blang night we mentioned last week but also a night of aMIGO's blues-funk, courtesy of Tim Staffell, the man whose band became Queen, at the George IV, 185 Chiswick High Road. Friday: So on the one hand we have glitterpunks Lorca at Purple Turtle making lots of noise and on the other Whirlwind Heat return with new......

Knickers. Where would we be without them? Well some of us would be slightly chilly today while others would be left with nothing to think about all day while pretending to work. A world without knickers would be like having the toy in a Kinder Surprise without the chocolate egg or an Avril Lavigne CD without the case to look at. We love knickers. And so not surprisingly do the lingerie loving bloggers over......

A while back we mentioned this slice of Japanese weirdness hoping to promote our fair city over in the land of the rising city-stomping-monsters. This morning we got the CD itself through the post thanks to our man in Tokyo, Dan. We've had the song on repeat ever since. It's got a distinctive Beatles flavour, but is obviously miles ahead of any of the crap that those guys put out. It's covered in copyright......

Once a month Londonist sits down with a pile of the months releases that have dropped through our letterbox. Since we're almost at the end of April, we'd better get on with it. The Victorian English Gentlemen's Club - Amateur Man (Single released 3rd April on Fantastic Plastic) A double jab of schizotic art punk on the VEGC's second single. It has all the energy of a rendition of Knees Up Mother Brown in an......

The Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer is normally full of QEH attendees milling around awkwardly before taking their seats in the auditorium, sipping warm gin and tonics and avoiding eye contact with one another in that peculiar London theatre audience way... but this sunny Bank Holiday afternoon, everything was different. We said it was going to be swinging on South Bank this Bank Holiday weekend... and it was. The QEH foyer was full of people......