Culture

‘Burning Down the House’: A review 

During the odd ‘in-between’ space that is Week 0, I searched for a show to give me something to do, amid the random dilly-dallying and the odd collection currently occupying my time.

Why ‘No Bad Memories’ is my album of the year

I didn't expect how perfectly my personal happiness would fit an album so preoccupied with the sounds of old advertisements and obsolete electronics, filled with the relentless optimism of a world that believed the future could only get better. 

CUSP’s Dan Stock on the memories behind ‘English Country’

On Friday, CUSP, a Milton Keynes-based indie rock band, released their debut album, English...

A jarring Mann: ‘Fatherland’ (2026) in review

'Fatherland', which recounts celebrated Modernist author Thomas Mann’s return to a Germany in wreck and rubble, deals with great personal malaise against a backdrop of great political unease.

Arrangements in ballet music: missing the pointe?

Sophia Lambton examines how transferable excerpts from classical arrangements can be

One to watch: Clean Bandit

Natasha Frost introduces a new classical/hip hop/electronica band

Quality Street?: Michaelmas drama

James Fennemore looks back at the treats offered last term

Political pens

Christy Edwall explores the role of South African Fiction under the Secrecy Bill and post-Apartheid

Vacation in Vienna

Alice Bullough gives us a glimpse into the lives of the people of Austria's capital.

Review: Amy Winehouse – Lioness: Hidden Treasures

Susan Yu finds a mixed bag of new songs and old favourites on the singer's posthumous album

Santa among the Victorians

Jack Powell looks into our literary heritage for the roots of our Christmas traditions

Review: Nuel – Trance Mutation

Harry Scholes enters into a trance with techno stalwart Nuel's hypnotic new album

Review: One Man, Two Guvnors

Daniel Frampton visits the Adelphi Theatre for a welcome change from the Christmas pantomime

Review: The Human Centipede 2

Joseph Newall is under-stimulated by Tom Six's latest helping of 'torture porn'

Short and Sweet

Benjamin McEvoy reviews the short films at the Leeds International Film Festival

Where the Wild Things Are

Patrick Thorpe interviews Wild Beasts singer Hayden Thorpe

Review: Hugo

Jacob Williamson is touched by Martin Scorsese's unexpected offering

Review: Moneyball

Jacob Williamson is impressed by this intelligent sports film

Limp Pens

Christy Edwall considers the quirks of literary anti-prizes in general, and the 2011 Bad Sex in Literature Award in particular.

Review: South Pacific

James Blythe is swept away by this production at Oxford's New Theatre

Review: An Island

En Liang Khong follows Danish band Efterklang's move into cinema

Review: Curling King

Joseph Newall takes a look back at his film of the year, the Norwegian 'Kong Curling'

Review: My Week with Marilyn

Jacob Williamson is charmed by a hazy portrait of the cultural icon

Review: The Vaccines, O2 Academy

Harry Scholes expresses his disappointment at The Vaccines sell-out gig on 29th November

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