It’s quite a good time for new bands at the moment in our corner of the world, what with Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes riding a mild wave of critical acclaim in the wake of South By Southwest and so on. To that list we can add White Denim, another hit at SXSW that I’ve already written about here a while back.

Viva La Vida to be released this Summer

Yes, the second of our monthly club nights is nearly upon us

Mike Leigh discovers optimism in cheerful London tale

Belgium hosts Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes in violent black comedy

Leafing through last week's edition of Entertainment Weekly during a quiet moment in the office, I came across a three-quarter page spread devoted to a new band called She & Him. The "Him" here is M Ward while -- and this is what piqued my curiousity -- the "She" is Zooey Deschanel, the American indie actress who made her rep in David Gordon Green's brilliant All The Real Girls. It struck me, following on from Scarlett Johannson's album of Tom Waits' covers, that this is the second time in as many months an alt-Hollywood "It" Girl has made a record. Which, inevitably, led me to wonder why exactly the good ladies and gentlemen of the movie industry feel the need to divert their talents out of their immediate comfort zone and into the world of music.

Clash legend says it's wrong that the Babyshamble has been jailed

Springsteen and RATM guitarist perform together at two US gigs

The former Beatle to play US, Canada and Australia

Noel Gallagher to get sneak preview