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As has been the case in previous years, once again the short films of the London Film Festival continue to demonstrate the eclecticism of the festival programmers’ tastes. Despite being the UK’s largest film festival, the team behind this 68th edition of Lff aren’t afraid to have shorts from filmmakers of various backgrounds sitting next to each other. Watching through the programmes on offer, you’ll see student filmmakers next to established directors, horror shorts sitting alongside intimate documentaries, high budgets next to low budgets. It’s just a wonderful mix of films that are clearly put together without any sort of prejudice or preconceived assumptions. Below you’ll find a list of ten short films from the festival this year that we deemed recommendation-worthy but bear in mind the programme is very much worth your time across the board. So, once you’ve finished with this list,...

The World Cup is over and done with and it’s time for normal life to resume. For most of us that means work, work, work. Often, inspiration can be hard to come by but sometimes you can just walk out into the big city and find it all around you. This week we’ve rounded up some of London’s most inspiring voices to help get our our creative juices flowing. Better understand your director.Do you struggle with getting inside a director’s head? Struggle no more! This week there are two opportunities to find out what makes quirky, Oscar-nominated film director Whit Stillman (“Metropolitan”) tick as he talks about two of his best loved movies. On 20 July, he’ll be talking about Last Days of Disco and the next night he’ll chat about all things connected with period drama Love & Friendship, starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloë Sevigny.

James Bowen's best-selling memoir becomes a charming film. Here's our review of the cat-laden A Streetcat Named Bob...

Cats are an endless source of public fascination, from infinite YouTube videos to the meteoric rise of Grumpy Cat, moggies are affectionately ingrained in global culture. Felines barking counterparts are the subject of many household films, yet cats are seemingly lagging behind when it comes to cinematic representation, a feat which A Street Cat Named Bob charmingly attempts to correct. Adapted from former busker James Bowen’s bestselling memoir (which spent 76 weeks in the UK’s Top 10 bestseller list, together with 30 language translations) A Street Cat Named Bob is a beguiling and transformative tale of feline friendship.

Haggard recovering heroin addict James (The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time’s Luke Treadaway) is trapped in a destitute cycle of homelessness and meagre vagrancy on the unforgiving streets of a perpetually sodden London.

I may be hopping on this “band”wagon a bit late, but Noah And The Whale undeniably deserve the title as Shockya’s Artist Of The Week with their latest album, “Heart Of Nowhere”, which dropped on May 6th via Mercury Records. Following the release of “Last Night on Earth”, “The First Days of Spring” and “Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down”, the 10 track album is lyrically mesmerizing and relatable, which easily allowed me to forgive them for their awful 2011 single, “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.” No band should be wasting precious verses with spelling words or counting numbers for that matter. Currently consisting of Charlie Fink (vocals, guitar), Tom Hobden (violin, keys), Matt [ Read More ]

The post Artist Of The Week: Noah And The Whale appeared first on Shockya.com.

Noah & the Whale have revealed plans to expand into filmmaking.

The UK five-piece created a short film for their latest single 'There Will Come a Time'.

"After we wrote a couple of songs I had a theme for a film - adolescence, coming of age," singer Charlie Fink told the Daily Star.

"It is set in a world where teenagers are separated from society on an island called Teen Land where they stay until deemed mature enough to return. It's about four friends who find out they can leave and it's their last night together."

Fink revealed that the band's dream collaboration would be with David Lynch.

"I'm taking it to film festivals to see how it goes down," he said of the video. "I'd like to do more."

Noah & the Whale's fourth studio album Heart of Nowhere debuted earlier in May.

Greetings New Music Mix Readers. You may have noticed I took a brief hiatus from my bi-weekly roundups. Well this past month I participated in a show on MTV that will be airing this summer. Check back on AfterElton.com once it airs as I’ll be recapping my experience and filling you all in on the inside gossip.

On February 28th, I had the chance to catch Lady Gaga and Scissor Sisters in Chicago at the United Center on Gaga’s second North American leg of her Monster Ball Tour. I must say that if you have the chance to go see her perform, take it. She is undoubtedly one of the best entertainers of our time.

While this was my second time catching a Lady Gaga performance it was my first Scissor Sisters one. In the last year I’ve become an ever-increasing fan of the sexiness that...

Noah and the Whale’s somber-yet-pretty brand of folk earned them high acclaim when they debuted their sophomore album The First Days of Spring, a chilling breakup record written after Natw lead singer Charlie Fink broke up with longtime girlfriend and English folk artist Laura Marling. The First Days of Spring had the feeling of Fink moving on, and now his music has too, as evidenced in the video for “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.” off of the band’s upcoming Last Night On Earth....

Laura Marling has blasted the press for intruding into her private life. The 'Devil's Spoke' star was dating Noah and the Whale singer Charlie Fink when she first rose to fame, although they split following the release of her 2008 album Alas, I Cannot Swim. Fink then channelled his grief following their break-up into his band's second record The First Days Of Spring, which Marling believes the press have since read too much into with regards to the pair's relationship. "I had a copy of the album, which was very nice of him to send me, but I just wasn't expecting it," she told The Guardian. (more)...

Hometown: London, U.K.

Band Members: Charlie Fink (vocals, guitar), Doug Fink (drums), Urby Whale (bass) Tom Hobden (fiddle)

Album: The First Days of Spring

For Fans Of: Belle & Sebastian, Bon Iver, The Dodos

The coping begins in procession, with booming tympani drums setting the pace for a slow, drudging march as a lone horn sounds. This is a eulogy, of sorts, for Noah and the Whale lead singer Charlie Fink's relationship with his longtime girlfriend Laura Marling, whose back-up vocals uplifted Fink's wistful lyrics of unrequited love on his band's 2008 debut. And so this song—the title track of Noah and the Whale's sophomore release, The First Days of Spring—is not just an introduction to the album, the band's most ambitious work yet. It's the sound of Fink moving on with his life, with the emotional weight of a full orchestra pushing him forward. "It's the first day of spring,...

Songwriter Charlie Fink has said that he wants to make a "real rock album" while he is still capable of doing so. The singer is the frontman of Noah & The Whale, who recently released their second LP First Days Of Spring. Fink told London Lite: "Now I want to make a real rock album. You know, while I still can. "A mature man pulls off the acoustic guitar better, but a younger gentleman can rock a Fender Jaguar." He added: "For me, what I do is primarily about writing. I enjoy (more)...

Songwriter Charlie Fink has said that he wants to make a "real rock album" while he is still capable of doing so. The singer is the frontman of Noah & The Whale, who recently released their second LP First Days Of Spring. Fink told London Lite: "Now I want to make a real rock album. You know, while I still can. "A mature man pulls off the acoustic guitar better, but a younger gentleman can rock a Fender Jaguar." He added: "For me, what I do is primarily about writing. I enjoy (more)...