The Last Exorcism (15)
Stamm's mock documentary resurrects all the tropes familiar to horror
Locarno Film Festival
Whether past glories or new delights Locarno brings out the magic of cinema
The Mission
The autobiography of a leading light of anti-apartheid struggle
Beyond student humour
Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Dipping into the Fringe to discover the youthful energy in this year's programme
The Green Man
The Green Man festival has come a long way since it was conceived in 2003 by folk duo Jo & Danny as a platform for themselves and other modern artists of the same ilk, such as The Beta Band, to celebrate all things folk.
The Strange Death Of Liberal England
Big orchestra bands are clearly the thing of the moment.
The Pines
This US duo bring to mind the rustic modern folk of Bon Iver and Iron & Wine and the country storytelling tradition of Townes Van Zandt - and they're not out of their depth in such company.
Music that's always on the move
Michael Weston King is the master of reinvention, of never standing still. On the back of a classic album of original country duets (more of that later), the man who is one of Britain's greatest singer-songwriters has turned to protest songs.
Breaking the sound barrier
The experience of female music fans illustrates the internet's capacity for autonomy and empowerment.
Summer Sundae
Based around De Montfort Hall in Leicester, Summer Sundae is now in its 10th year. The festival has built an excellent reputation and has grown in stature exponentially year on year. It's come a long way since 2001 when 14 acts including Morcheeba were showcased across two stages.
Kristin Hersh
The core of Crooked was uploaded onto Kristin Hersh's CASH Music site as a work in progress for download and feedback throughout 2007-09. Having been demoed and produced in the public domain, it would have been vulgar to make the tracks commercially available on old-fashioned CD.
Richard Thompson
Richard Thompson has a heritage that stretches back to the 1960s when, as a teenager, he was a founding member of English folk-rock group Fairport Convention. For that act alone we should be eternally grateful.
Arlo Guthrie
Though Arlo Guthrie's British tour somehow ended up in Last Of The Summer Wine territory, this was no retro excursion through the past - though Arlo Guthrie did confess that he was in many ways more comfortable singing the old songs. And he did conclude - before the inevitable series of encores - with his father Woody Guthrie's anthem to his homeland This Land Is Your Land.