Features

A surreal cab journey from Valencia airport. Fifi Trixibelle, sister of Peaches Geldof, is in the back of our cab on the way to the Benicassim Festival site, and we arrive to the sight of Iggy & The Stooges creating a massive stage invasion which desperate security tried to hold back...

I've blogged previously about Grindhouse's abysmal showing at the American box office, and last night I finally got to see the version of Tarantino's extended Death Proof segment that's getting a UK release in September.

See live footage of 'Chips Ahoy' too

Is it weird to like a record even though it reminds you, however faintly, of something you never liked very much? I only ask because I've been playing this new Iron & Wine record quite a lot this past couple of weeks.

I know we have to stop banging on about the Latitude festival at some point this year, but I've just been going through some of your comments on the Uncut Latitude blog. I've never seen such a positive response on the Uncut blogs before, exemplified by Dave's pithy, "Superb. Great Atmosphere. Great Organisation." I've just done a bit of unscientific number-crunching, and can now exclusively reveal your favourite bands of the weekend.

Live footage of 'Same Kooks' from their London show too

Just back from the Mercury Music Prize scrum down in Covent Garden. I realise that making a fuss about this sort of thing is playing into the hands of the organisers, on the grounds that any publicity is good publicity and all. And, yes, there are a bunch of records here that I like: the Arctic Monkeys (a deserving winner, I'd say), Amy Winehouse and the Klaxons, for a start. I guess as a measure of how healthy new British music is right now, it's OK. And the absence of Editors, The Fratellis, The Twang and so on is mildly satisfying.

Without wanting to turn this space into a shameless plug for Uncut, I’d just like to point you in the direction of the blogs the Uncut team has been posting on www.uncut.co.uk over the weekend from the Latitude festival.

Tell us your memories of the weekend

They call this time the gloaming -- night coming down, all colours leached from the sky. It seems a remarkably appropriate moment for the Arcade Fire to take the stage and close Latitude Year two with an enormous bang. And some fireworks.