Regina Spektor

I've been listening to Regina Spektor again recently, whose album Begin To Hope briefly catapulted the self-styled 'Bronx girl by way of Moscow' into the limelight a year or so ago; 'Fidelity' and 'On the Radio' getting a decent amount of mainstream radio airplay. But on reflection, I think I'm still a bigger fan of her EP, Soviet Kitsch, which feels less polished and rougher round the edges, all soaring vocals and inventive piano coming to together to create both heartfelt and frequently surreal narratives. The song above, then, is taken from Soviet Kitsch, and includes a wonderfully bizarre montage video that reminds me of some of the Smashing Pumpkins better ones, not least 'Thirty-Three' and the excellent 'Tonight, Tonight', inspired by Georges Méliès' silent film A Trip to the Moon.

Latitude 2009

Well, it's that time of year again... When those festival goers with exceptional taste head out to the Suffolk countryside to enjoy three days of great music, poetry, literature, cabaret, film and comedy at the wonderful, indefatigable Latitude festival.

Sadly though, I won't be attending this year, and am particularly gutted as the line-up for the Poetry Arena looks at least as strong - if not stronger - than when I was reviewing and blogging on the festival last year and the year before. Tim Turnbull, Tim Wells, Jackie Kay, Simon Armitage, Kathyrn Simmonds, Helen Mort, Caroline Bird, Emily Berry, Andrew Motion, Paul Farley - Latitude attracts some serious poetic talent, and unsurprisingly the tent's audience often spills into the sunshine outside: Armitage was particularly popular on both the Poetry and Literary stages last year, and Daljit Nagra drew a big, midday crowd.

This year, there's also music from the likes of The Pet Shop Boys, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Regina Spektor, Patrick Wolf, Bat for Lashes, Editors, Gossip and Spiritualised, and comedy from Stephen K. Amos, Dave Gorman, Rufus Hound, Jo Brand, Lee Mack, Marcus Brigstocke and Ed Byrne.

As I say, I'm gutted I'm not going. Maybe next year...