We are very excited about this year's Nationwide Mercury Music Prize nominations. Not only did we personally manage to guess 9 out of 12 correctly, but some Londonist favourites are nicely sitting in the mix with the unnervingly young Laura Marling, the mighty Elbow, dazzling jazz stars Portico Quartet and dubstep hero Burial all on the list. What we're really excited about is the inclusion of Neon Neon - Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip's......

When we heard about the Battersea Power Station was to be open to the public (thanks Annie Mole!) over the past weekend, we rushed down with camera ready. And, yes indeed, the iconic landmark was there to be roamed around in all its massive glory. The folks putting on the show made us check out a presentation on the station’s future and sign a waiver before letting us but they were nice enough to......

Despite the fact that Londonist’s favourite London tapas bar - Laxeiro - wasn’t vending, Tapas Fantasticas at the Old Truman Brewery presented a delicious opportunity to sample some of the best tapas in London as well as some especially gorgeous tapas from the Rioja region of Spain. To wash all those tasty tapas down, about 20 wineries from Rioja were kindly on hand with an impressive range of vino – from perky whites to......

As if you crazy kids required yet another reason to rub elbows on hipster row (aka Brick Lane), Tapas Fantasticas 2008 will be on this Saturday and Sunday at Ely’s Yard round the back of the Old Truman Brewery. Dubbed a celebration of Spanish food, wine and lifestyle, this free fiesta might be just the happening to get you in the mood for Sunday night’s Spain v Germany Euro final. From noon to six,......

If you're passing through Leicester Square station tomorrow lunchtime you could be forgiven for doing an aural double take when your usual guitar, accordion or didgeridoo busker is replaced by an immaculate viola quartet from the London Symphony Orchestra. Don't worry, they're not down on their luck. It's all part of the build up to the Proms and LSO musicians will be dispatched all over London to give impromptu free performances in unexpected places......

Thanks to a little weather system named Gale Naruporn the coming week of summer is looking less predictable than ever. As conditions could switch between sunny and nasty at the drop of a windsock, here's a special edition of London On The Cheap with both indoor and outdoor activities to assure you'll make the most of the week no matter what blows in. Monday: Outdoors, National Insect Week launches at the Chelsea Physic Garden......

When bands get hyped beyond normality they can become pretty annoying, particularly if like New Young Pony Club you don't really have anything to back it up. The Ting Tings are the latest example of mega hypedom. From Salford, they formed previously hyped but failed band Dear Eskiimo before deciding to start afresh and sign with Columbia Records. Catch us on a Friday night and there's no doubt we'll be jumping about to 'Great......

There's never enough time in London: never enough time to have a proper lunch during the day, never enough time to play with the kids, never enough time to stop and stare... Or is there? To buck the trend and show you that it is possible to fit in a bit of art appreciation between the end of work and falling asleep on the sofa in front of the 10 o'clock news, there is......

Londonist brings it on home. Karaam 71 New Broadway W5 5AL Delivery Area: Free delivery W5 and W13 0208 566 4433 12pm – 11.30pm Expect to Pay: £19 for 2 people – that's 3 small/ med starters and one main each. Minimum Delivery Spend: £15 Rating: 9 out of 10 Ok we heart this company. We loved their food, it was beautifully presented for a takeout, delivery was fast (for a Sat night) and......

Hooray for 4 day weeks! And hooray for many seasonal celebrations. If only it would stop raining we'd be radiant with joy. This week we definitely can't afford to see the glorious New York City Ballet at the Coliseum (up to £95 a ticket!) so we made do with the reviews. Neither can we cover the costs of a bank holiday break away from the city but, hell - why would we want to......

There are just too many good events around town this week for us to narrow our picks for certain nights. Thus we present you with multiple options and leave that difficult choice to you. In the meantime, we’ll be brushing up on our science fiction in an effort to figure out how to move quickly from event to event. The solution? Teleporting. Clearly. Monday: writLoud returns to RADA tonight. We like this event, as......

It's been a strange ol' week for Londonist music-wise. On Monday we got worried about a rise in nightclub violence, on Tuesday caught Goldfrapp at Union Chapel, on Wednesday caught Nick Cave at HMV and on Thursday got excited about a new-ish club night at Three Blind Mice. Looking ahead to this week however, Monday sees Panic At the Disco and Kate Nash play sold out shows at the Roundhouse and Hammersmith Apollo respectively, whilst......

A man rolls into a bar. Sounds like the start of a dumb joke? It’s not. Wheelchair-enabled people like going out in the evening as much as anybody. What does appear to be a joke is how difficult it can be to find info about wheelchair accessible pubs et al in London. We did a bit of online snooping and were dismayed by the lack of resources out there. What material we did come......

It's officially Spring and by Pisces it's lovely out there in the sunshine. Crocuses have been spotted in Highbury Fields so our biggest recommendation for expenditure light trips this week is get to the parks and into the gardens and witness the miracles of the changing seasons. If you're in need of more artificial stimulation, however, and are squirrelling all your spare cash into your ISA before the end of the tax year then......

Time was when getting into the Guinness Book of World Records really meant something. You had to walk 130 kilometres with a milk bottle balanced on your head. Or keep on teasing the ladies with your Hot Stuff routine well into your sixties in order to qualify as the world’s Oldest Male Stripper. Now, it seems, all you have to do is drink a cup of coffee. At least we know that we all......

Even on its quietest weeks, London is something of a happy haven for bibliophiles such as ourselves, though we may be doing nothing more than perusing one of the city’s many lovely bookshops. This week, however, we’re in a veritable book geek heaven, as the London literary scene goes all glittery, playing host to some major names and fantastic events, leaving us tongue-tied and weak at the knees. Do we gush? Very well then,......

Following the Oscars this weekend there are free film screenings all over town this week. Edify thyself and make new friends running across 5 different genres of movie for no expenditure whatsoever. Monday: The Duke Mitchell Film Club is holding heist night at the Cross Kings Bar on York Way with a long lost Italian heist movie "Seven Golden Men". The film starts at 8pm but there's also a "trailer trash" collection of vintage......

Hang on to your TLSs. Literary London is a lioness roaring in a few weeks ahead of her regularly scheduled appearance in March. With both the London Word Festival and Jewish Book Week launching this week, we’ve got enough events in our diary to keep us busy until spring. Keep an eye on this space as we highlight our favourites from these festivals over the next couple of weeks. Monday: You want poetry? RADA’s......

iTunes have announced 10 days of gigs starting next Thursday as part of their iTunes Live series. All the gigs will be available to download from iTunes after the 10 day festival is over. Last year’s festival was a bit later in the year, but all the shows were a significant success - dare we say it, but this year's line up isn't anywhere near as impressive - yes, we have Billy Bragg, Alphabeat and......

Doesn't sunshine make everything seem better? Alright, it's been brass monkeys but nothing lifts the winter blues like bright skies, crisp air and early daffodils. It's half term for most kids this week so your commute might even be more pleasant. In which case, perhaps you'll be more inclined to get out after work and try something different that's light on your wallet and heavy on aceness. After all, we really can't afford good......

Last summer we highlighted the difficulties of finding a decent place to play tennis in the capital in our article "Anyone For Free Tennis"? That piece pre-supposed that you would already have a hitting partner in place, ready at a couple of hours notice to crack open a tin of balls and provide you with an opponent just not quite good enough to beat you. But what if you're new to London, or haven't......

There's something of a Valentine's theme to the Arts of choice taking place in the capital this week. But Londonist knows for every young Juliet embracing the idea of timeless romantic love, there's a Bridget hugging her near-empty vodka bottle, crooning to Chaka Khan. So, in the name of balance, here's a varied, half 'rom', half 'com' round-up for you all. Shows for Swingin' Lovers: Photographer Gregg Stone, has been taking snaps of kissing......

The Germaniaxx Isn't the weather glorious? Stand in the sunshine and it's definitely spring. This makes us happy! This means that we can walk in the park and get about town and not feel miserably wintry and therefore desperate to waste our hard earned on firelit pubs and woolly accessory buying. Well, not quite so much. We are, however, saving up our cash to spend on Creme Eggs and the rebuild Camden Market fund so......

Congratulations – you can read! (Presumably. Unless you just look at Londonist for the pictures.) Literacy is sexy. Hyper-literacy, even sexier. Or so we at Londonist tell ourselves as we don our Coke-bottle glasses and curl up each night with a bottle of wine and a dictionary. But enough about our steamy Valentine’s Day plans. What have you got planned? Now, you may have inferred that we’re a jaded lot over here at Londonist.......

This Sunday, rap fans will pay their respect to late hip-hop producer J-Dilla at Cargo in Shoreditch. DJs including Shortee Blitz, Marc Mac and DJ Spin Doctor will be bumping favourites from Dilla's back catalogue in an event held to honour his life and legacy. Born James Yancey, and also known as Jay Dee, Dilla was the "producer's producer": feted by the likes of Kanye and Pharrell, he was one of the most influential......

As this Thursday’s the first Thursday, you’re likely thirsting for some First Thursday activity. Fortunately for you First Thursday thirsters, there’s a first-rate event worthy even of your chock-full diaries (you might even note it in ink, but we’ll leave that difficult decision to you): The Museum in Docklands keeps its doors open late this week – we’re going to be coy and let you guess the day – with a lineup that will......

Is it just us or was January rubbish? Nice then that February, with its special extra day this year, commences with Brazilian Carnival, yummy pancakes and Chinese New Year... it's like a whole new start for 2008 and lots of it totally FREE! Monday: Get some Monday Love at the Inspiral Lounge, Camden Lock as UK Indymedia host their radical film, talk, and music night. Free entry for all those who still believe in......

We hope you’re standing up for this: A KCL study finds that sitting on your arse all day contributes to the ageing process. Whereas regular exercise apparently makes you look like Elle MacPherson. In a wholly uncorroborated and unscientific study undertaken in the last 5 minutes, Londonist notes that the rockstar lifestyle isn’t so bad an antidote to ageing either. Our evidence: 56-year-old Sting and 62-year-old Eric Clapton, who will headline Hyde Park’s Hard......

A conspiracy is afoot. Literary London is listless and lethargic these next few days – after back-to-back Burns Night and Australia Day outings this weekend, we can relate – yet there’s an explosion of midweek activity, leaving us paranoid that the powers-that-be are plotting to drive us crazy, leave us whimpering and indecisive, cursing our inability to be in two places at once. Yes, between this and the stock market madness, we’re a short......

Greetings, FOBGs (that’s Friends of the Book Grocer to the uninitiated), and a belated happy new year to you all! After an extended holiday slumber (bad, lazy Book Grocer), we return to bring you our weekly picks for the best of London’s literary(ish) events. And so, without further ado, let’s jump right in, shall we? Today: One too many spoonfuls of sugar this holiday season? Counteract it with a Spoonful of Poisoning at Rhythm......