music

This weekend saw an area in East London usually used for local football games taken over by some of the biggest names in music as part of Hackney Weekend. 100,000 lucky fans got free tickets to the two-day music festival which was part of the London 2012 Festival and organised by BBC Radio 1. They were treated to performances from Jay-Z, Rihanna and Dizzee Rascal among many others.

A Festival for Locals 

Hackney was chosen as the location after it became clear that many local people felt left out of the Olympics despite it being so close. BBC Radio 1 controller and head of the festival, Ben Cooper, explained:

"Here at Radio 1 and 1Xtra we wanted to make sure that we marked this in a way that would give young people from London and beyond, who might not necessarily be engaged with the Games, a chance to celebrate as part of Festival 2012."

Indeed, the opening act on the main stage on Saturday had a very local feel to it. Leona Lewis who grew up in nearby Islington kicked things off along side the Hackney Empire Community Choir and local rapper Wretch 32:

ForeignStudents.com's David describes his trip to watch concert pianist Lang Lang at the Royal Albert Hall last night: 

"Last night I was lucky enough to be treated (for my birthday) to a performance by the world famous concert pianist Lang Lang, at the Royal Albert Hall.

Considered the ‘hottest artist on the classical music planet' by the New York Times, the gifted 29-year-old Chinese Lang Lang (below) performed his Beethoven Piano Concerto with phenomenal technique, coupled with the magic of the Royal Albert Hall. A visit to the Hall, which was built in 1871, is an experience I highly recommend to all students, whether studying in London or elsewhere in the UK.

The Royal Albert Hall is situated in South Kensington and is surrounded not only by museums but all sorts of institutions of learning. So, for those students who are fortunate enough to be studying nearby, make sure you book a ticket for one of the many concerts or shows coming up.

This year's Mercury Music Prize nominees have been announced with the usual mixture of well known superstars and obscure jazz musicians. The annual prize is awarded to the best British album of the year as chosen by music industry experts and journalists, and is well known for its diverse choices of winners.

Whilst you will have probably heard of previous winners such as Dizzee Rascal, Arctic Monkeys and Elbow, chances are you haven't heard of acts such as Speech Debelle and Talvin Singh. It is this diversity that marks the Mercury Prize as so unlike most other music awards, and helps create the prestige surrounding it. The winning artist not only gets the glory, but also a cheque for £20,000 and usually a huge boost in album sales.

This year, the nominees are typically varied. Some have had huge number 1 hits, whilst others almost no one will have heard of before. Here we go through the 12 acts nominated, and give you the chance to listen to each one of them.