Fresh from 2007’s NME Freshers tour and the MTV2 Gonzo tour, Operator Please is a rabble of pop punk teens hailing from Australia’s Gold Coast.

Although The Pigeon Detective’s look is very much the London indie-boy uniform of scruffy shoes and scruffier hair, their sound is undeniably that of Yorkshire.

With their cowboy swagger and deep-south drawl, you’d be forgiven for thinking Alabama 3 are a straightforward American blues band.

Gravenhurst are back with their new album, The Western Lands. It’s an ambitious album, full of powerful melodies crossed with euphoric lo-fi pop.

Alice McLaughlin writes and sings beautiful, soulful pop, which draws on an extensive range of influences from blues to folk and country.

Acclaimed Australian director, Ray Lawrence’s Jindabyne is a haunting thriller based on Raymond Carver’s short story So Much Water So Close To Home.

There’s no denying the buzz around short film at the moment. Music videos are increasingly blurring the line between promo video and art film.

John Pilger has been an author, war correspondent, filmmaker and champion of human rights for over 40 years. He is on a journey to find truth and justice.

Loitering on the back seat of the coolest school bus in pop, Poppy and the Jezebels are heading up the new crop currently making waves in the “underage” scene.

You Say Party! We Say Die! is a five-piece new-wave punk-pop band. Their second album Lose All Time reveals a new depth and musical variety.

The release of Findlay Brown’s debut album, Separated by the Sea, has heralded a renewed appreciation for the traditional craft of song writing.

iLiKETRAiNS attempt to address global issues in their own eccentric style, using the deeds of history to explore problems still facing society.

Thurston Moore is a very busy man. A founding member of Sonic Youth, one of the most engaging bands ever to grace the alternative rock scene.

At one point it was unclear whether Ione Rucquoi would pursue art or music. Art won out: “It was always part of my life but to follow it up seriously was quite strange.”

At only 26 years of age, Stuart Semple is one of the most exciting young British artists around. He fuses 80s influences with an informed view of popular culture.

Enrico David’s latest work marks the evolution of his style, which has grown exponentially as different qualities have come to the foreground in recent years.

In 2007, for the first time ever, the Turner Prize was presented outside London: in Liverpool, to mark the city’s status of European Capital of Culture 2008.

Sophie Woolley is a dynamic force of innovation. As both a writer and a performer, she excels at fashioning believably satiric portraits.

Times are strange for Julian Gough. The London-born, Galway-bred author spent seven years trying to revolutionise the novel with his ambitious Jude.

Kay’s latest work, Darling, published in October 2007, brings together into a vibrant new book many favourite poems from her four Bloodaxe collections.