Brighton Rock!

While England mourns (or celebrates) its new government and braces for the World Cup matchup against the U.S., the indie part of the population is off to Brighton this weekend for the Great Escape Fest, a.k.a. "Europe's leading festival for new music." We can neither confirm nor deny that claim, but one thing is clear: Great Escape is no small gathering.

The three-day festival (May 13-15) features 350 artists, including FP favorites The Morning Benders, The Big Pink, and Wild Beasts, who recently rocked our world at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Headliners include Broken Social Scene, Manchester's Delphic, and Welsh-Greek chanteuse Marina and the Diamonds.

And don't forget Ellie Goulding, whose debut record, Lights, has been causing a bit of a stir this spring. Goulding's now opening for John Mayer on his current British tour. She's also done versions of Bon Iver's "The Wolves," Passion Pit's "Sleepyhead," and Sam Sparro's "Black and Gold," all available for listening on Pretty Much Amazing.







Deep down in the bill, we were pleased to see the return of Cornershop, because, well, everybody needs a bosom for a pillow. Ours is on the 45.

And speaking of Brighton Rock, look out for a new movie version of the novel by one of FP's favorite authors: Graham Greene, Novelist of the Soul. The original 1947 film starred Richard Attenborough, and was released in the U.S. as Young Scarface. The new film stars Dame Helen Mirren because, well, it's a British movie. And maybe Emma Thompson was otherwise engaged. As for the book, see for yourself:

"Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him." Read Brighton Rock on Google Books

Brighton Rock!