Earlier this year I went to WOMAD, my first proper festival where I helped break a World Record. By proper I mean it involved music, tents, portable toilets and pneumatic drill-like snorers who park their tent inches away from the one you’re in.

It was a great experience and one of the acts I was fortunate to witness was The Boxettes, a five piece all-female acapella outfit with the most amazing beatboxer in Bellatrix. I’m guessing the fact she is the current female world beatbox champion might explain why she is so good but hey, what do I know?

What I do know is I had pencilled them in as a maybe on the guide but that afternoon Sonia and her daughter (the girl) had taken part in a workshop that the Boxettes had run having just arrived from Austria of all places!

After Sonia & the girl raved about the workshop and the girl demonstrated her new-found beatbox skills I crossed out the question mark I had placed in the guide and circled their name instead. The Boxettes were hugely impressive and incredibly friendly on stage which made me slightly regret not going to the workshop however when I think of how embarrassing it would have been to attempt to beatbox in public, the feeling of regret was very fleeting.

So, you can imagine that when I found out that the final Last.fm Presents Live Fridays in 2011 would be headlined by The Boxettes there was a smile on my face. I should mention that this will be the final Last.fm Presents Live Fridays event to be held at The Garage, from January 2012 the venue changes to the HMV Forum in Kentish Town.

Support on the night will be provided by Clement Marfo & the Frontline, Daley and Stooshe as well as the ever present Last.fm DJs. Ticket inc. booking fee are £11.50 however before you reach for your debit card why not enter my competition to win a pair of VIP tickets?

Well, more music and what a surprise it’s both free and from Manchester! The other day I told you about the Chimpo dubstep competition and I’ve heard a few remixes via Twitter, got to admit I’m envious of all those talented folk out there, I’d love to say me and my saxophone make music but that would only be true if you were slightly tone deaf but then again I only have myself to blame as I take it out it’s case once in a blue moon.

Anyway, today it’s hip-hop and it’s from a young lad called Sparkz who started writing and producing his own stuff when he was just 15 years old. Doesn’t that make you just a little bit green with envy? In 2009 he won the MCR Superstars competition, which seeks to provide young people in Manchester aged 13-19 the opportunity to showcase their musical talents and focuses on Mc’ing, rapping and R&B. Each year 8 acts are selected from all the auditions to go through to the grand final, so winning isn’t easy but the prize is worthwhile.

Summer is now well under way, I can say this with confidence as for every two days with sunshine there is a day of rain; one of the tell tale signs of a British summer. Of course together with rain there is the smell of barbecues to remind us that Summer has come around, together with the inevitable 3 or 4 hour delay while the food finally cooks. How many barbecues have you ever been to where the food was served on time? I’m struggling to think of one!

Barbecues are synonymous with beer, it’s what we all think of isn’t it? Standing in a garden under a baking ball of sun, clutching an ice cold bottle of beer in one hand, the condensation running over the label and a barbecued chicken leg in the other. Well, it’s what I think of anyway!

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed one of the in-store promotions for Stella Artois. If you buy a promotional pack of Stella you will receive a 10-digit code that will allow you to select one of forty DVDs, ideal for when we have one of those days of rain!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Stella Artois Black commissioned Felix Barrett and the Punch Drunk Theatre group to create The Black Diamond which is set to be this summer’s must-attend event.

Tickets were limited to 2,000 and as you can imagine demand was intense meaning anyone trying to register now will be disappointed to find that all tickets have gone but don’t be too sad because I have 5 pairs of exclusive tickets to this Monday’s event, 4 July 2011, at 8.15pm in Shoreditch to give away!

The Internet it has to be said is a beautiful and wondrous thing when it comes to music. On this occasion I am not talking about the ability to download any track or album you can think of legally or, in most cases, otherwise. I’m talking more about the discovery of music and artists that you may once have managed to go through life without ever hearing.

Take Fritz von Runte for instance. Up until a few months ago I’d never heard of the guy but one Sunday I received a tweet on Twitter pointing me in the direction of 2001: A Space Oddity. That tweet was in response to a script that had tweeted my most listened to tracks on last.fm of which David Bowie was one. I was curious, the marriage of two things I enjoy; Bowie and Kubrick’s Space Odyssey. I was prepared to be disappointed but instead found myself unlocking my PayPal wallet and purchasing not only the CD but the DVD, even tho the tracks and movie are freely available on the site.