Issue 559

91 articles

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Mary Stuart

18 Sep 2006

Theatre editor Steve Cramer talks to Siobhan Redmo

Steve Cramer I suppose one of the aspects of this new David Harrower version of the text that we might expect is a certain politicality. Siobhan Redmond It’s not the politics but the politicking that goes on that you really notice. All these men are…

Merchant of Venice, The

18 Sep 2006

The Merchant of Venice

CLASSIC Shakespeare’s great commentary on the unease between Christians and Jews has suffered, over the years, with some of the most tortured attempts to make it conform to one thesis or another imaginable. All of his work, of course, has been…

History of the Arches

18 Sep 2006

Underground resistance

The look on Andy Arnold’s face suggests he’s more than a little bit gob-smacked to be sitting in his dapper office, in what could only be described as the cockpit of The Arches, talking about how an idea sparked over 15 years ago has led to an arts…

Autumn music special - your new favourite bands

18 Sep 2006

Dot to Dot sound like the bastard sons of Orange Juice and Lloyd Cole and their aim seems to be to get you dancing. They like their jangle, and they sometimes shamble, but their shows are always worth catching, and with their debut single, ‘Dusty…

Autumn music special - live highlights

18 Sep 2006

Jurassic 5 More of that proverbial classic rap, in spades. Carling Academy, Glasgow, 6 Oct.

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Autumn music special - live highlights

18 Sep 2006

Jurassic 5 More of that proverbial classic rap, in spades. Carling Academy, Glasgow, 6 Oct.

Autumn music special - The Fratellis

18 Sep 2006

Rock follies

In the wake of Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys it seems that record companies have adjusted their tactics. Every year now sees a selection of hatchling bands being signed, tooled up and sent over the parapet to face the artillery of the Top 40.

Autumn music special - The Fratellis

18 Sep 2006

Rock follies

In the wake of Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys it seems that record companies have adjusted their tactics. Every year now sees a selection of hatchling bands being signed, tooled up and sent over the parapet to face the artillery of the Top 40.

Rage

18 Sep 2006

Keep away from my theatre - or else

King’s Theatre, Queen’s Hall, Theatre Royal, Civic Theatre, Citizen’s Theatre, National Theatre, Royal Lyceum... They all sound a bit archaic, part of the Empire, like old English pub names. Why do theatres puff themselves up so much? Far more people…

Autumn music special - Jay-Z

18 Sep 2006

President Carter

1. With more pseudonyms than Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Sawn Carter’s Jay-Z alias is an abbreviation of his neighbourhood nickname Jazzy, appropriated for his smart dress sense. His Reebok S Carter was the first line of non-athlete training shoe and remains…

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TV Round-up

18 Sep 2006

The glacial Tilda Swinton narrates Galapagos (BBC2, Fri 29 Sep, 9pm) with a voice that would suggest she can barely believe her eyes. I know how she feels. The set of islands just off the coast of South America was denounced by early pioneers as a hell…

A personal history of clubbing at the Arches

18 Sep 2006

Arche de Triumphe

I first stepped into the cavernous spaces of the Arches in the year 2000 to hand in an application form for a press position. I remember Andy Arnold taking me on a tour of the building (works) and showing me a massive hole in the floor (the Café Bar…

Martin Amis - House of Meetings

18 Sep 2006

Home comforts

There are few contemporary British authors whose early literary output was received by the critics as like some unstoppable train only for it to veer horrifically off course and wind up crashing and burning in full public glare. He seems to share a…

Killing Time

18 Sep 20065 stars

Twisted brothers

Graham Fagen and Graham Eatough make you curious and curiouser. Attempting to decipher the product of this pair’s unique collaboration is much akin to chasing the white rabbit, falling into a warren of dead ends, traps doors and secret rooms, only to…

The horror! The horror!

18 Sep 2006

Marilyn Manson and Dave Grohl love ‘em but they remain an enigma to many. Andrew Borthwick unearths the lurid legacy of original shock punks The Misfits.

Although Glenn Danzig couldn’t have imagined it when he formed the band 19 years ago, The Misfits have become the monster to his Dr Frankenstein: an awkward, lumbering being intent on survival, lurching slowly forward, irrespective of the fact its…

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Echo Park LA - interview

18 Sep 2006

Fairy godmothers

‘Todd [Haynes] really champions touching domestic dramas. It’s something that he did in Far From Heaven and in a different way it’s something that we’re trying to do with this film.’ Wash Westmoreland, Echo Park LA’s English co-director is clearly still…

Autumn music special - Sparklehorse

18 Sep 2006

Why the long face?

It’s been five years since alt.country troubadour Sparklehorse last released a record, the atmospheric genius of It’s a Wonderful Life. Instead of bearing a grudge for the delay, we should be grateful Mark Linkous (for Sparklehorse is he) ever got round…

Singles & Downloads

18 Sep 2006

Hopes that Lil’ Chris’ ‘Checkin’ It Out’ (Sony/BMG) (*) was the new Chris Rock CD couldn’t have been further from the truth. Turns out this Chris is some pre-teen scrote from a Gene Simmons TV show and I only know that much from seeing the little runt…

End of the road for Arab Strap

18 Sep 2006

The party's over

‘Then on Friday night we went through to the Arches... There was only one car going, so some of us had to get the train. We got through quite late. Then we went to a pub to take the gear. There were no problems getting in - we saw some others waiting…

Davey Graham

18 Sep 2006

Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sun 24 Sep

FOLK Lauded by Bert Jansch and Eric Clapton, Davey Graham is the guitar hero’s guitar hero. But despite his revolutionary impact on acoustic guitar playing and British folk music in the early 1960s, Graham has remained a relatively obscure figure. So…

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The Monkees: Seasons 1 & 2

18 Sep 20063 stars

DVD review

CLASSIC TELEVISION Nothing cripples the nostalgia-glands more than revisiting a beloved TV favourite from a distance of twenty years. Discovering that The Monkees isn’t as good as you remember is a depressing rites-of-passage through which every…

Torsten Lauschmann

18 Sep 20064 stars

Mary Mary, Glasgow, until Fri 6 Oct

DRAWING, SCULPTURE AND FILM There is something refreshing about an exhibition by an artist that can be read as a strong collection of differing voices and styles, avoiding the rush towards self-branding that most art workers take. Torsten…

Julie

18 Sep 20064 stars

Touring

CLASSIC Each of those cases we read of in the newspapers, where bosses fall in love with their secretaries, teachers with their students and politicians with their junior aides, reinforce our fear of the disruption of hierarchy. Yet, as the…

Stage Whispers

18 Sep 2006

Theatre news and comment

The bewildering number of openings over the next few weeks is leaving Whispers pretty breathless, with more new shows than our usual preview pages can cover, so he’s putting aside his usual ponderings to update you on what’s on. Borderline are far…

HIV - The Comeback Tour

18 Sep 2006

All venues, Edinburgh, Glasgow and beyond

HEALTH & RELATIONSHIPS Remember that disease that was big in the 80s? You know - AIDS it was called - all over the telly at the time. They said it would be absolutely massive in the UK, but it never quite happened. You don’t hear much about it now. I…