Issue 564

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art chief quits

7 Dec 2006

Richard Calvocoressi, director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, is leaving to become director of the Henry Moore Foundation.

Arab Strap

Belt up

28 Nov 2006

OBITUARY It’s September 1996. A message is being left for me by Arab Strap’s Malcolm Middleton. ‘One of us looks a bit like Chris Evans, the other looks like, em, Tony Slattery.’ As a means of setting up a face-to-face interview with people I’ve…

Artists unite to tackle child abuse

28 Nov 2006

Edinburgh artists have donated work to an exhibition and auction aimed at tackling child abuse in the captial and across the Lothians. More than 20 pieces are currently being exhibited at Sofi’s Bar on Henderson Street in Leith - which is well known for…

Glasgow artists' studios expand

Guerilla tactics

28 Nov 2006

Studio Warehouse, the exciting, innovative arts facility in Glasgow’s West End, which offers open plan studios for rent to local artists, has already established itself as a jewel in the cultural cityscape. Run by visual artist and curator Mutley, it…

Insider our readers' homes

Inside I'm Dancing

28 Nov 2006

What do our homes say about us? Out of town furniture stores may be cheap and easy, but most people want to avoid an identikit approach to interior design. We had a hunch that there’s a maverick spirit in Scotland’s approach to home-making, and we…

Leech

Sucking the blood of popular entertainment

28 Nov 2006

Skulking in an underground bunker, monitoring Chinese satellites and decoding Tom and Katie’s wedding vows in all known languages and intergalactic dialects for clandestine instructions to destroy Hollywood, the Leech has little time for conspiracy…

Leith chefs

Galloping gourmet

28 Nov 2006

Chef Tony Borthwick has uprooted his Michelin-starred restaurant The Plumed Horse from Galloway and is re-opening it in Leith. In the process he’s confirmed Leith’s status as one of the hottest culinary spots in Britain. Barry Shelby meets the man who’s…

Rave - Robert Altman

Rave - by Donald Hutera

28 Nov 2006

Actors all over Hollywood - and more than a few in Britain, no doubt - were probably counting their retrospective blessings last week, or cursing their bad luck. In the first category are those with the good fortune to have appeared in a film by the…

* Hitlist

Hitlist

27 Nov 2006

Glasgow on Ice A chance to perfect your pirouettes as George Square’s open air ice rink returns. George Square, until Sun 24 Dec. More details Click here to win free tickets.

* Hitlist

The best film and DVD releases

27 Nov 2006

Hitlist Stranger Than Fiction Wonderfully postmodern comedy about a taxman who starts hearing a voice in his head. General release from Fri 1 Dec. Read review Manhattan Woody Allen 1979 masterpiece gets a new print makeover for Christmas. Joy…

* Hitlist

Hitlist

27 Nov 2006

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Adrian Noble’s theatre version of Ian Fleming’s at times slightly disturbing children’s story was born in controversy but went on to triumph. After a few years selling out the West End, this is Scotland’s first chance to see what…

* Hitlist

Hitlist

27 Nov 2006

James Yorkston, Popup and Yellow Bentines Launching a season of gigs called VERSAcoustic, three damn fine pop practitioners get acoustic on our asses. The Goat, Glasgow, Wed 6 Dec. (Rock & Pop) More details

* Hitlist

Hitlist

27 Nov 2006

Billy Bragg Barking’s favourite son ventures north to chat about The Progressive Patriot in which he tells of the pride and shame he feels as an Englishman. Waterstone’s, Glasgow, Tue 5 Dec. More details

Acoustic Ladyland - album review

Acoustic Ladyland

27 Nov 2006

JAZZ PUNK Propulsive, compulsive, repulsive, impulsive and explosive; Acoustic Ladyland aren’t your average band, but then this isn’t your average record. Pete Wareham and his associates’ mutual dislike of the expected conventions of jazz music has…

Amphetameanies, The - album review

The Amphetameanies

27 Nov 2006

SKA There are clearly not enough nonets around these days (in fact how bloody great a word is ‘nonet’ anyway?) and the ‘Meanies do things at their own pace (leisurely) and in their own style (boisterous). Among their current fold are Mick from Belle…

Artbeat - art news

Artbeat

27 Nov 2006

Don’t let that artist near those scissors! We’ve all seen artist homemade hair-dos, hacked, feathered and blunt-scissored monstrosities, well Hairwaves FM - 87.7FM brings artists and designers together to celebrate good and bad examples of hairdressing…

Big Nothing

(15) 85min

27 Nov 2006

COMEDY/THRILLER Sometimes things just don’t work out. Particles and elements shift and design gets de-railroaded. That’s how you end up with a koala bear instead of a kangaroo or in this case a Big Nothing instead of Blood Simple or Fargo Big…

Catherine Sullivan

CCA, Glasgow, until Sat 27 Jan 2007

27 Nov 2006

FILM INSTALLATION LA-based artist Catherine Sullivan’s films attempts to reveal the psychic glue that holds the subject together and binds it to society. By re-staging a highly charged traumatic event in her film ‘Ice Floes of Franz Joseph Land’…

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Playhouse, Edinburgh, Sat 2 Dec-Sat 24 Feb 2007

27 Nov 2006

MUSICAL The idea of a mechanism as the star of a show might have seemed a bizarre notion a few generations ago. Only since the Futurists began their ambivalent relationship with technology early last century has art substantially changed, perhaps as…

Classical music books for Christmas

27 Nov 2006

Mozart in the Jungle Blair Tindall Given the passion that runs through classical music, maybe it’s not surprising that American oboist Tindall should be able to write Mozart in the Jungle, a story of what might happen when young musicians find…

Close

27 Nov 2006

A weekend-long event comprising performance, art objects and installation to take place in tenement closes over the first weekend of December (-3). The artists involved hope to create relationships with fellow residents by introducing them to their…

Cradle of Filth - album review

Cradle of Filth

27 Nov 2006

METAL There will always be a place in the history of metal for Cradle of Filth. They’ve been reliably upsetting our self imposed moral guardians since their inception. However, this is Cradle’s main problem - as an idea they’re like a bolt from the…

Dan Sartain - album review

Dan Sartain

27 Nov 2006

ROCK After the rocking good time garage punk, mamba and rockabilly workouts on Dan Sartain Vs The Serpientes this follow up is slightly disappointing. But then the boy from Birmingham, Alabama did set the bar impossibly high with his superb debut.

Dead or American - album review

Dead or American

27 Nov 2006

ROCK On listening to this record, it’s hard not to be struck by the senses of narcissism, rage and rough humour which accompany it. In fact, you might even suspect that this lot are from Dundee on such evidence alone. Anyway, Dead or American are…

Dispatch - Vic Galloway

The Dispatch

27 Nov 2006

It’s time once again to approach our impending festive doom! Yes, Christmas is upon us and has been so since the Hallowe’en decorations came down. What does this mean for the world of music? A morass of greatest hits compilations, that’s what. Do we…