Issue 566

Gaelic arts

Slainte mhath (good health)

4 Jan 2007

GAELIC ARTS Does Scotland still have a cohesive national identity? In the late 1980s, when Runrig’s Gaelic drumbeat pulsed through the charts, Wildcat staged ambitious promenade pieces and we all hated Thatcher, ‘Scottishness’ felt tangible. These…

Win a Rapal MP3 player

4 Jan 2007

Gaelic Arts and the new BBC 2 show Rapal have very kindly given us an mp3 player, a Teach Yourself Gaelic audio course, two tickets to see There’s No V in Gaelic at the Citizen’s Theatre, a selection of CDs and assorted other Gaelic goodies. To be in…

Preview of the year 2007

2007 is about the future. And about the past. It’

3 Jan 2007

THE FUTURE Cyberspace invaders We may not be flying around in hover cars or wearing spangly all-silver outfits, but thanks to the internet the future has truly arrived. And the revolution will continue apace in 2007, argues Suzanne Black. A…

Ad Lib Restaurant & Bar

Early doors

3 Jan 2007

The best time to review a budding restaurant is probably not in the first week of its operation. Nine times out of ten, the initial fortnight can be bedevilled by a variety of hiccups from staff training lessons still to sink in, to noisy butt-cheek…

One minute wonder

3 Jan 2007

The American Industrialist and philanthropist John D Rockefeller may have had a point when he wrote that ‘All competition is a sin.’ But let’s face it some competitions are less reprehensible than others and indeed, by that same measure, some…

Remote Control - TV round-up

Remote Control

3 Jan 2007

Amid the bespectacled blundering and the wide-eyed naivety, Louis Theroux has made some witty and insightful documentaries in his time. Whether it’s been the all-too real worlds of the porn industry, white supremacy or Christian fundamentalism, he has…

DVD round-up

3 Jan 2007

Welcome one, welcome all and Happy New Year. To mark the end of the old we would like to bring in something new. Until, of course, you get totally bored of it and we will try something else.

Mark Zusak

Death and the maiden

3 Jan 2007

The literary canon is riddled with unreliable narrators. From Holden Caulfield to Humbert Humbert and the voices which lead you through Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart the first-person perspective can…

Leech

The Leech

3 Jan 2007

What do George W Bush, Adolf Hitler, the Leech and you have in common? No, not that. Misshapen or mono-genitalia is a surprisingly widespread condition and there’s absolutely no evidence linking testicular envy to genocidal impulses. Not yet anyway.

Apocalypto

(18) 138min

3 Jan 2007

Welcome to the jungle. A place where pierced savages josh and jest as they rip the flesh of a freshly speared boar. Life is simple, life is good, but trouble is hiding in the undergrowth and young family man Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) is about to go…

Tinderbox's new branch

Tinderbox tripping

3 Jan 2007

My notes read ‘eye popping mental gymnastics.’ What this really means is a borderline hallucinogenic experience. A legal one, I hasten to add, courtesy of the new Tinderbox at Ingram and Montrose streets in Glasgow’s Merchant City.

Kevin Mcdonald profile

Profile

3 Jan 2007

Name Kevin Macdonald Born 28 October 1967, Glasgow, Scotland. Background Celluloid runs like blood through Macdonald’s veins. He’s the grandson of legendary writer/director Emeric Pressburger and younger brother of Trainspotting producer Andrew…

The Last King of Scotland

3 Jan 2007

The only similarity that the Nicholas Garrigan of this film has with his namesake in Giles Foden’s book is, indeed, his name. The Garrigan of the book is a dull-witted, slightly ignorant and rather un-endearing Scot, whereas in the movie James McAvoy…

Sally Matthews and Toby Spence

3 Jan 2007

VISITING VOCALISTS As Scotland’s various concert promoters revive themselves in the wake of the festive season, two organisations - totally coincidentally - choose to start the new year with stars from the younger generation of British singers. Tenor…

Singles & downloads

3 Jan 2007

With the annual Christmas bunfight over with, January always provides space for some decent songs to come to the fore. Step up Amy Winehouse featuring Ghostface Killah (now there’s a date to gooseberry) with ‘You Know I’m No Good’ (Island - 3 stars), a…

Stage Whispers - theatre news

Stage Whispers

3 Jan 2007

There’s plenty to look forward to in the year ahead for theatregoers, but perhaps a personal highlight for Whispers would be the revival by the NTS of Anthony Neilson’s The Wonderful World of Dissocia. This, along with such hits as Black Watch and Tutti…

Ugly Betty

Channel 4, Fri 5 Jan, 9.30pm

3 Jan 2007

COMEDY DRAMA At 9.30pm on the first Friday night of 2005, Channel 4 introduced us to the most popular new American comedy in years, My Name is Earl. So, when the exact same slot is filled by another heralded US import, you may well be steadying…

Side Dishes - bar and restaurant news

Side Dishes

3 Jan 2007

In Glasgow’s city centre, Two Fat Ladies will start opening on Sundays from 7 January, with a fixed price menu of two courses for £14.50 and three for £17.50. Hours will be 1pm until 9pm’s last orders. ‘It is really to satisfy demand,’ owner Ryan James…

CATS Awards

3 Jan 2007

AWARDS ROUND UP We’re about at half term for the awards season, with the CATS Awards occurring in early June this year. So far, the chatter among the critics has covered a great variety of work, from grand scale projects to more modest pieces. It’s a…

Killswitch Engage

3 Jan 2007

5 REASONS TO SEE 1 They’re the illegitimate sons of Slayer They are leaders of the metalcore movement that take the blueprint of thrash as laid down by Slayer, but ramp it up with elements of their hardcore roots. In fact, their rock forefathers…

Charles Rennie Mackintosh's house

Top of the property ladder

3 Jan 2007

A house designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh has been put on the market and looks likely to become the country’s most expensive home. Windyhill House in Kilmalcolm, Renfrewshire, 15 miles outside Glasgow, is the only remaining Mackintosh-designed…

Hold Steady, The - album review

The Hold Steady

3 Jan 2007

ROCK’N’ROLL Sometimes, a band provides one of those kind of songs that always stay in your heart and record collection forever. The Hold Steady have an old song of theirs called ‘Your Little Hoodrat Friend’, a throttling, acerbic bombast of a rock…

Brian Ferguson

3 Jan 2007

FACE FOR THE FUTURE He’s not exactly a new face: He’s kicked around the Scottish theatre for three or four years in this reviewer’s recollection, and probably longer, but Brian Ferguson’s 2006 has launched him as a substantial actor on the Scottish…

* Hitlist

Hitlist

3 Jan 2007

Hansel and Gretel The age old folk tale is brought to panto-life with the Dundee Rep ensemble firing on all cylinders with lots of laughs and a quietly moving dénouement. Dundee Rep, until Sat 6 Jan.

11:14 - DVD review

11:14

3 Jan 2007

DRAMA This clever cubist thriller examines a single moment in time from the varying perspectives of a dozen people for whom 11:14 pm proves to be a pivotal moment in their lives. Writer-director Greg Marcks’ inspired and assured feature debut begins…

Executive campaign set to sponsor Outsider Festival

3 Jan 2007

Highland 2007, the year-long celebration of Highland culture, has announced that The Outsider Festival will be sponsored by the Scottish Executive’s sustainable development campaign, It’s Our Future.

Rough Cuts - film news and giveaways

Rough Cuts

3 Jan 2007

Farewell to the wonderful writer and translator Robin Buss. Better known for his television review work in The Independent on Sunday, Buss was also a film theorist and cinéaste of rare note. Not only did he write an excellent critical study of Cocteau…

Art School Confidential - DVD review

Art School Confidential

3 Jan 2007

COMEDY/DRAMA The surprisingly swift DVD release of Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes’ adaptation of Clowes’ graphic novel is saddening but hardly surprising. By far and away the weakest film that Zwigoff has made (following on from the off kilter joys…

The List announces new editor

3 Jan 2007

The List is delighted to announce the appointment of Claire Prentice as its new editor, the 12th in the magazine’s 21-year history. Claire takes up her role at the end of January, replacing Nick Barley, who is leaving to become director of The…

Viktoria Tolstoy - album review

Viktoria Tolstoy

3 Jan 2007

JAZZ The Swedish singer’s sophisticated take on contemporary pop-inflected jazz has already paid dividends on her previous releases for ACT, made in association with Esbjörn Svensson. This time round, she has plundered her record collection for songs…

View, The - album review

The View

3 Jan 2007

INDIE This Dundonian foursome are pretty sure of themselves - you can hear it in their swaggering guitar attacks and colourful lyrics. But who can blame them when they boast a debut like this, utterly passion-filled and packed solid with catchy…

Field Music - album review

Field Music

3 Jan 2007

INDIE Although their drummer Dave Brewis is a sometime Futurehead, Sunderland’s Field Music take a refreshingly different tack from their new wave apeing compatriots. There are still a good deal of crunching, right-angled guitars in the mix, but…

Day the Country Died, The - DVD review

The Day the Country Died

3 Jan 2007

DOCUMENTARY Subtitled ‘A History of Anarcho Punk’ this is actually a visual retelling of Ian Glasper’s excellent book of the same name. Exploring in minute detail the obscure, esoteric, UK anarcho-punk scene of the early 80s, this absolutely…

Heirloom, The - DVD review

The Heirloom

3 Jan 2007

HORROR In this polished haunted house movie, an architect returns from the UK to take up his inheritance: a huge but dilapidated mansion on the outskirts of Taipei. At first his girlfriend and friends can’t get enough of the house, with its high…

* Classical Hitlist

Hitlist

3 Jan 2007

National Youth Orchestra of Scotland: New Year Concert What a way to start the year. Almost 100 of the cream of the country’s young musical talent show what can be done after their winter residential course. Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Thu 4 Jan.

Barbarossa - album review

Barbarossa

3 Jan 2007

FOLK It must be fun down the Fence Collective way with all those pseudonyms being hidden behind. And so following in the footsteps of the label’s mentor King Creosote (Kenny Anderson) here we have James Mathe aka Red Beard (‘barbarossa’ in Italian)…

Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3

3 Jan 2007

Almost hidden among the wealth of gigs on offer at Celtic Connections are some true superstars. Of course there’s Robyn Hitchcock, ex-Soft Boys and The Egyptians. Then we come to his backing band, featuring Bill Rieflin of Ministry and Revolting Cocks…

Quinn

3 Jan 2007

A beguiling mixture of indie, jazz rhythms and electronica, Quinn are essentially Louise Quinn on guitar and vocals and Bal Cooke on drums and computer. Quinn’s vocals make even the most downbeat trip hop tracks enticing. The duo have just recorded…

Si Begg

3 Jan 2007

One of the most eclectic minds in electronica, Si Begg brings his unique brand of techno to Inner City Acid. From hard and brutal to esoteric and expansive, Begg has never felt comfortable unless he’s looking for new stimuli, as born out in his…

Mary Chapin Carpenter

3 Jan 2007

Celtic Connections have secured the first Scottish show from Mary Chapin Carpenter in five years. And it’s a long overdue return to our shores for the multi-Grammy award-winner, famed for her humorous, fast-paced country-rock songs, though not afraid of…

Vegas!

3 Jan 2007

Equally at home in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the big band explosion that is Vegas! helps launch 2007 in style. They know how to throw a party, the atmosphere they perfect of Las Vegas decadence with showgirls, dancers, roulette, and of course the Elvis…

Prairie Home Companion, A - feature

The show must go on

20 Dec 2006

In an ironic twist, the late director Robert Altman’s final film, A Prairie Home Companion, was anchored by death. Written by Garrison Keillor, and named after the much-loved radio programme this native Minnesotan has been producing since 1974, it’s a…

All My Sons

Miller time

20 Dec 2006

Steve Cramer The play tells the story of Joe, a man who, during the Second World War, has okayed faulty engine parts for bombers. As a result, many airman, including one of his sons, have died. He has escaped justice, but his attempts to establish a…

Vashti Bunyan

Cold comfort

20 Dec 2006

The story behind Vashti Bunyan’s 1970 album Just Another Diamond Day has become legendary. Vashti made her first bid for stardom guided by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Her wisp of a voice and tall, elegant beauty suggested she could be an…

Catherine Sullivan

The fourth wall: the Self

20 Dec 2006

We are witnessing a return to the hermetic, the abstract and the dissonant in art. This is because the falsely unified, centered subject - the awful misconceived and misunderstood sovereign child of the Enlightenment - has not been dethroned or…

Dispatch - Roddy Woomble

The Dispatch

20 Dec 2006

Generally I have no idea what’s going on around me, in terms of new books, film and albums. There was a time, when I was 19 or 20 when I knew what record was coming out on any number of record labels, what was going to be great, the next new thing etc.

Garcia Washington

PROFILE

20 Dec 2006

Alexander Kennedy Who are Garcia Washington? Garcia Washington We are an artist committee-run exhibition space currently based in temporarily empty residential premises on Prince Edward Street, Queen’s Park, Glasgow. The committee at present is…

Celtic Connections

Various venues, Glasgow, Wed 17 Jan-Sun 4 Feb

20 Dec 2006

CELTIC AND BEYOND Glasgow’s massive Celtic Connections festival comes in with the New Year and a new man at the helm. Musician, producer, radio presenter and now CC’s artistic director, Donald Shaw (pictured) admits, ‘It’s been a nightmare - but…

Steven Seagal and Thunderbox

The Ferry, Glasgow, Tue 16 Jan

20 Dec 2006

BLUES Marked for Death, Above the Law and Hard to Kill are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the best in action trash starring the pony-tailed martial arts master Steven Seagal. Hard, dark and brutal are his trademarks with the odd side…

Surface Noise - music news

Surface Noise

20 Dec 2006

Connect, the new music festival from the peeps that brought us T in the Park has now been expanded to three days. There’s still no line up yet - that’s more likely to be announced later in the spring, but it kicks off on Fri 31 Aug and runs to Sun 2…