Issue 566

Apocalypto

(18) 138min

3 Jan 2007

ACTION/ADVENTURE 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…

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…

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…

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…

Junko Mizuno - comic review

Junko Mizuno

19 Dec 2006

MANGA/SCI-FI This is the debut graphic novel from Japanese illustrator Junko Mizuno, best known for her garish hyper cute art with twisted dark edges, as wide-eyed, sexy Japanese girls are wrapped in the trappings of fetishism, drugs and death (the…

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…

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…

Burn

The Buff Club, Glasgow, weekly, Mondays

19 Dec 2006

DISCO/FUNK/ELECTRO/HOUSE If you were to walk into Burn at the Buff Club, the first thing you may notice is that it doesn’t seem like you are at a Monday night club and the second thing is the freshness of the night after 12 years of partying. Burn…

EC Segar - comic review

EC Segar

19 Dec 2006

CLASSIC COMIC STRIPS Mainly remembered for his eating habits rather than his comic prowess, Popeye has been about since 1929, as a character in the cast of Thimble Theatre, EC Segar’s farcical, vaudevillian comic saga that was initially published in…

Garon Tsuchiya & Nobuaki Minegishi - comic review

Garon Tsuchiya & Nobuaki Minegishi

19 Dec 2006

MANGA/CRIME This is the crime manga that inspired South Korean director Chan-wook Park’s acclaimed Cannes Grand Jury prize-winning film of the same name. Translated into English for the first time since it was published in 1997, Dark Horse have…

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…

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…

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…

Dress to Dye For, A

Coats of Many Colours

19 Dec 2006

Three inventions - the sewing machine, synthetic dyes and the cage-crinoline - had a huge impact on fashion and society. Find out how these changed life (and in some instances brought death) in Victorian Britain, and how the colour mauve had an…

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)…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.

Peter Pan

SECC, Glasgow, Wed 10-Sun 14 Jan; Royal Highland C

20 Dec 2006

ICE SHOW In his day, Robin Cousins was the David Beckham of ice skating. A national hero whose leaps and twists inspired thousands to head for the rink. These days, Cousins looks more at home behind the judging desk on Dancing On Ice. But that’s only…

Dancing for exercise

A phresh start

19 Dec 2006

‘Anyone want to take a guess at who that musician was? Yous’ll be so surprised. Long time ago . . . jazz trombonist . . . YES! Dizzy Gillespie! That’s it! That tune was recorded in 1961, would yis believe it?’

Morphos

Profile

19 Dec 2006

Name Morphos Location Edinburgh, Scotland Occupation Producer of loud, banging noise. Info please Morphos aka Graeme Marshall had a simple yet logical path to becoming one of Scotland’s most respected underground techno producers. As the man…

Warren Ellis & JH Willliams III - comic review

Warren Ellis & JH Willliams III

19 Dec 2006

SCI-FI This is just what Warren Ellis revels in, dark sci-fi with a nasty twist. And while Desolation Jones isn’t up to the standards of the blackly comic Transmetropolitan, it starts with a bang and is far bleaker than most of Ellis’ output. Used as…

* 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.