Issue 569

Five things

Websites where you can get something for nothing

14 Feb 2007

Whoever said you can’t get something for nothing was clearly lying. Here are the websites that should be in every cheapskate’s favourites.

Love!/Hate!

Love!>>Lost

14 Feb 2007

Ignore the criticisms. Lost, which returns to UK screens this month, is the best soap opera on television, the kind that keeps you awake wondering what a polar bear is doing on a desert island. It has more layers than a deep-fried Mars Bar, and always…

Music promoter Billy Kelly dies

14 Feb 2007

We at The List were saddened to hear of the death from cancer of Billy Kelly, who was a driving force in Scotland’s live music industry. Kelly was perhaps best known as the visionary behind Glasgow’s Big Big World and Big Big Country showcases through…

News - The View play Edinburgh Castle

A view from the castle

14 Feb 2007

Words: Allan Radcliffe It’s a venue usually reserved for MOR rock royalty. Rod Stewart and Lionel Ritchie have both graced the main stage in front of vast audiences, while Elton John and his entourage transformed the Great Hall into a…

News Extra

14 Feb 2007

Lonely Planet is making a jaunt north of the border to host screenings of the 1969 cult classic The Italian Job and offbeat French romantic comedy Amelie on Thursday 22 and Wednesday 28 March at Edinburgh’s Cameo cinema. The films are being shown as…

News in brief

14 Feb 2007

Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer are making a rare visit north of the border for the next series of Channel 4’s Location Location Location. The straight-talking property gurus will be in Glasgow at the end of February and are keen to hear from anyone…

Protect the human

14 Feb 2007

Darius Danesh stands in a swimming pool, Courtney Love sprawls on the floor of the Dorchester Hotel, newspaper in one hand and placard in the other. Terry Jones mugs as he loads the dishwasher and protests about control of the arms trade and Dougray…

Rage!/Rave! - Mika

To believe or not to believe the hype

14 Feb 2007

Doug Johnstone: Mika is not the next big thing. He is merely the latest creation of the music industry’s marketing machine.

The Leech

Sucking the blood of popular entertainment

14 Feb 2007

All you need is love. Love and the trademark rights to your music. In a deal that will have at least one soon-to-be divorcee hopping for joy, computer giant Apple and The Beatles reconciled their long-running dispute over the Apple name, with the best…

Endrick Brothers - album review

ENDRICK BROTHERS

13 Feb 2007

POP ROCK (Hypertension) Wearing your heart on your sleeve has always sounded like a painful and messy sacrifice to me, while displaying your musical influences like a big clanging medal round the neck is nothing short of a grave mistake. So…

Explosions in the Sky - album review

EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY

13 Feb 2007

POST ROCK (Bella Union) Girls’n’stuff bothereth not Texas post-rock rangers Explosions in the Sky. On their fourth long player, they have infinitely more important thematic fish to fry. Take opener, ‘The Birth and Death of the Day’ for instance…

Grapevine - showbiz news

Grapevine

13 Feb 2007

Expect many cries of ‘there’s been a murder’ with news that more episodes are to be filmed of ITV ScotCop dramas Taggart and Rebus . Four new 90-minute mysteries of the former start filming in April and further adventures for Ian Rankin’s world-weary…

GusGus - album review

GUSGUS

13 Feb 2007

HOUSE (Gung Ho!) Starting out life as a sprawling 12-strong Icelandic art/film/music collective in 1995, GusGus have mutated over the years. At their heart has always remained a soulful electronic throb wrapped in alternately soothing and wanton…

Idlewild - album review

IDLEWILD

13 Feb 2007

ROCK (Sequel) Around the time of his folky solo project’s first release, Roddy Woomble hinted at a return to heavy music for his main band Idlewild. And boy was he right. Make Another World sees the Edinburgh quintet get back to blasting out…

Kris Drever - album review

KRIS DREVER

13 Feb 2007

FOLK (Reveal Records) Folk music is not the usual field of activity for this label, but they were so impressed with singer and guitarist Kris Drever playing live that they snapped him up to record this debut album. It has been eagerly anticipated…

Miles Davis - album review

MILES DAVIS

13 Feb 2007

JAZZ (Rhino) A single disc selection from the final phase of the trumpeter’s career, drawing on the music he released after his switch from Columbia in 1985. It is billed as the Very Best of Miles Davis, but is well short of meeting that claim.

MSTRKRFT - album review

MSTRKRFT

13 Feb 2007

EVIL ELECTRO (Modular) You probably know this Canadian duo as Death From Above 1979, or perhaps from their stellar remixes of Kills, Gossip, Metric and Bloc Party. But scrap all that: ‘MSTRKRFT, purveyors of the most thrilling dance music around…

Preston Redd - album review

PRESTON REED

13 Feb 2007

JAZZ (Outer Bridge Records) Guitarist Preston Reed continues to elude precise genre classification in his his distinctive style of solo guitar music, but this ballad-oriented set is the closest he has come to a straight jazz outing. In his insert…

Singles and downloads

Singles and downloads

13 Feb 2007

An almighty Single of the Fortnight has this reviewer’s eager digits already itching to rattle off their glowing textual praise. But first credit where it’s due to some of the largely stiff short-playing competition coming your way in the next 14 days…

The Decemberists - album review

THE DECEMBERISTS

13 Feb 2007

INDIE (Rough Trade) It is increasingly difficult to find records that are pure in their intentions. The Decemberists wear their ambitions on their (record) sleeves, wishing to create an album filled with quirks that remains welcoming. It recalls…

* Hitlist

Hitlist

12 Feb 2007

Souled Out The Opal Lounge host two quality guests in the guise of hip hop master Qool DJ Marv (Thu 15 Feb) and Good Times architect, Norman Jay MBE (Thu 1 Mar). Opal Lounge, Edinburgh, Thu 1 Feb & 1 Mar.

* Hitlist

Hitlist

12 Feb 2007

Comedy Academy 4 Kids Got a nipper at home who is just a little bit too quick off the mark for their own good? Send them to school on a Saturday as punishment. The workshop run by James Campbell might even do them some good. The Bongo Club, Edinburgh…

* Hitlist

Hitlist

12 Feb 2007

Aye Write! A host of big names come to Glasgow for this festival which is now a crucial date in the literary diary. The likes of Howard Marks (pictured), Simon Armitage, Michael Buerk, Sue Cook, David Blunkett and Steve Bell all feature. Mitchell…

* Hitlist

Hitlist

12 Feb 2007

Ahlam Shibli An exhibition of photographs documenting the life of an artist growing up amongst the political turmoil of the ongoing war in Palestine. Shilibi’s photographs highlight the small everyday dramas that take place, avoiding salacious subjects…

* Hitlist

Hitlist

12 Feb 2007

Mrs Warren’s Profession George Bernard Shaw’s witty and elegantly structured drama is as much about the British class system as prostitution. In it, young career woman Vivie Warren discovers that her expensive upbringing is the product of brothels owned…

* Hitlist

Hitlist

12 Feb 2007

The Gossip So what is this, the third time here in as many months? The Gossip seem to love Glasgow almost as much as Glasgow loves The Gossip. ABC, Glasgow, Tue 27 Feb. (Rock & Pop)

*Hitlist

Hitlist

12 Feb 2007

Science of Sleep Filmmaker Michel Gondry asserts himself as the natural heir to Jean Cocteau with this fantastical and surreal French comedy. Selected release from Fri 16 Feb.

15 Storeys High

12 Feb 2007

DVD With questionable wisdom, voters in the BBC’s Best Sitcom Ever poll back in 2004 utterly ignored 15 Storeys High, instead opting to find slots near the business end of the top 100 for the risible likes of ‘Allo Allo’ and Vicar of Dibley. History…

African Soul Rebels

Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 18 Feb

12 Feb 2007

FUTURE AFRICA Last year this nationwide future-African showcase counted crossover sensation Amadou and Miriam among its triumphs and, now in its third year, the African Soul Rebels tour ups the ante with pre-eminent Afrobeat figurehead Femi Kuti…

Ahlam Shibli

Everyday war

12 Feb 2007

Shibli’s lens attends to the bleak realities of Palestinian identities lived within Israel and the Occupied Territories. Born in Galilee, which became part of Israel in 1948, Shibli explores the topographical and emotional contradictions of people…

Amy Winehouse interview

Life and soul

12 Feb 2007

It’s the morning after the tabloid outrage the night before. The weekend before we meet, Amy Winehouse was due to perform at GAY, the full-on, no-holds-barred club institution in the heart of London. Kylie’s done it with her sister Danni, McFly dropped…

Andy Zaltzman

12 Feb 2007

FIVE THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT 1 In 1999, Andy Zaltzman’s fledgling comedy career took off in a big way when he reached the final of So You Think You’re Funny. Also nominated that year were Josie Long and Russell Howard while the winner was…

Annie Mac

Mixed Bizness at The Sub Club, Thu 22 Feb

12 Feb 2007

ELECTRONICA According to promoter/DJ Ben Coghill (Mixed Bizness), ‘Annie Mac is the first person in a long time that I have heard on national radio that has made me ‘shoosh’ those in the room. She strikes a perfect balance between pushing exciting…

Antony Johnston

Dreams of Inan: Stealing Life (Abaddon)

12 Feb 2007

SCI-FI DRAMA Antony Johnston The publishers behind British sci-fi comic 2000AD continue their new imprint Abaddon Books, where prose takes centre stage over the words and pictures of their core title. Abaddon specialises in large scale series’…

Aron Tarjani and Miranda Whall: If I Open My Eyes I Might See Teeth

Washington Garcia, Glasgow, run ended

12 Feb 2007

VIDEO INSTALLATION The second offering from the Glasgow artist-run collective Washington Garcia brings together video and film work by Hungarian artist Aron Tarjani and Cardiff-based Miranda Whall. (Their first exhibition, a month ago, featured…

Artbeat - art news

Artbeat

12 Feb 2007

A new exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, celebrating the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Union, features a newly commissioned video installation and a selection of works from the gallery’s permanent collection in a marriage of the…

Aye Write!

Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Fri 16-Sun 25 Feb

12 Feb 2007

BOOK FESTIVAL At times, it might seem like the world of children’s writing is a woman’s domain. You can barely move in the kids section of a book store without bumping into a whole shelf dedicated to JK Rowling, Jacqueline Wilson, Anne Fine or Lauren…

Aye Write! highlights

Write In

12 Feb 2007

Raj Persaud With a twinkle in his eye, the dapper broadcaster, author and psychiatrist entertains with talk about seduction. It’s fine, though, you can trust him, he’s a doctor. Fri 16 Feb, 6pm.

Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso

100 Bullets: Decayed (Vertigo/Titan)

12 Feb 2007

CRIME Now possibly three-quarters of the way into this cracking crime drama (this tenth volume collects issues 68 through 75 of what’s perhaps going to be a double dead-eye 100), it’s clear just what an enormously impressive feat of writing 100…

Cabaret Voltaire's second birthday

Come to the cabaret

12 Feb 2007

Regardless of musical tastes, most people will be able to find a great night out in Edinburgh if they pick the right club on the right evening. Unlike anywhere else in the city, however, turning up on just about any night at Cabaret Voltaire is likely…

Calvin Harris

Ultragroove, Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Sat 27 J

12 Feb 2007

ELECTRO POP Stop me if you’ve heard one this before: Calvin Harris is the new Mylo. I must admit I didn’t get the anticipated use out my old one and am somewhat wary of upgrading my pop-club saviour should it prove obsolete or, heaven forbid…

Casablanca

(U) 102min

12 Feb 2007

NEW PRINT/CLASSIC Michael Curtiz’s superb 1942 classic re-emerges from the evergreen bush in a sparkling new print (both celluloid and digital depending where you see it). Nothing much has changed - it’s war time in Algeria and cynical nightclub…

Charlie Hammond

Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow, until Sat 3 Mar

12 Feb 2007

PAINTINGS, SCULPTURE AND PHOTOGRAPHY There is both an undeniable sense of conceptual precision and a wicked sense of humour informing the work of Charlie Hammond at Sorcha Dallas. The selection of work on display bears the marks of its making - but…

Charlotte Hatherley

Oran Mor, Glasgow, Tue 27 Feb

12 Feb 2007

ROCK Charlotte Hatherley was always the odd one out in the lads’ gang that is Ash, but she brought a refreshingly spiky new dimension to the Irish rockers, so after almost ten years as a fully-fledged member it’s a shame that she’s left. But…

Chinese New Year

Gung hei fat choi!

12 Feb 2007

Chinese New Year falls on Sunday 18 February this year, and this time it’s the turn of the Pig (or more properly the Boar). Chinese communities in Edinburgh and Glasgow will be celebrating throughout the week - the two biggest and most spectacular…

Cold War Kids

Barrowland, Glasgow, Sat 3 Feb

12 Feb 2007

ROCK Instead of nipping over to the UK to establish a reputation that can be built on back home, as so many American bands do, you sense California-based quartet Cold War Kids won’t need any such fix to win over their country folk. Having skimmed…

Dispatch - Roddy Woomble

The Dispatch

12 Feb 2007

Celtic Connections passed by in all its hazy, folky glory. I had a great time during the festival, and managed to see a few concerts I’d been looking forward to: John Martyn performing Solid Air, and Dick Gaughan performing his 1981 folk masterpiece…

DVD Round-up

12 Feb 2007

Back in the early part of the 20th century when cinema first spluttered to life, all films were short films. Film stock was expensive and temperamental and the idea that anyone would want to spend longer than 15 minutes in a Nickelodeon was an anathema.

Earfull

Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Fri 23-Sat 24 Feb

12 Feb 2007

NEW WORK If you like your theatre fringey, there are few greater assurances of quality than seeing the acronym BAC on the flyer. The Battersea Arts Centre might be in London, but the benefits of this creative hive of the arts have been plain to see…

Edward Dolnick

Stealing the Scream (Icon Books)

12 Feb 2007

ART HISTORY The title of Edward Dolnick’s light-hearted look at art history is misleading. This is less about the theft of Munch’s classic The Scream and more the tale of its saviour: policeman Charley Hill. The author worked with Hill to get the…

Eros - DVD review

Eros

12 Feb 2007

ANTHOLOGY How could such an intriguing idea go so horribly, flaccidly wrong? If the demonstration of some pent-up sexual emotion was needed, who better to call than Messrs Antonioni, Soderbergh and Kar-wai to unleash a cinematic torrent? Except this…

Gay movie round-up

Gay screen

12 Feb 2007

The Glasgow Film Festival programmes five films with a queer bent this year. It’s unbearably hot in The Wayward Cloud , where Taiwan’s heatwave causes the sales of watermelons to shoot up. Hsiao-Kang tries to hide the fact that he’s a porn actor from…

George Piper Dances interview

Encore

12 Feb 2007

Michael Clark’s arrival in Glasgow coincides with a return visit by George Piper Dances. Like Clark, the founder members of George Piper Dances trained at the Royal Ballet School. Unlike Clark, William Trevitt and Michael Nunn stuck to classical ballet…

Good Shepherd, The

The Good Shepherd

12 Feb 2007

HISTORY/THRILLER In 1977 a US Privacy Study Commission surmised that the real danger of the Central Intelligence Agency is ‘the gradual erosion of individual liberties through automation, integration, and interconnection of many small, separate…

Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael, The - DVD review

(18) 97min (Tartan DVD rental/retail)

12 Feb 2007

POLEMIC/DRAMA Thomas Clay’s visceral, disturbing but interesting 2005 film did not get a theatrical release in Scotland so now is your chance, if you have the stomach for it, to catch it on DVD. Set in an English seaside town at the beginning of…

Group show: Delia Baillie, Iain Sturrock, Jessica Harrison, Karen Kirkwood, Sophe McKay Knight

Amber Roome, Edinburgh, until Thu 8 Mar

12 Feb 2007

PAINTING, PHOTOGRAPHY Given that Amber Roome is a small-scale gallery space, and that five artists are involved in this show, one can assume it will be a rather intimate affair. The five artists are not thematically linked, but there do seem to be…

Group Show: Hot Rock

Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, until Sat 24 Feb

12 Feb 2007

DRAWING, SCULPTURE AND INSTALLATION Seven international artists question the cultural value of the very recent past and an always uncertain future in Hot Rock at the Transmission. The show brings together work by Monika Grzymala, Andreas Hofer, Brian…

Harvey Pekar

Ego and Hubris (Ballantine Books)

12 Feb 2007

BIOGRAPHY/LIFE STORY Meet Michael Malice - childhood immigrant, dreamer, short-ass and egotist. In some ways he’s just another mildly schizophrenic man, raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, but to Pekar (the graphic novel’s greatest navel gazer) he is…

Hitlist - The best events, talk and sport

12 Feb 2007

AL Kennedy Hour Scottish author AL Kennedy doing what she does best: fretting about the state of things while being eloquent and bitingly funny. All proceeds go to the Glasgow Green Party. Tron, Glasgow, Thu 15 Feb.

Hot Fuzz

(15) 120min

12 Feb 2007

COMEDY/SPOOF It is slightly depressing that the highest grossing British films of last year and this were, and will be, television spin-offs. Last year Sacha Baron Cohen delivered up the better-than-we-probably-deserve feature film Borat, and now…

Into Great Silence

(U) 169min

12 Feb 2007

DOCUMENTARY Shakespeare’s comment that ‘The silence of pure innocence persuades when speaking fails’ pervades German documentarian Philip Gröning’s film about life inside a silent Carthusian monastic order in France. For Into Great Silence is less of…

Ivy Weekender, The

The Ivy Weekender

12 Feb 2007

HOUSE/DANCEHALL/BREAKS A new intimate clubbing space is set to open its doors at the end of February in Glasgow. The Ivy has been born out of the ashes of the Old Repertoire bar on North Street next to the famous Michell Library and with the help of…

Jed Mercurio interview

Scaling the heights

12 Feb 2007

As someone who knows all about living up to a legacy, F1 racing driver Damon Hill once said: ‘Winning is everything. The only ones who remember you when you come second are your wife and your dog.’ It’s a sentiment that sits well with the protagonist of…

Jennifer McCartney - in love with literary Glasgow

Staying afloat

12 Feb 2007

The photograph on the cover of Jennifer McCartney’s first novel, Afloat, has the author sitting on a bench holding two small oranges. ‘I needed a picture and only had six to choose from,’ she says. ‘It was taken in Rome in the Vatican Orange Garden. We…

Kitchin restaurant - interview

Star turn

12 Feb 2007

I’m in the restaurant speaking to Mr and Mrs Kitchin. It could be a game of Happy Families. It certainly has been for the team at The Kitchin in Leith who, for the last couple of weeks, have been basking in the glory of their newly acquired Michelin…

Letter, The

The Letter

12 Feb 2007

WEST END TOUR Ah, I can hear the sweets rattling now. There’s nothing like an old fashioned West End-style thriller to lighten the load of a long theatre season, and Somerset Maugham’s tale of tropical intrigue might just fit the bill. The…

Letters from Iwo Jima

(15) 140min

12 Feb 2007

WAR/EPIC Clint Eastwood follows up his admirable but uneven World War II movie Flags of Our Fathers with a second, more accomplished, film looking at the battle for the Pacific island of Iwo Jima. This time the focus is on the Japanese as opposed to…

Life drawing meets burlesque erotica

Gothic horror picture show

12 Feb 2007

It’s Saturday afternoon and I’m loitering outside the entrance to Edinburgh’s newest art class trying not to look too much like a pervert. Some passing tourists catch sight of the Dr Sketchy’s poster advertising ‘Drawing & Drinks & Dames & Dudes’ and I…

Life on Mars

12 Feb 2007

CRIME DRAMA BBC1, Tue 20 Feb, 9pm It should barely register a flicker of surprise that the Americans are all set to remake Life on Mars on their own terms, in their own way. David E Kelley, AKA Mr Ally McBeal, is behind plans for the US version…

Lynne Truss

A Certain Age (Profile Books)

12 Feb 2007

MONOLOGUES The word ‘monologue’ conjures up two possibilities. The first is a droning, nondescript, shadowed face. The other is some heavily made-up and overly dramatic individual, unconcerned with masking anything, and most likely shouting. Taken…

Marcus Oakley: That and This

12 Feb 2007

London-based Oakley draws inspiration from a wide range of sources including ‘the wonderful and melodic music of the Beach Boys’ and has worked with the Guardian, Levis, Channel 4 and The New York Times. His retro illustrations hark back to supposedly…

Michael Clark interview

Dancing with demons

12 Feb 2007

It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it that counts, as the saying goes. And from an early age, Michael Clark had beauty. A beautiful face, a beautiful spirit and a beautiful style that other dancers tried, and failed, to emulate. And what he…

Mr McFall's Chamber

Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Tue 20 Feb; Tolbooth, Sti

12 Feb 2007

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL The eclectic Edinburgh-based ensemble open another new chapter in their cross-genre explorations in this ‘New Music from Newcastle’ project. Robert McFall was not only keen to get involved but recruit some local talent as…

Mrs Warren's Profession

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 16 Feb-Sat 10

12 Feb 2007

CLASSIC Much of what passes for love these days is really about economics. Which of us hasn’t heard a man or woman criticise their loved one’s ‘lack of ambition’ in lieu, in fact, of a shortage of cash. In a society where so much of our emotional…

Musika

12 Feb 2007

THE BEST NEW NIGHTS IN TOWN This month: Residents Derek Martin and a rotating roster of local house heads including Gav Grant, Warner Powers and Dean Newton. Guests Toolroom Knights World Tour with Mark Knight and Martijn Ten Velden for the…

My Tiny Robots

Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Wed 31 Jan

12 Feb 2007

INDIE Edinburgh four-piece My Tiny Robots have been knocking about the live scene in the capital for some years now, and it’s been time well spent. They’ve built up a formidable clutch of songs that could well see them finally get the break they…

Nick Evans

Mary Mary, Glasgow, Sat 10 Mar-Sat 14 Apr

12 Feb 2007

SCULPTURE Fresh from his solo show at Tate St Ives, Nick Evans returns to Glasgow to exhibit new work - his first exhibition in his representative gallery’s new Dixon Street space. Evans’ practice has developed a great deal since his early…

Norman Mailer

The Castle in the Forest (Little, Brown)

12 Feb 2007

HISTORICAL FICTION No one should deny Norman Mailer’s right to create novels about whatever the hell he wants. Much gnashing of teeth has already occurred in Germany over an octogenarian alpha male from Massachusetts writing about the darkest days of…

Orchestra Seats

(12A) 105min

12 Feb 2007

COMEDY ‘A comedy about people who are suffering’, is how director and co-writer Danièle Thompson describes Orchestra Seats. In fact, this predictable slice of middlebrow entertainment resembles a Gallic Love Actually. Set in and around Paris…

Out of the Bedroom - Out of the Closet

The Canon’s Gait, Edinburgh, Tue 20 Feb

12 Feb 2007

MUSIC The acoustic musician is a sensitive soul, and according to James Whyte, who runs the Out of the Bedroom open mic nights, not all of them are writing love songs about the opposite sex. ‘Quite a lot of the regular performers at Out of the…

Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neil, Jesus Redondo & Bryan Talbot

The Complete Nemesis the Warlock Book 1 (Rebellion

12 Feb 2007

SCI-FI Rebellion continues its gorgeous repackaging of classic 2000AD stories. And Nemesis the Warlock is perhaps one of the greatest stories to ever grace the pages of the erstwhile sci-fi compendium, being a biting satire of racial intolerance and…

Patrick Wolf

Do you believe in magic?

12 Feb 2007

Vicious little Dorothy Parker got it right when she said that the term ‘artist’ is overused, and that the category of ‘art’ is not elastic. It isn’t fashionable to say this, of course, where a restrictive version of ‘inclusion’ has meant that we can all…

Peter Howson - Andrew: Portrait of a Saint

City Arts Centre, Edinburgh, until Sun 4 Mar

12 Feb 2007

PAINTING DRAWING Peter Howson’s recent works have carried a strong religious theme. This exhibition is evidence of that, featuring as it does a large number of paintings, drawings and sketches, all dedicated to the Scottish patron saint. Howson…

Pirates!

Arrr, Jim Lad!

12 Feb 2007

Filthy, rum-soaked blaggards prone to shaving people’s chests with rusty razors they might be, but there’s something romantic about pirates, salt air and the lure of the high seas that keeps us Hooked. Robert Louis Stevenson created the granddaddy of…

PlayList - the best film downloads

PlayList

12 Feb 2007

'Intertainment’ isn’t something that requires you to be an über geek with a bit torrent jack plug in the back of your head. The streams on popular sites like You Tube, Google Video or Dailymotion don’t require complicated downloads, all you have to do…

Plumed Horse - restaurant review

Lacklustre

12 Feb 2007

January must have been a difficult month for chef Tony Borthwick. Not only were the workmen back in the restaurant sorting out a few snags after infuriating delays getting the place open before Christmas, but Borthwick also learned that the Plumed…

Profile - Annette Bening

Profile

12 Feb 2007

Name Annette Bening Born May 29, 1958 in Topeka, Kansas, US. Background Bening’s acting career began when she played the lead in her high school’s production of The Sound of Music. After graduating from San Francisco University she took to the…

Remote Control - TV round-up

Remote Control

12 Feb 2007

The folk at Channel 4 have a particular, and peculiar, idea of what sums up the experience of pregnancy: it’s the lilting scouse poetry of Roger McGough and Brian Patten aided by some bubbly, ambient synth. Some mums might have cause to argue that…

Risk

Tron Theatre, Glasgow. Now touring

12 Feb 2007

NEW PLAY Whether we’re crossing on red or skydiving for kicks, we live in a world of calculated risk. If we stopped to think about it, we’d rarely leave the house for fear of the consequences. Actually, to stay in the house would only expose us to…

Science of Sleep, The (La Science des Reves)

The Science of Sleep (La Science des Reves)

12 Feb 2007

COMEDY/FANTASY French auteur Michel Gondry asserts himself as the natural heir to Jean Cocteau in this his third feature proper. Welcome to the mind-bending world of Stéphane Miroux (Gael García Bernal), a shy Mexican who exists in a perpetual…

Science of Sleep, The - feature

Sleep talking

12 Feb 2007

A love story set in Paris might not sound like terribly promising material, but Michel Gondry lets his feverish imagination run riot in The Science of Sleep. The resulting romantic fantasia is undoubtedly one of the most original films of the past year.

Scots writers to look out for this year

New Chapters

12 Feb 2007

Rhona Cameron The Naked Drinking Club Having dipped her toe into the literary pool with her Musselburgh memoir 1979, the stand-up comic and reality TV survivor returns with a fictional tale of a twentysomething Edinburgher getting lost and loaded…

Second Life interview

Another world

12 Feb 2007

I don’t know if anyone else saw it, but earlier this month there was a riot involving anti-racism protestors and Front National (the French equivalent of the National Front). One online commentator described it as a ‘conflagration of mini-guns, cursing…

Side Dishes - food news

Side Dishes

12 Feb 2007

Edinburgh’s Oloroso restaurant is rolling out its twice monthly gourmet wine dinners. On Monday 5 March, fine wine merchant Friarwood hosts a night of burgundy, while on Monday 26 March Edinburgh’s own Villeneuve Wines brings along Australian winemakers…

Sophistifunk

12 Feb 2007

John Hutchinson (Tokyoblu) has been in charge at Sophistifunk over the last three years. A party week in week out with its mix of funky house, disco, electro, accessible remixes and mash-ups. However on Saturday 17 February they up the glamour and glitz…

Spirit Catcher

12 Feb 2007

Belgian duo Jean Vanesse and Thomas Sohet (AKA Spirit Catcher) are putting in a live set at Subculture this fortnight. Vanesse grew up in a world of music, as his father was a sound engineer, moving to electronic production in his early teens, while…

Stage Whispers - theatre news

Stage Whispers

12 Feb 2007

It might be a little while before we see Cora Bisset on a Scottish Stage but she will be lending her talents to a section of our theatre world that might well put them to good use. The outreach company Ankur, which encourages the participation of ethnic…

Star, The - DVD review

The Star

12 Feb 2007

WAR This is a disappointing Russian WWII film about a team of ‘scouts’ sent on a very risky mission behind German lines to check out the enemy’s equipment and tactics. Selling itself as a film in the tradition of Elem Klimov’s great war film Come and…

Steven Hall

The Raw Shark Texts (Canongate)

12 Feb 2007

ADVENTURE TALE There are not many authors who can say their first novel had such an effect on Nicole Kidman she begged to be allowed to star in a movie adaptation. That’s the impact Steven Hall’s debut is having. Already hailed as an ‘instant…

Strangers, Babies

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 23 Feb-Sat 17 Mar

12 Feb 2007

NEW WORK It’s pretty easy, when you think about it, to spot the difference between how men and women treat their relationships. Men are driven by ego - the person they go out with is their own business, and just try to tell them otherwise. Women, on…