Issue 570

* Hitlist

HITLIST

28 Feb 2007

LCD Soundsystem Wee James Murphy might not look like a rock’n’roll star but when his jackhammer electronica hits the live stage he could out do the Kaiser Chiefs for sheer civil disobedience. See preview . Barrowland. Glasgow, Fri 9 Mar. (Rock…

* Hitlist (Classical)

CLASSICAL HITLIST

28 Feb 2007

The International Classical Season: Viktoria Mullova and Ottavio Dantone To experience Moscow-trained Mullova’s (pictured) Bach is something that no one should miss, especially with harpsichordist Dantone who shares her expertise and reverence for…

10 Great Films

From the Berlin Film Festival 2007

28 Feb 2007

Away From Her (pictured) Atom Egoyan’s favourite actress Sarah Polley’s debut feature delivers a powerhouse drama concerning the effects of Alzheimer’s on a 50-year-old marriage. Julie Christie stars; no doubt she’ll be up for an Oscar nomination come…

After the Wedding

(15) 123min

28 Feb 2007

MELODRAMA There is a Polish proverb which states that ‘the woman cries before her wedding and the man after’. One man who is certainly crying after a wedding (even though it is not his own) is Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen). A strange series of events have…

Air - 5 Reasons to see them

AIR

28 Feb 2007

1 Ils sont un groupe francais plus bon OK, we’re not going to keep that up, not with our school-level French. Anyway, for the last ten years, French duo Air (Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel) have, along with Daft Punk, been at the vanguard of…

Also Released

28 Feb 2007

Ghost Rider (12A) 109min (2 stars) Wild man Nicolas Cage and wonder woman Eva Mendes go almost completely over the top in this spirited, special effects heavy and somewhat throwaway adaptation of the Marvel Comics supernatural superhero who’s a…

Also released

28 Feb 2007

Fulborn Teversham Count Herbert II (Pickled Egg) The ever inventive sticksmith behind Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland Seb Rochford tries on some new musical undergarments, while his punk junk jazz gets strewn with earthy, eccentric electronics. It all…

Azymuth - preview

Azymuth

28 Feb 2007

JAZZ Seventies Brazilian jazz legends Azymuth return to Edinburgh’s Departure Lounge club night to promote the international release of sublime debut album Azimuth (previously only available in Brazil) by London’s pioneering Far Out label. On its…

Bat for Lashes - Exposure

Bat For Lashes

28 Feb 2007

Tomorrow’s music today. Brighton singer-songwriter Natasha Khan’s debut album, Fur and Gold, is a dreamy, fairytale world of wolves, wizards and facial glitter. Thom Yorke and Devendra Banhart are fans of her melancholy, mystical sound and her…

Comedy Academy 4 Kids

Bongo Club, Edinburgh, Sat 17 Mar

28 Feb 2007

WORKSHOP It’s a well-worn sentiment that kids say the funniest things, but James Campbell has taken that to a whole new level. Campbell is known for his child-friendly humour and has now brought his Comedy Academy to Edinburgh, with the successful…

Dito Montiel

INTERVIEW

28 Feb 2007

‘The book is so different to the film, it’s more about people that I knew. I put my name to one of the characters in the movie, but it is not like an autobiography or a memoir. Of course, there are things that are personal, but I mixed up the people. I…

DVD Round-up

28 Feb 2007

Highlights this fortnight include, of course, the very quick turnaround release of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Fox, 4 stars). As you may have noticed we try not to focus on the really big releases…

Eagles of Death Metal - interview

Ladies men

28 Feb 2007

When I first met Jesse ‘The Devil’ Hughes he did not strike me as a man at whom frilly black panties are routinely tossed. Hair slicked back with sweat, eyes shielded by aviator shades and lips shrouded by a long dropping moustache that more closely…

Eat - Masala Jak's

EAST MEETS WILD WEST

28 Feb 2007

Back in the great American goldrush of 1849, as thousands of prospectors flocked west in search of their fortune, one man stood out among them, albeit for panhandling skills of a different kind. His name was Jagir Singh - aka ‘Masala Jak’ - a man who…

Freedom Writers

(12A) 123min

28 Feb 2007

DRAMA A touching performance from Hilary Swank ensures that Freedom Writers is not just another tripe genre movie about a teacher coming into class room to save savages à la Dangerous Minds, Stand and Deliver and Lean on Me. Set in the aftermath of…

Gayharhar

28 Feb 2007

In this fortnight’s hamper of homo-friendly delicacies at the Glasgow Comedy Festival (Thu 8 Mar - Sat 24 Mar) sit such shrink-wrapped Scottish favourites as Craig Hill and Karen Dunbar, alongside extra-matured, expensive import Joan Rivers, and new…

Hollywood's Four Biggest Lies

HOLLYWOOD’S FOUR BIGGEST LIES

28 Feb 2007

The film industry is pretty simple to break into if you first understand some basic concepts. However, there is some nonsense that surrounds the industry that keeps first-timers away from writing, directing, producing or starring in a movie.

Jarvis - live review

Jarvis

28 Feb 2007

INDIE POP ‘Did we pass the audition?’ enquired Jarvis Cocker (for it is he) towards the end of this well-received debut Scottish solo show. He gets to paraphrase John Lennon, to be fair, because over an hour-and-a-bit he proved just how flaccid most…

LCD Soundsystem - preview

LCD Soundsystem

28 Feb 2007

ELECTRO-ROCK Not many people have created as distinct a sound as James Murphy. As half of production duo DFA, Murphy launched The Rapture, The Juan Maclean and Black Dice, then remixed the hell out of the likes of Gorillaz, Justin Timberlake and Nine…

Mastodon - preview

Mastodon

28 Feb 2007

METAL While metal continues to splinter and cross pollinate into a million different subgenres, each more wilfully obscure and self-conscious than the last, it takes a band like this quartet of Atlantans to reunite these individual pieces under the…

News - Fair Trade Experience

PLAYING FAIR

28 Feb 2007

Words: Allan Radcliffe Over the past few years, politicians and retailers have been working hard to cement Scotland’s reputation as a fair trade nation. It’s not often, however, that the country’s consumers get the chance to see the effects of their…

News Extra

FESTIVAL FRENZY

28 Feb 2007

Words: Mark Robertson and Allan Radcliffe Just when you thought it was safe to go back to your local ticket outlet, several festivals unveil their wares at once. Triptych celebrates a triumphant seventh year of esoteric eclecticism with 79 reasons to…

News in Brief

28 Feb 2007

Dundee Contemporary Arts show off the burgeoning Dundee music scene on Thursday 1 March with a day of screenings and live music. Simon Poon Tip of PTE Media discusses his music videos for Dundee rapscallions The View (singer Kyle Falconer, pictured) and…

Pigeon Detectives and Ripchord - live review

The Pigeon Detectives and Ripchord

28 Feb 2007

INDIE You can be sure that music’s changing when a frontman manages to raise a euphoric howl with such classic rock’n’roll banter as ‘right, does everyone here have a computer?’ - a phrase that sums up how the likes of this pair of bands manage to…

Rory MacDonald

RORY MACDONALD AND THE ORCHESTRA OF SCOTTISH OPERA

28 Feb 2007

DEBUTANTE Although it is inevitable - and indeed right - that young Scottish musicians don’t always continue their education and develop their careers on home ground, it is nonetheless satisfying when the raw talent that left returns with a highly…