Issue 572

Comics - Chicanos

Carlos Trillo & Eduardo Risso

26 Mar 2007

CRIME Fellow Argentineans Carlos Trillo and Eduardo Risso’s fourth collaboration, originally published in Italy and France, is a New York City-set crime comic featuring a pointedly unconventional protagonist: a short, fat, ugly Mexican female…

Tracy Beaker

Tracy Beaker Gets Real

26 Mar 2007

MUSICAL THEATRE She’s rude, inconsiderate, bolshy and the bane of many parents’ lives. Tracy Beaker may be a fictional creation, but her cheeky expressions - both facial and verbal - have been embraced by pre-pubescents across the…

Roderick Buchanan

The Dear Blue/Green Place

27 Mar 2007

When good Catholic boy Mo Johnston signed up for Rangers in 1989, he was stepping into pretty dangerous territory - teetering gingerly on the razor-sharp knife-edge that is a specifically Glaswegian sectarian divide, where deep-seated prejudice is often…

Green Velvet

Pressure, The Arches, Glasgow, Fri 30 Mar; UFreak,

26 Mar 2007

TECHNO/ELECTRO He is the experimental post-Chicago house producer and relentless dance floor mugger behind such inventive, infectious and downright dirty sermonic bombs as ‘Flash’, ‘Answer Machine’ and ‘La La Land.’ The original electro-punk Curtis…

Profile - Keir McAllister

Profile

26 Mar 2007

Name Keir McAllister Who’s he then? This Glasgow-born comic has been performing since 2004 when he entered a stand-up competition in Dundee, only to go on and win the darned thing. He has worked closely with Paul Pirie (runner-up in the Scottish…

Christopher Kane

Sexy Boy

27 Mar 2007

Imagine you’re a 23-year-old fashion postgraduate from Motherwell. Your work is featured in Vogue in an article on student designers, and then Anna Wintour herself turns up at your degree show. She recommends that you meet Donatella - yes, Versace - and…

Kate Nash

King Tut’s, Glasgow, Sat 31 Mar; Henry’s, Edinburg

27 Mar 2007

POP Providing further evidence that amateurism is the new professionalism, 19-year-old singer-songwriter Kate Nash makes music in her bedroom. The story goes that Nash fell down stairs and broke her foot after getting knocked back at an audition to…

Little Doses

Little Doses

27 Mar 2007

INDIE ROCK Cabaret Voltaire sees a good turnout for tonight’s New Found Sound showcase of local talent. Though third down on the bill, Vitamin Flintheart’s swirling atmospheric set sets a solid standard. Switching between flickering melodies to…

Scottish Ballet

Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Wed 11 - Sat 14 Apr, then

27 Mar 2007

BALLET (Photo: © Merlin Hendry) It’s 20 years since the death of Scottish Ballet’s founder, Peter Darrell, and you can’t help but wonder what he’d make of the company today. After prolonged periods of uncertainty, Scottish Ballet has become a…

All Tore Up

Blackfriars, Glasgow, Sat 7 Apr

26 Mar 2007

ROCK’N’ROLL/ROCKABILLY Rock’n’roll is alive and well, and, thanks to All Tore Up, the Glasgow side of things is finally holding its own. All Tore Up is the only night dedicated solely to all things rock’n’roll and rockabilly on the West coast and…

DVD - The Ultimate Film Noir Collection

The Ultimate Film Noir Collection

26 Mar 2007

THRILLER Although his fiction made a huge contribution to post-war American cinema via others’ screenplay adaptations, Raymond Chandler only wrote two films himself: The Blue Dahlia and (with Billy Wilder) Double Indemnity. Both feature in this…

Rob Churm

Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow, until Tue 10 Apr

27 Mar 2007

DRAWING It isn’t clear if the drawings by Rob Churm are automatic outpourings or skillfully composed, surreal sketches - it’s more likely that the highly worked and patterned drawings by the Glasgow-based artist fall somewhere between the two.

Shop - A Sale in Two Cities

Life & Style

27 Mar 2007

Krista Blake and Fleur Macintosh haven’t met. Maybe they should have. Macintosh took over tiny Edinburgh vintage clothing store Godiva as a 23-year-old graduate, and, five years and a change of venue later, it is one of the most original clothing…

Comics - Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere

Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry

26 Mar 2007

FANTASY The presence of Neil Gaiman’s name is going to have an army of vaguely gothic comic geeks turning out in their droves to buy it. Even if his writing doesn’t actually appear therein. This is an adapted version of Sandman scribe Gaiman’s…

Edinburgh International Science Festival

World of Wonder

26 Mar 2007

Once upon a time, only the biggest geeks at school were ever even vaguely interested in the ways and doings of test tubes and Bunsen burners. Nowadays, it’s not just the cool kids who are getting into science, as everyone with an interest in making any…

Aalst

Tramway, Glasgow and on tour

27 Mar 2007

NEW TRANSLATION If you like your theatre cosy, comfortable and reassuring, don’t go within a mile of Aalst. A collaboration between Pol Heyvaert’s Belgian Victoria company and the National Theatre of Scotland, Aalst is the harrowing true-life tale of…

Activity Sports - Falconry

Taking Flight

27 Mar 2007

The very word falconry conjures up images of a more ancient time. Archaeologists have found evidence that it dates back to first century BC; the pastime has strong roots in the Middle East and feudal Japan, and was practiced by the noblemen and women of…

Activity Sports - Shooting

Feat of Clay

27 Mar 2007

Mark Robertson is pleasantly surprised by the transcendental experience of clay shooting

Midlake

ABC, Glasgow, Mon 9 Apr

27 Mar 2007

ROCK Last June, an album emerged that was so completely unlike anything else around that it seemed to arrive fully formed from another planet. And yet it was so accomplished, so confident, so self-contained in its own strange world, that it was…

Mr Mcfall’s Chamber

Mr Mcfall’s Chamber: An Everyday Occurrence

27 Mar 2007

NEW OPERA Even though 250 of them are featured in the classical listings in this issue of The List alone, the behind-the-scenes story of what it’s really like being an orchestral musician rarely gets much exposure away from the immediate ranks of…

Records - Singles & Downloads

Singles & Downloads

27 Mar 2007

It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad month and first up is a bonkers, skiffle-surf cheese dream offering from Thomas Truax called ‘Have We Been Left Behind?’ (Anarkhy, 4 Stars). I’m not sure exactly what’s happening on the cover of ex-Sugababe Siobhan…

The Abdominal Showmen

The Abdominal Showmen

27 Mar 2007

WEIRDNESS Run by two-time travelling futuristic Japanese robot space blokes, it’ll come as little surprise to hear that Club Crazi Afro Sushi Fry Up is a very silly place. Patrons are greeted with free Space Raiders. A man plays sitar in the…

*Hitlist

Hitlist

26 Mar 2007

Jo Brand She’s the 22nd greatest stand-up in the world ever, you know? According to Channel 4, anyway. Yes, we’ll be banging on about that poll for some time to come. Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Sun 1 Apr; Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, Sun 8 Apr.

*Hitlist

Hitlist

26 Mar 2007

The Science of Attraction with Raj Persaud Richard and Judy’s favourite shrink pokes about inside the bit of your brain that deals with lurve. Unlike Gillian McKeith, he’s a real doctor, too. Part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival. Museum…

Gaydar

26 Mar 2007

Not long after club night Velvet closed its doors in the wee small hours of Sunday 4 February, a fire broke out at the venue, Mariners, in Leith, and destroyed the interior. The inferno was so intense the roof fell in. Alas, the next week’s gay club…

The Family Friend

(15) 102min

26 Mar 2007

DRAMA The Neapolitan writer-director Paolo Sorrentino follows up his sleek Mafia thriller The Consequences of Love with the wonderfully eccentric and unpredictable The Family Friend, which he has described as ‘a dive into humanity and its…

Activity Sports - Climbing

School of Rock

27 Mar 2007

Kirstin Innes finds herself climbing the walls at Alien Rock

Activity Sports - Off Road Driving

Crash Course

27 Mar 2007

Despite getting stuck in a stream, Claire Prentice enjoys a lesson in off road driving

Activity Sports - Power Kiting

Come Fly With Me

27 Mar 2007

Kite flying is far from a breeze, discovers Karin Goodwin

Amy Macdonald

King Tut’s, Glasgow, Tue 13 Mar

27 Mar 2007

ACOUSTIC POP I thought that if you had an acoustic guitar, a wise man once said, then it meant that you were a protest singer. Quite what he’d make of 19-year-old Amy Macdonald is difficult to predict; her lyrical targets include reality TV, ‘the…

Bis

Back to the Future

27 Mar 2007

From The Sounds to CSS, Patrick Wolf to The Magnificents, We Are The Physics to Help She Can’t Swim and countless more in-between, the influence of Bis is everywhere in modern music; their inventive, good fun and incredibly catchy take on electro punk…

Futurology

Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow

27 Mar 2007

CABARET Cabaret isn’t the first form of theatre you’d associate with Suspect Culture. For over a decade this outfit have produced among the most cerebral work seen in this country. But times are changing, and besides, artistic director Graham Eatough…

Martin Boyce

Martin Boyce:

27 Mar 2007

SCULPTURAL INSTALLATION There is a well documented shift in American art from the late 50s to the 70s with artists creating work that slots right into the machine that is the museum like a mass produced cog. Large, hard-edged paintings and minimalist…

Monks

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 7 Apr

27 Mar 2007

NEW WRITING Faith is a commodity in short supply in our society. But this doesn’t stop people from seeking it wherever they can. With the decline of religion, love has become the form of metaphysical belief of choice for many. And it’s love…

News - Edinburgh International Festival Programme

When Worlds Collide

27 Mar 2007

Words: Allan Radcliffe As this issue of The List hits the shops, the covers are being whisked off the programme for the 2007 Edinburgh International Festival. One of the highlights of the first programme with Jonathan Mills at the helm is the UK…

Records - Also Released

Also Released

27 Mar 2007

Tony Visconti The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy (HarperCollins) Here’s a cat who lived his and a few others’ nine lives, having produced and played on some of the greatest rock’n’roll records in history and lived to tell the tale.

Records - Bright Eyes

Bright Eyes

27 Mar 2007

FOLK ROCK Is there anything Conor Oberst can’t do? Side-projects and record label exec duties aside, this is the talented troubadour’s seventh studio album, under the guise of Bright Eyes, released at the tender age of 27. It’s an utterly lovely…

Records - Pilotcan

Pilotcan

27 Mar 2007

ROCK Four years in the making and EIGHT years since their last album, the Edinburgh veterans have eventually got their act together long enough to complete this, their third long-player. And, thankfully, it’s well worth the wait. An irresistible…

Records - The Black Dog

The Black Dog

27 Mar 2007

ELECTRONICA This double-pack of some of The Black Dog’s most seminal work will have veteran techno-heads the world over salivating with anticipation, or in some cases, cursing. Vinyl pressings of most of these recordings have been changing hands…

Records - The Plimptons

The Plimptons

27 Mar 2007

INDIE Lanarkshire, so much to answer for - so it’s only right that one-time Mogwai and Teenage Fanclub man Brendan O’Hare is on hand to polish the, shall we say, raw materials presented to him by the Motherwell quartet, who keep the ‘shambling…

Records - Trans AM

Trans AM

27 Mar 2007

ELECTRO ROCK There’s a feeling that you’re missing out on the joke with bands like Trans Am. What with the faux boy band press shots and the musical appropriation of everything from Rush to Harold Faltemeyer, it all seems a bit too clever-clever for…

Sub Club

Club Class

27 Mar 2007

Optimo and Subculture sprang up in the Sub Club’s hallowed basement space and Slam first made their mark there with their legendary Atlantis night. It can’t be coincidence that three of the most important clubs in the country all evolved in one space.

The Mark Of Cain

Channel 4, Thu 5 Apr, 9pm

27 Mar 2007

WAR DRAMA As the full weight of the war in Iraq continues to bear down on us, the related dramas and documentaries will just keep on coming. After Peter Kosminky’s The Government Inspector and Michael Winterbottom’s Road to Gauntanamo, here comes…

*Hitlist

Hitlist

26 Mar 2007

Puppet Animation Festival Now in its 23rd year, this six-week celebration of all things puppet-related is bigger and better than ever. From traditional fairytales to the fun fellows pictured here, there’s a vast line-up of humorous, touching and…

Bryan Talbot

The Pilgrim’s Progress

26 Mar 2007

North of England born and bred comics creator Bryan Talbot is credited with writing and illustrating the very first British graphic novel. The Adventures of Luther Arkwright is a science fantasy epic initially serialised in 1978 and first collected in…

Comics - S&BvP&A and MZvAD

Mark Schultz & Ariel Olivetti

26 Mar 2007

CROSSOVER MANIA John layman & Fabiano Neves Marvel Zombies v Army of Darkness (Marvel/Dynamite) Every now and then you get an Abbot & Costello meet Frankenstein or Freddy v Jason, but it’s comics that have truly embraced the crossover.

Days of Glory - interview - Nanni Moretti

The president's man

26 Mar 2007

‘The fact that five years have passed since I made The Son’s Room is partly because I have been involved in the Girotondi, which are grassroots political movements that exist outside the political parties. We were taking a stand against the Berlusconi…

DVD - Round-up

Round-Up

26 Mar 2007

The Bigas Luna Boxset (Tartan, 4 Stars) is a filthy, compelling collection of the great Spanish filmmaker’s best films, Golden Balls, Jamon Jamon, The Tit And The Moon and The Ages of Lulu. One of cinema’s great living erotic iconoclasts Luna was also…

Faking It

Hugh Barker & Yuval Taylor

26 Mar 2007

MUSIC HISTORY The concept of ‘keeping it real’ is one that has been ever more bastardised by popular music recently, when even the most formulaic and constructed of bands can drop the phrase as some self-imposed token of relevance. Hugh Barker and…

Murmur

Right hear, right now

26 Mar 2007

Right here, at the foot of the Walk, is as far down as I’ve ever got into Leith - Saturday morning trips to the newly-opened Waterworld with a childminder, scoffing at my little brother’s friends taking on the wave machine. I left Edinburgh at 18…