Issue 574

Arctic Monkeys

ROCK

26 Apr 2007

The weight of expectation hasn’t affected the Arctic Monkeys one iota. They’ve hardly broken their stride and have tossed off a second album of casual brilliance. It almost feels unfair how off the cuff Favourite Worst Nightmare feels; the lyrics are as…

Pinhole Photography Day

Life through an absent lens

26 Apr 2007

Contemporary life is cluttered with days commemorating anything and everything. April 30 is, of all things, Hairstyle Appreciation Day. Personally I’m not especially interested in celebrating perfectly coiffed locks, but occasionally one of these events…

* Hitlist (Classical)

Hitlist

26 Apr 2007

The Sixteen: Music from the Sistine Chapel The seventh choral pilgrimage of this outstanding group of 16 singers takes the Renaissance music of the Papal chapels as its inspiration. The sumptuous sounds of Allegri’s famous Miserere forms the centrepiece…

1990s

Records

26 Apr 2007

INDIE After years of ferreting away with his former band, John McKeown’s brilliantly quirky songwriting is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Of course Cookies is an altogether different offering from anything The Yummy Fur ever released…

Björk

Records

26 Apr 2007

ERM . . . BJORK? Heralding an album as ‘the most commercial thing Björk has ever done’ is really a bit like declaring the new David Lynch movie ‘his most coherent narrative ever’. For the last decade she has been making the most unashamedly artful…

Elliott Smith

Records

26 Apr 2007

FOLK/ROCK Music from beyond the grave is always kind of spooky, especially when it is from an artist whose demise life was cut short like Smith’s. This is even more so given the bare nature of his songs, often little more than a couple of guitar…

Fields

Records

26 Apr 2007

INDIE Imagine, if you will, Fleetwood Mac getting together with My Bloody Valentine. Add some crystal meth, the melodies of angels and a poet’s heart. Fields’ sound ranges from exquisite skewed folk to powerhouse drone-rock mayhem, frequently in the…

Injuns

Records

26 Apr 2007

POP Skye boys Leighton Jones (keyboard and vocals) and Hector MacInnes (drums) and the four other Injuns lads know their stuff and aren’t afraid to prove it. This debut is a densely influenced, multi-genre-encapsulating smorgasbord swerving from the…

Leg, The

Records

26 Apr 2007

ROCK Those who have been hanging about the venues of Edinburgh for a few years now might know this lot as ‘the band formerly known as Desc and Khaya’. Every vague shift in musical direction from long-time collaborators Dan Mutch, Pete Harvey and Alun…

Mark O'Keeffe

Records

26 Apr 2007

CONTEMPORARY JAZZ The Edinburgh-based label is doing its fair share to support contemporary Scottish composition. The Edinburgh Quartet’s fine recent disc of new Scottish string quartets, The Cold Dancer, is followed by this solo outing from the BBC…

Quentin Collins

Records

26 Apr 2007

JAZZ Trumpeter Quentin Collins is an emerging name on the London jazz scene, and this debut album suggests that the buzz around his work is well justified. His bright, cutting tone is in a recognisable line of descent from the likes of Freddie…

Rory Campbell

Records

26 Apr 2007

FOLK Barra-born Rory Campbell is best known for his work in bands like Deaf Shepherd and Old Blind Dogs. His latest project features Jonny Hardie (a band-mate in Old Blind Dogs) on guitar and drummer Donald Hay, and offers strong and expressive…

Scottish Ensemble with Gwilym Simcock

City Halls, Glasgow, Thu 26 Apr; Queen’s Hall, Edi

26 Apr 2007

SEASON FINALE Well known for its innovative programming, the Scottish Ensemble bring their 2006/07 season to a close with a collaboration that straddles the worlds of classical and jazz. Leading young jazz pianist and composer, Gwilym Simcock, joins…

Singles & Downloads

26 Apr 2007

Dancing girls galore this fortnight. Sophie Ellis Bextor kicks things off with 90s dance throwback, ‘Me and My Imagination’ (Fascination - 1 star), all sunny Ibiza beats and disco strings, but sadly low on charm. Crazy London girls, Duloks have more…

Travis

Records

26 Apr 2007

POP The scholarly quest for songcraft for songcraft’s sake is now the only real endeavour for Travis these days, which is preferable of course to trying to regain former glories that, as their contemporaries Oasis will never tell you, are…

Willy Mason

Records

26 Apr 2007

FOLK POP Wee Willy Mason launches his second tasty platter, with a voice that still sounds way beyond his tender early 20s. This new set of songs makes his acclaimed debut, Where the Humans Eat, seem like a slab of raw meat, with lush production…

American Literature

Born fighting

24 Apr 2007

At the exact moment Chuck Palahniuk greets me with a hushed ‘Hello?’ his home in south-western Washington State is being invaded by a group of unfamiliar men who are chanting in unison at the author: ‘His name is Robert Paulson!’

Arts and minds

News

24 Apr 2007

Mark Cousins: Film writer I’d like to see art schools for 15-year-olds. I’d like the excitement of philosophy and aesthetics to be taught at primary school. I’d like our media to be more passionate about art and culture. I’d like modern…

Eat - The Italian Job

Life & Style

24 Apr 2007

Earlier this year I was employed to eat. And no, I wasn’t cramming pies into my face, a guinea pig for Greggs; I was hired to dine at some of the best restaurants in Scotland. You’re probably thinking, ‘bully for you’, but with a few more four-letter…

Eating & Drinking Awards

News

24 Apr 2007

Words: Allan Radcliffe (Left to right: The Kitchin and Bistro at One Devonshire) As the 14th annual Eating and Drinking Guide is published, The List can exclusively reveal the winners of this year’s awards for Best Restaurant, Best New…

Justin Timberlake

He’s lovin it

24 Apr 2007

Justin Timberlake is all over the place. He’s traversing the world with the nine-month-long FutureSex/LoveShow tour, an in-the-round extravaganza of singing, dancing, panto sex moves, human beatboxing and tequila-drinking (in the course of the show…

Play - War Room

Life & Style

24 Apr 2007

Gaming is great - digging out your console or powering up your PC for a dose of virtual action. It’s even more fun if you get a few mates together for a bone-crunching Tekken session or a pass-the-mic round of SingStar. Now imagine a group of 28 with…

Scottish Opera

Access all arias

24 Apr 2007

It’s the climax of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Having sung themselves into a state of romantic bliss, the delicate geisha and her American lieutenant lover fall into each other’s arms. Their lips are trembling on the verge of a succulent kiss when a man…

Travel - Whisky galore!

Life & Style

24 Apr 2007

In almost any bar in Paris or Barcelona, you’ll spot young females drinking whisky. Not old men in tweed bunnets, swirling heavy tumblers and singing to themselves but young, fashionable women. A whisky-cola may be a very popular ladies’ choice in clubs…

* Hitlist

Hitlist

23 Apr 2007

Maria McKee (pictured) Her new album Late December has finally arrived, featuring skilfully drawn, unassuming alt.country nuggets. Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sat 28 Apr; Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Mon 30 Apr. (Rock & Pop)

*Hitlist

Hitlist

23 Apr 2007

Happy Birthday Miffy! Everyone’s favourite carrot-muncher (after, perhaps, Bugs Bunny and, maybe, Jessica Rabbit) gets her own gig at the NLS as Dick Bruna’s creation becomes the subject of an extensive collection of art works and interactive gear.

*Hitlist

Hitlist

23 Apr 2007

Sunshine on Leith At last, The Proclaimers musical (pictured)! The story of two returned army veterans finding a different city to the one they left is accompanied by the likes of ‘I’m Gonna be (500 Miles)’, ‘Letter from America’ and the title song, all…

*Hitlist

Hitlist

23 Apr 2007

Neil Clements: Paranoid The Glasgow-based artist examines the relationship between art and music, focusing on the simultaneous emergence of Bridget Riley as the ‘High Priestess’ of Op Art in Britain and the nosey ‘birth’ of the de-tuned guitar. The…

*Hitlist

Hitlist

23 Apr 2007

Tony Carter (pictured) We’ve recently seen Will Andrews twiddling the knobs and flicking some switches as a tech guy for other comics, but we love him most when he’s bounding on stage as his feckless Geordie jester alter ego. Liquid Room, Edinburgh…

*Hitlist

Hitlist

23 Apr 2007

Pete Rock and Marley Marl Late change to the bill as DJ Premier drops out of Triptych with Pete Rock stepping in to fill the void. Renfrew Ferry, Glasgow, Thu 26 Apr; Bongo Club, Edinburgh, Fri 27 Apr.

5 Things - Brendon Burns

5 Things you might not know about . . .

23 Apr 2007

1 Aussie comic Burns believes that death is our second biggest fear. Number one is speaking in front of a group of people.

65daysofstatic

Exposure

23 Apr 2007

65daysofstatic are a Sheffield rock band who are distinctly different to their indie-bretheren. Combining drum & bass beats, glitches and synths over an instrumental rock template has seen them win over the rock press, Zane Lowe and the late John Peel.

A Model American

Elsie Burch Donald

23 Apr 2007

POLITICAL DRAMA In Elsie Burch Donald’s study of US foreign policy in 1970s Cambodia, there is little doubt the author is inviting parallels with the current crusade for democracy in the Middle East. To this end she has conjured a gaggle of debating…

Alex Pollard

White lines, black marks

23 Apr 2007

If the 70s were the era that fashion forgot, the 80s were the decade that fashion had a gushing aneurism. There was something for everyone, with David Bowie managing to embrace almost every genre and fashion. Thankfully he lost it in the 90s and we got…

Also Published

5 AUDIOBOOKS

23 Apr 2007

Stef Penney The Tenderness of Wolves Set in the wilds of Canada during the 1860s, a man has been brutally murdered while a 17-year-old boy disappears. Siobhan Redmond reads this romance/thriller. Quercus.

Also Released

Straightheads

23 Apr 2007

(18) 79min (1 Star) More dire vigilante antics from the oeuvre of Danny Dyer. This time he’s one half of a middle class couple (the other half is a slumming Gillian Anderson), at the beginning of their romance, who embark on a violent killing spree…

Angels In America, Parts 1 & 2

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 1-Sat 12 May

23 Apr 2007

REVIVAL There’s little doubt that in the future, when the great histories of theatre post-1950 are written, Tony Kushner’s classic will take a prominent role. Reckoned by many a critic to be the greatest play of the 1990s, its cultural shockwaves…

Away From Her

(12A) 109min

23 Apr 2007

DRAMA Canadian short and TV filmmaker Sarah Polley’s leap into feature film directing is a moving adaptation of Alice Munro’s short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain. Set in present day Ontario, middle class Fiona (Julie Christie) and Grant…

Babyhead

Trouble Fifth Birthday, Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburg

23 Apr 2007

SKA While it can be difficult to get excited about a live ska band on paper, even after the fact, it can be harder to maintain one’s cool when they’re up on stage. This troupe of oddball acid jazz throwbacks from Bristol are tipped for big things but…

Bad Men

Clive Stafford Smith

23 Apr 2007

POLITICAL ESSAY Clive Stafford Smith has been privy to some horrible maltreatments of human beings down the years. As a Cornishman with dual UK/US citizenship, he is seen as a saviour to the many Death Row prisoners he has tried to rescue from lethal…

Big in Falkirk

Callendar Park, Falkirk, Sat 5-Sun 6 May. Free.

23 Apr 2007

‘Nine or ten years ago, if I’d said to you “come and see a show in Falkirk” you’d have laughed at me.’ Neil Butler, Artistic Director of the Big in Falkirk festival, which has been running in Callander Park since 2001, is quite used to this particular…

Bis

King Tut’s, Glasgow, Fri 6 Apr

23 Apr 2007

FUTURE RETRO POWER POP COMEBACK They announce themselves like superheroes, maybe, or superstar wrestlers, starting out in silhouette and dry ice, turning round one at a time. ‘Hello! We are Bis from Glasgow, Scotland!’ The palpable excitement that’s…

Carthage Must Be Destroyed

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 27 Apr - Sat 19 May

23 Apr 2007

NEW WORK The history play is, and has always been, a way to speak of contemporary times. Just as Shakespeare’s versions of Henry V, Richard III and even King Lear were more a commentary on contemporary events than the past, so every history play…

Comics - Spider-Man & Black Cat

Kevin Smith & Terry Dodson

23 Apr 2007

SUPERHERO There has been some amazing creative talent on Spider-Man through the years. Comics bad boy Todd McFarlane (Spawn), Jeph Loeb (Lost), Pete Bagge (Hate) and John Byrne have all thrown in their artistic tuppence worth, while even Frank Miller…

Comics - Spider-Man Family 1 & 2

Various

23 Apr 2007

SUPERHERO Some may call it cynical marketing that Spider-Man is ‘back in black’ just as the new film hits the screens, but hey he looks cool as hell so we’ll forgive Marvel. Spider-Man Family is the latest monthly to hit the shelves, an anthology…

Comics - Spider-Man: Skin Deep

J Michael Straczynski & Mike Deodato Jr

23 Apr 2007

SUPERHERO Jump cut to the latest collection from Marvel UK of exactly the same title (Amazing Spider-Man, now running at issues 515-518 in this compendium). Now married to Mary-Jane, this is more the world of Spidey we know and love. Dipping back to…

David Lynch

Wild at art

23 Apr 2007

At the Paris launch of David Lynch’s first major exhibition of his drawings and photographs, the 61-year-old director was asked to offer some insight into the work. To seasoned Lynch-watchers, the response was a typical mixture of beguiling and…

Dirty Wee Middens

Dirty Wee Middens, Lycanthrope and Billy Liar

23 Apr 2007

HORROR PUNK Dundee is spewing forth all kinds of interesting bands lately and Dirty Wee Middens are no exception. Despite slatherings of ghoulish make-up (as far away from The View as you can imagine), the Middens definitely have a pulse and it is…

Fast Food Nation

(15) 114min

23 Apr 2007

SATIRICAL ADAPTATION Texan filmmaker, vegetarian and activist Richard Linklater’s fictional interpretation of Eric Schlosser’s bestselling non-fiction book exposing malpractice in the America’s fast food industry is an enjoyable and shocking…

Fiona Jardine

Interview

23 Apr 2007

Alexander Kennedy What will you be showing? Fiona Jardine I’m showing a series of photographs which have developed from my interest in, on the one hand, the image of the suited figure - an unconscious appreciation of it as well as particular…

Futurology

Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre until Sat 28 Apr, then touring

23 Apr 2007

NEW WORK For all the obvious advantages of a long preparation time for a piece of theatre, there may in fact, be drawbacks. Times change, and attitudes with them. So perhaps the reason why Suspect Culture’s long-awaited NTS-produced piece doesn’t…

Goya's Ghosts

(15) 113min

23 Apr 2007

DRAMA It seems to be the silly season for biopics that lure audiences into the cinema only to slap them across the face with a heavy hand full of nonsense. Steven Secretary Shainberg’s Fur, about photographer Diane Arbus, and the forthcoming Klimt from…

Gregory Thompson

Blair bitch project

23 Apr 2007

Politics has become the art of the horrible. We might feel, more now than ever, the truth of Paul Valery’s comment that ‘Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs that properly concern them.’ Perhaps because of a growing sense…

Group Show: Lutz Fezer, Kevin Hutcheson & Clunie Reid

Transmission, Glasgow, until Sat 12 May

23 Apr 2007

WORK ON PAPER A grid work of duct tape only heightens the sense of fetishisation across Clunie Reid’s ‘Something Bold, Something Insane, Something Snivelled, Something True’ that pulls you in from the street and into a flood of familiar imagery at…

Hitlist - The best events, talk and sport

23 Apr 2007

Beltane Fire Festival The 20th anniversary of the wild, blazing ritual festival welcoming in the spring. Join the May Queen (pictured), her consort the Green Man, armies of White Women and naked Red Men and around 10,000 revellers up Calton Hill. Ticket…

Hitlist - The best film & dvd releases

23 Apr 2007

This is England Shane Meadows’ new film about love, loss, hate and skinheads at the time of the Falklands War is a little gem. See review . Selected release from Fri 27 Apr.

Interview - Sarah Polley

Interview

23 Apr 2007

Sarah Polley’s directorial feature debut about the relationship between a couple who have been married for many years as they cope with Alzheimer’s is a self assured and intelligent piece of filmmaking. How did she enjoy directing? ‘You do have to fight…

James Chance

The contortionist

23 Apr 2007

James Chance is coming to Scotland for the first time in his career this fortnight. Like one of his alter ego namesakes, it might as well be the second coming of Jesus. Post-punk’s messiah, James Chance, of Contortions infamy, aka James White (& The…

Joan Allen

Morality bites

23 Apr 2007

Joan Allen is by far one of America’s most respected actresses. Brian Cox, who appears alongside her in the forthcoming espionage thriller The Bourne Ultimatum, says she’s the best he’s ever worked with.

Joshua Spassky

Gwendoline Riley

23 Apr 2007

EXISTENTIAL TALE Young Mancunian writer Gwendoline Riley is much-praised in literary circles, but it’s hard to see why from this turgid sliver of immature existential angst. A young female novelist from Manchester (hmmm) and an older American…

Les Ballets C. de la B - VSPRS

Tramway, Glasgow, Thu 3 - Sat 5 May

23 Apr 2007

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Belgian company, Les Ballet C. de la B is the spider plant of the dance world. Small cuttings spliced from the main group regularly take root elsewhere, creating diverse work under the same moniker. This unique structure means that…

Little Johnny’s Big Gay Adventure

Arches, Glasgow, Thu 10-Sat 12 May

23 Apr 2007

ONE-MAN THEATRE SHOW It’s been 18 months since Johnny McKnight last performed his squirmingly honest solo show at the Arches and things have changed. ‘Thirty’s looming, Madonna’s adopted a black baby and designed a range for H&M, and I’ve been to…

Loz Speyer’s Time Zone

The Tolbooth, Stirling, Sat 5 May

23 Apr 2007

JAZZ London-based trumpeter Loz Speyer has been spending a lot of time in Cuba since he last toured Scotland, and that will be reflected in the music he will perform with Time Zone. This short Scottish tour (they also play Montrose and some Highland…

Man of La Mancha

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 19 May

23 Apr 2007

MUSICAL There’s an impressive gusto to Dale Wasserman’s version, with words by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh, of Cervantes’ Don Quixote. There is also a certain underlying complexity in its insistent questioning of reality, idealism and…

Marvel Masterworks

Comics

23 Apr 2007

SUPERHERO Spider-Man is Marvel’s mascot, one of the most recognisable superheroes of all time. With the latest huge blockbuster on the horizon there’s bound to be a lot of interest in everyone’s favourite webslinger. Created back in 1962 by comics…

Neil Clements: Paranoid

SouthSide Studios, Fridge Gallery, Glasgow (viewing by appointment Sat 14-Sun 29 Apr)

23 Apr 2007

PAINTING AND INSTALLATION The small, dimly lit Fridge gallery acts like a mausoleum for Glasgow-based Neil Clements to create a painting, light and sound installation that takes an image of Op Art heroine Bridget Riley and the emergence of the…

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators

Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Sat 28 Apr; Renfrew Ferry,

23 Apr 2007

RETRO FUNK SOUL With the release of Keep Reachin’ Up last year, Nicole Willis found herself the subject of funk-soul lovers’ adoration and press applause. But as much as she is pleased with the album’s outcome, the 20 year careerist who has recorded…

Peter Jaques: Babble

The Corn Exchange Gallery, Edinburgh, Fri 27 Apr - Thu 14 Jun

23 Apr 2007

PHOTOGRAPHY Locking yourself in a pitch black basement with a dog and writing excerpts from ancient Greek texts such as Orpheus and Eurydice and The Twelve Labours of Hercules onto photographic paper with an old style quill pen dipped in chemicals…

Priscilla, Queen Of Glasgow

Profile

23 Apr 2007

What’s this all about? In the very best Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert tradition, Glasgow’s bonniest lassies (well ten of them and don’t check their birth certificates) will go breast-to-fake-breast to duke it out for the title of…

Profile - Kenny Dixon Jr

Profile

23 Apr 2007

Name Kenny Dixon Jr Occupation Modern-day torch-bearer for the Detroit techno sound, and indefatigable producer, label boss, alias collector and live DJ. Where might I have heard of him? If his given name doesn’t ring any bells, his arguably…

Re:Union

Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 27 Apr, then touring

23 Apr 2007

NEW WORK The traumatic and uncertain business of separation, be it of nations, lovers or families, creates a lasting emotional impact upon who we are and how we define ourselves. In 7:84’s new piece, composed of four separate short plays, each…

Remote Control

Brian Donaldson finds that the schedules have an even more rancid stench of death than usual

23 Apr 2007

Millionare socialist with a heart of gold? Or moneygrabbing wretch with less scruples than Stalin? During his lifetime, public opinion was heavily divided on Robert Maxwell, but history will probably prove to be less kind. In Maxwell (BBC2, Fri 4 May…

Ross Noble

ROSS NOBLE ON

23 Apr 2007

CD Ross Noble is a comic who, like the best of them, splits the crowd straight down the middle. To some he is a rambling muppet with an array of silly voices whose seeming lack of script results in him endlessly stumbling up comedic cul de sacs. The…

Scottish Outdoor Access Festival

Nationwide, Sat 28 Apr - Mon 7 May

23 Apr 2007

FESTIVAL Launched in 2005, the Scottish Outdoor Access Code encourages people to enjoy the great outdoors in a safe and responsible fashion. To walk through fields without damaging crops, picnic without leaving litter, and making sure your dog…

Sister Carol and Sister Nancy

Mungo’s Hi-Fi at Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, F

23 Apr 2007

REGGAE/DANCEHALL (Sister Carol, top; Sister Nancy, bottom) Sister Carol and Sister Nancy, two of reggae’s most revered and prolific artists make their Scottish debut at Triptych courtesy of Mungo’s Hi Fi and Messenger Soundsystem. Jamaican-born…

Spektrum

Dfrnt Trouble at The Caves, Edinburgh, Fri 27 Apr;

23 Apr 2007

PUNK FUNK Where London quartet Spektrum initially capitalised to good effect on the nascent punk-funk movement that American contemporaries like The Rapture, Radio 4 and the nascent LCD Soundsystem were developing, their new album Fun At The Gymkhana…

Spider-Man 3

(12A) 156min

23 Apr 2007

`SUPERHERO BLOCKBUSTER ‘Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.’ Writer/director Sam Raimi’s third and (alleged) final film outing with the New York dwelling arachnid superhero is a hit and miss affair which still manages to…

The Barfly’s Fifth Birthday

5 Reasons to go see

23 Apr 2007

1 Sergeant It’s a five-night celebration to celebrate five years of Glasgow’s favourite nationally-franchised rock and indie venue, featuring gigs from Wednesday to Sunday and club nights on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Fife indie-rockers Sergeant kick…

The Breed

(15) 87min

23 Apr 2007

HORROR ‘Give my best to Cujo!’ yells Nikki (Michelle Rodriguez) as she torches the secret research facility where she’s been trapped by a pack of savage hounds. Yes, it’s another mongrel killer-dog movie (see also Man’s Best Friend, Rottweiler and…

The Dykeenies

QMU, Glasgow, Fri 13 Apr

23 Apr 2007

INDIE Despite sporting a moniker which sounds like a cbeebies show involving two conversing plant pots, Cumbernauld quintet The Dykeenies have made quick business of vaulting themselves into contention. The now standard MySpace malarkey ensured their…

The Opposite House

Helen Oyeyemi

23 Apr 2007

SOCIAL DRAMA Helen Oyeyemi’s family left Nigeria when she was four and she draws on this experience and themes of cultural dislocation for her second novel. The Opposite House follows pregnant singer, Maja, as she tries to find ‘her Cuba’, a place…

The Painted Veil

(12A) 125min

23 Apr 2007

LITERARY ADAPTATION This third screen adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s novel, here directed by John Curran (We Don’t Live Here Anymore) and scripted by Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia), very successfully opens out Maugham’s astutely written but rather…

The Pastels

Back for good

23 Apr 2007

Given that they’ve released just one album in the last decade, a movie soundtrack at that, The Pastels could justifiably be accused of resting on their laurels. Perhaps doing things differently is precisely what’s kept Glasgow’s original enigmatic indie…

The Seven Sins of England

Channel 4, Tue 8 May, 10pm

23 Apr 2007

SOCIAL DOCUMENTARY Before anyone gets on their high horse, let’s admit straight off the bat that the Scots might claim to have a largely pacifist Tartan Army, but the seven sins of our Anglo Saxon brethren could be matched and probably surpassed by…

The Virgin of Flames

Chris Abani

23 Apr 2007

SOCIAL DRAMA Los Angeles, California. Black is a busy man. By day he collects racist and sexist jokes from toilets for his mural (one from Buckingham Palace via Sharon Osbourne), while being stalked by Archangel Gabriel, and obsessing over…

This is England

(18) 102min

23 Apr 2007

DRAMA Taking its name from the only single to be released from The Clash’s final, hideously vulgarised LP Cut The Crap (by manager Bernard Rhodes, who synth-popped each of the 12 tracks to within an inch of their lives), Shane Meadows’ new film is…

Typhoon

(15) 105min

23 Apr 2007

THRILLER Prepare yourself for Typhoon, the biggest-budgeted smash hit South Korean movie ever made that was shot on location in Korea, Russia and Thailand. Overplaying the idea of a potentially volatile political standoff between North and South Korea…

Yourcodenameis:milo

King Tut’s Glasgow, Mon 30 Apr

23 Apr 2007

ROCK To paraphrase Blur: modern rock is rubbish. Particularly here in the UK where the current rock ‘saviours’ consist of nice guy fops and knuckle-dragging oiks getting by on gee-shucks modesty or self-aggrandising pomp, respectively. So far, so…