Issue 574

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…

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…

This is England

(18) 102min

23 Apr 2007

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 about what…

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…

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…

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…

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…

* 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…

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…

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 and…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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!’

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…

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…

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…

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…