Issue 588

Once

18 Oct 2007

If you thought all musicals were kitsch, cheesy and dated, then think again. At this year’s Sundance festival, Once – a small Irish indie film about a Dublin busker who falls for an East European immigrant cleaner – turned everyone’s preconceptions on…

Dance: Film Festival

18 Oct 2007

In 1980 the nation went wild for legwarmers; in 1983 dance classes were filled to bursting; and in 2000 boys took to ballet like never before. Such is the power of the dance film, that Fame, Flashdance and Billy Elliot gripped the public’s imagination…

Russell Howard

18 Oct 2007

A regular panellist on BBC2’s Mock the Week, with a Sunday morning radio show and an if.comeddie nomination to his name, Russell Howard recently played the biggest gig of his life, and at 27, his comedy future seems assured. ‘We just almost crashed on…

Eastern Promises

18 Oct 2007

THRILLER/DRAMA (18) 100min Friedrich Nietzsche once asked ‘if evil men have no songs, how is it that the Russians have songs?’ A similar tone of revulsion and envy runs through Steven Dirty Pretty Things Knight’s script for David Cronenberg’s new…

Radiohead - In Rainbows

18 Oct 2007

ROCK In Rainbows (www.inrainbows.com) So you’ve registered, paid what you thought your download might be worth (in our case £3.03 plus 45p admin fee – who are you calling cheap?), downloaded, burned, copied it and generally stuck it to ‘The Man’ in…

Vegas!

18 Oct 2007

Vegas! has topped The List’s poll of the best clubs in Scotland more than any other night, revellers embracing its big band stylings, Rat Pack cool and unheard classics. As the club reaches its tenth birthday Henry Northmore talks to the people who…

Shop - Tam Shepherd’s Trick Shop

18 Oct 2007

I’ve picked the worst possible time of the year to interview Julia Walton. It’s 12.30 on a Sunday afternoon, just before Hallowe’en, and the door of Tam Shepherd’s Trick Shop is constantly jingling. ‘Yes, it’s definitely our busiest time,’ she says…

The Witnesses

18 Oct 2007

AIDS DRAMA (15) 114min The lively opening chapter of André Téchiné’s (Wild Reeds, Alice et Martin) engrossing new ensemble piece captures the bright, colourful look and fruity feel of the Gallic comedy of manners as the love lives of a group of…

Travel - Finland

18 Oct 2007

When I first started making plans for my weeklong trip to Finland, I began the requisite process of droning on to anyone and everyone who would listen about my upcoming travels. However, on completion of my I’m-going-to-Finland-(ha ha you’re…

Stardust

18 Oct 2007

FANTASY (PG) 127min Matthew Layer Cake Vaughn’s scrupulous adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel looks set to take a space at the same box-office graveyard as several other recent fantasy pilots (Eragon, The Dark Is Rising). Vaughn quit his first big…

Africa in Motion

18 Oct 2007

Mark Cousins In the 90s, when I first fell in love with African movies, I’d jump on a cheapo train or plane to London or Paris if either city was showing the classics. Films like Ousmane Sembene’s astonishing satire on impotence, Xala, or his pioneering…

Rendition

18 Oct 2007

THRILLER (15) 122min In a project which feels like it was hastily conceived at an Academy Awards afterparty, Oscar-winner Gavin Tsotsi Hood marshals a cast of worthy talent in the shape of Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep for an…

Sicko

18 Oct 2007

DOCUMENTARY (12A) 123min The best and worst of Michael Moore are on display as he sets about attacking the way that healthcare is managed in America. The first line of attack exemplifies Moore at his maverick best. Instead of basing a documentary…

José González

18 Oct 2007

He’s responsible for one of the biggest albums of last year, yet nobody seems to recognise José González as he sits sipping his beer in the corner of a hip London hotel bar. In fact, the Swedish singer-songwriter is so softly spoken that it is almost…

Iron & Wine

18 Oct 2007

ALT.COUNTRY Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Mon 29 Oct It would be difficult to find a location more at odds with the music of Sam Beam than the London hotel lobby I meet him in. Swanky, super modern and decked out in stark white clinical decor and…

Larry Coryell & Bombay Jazz

18 Oct 2007

JAZZ Tolbooth, Stirling, Sat 20 Oct This is the only Scottish date for a world-jazz quartet featuring the guitar work of Larry Coryell. It’s a rare Scottish outing for the American guitarist, who made his name in the first wave of jazz-rock fusion…

Found

18 Oct 2007

ART POP The Caves, Edinburgh, Thu 1 Nov The latest musical ponies to be welcomed into the warm stables of Fence Records are the Edinburgh art pop collective, Found. According to band member Tommy Perman they’ve found themselves a good home. ‘I guess…

Hallowe’en clubbing

18 Oct 2007

Maybe it’s something about the Pagan origins of Hallowe’en, but even the best clubs can’t resist hitching their night onto the celebrations. Of course, mainstream party venues will latch onto any occasion for which a greetings card has ever been…

Profile - Radioactive Man

18 Oct 2007

Name Radioactive Man aka Keith Tenniswood. Occupation Non-lone member of Two Lone Swordsmen, alongside somewhat legendary house and rock’n’roll producer Andrew Weatherall. Tenniswood is also a DJ for hire whose tastes centre on dirty electro and…

Pendulum

18 Oct 2007

DRUM & BASS Xplicit at the Arches, Glasgow, Thu 1 Nov; Potterrow, Edinburgh, Fri 2 Nov They’ve become firm friends with the crew at Xplicit and Pendulum are once again winging their way up to Scotland. Their visit coincides with Xplicit making…

Modern Lovers

18 Oct 2007

RETRO Ego, Edinburgh, Fri 26 Oct ‘A supper dance with a bingo intermission,’ jokes Modern Lovers’ Craig Jamieson when asked what plans he has for his club’s latest birthday party. ‘Seven years, you see: we’re all getting on a bit.’ Which is…

Ed Robson

18 Oct 2007

Even Hollywood has turned, of recent times, to the subject of extraordinary rendition. But if the somewhat glamourised approach to the subject promised by the film Rendition, looks like creating a moral simplicity to the subject which threatens to bury…

A Midsummer Night's Dream

18 Oct 2007

CLASSIC King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 23–Sat 27 Oct Okay, let me fess up. The prospect of another production of the Dream will, generally, fail to fill me with the joys of life, despite the great text’s best intentions in that direction. Like…

Meeting Joe Strummer

18 Oct 2007

REVIVAL Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Sat 27 Nov, then touring That hoary old chestnut about when political compromise becomes sell out is at the centre of this amiable little fable, at least as much as the tragic punk rebel of the title. In this…

The Car Man

18 Oct 2007

DANCE THEATRE Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 30 Oct–Sat 3 Nov The small town of Harmony, USA has two things in abundance – heat and hormones. Both of which drive the town’s spirited young folk to acts of lust, infidelity and violence. Originally…

Blood Brothers

18 Oct 2007

MUSICAL Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 27 Oct There’s no flying car, singing animals or pyrotechnics, yet Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, which explores class, poverty and unemployment, remains one of our longest running musicals. Just…

Cyrano

18 Oct 2007

CLASSIC Dundee Rep, Fri 19 & Sat 20 Oct Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac is not obvious source material for a children’s show. Yes, the big nose is funny, but the story is shot through with brutal death and a mean streak of self-loathing; the…

Living Quarters

18 Oct 2007

REVIVAL Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 26 Oct–Sat 17 Nov In the era of celebrity, we’ve grown accustomed to people of no particular talent becoming famous for being famous. But if these folk have begun to provoke immense and arduous torpor…

Antigone

18 Oct 2007

CLASSIC Tron Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 27 Oct In March 2003, 41% of British people were opposed to the Iraq war, taking to the streets in protest, however this did little to break Blair’s resolve. Over four years later and with Iraq still in…

Britannia Panopticon Theatre

18 Oct 2007

The area around Glasgow’s Trongate has pulled its socks up somewhat over the last decade, but tucked in among the upmarket restaurants catering for the Tron Theatre’s well-heeled audiences and glossy bars spilling over from the Merchant City is a…

Little Johnny’s Big Gay Musical

18 Oct 2007

Random Accomplice’s Julie Brown and Johnny McKnight have resurrected the loveable, if diminutive anti-hero of Little Johnny’s Big Gay Adventure, the deserved hit of Glasgay! in 2005. This time out they bring us an all-singing, all-dancing escapade as…

Joel Stickley and Luke Wright

18 Oct 2007

‘It’s nice to get an opportunity to stick the knife in,’ says Luke Wright whose latest project aims to show that metaphorical blades are more powerful than the sword, especially when accompanied by a satirist’s pen. Targeting the questionable writing…

Raphael Danke

18 Oct 2007

It’s hard not to use clichés when talking about good art, but it cannot be denied that the simplest ideas well executed often guarantee quality. This notion is certainly true of the work of Raphael Danke at Sorcha Dallas, where a series of collages…

Eat - Oysters

18 Oct 2007

It’s a homecoming, of sorts. The Loch Fyne Oyster Bar in Argyll is revered on the Scottish food scene, in modern times a place much more worthy of the ‘Rest and Be Thankful’ tag than the hill summit a few miles away. The chain of Loch Fyne Restaurants…

Remote Control

18 Oct 2007

As tragic as Rod Hull’s death was (falling off his roof while attempting to fix the TV aerial), it’s not a patch on seeing his son flailing around to try and recapture the old man’s glory. When Toby Hull first walks into view with the patched-up Emu…

In their own words

18 Oct 2007

Project Catwalk Filmmaker Rodolphe Marconi discusses his new documentary about the enigmatic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld ‘For several years I’ve wanted to make an intimate film portrait of someone who I found fascinating and funny, and I thought…

Singles & Downloads

18 Oct 2007

Pop music. What’s the point of it all? Why, quite clearly to ensure that the horrifying likes of McFly can continue to be the beneficiaries of monumental marketing campaigns when all their original fans are surely thinking about starter mortgages these…

Ash

18 Oct 2007

ROCK Barrowland, Glasgow, Sun 28 Oct ‘There’s always been a fight within ourselves between wanting to rock out and also wanting to be totally pop,’ says Tim Wheeler, grinning. ‘So there’s always a real tension to what we do.’ And there, in a…

Brendon Burns

18 Oct 2007

STAND-UP Maggie May’s, Glasgow, Fri 19 Oct When Brendon Burns was nine years old, he decided that a career in stand-up comedy was the road he wanted to travel down. While in Texas with his family, he was snuck into a comedy club through its kitchen…

Amy Lamé’s Mama Cass Family Singers

18 Oct 2007

THEATRE Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Thu 25–Sat 27 Oct ‘I came up with the idea of a misremembered memoir which is what the show is,’ says Amy Lamé of her one-woman show Mama Cass Family Singers. ‘A lot of it is real, some of it’s made up, but it’s all…

Travel - Excess Baggage

18 Oct 2007

Boldly going where no one else really wants to •Ta ta Lonely Planet Thorn Tree! Farewell Facebook! Baggage has a new favourite website that we’re getting all evangelical about. It’s called Nothing To See Here (www.nothingtoseehere.net) and it’s just…

The Pearlfisher

18 Oct 2007

NEW WRITING Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 26 Oct–Sat 10 Nov Travelling folk have, for hundreds of years, caused controversy wherever they were liable to show up. How much of the trouble that seems to follow them emanates from the communities…

Feral Kingdom

18 Oct 2007

DRAWING, PAINTING, FILM AND SCULPTURE CCA, Glasgow, until Sat 10 Nov There seems to be little or no relationship between the works showing at Feral Kingdom in the CCA – all conceptual and aesthetic decisions seem almost arbitrary. It is true that…

DVD Round-Up

18 Oct 2007

Hallowe’en is almost upon us so let’s delve into the DVD dungeon. We have to start with Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (Starz) •••••. Much imitated but rarely bettered, John Carpenter set the groundwork for every slasher film that followed and this…

Sarah Chang

18 Oct 2007

GUEST PERFORMER Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Wed 24 Oct Glasgow’s International Classical series has some impressive names attached to it this season. Alfred Brendel, Kurt Masur, Ian Bostridge and Antonio Pappano are just a few of those who are in…

Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith

30 Days of Night (IDW)

18 Oct 2007

Once upon a time uptight Americans thought gruesome moral tales of things that crept and slithered through the world of comics might bring down society. EC Comics and their Tales From the Crypt, Vault of Horror and Haunt of Fear titles caused a moral…

Exposure - Enter Shikari

18 Oct 2007

Tomorrow’s music today. This issue: Enter Shikari This pioneering St Albans rave-metal outfit’s recent achievements really speak for themselves, but just in case you hadn’t noticed their incredible ascent to award-winning, genre-bending poster boys…

Film Round-up

18 Oct 2007

Gay screen Sandra Marron casts an eye over Glasgay!’s film programme Glasgay!’s film programme is a much smaller affair this year. Specialist releases have been replaced by a handful of more mainstream movies. This is due to low audience figures and…

Oxjam Clothes Swap

18 Oct 2007

CHARITY EVENT Swapping all over the world Oxjam Clothes Swap, Buff Club, Glasgow, Tue 30 Oct, 8pm. Ah, remember back in the gilded past of our youth, when nobody spat in the street, and putting on a fundraising event was a simple matter of arranging…

Peter York & Olivia Stewart-Liberty

18 Oct 2007

SOCIAL HANDBOOK Cooler, Faster, More Expensive: The Return of the Sloane Ranger (Atlantic) Conspicuous for their vast, inherited wealth, public school education and cushy jobs in the City, Sloanes (aka ‘rahs’, ‘yahs’ or ‘upper class twats’…