Issue 589

Secondhand record shops in Glasgow and Edinburgh

1 Nov 2007

Shopping and I have always had a love-hate relationship. But we put aside our differences for record shopping: that ritualistic, solitary activity that’s at once sombre yet exhilarating. Secondhand records possess the same mystique as old books; they…

Tom Phillips

Big picture

1 Nov 2007

Tom Phillips Widely considered a touchstone of postmodernism, Tom Phillips’ artistic project, ‘A Humument: A Treated Victorian Novel’, has achieved cult status since its initial publication in 1970. One day, Phillips went into a book shop with the…

Crime & punishment - breaking the virtual rules

1 Nov 2007

These days, when we talk about crime in the cyber world we’re not referring to the joyriding depicted in Need for Speed or the multiple murders of Manhunt. These are crimes against computer controlled characters within games. This may sound…

The Brothers Solomon

1 Nov 2007

COMEDY (15) 92min Comedians Will Forte and Will Arnet dumb down their already dumb strain of Saturday Night Live humour to exhausting effect in this lowbrow comedy. When their father (Lee Majors) lapses into a coma, the understandably single Solomon…

In England - interview with Don McCullin

1 Nov 2007

Don McCullin might seem like some kind of anachronistic beast among the top photographers today. Not for him the simpering vanities of celebrityhood; he has always been far more interested in the real problems that face ordinary people on a daily basis.

Scottish crime writing

1 Nov 2007

‘Ah, well. If you’re Scottish, and you’re writing crime fiction, at some point someone is going to hail you as “the new Ian Rankin” until they remember, no, actually Ian Rankin is still there. Alex Gray has been described as the Glaswegian Ian Rankin.

BBC Good Food Show in Scotland

1 Nov 2007

This has been the year of the food fair. Events organisers up and down Scotland have sniffed the air and have, in their droves, turned to food and drink as a way of celebrating local identity and drawing crowds young and old. Numerous towns around the…

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

1 Nov 2007

DRAMA/HISTORY (12A) 114min The allure of the Virgin Queen continues. It’s 1585 and Queen Elizabeth I of England (Cate Blanchett) is being besieged by possible suitors, sedition and the Spanish superpower led by bow-legged arch Catholic fundamentalist…

Faustus

1 Nov 2007

NEW WORK Dundee Rep, Tue 13–Sat 17 Nov, then touring In general, the visual arts and theatre go together like garlic and custard. The theatre’s more outward-looking social vision, its concern with public issues, might seem to contrast with the…

007 Licensed to thrill at ECA retrospective

1 Nov 2007

A rare life study of Sir Sean Connery has been included in the Edinburgh College of Art Centenary Exhibition, Ten Decades, at the capital’s City Art Centre. The oil on canvas, which captures the star in barely there underwear, was painted by…

Richard Alston Dance Company

1 Nov 2007

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 13 Nov Music – some choreographers can’t start work without it, while for others it’s the final piece in the jigsaw. But for Martin Lawrance, dancer and choreographer with Richard Alston Dance…

Roman Signer: Works

1 Nov 2007

Roman Signer’s sculptural happenings, devoid as they are of nostalgia, reference or history, are usually received with a marvellous grin. Conventional narrative is displaced by simple Signer happenings such as a floating plastic bag, a rolling barrel.

The Rankin files - St Jude's Infirmary

1 Nov 2007

Firstly can you introduce yourselves? OK, we are Grant Campbell (bass, vocals), Ashley Campbell (guitar, vocals), Emma Jane (vocals), Mark Francis (guitar, vocals) and Alun Thomas (drums). How is the second album progressing? It’s been…

Bill Bailey

1 Nov 2007

STAND-UP SECC, Glasgow, Wed 7–Fri 9 Nov It seems clear that Bill Bailey has never minded looking somewhat foolish in the pursuit of his chosen career path. Back in the early days when he was a mere West Country boy trying to earn a modest showbusiness…

Numbers

1 Nov 2007

ELECTRONIC DANCEHALL/GLITCH Glasgow School of Art, Fri 2 Nov Modeselektor are two electronic geniuses from Berlin by the names of Gernot and Szary. The pair has just released Happy Birthday!, the follow up to their debut album Hello Mom, and are…

A Midsummer Night's Dream

1 Nov 2007

CLASSIC King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, run ended Since its premiere in New Delhi in April 2006, Tim Supple’s multilingual Dream seems to have conquered the resistance of every audience it has played to. Its first (though surely not last) appearance in…

Andrew Garfield

1 Nov 2007

Unless you happened to catch fresh-faced actor Andrew Garfield on the London and Manchester stages – where in the last three years he’s won various newcomer awards for well-received performances in plays by Enda Walsh and Mark Ravenhill – chances are…

Hitlist - The best dancefloor action

1 Nov 2007

• Clutter House Studio 24 celebrate their semi-relaunch with a double bill of quality old school acid and rave featuring 808 State and DMX Krew. Studio 24, Edinburgh, Fri 2 Nov. • Ivy Weekender: Part 1 Boom Monk Ben and Ninja Tune’s Hint get the…

Rambert Dance Company

1 Nov 2007

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 7–Fri 9 Nov Grace, finesse and refinement – three things every Rambert dancer has at their disposal. But the arrival of Australian choreographer, Garry Stewart this summer, turned the company on…

Relentless

1 Nov 2007

TECHNO Sub Club, Glasgow, Fri 2 Nov Relentless by name, but, alas, not quite relentless by nature, the techno club that first put Ben Sims on a stage in Glasgow is hanging up its headphones after one final bash at the Sub Club, the club’s home for…

Steve Niles & Scott Hampton - review

Horror

1 Nov 2007

Steve Niles is probably the biggest name in horror comics at the moment. The man who brought us the gothic vampires of 30 Days of Night (now a big budget horror flick) is now launching his first big monthly title with DC, Simon Dark, starring ‘Gotham…

Ian Rankin interviews Aidan Moffat about comics

1 Nov 2007

Rankin When did you start reading comics? Were you a DC Thomson lad (Bimbo, Dandy, Beano, Victor, Hotspur)? Moffat I was definitely a Beano boy because it always seemed more edgy than the Dandy, but I insisted I got the Dandy as a sort of light…

Denise Mina & Leonardo Manco - review

Horror

1 Nov 2007

While Ian Rankin is writing his own Hellblazer story, due in 2008, the current scribe bringing occult anti-hero John Constantine to life is fellow Scots crime author Denise Mina. In this direct sequel to her Empathy is the Enemy collection, the Empathy…

Also Released - Film

1 Nov 2007

30 Days of Night (15) 112min ••• In an isolated Alaskan town, which is plunged into darkness for one month every year, bloodthirsty vampires start appearing to feed on the town’s residents. Local Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett), his estranged wife Stella…

Hitlist - The best comedy

1 Nov 2007

• Bill Bailey The self-proclaimed hippie materialist part-troll guy worms his way back into our affections with more daft musical musings. SECC, Glasgow, Wed 7–Fri 9 Nov. * Ian Rankin's choice • Mark Watson The most energetic (yet unhealthiest…