Issue 590

New Scottish bands

15 Nov 2007

Over the last couple of years, it has sometimes seemed like the end of an era for Scottish indie music. Starting with the amicable split of the seminal Delgados, and, more recently, the demise of Falkirk’s Arab Strap and underrated noiseniks…

Optimo turn ten

15 Nov 2007

The main problem with Optimo (Espacio), to give the club’s full title, is that it’s almost impossible to categorise in one handy soundbite. Keith McIvor (aka Twitch, pictured left) and Jonnie Wilkes (pictured right) both came from a techno background…

Brick Lane

15 Nov 2007

The Brick Lane depicted in Monica Ali’s prize-winning 2003 novel and adapted for the big screen by Sarah Gavron is pretty much gone. While the street remains the spiritual home of the huge Bengali community in London it’s now been overrun by wine bars…

Jason Schwartzman - The Darjeeling Limited

15 Nov 2007

‘I felt like we were kids making a movie,’ says Jason Schwartzman. ‘Every day we set out to work was an adventure. We never knew what was going to happen.’ The 27-year-old American actor might well be reminiscing about his big screen debut in 1998 in…

Eating in Inverness

15 Nov 2007

I’d never really thought about Inverness as a holiday destination. To be perfectly, shamefacedly honest, I hadn’t really ever thought much about Inverness. In an age of £20 flights to Europe, the idea of the weekend city break has come to mean something…

Voodoo Rooms - Spellbound

15 Nov 2007

Renegade, the organisation that gave us Pure and Vegas! now have their very own venue to play with. The Voodoo Rooms is situated in the space above Edinburgh’s Café Royal, restored to its former glory and populated by a mixed roster of nights that take…

Allan Moyle - The Cold High

15 Nov 2007

Filmmaker Allan Moyle is beaming across the table at me: ‘I loved your movie!’ Sensing my confusion he continues: ‘The movie – your movie! Trainspotting!’ Unable to discern the distinction between my Glaswegian accent and the Edinburgh-based epic, he…

Example - Word smart

15 Nov 2007

Even for seasoned trend-spotters and taste makers like those here at The List it isn’t easy to predict which artists will strike a chord with the masses, who will stall before take-off and who will crash and burn. Having conquered press and public…

Peter Dineen - Interview by a vampire

15 Nov 2007

Today the critic is often viewed as a vampire sucking the life out of the artist but it wasn’t alwsys thus. Alexander Pope, for instance, was perfectly able to balance his career as an essayist with that of a poet, with, in fact, the former being more…

Tom Phillips - Word and image

15 Nov 2007

In 1966 the artist Tom Phillips went on a shopping expedition in Peckham, casually looking for a book to play with and adapt. Chance led him to a copy of WH Mallock’s A Human Document, an obscure and relatively forgotten Victorian novel, which the…

American Gangster

15 Nov 2007

Ridley Scott’s American Gangster opens with callous urban cruelty as a man is tied to a chair, doused with petrol and set on fire. But the reasons behind this violent act are less to do with anarchy than with good business, or at least that’s the lesson…

Charlie Brooker

15 Nov 2007

COLLECTED JOURNALISM Dawn of the Dumb (Faber) Listening to a verbose man rant on and on about the things that irritate him can be a relentless and exhausting chore at times. Put that down in print and those same demented opinions can appear more…

Cinema’s most unconventional families

The ties that bind

15 Nov 2007

Wes Anderson has made much of the dynamism of the dysfunctional family in his films. Mark Robertson presents some of cinema’s other most unconventional families The Griswolds from National Lampoon’s Vacation The farcical events of the National…

Beowulf

15 Nov 2007

(12A) 114min Beowulf is being released on four formats: 35mm, digital, digital 3D and IMAX. This review is based on the IMAX version, Beowulf being the first mainstream film to successfully employ this technology. Much of the initial wow factor is…

Rescue Dawn

15 Nov 2007

Born in 1938 in the Black Forest region of Germany, Dieter Dengler never wanted to go to war, he just wanted to fly. After emigrating to America at the age of 18 and completing flight training, in 1966 Dengler found himself on board an aircraft carrier…

In the Shadow of the Moon

15 Nov 2007

This exhilarating British-made documentary about the American lunar programme of the 1960s and 70s serves to remind us just how stirring the best efforts of mankind can be. Assembled under the guidance of director David Sington from a wealth of…

Planet Terror

15 Nov 2007

Cut loose from its Grindhouse packaging Robert Sin City Rodriguez’s freaky, apocalyptic horror film is undoubtedly the baddest, nastiest and least well behaved child to come out of that divorce. But in this case that’s a very good thing. When an…

Charles M Schulz - Small world

15 Nov 2007

It’s the little things that make the difference. In the case of the Charles M Schulz cartoon strips, that could mean the smallest of pen strokes for a raised eyebrow, an extra crease on a forehead, the downward bend on the ends of a mouth. Schulz…

Stereophonics

15 Nov 2007

ROCK SECC, Glasgow, Sun 25 Nov It’s a rock truism. Some bands burn out, some fade away while a few just keep rolling on for an age, undaunted by critical opinion and undimmed in their fans’ affections. Stereophonics are an archetypal example of…

SNJO plays Woody Herman

15 Nov 2007

JAZZ Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 24 Nov; Byre Theatre, St Andrews, Fri 30 Nov; RSAMD, Glasgow, Sat 1 Dec The SNJO have already featured the music of Ellington, Basie and Goodman, so it seems only natural that Tommy Smith and his troops should now…

Fiddle 2007

15 Nov 2007

FOLK Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Fri 16–Sun 18 Nov Asked to name a famous fiddler, most people think of the mysterious character in Fiddler on the Roof, the archetypal lone folk musician, or failing that the lass from The Corrs. Musically, it’s a…

Vieux Farka Toure

15 Nov 2007

WORLD Arches, Glasgow, Sun 25 Nov When Vieux Farka Toure played at WOMAD this year, world music fans were intrigued to see how he would fare. When his father, the great Malian music oracle Ali Farka Toure died in 2006, he left behind a musical…

The Necks

15 Nov 2007

JAZZ The Lot, Edinburgh, Wed 7 Nov Live, the extended improvisations of the Australian trio of pianist Chris Abrahams, drummer Tony Buck and bassist Lloyd Swanson should curl up into an inward-looking heap. Yet, as their recent album, Townsville…

John Spacey

15 Nov 2007

HOUSE Karnival at Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Sat 24 Nov Having enjoyed increasing success as a DJ under his BeGoodMusic banner, house DJ John Spacey is making something of a comeback gig here. Spacey (real name John Brownlie) is originally from…

Bamboo Fifth Birthday

15 Nov 2007

HOUSE Bamboo, Glasgow, Sat 24 Nov Despite being a commercial club in the heart of the city, Bamboo’s music policy doesn’t just pander to the mainstream, so it’s definitely worth shouting about the fact that they are five this month. A three-room…

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

15 Nov 2007

AERIAL SHOW Opposite Ocean Terminal, Leith, Sat 24 Nov, 5pm The words ‘Christmas’ and ‘free’ rarely go hand in hand these days, but a one-off event in Leith is bucking the trend. ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas is a free outdoor family event…

5 Reasons To Go See - The Hives

15 Nov 2007

1 ‘Cos every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man’ Sorry for starting with a ZZ Top quote, but it couldn’t be more apt for this impeccably attired Swedish five-piece garage rock behemoth. Every new record comes accompanied by a razor-sharp new look, and…

A Soldier’s Tale

15 Nov 2007

MUSIC THEATRE Tron, Glasgow, Fri 16–Sat 17 Nov Among what we rather forbiddingly call ‘serious’ or ‘classical’ music composers, perhaps the most frequently performed over the last century, at least in terms of theatre rather than opera, is…

Also Published - 5 Humour Books

15 Nov 2007

• Ibrahim Amin The Monster Hunter’s Handbook Subtitled ‘The Ultimate Guide to Saving Mankind from Vampires, Zombies, Hellhounds and Other Mythical Beasts’ this includes a Top Trumps on the weapons which might come in handy should you encounter said…

Also Released - Film

15 Nov 2007

Bug (18) 101min ••• William The Exorcist Friedkin’s film adaptation of Tracey Letts’ nausea-inducing play about a couple of depressed white trash lovers holed up in a rundown hotel, and their slow realisation that something may be crawling under their…

Also Released - Music

15 Nov 2007

• LCD Soundsystem > 45:33 (DFA/EMI) James Murphy and Pat Mahoney Fabriclive: 36 (Fabric) A pair of LCD related mixtapes emerge within weeks of each other, the former an extended jam Murphy recorded for Nike which gets a physical release while the latter…

Anna M

15 Nov 2007

French writer/director Michel Spinosa’s Anna M is a psychological thriller which blends the clinical and the mystical in its portrait of a female erotomaniac. A rare book restorer at Paris’s Bibliotheque Nationale, who still lives with her mother, the…

BAFTA - In the spotlight

15 Nov 2007

BAFTA continued to showcase its dedication to short film last week, launching details of this year’s 60 Seconds of Fame initiative. The competition, set up last year, aims to support and encourage the public to participate in filmmaking. Open to anyone…

Ben Westbeech

15 Nov 2007

Skunk Funk team up with Trouble to bring you a live set of funk from Ben Westbeech. Gilles Peterson chose Westbeech’s debut single ‘So Good Today’ as the first release on his new Brownstone label so he must be doing something right. Expect soul, hip…

Blame it on Fidel!

15 Nov 2007

Paris in the early 1970s and nine-year-old Anna de La Mesa (Nina Kervel) is having problems coming to terms with her radical political activist parents. Her Spanish-born lawyer father Fernando (Stefano Accorsi) and journalist/writer mother Marie (Julie…

Blood Country & Rehearsal Room 12

15 Nov 2007

NEW WORK Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 22–Sat 24 & Thu 29 Nov There’s always been something boysie about the best of Douglas Maxwell’s work, with such pieces as Our Bad Magnet and Decky Does a Bronco depicting all-male casts exploring the rites…

BMX Bandits

15 Nov 2007

INDIE Bee Stings (Poppydisc) Fifteen albums on, these indie legends show no sign of resting on their laurels, and Bee Stings is proof that all this frolicking in pastures new has paid off. From catchy opener ‘Take Me to Heaven’ to the captivating…

Boy A

15 Nov 2007

DRAMA Channel 4, Mon 26 Nov, 9pm As Channel 4 looks forward after glancing back at its first quarter of a century, there’s one area of programming where it seems to be especially strong: the one-off trauma drama. In recent times we’ve had Matthew…

Brain Damage

15 Nov 2007

Brain Damage is surely the masterpiece in Frank Henenlotter’s limited but bloody career (though he does have a film called Bad Biology currently in post-production). Henenlotter made his name with the lurid Basket Case, before moving on to Frankenhooker…

Britney Spears

15 Nov 2007

POP Blackout (Jive) Producer So, she’ll be here in a few minutes, yeah? Record company executive Yeah, so we’ll have a window of 30 minutes to lay down some vocals. P But she hasn’t even heard the tunes yet . . . RCE Erm, yeah, just, um…

Burial

15 Nov 2007

DUBSTEP Untrue (Hyperdub) This is as far from the blissed-out Ibiza late-night comedown as you could ever wish. Burial’s intention was to create a soundtrack for a moment in the middle of the night; a moment of dark contemplation and he has does so…

Calvin Harris plays Edinburgh's Hogmanay

15 Nov 2007

Are you more festive elf or Scrooge McDuck? I’m getting less festive as I get older. In fact, all year round I’m becoming a miserable Scrooge. Which songs would feature on your perfect festive soundtrack, and which definitely wouldn’t? Paul…

Chihiro Yamanaka

15 Nov 2007

JAZZ Lach Doch Mal (Emarcy) This young Japanese pianist makes her Scottish debut this issue at The Lot, and follows in the wake of Hiromi in being snapped up by a major label. Like many of our own young jazz musicians, she has studied both in London…

Christmas secrets of the master chefs

15 Nov 2007

MARY CONTINI Our family traditions are tied up with the religious traditions that my grandparents brought across with them from Italy, and are to do with fasting and abstinence in the days leading up to a feast. So on Christmas Eve, we always have…

Cinderella’s fella

15 Nov 2007

Matthew Lenton, artistic director of Vanishing Point, explains why he moonlights as a children’s entertainer every December ‘I’m writing and directing Cinderella at Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline this year. I’ve directed their annual panto for the past…

David Shrigley And Various

15 Nov 2007

ODDITIES Worried Noodles (Tomlab) The concept was cute, Glasgow artist Shrigley writes the words, scores of musicians – 39 of them! – from David Byrne to Franz Ferdinand to Deerhoof supply the music. The results vary wildly, from harmonious folks…

Desire Under The Elms

15 Nov 2007

Eugene O’Neill’s drama, here revived in Jeremy Raison’s production, tells the story of the battle between an oppressed young man on a remote, dirt poor rural American farm and his conflict with his father and brothers. When dad comes home with a new…

Dillinger Escape Plan

15 Nov 2007

METAL Ire Works (Relapse) Having written the definitive math-metal album with 1999’s Calculating Infinity debut, DEP have faced incessant criticism from a select few for daring to expand the sonic palette. Ire Works looks set to provoke further…

DJ Vadim

15 Nov 2007

HIP HOP The Sound Catcher Extras (BBE) When The Sound Catcher came out last year, some reviewers believed that DJ Vadim, the original White Russian, was not interested in inventing sub-genres, but simply putting his stamp on the music he was in…

Dunedin Consort – Buxtehude Anniversary Concert

15 Nov 2007

ANNIVERSARY Queens Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 18 Nov Composers’ anniversaries can be neat pegs upon which to hang concert programmes, with the added bonus that audiences hear music that otherwise might not get much of an airing. In the case of Dietrich…