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Issue 597

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Foals

Foals

28 Feb 2008

From blogosphere sweethearts to daytime radio fodder, Foals’ recent rise to fame has been meteoric. With Antidotes, they have easily made one of the albums of 2008, and the famously energetic outfit are about to embark on a run of totally sold out UK…

China

Aye Write! - China

28 Feb 2008

What do Westerners really know about the People’s Republic of China? Our understanding of the world’s biggest nation is chiefly drawn from news reports about the country’s booming economy, her patchy human rights record and controversial intervention in…

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen

28 Feb 2008

There’s no particular reason why Glasgow poetry promoters Vital Synz are holding a Leonard Cohen Supper this fortnight. It’s not the great songwriter’s birthday, and he’s still, as far as we know, in rude health. He is being inducted into the Rock…

Omid Djalili

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Omid Djalili

28 Feb 2008

There are a few things guaranteed about an Omid Djalili show. There’ll be spot-on regional accents, plentiful jokes about his Iranian roots, a slap or two in the pug ugly face of British bigotry and, the pièce de résistance, an energetic slab of…

Hanif Kureishi

Aye Write! - Hanif Kureishi

28 Feb 2008

Hanif Kureishi is one of the most prolific, radical and ambitious writers around. He’s also one of the most multi-talented, having started out as a playwright in the 1970s and since written novels, journalism and directed films. He’s been busier than…

Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor - We Are Together

28 Feb 2008

Director Paul Taylor had just finished his first year studying film at Bournemouth in 2003 when he went off and worked for a few months at the Agape Orphanage in South Africa. A year later he returned with a camera and documented the kids. In some ways…

Martyn Bennett

Aye: An Affirmation of Martyn Bennett

28 Feb 2008

Martyn Bennett changed the face of Scottish music, marrying the high octane waves of the 90s dance scene with jazz beats, classical strings and his native Gaelic traditions. Now, the life and work of the performer and composer are set to be celebrated…

Sons and Daughters

Scottish musicians at SXSW

28 Feb 2008

The South by South West (SXSW) music festival has long been considered a showcase for some of Scotland’s most eclectic bands. Now, six homegrown acts are set to continue that tradition when they travel to the festival in Austin, Texas next…

Semi-Pro

Semi-Pro

(4 stars)28 Feb 2008

COMEDY (15) 91min Will Ferrell raises his game with this typically energetic and supremely daft ‘frat pack’ comedy that also boasts a surprising winning streak in its semi-serious celebration of the now defunct American Basketball Association. With…

Dawn of War: Dark Crusade

Online gaming

28 Feb 2008

Downloading media has become increasingly easy in recent years. Your mobile phone can download games, your television can stream radio and DVDs can be rented over the net and played on your games console. While users are increasingly warming to the idea…

Garage

Garage

(3 stars)28 Feb 2008

DRAMA (18) 84min Director Lenny Abrahamson follows his quirky junkie comedy Adam and Paul with another tale of oddballs living life on the margins of Irish society. Stand-up comedian Pat Shortt plays against type as the gas station attendant Josie…

Richard H Kirk

Richard H Kirk

28 Feb 2008

Richard H Kirk is talking about how his old band inspired the names of not one, but two clubs. The fact that Cabaret Voltaire, the electronic pioneers formed by Kirk in 1970s Sheffield with Stephen Mallinder and Chris Watson themselves took their name…

Julia

Berlin Film Festival

28 Feb 2008

Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light kicked off the BFF, and, while it wasn’t terrible, it lacked the emotional pull of the director’s 1978 live concert film The Last Waltz. At least the Panorama section boasted more music…

Fatih Akin

Interview - Fatih Akin

28 Feb 2008

Fatih Akin is embarrassed that his new film The Edge of Heaven picked up awards in Cannes and at the European Film Awards for Best Screenplay. The Turkish filmmaker admits: ‘The final film looks nothing like the script. We completely changed its…

Scottish Opera - Five:15

Scottish Opera - Five:15

28 Feb 2008

Think opera, and it’s usually think big. At 15 hours in total, for instance, the four operas that make up Wagner’s Ring are very definitely tipping the overblown end of the scale. Proving that the genre doesn’t always have to be of such towering…

Fat Tongue

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Fat Tongue

28 Feb 2008

Never mind creating characters, pulling off original set-ups and delivering a fine punchline, the toughest thing about being in a sketch show group must be finding a decent name. You can easily picture individuals sitting for hours in a smoke-filled…

Barry & Stuart

Barry & Stuart

28 Feb 2008

Some magicians spend their lives trying to convince us that they can walk on water. Metaphorically speaking. With London-based, Aberdeenshire-raised double act Barry Jones and Stuart MacLeod, there’s one thing you should know: they actually can walk on…

Bethany Black

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Lesbian comedians

28 Feb 2008

Stand-up comedy has always provided a platform for historically oppressed minorities. From the self-deprecatory Borscht belt humour of Mel Brooks and Rodney Dangerfield through Richard Pryor’s fearless exploration of racism to the feminist material of…

Alistair Findlay

Aye Write! - Alistair Findlay

28 Feb 2008

On the face of it, football and poetry are not obvious bedfellows. The Tartan Army enjoy a good singalong but they’re not renowned for their linguistic prowess or their gentle poetic insights. Likewise, you can’t imagine a Poets XI mastering the 4-5-1…

Russell Kane

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Russell Kane

28 Feb 2008

Since the age of eight he has written short stories but has never been published ‘The one creative constant I’ve always had is to write fiction. I read that you should get your rejection slips and decorate your room with them. I literally ended up…

Yeasayer

Yeasayer

28 Feb 2008

After riding a wave of hype stateside and playing to sold-out audience on their first full US tour, Yeasayer are bringing their unique brand of world music-tinged rock to Glasgow. The four-piece combine sprawling, experimental soundscapes with African…

Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara

28 Feb 2008

FOLK QMU, Glasgow, Fri 29 Feb Poor Tegan and Sara. If it’s not their supposedly unfashionable asymmetrical haircuts (it’s the latest in Canadian coiffure), it’s the insipid curiosity with their private lives (they are twins and both lesbians) that…

Taylor Clark

Taylor Clark

28 Feb 2008

Full fat? Half fat? Skinny? A shot of eggnog syrup maybe? Since the coffee house revolution of the 1990s, your morning cup comes in an endless myriad of permutations. It wasn’t always like this of course, there was a time PS (Pre Starbucks) that coffee…

Isle of Harris

Isle of Harris

28 Feb 2008

To someone who, as a child, often prayed for the kind of harsh weather that kept the rest of the world at bay and provided an excellent excuse for ‘coorieing in’ and contemplation, the idea of staying on an island on the Outer Hebrides during the winter…

Janey Godley

Janey Godley

28 Feb 2008

STAND-UP Jongleurs, Glasgow, Thu 28 Mar; The Garage, Glasgow, Thu 6 Mar; Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sun 9 Mar ‘I read an article about Josie Long and Kristen Schaal saying, “Isn’t it lovely that female comedians are returning to being quirky and nice?”…

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree

(4 stars)28 Feb 2008

POP (Mute) For a woman who has done so much unashamed musical thievery in her time that she would put a gang of Pollock shoplifters to shame, Alison Goldfrapp has always been a bewitching character. In her efforts to distinguish herself from the…

The Mars Volta

The Mars Volta

28 Feb 2008

ROCK Carling Academy, Glasgow, Tue 11 Mar Amalgamating widdly solos, psychedelic soundscape wig-outs, inscrutable lyrics, heroin abuse and big hair is bound to conjure up some Frankenstein’s monster of the worst excesses of (whisper it) prog. Yet…

The Other Boleyn Girl

The Other Boleyn Girl

(2 stars)28 Feb 2008

ADAPTATION/ROMANCE (12A) 114min This clumsily abridged adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s bestselling historical novel fills in the ‘hidden history’ of Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne, the second of Henry VIII’s six wives. According to this take on the 16th…

Anne Enright

Anne Enright - Taking Pictures

(4 stars)28 Feb 2008

SHORT STORIES (Jonathan Cape) The unheralded winner of last year’s Booker Prize with fourth novel The Gathering, Anne Enright here presents her second collection of short fiction. The first was also her debut publication, 1991’s The Portable Virgin…

Margot at the Wedding

Margot at the Wedding

(2 stars)28 Feb 2008

DRAMA/COMEDY (15) 92min Writer/director Noah Baumbach starts proceedings on his latest feature with a block capital title caption, forewarning the audience that his latest offering pays homage to the French New Wave, in particular the work of Francois…

The Game Plan

The Game Plan

(3 stars)28 Feb 2008

FAMILY/COMEDY (U) 110min ‘Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?’ Although wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson doesn’t get to use his trademark catchphrase in Disney family-values comedy The Game Plan, his charismatic presence turns some…

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet - interview with Kevin Lennon

28 Feb 2008

By comparison to Shakespeare’s other great tragedies, there’s a certain snootiness on the part of literary critics about Romeo and Juliet. Certainly it’s early work, and shows a certain immaturity, but does it constantly need to be compared unfavourably…

National Year of Reading

National Year of Reading

28 Feb 2008

Compared to a stick that transforms into a golf club, tennis racket or aeroplane control, the book seems a poor choice of entertainment. But when was the last time a Nintendo Wii helped a child overcome bullying, get through their parents’ divorce or…

Stuart Delves

Hidden World - Litter of Sandals

28 Feb 2008

NEW WORK Oran Mor, Glasgow, Mon 25 Feb–Sat 1 Mar Being able to address the oppressive regimes of recent world politics in mainstream lunchtime theatre is a luxury some countries simply do not have. In Hidden Worlds, playwright Stuart Delves…

Shining City

Shining City

28 Feb 2008

IRISH DRAMA Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, Sat 29 Feb–Sat 1 Mar, then touring If you saw the recent production of Equus which has been touring Scotland, you might be forgiven for thinking a theme was emerging for audiences of Scottish theatre. Just as…

Nutcracker!

Nutcracker!

28 Feb 2008

NARRATIVE DANCE Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 11–Sat 15 Mar When it comes to getting bums on seats, a popular title goes a long way. But Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! has far more than its name to thank for the show’s phenomenal success. Like all his…

Waiting For Godot

Waiting For Godot

(4 stars)28 Feb 2008

MODERN CLASSIC Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 8 Mar Our thirst for enquiry may be waning in an age when answers are so readily available at the click of a mouse. But the Citizens’ company’s production of Beckett’s masterpiece, perhaps the least…

Autechre

Autechre

28 Feb 2008

EXPERIMENTAL Numbers, Glasgow School of Art, Sat 1 Feb ‘The same thing only now’ runs the tagline for Autechre’s ninth and latest album Quaristice. Whoever came up with that one was having a good day at the office, for the album continues the…

Nathan Fake

Nathan Fake

28 Feb 2008

TECHNO Kapital and the Caves, Edinburgh, Sat 1 Mar Kapital’s headliner at this Border Community (James Holden’s rather fantastic record label) special is none other than Nathan Fake, a 25-year-old producer who makes stripped down techno tracks bathed…

Scottish Dance Theatre

Scottish Dance Theatre

(4 stars)28 Feb 2008

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Glasgow Theatre Royal, Thu 28–Fri 29 Feb When dance works – and I mean really works – it’s not your eyes that tell you, but your heart. And that rush of adrenalin. Needless to say, it doesn’t happen very often – but with Liv Lorent…

Dexter

Remote Control

28 Feb 2008

What could the worlds of American contemporary mobsters and 1960s ad men possibly have in common? Actually, more than you’d imagine after you’ve seen a couple of episodes of Mad Men (BBC4, Sun 2 Mar, 10pm •••). Creator Matthew Weiner earned his stripes…

White Season

White Season

28 Feb 2008

DRAMA/DOCUMENTARY SEASON BBC2, starts Fri 7 Mar No doubt there will be chins being stroked and hands being wrung over whether the BBC is correct to be giving a voice to some of the unchallenged casual xenophobia and downright blatant racism that is…

Craig Mulholland

Craig Mulholland

(5 stars)28 Feb 2008

In an exhibition that spans three venues, and will morph into an even larger installation in Bristol later this year, Craig Mulholland’s Grandes et Petites Machines, which comprises sculptures, constructed ‘paintings’ and films, fills the Mackintosh…

Nanakusa

Nanakusa

28 Feb 2008

There’s no such thing as a Japanese restaurant. So David Wan concluded during a fact-finding mission to the Far East last year – just as he was planning to open up such an establishment in Glasgow. There was no shortage of specialist bars selling sushi…

Takeaway lattes

Taste Test - Takeaway lattes

28 Feb 2008

Beanscene small latte, £2.05 Woodlands Road, Glasgow, 0141 352 9800; 99 Nicholson Street, 0131 667 5697 plus other branches across Scotland, www.beanscene.com Lacking any defining taste, this feels more like a watered down milkshake than your…

DVD Round-Up

28 Feb 2008

March waddles into sight with a couple of movie behemoths. First up there’s the Stanley Kubrick Special Edition Box Set (Warner Home Video ••••), which includes special editions of 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining…

6 Characters In Search Of An Author

6 Characters In Search Of An Author

(3 stars)28 Feb 2008

CLASSIC Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, until Sat 8 Mar, then touring We’ve all heard the stories about soap actors being approached and abused in the street, not for what they’ve done, but for the misdeeds of their characters. While we might chastise the…

Ansel Adams: Celebration of Genius

Ansel Adams: Celebration of Genius

(4 stars)28 Feb 2008

PHOTOGRAPHY City Art Centre, Edinburgh, until Sat 19 Apr The natural ecological bent with which Ansel Adams’ work is infused means that a show like this could never be more timely, and many might read a somewhat sombre note in his otherwise…

Aye Write! - Best of the rest

28 Feb 2008

Asne Seierstad The Norwegian journalist who has reported on war in Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan discusses her new book, Angel of Grozny: Inside Chechyna. Fri 7 Mar, 6pm. Kathleen Turner She gave young adolescents many sleepless nights with her…

Nick Evans and Tony Swain

Nick Evans and Tony Swain

(5 stars)28 Feb 2008

PAINTING AND SCULPTURE Inverleith House, Edinburgh, until Sun 20 Apr Two Glasgow-based artists have been brought together and seemingly linked by their aptitude for and interest in the process of making. It gives this exhibition an appealing rawness…

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