Issue 607

Sustaining society, enriching life

1 Sep 2008

Age is no barrier to caring about the environment. Young and old alike are working closely together to ensure a brighter future for everyone. Trees for Life is an award-winning Scottish charity that is working to restore the Caledonian Forest to 600…

25 things you might not know about Tom Waits

17 Jul 2008

The chance to see Tom Waits, one of the planet’s true music raconteurs, is worth £100 of anyone’s money. But did you know he once worked for the coastguard? If not, Jonny Ensall suggests you read on…

The Caring Generation

17 Jul 2008

People who have retired have a wealth of experience they can count on to get through almost any eventuality, including caring for people less fortunate themselves. Operation Christmas Child was set up by the charity, Samaritans Purse, to bring some…

Beyond a Joke - Dark Knight

17 Jul 2008

As the latest Batman adaptation arrives on the silver screen, Alan Bissett explores the colourful history and enduring appeal of the caped crusader’s arch nemesis, the Joker

Saturday’s child - Tina Fey - Baby Mama

17 Jul 2008

America’s newest great comedy phenomenon is Tina Fey. Eddie Harrison uncovers the comic genius in her first big screen adventure, Baby Mama

Pornography - Simon Stephens interview

Shock values - Traverse Theatre

17 Jul 2008

As the Traverse embarks on its first Edinburgh Festival Fringe season under the artistic directorship of Dominic Hill, Steve Cramer talks to acclaimed dramatist Simon Stephens, writer of Pornography, about 7/7 and a new definition of the pornographic

Streets of glory - Edinburgh Rat Race

17 Jul 2008

Edinburgh will be reclaimed by hundreds of scurrying creatures this month. Claire Sawers meets the people behind the Rat Race

Just press play - Moby

17 Jul 2008

Henry Northmore chats to Moby as the dance behemoth visits Scotland for a number of low-key dates

Stranger in a strange land

17 Jul 2008

Amazingly, Strange & Stranger is the first critical retrospective of the life and work of legendary American comic book artist Steve Ditko. The shy son of Eastern European immigrants who was born in Pennsylvania in 1927 may have languished in relative…

In Which They Serve

17 Jul 2008

The British Film Institute’s re-release of the rarely seen and now beautifully restored David Lean film The Passionate Friends is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the celebration of the centenary of the great British filmmaker’s birth. In…

Quiet revolution - Scottish Impressionism

17 Jul 2008

Liz Shannon considers the enduring appeal of work by the ground-breaking French Impressionists and the Scots they inspired

Interview - Olivier Assayas

17 Jul 2008

The French filmmaker talks to The List about his globalisation drama, Summer Hours.

Fall

War requiem - Traverse

17 Jul 2008

New director of the Traverse Dominic Hill’s own directorial debut is an unobtrusive choice. Kirstin Innes meets Zinnie Harris, the playwright behind Fall

Bat's Life - Dark Knight

17 Jul 2008

Leigh Rafferty traces the highs and lows of the caped crusader’s cultural career

Tom Waits - Live Review

17 Jul 2008

Orpheum Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, Wed 18 Jun The seldom touring ‘love or hate him’ artist transported his trademark whisky-soaked growl to the desert to kick off only his third tour of the decade. And, judging by his polished performance, one can…

Profile - Mark Olver

17 Jul 2008

Who’s this fella, then? Having first taken to the mic in 1998, Mark Olver is among that triptych of fine young comics from the west country, which also includes Russell Howard and Wil Hodgson. His style is more conversational than Hodgson’s and less…

Around town - List picks

17 Jul 2008

Afr-I-Can Workshops, talks and concerts led by artists of African origin. See picture caption, page 28. Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow, Sat 19 & Wed 23 Jul. Rat Race Crazed athletic lycra-clad urban adventure happening all across Edinburgh. See…

Big Tent Festival 2008

17 Jul 2008

While the pretend hippies drive their SUVs to Glastonbury and this year’s T in the Park fades into lager-sodden memory, all yer actual planet-savers are off to Falkland Palace. The Big Tent Festival, which grew out of a response to the 2005 G8 summit…

Seymour Mace

17 Jul 2008

Ahead of his Fringe show – Testamental: Bible Stories Told By an Idiot – Seymour Mace adds a northern flavour to a series of shows at The Stand in Glasgow. Probably best-known as twins Craig and Steve in Johnny Vegas’ award-winning BBC3 sitcom Ideal…

Afr-I-Can

17 Jul 2008

Running between June and September, Afr-I-can is a loose series of events, talks, workshops and concerts led by artists of African origin and celebrating African achievement. Although the events are mainly aimed at families of African and Caribbean…

Flaming marvellous - Wickerman festival

17 Jul 2008

David Pollock meets apisrant Scottish indie heroes Attic Lights, one of the plethora of quality acts at this year’s ever vibrant and varied Wickerman festival

Taste Test - Meat Pies

17 Jul 2008

Gregg’s Scotch Pie Gregg’s, various outlets, Scotland wide 70p We couldn’t do a meat pie test without saying ‘aye’ tae a pie – a traditional Scottish mutton pie, that is. The hot water crust pastry is crunchier and more robust than the flakier…

Singles & Downloads roundup

17 Jul 2008

Dublin’s Fight Like Apes ’ ‘Lend Me Your Face’ (Model Citizen Records) •• is a three-minute, high-voltage pop song full of dance beats and female vocals with attitude. ‘Radio Friendly’ (Stereotone) ••• from The Starlets is a perfect example of Scottish…

The B-52s

Preview - Carling Academy, Glasgow, Mon 21 Jul

17 Jul 2008

Aside from almost daily radio outings for ‘Love Shack’ and ‘Rock Lobster’, new wave pioneers turned camp party pop stars The B-52s have been all but unheard of since their last album Good Stuff came out in 1992. The Athens Georgia quartet have been…

Dananananaykroyd

17 Jul 2008

PREVIEW FIGHT-POP Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Wed 30 Jul; The Arches, Glasgow, Thu 31 Jul ‘I break an average of three drumsticks per show,’ nods John Baillie Jnr, one of the two drummers in crashing, Glasgow guitar-rock band Dananananaykroyd.

Momus

17 Jul 2008

PREVIEW POP Stereo, Glasgow, Sun 27 Jul When Nick Currie named himself after the Greek god of mockery, being clever, like ridicule, was nothing to be scared of. Edinburgh-based Currie had already fronted The Happy Family, a band that featured half…

5 Reasons to Go See - Jay-Z

17 Jul 2008

He stuck it right up Noel Gallagherafter Noel made some rash remarks about Jay-Z being chosen to headline Glastonbury this year. In retaliation, Jay-Z ran an intro tape mocking Gallagher, then proceeded to lead the huge crowd through a sarcastic version…

Exposure - Gin Goblins

17 Jul 2008

Gin Goblins are Edinburgh punk legends, having delivered a unique brand of schlocky horror doom hardcore for the last 16 years. When The Horrors were still in short pants, Gin Goblins were getting victimised by Scottish tabloids and banned from…

Paul Towndrow

17 Jul 2008

Star soloist with the Scottish National Orchestra, Edinburgh-based saxophonist Paul Towndrow brings his quartet to the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival for an evening of upbeat and expressive tunes that will have your toes tapping. The melodic…

Kora

17 Jul 2008

With a platinum album that has spent six months inside the New Zealand top 20 with rave reviews, the Maori brothers that make up four fifths of Kora are on something of a roll. Their sound is a unique blend of reggae/roots/dub/rock for which the quintet…

Music at Paxton

17 Jul 2008

Established just a couple of years ago, Music at Paxton hasn’t taken long to realise its ambition of presenting high quality chamber music, whether home-grown or from further afield, within the impressive splendour of Paxton House, just outside…

The Nelson Mandela Birthday Party Tour

17 Jul 2008

For the Nobel Peace Prize-winner’s 90th birthday Scots/African artists will be offering a tribute to the defender of democracy from Scotland’s three major cities over the course of a single weekend. Performances from the Berlin-based Senegalese reggae…

Brigade

17 Jul 2008

When it comes to rock us Brits are often in the thrall of the US, and Londoners Brigade certainly don’t buck that trend with a mix of pop punk meets post-hardcore, featuring Will Simpson (brother of Busted/Fightstar frontman Charlie) on vocals and…

TV- Remote Control roundup

17 Jul 2008

Allan Radcliffe frets over the sickly state of terrestrial television

Overarching drive - Jackie Wylie new artistic director of the Arches

17 Jul 2008

It’s been less than a week since Jackie Wylie was appointed artistic director of the Arches (bringing the grand total of women in that position in Scottish theatre up to three), but the 28-year-old has already jumped in with both feet. ‘I’m excited.

Theatre - List picks

17 Jul 2008

Scratch Night Performers, writers and dancers are given ten minutes to try out their latest ideas on a live audience, who offer their feedback later on. See preview, left. Arches, Glasgow, Tue 22 Jul. Much Ado About Nothing The second instalment in…

The Tailor of Inverness

17 Jul 2008

Matthew Zajac’s play traces a man’s life, from his boyhood spent on a farm in Galicia (now Western Ukraine) to carving out a career as a tailor in the Highland capital. Dogstar’s production, directed by Ben Harrison, explores issues of identity and…

Nice and easy does it - Côte d’Azur

17 Jul 2008

Richard Moore braves the glamour and the husband hunters of the Côte d’Azur and discovers a wealth of treasures

National Pop League

17 Jul 2008

‘The Woodside’s such a strange place,’ says John Hunt, promoter of the soon-to-be-no-more National Pop League, of the venue which has housed his indie club for seven years. ‘There’s no air conditioning, and it’s so hot that, at about one o’clock in the…

Profile - DJ Assault

17 Jul 2008

Name DJ Assault Real name Craig De Shan Adams aka Craig Diamonds Occupation Filthmeister supreme of the ghettotech genre. Ghettotech? A latter-day Detroit style, devised by Assault, DJ Funk and DJ Godfather, which blends the city’s ghetto house…

Up river city

17 Jul 2008

Ahead of the fifth annual Glasgow River Festival, Eve Barlow discovers why the nautical look is big this year.

Departure Lounge

17 Jul 2008

If one Edinburgh club has championed an intelligent party mix while pushing the envelope, recognising both the importance of live music within the club environment and how the right DJ can create an event – not to mention the impact of distinctive…

Hydro Connect Festival 2008 - lineup in detail

17 Jul 2008

Oyster Stage Kasabian There’s a new album on the way from this swaggering fivesome so expect first plays of recently penned material alongside their by-now trademark electro-rock anthems. Manic Street Preachers Following the return to form of last…

Goldfrapp - Your lovely head

17 Jul 2008

Mildly obsessive fan Kirstin Innes pays a personal tribute to the ever-changing faces of Alison Goldfrapp A confession: I just don't see the point of Madonna or Kylie. Sorry. I don't see that anything they've done past 1990 has had the slightest bit…

Food & drink - Good & plenty

17 Jul 2008

Connect offers no end of culinary goodness, as Malcolm Jack discovers when he peruses the festival's extensive larder and speaks to the producers of every food delight you could possibly imagine, from oysters to sticky toffee pudding. Judging by…

Grinderman - Man alive!

17 Jul 2008

Less is always more. Inevitably, however, there are times where that worn analogy just won't stick. In the case of Grinderman, the rock band that includes Nick Cave in its line-up, more is most certainly more. Now, Cave has never been backward at…

Mercury Rev - Original soundtracks

17 Jul 2008

They've refused to stand still musically in their 20 year career, and with this latest chapter Mercury Rev are pushing their music farther out than ever. Doug Johnstone revels in their sonic adventures Describing what Mercury Rev sound like is a…

Tonight’s the night - Saturday Night Live Comedians - Baby Mama

17 Jul 2008

Tina Fey is the latest in a long line of comedians to come through the writer’s rooms of NBC’s legendary comedy show Saturday Night Live. Here’s a few more familiar faces

Here comes the fun

17 Jul 2008

As the school holidays stretch out before us, Kelly Apter finds there’s no shortage of ways to get your hands dirty and learn something new this summer

Home work - Tipis and pods

17 Jul 2008

Home work A festival that is boutique in all the right ways, Hydro Connect offers some truly original bespoke accommodation options, as Emma Newlands discovers Ideally, all camping experiences would take place in Jellystone Park with Yogi Bear, or…

More on the floor

17 Jul 2008

As if all that music and gorgeous food wasn’t enough, they go and put on a whole wealth of other delectable nuggets for your delectation, as Malcolm Jack discovers As that posh woman off the Ferrero Rocher ad might say: at this Hydro Connect…

Flavours of the month - Festival Food

17 Jul 2008

Food and Drink editor Donald Reid surveys what’s new in the eating out scene around Edinburgh as the Festival frenzy looms

Joan As Policewoman - Feel the force

17 Jul 2008

No, we don't understand the bizarre name either, but Joan As Policewoman's songs are truly breathtaking. Camilla Pia is bewitched Musically, there isn't much that Joan Wasser hasn't done. From violinist in the Boston University Symphony Orchestra…

Last Word - Rigmor Gustafsson

17 Jul 2008

Rigmor Gustafsson is one of Sweden’s premiere jazz vocalists and brings her show to Scotland for the first time as part of the jazz festival. Welcome her with open arms and wild strawberries First record you ever bought The first one I can…

Film Books Round-up

17 Jul 2008

In terms of wealth of research and weightiness of tome Richard Brody’s biography of Jean-Luc Godard, Everything is Cinema (Faber) ••••, should be a masterpiece. Yet for all its detail Godard remains an enigma, and this seems neither for want of research…

Standard Operating Procedure

17 Jul 2008

Legendary American documentarian Errol Morris’ films fall into two catagories, political and wacky, and it was with the former that he won an Academy Award in 2003 for his astonishingly candid portrait of Vietnam-era US Secretary of Defense Robert…

Cathy Wilkes: Prices

17 Jul 2008

REVIEW INSTALLATION The Modern Institute, Glasgow, until Sat 6 Sep Cathy Wilkes is adept at creating compelling discomfort, making us look, and look again at queasy or disturbing phenomena in search of hidden meanings and narratives. In this…

Baby Mama

17 Jul 2008

COMEDY (12A) 99min Each generation gets the Mary Tyler Moore it deserves; as creator and star of NBC’s 30-Rock sitcom, Tina Fey has earned herself the right to be 2008’s funny-girl. And even though writer/director Michael McCullers seems intent…

WALL-E

17 Jul 2008

ANIMATION (U) 103min Can Pixar do no wrong? On the evidence of the CG animation studio’s ninth feature film, the answer is a resounding no. Once again Pixar pushes the envelope in the field it’s been trailblazing since the early 1980s, delivering…

Mark Neville: Fancy Pictures

17 Jul 2008

REVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY & FILM Mount Stuart, Isle Of Bute, until Tue 30 Sep A man sits at his living room table, a pet pug and its pups at his feet. An elderly couple walk through the countryside, posing for the camera, stiff-backed and proud. The…

Edinburgh Fringe - LGBT Highlights

17 Jul 2008

Allan Radcliffe selects the best the Fringe has to offer in comedy, theatre and music

Sound offering - sound 2008 Festival

17 Jul 2008

It might be all quiet in the Central Belt, but the cultural flurry up North continues this fortnight with the launch of sound 2008, which sets its musical stall in Aberdeen this October. Now in its fourth year, the multi-genre festival will feature two…

News in brief

17 Jul 2008

Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight's Children has won the Best of the Booker prize, as voted for by the public. The book, first published in 1981, beat five other former Booker winners. Peter Carey, Pat Barker, JM Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer and JG Farrell…

Conor Oberst - The simple life

17 Jul 2008

From teen folk troubadour to big band instigator, Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst has always been a musical force of nature. Camilla Pia finds the joy in his latest adventure: the Mystic Valley Band You may not consider there to be much difference between…

The Breeders - The freed seed

17 Jul 2008

Death to the Pixies (again) meant a new lease of life for The Breeders. Doug Johnstone traces the musical highs and chemical lows of Kim Deal. The Breeders are not what you'd call prolific. But that's OK, good things are worth waiting for. The on-off…

Owen O'Neill

17 Jul 2008

STAND-UP The Stand, Edinburgh, Thu 17 Jul An award-winning playwright, poet and subscriber to the theory that redheads are genetic ‘mutants’ (having conducted the required research for a BBC documentary), Owen O’Neill was one of the first Irishmen…

The missing link

17 Jul 2008

Camilla Pia trawls the far reaches of the inter-web so you don't have to, and presents some digital delights from the stars of this year's Hydro Connect Trawling the internet for new music is something of a favourite past-time here at The List, so…

WALL-E

Video Game Review

17 Jul 2008

Whatever the merits of the original work, game-of-the-movie titles tend to be rushed to market to coincide with a cinema release for the most cynical of purposes. The multiple development years that characterise genre-defining titles such as Halo and…

Festival focus

17 Jul 2008

All festivals announce last minute additions to programmes

Altered States of Paint

17 Jul 2008

REVIEW PAINTING (GROUP SHOW) DCA, Dundee, until Sun 7 Sep DCA’s excellent new exhibition manages to assail you before you even enter the gallery, thanks to Rabiya Choudhry’s vibrant wall painting that presents the show’s title across the blade…

Burn Up

17 Jul 2008

DRAMA BBC1, Wed 23 & Fri 25 Jul, 9pm Meet Tom McConnell (Rupert Penry-Jones), VP of Arrow Oil, the most powerful business in the world. He’s square-jawed, blue-eyed with a cut glass accent and a line in motivational patter to rival stick-thumping…

Lou Reed's Berlin

17 Jul 2008

CONCERT MOVIE (12A) 85min In 1973, Lou Reed was primed for a stellar pop career, following up the success of Transformer’s glam pop thrills with Berlin, an ambitious rock opera showcasing Reed’s versatile capabilities. But Berlin tanked, both…

Clubs - List picks

17 Jul 2008

How’s Your Party? Filthy and minimal from Detroit’s maverick ghetto-tech genius DJ Assault. Sub Club, Glasgow, Fri 18 Jul. Andy Smith The documentarian and some-time Portishead collaborator Mr Smith drops a slick, eclectic funky mix. Voodoo Rooms…

Alan Moore & Brian Bolland - Batman: The Killing Joke

17 Jul 2008

SUPER VILLAIN (DC) New blockbuster Dark Knight is all about the Joker. At first glance he’s almost a comedy character, but in the right hands he can be genuinely terrifying. As a character, The Joker represents insanity at it’s worst; a gibbering…

Side Dishes - Food news to nibble on

17 Jul 2008

MAKING USE OF the narrow first-floor space above Brel on Ashton Lane, Serge is a new wine bar serving a menu of snacks and small food, with the extensive beer list and main menu from Brel also available. Chilled tunes and regular tastings feature. Book…

CSS - Donkey

17 Jul 2008

When CSS exploded into our lives two years ago, a thrilling, party-starting blend of dazzling colours, beautiful faces, bizarre outfits, eccentric showmanship and wonderfully quirky sing-alongs, all seemed bright for the Brazilian electro-poppers. Since…

David Sedaris - When You Are Engulfed in Flames

17 Jul 2008

ESSAY COLLECTION (Little, Brown) A criticism often aimed at writers once they reach the publication of their third or fourth book, is that they forget all the things that endeared them to the book-buying public in the first place, and either…

Karin Christiansen and Lys Hansen: The Other Side – A Dialogue

17 Jul 2008

REVIEW PAINTING & SCULPTURE Collins Gallery, Glasgow, until Sat 16 Aug (closed Fri 18–Mon 21 Jul) Lou Reed had never been to Berlin before he wrote his doomed rock opera named after the then divided city. If he had, it might have been even…

Music - List picks

17 Jul 2008

Jay-Z Sadly not collaborating with the Butthole Surfers across town on the same evening, Jigga man shows us how it’s done after his triumphant Glasto shindig. SECC, Glasgow, Sun 20 Jul. (Rock & Pop) Butthole Surfers and Desalvo Texas’ most wonderfully…

Donkey Punch

17 Jul 2008

THRILLER (18) 99min The first fruit of the UK Film Council’s collaboration with Shane Meadows’ regular producers Warp X, Donkey Punch is a misguided attempt by Brits to muscle in on the already hackneyed torture-porn genre. Tammi (Nichola Burley…

Au Fil D’Ecosse

17 Jul 2008

REVIEW PAINTING, PHOTOGRAPHY, INSTALLATION Institut Français, Edinburgh, until Fri 29 Aug This collaboration between artist Cyril Barrand and poet John Hudson leaves no thread untied, no thematic ambiguity unresolved, with the result that our…

Camera Obscura - Field trippers

17 Jul 2008

Camera Obscura guitarist Kenny McKeeve gives Malcolm Jack some top tips for taking on a summer festival and winning. Usually we must bring salt and vinegar crisps – there never seems to be enough of them around. And a couple of extra bottles of wine…

Paris

17 Jul 2008

DRAMA (15) 130min Having explored Barcelona in Pot Luck and St Petersburg and London in Russian Dolls, writer/director Cedric Klapisch comes back to the French capital with this sentimental ‘choral’ drama. Romain Duris, Klapisch’s perennial…

The Roots - Hip hop's best live act

17 Jul 2008

Originally ignored by rap audiences in the US, the band gained notoriety on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour where the alt.rock crowd took to them with gusto. They have slowly broken through and carved a niche for themselves. The eclecticism On paper The…

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging

17 Jul 2008

TEEN COMEDY (cert tbc) tbcmin After successfully tackling teenage tomboys in Bend it Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha takes a step into younger territory with this adaptation of two of Louise Rennison’s bestselling books for girls. Looking at life…

Irina Palm

17 Jul 2008

DRAMA (15) 103min Maggie (Marianne Faithful) is desperate. Her grandson is dying, her husband is dead and she needs money so her son can take his sick boy to Australia for radical treatment. In her mid 50s, she is apparently too old to do…

Meet Dave

17 Jul 2008

CHILDREN’S SCI-FI FANTASY MEET DAVE (PG) 90mins The last time Eddie Murphy united with director Brian Robbins, audiences got Norbit as a result. Now, one of the least eagerly anticipated reunions in cinema history invites us to Meet Dave. The result…

My Winnipeg

17 Jul 2008

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL DRAMA (15) 79min Guy Maddin is a most acquired taste. Filming in black and white and creating images that resemble silent cinema, Maddin (The Saddest Music in the World) is a postmodernist with a yearning for a time when…

Kids - List picks

17 Jul 2008

Museum of Flight Airshow takes to the skies again, with thrilling flight displays from the Blades, fairground rides, kids activities and lots of vintage aircraft to climb inside and explore. National Museum of Flight, East Lothian, Sat 26 Jul. Fun in…

Summer Hours

17 Jul 2008

DRAMA (12A) 102min In summer sunshine in the countryside north of Paris it’s the 75th birthday of widowed matriarch Helene (Edith Scob), and attending the celebrations are her three children, university economist Frédéric (Charles Berling)…

Duffy - Souled out

17 Jul 2008

In an age of stack ‘em high, sell ‘em out record company profile maximalisation Aimee Anne Duffy is a true original. Instead of tumbling off the BRITs school production line, Duffy found a collaborator and mentor in former Suede guitarist Bernard…

Harry Smith Anthology Remixed

17 Jul 2008

REVIEW PAINTING, DRAWING, PHOTOGRAPHY, MUSIC CCA, Glasgow, until Sat 26 Jul Artist, filmmaker, musicologist: just a few of the labels attached to Harry Smith, the great American polymath of the 1950s. This exhibition celebrates the chain-smoking…

Visual Art - List picks

17 Jul 2008

Mark Neville With Fancy Pictures (which features Neville’s new 16mm film and audio-slide installation of still photographic work) the artist captures 21st century Bute in wonderful living, breathing colour. See review, page 87. Mount Stuart, Isle Of…

Santogold - Hot metal

17 Jul 2008

This genre-bending 32-year-old ex-punk has been proving the pundits right this year, after bringing out her self-titled debut album in May. She was one of those lava-hot ‘ones to watch’ for 2008, and if the response to the Philadelphia-born lady’s…

Cocktail kudos

17 Jul 2008

Shervene Shahbazkhani recently won the Scottish heats of the 42 Below Cocktail World Cup in Edinburgh with her innovative cocktail, ‘Bring the Beat Back’. She describes how she made it; ‘I tend to follow what my instincts tell me to make. Most cocktails…

White Denim

17 Jul 2008

GARAGE ROCK Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Thu 10 Jul Sweaty, shoebox-sized spaces like the Captain’s Rest are just the sort of venues Glasgow needs more of, and rough’n’ready, in yer face, garage rock trios like Austin’s White Denim are just the sort…

Claire Wood

17 Jul 2008

REVIEW POP The Halt Bar, Glasgow, Sun 6 Jul Claire Wood is off to seek her fame and fortune in London after spending the last ten years in Glasgow’s piano bars. She decided to launch her EP, Grow‚ and say farewell to her friends, family and…

The Shakes

17 Jul 2008

ROCK King Tut’s, Glasgow, Thu 10 Jul Gracing the stage at King Tut’s with their presence for the first time, Dumbarton band The Shakes played to a full house. As the first guitar pickings of ‘Every Time I Go Away’ begin the audience cheers…

Bloc Party - A weekend out of the city

17 Jul 2008

'Alluding to a stadium moment is not something to be ashamed of,' grins Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke, 'if it can be done well...' The band's 'agit-jitter guitar pop' not only led to their 2005 debut album Silent Alarm selling a million copies, it…

Barbara Ehrenreich - Going To Extremes: Notes From a Divided Nation

17 Jul 2008

POLITICAL NON-FICTION (Granta) Although any balanced reader might browse the political essays and features of left-wing American commentator Barbara Ehrenreich and get a vague sense of agitprop being deployed, perhaps that’s just the author’s bold…