Issue 619

The Hot 100 2008

It’s been a helluva year. 2008 has been a time of significant global change, socially, politically and culturally, with Scotland no exception. So here, for your delectation, is The List’s pick of the 100 people, places and things that rocked our world…

Songs of the Year 2008

‘Skinny Love’ Bon Iver One man’s heartbreak becomes our joy from the album of the year. ‘Like the Rest of Us’ Atmosphere The leftfield dwelling purists may sneer but this is beguiling, introspective hip hop brilliance. ‘Run Run’ Those Dancing Days…

Gigs of the year 2008

It was packed but we loved the Electric Feel of MGMT in February (Beat Club), while in March Casiotone for the Painfully Alone ’s (Nice N Sleazy’s) geeky synthesiser ballads charmed us, The Twilight Sad (King Tut’s) moved us, and Neil Young (The…

Hogmanay 2008 - Clubbing

‘It’s on’ is the simple motto which Glasgow überclub Optimo are using to promote their famous Hogmanay special – it’s at the Fruitmarket again, and will see Twitch and Wilkes joined by Glasgow Italo-punks Den Haan and laptop-wielding Parisian show-offs…

TV - Remote Control: Christmas TV

Christmas is a time when TV goes mad for the long-awaited comeback. Alongside Rab C, Vic ‘n’ Bob and Stanley Baxter in making a welcome return is Alan Davies’ duffle-coated sleuth with Jonathan Creek: The Grinning Man (BBC1, Thu 1 Jan, 9pm ●●●●). And…

Christmas Comedy DVDs

With one recent internet poll naming Peter Kay as the funniest British comedian who has ever lived while Michael McIntyre steamrolls up the DVD charts, it seems that comedy is not unlike the other genres when it comes to ‘popular’ ‘opinion’. There was a…

Hogmanay 2008 - Paolo Nutini

Reports of Hogmanay’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Certainly Edinburgh’s event, which suffered all manner of gloomy speculation pretty much since the bells finished ringing us into 2008, has returned with perhaps the strongest line-up in memory.

Hogmanay 2008 - Glasgow Highlights

If the live gigs from Idlewild (pictured below), Bleachie and Paolo Nutini don’t grab you, we’ve got some other suggestions for how to get your Hogmanay kicks around town. Glasgow racks up its cool points (and not just the temperature ones) with…

Christmas books

One question is eventually brought up about Christmas by the more inquisitive elements within the community of children. Just how in blazes does Santa manage to get round all the kids of the world in one night? Logical responses about shifting time…

TV: Rab C Nesbit: Christmas Special

BBC2, Tue 23 Dec, 9pm With his dishevelled demeanour and manky string vest, Rab C Nesbitt may look exactly the same as he did when we last eyeballed him staggering from our screens in the summer of 1999, but the wise old nutter fae Govan is a…

Ines Gennuso: Theatre Sets

‘I think in a lot of ways, there’s a very fine line between documentary and fine art,’ says photographer Ines Gennuso. ‘So much so that there sometimes isn’t even a line at all.’ The work of the 30-year-old Italian is a case in point. In this exhibition…

The Burst Noel Christmas Party

Like microwaveable turkey dinners, borderline alcoholism and falling out with your siblings, Malcolm Middleton is in danger of becoming something of an unhappy seasonal institution. The ex-Arab Strap guitarist’s bid for a Christmas number one last…

Christmas and Boxing Day Clubs

There’s not much reason to get excited about Christmas this year, or at least so the briefest exposure to the nation’s media would have us believe. Now we’re not advocating the senseless squandering of cash here, but hey, it’s Christmas, right? And what…

Framed

Theatre in the UK is largely built around a middle class audience, so its capacity to represent the experience of people from outwith this demographic can seem limited. Theatre audiences are also largely composed of older people, so the idea of theatre…

LGBT Christmas Clubbing

XMAS ROUND-UP For those of an LGBT persuasion who would rather burn up the dancefloor than roast their chestnuts on an open fire, the Central Belt plays host to a wheen of special club nights to take you right through the Christmas…

Jolly Jango Christmas

CHRISTMAS CLOWN SHOW As a first class juggler and slapstick comedian, Clive Andrews knows a lot about good timing. So it seems appropriate that his route to becoming a clown was due to being in the right place at the right time. Working as an…

Twilight

The Twilight books, we are reliably informed by sources close to the material, are not just for teenage girls. As the first installment of a film franchise starring undead fop Cedric Diggory hits screens across the UK, commune with your fellow, eh…

Culinary year

Donald Reid digests the culinary year in view. That the most widely used phrase to describe the current economic downturn has a culinary connotation is a crumb of comfort to the restaurant world. You can’t dwell on the credit crunch for long without…

TV: Christmas Documentaries

There used to be a programme on Channel 4 about the worst jobs in history. These tended to be dodgy careers forged in medieval or Roman times, but the modern day equivalent of leech collector could well be the department store Santa. Chris Diamond has…

Christmas Events

In Glasgow, as ever, the Winterfest hubbub centres around George Square, gleefully decked out with the traditional mass of clashing, colourful lights. As well as the huge outdoor ice rink, the Big Stage is keeping stressed shoppers calm with a whole…

Taste Test - Christmas cake alternatives

Stollen Margiotta, Edinburgh, www.margiotta.co.uk; also available at the Glasgow and Edinburgh Christmas markets, £4.69 per cake. A traditional German bread-like fruitcake, this loaf represents baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. A strong…

Frank Miller interview

‘At first I found it too daunting, because Will Eisner had been my mentor. But after three minutes of careful thought I decided that nobody else could touch it. So I went from protecting The Spirit to exploring what I perceived as Will’s intent, which…

Biffy Clyro headline Rockness 2009

If all the world’s a stage, there are an impressive amount of players lining up to showcase their wares in Scotland over the coming months. Local lads, Biffy Clyro will take to the stage as one of the headliners of RockNess, setting out their stall in…

Film books round-Up

‘Tis the season to settle down with a good old-fashioned film book. Having a stack of cinema related tomes on your bedside table is essential for any aspiring cineaste at this time of year. So after many hours of sifting through recent releases this is…

Film - Also Released

White Christmas (U) 120min New digital print of this Christmas staple. GFT, Glasgow and Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 12-Wed 24 Dec. North Face (12A) 121min Exciting historical adventure recounting the dangerous ascent of the Eiger in 1936 by two…