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Issue 620

Sorted by date / most viewed. Showing 25, 50, 100 per page.

UnCreative Scotland?

8 Jan 2009

As the arts world waits for a clear proposal from Creative Scotland, the current stalemate is potentially damaging, argues Robin Hodge

The Wrestler

Mickey Rourke: The Wrestler

8 Jan 2009

I’ve had a poster of Mickey Rourke on my wall for over 20 years now. A black and white blow-up from Alan Parker’s Angel Heart, it pictures Rourke as private detective Harry Angel, freshly demobbed after WWII, his hair back-combed into an untidy quiff…

Béla Fleck

Celtic Connections - Béla Fleck

8 Jan 2009

What’s in a name? In the case of Celtic Connections, not much, or at least, nothing too literal. Anyone who insisted on the strict application of the name would have found themselves left well behind almost from the launch of the festival back in 1994.

The Man Who Had All the Luck - O lucky man

The Man Who Had All the Luck - O lucky man

8 Jan 2009

Arthur Miller took perhaps the hardest knock to his reputation early on in his career, in 1944 when his Broadway debut, The Man Who Had All the Luck opened and closed within a week to empty houses and much derision from the critics. His first major play…

Steve McQueen - Queen and Country

Steve McQueen - Queen and Country

8 Jan 2009

This exhibition by Steve McQueen, the Turner Prize-winning artist behind the film Hunger and current official war artist, commemorates the British soldiers who have died in Iraq through the creation of books of stamps depicting the soldiers. A campaign…

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

ROMANCE/DRAMA Adapted by Simon Beaufoy from Vikas Swarup’s novel Q&A this winning story of a Mumbai street urchin (Skins’ Dev Patel) who makes it to the final round of India’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? might well be the film that…

Julia

Julia

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

THRILLER/DRAMA What begins as a grim character study of a middle-aged alcoholic becomes a blackly funny crime caper/road movie. Tilda Swinton is in ferocious good form as the titular 40-year-old drunk, a woman whose natural good looks and flamboyant…

Girls Aloud

Preview 2009 - Pop Music

8 Jan 2009

‘Pop is back!’, Same Difference exclaim in typically camp fashion on the advert for their not-so-innovatively-titled debut, erm, Pop. Simon Cowell’s karaoke factory might not be the best example of it, but their statement is bang on. Strictly speaking…

Slumdog Millionaire

Preview 2009 - Danny Boyle

8 Jan 2009

It’s not uncommon for the films that turn out to be the best of any given year to have been released at the beginning of that year. Think of Lust, Caution, No Country for Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Juno and There Will be Blood – all…

Doc Martens

Preview 2009 - Fashion

8 Jan 2009

For years now, predicting the upcoming season’s trends has been a matter of guessing which decade of the 20th century we’ll be nicking our looks from. Mini dresses and go-go boots? Flares? Flares again? Flares on men? All this rifling through the…

Nokia N97

Preview 2009 - Technology

8 Jan 2009

If 2008 was anything to go by, 2009 should bring many great techy things to our lives. Firefox 3 made everything easier and better as domestic broadband got cheaper and faster. The house of innovation that is Google will be hard pushed in 2009 to better…

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Preview 2009 - Film

8 Jan 2009

There are three years to go until the end of the world, according to Mayan prophecies and it seems filmmakers can’t stop looking back to look forward. Let’s start at the beginning of the year when the 1978 assassination of Harvey Milk, civil rights…

Kate Nash

Preview 2009 - Albums

8 Jan 2009

The start of ‘09 sees a hip hop war brewing, with new records by some of the genre’s heaviest hitters landing on the streets. First we’ve got to survive January, though, and what more uplifting way than with Bruce Springsteen ’s Working on a Dream?

Be Near Me

Preview 2009 - Theatre

8 Jan 2009

Recession? What recession? If you believe the old adage that entertainment thrives in hard times (proven by the rise of the cinema in the austere 30s) surely theatre, which offers escape into alternative worlds, is the ideal diversion from dreary…

The Phantom Band

Preview 2009 - Local talent

8 Jan 2009

MUSIC: The Phantom Band We’ve been tipping this Glasgow sextet, who make what’s most succinctly described as ‘experimental krautrock’, for greatness for a wee while now. Their debut album Checkmate Savage lands in late January, fresh off the Chemikal…

Ewan Morrison

Preview 2009 - Books

8 Jan 2009

It’s another hot year for the Scottish contingent with Denise Mina, Irvine Welsh and Ewan Morrison all bringing out books (July) although arguably the country’s most intriguing 2009 publication comes from Dundee debutant Gavin Bain. California Schemin…

Underneath The Arches

Underneath The Arches

8 Jan 2009

Glasgow’s Arches, as anyone who’s worked there will tell you, is the sort of place that doesn’t so much defy your expectations as consistently confound them. Audiences might marvel at the sort of building that can stage a theatre show, art exhibition…

Attic Lights

Shoeshine Showcase

8 Jan 2009

CELTIC CONNECTIONS The Shoeshine imprint isn’t so much a label (although it’s that too) as it is a catch-all umbrella term for any venture which Francis Macdonald has a hand in. The Glasgow-based musician, producer, manager and musical entrepreneur’s…

The Wrestler

The Wrestler

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

DRAMA/SPORT ‘What happened, did the price of tights go up?’ a sneering store-manager taunts Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson (Mickey Rourke) when the impoverished wrestling star comes looking for work. Fighting a losing battle with his own finances, Randy…

Alex Smoke

Alex Smoke

8 Jan 2009

TECHNO Despite his own career as a DJ and producer, and the fact his third album Lux is lined up for release this spring, it’s label business which has been concerning Alex Smoke of late. Having released his first two albums and a selection of 12s on…

Malinky

Malinky

8 Jan 2009

CELTIC CONNECTIONS In many ways the ever-growing success of Scottish folk outfit Malinky mirrors that of Celtic Connections, a festival the band have become inextricably linked with over the last decade. The band formed ten years ago from the vibrant…

Joakim

Profile - !K7 Records

8 Jan 2009

Name:!K7 Records Who’s playing? Joakim (pictured) and Chicken Lips, in the!K7 Room at this month’s Death Disco What’s!K7? A Berlin-based dance and electronic label/empire which now has offices throughout the world, including London, New York and…

Little Joy

Exposure: Little Joy

8 Jan 2009

For those who’ve been wondering where The Strokes have been hiding since 2006, here’s one of five answers. Little Joy is drummer Fabrizio Moretti, alongside Los Hermanos’ Rodrigo Amarante and Moretti’s girlfriend Binki Shapiro. Their self-titled debut…

Karla Black - Material world

Karla Black - Material world

8 Jan 2009

If 2008 was a good year for Karla Black, 2009 is going to be even better. After several international solo shows and inclusion in Art Now at Tate Britain, the Glasgow-based artist is on the cusp of another busy 12 months. Solo exhibitions are in the…

Rep’e.t’tion

rep’e.t’tion

(5 stars)8 Jan 2009

REVIEW MIXED MEDIA A little jewel of a show can currently be found lodged below Argyle Street in Glasgow, featuring works by a variety of local and international artists who share a common interest in the idea of repetition. Curated by Sorcha Dallas…

Syntheme

Syntheme

8 Jan 2009

Expect some seriously squelchy acid techno from Planet Mu signing Syntheme at 2009’s first instalment of Inner City Acid. At once forward thinking yet lovingly retro Syntheme (aka Louise Woods) will be coaxing some distorted dancefloor grooves form her…

Massage

Courses, classes and activities

8 Jan 2009

Alternative Therapy Edinburgh Aromatherapy Far superior to a nasty blast of air freshener, learn the subtle art of aromatherapy, with beginner’s classes in essential oils and massage. An 8-week non-vocational course is available through the…

Lorraine Kelly

Last Word - Lorraine Kelly

8 Jan 2009

First record you ever bought ‘School’s Out’ by Alice Cooper. An all-time classic. Last time you were chatted up I’m afraid the last time I was chatted up was back in 1986 when Steve (who is now my husband) asked me to go and see Dundee United…

Gemma Weekes

Gemma Weekes - Love Me

8 Jan 2009

‘A Big Mac and a hot chocolate please,’ comes the voice down the phone. Gemma Weekes is in McDonalds, ordering lunch, pushing her son’s buggy and doing an interview. I ask if I’m calling at a bad time. ‘No, no,’ she insists, laughing and also…

Rustie

Scottish DJs and Producers 2009

8 Jan 2009

House music was born in the 80s and morphed into techno under the guiding hands of the Detroit masters. More recently, drum & bass and electro-clash swept though clubland whilst grime and dubstep have are the newest configuration of dance beats, not to…

Floatariums

Floatariums

8 Jan 2009

‘I usually take sessions twice a month,’ says an amiable Roger Tyler, co-owner of Glasgow’s Willow Trading Rooms, and home to Glasgow’s only flotation tank. ‘Flotation tanks,’ he explains, ‘provide a unique experience for each person, the feeling of…

Chocolate cake

Red Sugar - Not such a raw deal

8 Jan 2009

This number is important: 47.7. In Celsius, that’s the hottest food can get if it’s to remain raw. According to raw food theory, cooking food not only destroys key digestive enzymes but also exposes the body to potentially harmful toxins. It can seem…

Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Arta Dobroshi

Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Arta Dobroshi

8 Jan 2009

So what’s their secret? In film after film Belgian filmmakers the Dardenne brothers have cast unknown actors and elicited powerfully naturalistic performances from them: think of Jérémie Renier in La Promesse, Emilie Dequenne in Rosetta, Morgan Marinne…

Singles & Downloads

Singles & Downloads

8 Jan 2009

My New Year’s resolution was to give all music the benefit of the doubt but Travis are making it difficult. According to their press release they’re now at their ‘loudest, edgiest and most arresting’ since their debut. If only that description bore any…

Fighters •••• & Real Money •••

Fighters •••• & Real Money •••

8 Jan 2009

SPORT/BOX SET Ron Peck’s 1991 documentary on boxing is a romantic, idealised, even sentimental portrayal of a sport often denounced as brutal and barbaric. Die-hard lovers of boisterous fight night atmosphere may be baffled: any action in the ring…

DVD Round-Up

8 Jan 2009

It’s January and the party is over. Months of belt-tightening and couch surfing lay ahead for those of us bankrupted by seasonal (or more international financial) excess. But let’s keep in mind Jean-Paul Sartre’s eulogy that ‘to read a poem in January…

Franziska Furter: Spark Erosion

Franziska Furter: Spark Erosion

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

Swiss artist Franziska Furter here presents a challenging series of sophisticated conceptual works. The skin and bones of this exhibition are graphite drawings, PVC pebbles, and electrical tape sculptures, none too exciting or provocative in their own…

Kidsamonium

Kidsamonium

8 Jan 2009

CHILDREN’S JAZZ SHOW The archetypal image of jazz players in roll-necked shirts bathed in a haze of smoke has no place at Kidsamonium. In fact you’re more likely to find an Elvis impersonator, High Court judge, wannabe pilot and a few giant chickens.

Cupping

Shivago Thai Clinic

8 Jan 2009

Mental note to self: stop channelling Gwyneth. As a glass cup is set alight, blown out then placed on my back, things at the Shivago Thai Clinic, off Edinburgh's High Street, are feeling decidedly un-Hollywood. Indeed, as the foreign contraption comes…

Seether

Staind & Seether - 5 Reasons to go see

8 Jan 2009

1 It’s a killer double bill It’s great when the support act is as good as the headliner and Staind and Seether are the perfect alternative metal partnership. 2 Metal with heart Staind have their detractors with words like ‘morose’ and ‘depressing…

Paul Kitching

Preview 2009 - Food

8 Jan 2009

There’s a general expectation that we’ll be reporting on closures rather than openings in 2009, but don’t be so sure. Judging by the stream of new places in the last few months – far outweighing the number of farewells – doom and gloom clearly isn’t on…

The Foundation

The Foundation

8 Jan 2009

HIP HOP There’s been a distinct lack of hip hop clubs in Edinburgh since the golden age of the likes of Scratch and El Segundo. Hip hop itself, it seems, has been taken over by the world of bling, with mainstream hip hop becoming a weak R&B-heavy…

The Phantom Band - Checkmate Savage

The Phantom Band - Checkmate Savage

(5 stars)8 Jan 2009

ROCK For years the Chemikal triumvirate of The Delgados, Arab Strap and Mogwai dominated Scottish indie, but more recently the label has struggled to find a seminal band to soundtrack the future. On this evidence, they’ve found them. The Phantom Band…

Virginie Despentes - King Kong Theory

Virginie Despentes - King Kong Theory

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

SOCIAL MEMOIR If ever there was an antidote to the pointless posturing of the Pussycat Dolls, it’s the work of Virginie Despentes. While they embody everything that is wrong about being female in the 21st century, this controversial French author…

The Man From London

The Man From London

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

DRAMA/MYSTERY Given Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr’s penchant for prolonged gloomy probings into the nature of human existence (see his 450-minute Satan’s Tango), this adaptation of a lesser-known novel by Belgian crime writer Georges Simenon would…

Sub Rosa

Hitlist - Theatre

8 Jan 2009

● Sub Rosa Maverick theatre-maker David Leddy conducts audiences through the backstage spaces of the Citz in this Victorian promenade show. Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, Mon 19–Sat 31 Jan. ● Cinderella Last chance to see the dream team of Gerard…

Jason Manford

Jason Manford

8 Jan 2009

MY COMEDY HERO I saw Billy Connolly live in Manchester when I was eight, though I’m not sure how I got in. My dad had two tickets but my mum said ‘oh I don’t fancy it’ and he didn’t have anyone else to go with, so I said ‘I’ll go’ and got sneaked in.

Hallaig - A Celebration of Sorley MacLean

Hallaig - A Celebration of Sorley MacLean

8 Jan 2009

CELTIC CONNECTIONS A gathering of Gaelic musical talent will celebrate the work of Sorley MacLean (Somhairle MacGill-Eain) in this concert, which will feature both vocal settings of the poet’s work and instrumental pieces inspired by it. The show…

David Heath

Conflict and Resolution

8 Jan 2009

CELTIC CONNECTIONS The life of Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh will be celebrated in unusual fashion in this concert featuring a specially commissioned new work for musicians from Scotland and Catalonia, with the BBC…

Luca Frei

Luca Frei

(2 stars)8 Jan 2009

Entrenched in a Dadaist slipstream of playful bemusement, Swiss-born, Swedish-based artist Frei is usually as mad, bad and fun as a bag of rainbow painted spiders. His contrived installations, which have graced cutting edge galleries in Paris, New York…

Defiance

Defiance

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

DRAMA/WAR The suggestion in Knocked Up that Steven Spielberg’s Munich was ‘Rambo for Jews’ seems to have inspired Edward Zwick’s latest project. After military epics Glory and The Last Samurai, Zwick arrives at the remarkable true story of the…

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

(2 stars)8 Jan 2009

COMEDY/ADVENTURE The gritty, seedy world of Mexican dog fighting evoked in Amores Perros is (unsurprisingly) entirely missing from this brightly-lit family comedy from Raja Gosnell, the auteur behind Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Beverly…

Seven Pounds

Seven Pounds

(2 stars)8 Jan 2009

DRAMA Will Smith is the most bankable star in America. Last year the mediocre I Am Legend opened with a whopping $77 million in its first weekend. Hancock rang tills this summer to the tune of $62 million. However, both those films operated in strong…

Brian K Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y: The Last Man

Brian K Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y: The Last Man

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

SCI-FI Brian K Vaughn is one of the most interesting writers in comics Runaways, Ex Machina and Pride of Baghdad offering a new perspective when it comes to graphic storytelling. Y: The Last Man has been similarly praised and deservedly so. In…

Paris Blues

Paris Blues

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

DRAMA The late Paul Newman is jazz performer Ram Bowen in this laidback drama of left bank insouciance from 1964, directed by Martin Hud Ritt. Ram hangs out in Paris with fellow American musician Eddie Cook (Sidney Poitier). They meet a couple of…

Slipknot

Slipknot

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

METAL For any rock band worth their salt, it’s all about the guitars. BIG. HEAVY. GUITARS. Slipknot have their fair share of shredding riffs and six string belligerence, although the first thing that hits us tonight, aside from the explosions and…

Hitlist - Visual Art

Hitlist - Visual Art

8 Jan 2009

● Close Up Last chance to catch this highly recommended show, curated by Dawn Ades and Simon Baker, which explores the development and impact of the extreme close-up in early 20th century photography and film. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun…

The Mighty Boosh

5 Things you might not know about - The Mighty Boosh

8 Jan 2009

1 Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt decided to become a double act while appearing as a penis and a whale in Stewart Lee’s 1997 Edinburgh show, King Dong v Moby Dick. Lee in turn directed their ‘99 bonanza Arctic Boosh which was nominated for the…

Idlewild

Idlewild

(5 stars)8 Jan 2009

ROCK RESIDENCY This was always going to be a sentimental trip, Idlewild revisiting each of their albums over consecutive nights. In my case, seeing the band for the first time on the 100 Broken Windows tour in 2000 and now again, eight years later…

Sakuran

Sakuran

(2 stars)8 Jan 2009

MANGA ADAPTATION A bit like Edinburgh’s number 30 bus, Mika Ninagawa’s adaptation of this noted Manga comic series by Moyoco Anno travels an epic, seemingly endless journey, but goes nowhere interesting on the way. The scenery is better though, with…

Sex Drive

Sex Drive

(1 star)8 Jan 2009

COMEDY Determined not to start college a virgin, semi-nerdy teenager Ian (Josh Zuckerman, best known as Young Dr Evil in the Austin Powers sequel Goldmember) drives across country to bed a red-hot babe he met on the internet named Ms Tasty. Fuelled…

Stage Blood, Roads to Siam and Divorce

Stage Blood, Roads to Siam and Divorce

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

NO WAVE & POST ROCK Divorce have clawed the title of ‘most exciting group in Glasgow’ from the cold, dead hands of whoever held it before. Having brought Optimo to its knees back in November, the four-girl, one-man group’s live show includes…

Tall Headlines

Tall Headlines

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

DRAMA Good show Odeon Entertainment for premiering on DVD a series of forgotten British films from the post-war period. They’re not exactly lost classics, but as the 1952 melodrama Tall Headlines illustrates, these films are certainly decent enough…

Rolo Tomassi

Rolo Tomassi

(2 stars)8 Jan 2009

HARDCORE With the current trend for turning any conceivable subject matter into a feelgood singalong musical, it seems only fair and logical that Linda Blair’s most famous film role should be immortalised in song eventually. Or so it would seem…

Luke Haines - Bad Vibes

Luke Haines - Bad Vibes

(5 stars)8 Jan 2009

MUSIC MEMOIR ‘I am a cruel and pious man,’ mourns Luke Haines. History hasn’t had much time for the 90s-vintage indie iconoclast, instead celebrating the more palatable same-but-different likes of Jarvis Cocker. Yet those whose memories stretch back…

Ryu Murakami - Audition

Ryu Murakami - Audition

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

THRILLER NOVELLA Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike’s cult favourite has all but eclipsed the psycho-sexual-thriller novel by Ryu Murakami on which the 1999 movie is based. The simple prose of Murakami’s slim volume (here translated by the author’s…

James Hider - The Spiders of Allah

James Hider - The Spiders of Allah

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

WAR REPORTAGE This first book by James Hider, Middle Eastern Bureau Chief for The Times, is essential stuff for anyone concerned with the dangerous condition of the region in the 21st century — and that should be just about everybody. However, not…

Tobias Hill - The Hidden

Tobias Hill - The Hidden

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

MYSTERY DRAMA Uncovering the mystery of Tobias Hill’s new Greek-set novel is as slow and meticulous as the archaeological dig at its centre. Hill revels in detail: historical descriptions of mysterious Sparta, moments from a memory best forgotten…

Gilbert Hernandez - Speak of the Devil

Gilbert Hernandez - Speak of the Devil

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

CRIME One half of Los Bros Hernandez takes time off from the long-running magic realist Mexican soap opera of Love & Rockets for this nasty little tale that mixes teen melodrama with stalk’n’slash chills. It’s a crazed cautionary tale in which a…

Will Eisner - The Best of The Spirit

Will Eisner - The Best of The Spirit

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

SUPERHERO With his domino mask, blue suit, red tie, blue fedora hat and gloves, Denny Colt aka The Spirit was what one newspaper in the 1940s referred to ‘the only real middle-class crimefighter’. Created in 1940 for a strip in a Sunday newspaper…

Johnny Griffin - Live at Ronnie Scott’s

Johnny Griffin - Live at Ronnie Scott’s

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

JAZZ This live recording from the Soho club last May proved to be the swansong for the hard-hitting American tenor man, and if the octogenarian was no longer at his peak, he more than holds his own in some very fast company, including American…

Also Published - 5 Health Books

8 Jan 2009

Bruce Byron - Fat Bloke Slims Actor from The Bill and hubbie of Dr Tanya spills the beans on how he shed the pounds. Penguin. Joe Fournier & Jordan Paramor - Red Carpet Workout Fronted by celebrity sporting trainer Fournier, this is a short-term…

Loop - Heaven’s End

Loop - Heaven’s End; Loop - Fade Out

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

PSYCHEDLIC ROCK Spacemen 3 and Croydon’s Loop have been inextricably linked over the years, not least because Sonic Boom of Sp3 (wrongly) accused Loop of nicking his band’s droning tripped out sound. They were in fact coming from similar viewpoints…

Gore

Gore - Mean Man’s Dream •••• ; Gore - Hart Gore •••

8 Jan 2009

ROCK Gore were never really a particularly fashionable proposition – a pummelling Black Sabbath-esque instrumental rock trio from the Netherlands – who stomped their way through the 80s and 90s in the company of the likes of Big Black and Henry…

Take three: Where to get your health kicks

8 Jan 2009

● Grassroots 20 Woodlands Road and 93-97 St Georges Road, Glasgow, www.grassrootsorganic.com Glasgow’s premier wholefoods location, with an excellent deli, takeaway and nearby sit-in café-diner that offers a mix of vegetarian and vegan food with…

Common - Universal Mind Control

Common - Universal Mind Control

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

HIP HOP SOUL Common has been around long enough to reinvent himself a couple of times already but his social conscious that extended beyond the dime bags and low riders always set him apart from the gangsta shit. For this, his eighth album he enlists…

The John Henrys - Sweet as the Grain

The John Henrys - Sweet as the Grain

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

COUNTRY In popular folklore, John Henry spent his days erecting railroads and digging tunnels, taking on a steam powered drill to discover whether a man could beat a machine. Henry did his side proud but died from exhaustion. Whether the Canadian…

The Shee - A Different Season

The Shee - A Different Season

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

FOLK The Shee have been attracting favourable comment for a while on the live circuit now, and this impressive debut album bears out the growing reputation the six-piece all-women band have accrued. Harpist Rachel Newton, fiddler Olivia Ross and…

Kylie Minoise - Kylie Minoise Fucking Loves You

Kylie Minoise - Kylie Minoise Fucking Loves You

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

NOISE Sound artist Lea Cummings is a key figure within Scotland’s healthy noise scene with a notorious live performances pedigree. These two releases don’t differ greatly from each other in content – both twins are pretty evil here – and feature…

Damon & Naomi - More Sad Hits

Damon & Naomi - More Sad Hits

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

PSYCHEDELIC POP Back in the humble days of 1992, the people still mourned the demise of Galaxie 500. Determined to steer their lives away from music, Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang were persuaded to re-enter the studio by producer Mark Kramer and…

Gerry Findley-Day & Various - The VCs: You’re Hit, You’re Dead

Gerry Findley-Day & Various - The VCs: You’re Hit, You’re Dead

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

SCI-FI Rebellion here reprints 2000AD’s sci-fi tale of space warfare, The VCs, for the first time, in which the Vacuum Cleaners take on the power of the alien Geek empire. Created by Gerry Findley-Day (who also created Rogue Trooper) in many ways The…

Welcome Wagon - Welcome to the Welcome Wagon

Welcome Wagon - Welcome to the Welcome Wagon

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

SACRED INDIE FOLK Taking a break from the absurdly ambitious ‘Fifty States Project’ Sufjan Stevens acts as producer, A&R and spokesperson for this collection of gentle-to-symphonic gospel-folk ditties. The trademark sound and song structure of…

The Bronx - The Bronx

The Bronx - The Bronx

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

PUNK/ROCK For years punk was in the thrall of the pop punk of Blink 182 and Green Day. Now, finally, with bands like Gallows, Fucked Up and The Bronx it’s retaking the world of hardcore and crawling is way from the underground once again. Confusingly…

Issie Barrett - Astral Pleasures

Issie Barrett - Astral Pleasures

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

JAZZ Issie Barrett’s debut recording directing a 20-piece orchestra is brimming over with arresting music. A composer and conductor pushing at the boundaries of conventional big band music, Barrett has a considerable reputation in jazz education…

Frank Turner - The First Three Years

Frank Turner - The First Three Years

(3 stars)8 Jan 2009

AGIT POP It’s a bit cheeky to release a best of when you’ve only been around for three years. But it’s easy to forgive Frank Turner; British punk rock’s loss was UK alt folk’s gain. The songs sound as good as they always did, and the rock version of…

Eddi Reader - The Songs of Robert Burns: Deluxe Edition

Eddi Reader - The Songs of Robert Burns: Deluxe Edition

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

CELTIC For Burns to endure for 250 years, every generation needs its own way of appreciating him. Five years ago, Eddi Reader provided her take on the Songs of Robert Burns and not only was the folk world enraptured by one of the great Scottish…

Julian Siegel Trio - Live at the Vortex

Julian Siegel Trio - Live at the Vortex

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

JAZZ Named Best Instrumentalist at the BBC UK Jazz Awards in 2007, saxophonist Julian Siegel is joined by New York-based musicians Greg Cohen (bass) and Joey Baron (drums) on this tough but exciting two-CD set, recorded at London’s Vortex in early…

Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Mendelssohn 200

Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Mendelssohn 200

8 Jan 2009

The first of a series of SCO concerts celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of German composer Felix Mendelssohn presents his music in the company of others who inspired him as well as those he himself inspired. Not just people, but places…

Gavin Richardson

Substance

8 Jan 2009

We admit it can be hard to get motivated to head out clubbing in early January: you’ve been partying non-stop for almost two weeks as it is. But techno night Substance is the perfect antidote to any midwinter malaise with live sets from Espion, Stick…

Fame

Fame

8 Jan 2009

Pull on your leotard and button down your Oxfords as the Playhouse goes back to the 80s with a stage version of the Oscar-winning film that launched a million pairs of legwarmers. This early blueprint for High School Musical stars X Factor finalist…

The Hot 100 Xmas Party

The Hot 100 Xmas Party

8 Jan 2009

Thanks to everyone at the ABC who made this year’s party possible and to Rebecca Dover for designing the fabulous décor. A very big thank you to the folks at Heineken and Bulmers for keeping the drinks flowing throughout the night. We would also like to…

The Falls of Clyde

Turner in January

8 Jan 2009

Ring in the New Year in traditional style by visiting the annual display of Turner watercolours at the RSA. The 38 works span JMW Turner’s (1775–1851) long and fruitful career, from his early topographical wash drawings to the later atmospheric sketches…

Celtic Connections

Gaelic film festival announced as part of Celtic Connections

8 Jan 2009

Film companies Craic and MG ALBA have announced details of an all Gaelic film festival to be held between 22–24 Jan at the CCA in Glasgow, presented as part of this year’s Celtic Connections festival. Held over three days, the festival will showcase…

Norman Lamont - Roadblock

Norman Lamont - Roadblock

(4 stars)8 Jan 2009

SINGER-SONGWRITER Ayrshire-born, Edinburgh-based maverick, Norman (pot-pourri poet, not prickly politician!), could be Scotland’s answer to Leonard Cohen, albeit with a wicked sense of irony. Third album, the reflective Roadblock, sees the former…

Wil Hodgson

Wil Hodgson

8 Jan 2009

You suspect being Wil Hodgson could be a blessing or a curse. While we’re unlikely to forget the rotund Chippenham-raised jokesmith’s pink mohawk and eyeliner it could overshadow his art, no? Well, not when your acerbic one-liners, pointed observations…

Princes Street

Princes Street set for year-long closure due to tram works

8 Jan 2009

More controversy with the trams this month, as Edinburgh councillors are forced to make a decision on whether Princes Street will be closed to traffic for a year, while works are carried out on the tram route. Many suggest that not closing it…

The Buttery

Two Fat Ladies set for staff role reversal

8 Jan 2009

The award-winning Two Fat Ladies at the Buttery has announced plans for a day of role reversal at a special fundraising event in aid of Quarriers, Bridge of Weir on Mon 26 Jan. Front of house staff will don their chefs’ hats in the kitchen, while…

Fashion photography

Fashion photography

8 Jan 2009

If you’ve ever wanted to be a fashion photographer, here’s your chance to set up your own fashion shoot using the Jean Muir handling collection (pictured). Fashion photographer and model Anna Isola Crolla will be on hand to show you the ropes. Bring…

Academy Live

Academy Live

8 Jan 2009

It’s the second year of Academy Events’ UK tour of untapped talent, and Glasgow’s Any Color Black headline, with Broadcast 2000, The Winchell Riots and The Volt sharing the bill. O2 Academy 2, Glasgow, Sat 17 January. (Rock & Pop)

Pumajaw

Pumajaw

8 Jan 2009

Pinkie Maclure adds her otherworldly siren song to John Willis’ trippy folk guitar loops. The Scots-based twosome are joined on the bill by another genteel, reflective duo, Shellyan Orphan. Classic Grand, Glasgow, Fri 16 Jan. (Rock & Pop, Folk)

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