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Issue 620

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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…

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