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Issue 623

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The Class: To Sir, with love

The Class: To Sir, with love

19 Feb 2009

Laurent Cantet’s Palme D’Or winner The Class is the best film ever made about education. Paul Dale explains why every MSP should be made to watch it

Jason Donald

Choke Chain - Jason Donald

19 Feb 2009

‘I found it difficult torturing an eight-year-old boy, but I knew I had to.’ The couple at the table next to Jason Donald shoot him a sideways glance over the top of their coffee cups. He definitely doesn’t seem like the torturing kind. He carries on…

Scottish Opera - Five:15

Scottish Opera - Five:15

19 Feb 2009

As a savvy soul once surmised, ‘the more opera is dead, the more it flourishes.’ Just take the rise and rise of Scottish Opera. While the opera cynic waxed lyrical about the need to redefine the remit for a noughties audience, there they were setting…

Dorothy

Glasgow Film Festival: FrightFest

19 Feb 2009

There’s something primal about being scared, that jolt of adrenaline that makes us feel alive. Going back to the monsters of Greek and Roman mythology to scary stories told round the campfire, the horror genre is one of the oldest recorded forms of…

Gaza

Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace

19 Feb 2009

With the strikes on Gaza receiving near blanket coverage across all media, it’s been impossible to ignore the situation in Israel and Palestine recently. Inevitably, and perhaps understandably, when communicating the realities of life in a war zone…

Hot Leg

New Bands: The audacity of hype

19 Feb 2009

It’s not a shock to see a write-up for a new band, barely a handful of singles old, lauded as the best new band this century. But for every Arctic Monkeys there’s scores of Menswears, Towers of Londons and Mumm-Ras. Bands are expected to show up fully…

Little Boots

Cabaret Voltaire The Fourth Birthday: Life’s a cabaret

19 Feb 2009

For four years now, Cabaret Voltaire has been the hard act which every other club in Edinburgh has had to follow. The hard work and determination of owner Sarah David accounts for much of this success, although this year we decided to let some of her…

The Phantom Band

The Phantom Band

19 Feb 2009

The Phantom Band are a riddle wrapped in a mystery wrapped inside an enigma. OK, they’re not really, they’re just six guys living in Glasgow making music, but as their ephemeral name suggests there is something shadowy and unfathomable about both the…

Young Fathers

New Bands

19 Feb 2009

Young Fathers Although those in the neighbourhood know that Scottish hip hop has been active for many years now, it’s still the kind of unlikely concept which can make the national media gasp, sit up and scratch their head. Take the good tidings that…

Richard Milward: Tall tale

Richard Milward: Tall tale

19 Feb 2009

Bedraggled old residential tower blocks are gradually being demolished in towns and cities across the UK. Yet, young Middlesbrough author Richard Milward has reversed the trend in his own small way, by erecting a sky-high tale from a solid stack of…

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf

19 Feb 2009

All of us know couples to whom argument is salt and pepper to the relationship. There is indeed plenty of precedent in the theatre for work centring on the dysfunctional marriage; in the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe, this was exemplified by James Brally’s Life…

Daniel Depp

Daniel Depp - Loser’s Town

(2 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Simon & Schuster) CRIME DRAMA Daniel Depp’s claim to fame to date is being the half-brother of movie star Johnny and co-writing The Brave, which was nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or prize at Cannes in 1997. As a former Hollywood…

Bruce Campbell

Bruce Campbell

19 Feb 2009

Bruce Campbell is the unrepentant king of the Bs. He burst onto the world of underground cinema with the ultimate video nasty, The Evil Dead, its two sequels, and a string of unacknowledged classics such as Maniac Cop, Crimewave, Man With the Screaming…

Al Pitcher

Al Pitcher - Phil Kay My Comedy Hero

19 Feb 2009

Al Pitcher: 'Have you ever seen a comedian try to capture lightning in a bottle? Go and see Phil Kay. I first saw him at the Red Rose Comedy Club in London. I hadn’t tried comedy at the time and was greeted by the strange pre-show sight of a bearded and…

Colin Steele

Colin Steele - Miles Davis: Kind of Blue

19 Feb 2009

It was one of the most historic recording sessions in jazz. On 2 March 1959, Miles Davis took a group of musicians that included John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, both Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb into Columbia’s 30th…

Che: Part Two

Che: Part Two

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

WAR/BIOPIC (15) 127min Che Guevara’s final fatal campaign in Bolivia gets bold and bleak treatment in the second part of Steven Soderbergh’s extraordinary bio-historical epic about the ultimate revolutionary. It’s 1967 and Guevara (Benecio…

Gran Torino

Gran Torino

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

(15) 116min DRAMA/THRILLER Clint Eastwood attempts a light-hearted reproach to some of the more reactionary values of his previous films in this, his acting swansong. Recently bereaved Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) lives in a Michigan…

Year of the Horse

Year of the Horse

19 Feb 2009

PREVIEW EXPERIMENTAL WORK In January 2007, Resonance FM called up Tam Dean Burn, who produced occasional live plays for them, looking for a new piece. He promised them he’d think about it, then picked up a newspaper. Front page news was the death…

Defender of the Faith

Defender of the Faith

(3 stars)19 Feb 2009

NATURALISTIC DRAMA The problems inherent in Andy Arnold’s new production are almost all in the writing. Which is strange, because Stuart Carolan’s debut script, written in 2004, won awards and a transfer to Broadway on its first run. It’s not that…

The Mystery of Irma Vep

The Mystery of Irma Vep

19 Feb 2009

PREVIEW GOTHIC COMEDY For those of us whose childhood was steeped in black and white horror films of the 1940s and 50s, the Lyceum’s latest production looks a treat. Charles Ludlam’s camp epic presents a pastiche of every nostalgic device of the…

Tiffin Rooms

Tiffin Rooms

19 Feb 2009

Glasgow’s original curry king, Balbir Singh Sumal opened the Ashoka in 1973, later selling to colleague Charan Gill who went on to build the Harlequin Restaurant Group while crediting Balbir as his mentor. Balbir made a significant return to the scene…

Flash of Genius

Glasgow Film Festival: Flash of Genius

19 Feb 2009

As those old seat belt safety films (‘clunk click every trip’) fronted by Sir Jimmy Saville taught us – it’s difficult to make car safety stimulating. Flash of Genius, a David and Goliath style story based on the true story of university professor and…

Lazy Town Live!

LazyTown Live!

19 Feb 2009

If you ever bump into Magnus Scheving in the street, one thing’s for certain – he won’t snub you. As the creator, producer and star of TV sensation, LazyTown, Scheving knows a certain amount of responsibility comes with the territory. He also remembers…

Glasgow Roller Girls

Women-only roller derby: Glasgow Roller Girls

19 Feb 2009

Mistress Malicious meets me, as arranged, in the foyer of the sports centre. She’s easy to spot: she’s tall and elegant, with tattoos and bright scarlet hair. Oh, and she’s on rollerskates. I’m here to train with the Glasgow Rollergirls and learn…

Jimmy Robert: Grey Flannel Suits Any Man

Jimmy Robert: Grey Flannel Suits Any Man

19 Feb 2009

In an adaptation of Yoko Ono’s ‘Cut Piece’ for his show Figure de Style at London’s Cubitt Gallery last year, Jimmy Robert bound his torso in strips of tape, which were then ripped off by members of the audience. The performance didn’t stray too far…

Anvil

Interview: Anvil - The Story of Anvil

19 Feb 2009

You’ve probably never heard of Anvil, but bands like Slayer, Metallica and Anthrax all cite them as an influence. Formed by childhood friends Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow (on vocals and guitar) and drummer Robb Reiner in 1973, they tasted success in the 80s with…

Rob Da Bank

Last Word: Rob Da Bank

19 Feb 2009

First record you ever bought The theme tune to ET by John Williams. It made me cry! Last time you were chatted up I’ve gone beyond realising when that’s happening after 18 years with my wife. I just think people are being pleasant. First…

Douglas Fairbanks

Film Books Roundup

19 Feb 2009

There’s something of a publishing boom in books about cinema at the moment. Whether anyone is actually going to buy these books is obviously a moot point, the current mantra of publishers and university presses is ‘publish and be damned, libraries will…

Three Monkeys (Uc Mayman)

Three Monkeys (UC Mayman)

19 Feb 2009

(15) 109min DRAMA/THRILLER Following on from Uzak (Distant), his melancholic portrait of troubled masculinity, and his intimate study of a relationship meltdown in 2006’s Climates, Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan ambitiously branches out into…

An Inspector Calls

An Inspector Calls

19 Feb 2009

REVIVAL Before Oscar glory reached British director Stephen Daldry, he won plaudits at the English National Theatre in 1992 with a powerful re-imagining of JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls. The production won four Tony and three Olivier awards, and…

Claire Barclay: Openwide

Claire Barclay: Openwide

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

SCULPTURAL INSTALLATION You would have to be made of stern critical stuff to leave Openwide without being profoundly impressed by Claire Barclay’s work. The artist is known for her installations, which often consist of a supporting structure or frame…

Gay Zombie

LGBT interest DVDs

19 Feb 2009

ROUND-UP The re-release on DVD of Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together (Artificial Eye) ●●●● is cause for celebration. The award-winning film follows the fortunes of a gay couple from Hong Kong, who part company shortly after arriving in Argentina, leaving…

Franz Ferdinand

Future of Scotland's Music Festivals

19 Feb 2009

The law of averages suggests that what goes up must come down. And so it seems that, while the Scottish music scene is generally enjoying rude health, some of its more innovative offshoots are heading for troubled times. This month brought news that…

Hot chocolate

Taste Test - Hot chocolate

19 Feb 2009

Beanscene Hot Chocolate, Chocolate Soup Hot Chocolate, Green and Black’s Organic Hot Chocolate Drink, Coco Hot Chocolate, Starbucks Classic Hot Chocolate, Options Belgian Choc

Donnie Darko

Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival and goNORTH

19 Feb 2009

The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival is offering budding filmmakers the chance to have their work screened across the country. The winner will see their work up on the big screen in cinemas across Scotland this October, with entries…

Celtic Connections

News in brief

19 Feb 2009

Organisers at Glasgow’ s Celtic Connections have reported ‘an extremely successful’ year, with ticket sales reportedly on a par with 2008. Festival heads also announced that they had secured sponsorship for another year. The Greek Film Festival…

Benga

Profile - Benga

19 Feb 2009

Name Benga Occupation DJ and producer who, alongside Tempa labelmate and childhood friend Skream, has been operating at the forefront of dubstep since the genre emerged. Where’s he from? Croydon, Greater London, where Benga started making a name…

Baby Loves Disco

Baby Loves Disco

19 Feb 2009

You know you’re doing something right when a TV Dragon wants to invest in you. Better still if you can leave the ‘Den’ with your business still intact and make a success of it on your own. Which is exactly what happened to Naomi Timperley, the UK…

John Harris

Noisy Nights

19 Feb 2009

Although it sounds like it’s something to do with closing time at the weekend, Noisy Nights is actually a Monday evening happening all about new music. Taking place in the bar of Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre, performances will be of new scores which…

RKGB/Wrong Island

RKGB/Wrong Island

19 Feb 2009

The debut of this monthly joint residency came about by complete accident, but sometimes that’s how the magic happens. ‘We were promised the last Friday of the month by the V Club,’ says RKGB’s Dema, ‘and Wrong Island were promised the fourth Friday of…

Jonathan Owen

Jonathan Owen

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

SCULPTURE At Doggerfisher’s 2001 inaugural show Edinburgh College of Art graduate Jonathan Owen exhibited a series of irreverent yet deeply ornate cut-outs from lads’ mags, manuals and books. Menacingly splicing together nuclear armour with penises…

Timecode

Timecode

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

MIXED MEDIA (GROUP SHOW) ‘Time’ may not seem like the most original theme for an exhibition, but in this case it’s, well, timely. 2009 marks DCA’s tenth birthday and their current show is designed to usher in a celebratory year culminating in the…

Zoey Van Goey

Hitlist - Music

19 Feb 2009

● Shhh! Zoey Van Goey and My Latest Novel take on the task of performing a live musical interpretation of a classic film in one of the Glasgow Music and Film Festival’s more imaginative events. The Arches, Glasgow, Sun 22 Feb. (Rock & Pop) ● Butcher…

Amadou & Miriam

Amadou & Miriam

19 Feb 2009

When asked to define Jazz, Duke Ellington declared that there were only two kinds of music: good music and bad. Nevertheless, pigeonholes have proved a necessary evil in the pursuit and commoditisation of music, and rarely have the categories been as…

Blind dining

Side dishes - Food News

19 Feb 2009

Following in the footsteps of established ‘blind’ restaurants in Berlin, Paris and London, the Grill Room in Edinburgh’s Sheraton Hotel is now offering a quarterly Sensory Dining meal, with a full five-course meal plus accompanying wines served to…

Skint & Demoralised

Skint & Demoralised

19 Feb 2009

Wakefield/Sheffield duo Skint & Demoralised’s stuff at first sounds like a shamelessly derivative take on The Streets’ geezery ruminations on life and love, sung in an Arctic Monkeys-esque brash northern lilt and produced in the Mark Ronson…

Playdoe at Mixed Bizness

Playdoe at Mixed Bizness

19 Feb 2009

Playdoe: that squidgy stuff you tried to eat when you were a kid, or a fresh new electro rap duo from Johannesburg. Either way, it’s great fun. Former scratch champion Sibot and local rapper Spoek are the sound of modern Africa. A raucous mix of funk…

Modeselektor

Hitlist - Clubs

19 Feb 2009

● Numbers Numbers with Modeselektor. That’s all you need to know. The Arches, Glasgow, Fri 20 Feb. ● Death Disco Brodinski, Jokers of the Scene and Filthy Dukes are all appearing. But The List really can’t see past the fact that London’s filthiest…

Companhia Paulo Ribeiro

Companhia Paulo Ribeiro

19 Feb 2009

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Making a welcome return to this year’s New Territories festival, choreographer Paulo Ribeiro’s new works Masculine and Feminine were born out of his youthful fascination with the late poet, Fernando Pessoa. ‘When I was a…

Educating Rita

Educating Rita

(3 stars)19 Feb 2009

MODERN CLASSIC A full-length two-hander with a single setting has to be made of really special stuff to avoid outstaying its welcome. Jeremy Raison’s production of Educating Rita for the Citz manages to keep its audience onside – just – but in spite…

The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die

The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die

(3 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Take Me to the Hospital) TECHNO/ROCK The Prodigy have a lot to prove. Live they are still incendiary, creating the biggest mosh pit of the weekend at last year’s T in the Park and sending the entire field into technoid spasms. On record however…

Kelvingrove

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow: Site Specifics

19 Feb 2009

Only one of Scotland’s top tourist attractions, you philistine. Kelvingrove is a thoroughly impressive old building, built in 1900 and refurbshed in 2006. It houses well over 8,000 works of art and assorted museum pieces.

The Devil and Daniel Webster

The Devil and Daniel Webster

(5 stars)19 Feb 2009

(U) 106min (Eureka DVD retail) FANTASY A very welcome release for this diabolically undervalued 1941 masterpiece of 19th century American folklore fantasy. Based on a story by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet-writer Stephen Vincent Benét (upon…

Tony Vino

Profile: Tony Vino

19 Feb 2009

Who’s he then? Tony Vino has been doing comedy since 2005, making the final of the Funny Bones competition a year later against the likes of Wendy Wason and Bethany Black with one Jay Ryan coming out on top. He’s resident compere of Just Fair Laughs, a…

Paris 36

Paris 36

(2 stars)19 Feb 2009

(12) 120min DRAMA Director Christopher Barratier had an enormous hit at the French box office in 2004 with The Chorus, a saccharine tale of an inspirational teacher at a reform school setting up a choir for the boys. Working now on a much bigger…

Jason Donald

Hitlist - Books

19 Feb 2009

● Jason Donald Born in Dundee and raised in South Africa, Donald came back to Scotland to study creative writing at Glasgow. See the spectacular results at the launch of his debut novel, Choke Chain, a gripping tale of growing up in the threatening…

5 Reasons to go see Shred Yr Face 2

5 Reasons to go see Shred Yr Face 2

19 Feb 2009

1 You will literally be able to shred your face But only if you bring along your own cheese grater and apply it vigorously to your mush. Shred Yr Face is actually a joint tour sponsored by Rock Sound magazine which brings you three of the finest…

Also released - Records

19 Feb 2009

The Nightingales Insult to Injury (Klangbad) Formed from the remnants of Brummie punks, The Prefects, there’s a definite decadent mess here that John Peel would have loved. Grandmaster Flash The Bridge (Adrenaline Entertainment/Strut) The stars have…

Peter Doherty

Peter Doherty - Grace Wastelands

(3 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Parlophone) INDIE There’s no denying Peter Doherty has talent, The Libertines were a breath of fresh air that gave the indie scene a much needed kick up the arse back in 2002. It’s a story that’s been retold a thousand times from NME to the…

Peter Pan

Hitlist - Kids

19 Feb 2009

Peter Pan - A thrilling new production of the JM Barrie classic, LazyTown Live – The Pirate Adventure Join Sportacus, Baby Loves Disco, That’s Rubbish and Rocking Rascals.

Hitlist - Visual Art

19 Feb 2009

● Claire Barclay: Openwide Acclaimed sculptor Barclay uses a range of familiar materials, including leather, wood and metal to create beautifully balanced and crafted installations whose meaning is intentionally ambiguous. Fruitmarket Gallery…

Hitlist - Theatre

Hitlist - Theatre

19 Feb 2009

● Crocosmia / The Night Flyer Triumphant return to the Arches for this pair of provocative, visually-stunning Brick Award-winning shows, both of which went onto highly acclaimed runs at the Edinburgh Fringe. Arches, Glasgow, Tue 24–Thu 26 Feb.…

Nell Nelson

Food for Thought - Nell Nelson

19 Feb 2009

Eat Well With Nell has just been published, so I’ve got to look well at the moment! Food really plays a huge part in giving you loads of energy, clear wrinkle-free skin, strong nails and glossy hair and the recipes are all geared to making you look and…

Edith Piaf: Le Concert Ideal/The Documentary

Edith Piaf: Le Concert Ideal/The Documentary

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

(E) 110min (Acorn DVD retail) MUSIC/BOXSET The life of legendary chanteuse Edith Piaf was the stuff of melodrama, which, along with her incredible talents, accounts for her enduring appeal and status as a kind of deity in her native France. The…

Sky Larkin

Sky Larkin

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

With a rip-roaring opening set from acerbic Scots guitar heroes Copy Haho warming the crowd up nicely, Sky Larkin took to the stage without much fanfare. Playing to a crowd made up of the curious rather than the devoted, the first half of their set…

Nomad

Nomad

(3 stars)19 Feb 2009

(15) 112min (Optimum DVD retail) EPIC This might have been Kazakhstan’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, and was several years in the making, but the end result is weary with predictability. Like many a big…

The Unborn

The Unborn

(2 stars)19 Feb 2009

(15) 87min HORROR Screenwriter David S Goyer’s literate work on Christopher Nolan’s Batman has little relation to his work here as writer and director. The Unborn is a by-the-numbers fright-flick elevated by a resonant grounding in Jewish…

Beerjacket

Beerjacket

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

Look busy, here comes The Boss! Yep, the legendary Bruce Springsteen paid a spiritual if not physical visit to Oran Mor during a Beerjacket cover of ‘Dancing in the Dark’, and the song’s bittersweet tone and repressed optimism slotted very neatly into…

The International

The International

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

German filmmaker Tom Run Lola Run Tykwer’s globetrotting intelligence thriller sets in motion a new kind of cinematic corporation tax. When Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) witnesses the killing of one of his colleagues, who was…

Film Noir

Film Noir

(3 stars)19 Feb 2009

(18) 96min (Optimum DVD retail) ANIMATION/THRILLER Mixing the conventions of its genre namesake with explicit sex scenes, this adult animated feature is a cross between 40s noir The Big Sleep and 70s underground cartoon Fritz The Cat. It…

The Foxes

The Foxes

(3 stars)19 Feb 2009

REVIEW ROCK THE FOXES Named after ‘the great man himself’, as angelic-looking Foxes lead singer Nigel Thomas says, introducing their forthcoming single ‘Bill Hicks’, the band’s closing song is a two-minute-long rifftastic marriage made in heaven of…

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Confessions of a Shopaholic

(1 star)19 Feb 2009

Meet Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher), an aspiring journalist who runs up a hefty seven-figure credit card bill while pursuing her dream in New York. With the pesky IRS on her trail, she tries to kick her plastic habit without losing the respect of her…

Julian Argüelles - Inner Voices

Julian Argüelles - Inner Voices

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Tone of Pitch Records) JAZZ These days saxophonist Julian Argüelles divides his time between homes in East Lothian and Frankfurt (where he plays with the acclaimed HR Radio Big Band), and it was during a stay in Germany that he created this solo…

Glasgow Roller Girls

Hitlist - Around Town

19 Feb 2009

● QUADrophenia Fast paced, full impact all woman roller derby, as the Glasgow Roller Girls take on the Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames. Look out for fishnet tights and a special team of extra-malicious ‘jeerleaders’. The Arc, Glasgow Caledonian University…

Mitchell Museum

Meursault, Y'all is Fantasy Island and Mitchell Museum

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

REVIEW INDIE ROCK Mitchell Museum are a quartet from Glasgow whose gleeful expressions and keyboard rinky-dinkery threaten to spill over into the realms of the cornball, but hold back just enough to ensure they entertain rather than annoy. Both tracks…

Dirk Wittenborn - Pharmakon

Dirk Wittenborn - Pharmakon

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Bloomsbury) FAMILY DRAMA Much like the characters within it, Dirk Wittenborn’s third novel defies classification. On the surface, it’s an epic family tale spanning five decades and three generations. One layer down, it’s a taut thriller rich…

Books - Also Published

19 Feb 2009

5 CRIME NOVELS Alex Gray Glasgow Kiss DCI Lorimer opens the file on a schoolteacher accused of rape who then goes missing. ‘The most dynamic Scottish detective since Rebus’ we’re told. Sphere. Natasha Cooper Life on the Edge Psychologist…

The Leisure Society - The Sleeper

The Leisure Society - The Sleeper

(5 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Willkommen) INDIE Their sublime, string-filled debut single, ‘The Last of the Melting Snow’, was chosen by Elbow’s Guy Garvey as his single of the year. And this, their first LP, is full of a similar northern England charm akin to the Mercury…

Brodsky Quartet

Hitlist - Classical

19 Feb 2009

● Evening Concert: Brodsky Quartet As part of the ongoing celebrations in honour of the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth, the award-winning Brodsky Quartet play his second string quartet just a couple of days prior to the actual birthday date.

Baseball

Cool Sports

19 Feb 2009

Baseball It's not just rounders you know. Beyond its similarities, baseball is a game of skill, speed and tactics. Find out how by heading along to the Edinburgh Devils or the Glasgow Baseball Association, where beginners are always welcome. See…

New in Town

New in Town

(1 star)19 Feb 2009

(12A) 96min ROMANCE/COMEDY Imagine Local Hero shorn of wit, poetry and atmosphere and you have New In Town, a cheeseball rom-com from Danish TV director Jonas Elmer. Renee Zellweger plays Lucy Hill, a corporate high-flier from sunny Miami who…

Tom Lee - Greenfly

Tom Lee - Greenfly

(2 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Harvill Secker) SHORT STORIES The publishers are to be applauded for taking a punt on a debut collection of short stories in these credit-crunched times, but the variable quality contained within these 179 small pages makes it a risk unlikely…

Mongrel - Better than Heavy

Mongrel - Better than Heavy

(2 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Wall of Sound) INDIE FUNK On paper this collaboration has huge potential, with a former Arctic Monkey, a Babyshambler and the Reverend and one of his Makers teaming up with esteemed rapper Lowkey. The results are, as Jon ‘Reverend’ Mclure…

John Warren - Finally Beginning

John Warren - Finally Beginning

(3 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Fuzzy Moon Records) JAZZ John Warren is best known as an arranger and composer for big band, but this disc features a selection of material he has written and arranged over the years for the slightly smaller forces of a nine-piece ensemble…

David Moody - Hater

David Moody - Hater

(3 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Orion) HORROR TALE The real story here isn’t one of hate, but of hard work and good fortune. Specifically, that of David Moody himself, the Halesowen author who has been self-publishing online and through print-on-demand for the best part of a…

Shakara: The Avenger

Robbie Morrison & Henry Flint - Shakara: The Avenger

(3 stars)19 Feb 2009

(2000AD/Rebellion) SCI-FI COMIC You certainly could never accuse writer Robbie Morrison of not starting Shakara on a grand scale, what with the obliteration of Earth in the very first panel and the last ever human being dead by the end of page…

Ewan Wilkinson - Lost In The Day

Ewan Wilkinson - Lost In The Day

(3 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Brechin All Records) FOLK Born in the Borders and now based in Edinburgh, singer Ewan Wilkinson’s first album on accordionist Sandy Brechin’s label is a promising debut. His selection of material is strong, including capable covers of…

Yahweh - Tug of Love

Yahweh - Tug of Love

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Square Go Records) LAPTOP FOLK The tall, bespectacled shadow of Sebadoh’s Lou Barlow looms heavily over Scottish underground music. His truly special brand of homely introspection has fuelled more late night confessionals at the tape recorder…

John Cooper Clarke

John Cooper Clarke

19 Feb 2009

It makes us inordinately happy to be able to tell you that the original and best punk poet is gracing both Edinburgh and Glasgow with his presence this fortnight. You might have seen him reciting his work on the end of that Joy Division video, you might…

Craig Hill

Hitlist - Comedy

19 Feb 2009

● Craig Hill There’s a fair chance that this might be a bit camp as the lad Hill glams up our tedious comedic lives. Brunton Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 21 Feb. ● Russell Brand The walking controversy tries to set aside his 08 woes by getting back to…

De Rosa - Prevention

De Rosa - Prevention

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Chemikal Underground) ROCK & POP When you hear a man from the central belt singing about blood and urine and snow it’s all too easy to conclude that we are swirling around in sub-Arab Strap territory. But move away from the red and yellow and…

St Deluxe - St Deluxe

St Deluxe - St Deluxe

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Poppy Disc) NOISE POP Fuzzed-out Glaswegians St Deluxe sound like they’ve set out to please themselves firstly on their debut, and if other folks dig it too: bonus. They’ve already picked up a few influential fans along the way in ex-Spacemen 3…

Red Light Company - Fine Fascination

Red Light Company - Fine Fascination

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Lavolta) ROCK Lead singer Richard Frenneaux may have relocated to London but for their debut platter RLC are clearly enrapt by north American indie feelgood rock vibes, most obviously Arcade Fire’s sizeable bluster and Dinosaur Jr’s shamble and…

Lily Allen - It’s Not Me, It’s You

Lily Allen - It’s Not Me, It’s You

(2 stars)19 Feb 2009

(EMI) POP Sly satirical lyricist, or still just a fringe with an almighty gob, whatever your hopes for her second album, Lily hasn’t blossomed. Insistently banging on about boys and beans on toast, the candid exposé our nail-painting populace…

Calamateur - Jesus is for Losers

Calamateur - Jesus is for Losers

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

(self-release) LO-FI The world needs mavericks like Calamateur. Holed up somewhere outside Inverness, Andrew Howie has been making a find blend of folk, rock and electronica for almost a decade, with this latest offering typically brimming with…

Dave Arcari - Got Me Electric

Dave Arcari - Got Me Electric

19 Feb 2009

(Buzz) DELTA BLUES Scottish bluesman Dave Arcari has been pumping out rough-hewn nuggets of punky blues for years, and while this fifth album maintains that momentum it’s something of a one-trick pony. Slapping and picking away on his guitar…

First Aid Kit - Drunken Trees

First Aid Kit - Drunken Trees

(5 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Wichita) ALT.FOLK A curse on all precociously talented youth. With a combined age still several years less than this reviewer’s, the two teenage Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg have produced an astonishing debut, brimming with…

Mt St Helens Vietnam Band

Mt St Helens Vietnam Band - Mt St Helens Vietnam Band

19 Feb 2009

(Dead Oceans) PROG POP If there’s a touch of the Von Trapps about this ace Seattle prog-pop five-piece, it’s with excellent reason: their drummer (Marshall) is a 13-year-old mini-dude, whose adoptive father (Benjamin) is his biological brother…

Wounded Knee - Shimmering New Vistas

Wounded Knee - Shimmering New Vistas

(4 stars)19 Feb 2009

(Benbecula) FOLKTRONICA A self-professed ‘future primitive’ diviner, Edinburgh’s Wounded Knee – aka electronic sorcerer and oral diabolist Drew Wright – has created and excavated myriad legacies for this, his first major full-length…

Future of Creative Scotland

Future of Creative Scotland

19 Feb 2009

The future of Creative Scotland remained in question again this fortnight, following Alex Salmond’s sacking of three of his ministers, including culture minister, Linda Fabiani. It was also announced that the SNP administration has binned its manifesto…

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