Issue 627

Hinterland: Sounds and the City

16 Apr 2009

Just because it’s a brand new festival doesn’t mean Hinterland is free from pressure. The weight of expectation building up behind Glasgow’s two-day music bonanza is considerable. Partly this is because the one-ticket, multiple-venue format hasn’t been…

Independent Shopping guide: Introduction

16 Apr 2009

In a recession, small businesses are usually hit worst. Shopping Editor Kirstin Innes channels the spirit of the Blitz as she launches our campaign to support local, independent shops

Glasgow - The West End

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

Glasgow - The West End Leafy, artistically inclined, fashionable, but not in a corporate way, dear me no, the West End is one of the most beautiful – and thoroughly self–contained – areas of Glasgow. It is fed into by the students of the nearby…

Glasgow - Merchant City

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

From the polished windows and grand granite buildings on Ingram Street to the lo-fi galleries that line Parnie Street, the Merchant City is a tale of two shoppers: as one strolls in and out of top boutiques, paper bags flapping in the wind and metal…

5 of the Best - Ethical Shopping

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

Entrading, Seesaw Toys, Bolshie, Flux, Organic Pleasures.

Glasgow - Southside

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

The actual boundaries of the Southside are a much debated issue, says Allistair Burt, who runs the Southside Happenings blog. ‘Everyone agrees that it starts at the river, but where does it end? The general consensus seems to be somewhere between…

Shifty - High times

16 Apr 2009

‘I said God damn, God damn the pusher man.’ From Easy Rider’s doomed wild hogs to Denzel Washington’s Harlem kingpin in American Gangster, I’ve enjoyed every moment I’ve spent with cinema’s dealers and peddlers. I’ve laughed my socks off with Cheech and…

5 of the Best - Hairdressers

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

Boosh, Sublime, Jar Hair, Anton Steele, Emma Hall

Edinburgh - Old Town

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

Independent shops in the capital’s historic centre, presided over by Edinburgh Castle, take their aesthetic responsibilities seriously. That’s not to say that they’re all authentically restored and historically preserved properties frozen in time, nor…

Shifty

16 Apr 2009

(15) 85min After a four-year absence Chris (Danny Mays) returns to his hometown, the fictional Dudlowe, in the south of England. He has come to make amends to his old friend and small-time drug dealer Shifty (Riz Ahmed). Something happened between…

5 of the Best - Institutions

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

Armstrongs, Tam Shepherd’s Trick Shop, Mr Ben’s, Avalanche, Word Power

Edinburgh - New Town

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

The New Town is Edinburgh’s answer to Knightsbridge. Playground for the rich (if not famous), and stomping ground for the capital’s own Sloane Rangers. Tucked away in its leafy depths, Stockbridge’s posh bohemian vibe brings the eccentric charm of a…

5 of the Best - Supporting Local Talent

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

GSA Shop, Che Camille, Red Door Gallery, Godiva, Velvet Boutique

Edinburgh - Leith and Broughton Street

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

Colourful, down-to-earth, and as proud of the Shore’s chequered history as it is of the newly developed areas housing bright young things in penthouses, Leith combines gritty charm with the fruits of urban regeneration. Off the top of Leith Walk, closer…

Fence Collective's Homegame: Homeward bound

16 Apr 2009

In the ever-growing Scottish music festival calendar, the Homegame remains something of a well-kept secret. Despite a steadily increasing profile since its inception six years ago, the weekend, run by Fence Collective head honchos Kenny Anderson (aka…

Copenhagen: Quantum leap

16 Apr 2009

One of the hallmarks of success in almost any profession is precision. It is this attention to detail that first strikes me about Tom Mannion. Forgetting the tram-inspired chaos of Princes Street, I arrive late at Edinburgh’s Blue Blazer and meet him…

RPZ: Tru playerz

16 Apr 2009

While gifted resident DJs form the backbone of all of Glasgow’s most successful clubs, the majority of the city’s club nights operate as a platform for talent from elsewhere. Although there are other notable exceptions to this rule, few clubs have been…

Phil Collins: Cover versions

16 Apr 2009

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but few bands have inspired such hopeless devotion in their fans as The Smiths. When Morrissey, Marr and co appeared in 1983, the pure emotional rawness of Morrissey’s lyrical confessionals tapped into an…

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: State of Grace

16 Apr 2009

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s voice reflects a life split between America and her home country, Nigeria. So while she’ll enunciate each of her words clearly and slowly, she’s also picked up that uniquely American habit of adding a questioning ‘right?’ at…

20 Years On: Remembering the Anti-Poll Tax Demonstrations

16 Apr 2009

Margaret Thatcher liked to call it the community charge. To the rest of us it was the poll tax – one of the most universally loathed tax reforms ever to pass through the House of Commons. To commemorate 20 years since the introduction of the poll tax…

Site Specifics: The Hippodrome, Bo’Ness

16 Apr 2009

What is it? Opened in 1912, the Hippodrome was Scotland’s first purpose-built cinema. This beautiful pre-art deco picture palace was designed by local architect Matthew Steele for Louis Dickson, a cinematographic pioneer, who used it to show his own…

Holly Walsh

16 Apr 2009

A self-confessed ‘comedy nerd’, writer and long-term, long-suffering temp Holly Walsh only began performing stand-up in 2006, because ‘I was coming up with jokes that nobody else wanted but which I thought were really funny. Turns out they weren’t but…

Basement Jaxx

16 Apr 2009

Ten years since they burst onto the music scene armed with hyperactively genre-hopping debut album Remedy and a carnival-like live act, are dusting down their turntables for a prolonged spell on the live scene this summer. DJs Felix Buxton and Simon…

The Secret of the Black Moon Moth

16 Apr 2009

John Fardell must be responsible for an awful lot of frustrated children at bedtime. Whether they’re being read to, or reading alone, when the end of a chapter signals lights out it’s almost unbearable. King of the cliff-hanger and a master of…

Supernova

16 Apr 2009

Although active as a promoter in Glasgow for not much more than a year, Sid Kebili has already built up a respectable track record. He’s chosen to follow up his first project, Hell at the Classic Grand – now defunct – with a pair of nights which more…