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…

Glasgow & Edinburgh - Honourable Mentions

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

In Glasgow’s city centre, Sauchiehall Street, Argyle Street, the Buchanan Galleries and St Enoch Centre are mostly stuffed with high street chains, but we don’t want to overlook the number of excellent record shops in the area: Classics in the City and…

Health

16 Apr 2009

Everyone’s favourite LA-based noiseniks Health are back, with a brand new record under their belts. More frenzied death riffs, beast-like shrieks and start-stop thundering drums then? Well, yes and no. We catch up with bassist John Famiglietti, fresh…

Wuthering Heights

16 Apr 2009

‘Out on the winding, windy moors,’ sang Kate Bush in her 1978 homage to Emily Brontë’s romantic classic, Wuthering Heights. Those lyrics may need a re-think now that British Asian theatre company Tamasha has got its hands on the novel. Gone are the…

Calvin Harris

16 Apr 2009

Following successful dalliances with Dizzee Rascal, Kylie and, umm, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Calvin Harris is back with a brand new bunch of his own tunes. And by golly they’re sounding good. You may have heard ‘I’m Not Alone’ already – it’s the first…

Boneless Box

16 Apr 2009

Naming their inaugural show at this new gallery space after one of KFC’s advertising campaigns, the curators of Boneless Box have opened their doors to all that is finger lickin’ and artificial. Things start sweetly with Debjani Banerjee’s miniscule…

Five reasons to go and see: Earth

16 Apr 2009

1 It’ll stop you droning on … because that’s their job. Formed in Olympia, Washington in the early 90s by Dylan Carlson, the awesome Earth were pioneers of doom-laden drone rock, influencing everyone from Mogwai to Autechre, both of whom contributed…

Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette & John Totleben - Saga of the Swamp Thing

16 Apr 2009

COMICS/SUPERHERO There’s no point going over old ground: if you have even the vaguest interest in comics you’ll know of the genius of Alan Moore. Watchmen, V For Vendetta and From Hell are established classics of the medium, as of course is Saga of…

5 of the Best - Men’s Stuff

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

Pageant, A1 Comics & Static Games, Goodstead, Mr Smith Underwear, The Men’s Store

5 of the best - Online accessories

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

The internet has proved a boon for young, talented Scottish designers who can't afford to rent premises. Here are some of our favourites.

5 of the best - Record shops

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

Underground Sol’ushun, Rubadub Records, Hog’s Head Music, Monorail Music, Missing Records

5 of the best - Tattoo parlours

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

Terry’s Tattoos, Old Town Tattoos, Tribe, Forever More Tattoos, Studio XIII

First Word: Chris Addison

16 Apr 2009

First record you ever bought ‘You Can Call Me Al’, Paul Simon. Fall at my feet, ye tastemakers. Last time you were chatted up My wife was very complimentary when asking me to put the kettle on the other day. Is that the sort of thing? First…

Eating out trends: What’s cooking?

16 Apr 2009

Right now we’re busy writing up the late entries, dotting ‘i’s and crossing ‘t’s to get this year’s Eating & Drinking Guide finished. A year ago we revealed over 100 new entries and everyone took it as a sign of a buoyant scene. This year we have over…

Camera Obscura

16 Apr 2009

This Glasgow band’s status as much-loved outsiders was amusingly encapsulated by a headline on the front page of The Guardian in 2007, linked to a feature inside summarising what readers thought to be unfair omissions from the paper’s list of 1000…

Profile - Ron Peck

16 Apr 2009

Born 15 May, 1948, South London Background Even in his bookish, middle-class youth the now-sexagenarian Peck was determined to become a filmmaker. ‘It was three strands that made cinema very vital and alive for me,’ he says, citing as major…

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

16 Apr 2009

(15) 97min Much like Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine provided the vital tough-guy ingredient in the popular X-Men movies. Laconic and individualistic, the appealing Wolverine stood head and shoulders above the…

Two Horizons: Works from the Collections of Charles Asprey and Alexander Schrôder (Group Show)

16 Apr 2009

While the National Gallery of Modern Art’s Artist Rooms generates the hype, a smaller exhibition quietly sits upstairs awaiting discovery. Two Horizons consists of works from two private collections, those of Charles Asprey and Alexander Schröder. The…

Cirque du Soleil: Quidam

16 Apr 2009

Cirque du Soleil might be celebrating its 25th birthday this year, but the French-Canadian company, which has made a name for itself across the world with its foundation-shifting take on traditional circus acrobatics, shows no signs of lagging behind in…

State of Play

16 Apr 2009

(12A) 118min Hollywood has got its hands on the acclaimed 2003 BBC TV series State of Play and done what Hollywood does, namely moved the action to the US, brought in a parliament of A-list stars to replace the British character actors and changed…

Profile - Riz Ahmed

16 Apr 2009

Born 1 December 1982 Background London Riz Ahmed graduated from Oxford with a degree in philosophy, politics and economics before training as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He came to prominence playing Shafiq Rasul, a member…

In the Loop

16 Apr 2009

The special relationship gets a prick (or pricks) of Waughian satire in this hilarious political comedy by The Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci. When the US president and UK prime minister tout the desire for more war to quell insurrection (without…

Encounters at the End of the World

16 Apr 2009

(U) 99min At the outset of his extraordinary, Oscar-nominated documentary about the life and landscape around the Antarctic community of McMurdo Station, director Werner Herzog announces that this is not a film about fluffy penguins. Sure enough…

Cosi Fan Tutte

16 Apr 2009

Two internationally renowned Scottish artists take pride of place in Scottish Opera’s Così fan tutte, a production first seen in Strasbourg, where it was created for Opéra National du Rhin in 2005. Although director David McVicar was with Scottish Opera…

Summer festivals line-up announced

16 Apr 2009

Here at The List, we can barely take a jaunt to the water cooler without another festival announcement popping into our inbox. At the offices of T in the Park (Fri 10-Sun 12 Jul) there’s been the usual flurry of activity. One of New York’s finest…

The best new nights in town. This month: Confusion Is Sex

16 Apr 2009

Residents Not so much a resident as a ‘creator’; Gamma Ray, former promoter of the Bongo’s Hobo, has brought this new monthly event together. Guests A live show from Berlin-based electro-punks Noblesse Oblige, a headline DJ appearance from Glasgow’s…

Vanessa: Look Mummy I’m Dancing

16 Apr 2009

The profile and representation of transsexuals may have received a boost in recent years from such acclaimed films as Boys Don’t Cry and Transamerica, but there are still few opportunities for transsexual actors in the mainstream theatre and cinema.

Good

16 Apr 2009

(15) 96min The ageless dilemma of what happens to good men in bad times is investigated in an impoverished but interesting adaptation of CP Taylor’s 1981 play, seen in Scotland in a brilliant production by Michael Boyd in the Edinburgh…

The Specials and The Zombies

16 Apr 2009

‘Hope I die before I get old.’ Yeah, right. The way the band reformation juggernaut continues to pick up pace, that epithet should read, ‘Hope I reform before I die.’ There has been a relentless increase in the number of bands getting back together…

Volume!

16 Apr 2009

It’s been a busy couple of years for Volume as they head for their second birthday celebrations. As one of the first nights to bring dubstep to Scotland their pioneering penchant for pushing new music has been a welcome education for the capital’s club…

Film - Also Released

16 Apr 2009

Crank 2: High Voltage (18) 95min ●●● Picking up where Crank ended, Chev Chelios (Jason Stratham) is kidnapped by a gang of Chinese medics who attempt to remove his organs. They get as far as replacing his heart with a temporary electronic one before he…

The Celluloid Closet

16 Apr 2009

(15) 101min There’s a thorny dichotomy that’s been around almost as long as cinema itself: is it enough simply to see minorities on the silver screen, even if portrayed in an unflattering or offensive light? Or should Hollywood be quietly written…

Junk Ensemble: Drinking Dust

16 Apr 2009

The subjectivity of memory is fertile ground for experimental work. A delicately treasured memory in one person can, if artfully enough conveyed, provoke a parallel experience in others. Ireland’s Junk Ensemble – the core of which is two sisters, Megan…

Scottish Guitar Quartet

16 Apr 2009

The Scottish Guitar Quartet have been around for the best part of a decade, and still feature the same four players – Malcolm MacFarlane, Ged Brockie, Kevin MacKenzie and Nigel Clark – that launched the band at MacFarlane’s behest back in 1999. They…

Paul Wunderlich: Paintings, Sculpture and Works on Paper From Six Decades

16 Apr 2009

REVIEW MIXED MEDIA Compass Gallery’s museum-style six-decade retrospective of this German-born octogenarian visual artist is a voice from the past, articulating the development of style, technique and medium across the last century and into this, and…

Interiors

16 Apr 2009

Vanishing Point’s Interiors was inspired by a Maurice Maeterlinck play, but brings to mind Hitchcock’s Rear Window and Avril Paton’s Glasgow postcard favourite ‘Windows in the West’ in its exploration of lit houses as the ultimate free voyeuristic…

Stage Fright

16 Apr 2009

Stage Fright is a collaboration between CCA and theatre company Suspect Culture exploring the nature of theatricality through the work of Luke Collins, Felicity Croydon and Sharon Smith (Max Factory), Jonny Dawe and Nick Powell (OSKAR), Graham Eatough…

Five Comedy Things to Watch on TV

16 Apr 2009

The Inbetweeners Series two gets into its stride as Will’s birthday looms. He’s planning a suitably grown-up dinner with a few close friends, and, naturellement, any girls they can persuade to come. E4, Thu 16 Apr, 10pm. Reno 911! More spoof…

Exposure: Ingested

16 Apr 2009

If you’re finding metal just isn’t doing it for you any more, why not delve into the brutal world of death metal, a hardcore body blow of sound accompanied by guttural vocals? This fortnight there’s a bumper bill of extreme noise with Manchester’s…

Also released - Records

16 Apr 2009

Art Brut Art Brut Vs Satan (Cooking Vinyl) After being disposed of by major label EMI, Art Brut are back and seemingly fizzing in the face of the cynical music business. But it’s not all anger and Satan, there’s still classic Art Brut bop-ability here…

The Uninvited

16 Apr 2009

(15) 87min Kim Ji-woon’s Korean horror A Tale of Two Sisters undergoes the Hollywood treatment in this plush-but-empty DreamWorks remake, with Emily Browning and Arielle Kebbel cast as disturbed siblings Anna and Alex Ivers. The two sisters are…

Emma Curran

16 Apr 2009

‘This isn’t quite Madison Square Garden,’ jokes Glasgow lass Emma Curran, ‘but it makes a nice change.’ She isn’t joking either; Curran is every X-Factor competitor’s dream, an ordinary girl who travelled to the New York venue to see Snow Patrol, waved…

Outlander

16 Apr 2009

The latest (if not the only) entry in the oft-neglected Viking/alien crossover subgenre is about space pilot Kainan (Jim Caviezel) who crash lands on earth circa 709AD and finds he’s not alone. A strange and terrifying monster escapes and attacks the…

Dent May

16 Apr 2009

It’s hard, maybe impossible, not to fall for the nerdy, feel-good croon-a-alongs of this trailer-dwelling Southern boy, who calls himself ‘the softest boy in Mississippi’, and who was signed to Animal Collective’s Paw Tracks imprint last year. His…

Stone

16 Apr 2009

(18) 103min Sandy Harbutt’s much loved 1974 Australian exploitation flick is released in the UK for the first time on DVD in this two disc special edition. Recently eulogised in Mark Hartley’s excellent documentary Not Quite Hollywood, Harbutt’s…

Cloudberry Records Night

16 Apr 2009

The Cloudberry Records label may be based in Miami, but there is an undeniably Glaswegian influence on the roster of bands on the bill at this jangly guitar showcase. The Catalysts, in the bronze medal position on the line-up podium, are musical gold…

The Small Back Room

16 Apr 2009

THRILLER/DRAMA (PG) 104min This 1949 Powell and Pressburger collaboration has, historically, been overshadowed by the better known and far grander productions by the great director-writer team. Certainly, in comparison with the awesome…

Ben Moor - More Trees to Climb

16 Apr 2009

Comedy and theatre writer Ben Moor isn’t cool. He can’t be described as edgy, cutting or, even on the flipside, geek chic. Too wholesome to be indie, and too intellectual for personal whimsy, Moor’s seemingly fad-free short stories shun the fripperies…

Rebecca Gowers - The Twisted Heart

16 Apr 2009

Kit is a gangly Oxford literature student, immersed in her thesis about the fictionalisation of real-life murders by Victorian authors. To let off steam, she goes to a dance class and meets a mysterious bloke called Joe, embarking on a relationship…

The Art School Dance

16 Apr 2009

(E) 120min Edinburgh College of Art releases this low-budget, yet charming limited edition DVD in celebration of famous city venue, the Wee Red Bar. Filmed in 2007, ECA’s centenary year, it intersperses live performances with interviews that…

Gillian Philip - Crossing the Line

16 Apr 2009

Fiction for teenagers often tries too hard to protect or lecture its readers, with sanitised characters and everything rounded off into a neat anti-drugs or anti-sex moral. It’s very rare, and exciting, to find a writer like Gillian Philip, who…

Also Released - 5 History Books

16 Apr 2009

Robert Wallace & H Keith Melton with Henry Robert Schlesinger Spycraft One of these guys is a former director of the CIA, so this look at the organisation’s top gadgets should be on the money. Bantam. Max Arthur The Real Band of Brothers Subtitled…

John Aberdein - Strip the Willow

16 Apr 2009

The unnervingly familiar Scottish city of Uberdeen faces financial collapse, so multinational powerhouse LeopCorp swoops in to take control. Thus the scene is set for John Aberdein’s astonishing follow-up to award-winning debut Amande’s Bed. Often…

Tom Harrell - Prana Dance

16 Apr 2009

(High Note Records) There is no shortage of high quality, progressive post-bop around, but Tom Harrell’s new disc stands out as a particularly noteworthy outing in that style. The trumpeter is a well-established name in contemporary jazz, and has…

Geoff Eales Trio - Master of the Game

16 Apr 2009

(Edition Records) Pianist Geoff Eales is highly regarded as a player of standards, but consciously chooses to push the envelope (as he puts it himself) on this disc for the Edition label, run by musician Dave Stapleton and photographer Tim…

The Adventures of White Tuft

16 Apr 2009

(PG) 75min ‘Beavers in peril’ might sound like an unsavoury adult movie franchise, but it could in fact have worked as a neat subtitle for this documentary which aims for cuddly cutesy in one scene, bloody terrifying in the next. Clearly attempting…

Big Ned - Big Ned

16 Apr 2009

(Optimo Music) The third release and first album from this new label isn’t what anyone who still believes Optimo is just a club night will be expecting. The brainchild of D James Clark and John Murray (and band), Big Ned is a seedy, guitar-propelled…

Lauren MacColl - Strewn With Ribbons

16 Apr 2009

(Make Believe Records) Fiddler ’s well-received debut album from 2007, When Leaves Fall, was one of the recordings chosen for Celtic Connections’ Classic Album series of concerts earlier this year. If that slightly premature accolade overstated its…

The Xcerts - In the Cold Wind We Smile

16 Apr 2009

(Xtra Mile/King Tut’s Recordings) After relentless touring schedules, tremendous support appearances and several EPs, The Xcerts finally release their long awaited debut album. Filled with the most heart-wrenchingly catchy pop-rock melodies around…

Super Furry Animals - Dark Days/Light Years

16 Apr 2009

INDIE (Rough Trade) As per comedian Steven Wright’s line about making his own water, ‘two parts H, one part O’, there is a tried and tested winning formula for Super Furries records, and this, their ninth studio album, is no exception. A handful of…

King Creosote - Flick the Vs

16 Apr 2009

(Domino) On this first album on Domino Fife legend Kenny Anderson has a whale of a time. Brimming with sonic invention and acerbic one-liners, Flick the Vs shows experimentation and ambition vastly beyond KC’s lazy folk tag, from the seven-minute…

Beltane Fire Festival

16 Apr 2009

What’s that coming over Calton Hill? Yes, it’s the annual Beltane Fire Festival, complete with fire, frolics and lashings of body paint. Celebrating the beginning of the summer season, the unique festival draws inspiration from ancient Gaelic traditions…

Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career

16 Apr 2009

(4AD) My Maudlin Career reflects vocalist Tracyanne Campbell’s discovery of the sweet melancholy of love. Her gentle voice leads us through these songs about the search for self-acceptance during a personal clash of musical aspirations and a much…

Children’s Classic Concerts – The Wow Factor

16 Apr 2009

Amiable hosts, Owen and Olly may not have the acerbic appeal of Simon Cowell, but they can still put on a show as entertaining as any episode of The X Factor. The latest Children’s Classic Concert features well-known tunes from the worlds of TV, film…

Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neil - The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910

16 Apr 2009

From one of Moore’s oldest stories to his latest opus, the first part of the third volume of his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It’s an unlikely ‘superhero’ team of literary characters; in this case, the likes of Raffles, Orlando and Carnaki the…

The Enemy - Music for the People

16 Apr 2009

(Warner Bros) The Enemy so desperately wish they were Oasis. And while We’ll Live & Die in These Towns had a certain Jam-esque swagger and dole-queue poetry Music for the People is a worrying retread. There’s no doubt it will be sung loud and proud…

Dananananaykroyd - Hey Everyone!

16 Apr 2009

(Best Before) Producing roughly as much energy as a Mentos mint dropped into a can of Diet Coke, the Glasgow sixsome follow last year’s Sissy Hits EP with a debut album Hey Everyone!. Twelve anti-lullabies of clattery, shouty, thrashy scream-pop are…

Loner - Western Sci-Fi

16 Apr 2009

ELECTRO-POP (Just Music) If Loner’s second album was a flower, which would it be? Probably one that wilted and split at the merest whiff of a breeze, so delicate are its components. Geoff Smith doesn’t so much sing his fragile numbers as emit…

Various - Recession Vol 1 mixed by October

16 Apr 2009

TECHNO (Caravan) Bristol’s Julian Raymond Smith aka October is doing something not many other techno people are doing right now: something interesting. The approach? It’s a fusion of abstract but very catchy beat stuff, dub and analogue shape…

Peter, Bjorn & John - Living Thing

16 Apr 2009

(Wichita) Best known for their whistly, catchier-than-the-cold hit ‘Young Folks’, the Swedish trio return here with their fifth album. It has all the ingredients for a twinkling pop gem – ice cold Human League synths, crashing drums straight out a…

Edinburgh's Forest Cafe under threat due to licensing

16 Apr 2009

One of Edinburgh’s cultural havens is under threat because of growing financial pressure. The Forest Café has lodged an application for a year-round alcohol licence to boost funds, but it faces resistance from the licensing board, which has concerns…

The big picture: Tracey Emin - Sweet Thing

16 Apr 2009

Brit art brat Tracey Emin is one of 50 contemporary artists, including Peter Howson and Douglas Gordon, featured in an exhibition of works inspired by Robert Burns. Emin’s ‘Sweet Thing’ was based on the bard’s poem ‘Nine Inch Will Please a Lady’. So. Is…

Ojos De Brujo

16 Apr 2009

If flamenco isn’t really your thing, then you should probably turn away now. But come on, everyone needs a bit of flamenco in their life. Hip hop is also here in abundance too, consummating with each other to produce an exotically interesting mix.

Motherfunk

16 Apr 2009

Since way back in 1996 Motherfunk has been Edinburgh’s only serious Tuesday night clubbing option. Gino and Fryer supply a formidably knowledgable repertoire of all that’s great and good about funk. This fortnight, on 28 April, they host a fashion event…

The Virgins

16 Apr 2009

Their name may suggest an aura of the un-cool but New York trio The Virgins are far from a group of fumbling, sweaty palmed boys with who look like their Mothers dress them. Their new-wave inspired rock with tangible dancefloor potential is sure to go…

Hardcore Heaven Weekender 09 Launch Party

16 Apr 2009

Doing exactly what it says on the tin as the heads at Twisted & Brainfire warm up for the Hardcore Heaven party in Southport (Pontins Holiday Centre, 15-17 May) with a deadly line-up including Lethal Theory, Scott Brown, The Masochist, Dr Z-Vago…