Issue 635

Film Hitlist

The best film & DVD releases

7 Aug 2009

Lake Tahoe, Am I Black Enough For You, Mesrine: Killer Instinct, AntiChrist, Coco Before Chanel, Cloud 9, Brüno, Moon, Public Enemies, Comrades, The Red Shoes.

Days Out Hitlist

The best books, talks and LGBT

7 Aug 2009

Fringe in the Park, Alien Wars, Bratchy and the Wee Man’s Comedy Pub Quiz, Anja Kirschner and David Panos ‘in conversation’ with Francis McKee, Critical Applause 6: Will Holder.

Over the sea to Skye

6 Aug 2009

Brad Pitt may be somewhat lacking but as we clamber Thelma and Louise-style into my old knackered banger, a miraculous sunny spell sets the mood for the days to come. Heading north out of Edinburgh, we leave behind us the traffic jams and daily grind of…

Cult Fiction Movies shop opens in Edinburgh

6 Aug 2009

To a certain type of movie fan, Newington’s newly-opened Cult Fiction Movies is a magical store where a litany of grindhouse double features, BFI Classics and films from America’s Criterion Collection which remain currently unavailable on this side of…

Scottish Islands: The essentials

6 Aug 2009

Go in search of the fairies The Isle of Mull’s MacKinnon’s Cave is believed to be the deepest in the Hebrides. A winding path leads towards a waterfall just before the mouth of the Cave and folklore suggests that it offers a passage to the underworld…

Tom Kitchin - From Nature to Plate

Kitchin confidential

6 Aug 2009

All cookbooks reveal something of their author; first cookbooks are often most revealing of all as chefs justify their status by retelling formative experiences. As with the opening of their own restaurant, it’s both a statement and a landmark. Tom…

The gathering of the bribes

6 Aug 2009

We don’t like to call it bribery, that’s a dirty word, but now that the Festival’s starting to roll into town the standard of, er, unsolicited gifts arriving here at List Towers is definitely on the up. And we don’t mind it one bit. It might not…

The Bratchpieces reinvent the Humble Pub Quiz

A family guffaw

6 Aug 2009

The Bratchpieces (faither Mark, elder brother David, or Bratchy and younger scion Neil, aka the Wee Man) are well known as Scotland’s only family of stand up comedians. They’ve taken that dynamic into all-Bratchpiece stage shows, and the logical next…

First Word - Allegra McEvedy

6 Aug 2009

First record you ever bought Ian Jury and the Blockheads’ ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’. Last time you were chatted up I don’t think I’ve ever been chatted up. I’m more of a predator. First film you saw that really moved you I think it…

Velvet Elvis & Amore Dogs

How to beat the neighbours as a restaurateur

6 Aug 2009

As a restaurateur you’re always interested in what’s going on around you. Who’s busy, who’s not, who’s hiring, who’s lost their chef. When Allan Mawn opened up Pintxos two years ago he had no such issues. He was so far west along Dumbarton Road there…

Site Specifics - Alien Wars

6 Aug 2009

What is it? Imagine stepping into the world of Alien and Aliens (as created by Ridley Scott and James Cameron respectively) as you are guided round the Arches’ basement with extra terrestrials leaping out to scare you at every turn. ‘A ghost train on…

Five festival over-achievers

6 Aug 2009

Robin Ince One can only assume that Robin Ince sits in a thick blue funk for that small portion of the day when he isn’t A) hosting a ‘lunchtime celebration of science and the wonderful’, B) being a ‘bleeding-heart liberal’ or C) opposing ‘the moral…

Conversation Pieces at Royal Concert Hall

Bill includes Michael Palin, Kenny Logan and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies

6 Aug 2009

Michael Palin, Kenny Logan and Sir Peter Maxwell are just a clutch of the names rocking up to the Royal Concert Hall as part of their Conversation Pieces season. The talks, held in September and October, boast talents from across the board, including…

Music hitlist

The best music from the festival

6 Aug 2009

The Bang Bang Club, David Byrne, Dub Syndicate, The Edge, Rough Cut Nation, Rough Cut Nation, Shooglenifty, The Stranglers, Time(less) Machine

Side Dishes - The Yard, Gourmet Glasgow and Villeneuve Wines

6 Aug 2009

The main feature of The Yard, a new family restaurant and bar off Bonnington Road near Leith, is a large enclosed courtyard for outdoor eating with a decent chunk of it given over as a children’s play area. Run by the family behind Molly’s play area in…

Busta Rhymes - Back on My BS

6 Aug 2009

In a sea of pouting, posturing wannabe players, Busta Rhymes has always stood out as a true rap individual. Never afraid to play for laughs, he broke through in the early 90s as an affiliate of De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. Solo, he’s been one of…

Minibeast Safari & A Wander With Bugs and Butterflies

Ugly Bug Ball

6 Aug 2009

If you’re already bored of staring at comedians, why not spend a little time investigating a very different kind of wild and unpredictable beastie? Summer is excellent bug-spotting time, as both Cammo Visitor Centre, who are offering A Wander With Bugs…

Product of the Month

6 Aug 2009

As part of our ongoing partnership with the Glasgow Craft Mafia, we’ll be taking an occasional look at some of the excellent Scottish design on offer at their monthly markets. We really like the look of this leopard print clutch by Sarey Poppins for £27…

Bruce Morton’s Pick of the Fringe

6 Aug 2009

Lanky Londoner, Ava Vidal (pictured) joins the Friday night line-up at The Stand, where host Bruce Morton gives a bite-size taster portion of Fringe comedy shows going on at the other end of the M8. The Stand, Glasgow, Fri 7 Aug.

Nashashibi / Skaer: Our Magnolia

Collaborators tackle controversial subject compellingly and powerfully

5 Aug 2009

The artistic careers of Rosalind Nashashibi and Lucy Skaer have followed parallel courses. Born two years apart, the pair studied at Glasgow School of Art, exhibited at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007, and have collaborated as Nashashibi/Skaer on five…

The Discovery of Spain

Fascinating exhibition of British and Spanish art demands a long look

5 Aug 2009

Besides proffering a coloured selection of chapters from an intriguing art historical narrative, this major exhibition presents some seriously affecting works of art. Didacticism aside, simply gazing at these terrifically moving paintings – Goyas, El…

Tartan Clef Awards, Reclaiming the Rainbow and We Will Rock You

5 Aug 2009

The Homecoming Scotland Tartan Clef Awards will this year take place on Fri 27 Nov at the SECC in Glasgow, in a bid to create a bigger profile for the event. Last year Peter Kay attended to award Sharleen Spiteri with her Outstanding Contribution to…

One More Tune turns two

The folk behind the sound talk to David Pollock about difficult beginnings

4 Aug 2009

It’s overplaying things to describe it as a rags-to-riches tale, but Matthew Craig’s career as a DJ and promoter on the Glasgow circuit has come a long way since he started putting on One More Tune (alongside Ralph Thomson, who he DJs with as Define…

Fictionalised history

A review of David Peace's Occupied City

4 Aug 2009

The theme of defeat has been central to the work of David Peace but has never been more potent in this, the second of his Tokyo trilogy. The Damned United featured loss at the heart of Brian Clough’s 44 days in charge of Leeds United while GB84 probed…

Five Biographies

Newly published non-fiction

4 Aug 2009

Roland Chambers, The Last Englishman The all-true story of Arthur Ransome, who was caught up in the Russian Revolution while working for British intelligence and became a double agent. (Faber) J Randy Tarborelli, The Secret Life of Marilyn…