Issue 645

Corstorphine Road Nativity

4 Dec 2009

Playwright Tim Firth has scored huge hits with Calendar Girls and Kinky Boots. Now he’s bringing his comic talents to the Corstorphine Road. Kirstin Innes meets him

Eyes Wide Open celebrate their fifth birthday

4 Dec 2009

It’s been five years since Holly Calder and Sarah Quinn started Eyes Wide Open, although the first three years of the club’s existence were lived out under the wing of a late Glasgow institution. ‘We were friends with the guys who ran Funhouse at the…

Sunn O))) - Stephen O’Malley interview

4 Dec 2009

Named after a brand of amplifier, Seattle’s doom and drone merchants chat to Stewart Smith as they prepare to bring a beautiful black cloud of sound to Glasgow this fortnight

Tim Key dispels Wikipedia myths

4 Dec 2009

It’s been a whirlwind year for poet and stand-up Tim Key, what with him running off with the biggest prize in comedy. Brian Donaldson hears him nail a few internet myths

My Fabulous Tartan Frock

4 Dec 2009

It’s difficult to know exactly how to explain My Fabulous Tartan Frock, an event performance taking place over three days at the Arches as part of the annual 16 Days of Action to End Violence Against Women campaign. On publicity materials, where…

Me and Orson Welles - Richard Linklater interview

4 Dec 2009

Richard Linklater’s new film uncovers the ambition and talent of young Orson Welles. Kaleem Aftab meets a director with nothing left to prove.

First word - Har Mar Superstar interview

4 Dec 2009

Risqué performer Har Mar Superstar (aka Minnesota native Sean Tillman) is one of America’s most flamboyant pop exports. Ahead of his arrival in Scotland he admits his enthusiasm for both Susan Boyle and dental hygiene

Comedy On TV - Reunions, Oration and Urinations

4 Dec 2009

While Larry David may be genuine in his belief that reunion shows are lame, he knows how to spin the best out of a flimsy idea. Getting the key cast of Seinfeld back together for the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm (More4, Thu 3 Dec, 10.40pm…

Déborah François

4 Dec 2009

While still at school in her Belgian hometown, 16-year-old François attended an open casting held by the Dardenne brothers. She was chosen ahead of 150 other hopefuls in the role of a teenage mother, whose new baby is sold by her boyfriend, and the film…

Christmas film playlist

4 Dec 2009

A quick look at your advent calendar will confirm the coming of the annual festival we know as Christmas, and what better way to celebrate than to gather the whole family around Ye Olde Computer Screen to enjoy a selection of online clips to fuel the…

Popping to the shops

4 Dec 2009

Who needs permanent premises? Shopping Editor Kirstin Innes profiles the newest trends in pop-up boutiques

Labels of love: Chemikal Underground

4 Dec 2009

Based in: Glasgow. Roster: The Phantom Band, Lord Cut-Glass, Emma Pollock, The Unwinding Hours, Adrian Crowley, Zoey Van Goey, Aidan Moffat, Angil and the Hiddentracks, The Radar Brothers. Bosses: Set up in 1995 by the four members of…

Tulpan

4 Dec 2009

(12A) 102min We never actually get to see the Tulpan of the title, who is the object of the affections of 22-year-old sheepherder Asa (Asat Kunchinchirekov). Having recently completed his national service in the Russian navy, he has returned to the…

Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates

4 Dec 2009

‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s panto tiiiime!’ The sense of excitement in the theatre is palpable long before the curtain rises. And no wonder: the dream team that brought us last year’s 3D thriller, Aladdin is about to spirit us off to…

Robin Ticciati – Scottish Chamber Orchestra

4 Dec 2009

Love affairs, even in the highly emotionally charged world of classical music, are not always shouted about from the rooftops. But in the love-at-first-sight relationship between the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and their new principal conductor…

Disgrace

4 Dec 2009

(15) 118min A white, middle-aged professor of literature at a Cape Town university, David Lurie (John Malkovich) is forced to leave his job, following an affair with a mixed-race student (Antoinette Engel). At the disciplinary hearing the divorced…

Peter Pan

4 Dec 2009

JM Barrie’s children’s classic is so familiar that it’s tempting to simply sit back and let it wash over you while ticking off the key elements in a mental check-list: The large nursery with the open window in Kensington Gardens? Check. Flying on wires…

Exposure: Codeine Velvet Club

4 Dec 2009

Like a Scots Last Shadow Puppets, chanteuse Lou Hickey has reformed Jon ‘Fratelli’ Lawler to a life of John Barry-esque epics with Codeine Velvet Club. Just don’t call them a side-project, says Lawler. How did Codeine Velvet Club get…

Five reasons to go see: Depeche Mode

4 Dec 2009

1 Enjoy the Silence It’s been 22 years since Basildon’s finest have graced a stage in Scotland, so the faithful have had to be mighty patient to see them live again. That, or make good use of Ryanair to see them in Europe, where they are still…

Me and Orson Welles

4 Dec 2009

(12A) 113min The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success. Nobody is greater testament to that than Orson Welles – broadcaster, actor and director who ended his days bloated, impoverished and doing voiceover work on…

Cathi Unsworth - Bad Penny Blues

4 Dec 2009

(Serpent’s Tail) The raw materials of its storyline may sound well-worn, but there’s something about the textured layers of Cathi Unsworth’s third novel that effortlessly draw the reader into the dark and disturbing environment she creates. Using…

The Box

4 Dec 2009

(12A) 115min As with his debut, Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly’s third film boasts an intriguing conundrum and an evocative period setting to complement it. Unfortunately, like his second film, Southland Tales, Kelly’s latest eventually unravels into an…

Paul Booth Quintet and Ingrid Jensen

4 Dec 2009

Neither English saxophonist Paul Booth nor Canadian trumpeter Ingrid Jensen is a newcomer to these parts, but this will be the first time they have featured together. Booth was last here in the summer to work with trumpeter Ryan Quigley’s big band at…

Children's Classic Concerts: Let it Snow

4 Dec 2009

There is no shortage of role models at the Children’s Classic Concerts Christmas show. Not only will young audiences experience the boundless enthusiasm of percussionist hosts Owen and Olly, but their Glasgow concert also features internationally…

The Heart of the Great Alone: Scott, Shackleton and Antarctic Photography

4 Dec 2009

Bringing together photography from both Scott’s South Pole expedition (1910–1913) and Shackleton’s later attempt to cross Antarctica on foot (1914–16), The Heart of the Great Alone is more than a collection of images – it is a narrative journey and an…

Unmade Beds

4 Dec 2009

Written and directed by Argentinean filmmaker Alexis Dos Santos, Unmade Beds unfolds against the backdrop of the East End of London’s modern day bohemian scene. It’s a world of rent-free accommodation in generously equipped warehouse squats, regular…

5 Things You Might Not Know About... Rob Brydon

4 Dec 2009

1. Educated at a private school in Swansea which he described as ‘not posh’ but ‘quite English’, it seems Rob Brydon was not particularly sporty, given that he was stupendously last in the sack race, still hopping on while everyone else had moved on to…

Sinbad the Pantomime Featuring the Little Mermaid

4 Dec 2009

Brunton Theatre’s panto tradition is in great health with several years of packed-out runs behind it. The detailed local references make the show all the more bespoke to its location, and about as far from an off-the-shelf show as you could…

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

4 Dec 2009

(15) 113min An enormous hit at the French box office, writer-director Remi Bezancon’s second feature explores the highs and lows of middle-class suburban family life. Split into five chapters, each of which offers the perspective of a different…

The Girlfriend Experience

4 Dec 2009

(15) 77min Steven Soderbergh returns to his roots with more sex and lies on tape (now disc) in this low-budget drama about a high-class hooker in New York who offers her clients the titular relationship facsimile. Hard-core porn star Sasha Grey plays…

Cracks

4 Dec 2009

(15) 104min Jordan Scott, daughter of Ridley Scott (nepotism, it’s a wonderful thing) follows the promise of her shorts Jonathan and Portrait with this ludicrous and feeble attempt to posit William Goldman’s Lord of the Flies in a 1930s girls…

Homecoming Live

4 Dec 2009

The cynic might have viewed this musical finale to the Scottish Government’s grand attempt to reel back a few ex-pat Kiwis and Canucks in terms of all the iconic and available Scots bands who weren’t playing. Where were Franz Ferdinand, Glasvegas…

Paris Va Par

4 Dec 2009

(15) 95min (Artificial Eye) Long overdue reissue of above average 1964 portmanteau film featuring the youthful efforts of some of the French New Wave’s finest. The idea was to invite six directors to contribute a short film named after and set in a…

The Stepfather

4 Dec 2009

Reprising the unfortunate wine-into-water routine of his Prom Night remake, director Nelson McCormick performs a similarly unwelcome trick by blandly rehashing Joseph Ruben’s solid 1987 sleeper hit. TV staple Dylan Walsh steps into the role previously…

Undercover shopping in Edinburgh

4 Dec 2009

Last fortnight we did a round up of the unusual quirky markets springing up in Glasgow to make this heady season of consumerism that little bit more bearable. Now Edinburgh’s getting its shopping quirk on, starting off with the return of an old…

Carriers

4 Dec 2009

(15) 84min Having hit fame as Captain Kirk in JJ Abrams’ sprightly reboot of Star Trek, Chris Pine’s role as Brian explains the cinema release of Carriers, a low-budget horror-thriller largely filmed in New Mexico. Set after a pandemic has turned…

Gary Numan

4 Dec 2009

Genuine innovators who also become successful in their own lifetime are pretty hard to come by. Gary Numan not only wrenched the synthesizer from the grasp of the neo-classicist aesthetic of prog and retoolled a generation of artists disillusioned with…

Field Music

Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Sat 21 Nov 2009

4 Dec 2009

‘Pretending to be a band since 2005,’ claims Field Music’s MySpace page modestly. Well, The List can reliably inform you that this is the real deal. Returning after a three-year hiatus, Sunderland’s Brewis brothers, along with their two new bandmates…

The Dreisburg Wunderhorn

4 Dec 2009

In the Middle Ages, Gunther the Quizzer travelled the Holy Roman Empire, leaving copious notes and drawings of the strange sights he encountered. This extraordinary legacy of baffling, incoherent waffle was recently collected by Edinburgh-based artist…

Gangster Story

4 Dec 2009

(PG) 65min (Brightspark) Walter Matthau had a handful of supporting roles under his belt (Bigger Than Life, A Face in the Crowd, King Creole) when he directed himself in this 1959 low-budget crime movie. But Matthau had yet to develop his trademark…

trioVD - Fill It Up With Ghosts

4 Dec 2009

(Babel) The Leeds-based trio take their name from having saved a laptop recording of their very first gig as ‘trioVD’ (the initials standing for Valentine’s Day rather than the more dodgy alternative that might have sprung immediately to mind). The…

Joe Gores - Spade and Archer

4 Dec 2009

It’s a tall order writing a prequel to one of the greatest American hardboiled crime novels. But if anyone was going to pull off a forerunner to Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon it was Joe Gores, like his predecessor, a war veteran, former private…

Scared to Death

4 Dec 2009

(U) 65min (Network) This B-movie chiller from 1947 is chiefly distinguished for being the only colour film to star Bela Lugosi (he appeared but did not star in the 1930 Technicolor film Viennese Nights). Lugosi was long into his poverty row years at…

Oliver Postgate - Seeing Things: A Memoir

4 Dec 2009

(Canongate) When Charlie Brooker delivered a heartfelt five-minute tribute to Oliver Postgate in his Screenwipe show last year, his trademark acid-tongued sarcasm went right out the window. Instead, Mr Cynical looked like he might tear up as he…

CJ Box - Three Weeks to Say Goodbye

4 Dec 2009

(Corvus) He’s a rising star of crime writing in the States, but it’s only a matter of time before CJ Box explodes onto the UK’s radar, thanks in no small part to this storming British debut. Three Weeks to Say Goodbye is a smart place to start for…

Alan Grant & Simon Bisley - The Dead: Kingdom of Flies

4 Dec 2009

(Berserker) Belfast comics label Berserker has managed to secure three of Britain’s major talents – writer Alan Grant, artist Simon Bisley and Glenn Fabry for covers – for their first title with the first four issues of The Dead collected in this new…

The Last Thakur

4 Dec 2009

(15) 83min (Artificial Eye) This Bangladeshi Western directed by British filmmaker Sadik Ahmed is a clumsily realised tale of Oedipal tensions. The film focuses on Kala, a young man visiting a small town determined to find out who raped his mother.

Betty's Bath and Other Stories

4 Dec 2009

(18) 36min (Film First) If you like your erotica antiquated and a little bit naughty then this collection of eight short, silent black and white films shot in Hollywood in the early 1920s may be of archival (or other) interest. Filmed by some couch…

Ghana Special - Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968–81

4 Dec 2009

(Soundway) A thrilling soundscape of 33 tracks from Ghana between the ‘golden age’ of 1968–81, this maps the optimism and energy of new independence from British colonialism heralded by cutting-edge modern Afro-sounds and Ghanaian blues. Presented in…

Amy Millan - Masters Of The Burial

4 Dec 2009

(Arts and Crafts) As a break from her work with Stars and Broken Social Scene, Amy Millan has created a beautiful collection of warm, folksy tunes overflowing with well-polished brass and pedal steel guitar. The standout songs, though, are the ones…

Metronomy - Pip Paine (Pay The £5000 You Owe)

4 Dec 2009

Because Music Re-releases are a little pointless, aren’t they? If we didn’t give a monkeys about your album the first time around, why should we now? Well, quite frankly when it comes to Joseph Mount aka Metronomy, you should always give a monkeys.

eagleowl

4 Dec 2009

Don’t be fooled. Edinburgh’s masters of lo-fi slowcore are, as one reviewer once pointed out, ‘No bed wetting lightweights’. No sir. Instead Bart (who’s also the brains behind tons of Scottish grassroots music events like Retreat! and The Gentle…

New York Dolls

4 Dec 2009

Only two original members survived to make this line-up, but who cares? They still count as glam punk royalty. Formed in New York over three decades ago, these guys were at the apex of a musical movement that crossed The Stooges with T-Rex. Since their…

Jesca Hoop - Hunting My Dress

4 Dec 2009

(Last Laugh) The Mormons have given us several terrific musical acts – Arcade Fire, Low and The Osmonds among them. To this heavenly litany we now add folk confounder Jesca Hoop. A Californian singer-songwriter living in Manchester, Hoop’s…

Rhett Miller - Rhett Miller

4 Dec 2009

(Serial Lady Killer Records) With Ryan Adams disappointingly adrift, there’s a vacancy for a maverick rock troubador – and this is Rhett Miller’s strongest application to date. Boyishly pretty at 39, and with a fey edge to his warm tenor, the Old…

The Wynntown Marshals - Westerner

4 Dec 2009

(Charger) Impressively boasting two Keiths and two Iains amongst their ranks, The Wynntown Marshalls say they write songs about ‘love, loss, wars, natural disasters and the otherwise broken ride we like to call life’. More specifically, the songs on…

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

4 Dec 2009

Karen O and her boys are back again. Since the last time they were in Scotland (which, excepting the odd T In The Park slot, was two and a half years ago), they’ve released the ‘Is Is’ EP, and the It’s Blitz! album. Karen’s also just finished working…

Francois and the Atlas Mountains - Plaine Inondable

4 Dec 2009

(Fence) Lest we require confirmation that King Creosote’s DIY commonwealth, Fence, is as universal as it is diverse, herein saunters Plaine Inondable – the year’s gentlest Gallic-pop coup – in the nick of time. Francois Marry – touring member of…

The Twilight Sad

4 Dec 2009

In our four-star review of their debut album Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters, the List proclaimed that the Twilight Sad are ‘a band who make sad music – yet it’s that particular Scottish sadness which finds itself couched in a kind of…

Pet Shop Boys

4 Dec 2009

Somewhere in the midst of their epic ‘Pandemonium’ world tour, the Pet Shop Boys managed to put together two EPs – ‘Beautiful People’ (not out here yet) and the brand new, ‘Christmas’. As well as allowing Neil Tennant time off to collaborate with The…

Aquasky

4 Dec 2009

Since 1995, trio Dave Wallace, Kieron Bailey and Brent Newitt have been bridging the gap between the drum ‘n’ bass and breaks scenes as Aquasky (and the confusingly-titled Aquasky & Masterblaster project) with releases on Moving Shadow, Passenger…

High Tease & Vegas!

4 Dec 2009

Another classy team-up from two of Scotland’s most glamorous events, which offers something for boys, girls and all of Glasgow’s most stylish performers. First, High Tease presents a host of burlesque performers, including Des O’Connor, Jonny Woo, Gypsy…

Tricky - Tricky Meets South Rakkas Crew

4 Dec 2009

(Domino) Hip-hop Bristolian Tricky re-invents himself once again with the help of this musical collision with Florida-via-Jamaica-via-Toronto outfit, South Rakkas Crew – producers of Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and Sizzla. With that mercurial ‘Straight…

Cryptic Nights

4 Dec 2009

It’s the first anniversary of the multi-artform night celebrating the possibilities of the CCA, and they’re commemorating with a feast. The first 25 people to book tickets will be offered a free Cryptic Nights banquet (everyone else can eat too, it’s…

Benni Hemm Hemm & Alasdair Roberts

4 Dec 2009

With the potential makings of a stunningly good Scotland-meets-Iceland collaboration straight out of the leftfield, this gig, brought to you by those thoughtful folks at Tracer Trails, will be the first airing of the pair’s collaborative work. Benedikt…

Neil Oliver

4 Dec 2009

With those lovely flowing locks and fruity annunciations, Neil Oliver has left himself wide open to the attentions of crazy satirists (see Only an Excuse and Children in Need), but lest we forget, the guy knows a thing or thousand about the past. A…

Keith Farquhar: Nudes in Colour

4 Dec 2009

Brand new venue Hyperground showcases new work by Edinburgh-based artist Farquhar over a single weekend. For each piece in the exhibition, a naked body has been painted, digitally photographed, then sent to a specialist workshop where the torso has been…

The Nutcracker

4 Dec 2009

Scottish Ballet’s triumphant production of the classic ballet with Tchaikovsky’s magnificent score returns for a three-month Scottish tour. The Nutcracker is choreographed by Ashley Page, whose contemporary retelling combines the fairy tale world with…

Trans Am - What Day Is It Tonight?

4 Dec 2009

(Thrill Jockey) Trans Am – even outside the studio, they’re so taut you could use them to cut cheese. This 1993-2008 live collection never skips a beat as it veers between synth presets and chugging guitar riffs, with excessive drum solos thrown in…

Sparrow And The Workshop - Into The World

4 Dec 2009

(Distiller) If only these guys were around in the 70s, their soulful country vocals and acoustic guitars married to noisy drums and bass could have landed them on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack – they’re that good. Thankfully, they’re here for us to…

School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms Deluxe Edition

4 Dec 2009

(Vagrant) A re-release of their ‘08 album with nine bonus tracks, this only confirms what we know – SVIIB make some gorgeous tunes. The ethereal twin vocals and broody, angelic electronic beats create clean, crisp otherworldly sounds perfectly…

VA – Fabriclive 49: - Buraka Son Sistema

4 Dec 2009

(Fabric) This is impressive: out of the 28 tracks on offer here, only six last longer than three minutes – something worth praising in an inherently repetitive genre. Buraka Son Sistema oversee the melding of various dance styles with lively African…

A Single to Rome - Sarah Duncan

4 Dec 2009

(Review) A dumped girl goes speed dating and ends up borrowing a guy’s flat in the Italian capital where she falls in love with more than just the ancient city.

Return to Sender - Zoe Barnes

4 Dec 2009

(Piatkus) A woman gets massively broody when she goes to the christening of her sister’s kids, but could time have already run out on Holly Bennett?

More Than Just a Wedding - Nia Pritchard

4 Dec 2009

(Honno Press) In this follow-up to More Than Just a Hairdresser, an undercover sleuth finds it tricky juggling all her balls in the air.

Can I Tell You a Secret? - Evelyn Cosgrave

4 Dec 2009

(Penguin) From the Desperately Seeking author comes this tale of three sisters, each with something to hide, all descending on their gran.

Old School Ties - Kate Harrison

4 Dec 2009

(Orion) A reality TV show about the perfect school reunion gets the green light, but not everything goes according to plan.

Where The Wild Things Are - Spike Jonze interview

2 Dec 2009

Plagued by creative and corporate problems and criticised for being too scary for kids, the long-awaited film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are finally sees its UK release this month. Miles Fielder talks to director Spike Jonze about the often…

Best of a decade: Timeline

2 Dec 2009

1999 July Scottish Parliament opens, with Labour candidate Donald Dewar elected as the first First Minister ahead of SNP rival Alex Salmond. Dewar died suddenly in October 2000, following a fall at his Edinburgh residence. 2000 June Biffy Clyro…

Best of a decade: Books

2 Dec 2009

1. Cormac McCarthy – The Road (2006) 2. Dave Eggers – A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (2000) 3. Jonathan Franzen – The Corrections (2001) 4. James Ellroy – The Cold Six Thousand (2001) 5. A L Kennedy – Paradise (2004) 6. Louise…

Florence and the Machine - Florence Welch interview

2 Dec 2009

Florence and the Machine’s frontwoman Florence Welch is a surprisingly normal 23-year-old, albeit one blessed with the looks of a 19th century beauty and the best singing voice of her generation. So why is she so mired in doom and gloom? Jonny Ensall…

Best of a decade: Respectable in the Noughties

2 Dec 2009

Much of the most powerful art produced in Scotland in the 1980s–1990s developed in angry reaction to the political situation and tapped into our radical, left-wing and egalitarian traditions – it’s no accident that the most popular works of that period…

Christmas singles 2009 roundup

The Xmas Factor

2 Dec 2009

The dull predictably of The X Factor now means that some putty-faced goon will get a Christmas number one single every year from now until the apocalypse, followed in the top ten by an army of insentient reality TV drones. Yet, in the face of this sad…

Best of a decade: Black Watch premieres in Edinburgh

2 Dec 2009

Every decade, there seems to be one cultural event that shifts the way we Scots look at ourselves, and the way the world looks at us. In the 1990s, there was the Trainspotting juggernaut: book, play, film, tie-in-soundtrack, poster. In the 2000s, what…

Best of a decade: Franz Ferdinand release their debut album

2 Dec 2009

Setting the template for art-rock, and showcasing their ineffable cool in the process, Franz Ferdinand’s self-titled debut was a turning point for Scottish music. Claire Sawers asks Malcolm Ross of highly influential bands including Josef K and Orange…

Best of a decade: Grand Theft Auto IV released

2 Dec 2009

GTA IV shifted a massive 3.7 million units on the first day of release, and went on to become one of the best-selling games of the decade. Henry Northmore looks at how a Dundee-based games design company produced a worldwide phenomenon Grand Theft…

Best of a decade: Film

2 Dec 2009

Dogville, Che, Fish Tank, The Son, Hidden, 14 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Death of Mr Lazarescu, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Adaptation

Best of a decade: Music

2 Dec 2009

Arcade Fire – Funeral, The Knife – Silent Shout, Radiohead – Kid A, Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago, The White Stripes – White Blood Cells, Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand, Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion, Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To…

Where The Wild Things Are

1 Dec 2009

Long deemed unfilmmable, Maurice Sendak’s nine-sentence children’s tale about a boy whose bedroom turns into a forest full of huge creatures gets the Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) treatment. To fluff out the story, Jonze employed A…

Spotify playlist: St Andrew's Day

Secretly Scottish

30 Nov 2009

How about some Revolting Cocks, Siousxie & the Banshees and Human League? Just because it's St Andrew's Day it doesn't mean you have to subject yersel' to the barrage of yer Dougie MacLean, yer Proclaimers and yer Simple Minds to celebrate culture of…

BP Portrait Award 2009

24 Nov 2009

For some years now, the BP Portrait Award has proved to be one of the most popular exhibitions in the National Galleries’ calendar – people just love it. In terms of the contemporary Scottish visual art scene, however, portraiture is a rarity. So what…

Siobhán Hapaska: The Nose That Lost Its Dog

24 Nov 2009

Scottish deer skin stretched over stainless steel, fibre glass and slate powder in resin, and an uprooted olive tree suspended in mid air by various steel components are some of the materials that have been used by Siobhán Hapaska to give life to three…

Loud & Proud

24 Nov 2009

Loud & Proud, Scotland’s LGBT choir, has come a long way in a short space of time. The a capella group, which performs its annual festive concert at the George Square Theatre this fortnight, started life as a ten-week singing course at the LGBT Centre…

Creeping Bent Records showcase

24 Nov 2009

When Andy Warhol said everyone would be famous for 15 minutes, he wasn’t counting on the irresistible rise of the Creeping Bent Organisation, which this month celebrates 15 years carving out a parallel pop universe with two very special shows. Vic…

Profile: Filthy Dukes

24 Nov 2009

Name Filthy Dukes Occupation South London DJs and synth pop trio. Filthy Dukes, eh? What’s next – Prince Charles covered in mud? Far from being dirty members of the aristocracy Filthy Dukes actually started out as DJs Olly Dixon and Tim…

Off The Record

24 Nov 2009

This will be a big night for Off the Record. The seventh birthday party at the Soundhaus will be the club’s final regular bi-monthly date at the venue. In its place, a new night bearing the name Animal Farm – also the DJ collective which runs OTR and…

Fred Deakin set for Mumbo Jumbo

24 Nov 2009

With their motto of ‘quality retro to future classics, party rockin’ tunes and good time grooves’ Fred Deakin sounds like the perfect guest for Mumbo Jumbo. He’s best known as one half of burbling electronica types Lemon Jelly and Edinburgh club legend…

Colin Gray: In Sickness And In Health

24 Nov 2009

The Parents is a photographic series featuring Colin Gray’s folks. It officially began in 1980, but Glasgow-based Gray started taking pictures of his mum and dad when he was a mere five-year-old boy. His obsession with documenting family occasions…

Paramore

24 Nov 2009

You know a band’s famous when, months after it’s happened, the world is still talking about the singer going blonde, and they’re only just losing Grammies to megastars like Amy Winehouse by a whisker. And boy are Paramore famous. Having sold out…

Teenagersintokyo

Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Sun Nov 15

24 Nov 2009

Before the second of two Scottish dates by what is possibly Australia’s glossiest female-led quintet, the uber-cool members huddle side-stage for a pre-show toast of Jameson’s, no chaser. Not an uncommon pre-gig ritual, for sure, but here it oozes…