Issue 648

Dan Rhodes - Little Hands Clapping

21 Jan 2010

(Canongate) Dan Rhodes is a wonderful writer who seemed to spring from the ether a few years ago as a fully formed storyteller par excellence, a purveyor of the bleakest, funniest black comedy around, and an author with no obvious peers. Little Hands…

More for less: Deals on meals

21 Jan 2010

With restaurants, a bargain can be anything from £25 for a meal that should cost twice that much, or £6.90 for a three-course lunch. Niki Boyle and Donald Reid present 30 of the best value-for-money deals on offer this month Smart tables You don’t…

More for less: Events

21 Jan 2010

Events Starting with cheap comedy (the best kind, surely?), The Stand Comedy Clubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh offer laughs for less, with the Edinburgh branch hosting free event Whose Lunch Is It Anyway? with Stu & Garry on Sunday afternoons, and…

Edinburgh Fringe set for administrative reform

21 Jan 2010

FROM a homosexual Jesus to Jane Austen’s Guide to Pornography, the Fringe has never been short of controversy when it comes to its acts. There was disappointment then, last year, when the headlines still focussed on the Fringe’s administration over the…

The best film websites

21 Jan 2010

If you work in an office and, like us, you love great movies you probably spend your lunch hour on any number of film-specific websites. So, after a totally unscientific survey of the cinema obsessives at The List, here’s our guide to what’s good and…

Chris Kent - Medusa

21 Jan 2010

(Graphite Fiction) Borders-based artist and writer Chris Kent has produced a strong piece of complex work for his debut comics project. Using collage, photo and painted art Medusa has a unique look for a haunting tale of lose and longing. Following…

LGBT History Month

21 Jan 2010

LGBT History Month kicks off its annual celebration of the lives and achievements of the LGBT community with three workshops exploring drama, poetry and storytelling. Playwright Jo Clifford (Losing Venice, Jesus Queen of Heaven, pictured) leads the…

Doctor Who Exhibition

21 Jan 2010

All good things must come to an end, my dears: David Tennant locks up the Tardis for the last time over Christmas, and Kelvingrove bids farewell to its long-running and hugely successful Doctor Who Exhibition. It’s your last chance to swot up on all…

New Faces

21 Jan 2010

Recoat kicks off 2010 with a group exhibition under the theme of Modern Character Design. The show highlights the importance and validity of this new area of design and development, and includes contributions from Elph, Andrew Rae, FiST, Jon MacNair and…

A Prophet - Jacques Audiard interview

20 Jan 2010

Unlike his contemporaries – Lars von Trier, Pedro Almodovar and Michael Haneke, the name of French director Jacques Audiard carries little arthouse weight for British fans of European cinema. This situation looks likely to change however with the…

Fence Winter Tour - King Creosote interview

King of wishful thinking

20 Jan 2010

It transpires St Andrews Woollen Mill has kind of saved the music business. While the global pop industry bawls to the tune of millions relinquished to digital pilfering, a quiet revolution is being devised by a micro-indie label in Fife. The…

Adventures in Stereo

20 Jan 2010

When monthly night Stereotype began at Berlin in Edinburgh’s West End seven years ago almost to the day, the intention was not to follow the crowd. That’s why the club was called Stereotype in the first place, to emphasise the fact it didn’t want to be…

Fence Homegame 2010 line-up

20 Jan 2010

‘We’ve got the incredible Four Tet headlining on the Sunday night. His live sets are always spectacularly electric – so we’re really excited. Kieran has been to Homegame before, playing guitar as part of One Little Plane – so we’re delighted to have him…

Have meat, can eat

20 Jan 2010

Just when you thought it was safe to crack open your haggis... BURNS IS BACK. Yes, no sooner has the Year of Homecoming been safely consigned to the tartan time capsule than Burns Night 2010 rolls around, with the usual mix of traditional suppers…

Hands up - A guide to the perfect heist

20 Jan 2010

Planning one last big job? Then you may want to read Eddie Harrison’s handy guide to daylight robbery honed from hours of watching classic and not so classic heist movies. You in? Or out? OK so you want to pull off a heist? But unless you’re still…

More for less: Smart shopping

20 Jan 2010

There’s a line of impeccable logic that applies whether you’re rich as Croesus, as poor as a church mouse, or somewhere in the middle. We all have to feed ourselves to stay upright. Eating food involves getting hold of it and preparing it. The more…

More for less: Clothes swapping

20 Jan 2010

Swapping, swishing, switching and bitching, wardrobe editing; call it whatever you like. Gathering up a bin bag full of leftovers from your clothes rail (the too-small jeans, the dress bought in a sale that never quite ended up being ‘customised’ as…

More for less: Kids

20 Jan 2010

Like the slot machines in Vegas, a day out with a family of four can drain your resources in the blink of an eye. So, until they start bringing in a wage of their own, here are a few places where children can have fun for zero pounds. Glasgow City…

More for less: Health, exercise and beauty

20 Jan 2010

Looking great doesn’t mean shedding vital pounds from your purse – Niki Boyle offers some sneaky hints on budget beauty Being a hairdresser’s ‘model’ can sometimes be a daunting prospect, but you can get a quality trainee cut at Rainbow Rooms in…

Singles & downloads - Mon 18 Jan 2009

20 Jan 2010

It’s a new year and The List is feeling all aquiver. You see, our appetite has already been whetted by a whole host of new acts filling our ears with futuristic pioneering pop, so be warned: for this issue’s track reviews, derivative idiotmusic will NOT…

Profile: John Hurt

20 Jan 2010

Name: John Hurt Born: 22 June 1940, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK Background: The third child of a vicar and an actress (yes, really), Hurt followed a strict Catholic education at a local prep school with an escape to London to study art at St…

Why independent shopping is cheaper than the high street

20 Jan 2010

Small, local independent shops are just as keen to reward regular customers for loyalty as their big-corp bretheren, and none of the offers below will leave you with the anticlimax of realising your three years’ worth of Boots points only entitle you to…

A Prophet - Tahar Rahim interview

20 Jan 2010

Tahar Rahim looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights. We are on a hotel roof overlooking the sea at Cannes and Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet has just had its world premiere. In 150 exhilarating minutes, the 28 year-old has gone from unknown to the…

More for less: Blog blags

20 Jan 2010

Alice White runs the Edinburgh-based style and travel blog Bon-Voy-Go-There! She runs down her best freebie handbags and holidays, and suggests how to get started blagging on your own blog Blogging is the most arrogant, self-indulgent thing I’ve…

News from the shop front - January 2010

20 Jan 2010

We usually concentrate on independent shops here at List Towers, but we’re genuinely saddened to hear that Borders UK are going into administration. The Glasgow store in particular has been a real gem, with a dedicated and knowledgeable staff always…

More for less: Car boot sales

20 Jan 2010

At the sound of the klaxon, hundreds of boots pop open. We’ve been in position for a good hour already, sipping coffee from a thermos and recovering from the shock of leaving bed at a very ungodly 6.30am on a Sunday. ‘Booters’, like Sunday joggers – and…

More for less: Online trading

20 Jan 2010

Carine Seitz tests out the online marketplace to try and bag a bargain. Who wants their manor to resemble the pages of a generic interiors catalogue? Not discerning List readers. You’re a savvy and stylish bunch who want your homes to reflect your…

More for less: Attractions

20 Jan 2010

Attractions If you’ve exhausted the National Galleries or the National Museum of Scotland and you’re jonesing for new exhibits The Edinburgh Museums Collections Centre offers something a little bit different. A self-described ‘Aladdin’s cave’ of…

Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival

American beauties

20 Jan 2010

IT’S been a busy old year for Stand Comedy chief Tommy Sheppard. As director he enjoyed his busiest and most successful Fringe to date, and this year he’s programmed a Glasgow International Comedy Festival that is bigger and better than ever before.

Traces

20 Jan 2010

When you’re in the business of making people’s jaws drop, it can be difficult to engage their brains at the same time. But French-Canadian circus troupe, Les 7 Doigts de la Main (The Seven Fingers) wants to stimulate more than just your adrenal glands.

Arches Off-Site

20 Jan 2010

Forget being entertained from the comfort of a velvety chair in an auditorium. Recent theatre performances in underground vaults, toilet cubicles or lifts have opened Scottish audiences’ eyes to the added value that site specific and promenade…

How's Your Party?

20 Jan 2010

January, officially the worst month of the calendar, looks set to gain a boost this year with two How’s Your Party? shindigs. First up we have the world famous turntablists, The Scratch Perverts. Having won every trophy in sight, they now successfully…

Modest Mouse

O2 ABC, Glasgow Thu 10 December

20 Jan 2010

The stage in Glasgow already looks slightly overcrowded with a vast array of instruments including a large viola and two drum kits, even before a 6–strong Modest Mouse emerge. Lead singer Isaac Brock is clearly a passionate musician, but seems reluctant…

Simon Lelic - Rupture

20 Jan 2010

(Picador) Simon Lelic’s debut novel is certainly timely. His story about a massacre in a north London school would appear to symbolise our so-called ‘Broken Britain’. But the fact that the shooting of three students and a teacher during a morning…

How to celebrate Burns night in Edinburgh

20 Jan 2010

The whisky industry estimates that we sink around two million extra drams on the night of 25 January, toasting Rabbie’s birthday (his 251st this year). Various bars around Edinburgh, including the World’s End, Henricks and the Waterline in Leith, are…

Edward Ross - Filmish

20 Jan 2010

(Chiaroscuro) Edinburgh-based cartoonist, comic writer and filmmaker Edward Ross releases this sharp and wryly amusing ‘wee collection of comic book essays on film theory’. This isn’t hard academia (and doesn’t pretend to be) but an engaging look at…

The Shutdown

20 Jan 2010

Director Adam Stafford and writer Alan Bissett’s award-winning short (pictured) about life, family and loss at the edge of the Grangemouth petrochemical plant screening at the beautifully refurbished Hippodrome. The evening will also include novelist…

Sick Kids Sunday 2

20 Jan 2010

It’s a bumper line-up with a definite wonky, folky, indie vibe as the GRV hosts this charity fundraiser. James Yorkston & Adrian Crowley take the headlining slot with their take on the songs of Daniel Johnson, with able backup from the likes of Broken…

Hungarian, East African, Russian and Brazilian flavours explode throughout Scotland

20 Jan 2010

The latest draft of new or imminent restaurants around Edinburgh and Glasgow promise flavours rarely encountered in these parts. Glasgow has Nur Egyptian restaurant and Botego du Brazil (from the owners of Classic Grand), along with two new African…

Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution

20 Jan 2010

This touring exhibition brings together 19 contemporary practitioners to explore how craft practice can generate a modern and timely response to current social debates. Award-winning jeweller Esther Knobel and ceramicist Neil Brownsword are among the…

'Use us or lose us' challenge by Scottish independent food shops

20 Jan 2010

There have been warnings from two of Glasgow’s finest food shops, Heart Buchanan on Byres Road and Delizique on Hyndland Street, who’ve mounted a ‘use us or lose us’ challenge to local shoppers. The arrival of Waitrose in the West End may have set…

Riton

20 Jan 2010

Sugarbeat is joined by the bass heavy electro madness of Riton (pictured), as showcased on the infuriatingly catchy ‘Computer Juice’ collaboration with Seiji, for a riotous mix of hip hop beats and acid squelches. Support comes form Ibiza Rocks in house…

Veer

20 Jan 2010

(15) 123min Hindi epic set during British rule in the 1870s when one clan (led by Bollywood beefcake Salman Khan) decides to take on the sadistic might of the British Empire’s divide and rule policy. Unsurprisingly the English don’t come out…

StAnza 2010 Poetry Festival Programme Launch

20 Jan 2010

Ahead of the five-day event in March, StAnza’s poet-in-residence Kei Miller (pictured) hosts the launch of the 2010 St Andrews programme. Among those appearing this year are Seamus Heaney, John Burnside, Jen Hadfield, Ben Okri and Linton Kwesi Johnson…

Chemikal Underground in Celtic Connections showcase

20 Jan 2010

Celtic Connections throw another leftfield curve ball with this showcase from Glasgow independent record label Chemikal Underground, and featuring a line-up of quirky indie with a folky bent in the shape of The Phantom Band, The Unwinding Hours, Lord…

Late Autumn

20 Jan 2010

(PG) 128min Reissue of lovely and poignant 1960 Yusujiro Tokyo Story Ozu drama about three friends’ attempt to find husbands for their late mate’s wife and daughter. Showing as part of Ozu season. Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 29 Jan.

First Word - Count Arthur Strong

19 Jan 2010

Radio 4’s belligerent Yorkshire thesp, Count Arthur Strong, is on the warpath with his UK tour reaching Edinburgh this month. Here he talks trousers, Hendrix and offal First record you ever bought A Victor Sylvester 78. I can’t remember the title…

Comedy DVD roundup

19 Jan 2010

They might not quite be the small screen equivalent of The Broons or Oor Wullie annuals, but live DVDs from Jimmy Carr and Russell Brand are close to becoming a festive staple. Indeed, no Christmas morning seems complete nowadays without 75-odd minutes…

Before the Gods - KS Turner interview

19 Jan 2010

From the moment you pick up Before the Gods, with its tantalising mix of fantasy, science fiction, psychology, mythology, existential questioning and spirituality, it’s clear that we’re dealing with no ordinary fictional debut. But with its lofty title…

Willy Vlautin - Lean on Pete

19 Jan 2010

(Faber) To date, Willy Vlautin has written about ordinary American drifters careering from one dead end job to another on lonely roads, escaping something dark from their past and desperately seeking hope in an uncertain future. Lean On Pete offers…