Issue 648

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…

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…

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…

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…

Coca Tenorio - Todo Transito

15 Jan 2010

www.cocatenorio.com Women singers composing their own great songs can be hard to find especially one who, as the title of her album Todo Transito (Everything in Movement) suggests, divides her time between the tropical coast of Esmereldas, Ecuador…

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…

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…

'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…

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…

Holocaust Memorial Day

19 Jan 2010

The anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp is marked this year by moving new German drama And Along Come Tourists about one young man’s experiences working at the concentration camp among all the tourists. There will also…

Piano Masterclass with Jean-Phillipe Collard

19 Jan 2010

Always fancied yourself a bit of a Liberace? Or maybe you’re more of a Scott Joplin type. Ivory-tinklers of all levels of ability are welcome at this open event – allow the internationally acclaimed French pianist to right all your keyboard-based…

The Ex & Brass Unbound

13 Jan 2010

In their 30 year existence, Dutch underground legends The Ex have made connections between post-punk, Eastern European folk, free-improvisation and Ethiopian jazz, yet they’re still widely referred to as anarcho-punks. A misrepresentation? ‘Yes – in…

DJ Friction, Dillinja and Spor set for Xplicit Fifth Birthday Party

12 Jan 2010

Scottish club brand Xplicit is still carrying the torch for drum & bass, putting on one of their best line-ups to date for this month’s fifth birthday event. David Pollock speaks to guest DJ Friction and promoter Simon McGrath It’s 7pm on Friday…

Promises Promises - Douglas Maxwell interview

12 Jan 2010

With The Miracle Man, his play for the NTS slated to open in March, Douglas Maxwell will be in familiar territory. Spotty trauma, adolescent angst and the icky business of entering into the adult world are house themes for Maxwell, and this new work, in…

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…

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…

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…

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…