Issue 652

The most amazing thing I did last week

23 Apr 2010

Thousands of people a day donate blood. And thousands of people don't. Yet it's easy, quick, completely different. Plus you get to do something that could save another person's life. And how good does that feel?

The best places to eat breakfast in Glasgow and Edinburgh

We select the best cafes for the most important meal of the day

22 Mar 2010

What did you have for breakfast this morning? A thin slice of processed white toast, smattered with vegetable oil-laced spreadable butter? A dry cereal bar, full of shrivelled fruit and bound together with sugary glue? Worst still, a Sausage and Egg…

Annie gears up for Death Disco DJ date - Annie interview

22 Mar 2010

You may not have heard of Annie, but she’s one of the finest female pop stars of the last decade. As good as Kylie, Cheryl Cole, Beyonce and Rihanna. As good as all six Sugababes put together. She should be playing arenas, if that wasn’t a clear signal…

Killing Curves: Lynn Ahren

22 Mar 2010

Killing curves Scottish artist Lynn Ahrens’ figure painting carries murderous intent. Paul Dale chats to him about his work Glasgow-born, Edinburgh-trained, and under- appreciated painter Lynn Ahrens likes to talk about the human figure. ‘My work has…

Ikonika

22 Mar 2010

The Sub Club is due to welcome the unique dubstep sounds of Ikonika next month. After a hitch with a different venue last year, Ballers Social Club had her perform in someone’s flat. Not that it seems to have put her off coming back to Glasgow…

Devil Disco Club

22 Mar 2010

A night which combines all that’s best about Edinburgh’s recent clubbing history and its current, vibrant incarnation, Devil Disco Club is described by its co-promoter Hobbes as ‘the new Trouble’. Not so much a virgin night as a rethought, re-energised…

Alex Smoke - Lux

22 Mar 2010

(Hum+Haw) The third album by Glasgow-based producer Alex Smoke after 2005’s Incommunicado and 2006’s Paradolia, this is the first he’s released on his own Hum+Haw, the offshoot label of his former home Soma. While Soma is well-established locally and…

Burnt Island

Mono, Glasgow, Sun 7 Mar 2010

22 Mar 2010

This was the launch party for Music & Maths, the debut album from the group christened after Scotland’s most evocatively named place – but Burnt Island’s supporting cast wasn’t bad either. The Second Hand Marching Band and Benni Hemm Hemm, two youthful…

Emily Woof - The Whole Wide Beauty

22 Mar 2010

(Faber) The debut novel of actor and playwright Emily Woof, The Whole Wide Beauty arguably betrays its author’s thespian background with the sheer self-absorption of her characters, densely layered but seemingly incapable of empathy outwith sudden…

Amy MacDonald lines up Edinburgh date

22 Mar 2010

OK, stats time. Macdonald’s debut album This Is the Life topped the UK charts, and went platinum (oh, and multi-platinum) in a total of 12 countries. The bestselling single of the same name hit No 5 in the UK and was No 1 in various spots around Europe.

Life, Death and Sex

22 Mar 2010

If you haven’t already checked out the inaugural exhibition from the capital’s newest art gallery, you’d better get your skates on. Life, Death and Sex features figurative works by emergent Scottish artists Christine Clarke, Sarah Green, Sarah Wilson…

Joanne Limburg - The Woman Who Thought Too Much

22 Mar 2010

The struggle against your demons is hard enough when they are physical entities. When they are simply destructive thoughts jangling around inside your own head is another matter. Here is an OCD survivor’s memoir. Atlantic.

Trips and Falls - He Was Such A Quiet Boy

22 Mar 2010

(Song, By Toad) Guitar pop from Montreal, via pivotal Edinburgh blogger and label-runner Song, By Toad. Thoughtful, twinkling alt-country, where everything gets cloaked in a eerie cobweb of quirky keyboards and slowly-bowed cellos. Spookily charming.

Ian Clayton - Our Billie

22 Mar 2010

The tragic death by drowning of his own daughter led a father to the darkest corners of his soul, but from there Ian Clayton has produced a potent and celebratory memoir. Viking.

Fatima Bhutto - Songs of Blood and Sword

22 Mar 2010

(Jonathan Cape) The Bhutto dynasty have taken a few hits down the years and here Benazir’s niece recalls some dark times as part of a rich feudal family in Pakistan.

Per Wastberg - The Journey of Anders Sparrman

22 Mar 2010

Detailing the trials and tribulations of an 18th century apostle of a famed Swedish botanist who treks across Antarctica, Tahiti and South Africa. Granta.

Mick Jackson - The Widow’s Tale

22 Mar 2010

A recently widowed woman heads off in her car to find solace and some resolution to a frustrating life. Faber.

Jo Clifford: Every One

19 Mar 2010

Jo Clifford talks to Steve Cramer about her new play Every One, in which personal grief brings political liberation Since the mid 1980s, with Losing Venice, a wild and passionate condemnation of colonialism, the work of Jo Clifford has received…

Retro Guy: Hidden Treasures

19 Mar 2010

Ever stumbled on highly wearable clothes in your mum’s attic? How about uncovering a floor full of 30-year-old stock in your dad’s warehouse? With the labels still on? Bali Rahkra tells us about the moment he struck gold My dad said I could take a…

Taking the Plunge with Wild Swimming

19 Mar 2010

With spring finally in bloom, it seems some are ready to take the plunge with the adventure that is wild swimming, finds Anna Millar

Three Sisters

19 Mar 2010

Having found innovative new ways to serve up Brecht and Shakespeare to modern-day theatre goers, it stands to reason you’d cast around for another old guard figure to re-invent. So now, the formidable partnership of Filter theatre company and director…

Frances Stark: Collage

19 Mar 2010

But what of Frances Stark, standing by itself, a naked name, bare as a ghost to whom one would like to lend a sheet? Los Angeles-based artist, Frances Stark, uses collage on paper and canvas board to create gentle and visually pared down works which…

Profile: Emma Thompson

19 Mar 2010

Name Emma Thompson Born 15 April 1959, London. Background Her mum Phyllida Law is a respected Scottish actress who has appeared alongside her wee lassie in The Winter Guest and Peter’s Friends while her dad Eric only went and created The Magic…

The Hobbit

19 Mar 2010

Peter Jackson spent over £200 million filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and bought himself some pretty nifty visual effects in the process. But there’s more than one way to lift JRR Tolkien’s words from the page, as theatre producer Vanessa Ford…

Jacques Loussier Trio

19 Mar 2010

Nestling among the classical superstar line-up of pianist Joanna MacGregor, Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey and violinist James Ehnes, who appear in Glasgow’s International Classical Season to celebrate the music of JS Bach, there’s a name that doesn’t…

My Name is Rachel Corrie

19 Mar 2010

Verbatim theatre, while powerful, can also feel very ephemeral, bringing a sense of immediacy to performance through eye-witness accounts of events, but without much of a life beyond that particular moment in history. Ros Philips’ production of My Name…

Children's Classic Concerts: Crash, Bang, Wallop 2

19 Mar 2010

Maybe it’s because they’re percussionists by trade, but Owen and Olly have a tendency to really hit the spot. Since taking over as presenters at Children’s Classic Concerts in 2008, Owen Gunnell and Oliver Cox have put together one exciting line-up…

Extract

19 Mar 2010

(15) 94min After his considerable small screen success with Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill, it was clear that Mike Judge’s brand of caustic humour would, one day, enable him to make a great big-screen comedy. Judge’s fans believe he’s…

Channel Hopper: Jack's Back..

19 Mar 2010

There have been many moments to unintentionally chuckle at during the previous seven series of 24 (Sky One, Sun, 9pm): Jim from Neighbours conducting a political coup to claim the US presidency; Kim Bauer being kidnapped every second episode (was I…

Haddowfest Highlights

19 Mar 2010

1. Idlewild Old pros, compared to the majority of the rookie hot-shots on the bill at this Camden Crawl-style one-dayer festival, Roddy Woomble and the boys bring the angular jock-rock, as enjoyed by fans since 1995. 2. The 10:04s Entering the…

If That's All There Is

19 Mar 2010

If the maudlin humour and languid disenchantment of the Peggy Lee number ‘Is That All There Is?’ appeals to you, then this new piece which riffs an entire tepid kind of romance from Lieber and Stoller’s song should appeal. Inspector Sands’ debut…

Laura Aldridge: Cats Are Not Important

19 Mar 2010

You cannot view this exhibition in any other way than through the lens created by its title: Cats Are Not Important. Glasgow-based, ex-Transmission gallery committee member Laura Aldridge exhibits knot-tied sculptures in pastel hues arranged against…

Exposure: Egyptian Hip Hop

19 Mar 2010

This teenage Mancunian quartet – singer Alex Hewett, guitarists Louis Miller and Nick Delap and drummer Alex Pierce – are at the forefront of the new wave of bands emerging from their city, but don’t expect a history lesson from them. Miller brings us…

The Printmaker’s Art

19 Mar 2010

The oft misunderstood art of printmaking is represented here by masters of the craft, both Scottish and international. Visitors may struggle to find the darkened room down in the basement where the 30 plus collected prints are situated, but it is well…

Scottish Dance Theatre: NQR & The Life and Times of Girl A

19 Mar 2010

If it seems a little noisy in Dundee at the moment, it’s because there’s some serious groundbreaking going on there. Under the forward-thinking eye of artistic director Janet Smith, Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT) is producing work which forces us to alter…

Trucker

19 Mar 2010

(15) 92min An interesting little drama that’s light on incident but big on character, Trucker is a welcome showcase for the acting talents of Michelle Monaghan. Having been a solid support player in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Gone Baby Gone, here…

Alex McBride - Defending the Guilty

19 Mar 2010

(Viking) They might have a public image problem, but when a lawyer is the difference to you between freedom and incarceration, they can suddenly become closer than any family member or friend. In Defending the Guilty, criminal barrister Alex McBride…

James Kelman - If it is Your Life

19 Mar 2010

(Hamish Hamilton) James Kelman’s fiction is a safehouse for the dispossessed and downtrodden; a soft and sympathetic place where the homeless, limbless or loveless find refuge. This short story collection from the Glaswegian socialist is typically…

Glasgow Art Fair 2010

19 Mar 2010

Glasgow Art Fair Now back for its 15th year, Glasgow Art Fair has long painted a colourful canvas for those interested in buying and selling art, and this year looks set to be no different. Setting its trademark white tented pavilion in Glasgow’s George…

Mike Carey & Peter Gross - The Unwritten

19 Mar 2010

(Vertigo/Titan) Obviously taking the boy wizard Harry Potter as its cultural and contextual inspiration, this new ongoing series from writer Mike Carey weaves a complex metafiction blurring the lines between fact and fantasy. In The Unwritten, Tommy…

Angus & Julia Stone Down The Way

19 Mar 2010

(Flock Music) Building up a fanbase stretching from their Australian homeland to the States, via gigs in the Scottish Highlands (their debut album, A Book Like This, was co-produced by Travis’s Fran Healy in his London living room), young siblings…

Chris Bradley - At the Outpost

19 Mar 2010

(17 Seconds Records) With his angelic vocals and breezy folk aesthetic, this latest release from Aberfeldy man Chris Bradley makes for an engaging listen. At the Outpost never quite manages to rise out of its lower gears though, making for an…

Galaxie 500: Today/On Fire/This is Our Music

19 Mar 2010

(Domino) Between 1987 and 1991, the Harvard Uni-formed slowcore band released three albums which caught the indie mood of the times but have somehow, pleasingly, weathered the ravages of time. Awash with bonus tracks, the reissue of Today, On Fire and…

Central Station: Eggmachine

19 Mar 2010

This week’s showcase of what’s hot in the contemporary art world is eggmachine, the alter ego of Gerry Thomson, who runs the woodworking shop at Glasgow’s Southside Studios, where he also creates work. Gerry, who graduated from Glasgow College of…

Violence of the Slams

19 Mar 2010

Roll up, roll up for the next home roller derby bout between Glasgow’s very own Roller Girls and the Central City Rollergirls. This is the very first match-up between the Central City Belles of Centrinnians against Glasgow’s All-Star Irn Bruisers, and…

Xplicit

19 Mar 2010

Over the last five years Xplicit have become a powerhouse for bringing drum & bass action north of the border. Once again they excel themselves with a special Hospital Records showcase for a night of liquid funk and intelligent D&B and featuring Danny…

The Pros from Dover

19 Mar 2010

After delivering some killer sketches at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008, the Pros didn’t bother showing up last year. All is forgiven now, though, as the trio of Glover, Litchfield and Whelans drop by for some skittish clowning. Fans of that previous show…

Frog Pocket

19 Mar 2010

Signed to Benbecula and Planet Mu, Frog Pocket (aka Ayrshire man John Charles Wilson) makes some of the most startling electronica to come out of Scotland. Deep electronic grooves that combine with live guitars, fiddles and complex FX for a compelling…

The Hairy Bikers’ Big Night Out

19 Mar 2010

Bearded twosome Dave Myers and Si King get revved up to wax lyrical about their cooking and riding exploits. In a stage show directed by funny-man Bob Mortimer the pair mix cooking, chat and more as they meander through the tale of their friendship and…

The Elves and the Shoemaker

19 Mar 2010

TAn Easter treat for children and young people, courtesy of the Dundee Rep ensemble. This adaptation of the classic Grimm Brothers’ tale, about the penniless shoemaker and his wife who discover an exquisite pair of shoes waiting for them when they wake…

Kevin MacNeil: Big Picture

19 Mar 2010

Having just completed cycle rides across Europe for cancer charities, the acclaimed Hebridean author gets back inside his writerly head for this event in which he will discuss his work, an oeuvre that includes a novel, The Stornoway Way, a book of…

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

19 Mar 2010

(Sunday Best) Like listening to Russell Brand or Simon Amstell rapping about Britain’s flaws, and preaching about safe sex over uninspiring drum & bass beats. Painful polemics. Light years away from ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’s glory.

Bernard Rose: Russian Studies

18 Mar 2010

London-born, Los Angeles-resident filmmaker Bernard Rose talks to Miles Fielder about Russian authors, classical music and drug dealing...

Storm

18 Mar 2010

(15) 110min Last time out director Hans-Christian Schmid directed the psychological horror Requiem based on the true story of Anneliese Michel, a young Catholic epileptic sufferer who believed that she was possessed by demons. Schmid has a long…

Kick-Ass

18 Mar 2010

(15) 117min Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic book series is a hilarious, hip twist on the superhero genre. Gone are the superpowers, the 100 inch chests and holier than thou attitude. Instead our hero is an awkward teenager, Dave…

Old Dogs

18 Mar 2010

(PG) 88min Having earned his rubbish comedy spurs on Walt Becker’s biker comedy Wild Hogs, John Travolta returns on a fool’s errand to partner Robin Williams in the same director’s follow-up Old Dogs. Via a series of arch plot contrivances that…

The Kreutzer Sonata

18 Mar 2010

(18) 99min Having discarded cumbersome period trappings for his superb, stripped down, contemporary Los Angeles-set Tolstoy adaptation Ivansxtc, writer/director Bernard Rose does the same with another story by the Russian master, the second in a…

The Spy Next Door

18 Mar 2010

(PG) 94min Some years after Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop and Vin Diesel in The Pacifier, Jackie Chan is the latest action star seeking to reinvent himself for a younger generation by portraying himself as a put-upon babysitter to bratty…

5 Rip-offs

18 Mar 2010

As Tarantino faces Kill Bill plagiarism accusations, we re-cap on five alleged rip-offs...

5 Things You Might Not Know About... Pam Ayres

18 Mar 2010

1. Her first job was as a clerk in the Civil Service, before joining the Air Force, where she was posted to Singapore. It was there that Ayres first started performing poetry for her mates and when she came home she kept her schtick up by doing shows in…

Perrier's Bounty

18 Mar 2010

(15) 88min After an accidental shooting, charismatic Dublin gangster Michael McCrea (Cillian Murphy) goes on the run with his fey neighbour Brenda (Jodie Whittaker) and his coke-snorting, hypochondriac father Jim (Jim Broadbent). Together they have…

Corinne Bailey Rae set for Glasgow date - interview

10 Mar 2010

First record you ever bought? A 45 of Prince’s ‘Thieves in the Temple’. I got it from a ‘Boyes’ [bargain department store] in Scarborough. First film you saw that really moved you? E.T. First movie you ever went on a date to? The English…

Polymath drummer Charles Hayward plays CCA, Glasgow

10 Mar 2010

He’s a drummer, but, like jazz percussionist Han Bennink, Can’s Jaki Liebezeit and improvisational drummer Chris Corsano, he’s so much more, as this solo show should prove. 2: He was in This Heat In 1976, Hayward, Charles Bullen and Gareth…

Lourdes

10 Mar 2010

(U) 99min Austrian writer/director Jessica Hausner’s debut feature takes a thoroughly anti-mystical approach to the phenomenon of miracles. The action centres on a pilgrimage made by a group of invalids to the eponymous French city during which a…

The Unwinding Hours

Stereo, Glasgow, Fri 5 March 2010

10 Mar 2010

The pin-drop silence that fell on Stereo at points during this first ever headline show by The Unwinding Hours – the new venture from Craig B. and Iain Cook, formerly of the much-revered Aereogramme – reflected the stock of goodwill the pair amassed…

Autechre - Oversteps

10 Mar 2010

(Warp) Manchester duo Autechre haven’t so much been breaking boundaries for the last two decades as searching for them, like two astronauts blasting off into space, charged with finding the edge of the universe. Oversteps, their tenth album, isn’t…

Goldfrapp - Head First

10 Mar 2010

(Mute) Today’s pop charts may be awash with female vocalists and 80s synth-pop, but a decade ago, our prevailing sounds were bloke rock (David Gray) and maudlin MOR (Eva Cassidy). It was onto this bland, unsuspecting landscape that electro-pop siren…

Lady Gaga

SECC, Glasgow, Mon 1 Mar 2010

10 Mar 2010

Lady Gaga returns to Glasgow (she debuted here opening for Pussycat Dolls last summer) to showcase her very own kink-pop juggernaut, equal parts high-end fashion experiment and ingenious pop alchemy. The sheer stupidity of the scale of this production…

Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra play Glasgow

10 Mar 2010

Initially conceived as a side-project to Canadian post-rock heroes Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mount Zion has blossomed into a great band in its own right, evolving from a purely instrumental concern into an expansive rock group characterised…

US comedian Bill Burr set for Glasgow Theatre Royal date

10 Mar 2010

Dragging a heavyweight reputation across with him from the USA, world-weary Bill Burr tells Brian Donaldson that all he wants to be is a better person

Sean Lock lines up Kings Theatre date

10 Mar 2010

You may recently have been amused by the utterances of comic Sean Lock on Twitter where he’s been testing out his latest surrealist one-liners onto the digital public. But maybe you shouldn’t have been. ‘It’s not me,’ he counters, almost appalled at the…

Jacques Loussier Trio bring their pioneering crossover sound to Glasgow

City Halls, Glasgow, Sun 21 Mar 2010

10 Mar 2010

Nestling among the classical superstar line-up of pianist Joanna MacGregor, Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey and violinist James Ehnes, who appear in Glasgow’s International Classical Season to celebrate the music of JS Bach, there’s a name that doesn’t…

Skinnyman guests at Edinburgh's One Drop night

10 Mar 2010

Initially signing to Talkin’ Loud, his calling card was his debut album Council Estate of Mind, that summed up the reality of city life with sharp rap, grime beats and heavy bass. Describing his own productions as ‘rhythmatic urban poetry’ he…

The Scouting Book For Boys

10 Mar 2010

(15) 93min One hazy summer in a sleepy Norfolk holiday park, David (This is England’s Thomas Turgoose) and Emily (Holliday Grainger), constant companions by default of being the only teenagers there, spend the days mucking about under the permissive…

The Besnard Lakes

10 Mar 2010

‘I think one of the most rock’n’roll things ever done was landing on the moon,’ muses vocalist Olga Goreas of celestial pop voyagers The Besnard Lakes. ‘It was the end to a great decade that produced more than just amazing music and art: it was a…

Derek Walcott - White Egrets

10 Mar 2010

(Faber) Derek Walcott’s White Egrets was years in the writing, its publication coming after last year’s Poetrygate which resulted in his reputation smeared through allegations of sexual harassment. If there was one way in which Walcott could get the…

David Patrick Trio with Bobby Wellins

10 Mar 2010

Bobby Wellins was a unanimously popular choice when he received a Lifetime Recognition award at the Scottish Jazz Awards last year. The Glasgow-born saxophonist has been a major figure on the UK jazz scene since the 60s, and is still going…

White Hills

Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Mon 8 Mar 2010

10 Mar 2010

It would be an understatement to say that Black Sabbath were important. Their influence and sludgy, dark take on bluesy hard rock still, and rather obviously, resonates strongly within so many bands today. However, upon witnessing tonight’s…

John Warren - Following On

10 Mar 2010

(Fuzzy Moon Records) As the title suggests, this album is drawn from the same 2008 recording session that yielded the excellent Finally Beginning last year, and is every bit as impressive. Like its predecessor, it features Warren’s original…

Nicolas Meier - Journey

10 Mar 2010

(MGP Records) Having produced three fine records on Naim Jazz, London-based Swiss guitarist Nicolas Meier turns to a new label for this highly satisfying album. And ‘album’ it is – in these days of single-track downloads, Meier has opted to create a…

The Chieftains featuring Ry Cooder - St Patricio

10 Mar 2010

(Fantasy) The Chieftains’ Paddy Moloney hits bulls-eye, here bringing Mexican and Irish music together in a brilliant mix of whistles, fiddles, harps, pipes and zapateo foot dancing. San Patricio tells the story of Irish conscripts who switched sides…

Sierra Maestra - Sonando Ya

10 Mar 2010

(World Village) Music doesn’t come more seductive than Havana’s glorious Sierra Maestra, who sparked the revival that lead to Buena Vista Social Club’s music sweeping the globe. About to tour the UK (dates in Dunfermline, Sat 27 Mar; Stirling, Sun 28…

Benni Hemm Hemm plays Glasgow and Edinburgh dates

10 Mar 2010

Perhaps you missed the folksy melodic pop of Benedikt Hermann Hermannsson at this year’s Fence Collective Homegame? No need to beat yourself up – the man (and accompanying band, which can range between three and forty others) better known as Benni Hemm…

Withered Hand plays Edinburgh Limbo date

10 Mar 2010

Jarvis Cocker recently showed his love of this outstanding Edinburgh-based, quirky alt.folk singer-songwriter, when he played song ‘Providence’ on his BBC6 music show. We’ve been fans of Dan Willson’s flaky, one-liner-laden melodies ever since he…

New Young Pony Club and Is Tropical set for Glasgow King Tut's date

10 Mar 2010

Besides the appeal of a date with kinky-popsters, New Young Pony Club (they of ‘Ice Cream’ fame), the support, Is Tropical, promises an added dose of throbbing electropop. A new London three-piece, they play on whatever instruments they can scrounge off…

The Elves and the Shoemaker

10 Mar 2010

An Easter treat for children and young people, courtesy of the Dundee Rep ensemble. This adaptation of the classic Grimm Brothers’ tale, about the penniless shoemaker and his wife who discover an exquisite pair of shoes waiting for them when they wake…

Cincinatti three-piece Why? set for Glasgow date

10 Mar 2010

Humorously blunt lyrics accompanied by sumptuous melodies, tender harmonies and the occasional hip-hop edge – sound like your cup of tea? Us too. You may care to check out this beardy three-piece from Cincinatti – whose interracial lovelorn rap ballad…

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - The Logic of Chance

10 Mar 2010

(Sunday Best) Like listening to Russell Brand or Simon Amstell rapping about Britain’s flaws, and preaching about safe sex over uninspiring drum & bass beats. Painful polemics. Light years away from ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’s glory.

Isa & the Filthy Tongues - Dark Passenger

10 Mar 2010

(Neon Tetra) Bunnymen echoes from Isa (real name, Stacey Chavis, from Portland, Oregon) and those Filthy Tongues, including ‘New Town Killers’ used in the Richard Jobson film of the same name.

Prins Thomas - Prins Thomas

10 Mar 2010

(Full Pupp) The Norwegian space-disco producer’s debut LP is a deeply good mix of rolling krautrock beats, moving away from the Balearic beats he normally makes with fellow Nordy, Lindstrom.

Bonobo - Black Sands

10 Mar 2010

(Ninja Tune) Brighton producer, Simon Green brings delicate oriental orchestral arrangements, and lovely big bass-heavy, jazz-tinged melodies, in the lush, Fly-Lo mould.

Singles and downloads - 9th March 2010

9 Mar 2010

Perhaps it’s the cold weather making the world outside the duvet seem even less appealing, but the singles world seems to be very much of a collective one-track mind at the moment, with the latest offering from Arctic Monkeys setting a suitably filthy…

Filter theatre company tackle Chekhov's Three Sisters

9 Mar 2010

Having found innovative new ways to serve up Brecht and Shakespeare to modern-day theatre goers, it stands to reason you’d cast around for another old guard figure to re-invent. So now, the formidable partnership of Filter theatre company and director…

To Rococo Rot - Speculation

9 Mar 2010

(Domino) Palindromic triad To Rococo Rot have assembled animate machine music for over a decade. Speculation, however, heralds a somewhat raucous awakening, as the German impressionists venture out of the ‘measured’ post-rock dominion, into the…

Wooden Shjips - Vol 2

9 Mar 2010

(Sick Thirst / Forte) San Fran freak-rockers Wooden Shjips are hoary proponents of minimal fuzz-rock, loaded kraut-pop and sun-blitzed psychedelia. Summoning a lost weekend with Hawkwind, Neu!, Loop, Suicide and The Doors, the tranced-out four-piece…

But what of Frances Stark, standing by itself, a naked name, bare as a ghost to whom one would like to lend a sheet?

9 Mar 2010

Los Angeles-based artist, Frances Stark, uses collage on paper and canvas board to create gentle and visually pared down works which often leave large areas of the surface white and empty. She covers the rest with textual inscriptions and juxtaposes…

Vanessa Ford's stage adaptation of The Hobbit hits Edinburgh

9 Mar 2010

Peter Jackson spent over £200 million filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and bought himself some pretty nifty visual effects in the process. But there’s more than one way to lift JRR Tolkien’s words from the page, as theatre producer Vanessa Ford…

Eurydice production bound for Traverse Theatre

9 Mar 2010

The tale of lovelorn musician Orpheus and his efforts to bring back his wife Eurydice from the Underworld has fascinated artists for millennia and been immortalised in the poetry of Ovid, countless operas and operettas, and even a bawdy ballad by Nick…

Inspector Sands - If That's All There Is

9 Mar 2010

If the maudlin humour and languid disenchantment of the Peggy Lee number ‘Is That All There Is?’ appeals to you, then this new piece which riffs an entire tepid kind of romance from Lieber and Stoller’s song should appeal. Inspector Sands’ debut…

Equus

9 Mar 2010

Peter Shaffer’s endlessly revived classic about a troubled boy who blinds four horses and the psychiatrist who treats him is an odd mix of compelling mystery and disarming theatricality that frequently runs the risk of getting bogged down in its own…