Issue 652

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…

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

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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?

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.