Issue 661

Toro Y Moi brings warped pop to Glasgow

Chaz Bundick brings chillwave to Captains Rest

23 Jul 2010

Almost as enjoyable as the sound of a man tripping out in Yosemite Park at the sight of a double rainbow, (that viral YouTube hit of unbridled ecstasy has been causing no end of delight at The List) is the blissed-out, woozy, warm fuzz of Chaz Bundick’s…

Edinburgh Fringe 2010 comedy highlights for a fiver

The best comedy shows doing cheap previews

27 Jul 2010

A Betrayal of Penguins The two young Irish jokers return with more sketchy nonsense in a show entitled Don’t Run with Scissors? Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4-6 Aug, 2.45pm. Adam Riches The man behind Rogues Males is back in the saddle as he…

Rubadub records celebrate 18th birthday with Jeff Mills at the Sub Club

Pivotal Glasgow record shop brings Detroit techno legend to Sub Club

23 Jul 2010

‘In any city that has an important musical movement happening, there’s always a hub, like a really influential record shop or club or something like that,’ says Jack Revill. ‘As far as shops go, Berlin’s got Hardwax, Detroit has Submerge and Glasgow’s…

City Island: Dominik Garcia-Lorido profile

New York-set family comedy drama family

23 Jul 2010

Name: Dominik Garcia-Lorido Born: 16 August 1983 Birthplace: Los Angeles, America Background: The daughter of the actor Andy Garcia, Dominik grew up in LA and appeared as an extra in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather: Part III, when she was…

And the Land Lay Still - James Robertson

23 Jul 2010

‘I’ve always had it in mind that I wanted to write a big, sprawling novel about Scottish politics and culture in the second half of the 20th century,’ explains James Robertson. ‘When I sat down to write my last book, The Testament of Gideon Mack, I…

Edinburgh gallery opens new space in Leith

Axolotl gallery to open sister space OXO in Leith

23 Jul 2010

As any self respecting Leither will tell you, the area’s renaissance continues. First the decent bars and restaurants took root, then the ever burgeoning Leith festival. This fortnight its cultural kudos gets another boost with the addition of a new…

5 Things you might not know about.. Roy 'Chubby' Brown

23 Jul 2010

1. OK, this is one you’ll probably all know, but it’s a good one so it’s going in. Born Royston Vasey in 1945, the moniker was used by the League of Gentlemen as the name for their fictional location where all the grotesques come out (or stay in) to…

The Island

Well-told Russian fable of spirituality and guilt

23 Jul 2010

(PG) 150min (Artificial Eye) The spirit of Andrei Tarkovsky hovers over Russian cinema maybe more than any other director, perhaps quite aptly for one so given to the spiritual himself. The Island opens with a horrible moment of human weakness.

Damo Suzuki's cancer recovery brought him back to music

Local musicians invite the ex-Can singer to their city for improvised sets

22 Jul 2010

‘I was with Can for three years,’ says Damo Suzuki simply, ‘and after that, I had many experiences in my life. I don’t like to compare with that time. I was a hippy then, I just liked smoking big joints and making the music happy. But since 30, 40 years…

Benni Hemm Hemm's newest album Retaliate

22 Jul 2010

(Kimi) Edinburgh via Iceland’s Benedikt H Hermannsson – that’s Benni Hemm Hemm to his many music-loving friends – has long enkindled our local stages with his gentle, warm acoustic pop. Retaliate, his first all-English language outing, is a rich…

Impressionist Gardens collects flora and fauna work by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and Manet

14 Jul 2010

The discreet charm of the bourgeoisie comes in many forms. For the suburbanites of the impressionist movement, inspiration lay not so much on their own front door, but among the vivid hues between the leaves of their back gardens. As befits the woozy…

George’s Marvellous Medicine and enduring appeal of Roald Dahl’s work

14 Jul 2010

As a brand new adaptation of George’s Marvellous Medicine arrives in Glasgow David Pollock talks to director Neal Foster about the enduring appeal of Roald Dahl’s work ‘The main secret to adapting Roald Dahl is that he doesn’t censor himself and he…

LGBT highlights from Edinburgh Fringe 2010

14 Jul 2010

The List’s LGBT section is about to take a well-earned break (returning in September, folks), but before we head off on our holidays, there’s just time to let you know about some of the gay-friendly stuff that’s appearing at a Fringe Festival near you…

South of the Border - Tariq Ali interview

The historian and commentator on making movies with Oliver Stone

23 Jul 2010

The appearance of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez alongside Oliver Stone at the Venice Film Festival for the premiere of documentary South of the Border was one of the most surreal moments on any red carpet in recent memory. In the background making…

Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)

23 Jul 2010

(15) 121min Great songs, beautiful girls, lovely costumes and an artist in a constant state of flux are emphasised in Joann Sfar’s imaginative, beautiful and suitably bizarre musing on the life of Serge Gainsbourg. Starting off in conventional…

Villa Amalia

Spare existential drama achieves memorably depiction

23 Jul 2010

(PG) 94min The latest collaboration between Isabelle Huppert and director Benoit Jacquot is this spare existential drama, which begins with concert pianist and composer Anne Hidden (Huppert) discovering an infidelity committed by her partner of 15…

South of the Border

23 Jul 2010

(15) 77min When Oliver Stone made a documentary for HBO about Fidel Castro, his American paymasters accused him of going too soft on the Cuban President and ordered him to go and try again. This time Stone stands firm, doesn’t even entertain the idea…

Folding Clouds And Hoovering Hills - interactive artworks for kids

Children's show brings music and installations to Glasgow Tramway

23 Jul 2010

Given the amount of inclement weather Scotland ‘enjoys’, there are often times when we wish the great outdoors could be magically transported inside. Wandering through the new installation in Glasgow’s Tramway, you’d be forgiven for thinking it had…

Guiseppe Tornatore's Baaria is a flawed spectacular

Epic historical melodrama from director of Cinema Paradiso

23 Jul 2010

(15) 150min Whereas Fellini had his hometown of Rimini from which to draw inspiration in the likes of Amarcord and I Vitelloni, Sicilian film-maker Guiseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) has his birthplace of Baaria, near Palermo. (Baaria incidentally…

Five Great Serge Gainsbourg film soundtracks

A round-up of great film work by the French singer-songwriter

23 Jul 2010

L’eau à la bouche Gainsbourg’s first work as a composer for cinema was on this minor New Wave romantic comedy of familial dysfunction, contested wills and lecherous intent. Gainsbourg’s languorous, yet risqué score, which includes the title track, set…

The A-Team

23 Jul 2010

(12A) 118min ‘I love it when a plan comes together’ opines cigar-chewing black-ops manager Col John ‘Hannibal’ Smith (Liam Neeson) several times in Joe Smokin’ Aces Carnahan’s revamp of the 1980’s action series. Unfortunately Carnahan’s plan, which…

Beautiful Kate

Assured directorial debut from British actress Rachel Ward

23 Jul 2010

(15) 101min The directorial debut of British actress Rachel Ward, Beautiful Kate is an assured adaptation of a novel by American writer Newton Thornburg, which was originally set in 1970s Idaho. The film-maker has transplanted the story to…

London River

23 Jul 2010

(12A) 88min The 7/7 bombings serve as the backdrop to this clash of cultures tale. Guernsey-based Falklands War widow Elisabeth (Brenda Blethyn) is first seen listening to a church sermon about loving your neighbour. In Africa, Muslim Ousmane…

The Karate Kid

23 Jul 2010

(PG) 139min Rocky director John G Avildsen’s 1984 hit The Karate Kid was no masterpiece, so the prospect of a two hour plus remake directed by Harald Zwart (Agent Cody Banks, The Pink Panther 2) and featuring Will Smith’s son Jaden promises as much…

Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival 2010 - Curtis Stigers interview

The 'jazz warbler' on sex, lies and ballet recitals

23 Jul 2010

In Edinburgh for the Jazz & Blues Festival, Curtis Stigers talks to The List about sex, lies and ballet recitals First record you ever bought ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, by Elton John. First film you saw that really moved you I remember…