Issue 673

The best films of 2010

The Secret in Their Eyes, Un Prophet, Exit Through the Gift Shop, South of the Border, Black Death

The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto Des Sus Ojos) Argentinean romantic modern noir/thriller starring the mighty Ricardo Darín that really works. Worthy winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. A Prophet Jacques Audiard’s stunning…

In Our Name director Brian Welsh - profile

Film charts female soldier returning home from Iraq to Newcastle

Name? Brian Welsh. Born? Falkirk, 10 August 1981. Background? Having left school with what he describes as ‘pitiful formal qualifications’, Welsh worked variously as a waiter, bartender and gas man while developing ideas for films. His…

Best comedy gigs of 2010 in Scotland

Bo Burnham, Tommy Tiernan, Stewart Francis, Jenny Eclair, Stewart Lee

Bo Burnham After receiving top marks from both The Guardian and The Independent, little Bo Burnham really needed to be taken down a peg or three. Yet, the uber-talented wee tyke simply got on with his job and showed what a prospective comedy superstar…

Death Disco’s XXXmas Party

Arches, Glasgow, Sat 18 Dec 2010

Christmas is a tricky one. Sure, it’s a time for giving, good will and generally being merry, but it can feel strangely moot when one is no longer a wean oneself or has no weans to fawn over, making the season (allegedly) cuter and more socially…

The best books of 2010

Shit My Dad Says, Nileism, Mr Chartwell and Hitch-22

Justin Halpern Most often, the noises emanating from Twitter are akin to the pumpfire blurted from the groaning anus of Satan, but almost unbelievably, the odd gem is in there if you care to check. Occasionally, some forward-thinking publisher might…

The top albums of 2010

LCD Soundsystem, Washed Out, Robyn, Errors, Arcade Fire

LCD Soundsystem This Is Happening (DFA/ EMI) James Murphy and co’s last album also features one of the year’s most tantalisingly misleading album intros. It’s over three (very mellow) minutes into ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ before the proper beats…

The best gigs of 2010 in Scotland

The xx, Hallogallo, Crystal Castles, Away Game, The Phantom Band

Weird theatrics from Fever Ray, blissful low-end synth-pop from Washed Out and Small Black, hushed guitars from RM Hubbert, Barrowland-shaking dance-punk from LCD Soundsystem… The List looks back on the year’s best live shows The xx Studio 24…

Apollo’s Angels - Jennifer Homans

A history of ballet from former dancer with San Francisco

(Granta) This epic review of classical ballet’s occasionally glorious, often troubled past took Jennifer Homans ten years to write and research. From the artform’s infancy in the royal court of 16th century France, through its rise in Italy, Denmark…

The Essential Superman Encyclopaedia - Robert Greenberger & Martin Pasko

Meticulously researched guide is nicely balanced

(Titan Books) Perhaps the perfect last minute gift for the geek in your life, The Essential Superman Encyclopaedia is a massive cornucopia of Caped Crusader facts. If you desperately want to know more about Mr Mxyzptlk or The Purple Pile-Driver you…

Big’n’Bashy and Electrikal team up to bring Pitch Black’s Reso to Bongo Club

Edinburgh bass-heavy club night collaborate with artist collective

Edinburgh is the hot destination on the clubbing calendar in January as bass-heavy clubnight Big’n’Bashy get together with the masters of parties Electrikal soundsystem. Expect nothing less than a full-on, no-holds-barred night of hedonistic…

French electro-house DJ Yuksek set for Death Disco date

In-demand remixer for Lady Gaga, Phoenix, Gorillaz and Shitdisco on DJ tour

French electro-house DJ Yuksek didn’t take the most obvious route into his current career. ‘I studied piano at the French conservatoire for ten years,’ he says, ‘and after that I played bass and sang vocals in a few bands. Then I started going to clubs…

Glasgow psych-rock night Eyes Wide Open set for successful 2011

Sixth year strong for freakbeat night at Blackfriars

‘This night will be our New Year celebration take two,’ says Holly Calder, promoter of Glasgow psych-rock-freakbeat night Eyes Wide Open. ‘Our friends are going to be scattered around all over at Hogmanay, so this will be a nice way to bring everyone…

Blue Sky Archives - Melodic post-rock and harmonious pop from Glasgow

Exposure

From Glasgow they come with melodic post-rock and harmonious pop, like a shining light. Hello, Blue Skies. What are you up to? Paul: ‘I’m at my 9–5. The odour of coffee, commerce and coercion is palpable. I see a young, unshaven man in a cheap…

All Tomorrow's Parties: Bowlie 2 - Butlin’s Minehead, Somerset, Fri 10-Sun 12 Dec

Ten year anniversary of pioneering chalet-based holiday camp festival

Ten years after pioneering the chalet-based holiday camp festival with their Bowlie Weekender, Belle & Sebastian have returned to the scene (not literally, because it’s now in Somerset) of one of their greatest creations with this decade-on celebration…

Christine Borland's Cast From Nature culminates in a recasting of a 19th century sculpture

Talitha Kotzé attends a public casting session

Talitha Kotzé attends a public casting session by Christine Borland and talks to the sculptor about her new show, which culminates in a recasting of a 19th century sculpture What viewers can watch here from an anatomy theatre-like CCTV room is the…

Giant Sand songwriter Howe Gelb lines up for Celtic Connections date

Mapping alternative routes between seemingly disparate worlds of music is a longstanding aim of Celtic Connections. It’s a vision shared by Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb, who for some 25 years has been a pathfinder and visionary, resulting in one of the most…

A View from the Bridge set for Lyceum - Liam Brennan interview

Latest Arthur Miller play adapted by John Dove for Edinburgh theatre

Since 2004’s Death of a Salesman, John Dove’s Arthur Miller productions have become something of a regular fixture at the Lyceum. His subsequent versions of All My Sons, The Price and The Man Who Had All the Luck won him plaudits and in January 2011, A…

Sophie Macpherson solo show at Sorcha Dallas

The artist on her fascination with live performance

You get the impression Sophie Macpherson likes to keep moving, both creatively and personally. This certainly seems to be the motivation behind the Aylesbury-born GSA-trained artist’s forthcoming solo show of texts, posters, a video and a 16-mm film at…

Common Guild showcases a selection of works by English artist Tacita Dean

YBA-associated artist's recent work is a splice of German and British cultures

In a superbly attractive autumnal exhibition, The Common Guild is showcasing a selection of works by English artist Tacita Dean. Though associated with the generation of YBAs, and once nominated for the Turner Prize, Dean’s practice is of a different…

Simon Crowther’s new comedy The Ushers aims to capture essence of 1996

Paisley-set production directed by Raindog's Stuart Davids

The phrase ‘period drama’ is more likely to bring to mind a play set in Regency England or 18th century Paris than Paisley in the 1990s. Yet, Simon Crowther’s new comedy The Ushers, which follows a group of young characters as they deal with leaving…

Glasvegas set for 2011 UK tour

Glasgow band record ten track as-yet-untitled second album with Flood

The last time this writer spoke to Glasvegas frontman James Allan, in advance of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay party last year, he sounded absolutely shattered after two years of touring and promoting on the back of the band’s hugely successful debut album.

Hercules and Love Affair - Blue Songs

(Moshi Moshi/Cooperative) Within the first few seconds of this sophomore album, Andy Butler’s New York-based disco-house collective have achieved Objective A: to lose the one-hit wonder tag after the deservedly monumental success of ‘Blind’ in 2008.

A Little Bit of Magic Realised

Common theme of the natural world in work from Anna Atkins, Garry Fabian Miller and Susan Derges

‘Cameraless’ photography is one of those seeming contradictions in terms that seems intended to deliberately confuse. However, the curiosity inspired by the theme gives way to wonder as you explore the immediate and vivid world depicted in this…

Revealing the Invisible: The Art of Stansfield / Hooykaas from Different Perspectives

Time-based work of the late Scottish artist and her Dutch collaborator

The time-based work of the late Scottish artist Elsa Stansfield and her Dutch collaborator Madelon Hooykaas oscillates between the terrains of the arts and sciences. In an overview of their practice, with works spanning three decades, the CCA showcases…

Abel

(15) 82min Mexican actor Diego Luna’s first fictional feature film (he previously directed a documentary on the legendary Latino boxer Chavez) is a curious mix of poignant and bizarre. Nine-year-old Abel (Christopher Ruíz-Esparza) returns home after…