Issue 679

The TV debut of web sensation Funny Or Die is more miss than hit

Classic sketches The Landlord and Drunk History

Making the move from online cult status to small screen uncertainty, the Funny Or Die project has inevitably lost some of its initial drive. Web-watchers previously had the voting power to save a sketch or have it dumped (hence the ‘funny or dying’ bit…

Thor

It’s hammer time! Kenneth Branagh's Thor has a theatrical charm

(12A) 130min Kenneth Branagh may have seemed like an unlikely choice to direct Marvel's Thor but he pulls it off with considerable style to kick-start the summer in fun fashion. By no means perfect, and inferior to both Christopher Nolan's genre…

Bun Fight at the OK Karail #1 - Crail Community Hall, Sat 9 April

Sometimes, with Fence Collective shows – with the strange, intangible magic they weave – it helps to unravel them in reverse. For example, it makes perfect sense for the night to end in a cosy pub, with a hoard of mildly sunburnt gig-goers rubbing…

Insidious

New horror from the creative team behind Saw, succeeds in getting under your skin

(15) 102 min There’s a real art in making a good scary movie – a film that sends shivers down your spine – and Insidious gets it just right. Well, almost. Perhaps not something you’d expect from the writer director team of Leigh Whanell and James Wan…

Scottish artists Alberto Morrocco, William Littlejohn and David McClure feature in Kinblethmont Gallery exhibition

The artists Alberto Morrocco, William Littlejohn and David McClure were all contemporaries who painted in distinct modern styles influenced both by European painting and the Scottish tradition epitomised by the Scottish colourists. Much acclaimed in…

Former Lionrocker Justin Robertson shows us his vinyl

Featuring King Creosote, Factory Floor, Lisa O Piu, Mac Sims and more

It’s always hard for me to pick my favourite tunes as I change my mind all the time, so here’s a selection I’m currently digging. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins ‘Bubble’ (Domino) is a remarkably delicate song, it’s so fragile but it has a drama that only…

Your Highness starring Danny McBride is a load of fantasy rubbish

James Franco, Zooey Deschanel and Natalie Portman fail to improve it

(15) 102min Before Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy heralded a resurgence of the ‘fantasy quest’ movie, this much-derided genre enjoyed a kind of golden age in the late 1980s, when Labyrinth, The Princess Bride and Willow captured the…

House night Luvely calls it a day after 15 years

We’ve had a stint of big club nights closing over the last year or so (Taste, Optimo and Headspin instantly spring to mind) and now Luvely have announced their retirement. ‘There’s no point keeping going just for the sake of keeping going, it’s better…

Exposure: Glasgow indie trio PAWS

Over the past 12 months, Glasgow trio PAWS have gone from ambitious bedroom jams to supporting damn near every cult US indie export to grace our fair shores (Dum Dum Girls, Wavves, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti etc). Combining Dinosaur Jr-esque melodic…

Album reviews: Liturgy, Africa Hitech, The Douglas Firs, This Will Destroy You, Psychedelic Horseshit, Young Legionnaire

Liturgy Aesthethica (Thrill Jockey) ●● Pretension in music can be wonderful, but these hipster black metal apologists are unreal. They may not dress like goblins, but their pseudo-intellectual trappings overshadow their music, which is, in the final…

Drum & bass duo Artificial Intelligence to headline Split's eighth birthday

Glenn Herweijer talks to us ahead of their headline slot

Split has been rocking the Cab’s Tuesday night, based around a sound that encompasses drum & bass, dubstep, electro, breaks and techno. Now for their eighth birthday they have Artificial Intelligence guesting, and even with this drum & bass duo manning…

Pride Scotia's Edinburgh events gearing up to take place a month early

Pride Scotia is returning to Auld Reekie in May, a month earlier than we usually see it. But, you ask, is Pride still relevant? Well, yes. And we’re not just saying that because we watched that Scott Mills documentary on gay rights in Uganda on iPlayer…

Tramway Family Day: Alice in Wonderland

The Glasgow arts venue celebrates Lewis Carrol's most famous creation

When young Alice sips from a bottle marked ‘drink me’ in Lewis Carroll’s well-loved tale, Alice in Wonderland, a remarkable change occurs. Which is one of the reasons the team at Tramway was inspired to base its latest Family Day around this most…

My Comedy Hero: Mock The Week's Milton Jones discusses Rowan Atkinson

Growing up I was inspired by people in sitcoms such as Ronnie Barker and Leonard Rossiter. But, the hero I’d pick would be Rowan Atkinson. I became aware of him when he used to do sketches on Not the Nine O’Clock News and it was clear that he was the…

5 things you might not know about Trigger Happy TV's Dom Joly

1 Born in Beirut in 1968, Joly has claimed to have attended the same school as some kid called bin Laden. He subsequently worked for the European Commission, as a researcher and producer on political programmes across the main UK channels before getting…

Tall Stories bring Mr Benn to life

The team behind The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom take on the bowler-hatted dresser-upper

It may only be 40 years since Mr Benn captivated a nation of young TV viewers, but by today’s standards the animation looks positively prehistoric. That is, of course, exactly what we love about it. David McKee’s bowler hat-wearing hero has stood the…

'Feel It Break' by Austra is a stunning introduction to the Canadian electro-poppers

(Domino) While Katie Stelmanis is very much the beating heart of Austra, her vocals are the icing on an already rather tasty cake. Feel It Break introduces us to this Toronto trio and their dark blend of electronics, keys and minimalist beats with…

Smith Westerns' 'Dye It Blond' is an ideal combination of polished glam and garage rock

(Weird World) Where some bands might let lo-fi scuzziness conveniently mask a lack of drive and simple proficiency, this young Chicago trio have jumped at the chance to record their second album in an actual studio with an actual producer, and fully…

'Straw, Sticks and Bricks' by Outhouse displays jazz-edged boundary-crossing

Line-up for third album features Icelandic guitarist Hilmar Jensson

(Babel) Outhouse belong in the same leftfield area of contemporary UK jazz as bands like Acoustic Ladyland, Polar Bear or Led Bib, but have their own distinctive slant on the jazz improvisation-meets-grungy rock-meets-noise aesthetic prevalent in…

World Wars Experience brings flying parade and tank display to National Museum of Flight

Edinburgh exhibition brings history to life over May Day weekend 2011

War and warfare are a constant presence in world news, both now and throughout history. While many of these conflicts take place in far off lands - in countries very different to our own which most of us will never visit - it’s easy to forget our own…

Haddow Fest, various venues, Edinburgh 2–3 April 2010

REVIEW With over 100 bands in tow (many playing twice over the new two-day format), Haddowfest’s second year swept across Edinburgh’s music venues, promising the return of many artists recently off the radar (headliners Razorlight no exception) plus…

Election night entertainment - Unholyrood, Welcome to the Hotel Caledonia and Mayfesto: It's a Dead Liberty!

Perhaps injustices tend to hit harder when they’re closer to home; perhaps there’s just more meat; but periods of Tory government do tend to galvanize our satirists and create new relevance for political theatre. You may have noticed stirrings…

Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

Growling, heavy, punky goodness from the constantly entertaining Foos

(Roswell/RCA) It’s impossible to talk about a ‘return to form’ when it comes to the Foo Fighters, they’re one of rock’s most consistently steady and constantly entertaining acts. They’ve never had a genuine down-turn. Dave Grohl’s (almost) outgrown…

Barrowland Ballet: A Conversation with Carmel

Family gatherings – for some they’re the highlight of the year, for others they need a health warning. Inspired by her own get togethers, and those of others, choreographer Natasha Gilmore has co-created A Conversation with Carmel, a birthday bash for a…

Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival promises a quality homegrown line-up alongside the usual groundbreaking international work

The Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival has always featured quality children’s theatre from both home and abroad. But while international talent has never been in short supply, Scottish-based companies worthy of inclusion were initially thin on the…