Issue 680

Labels of Love - Re:Peater Records

Stevie McCaffrey ran Lucky Number Nine Records for three years before setting up RE:PEATER Records last year, a label he now runs with scuzzy Glasgow rockers, She's Hit, who he is also the manager for. Here Stevie talks to The List about upcoming…

RockNess adds six more names for 2011’s event

Bombay Bicycle Club, Sparrow & the Workshop, Afghan Raiders, D/R/U/G/S, Funeral Suits and Visions of Trees have all been added to the RockNess line up, due to take place from 10–12 June on the banks of Loch Ness. They join a line up already bursting…

Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland announce 2011 shortlist

Kate Dickie, David Birrell and David Greig feature on CATS 2011 shortlist

Following an all-day meeting at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, the CATS judges have revealed the hotly-anticipated shortlist for the ten categories of Scotland's leading theatre awards for 2010-11. A highlight of the Scottish theatre…

Eric Skillman and Jhomar Soriano - Liar's Kiss

Unpredictable crime noir graphic novel from new writer and artist team

Top Shelf Comix. Featuring a real loser of a protagonist and devolving around a series of misunderstandings and bad coincidences, this stylish, noirish hard-boiled crime graphic novel recalls, among other things, certain films of the Coen brothers. In…

British Art Show 2011 - Karla Black interview

Scottish artist with work at BAS7 and the upcoming Venice Biennale

Representing a cross-section of the best of the nation's contemporary artists (including a sizeable chunk of Scottish talent), the British Art Show is touring to Glasgow for the first time in 21 years. Neil Cooper talks to Karla Black whose work will…

Interview - Munaf Rayani of Explosions in the Sky

Guitarist talks about band's last few years and where they're going next

If you’re wondering what intervened and caused the long gap before Explosions in the Sky issued a follow-up to their remarkable 2007 album All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, life is the short answer. The Texan instrumental post-rock quartet’s fifth…

Lau release Silver Columns remix of Adem collaboration

Second EP further showcases Edinburgh trio's diversity

Edinburgh-based folk trio Lau are set to release part two in a series of three EPs that showcase the different influences upon their sound. ‘Ghosts’ draws attention to their more electronic and experimental leanings, and was the result of a…

Fovea Hex - Here Is Where We Used To Sing

(Janet Records) The hidden past of Fovea Hex vocalist and focal point Clodagh Simonds is almost as colourful as her present on this beguilingly mysterious album of new songs supported by an ensemble – neither the words 'band' nor 'group' lend the…

Electric Frog Easter Weekender - Glasgow, 23-24 Apr 2011

Francois K and Erol Alkan top festival's expertly curated line-up

It's an exciting time for Glasgow-based micro-festival Electric Frog, the city’s lively weekender of electronic music. Not only does it have both an Easter and summer outing this year for the first time, it's also expanding from a day-long to a…

Doune The Rabbit Hole music festival 2011

Polar Bear, The Vaselines and Zoey Van Goey set for rural Scottish festival

The family-friendly festival, Doune The Rabbit Hole makes a welcome return next month with a plethora of live music including The Vaselines, Zoey Van Goey and recently-headliners announced, Polar Bear. Situated at Old Newton, near Doune in Stirling…

A guide to the pop-up and alternative dining scenes in Glasgow and Edinburgh

The guerrilla restaurants in people's front rooms

The List’s annual Eating & Drinking Guide – as comprehensive as it is – does overlook some interesting dining options in Scotland: those that take place irregularly, or in unusual places – often somewhere as informal as someone’s living room. There are…

Video game LA Noire features Mad Men's Aaron Staton

Rockstar Games’ recreate 1947 Los Angeles in latest title LA Noire

Henry Northmore checks out Rockstar Games’ meticulous recreation of 1947 Los Angeles in their latest title LA Noire. They’ve already created digital versions of gangland America in the groundbreaking Grant Theft Auto series, and of the Wild West in Red…

Paul Vickers and The Leg, Andy Brown, Zed Penguin

Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, Thu 24 Apr 2011

Edinburgh eccentrica in exelcis is the order of the day for this triple bill based around the unveiling of Paul Vickers and The Leg's forthcoming third album of wacked-out Beefhearian music-hall blart. Opening proceedings, however, is Zed Penguin, aka…

Eight Scottish acts set for T in the Park 2011

Big Country, Jon Fratelli, Twin Atlantic and Emma’s Imagination added to bill

Scottish music festival T in the Park has added Big Country, Jon Fratelli, Roddy Woomble, Twin Atlantic, Emma’s Imagination, The Phantom Band, Found and Jack Townes to the 2011 bill. Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble will be performing solo, coinciding…

Winshluss - Pinocchio

Winshluss, the multitalented French cartoonist, filmmaker and musician whose real name is Vincent Parronnaud, is best known for the Oscar-nominated animated feature film he made with Iranian author and illustrator Marjane Satrapi based on her memoir…

Kronos Quartet's David Harrington on Glasgow concerts – full interview transcript

Ensemble's artistic director on curating a mini-festival

The List: Could you tell me first of all when it was that you decided to put together this programme and how long you’ve been working on it? David Harrington: You know it seems to me we’ve been thinking about this for at least a year, probably more.

Kronos in Glasgow - Kronos Quartet and Matmos interview

Glasgow festival features Alim Qasimov and Steve Reich's WTC 9/11

You don’t need to have a vinyl collection full of minimalist composers’ masterworks to have heard the music of Kronos Quartet. You could be a hardened electronic enthusiast, or a pure pop believer; your ears will not have escaped their string…

Attack the Block - Joe Cornish interview

First time director on turning the hoodie horror genre on its head

These are interesting times for British film comedy. Last year Chris Morris’ suicide bomber farce Four Lions presented an intelligent reflection on a thorny problem, while earlier this year Richard Ayoade’s Submarine proved that British comedy could…

Scottish artist highlights from the 2011 British Art Show

Luke Fowler, Alasdair Gray, Nathaniel Mellors, Wolfgang Tillmans

The last time the British Art Show toured to Glasgow was 1990, the year the Dear Green Place took on the mantle of European City of Culture and a watershed year for Scottish art. Twenty-one years on, Scottish visual artists make up a sizeable chunk of…

Bonobo, HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, Fri 22 Apr

Ninja Tune artist plays lush electronic set from his Black Sands album

As the only Scottish stop on his European tour promoting last year's album Black Sands (Ninja Tune), Bonobo’s (aka British DJ/musician Simon Green) Edinburgh show attracted a hyped-up capacity crowd. Support came from Scots Hidden Orchestra, whose…

Alan Bennett - Smut

Short story collection undoubtably dirty, but disappointingly dry

(Profile/Faber) In an interview last year, Alan Bennett (76), admitted that as he grew older he cares less and less what people think about him. He wasn’t referring to beastly reviewers and their beastly reviews, but to those who might be shocked at…

Tony Cownie's production of Liz Lochhead's Educating Agnes bubbles with wit and charm

Peter Forbes, Mark Prendergast and Nicola Roy star

There’s lots to enjoy in this revival of Liz Lochhead’s translation of Moliere’s L’ecole des femmes, but perhaps the greatest pleasure comes from the wit and dynamism offered by the text itself. A palpable sense of anticipation grips the audience as we…

Kommissar Hjuler & Mama Baer / Ninni Morgia & Silvia Kastel

The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh, Mon 18 Apr 2011

Two couples stand side by side in a projected snapshot at the back of the stage. The fashions are retro, the pose casually studied somewhere between a 1970s terrorist cell and the anti-Abba. In the flesh, a blonde woman is slumped on all fours on the…

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2011 - James Mullighan interview

With just under a month to go, the new EIFF director tell us his plans

With just over a month and a half to go until the big event, James Mullighan the new Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival tells Paul Dale about his plans So how’s it going James? Great – it’s been a busy time for us and we are…

Metronomy - Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Mon 25 Apr 2011

Danceable electropop from new album The English Riviera

There's a sweaty buzz about Cabaret Voltaire even before Metronomy step on stage, but it takes a little while before the band themselves really warm up. While Joseph Mount's gang of electropop maestros are never less than competent and the quality of…