Latest reviews & features

Horror author Joe Hill introduces his new novel, NOS4R2

The writer also touches on working with Daniel Radcliffe and being Stephen King's son

The latest novel from author Joe Hill is a full throttle horror story. In NOS4R2, a serial killer prowls both real and imaginary worlds in his Silver Wraith Rolls Royce, abducting children for a hundred year reign of terror. The killer takes his…

Directors Lee Hardcastle and Jake West on horror anthology The ABCs of Death

The film also features short, sharp shocks from Ben Wheatley, Xavier Gens and Ti West

‘It’s a horror film anthology made up of 26 chapters, each directed by a separate director. Each segment is represented by a letter of the alphabet; the letter of the alphabet stands for a word which is relevant to that segment and that death.’ Lee…

Geek Walks and Dead Sleazy among the Glasgow Science Festival 2013 highlights

Other top events include a Festival of Frogs and the science of whisky

As it enters its sixth year, the biggest draw of the Glasgow Science Festival continues to be a huge range of family events. Whether you’re a hardcore chemistry aficionado or just curious about big bangs and bright flashes, this year’s offerings should…

Edinburgh Zoo Nights promises a wild night out in one of the capital's landmarks

Food, drink, comedy and animal handling among the activities on offer

Food, drink, comedy and pandas. Sounds like a good night out? That’s what Edinburgh Zoo (in partnership with your favourite listings magazine) is promising as part of the inaugural Zoo Nights event this month, the latest in a line of attempts to turn…

James Robertson - The Professor of Truth

A contemporary story dealing with the aftermath of a Lockerbie-like attack

Twenty-one years after the death of his wife and child in a plane bombing, Dr Alan Tealing remains unconvinced by the official account of this atrocity. Tealing’s obsession with what he calls The Case defines the novel: this is Lockerbie in everything…

Disney Pixar’s Monsters University announced for Edinburgh International Film Festival 2013

The family film will screen at the festival three weeks before release in the rest of the UK

Edinburgh International Film Festival audiences will be among the first in the UK to see Disney Pixar’s latest offering, Monsters University. The Family Gala 3D screening will take place on Sun 23 Jun in the Festival Theatre, with an exclusive schools…

Neil Young: Journeys

An intimate homecoming documentary by the country rock legend, shot by Jonathan Demme

‘This is a town in North Ontario,’ are the first interview words uttered by Neil Young in this Jonathan Demme-directed documentary, and it’s probable that he’s consciously referencing the lyric of his own song ‘Helpless’. In the opening few minutes of…

Nothing but the Truth

Serviceable political thriller starring Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, David Schwimmer and Alan Alda

It’s amazing how many films with big name casts slink out direct to DVD. Take Nothing But the Truth, featuring Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett, David Schwimmer and Alan Alda. To be fair, NBT was a victim of circumstance rather than some…

Podcast review: Resident Advisor

As the best online-only dance magazine in the world, there are many reasons to visit Resident Advisor. They do international club listings, ticket sales, features on new and established artists, short documentaries, a forum and an aggregated news feed…

Kate Manning - My Notorious Life by Madame X

A timely historical drama about abortion and the female body in the Victorian era

After a year of American politicians sounding off about women’s bodies like it was the 19th century, Kate Manning’s novel, inspired by an infamous midwife/abortion provider from that era, comes as a reminder of how grim things used to be. Axie…

Helen Ivory - Waiting for Bluebeard

The poet's latest collection dissolves the barriers between reality and fantasy

In what is undoubtedly her most bewitching poetry collection to date, Helen Ivory peels away the layers of reality and leaves her reader a tantalising world to explore. Each poem is beautifully woven together to create a dream-like narrative. Through…

Interview: The Pastels on latest studio album Slow Summits

Stephen McRobbie on recent work and the Glasgow band's much-anticipated new material

When confronted with a promise he made last time I interviewed him for The List in 2007, Stephen McRobbie, aka Stephen Pastel, smiles and squirms a little. ‘There will be new Pastels music released this year,’ he had assured us, referring to his band’s…

Crate Digging: Richard Fearless selects six of his current favourite tracks

DJ and co-founder of Death in Vegas starts new night Drone at Glasgow’s Berkeley Suite

'578’ Gunnar Wendel (FXHE Records) is a stunning, melodic, trance-inducing piece of techno. Lauded by the likes of Mr Andrew Weatherall, it's been remixed by the genius that is Omar S, a man who can do no wrong in my eyes. It's truly sublime, with…

The Vaccines set to perform at RockNess 2013

Henry Northmore talks to The Vaccines as they lead the charge of the indie brigade at this year’s Ro

RockNess started out as a dance music festival but over the last few years it’s started to evolve into a mixing pot, as rock rubs shoulders with trance and hip hop stars share a stage with acoustic acts. Rock’n’roll rabble rousers The Vaccines take the…

Interview: Basement Jaxx perform at RockNess 2013

London duo prepare to headline RockNess for a second time

It’s Basement Jaxx effortless ability to bring seemingly disparate elements together that makes them such a fascinating live act. Techno is welded to Latin while house tangos with calypso from the upbeat mania of ‘Red Alert' to the punk funk delirium of…

'The Comedy Explorers' Alternative Comedy Club' and 'Comedy and Cocktails'

Jay Richardson talk us through the hot new comedy clubs in Glasgow

The current slow-down in gig attendances, suggesting even comedy isn't recession-proof, puts new nights under pressure to be distinctive. Two ambitious ventures launched in Glasgow recently take diametrically-opposed approaches to persuading punters…

Toro Y Moi set for 2013 UK tour with third album Anything in Return

South Carolina's Toro Y Moi on his musical influences and latest album Anything in Return

‘I want to make music that people should hear, not what they want to hear,’ says Chazwick ‘Chaz’ Bundick, the South Carolina native who records a selection of boundary-pressing intelligent dance tracks under the alias Toro Y Moi, amongst many others.

Interview: NYC comedian Judah Friedlander set for 2013 UK dates

He’s not here to deliver a message. Even if he has a presidential campaign to run

For those familiar with Judah Friedlander from 30 Rock or any number of movies from American Splendor to The Wrestler, you will no doubt picture a slightly doleful-looking dude with much hair, thick glasses and an array of trucker hats. Rather than…

Discopolis, Dems and Jonnie Common among highlights at Big Day In

Inaugural Edinburgh indoor mini-fest: Wan day, hunners o’ bands

Having successfully assembled an astounding line-up of electronic indie talent from across the UK, the initial concern for Electric Circus’s inaugural Big Day In mini-festival was getting people through the doors, especially given that the…

Glasgow to host UCI Juniors Track World Championships cycling event

Track cycling event at Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome features group rides and races for young visitors

Remember the Olympics last year? Remember how even the hardiest sport skeptics were swept along in a wave of communal feeling as the 10 days of the Games unfolded? Remember how track cycling became the surprise hit of the London 2012 televised…

Curtis Sittenfeld - Sisterland

A tense, gripping narrative let down by hard-to-swallow racist and homophobic tendencies

When Kate’s identical twin sister, professional psychic Vi Shramm, has a premonition that a giant earthquake is about to strike their hometown of St Louis, Kate begins to set in motion a plan to protect her family. As Vi gets carried away by the media…

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - King Tuts, Glasgow, Wed 1 May 2013

Infectious, hallucinatory reveries, marred slightly by too much sound desk tweaking

Perhaps it is shell-shock after their recent propulsive success at SXSW, or possibly their own astonishment at selling out King Tuts on their first UK headline tour, but Unknown Mortal Orchestra turn up tonight as nervous as if it were the first day at…

The National - Trouble Will Find Me

A great sixth record, but not one which parades the fact before you

(4AD) The idea that much of the music here was written by guitarist Aaron Desner while bedevilled by bone-aching fatigue and sleepless nights following the birth of his baby daughter is a compelling one. It ties into the sense of a band shattered…

Siobhan Davies Dance: Every Day

Solo dance act by Siobhan Davies focuses on the daily movements we take for granted

A table, a chair, an umbrella and a stool – ordinary objects we come across on a daily basis. But a new exhibition is asking us to look at those objects, and others, with fresh eyes. Not only that, but a live element will encourage visitors to…

Dirty Beaches - Drifters/Love is the Devil

A beguiling, globe-trotting, genre-spanning lo-fi album from Alex Zhang Hungtai

(Zoo Records) Alex Zhang Hungtai’s peripatetic lifestyle has taken him from Taiwan to Canada and then around the globe, and his lo-fi compositions as Dirty Beaches have a sense of dislocation that is both engaging and unnerving. There is no real sense…