Reviews

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

A track by track breakdown of the heavily hyped, mixed-bag of a disco-synth album

It’s the most anticipated album of the year, but it’s only partly been worth the wait. While Tron-helmeted duo Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s commitment to using real live musicians and an eclectic pool of guests to recreate the…

The Hangover Part III

The third part in the comedy franchise takes one too many gambles that don’t pay off

The third - and hopefully final - entry in The Hangover series strays even further from what made the original such a surprise success. Darker than its predecessors, this time the action returns to Las Vegas (via Bangkok and Tijuana) but takes one too…

Our Children

A Prophet stars Tahar Rahim and Niels Arestrup reunite for Joachim Lafosse’s riveting drama

The two central actors in Jacques Audiard's 2009 masterpiece A Prophet are reunited, and their dynamic entirely reorientated, in Belgian filmmaker Joachim Lafosse’s riveting drama Our Children, a fictionalisation of a real life story where four children…

Derby Shorts

Collaborative anthology on Derby Roller will make you want to get your skates on

Whether you’re new to roller derby, a wannabe rollergirl or a force to be reckoned with on eight wheels, there can be no finer companion to the beautiful game than the new collaborative anthology from For Books’ Sake and the London Roller Girls. Derby…

Adam Buxton presents: The Best of BUG

The comedian’s music video-themed show is still going strong

Who’d have thought there was so much comedic scope in music videos and the inane YouTube comments they attract? But scope there undeniably is, as Adam Buxton has proved with his hugely successful show BUG. A bimonthly event at the British Film Institute…

Public Service Broadcasting - ABC2, Glasgow, Wed 8 May 2013

An overwhelming visual spectacle outshines the electronic duo's music

Despite having only released their debut album Inform-Educate-Entertain two days prior to this gig, the London based duo have already started to gather a steady cult following due to a slew of well received EPs and heavy exposure on BBC 6 Music. The…

EP review - Garden of Elks, 'Extended Play'

Noise pop/college rock debut from a Glasgow band, starting to grow antlers

Fuzzy, relentless and slathered in Pixies and Sonic Youth influences, 'Extended Play' is a frantic debut affair which announces Garden of Elks as a band with genuine promise. Billing themselves as a ‘noise pop’ outfit, GOE are worthy of a place…

The Moth Diaries

Suspense-less boarding school vampire thriller starring Sarah Bolger, Sarah Gadon and Lily Cole

Arriving a week before Neil Jordan’s vampire tale Byzantium, you have to wonder if those releasing The Moth Diaries were hoping to steal a march on Jordan’s film. They needn’t have bothered. A pale shadow of Byzantium, it doesn’t even hold a candle to…

Epic

A celebrity cast including Beyonce Knowles and Colin Farrell can't save this rather wet adventure

The title of the latest animated film from Ice Age and Rio creators Blue Sky Studios refers to the scale; although offering a sweeping story of huge armies, arduous journeys, lost princesses and aerial assaults, the action never travels beyond the…

Sparrow and the Workshop – Caves, Edinburgh, Thu 9 May 2013

The alt.country/rock trio launch latest album Murderopolis with aplomb

There’s a party atmosphere to tonight’s gig at the Caves, the second of two launch parties for Sparrow and the Workshop’s new album, Murderopolis. Bunting and balloons festoon the stage; a bottle of whisky makes its way round the crowd; and both Sparrow…

eagleowl - The Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 10 May 2013

It only took ten years, but eagleowl’s first album finally hatches

Despite being Edinburgh and UK gig-playing regulars for almost a decade now, this was the night they launched their debut LP This Silent Year, an evening that saw the Fence-signed sextet eagleowl beam in all their slowcore majesty. Well thought-out…

Fast & Furious 6

If you like your stunts outrageous and your plot soapy and undemanding, this won't disappoint

For a franchise with simple tastes – gleaming cars, well-oiled muscles and bikini babes – the Fast & Furious series has always been ultra-willing to re-tune its engines. This time, we’re in London – a first – and the gang, led by Vin Diesel’s Dom…

The Stoker (Kochegar)

A strange, dark and clever Russian black comedy with an unexpectedly forceful moral message

Edinburgh’s beloved Filmhouse cinema has chosen an unusual and intriguing curio for its first release as a distributor. Directed by the prolific Alexey Balabanov - known for his unflinching but darkly comic fables of the Russian criminal underworld…

The Iceman

Impressive mafia-themed dramatic thriller starring Michael Shannon, James Franco and Ray Liotta

Is there no film Michael Shannon doesn’t excel in? Here the star of Take Shelter plays real-life New Jersey hitman Richard Kuklinski, who – upon his arrest in 1986 – is thought to have committed over 100 assassinations. Directed by Israeli-born…

The Stone Roses: Made of Stone

Shane Meadows' rockumentary fails to satisfy either as a concert film or fly-on-the-wall doc

To borrow from an old Stone Roses B-side, the Mancunian band’s much-hyped reunion may well have been ‘what the world is waiting for’, though it’s hard to claim the same for this accompanying Shane Meadows-directed documentary. The director of Dead Man’s…

The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish

The theatre production, adapted from Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's book, is performed with gusto

Sitting in a dark room and keeping quiet for an hour isn’t for everyone – especially if you’re under ten. Promenade theatre solves that problem, with movement actively encouraged and the odd noise generally tolerated. So on that front, The Day I…

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…

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…

'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…

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…

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…