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RockNess - Clunes Farm, Dores, Fri 7 & Sat 8 Jun 2013
18 Jun 2013
Part 1 of our RockNess review coverage features The Vaccines, Basement Jaxx and more
Having cooled on its ambitions to try and rival T in the Park for size and stature, RockNess has found a strong identity all of its own in recent years. It’s compact in size and layout (moving the campsite lochside behind the main stage this year is a…
RockNess - Clunes Farm, Dores, Sun 9 Jun 2013
18 Jun 2013
Part 2 of our RockNess review coverage features Lianne La Havas, Madness and Camera Obscura
At any British festival the tendency is to review the weather first, and RockNess certainly comes off best when you do that in this case. Sunday’s line-up rounded off a glorious Highland weekend in one of Scotland’s most scenic spots, with a diverse…
A$AP Rocky - O2 Academy, Glasgow, Sun 26 May 2013
18 Jun 2013
A powerful, swaggering show from the Harlem rapper
With a slew of recent hip hop hits played over its PA system serving as the only warm-up, the anticipation for A$AP Rocky’s impending arrival is palpable in a packed, hot but not quite full Academy. Owing his moniker to membership of the Harlem-based…
Shooting Bigfoot
18 Jun 2013
Quirky Sasquatch documentary about the men who hunt the legendary beast
We have consigned notions of dragons, minotaurs and giants to the status of fables but there are some monster myths that persist even in the modern world. The Yeti, the Chupacabra and Scotland's own Loch Ness Monster live on in the popular imagination…
A Haunted House
18 Jun 2013
A derivative, mean-spirited, misogynist Paranormal Activity spoof from Marlon Wayans
The Paranormal Activity model, whereby cheap, lo-fi horror films gain surprisingly high grosses, seems to work for horror spoofs as well; after contributing to the first two entries in the lamentable Scary Movie franchise, Marlon Wayans goes solo with A…
The Seasoning House
18 Jun 2013
Paul Hyett's horror-thriller is tense but cheaply exploits the issue of sex slavery
First time director Paul Hyett has described his horror-thriller The Seasoning House as a dark fairytale based in the real world, a troubling description given the the nature of the film. Set in the war-torn Balkans, it takes place in a house where…
Dummy Jim
18 Jun 2013
Matt Hulse’s second feature is both very beautiful and utterly bonkers
Dummy Jim is inspired by the book I Cycled into the Arctic Circle, James Duthie’s account of the three-month long bike ride he undertook in the summer of 1951 from his home in a small Scottish fishing village, through a big chunk of Europe and up into…
Danny Brown – The Arches, Glasgow, Sat 15 Jun 2013
18 Jun 2013
Energetic show from bizarre Detroit rapper fails to keep crowd’s attention
By no means the sole hot ticket of Glasgow’s gig scene this evening (The Stone Roses are performing just along the road), an appearance from Detroit rapper Danny Brown at the Arches nevertheless generates a certain level of excitement among the…
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - SECC, Glasgow, Thu 13 Jun 2013
17 Jun 2013
A sublime rock'n'roll show spanning the guitar god's varied career
Before Neil Young and Crazy Horse rolled into Glasgow there had already been online grumblings about the Alchemy Tour's extended guitar solos, feedback workouts and supposed lack of classics. It's a Crazy Horse show; what did they expect? Cosy campfire…
LeithLate - various venues, Edinburgh, Thu 13 Jun 2013
17 Jun 2013
Sterling art and music evening based on and around Leith Walk
If there’s one criticism of LeithLate, it’s that there’s not enough time to take it all in. With performances and exhibitions taking place in 17 venues on and around Leith Walk, three hours is nowhere near enough time to get a taste of everything. You…
ECA and GSA Degree Shows
17 Jun 2013
The degree shows at Edinburgh College of Art and Glasgow School of Art provide two distinct flavours
Edinburgh College of Art ●●●● In Edinburgh, the sculpture is particularly strong. In one studio, you are greeted with Abigail McPaul’s row of bright blue trees. They are beautifully delicate, and the corresponding prints, showing close-ups of the…
Spike Island
17 Jun 2013
A messy, nostalgic coming-of-ager set around the legendary Stone Roses gig
Arriving just before Shane Meadows’ Made of Stone documentary comes another disappointing tribute to the era of ‘Madchester’ and the music of The Stone Roses. Directed by Mat Whitecross, who already brought us the Ian Dury biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock…
Snitch
17 Jun 2013
A solid thriller that hints at a life beyond blockbusters for leading man Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Johnson moves away from film franchises to flex some acting muscles in this appealing new thriller. Dispensing with Johnson’s tough guy persona in favour of a more down-to-earth, everyman approach, Snitch offers a commentary on America’s war on…
Paradise: Love
14 Jun 2013
An unsettling romantic drama of moods and moments that doesn't quite gel into a compelling whole
The pursuit of happiness leads to inevitable disappointment in Paradise: Love, the first in a trilogy from Austrian director Ulrich Seidl that focuses on three women from the same family. In Love, plump, fifty-something mother Teresa (Margarete Tiesel…
Summer in February
14 Jun 2013
A Downton-esque middlebrow melancholic melodrama starring Emily Browning and Dominic Cooper
The success of Downton Abbey clearly points to the arrival of Summer In February, a middlebrow melancholic melodrama set amongst the real-life Newlyn School artists’ colony in pre-WWI Cornwall. Co-produced by and starring Downton’s Dan Stevens, it’s…
Stuck In Love
14 Jun 2013
A predictable and pretentious look at romance starring Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly
The debut feature from writer-director Josh Boone, Stuck In Love is a predictable and pretentious look at romance. Focusing on the trials and tribulations of a family of writers, it boasts a decent cast but too often falls for the same plot contrivances…
Susan Greenfield - 2121
13 Jun 2013
Renowned science writer publishes first fiction novel on mankind's dependency on technology
In renowned science writer Susan Greenfield’s first foray into fiction, she has created a dystopian world where the technology we rely upon today has left us too dependent on it. Mankind has become divided into the functional NPs (Neo-Puritans) and…
Tectonics Glasgow - City Halls/Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Sat 11 & Sun 12 May 2013
12 Jun 2013
Showcase of adventurous performances, featuring Alvin Lucier, Ilan Volkov and Stuart Braithwaite
Launched by Ilan Volkov, principal guest conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Tectonics is an ambitious festival that aims to explore the hinterland between experimental and orchestral music. Originating last year in Iceland, in 2013 it has…
Fucked Up, Titus Andronicus and Metz - SWG3, Glasgow, Tue 28 May 2013
12 Jun 2013
A sweaty, impassioned and powerful triple-bill of North American rock acts
Titus Andronicus have had a rough day ahead of their show in one of Glasgow's most lugubriously located venues: two blown tyres on the A1 left them waiting hours for a tow and only sneaking their equipment in through the side door at around 9.30pm. So…
Jurassic 5 - O2 Academy, Glasgow, Mon 10 Jun 2013
12 Jun 2013
The intelligent hip hop posse show synergy and solidarity following their recent reunion
With J5's original line-up reuniting for this year’s recent Coachella festival, as is par for the course for a number of artists annually, their performance was a reminder as to how important their music has been as an evolutionary footprint in the…
Man of Steel
12 Jun 2013
Decent performances and safe direction results in a Superman flick that flies but never soars
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's another take on Superman, swooping into cinemas just seven-years after Bryan Singer's sluggish version, which in turn heavily referenced its 1978 predecessor. With Man of Steel, director Zack Snyder attempts to…
Nomeansno - Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Tue 28 May 2013
12 Jun 2013
A ridiculously good gig by the unfeasibly great group of Canadian math rock progenitors
‘I hate wankers,’ declared guitarist Rob Wright apropos of nothing, with a wry grin. Who was the Canadian punk’s tirade in reference to? Surely not his adoring crowd, who helped the band produce a show to remember. As one hirsute stage invader attempted…
Mudhoney, Meat Puppets and Metz - 02 ABC, Glasgow, Wed 5 Jun
12 Jun 2013
A thoroughly entertaining set from the Sub Pop grunge kings, with able-bodied support
Don that plaid shirt and party like it’s 1992: those kings of Seattle sludge, Mudhoney, are in town, supported by veteran peyote-punks Meat Puppets and new generation Sub Poppers Metz. Meat Puppets are simply magical, their psychedelic country-punk…
Neil Gaiman - The Ocean at the End of the Lane
11 Jun 2013
Multi award-winning author returns with hit that justifies the hype
Readers of The Ocean at the End of the Lane may experience an occasional sense of déjà vu. So many of the story’s key elements are staples of classic children’s fantasy: three mysterious women in a ramshackle farmhouse who may be more than they appear…
This is the End
11 Jun 2013
Star-studded cast play themselves in end of the world film by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
The apocalypse hits during James Franco’s housewarming party. What will the remaining gang of A, B and C-listers (all playing themselves) do to survive? Hard to imagine, isn’t it, how this could be anything other than obnoxious? A bunch of actors…
