Articles

Persepolis - An interview with Marjane Satrapi

24 Apr 2008

Sitting across from me in a tartan-walled basement of a London hotel room, Marjane Satrapi cuts an imposing figure. Arms folded, with an all-black outfit reflecting her mood, the Iranian-born 38-year-old is in town to discuss Persepolis, her…

Joy Division

24 Apr 2008

DOCUMENTARY (15) 96mins After last year’s Control, Anton Corbijn’s considered and stylish dramatisation of Ian Curtis’ life, it would be easy to think that everything you need to know about the legend and legacy of English post-punk outfit Joy…

Alice Thompson - Author Interview

10 Apr 2008

A very relaxed-sounding Alice Thompson has just returned to her Edinburgh home after a short stay in Glen Artney, the rural retreat that provided the main inspiration for her eerie latest book. She is eager to explain what it is about the atmospheric…

Holocaust Memorial Day

17 Jan 2008

For most of Scotland, the end of January means Burns Night. Whisky, tradition and rousing renditions of ‘A Man’s A Man For A’ That’; a time for national nostalgia and a noisy assertion, however fleeting, of equality. Perhaps it’s fitting then that a…

Scottish crime writing

1 Nov 2007

‘Ah, well. If you’re Scottish, and you’re writing crime fiction, at some point someone is going to hail you as “the new Ian Rankin” until they remember, no, actually Ian Rankin is still there. Alex Gray has been described as the Glaswegian Ian Rankin.

Katrin Himmler

9 Aug 2007

Katrin Himmler was born into a family with a dark history, but has only now been able to write about it. She tells Doug Johnstone about reliving the past

Tony Blair: The Musical/Tony! The Blair Musical

1 Aug 2007

You knew it was coming! More colourful than Derry Irvine’s wallpaper, more expensive than a peerage, but a bit less fictional than the Weapons of Mass Destruction. Yes it’s the musical version of old Pinocchio’s political life. Or two versions, in fact…

Loung Ung

Edinburgh International Book Festival

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh International Book Festival Surviving the peace Author, campaigner and victim of Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia, bestselling writer Loung Ung talks to Allan Radcliffe about how she managed to carry on after the hell of the killing fields

Property - House rules

House rules

10 Apr 2007

With property prices continuing to soar and half of UK buyers reportedly being forced out of the market, buying a home has never been costlier or more nerve-wracking. But take heart, The List’s reporters have scoured the country and consulted the…

Kate Atkinson - Behind the Scenes at the Museum - (1995)

100 Best Scottish Books of all Time

1 Jan 2005

How many books have you read recently that begin with 25 pages conducted, quite amicably, from inside the womb? This one, told in part through the eyes of unwanted baby Ruby Lennox (conception onwards), and in part through the tragic history of her…

Belle & Sebastian revealed as ‘Best Scottish Band of All Time'

1 Jan 2005

After a three-month public vote, Belle & Sebastian were named as the ‘Best Scottish Band Of All Time' at an exclusive Announcement Party at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow. The prestigious accolade, sponsored by Orange, was announced in front of an…

Paul Brannigan, star of Ken Loach's The Angels' Share - profile

The actor is also set to appear with Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin

23 May 2012

Born 1987, Glasgow, Scotland Background After working as a football coach in the Barrowfield community in Glasgow and helping to tackle knife crime as part of a Strathclyde Police initiative, Paul Brannigan was spotted by screenwriter Paul Laverty…

The Horrors - O2 ABC, Glasgow, Tue 15 May, 2012

Charming and mesmerising set that avoids sharp pop aesthetic

22 May 2012

For Essex boys The Horrors, surely redemption has arrived at last. Yes, there were those of us who enjoyed the spooky frightwig garage rock of their debut album Strange House, but it left the sense that here was a band who are overstylised and blessed…

Cottier Chamber Project set for West End Festival 2012

Hebrides Ensemble, Scottish Ensemble and Red Note also on bill

22 May 2012

Classical music always has a strong presence at Glasgow’s West End Festival these days, but this year is extraordinary. Not only does the Cottier Chamber Project make a big-style return visit with small-scale music, but no less than nine choirs form…

Alan Warner - The Deadman's Pedal

Evocative and personal rural drama from the Morvern Callar author

22 May 2012

In a literary career which has played down the overly autobiographical tendency (all that writing from a female perspective malarkey for one thing), The Deadman’s Pedal seems far and away Alan Warner’s most personal fiction to date. We return to the…

Gordon Barr on Bard in the Botanics 2012

The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet and As You Like It to be staged in Glasgow's Botanic Gardens

15 May 2012

This season, for us as we move into our second decade, is all about discovery, exploration and new horizons so we were looking for plays that tied in to those themes. The link to The Tempest is fairly clear but As You Like It covers some similar ground…

How I Spent my Summer Vacation

Tightly directed action-comedy that even ardent Mel Gibson-haters will find difficult to dislike

10 May 2012

There are probably quite a few people – not least screenwriter Joe Eszterhaus, judging by his recently published missive – who would probably like to see Mel Gibson languishing in a filthy Mexican jail. But sadly for them, How I Spent My Summer Vacation…

First Shot: Just Say Aye - an extract from Irvine Welsh's Skagboys

A sneak peek inside the Edinburgh author's Trainspotting prequel

26 Apr 2012

We head oot and dive oantae a 16, bound fir Johnny’s pad at Tolcross. It’s a blindin hot day so we sit doonstairs at the back for a better view ay the passin fanny. Back top deck wi Begbie, tae intimidate wideos, back bottom wi Sick Boy tae leer at…

Interview: Irvine Welsh on Trainspotting prequel Skagboys

The new book, Leith, Twitter and the importance of subcultures

25 Apr 2012

Early on in our transatlantic phone conversation, it suddenly becomes unclear whether I’m chatting to Irvine Welsh or Frank Begbie. When I ask whether he might well be the busiest man in Scottish culture right now, the response comes over loud, clear…

Scottish Opera revive Besch's celebrated Tosca adaptation

The new production stars Susannah Glanville and José Ferrero

25 Apr 2012

Described as a ‘shabby little shocker’ by one of America’s leading musicologists, Puccini’s Tosca has been a success with audiences the world over since its premiere in Rome in 1900. From the countless productions of it, one which has had particularly…

Edinburgh vegetarian restaurant Henderson's wins List award in 50th year

Pioneering business wins Eating & Drinking Guide's Special Award 2012

24 Apr 2012

2012 marks a notable anniversary in Edinburgh’s dining history: Janet Henderson’s first city venture dedicated to vegetarian food opened 50 years ago. In 1962 Janet, along with husband Mac, an East Lothian farmer, set up a ‘farm shop’ in the city…

Outside Bet

Low-budget British horse-racing comedy falls at the first hurdle

18 Apr 2012

(12A) 101mins The cinematic equivalent of the clumps of horse dung that characters repeatedly step into for the cheapest of laughs, Outside Bet is strictly a non-runner in terms of light entertainment. In this painfully naïve British comedy, Bob…

Various Artists - Cumbia Cumbia 1 & 2

Two-album reissue of classic compilations from 1989 and 1993

18 Apr 2012

(World Circuit) The sinuous dance rhythms of the Colombian music known as Cumbia are captured in this nicely packaged and documented two-album reissue of two compilations regarded as the classics of the genre, which first brought Cumbia to wider…

New J.K. Rowling book a dark comedy for adults titled The Casual Vacancy

Novel from Edinburgh-based Harry Potter author out 27th Sept 2012

17 Apr 2012

Publisher Little, Brown have announced that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's novel for adults will be a dark comedy called The Casual Vacancy. The Edinburgh-based author is best known for her series of seven Harry Potter novels, which sold 450 million…

Nik Kershaw to play entire 'Human Racing' album in 2012 tour

His UK tour will also feature material from an upcoming new album

17 Apr 2012

Nik Kershaw is set to tour the UK with his band, beginning in September 2012. The Bristol-born singer/song-writer will be playing nine dates to celebrate this year's re-release of his iconic 1984 debut album Human Racing, which he will be performing…

Downhill Downtown 2012 line-up announced

Fort William festival includes King Creosote, The Phantom Band and Admiral Fellow

12 Apr 2012

As the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup takes place in Fort William this summer, music festival Downhill Downtown will bring its own brand of excitement to the town, with a host of Scottish musicians to keep the party going into the wee hours. Confirmed…

Colette Thurlow of 2:54 - interview

The indie singer/guitarist discusses sibling bandmates and significant influences

27 Mar 2012

Like a louchely worn black leather jacket, moody guitar music will never go out of fashion – see 2:54 for proof on both counts. Having toured with Warpaint and The Big Pink since emerging a year ago, the London four-piece based around sisters Colette…

Alexander Tucker - Third Mouth

English avant-pop artist's work is stirring, compelling and glorious

26 Mar 2012

(Thrill Jockey) Avant-pop druid Alexander Tucker has long ruled with his explorations of memory, mythology and landscape – from the experimental psalms and pastoral drones of Old Fog (2005), through the otherworldly psych folk of Furrowed Brow…

CBeebies Live brings TV stars to stage

Mister Maker, Mr Tumble, Postman Pat and LazyTown's Robbie Rotten star in live show

21 Mar 2012

If enthusiasm could be bottled and sold, then Phil Gallagher would be a very wealthy man. Better known as Cbeebies’ Mister Maker, Gallagher has been creating works of art from bits and bobs in his ‘Doodle Drawer’ for the past four years. Endlessly…

Creamfields 2012 line up announced

deadmau5, Avicii, Tiësto, David Guetta and Skrillex confirmed for dance music fesitval

5 Mar 2012

deadmau5, Avicii, Tiësto, David Guetta and Skrillex have been announced as headliners at one of the UK’s biggest dance music festivals this year. Creamfields 2012 will take place at Daresbury in Cheshire from Fri 24–Sun 26 Aug, and will also feature…

Style Guide 2012 - My Style

Six Scottish fashion and design creatives talk us through their wardrobes and shopping habits

2 Mar 2012

Name: Dougal Marwick. Job: Vintage buyer and seller at HB Electronics/ copywriter. What three words best describe your style? Chip-toothed smile. Where do you find inspiration? There are so many identikit ‘cool-guy’ blogs these days it’s a bit hard…

Crime books round-up – March 2012

Doug Johnstone, Alex Gray and Mari Jungstedt deliver new crime novels this month

17 Feb 2012

As if to show that fiction readers love a good bit of murder and mystery, death and deceit, blood and booze, there’s acres of it about to be scattered around the nation’s book shelves. Doug Johnstone (of this parish) parks his Hit and Run (Faber) at our…

Bollywood: The Coffee Box

Takeaway curry stand situated on Edinburgh's Bruntsfield Links

17 Feb 2012

Inspired by the street food culture she grew up with in India, Nutan Bala left her job as a support worker and opened the hatches on Edinburgh’s first curry and coffee stand. Except for a mixed vegetable dhal, which has proven so popular that it has…

Anonymous sculptor leaves literary artworks around Edinburgh

11 sculptures made from the pages of books have been discovered

10 Feb 2012

On a quiet day last March, the Scottish Poetry Library received an unexpected gift; a tree, fashioned from words and paper, blossoming from the yellowing book it rested upon. Throughout 2011, ten intricate sculptures appeared at creative organisations…

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

By-the-numbers old age comedy drama

10 Feb 2012

Early in this by-the-numbers comedy drama, a young salesperson eagerly enthuses to retiring couple Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) that 'the grey pound is very strong at the moment'. We’re quite clearly supposed to see this…

Pulp - It/Freaks/Separations

Reissue of first three albums from 1980s originally released on Fire

27 Jan 2012

(Fire) Testament to the 80s’capacity to incubate provincial bands until they’re ready for megastardom, Pulp’s first three albums on Fire were a career’s worth in themselves, although hardly anyone remembers. Containing, as all three of these reissues…

Interview: Felicity Jones, star of Like Crazy

Young actress set to follow Sundance hit with films by Warren Beatty and Ralph Fiennes

17 Jan 2012

A year ago, Felicity Jones was asleep when she got a call from America. ‘I thought there’d been a terrible accident,’ she laughs. But this was no accident. On the line was the producer of her new film Like Crazy: the Sundance Film Festival had just…

Search for those involved in Glasgow-shot 1980 film Death Watch

Bertrand Tavernier's reality TV film set for 2012 Glasgow Film Festival

16 Jan 2012

Glasgow Film Festival are appealing for anyone who worked on Bertrand Tavernier's film Death Watch in 1979 to get in touch before it is screened in February. Death Watch was filmed in Glasgow in 1979 and will be shown in cinemas nationwide this…

The King and I

This stylish production of the musical classic can't disguise the script's patronising tone

6 Jan 2012

Like most of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s quintet of hit musicals, the deceptively light surface action in The King and I struggles to keep the lid on the problematic themes rumbling away underneath. Where the culture clash between prim, feisty governess…

The Hot 100 2011 - No. 56: Freya Mavor

Moving on after being Mini McGuinness in Skins

16 Dec 2011

All good things, they say, must come to an end. So with the Skins policy of changing casts every two series, Freya Mavor may well be currently filming her final scenes of the popular E4 show. ‘I feel petrified of leaving my baby behind,’ Edinburgh’s…

Profile: Carol Morley

Director of documentary-drama Dreams of a Life

9 Dec 2011

Born 1966, Stockport, England. Background The sister of music critic Paul Morley, film director Carol left school aged 16 to pursue a career as a singer in various post-punk Mancunian bands. Having studied fine art film at Central Saint Martins…

Padgett Powell, author of You & I - interview

The writer follows up his postmodern 'questions' novel with a book-length dialogue

18 Oct 2011

When Padgett Powell was a boy, he knew little of the settled life. With a trucker father, his family was constantly on the move and he reckons that he attended ten different schools and lived in 17 houses during his perpetual-motion upbringing. Perhaps…

Restaurant review: Calabash

Pan-African dining with a unique atmosphere

21 Sep 2011

A year or so ago Glasgow’s African dining options encompassed much of the continent’s varied cuisine, but a rash of closures left only Egyptian and Moroccan restaurants standing. Now the Calabash has filled the gap, offering traditional dishes from…

Daniel Sloss - The Joker

Ridiculously talented young comedy buck

12 Aug 2011

Daniel Sloss – a charming, elongated Macaulay Culkin doppelganger, and protégé of Frankie Boyle – begins by listing the reasons why people might not like his show. ‘I smile, I swear, I’m happy and I can jump. The ones who won’t like me, they’re the old…

Best Edinburgh Festival street food

The ten best pop-up food stalls to be found at 2011 Edinburgh Festival

11 Aug 2011

Mussel Men Seafood George Square walkway (east side), 11am–1am The guys in the stripey Breton shirts are actually London-based Scots, serving up fresh mussels and oysters from the west coast near Oban. Steaming hot moules come in a wee box sturdy…

Leo

Tobias Wegner's vitruoso performance is engaging and imaginative

11 Aug 2011

Leo (played by multi-talented German performer Tobias Wegner) finds himself trapped in a box room. With a charming innocence, he uses his imagination, his hat, his suitcase and a piece of chalk to ease the anxiety and the tedium. As he does so we see…

David Mach: Precious Light

Edinburgh Art Festival exhibition of biblical proportions by Fife-born artist

5 Aug 2011

Without doubt, Methil-born artist David Mach’s work ‘Golgotha’ will stand out as the defining image from the artistic strand of this year’s Edinburgh Festival. Three enormous figures of threaded steel nailed to metallic crosses, which take up the entire…

Advertising, Mad Men and the future - John Hegarty interview

Advertising guru set for Edinburgh Book Festival 2011

8 Jul 2011

"In the end, virtually everything I work on is, to a certain extent, irrelevant." After the best part of an hour's chat in which John Hegarty has pretty much sold me on the unparalleled joys and benefits of advertising, it's a refreshing shock to the…

The legacy of Scottish arts institutions ECA and GSA

An examination as degree shows and 2011 Turner Prize approach

27 May 2011

When David Shrigley spoke in 2010 about how the arts institutions in Glasgow were crucial to his creative development, he may have been bemoaning the impending threat of arts cuts, but his intervention nonetheless speaks volumes about where art…

Five of the best: Vintage clothes shops in Scotland

Vintage Guru, Starry Starry Night, Barnardos Vintage, Herman Brown

24 Mar 2011

Vintage Guru 195 Byres Road, Glasgow, 0141 339 4750, www.vintageguru.co.uk Existing as a web distributor for 15 years, Vintage Guru is now 3D, catering for the ladies and oft-neglected retro-hungry gents. Past List favourite finds include a white and…