Henry Northmore

Interview: Friendly Fires plan to get the crowds dancing at RockNess 2012

Ed Macfarlane on festivals, pop music and dancing ‘like an idiot’

28 May 2012

Friendly Fires blur the lines between indie and dance music, so their brand of punk funk should fit in perfectly at RockNess. Hailing from St Albans in Hertfordshire they were nominated for the Mercury Music prize for their debut eponymous album, which…

Summer Festivals 2012: Biffy Clyro - interview

The band's James Johnston discusses their headline slot at RockNess

25 May 2012

Despite the unusual time signatures, the uncompromising riffs, the bizarro lyrics and the beards, somehow Biffy Clyro have become one of the biggest rock bands in the UK. Even their hits – ‘That Golden Rule’, ‘Mountains’ and ‘Many of Horror…

Summer Festivals 2012: Ones to watch

A selection of industry experts and List writers choose their musical highlights for this summer

25 May 2012

Lanterns on the Lake Chosen by Jonny Ensall, Editor, The List What does that name bring to mind? Boats on the water? A night to remember? An ethereal choir of knitting together a sense of the magical past and the optimistic future? You’re spot on with…

Men in Black 3

Silly, lightweight, completely unnecessary but surprisingly fun

25 May 2012

In these times of austerity Hollywood seems scared of originals ideas. Studios demand ‘brand recognition’ before they’ll stump up the multi-million dollar budgets blockbusters require. And they seem willing to latch onto almost any brand, from comics to…

Interview: Ash get ready for RockNess 2012

Northern Irish rockers Ash get ready for their only Scottish festival of the year

24 May 2012

Famous for the instantly catchy pop rock of tracks like ‘Kung Fu’, ‘Burn Baby Burn’ and ‘Girl From Mars’ Ash formed as teenagers in Northern Ireland back in 1992. Juggling homework with gigs and recording sessions they released the instant smash 1977 in…

Interview: Jakwob prepares for his live show at RockNess 2012

The dubstep producer talks remixes, Rocky and RockNess

23 May 2012

Young dubstep producer and DJ Jakwob (aka James Jacob) favours a jazzy take on bassy electronica. He first appeared on most people’s radar with his squelchy remix of Ellie Goulding’s ‘Under the Sheets’ and has since gone on to remix Lily Allen, MIA and…

Interview: The Sub Club at RockNess

Glasgow’s legendary club heads to RockNess 2012 as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations

23 May 2012

Glasgow institution the Sub Club celebrate their 25th anniversary this year and as part of their celebrations they are bringing the sounds of the Subbie to RockNess. We catch up with two of the club’s directors, Mike Grieve and Paul Crawford, to see…

Ride the RockNess Express - train details

The Express will pick up festival goers from London, Birmingham, Derby, York and Newcastle

8 May 2012

As part of the Year of Creative Scotland, RockNess are offering a unique (and environmentally friendly) way to the festival site on the banks of Loch Ness. Picking up passengers from London, Birmingham, Derby, York and Newcastle before dropping them off…

Health to provide Max Payne 3 soundtrack

The LA noise rockers follow the game-soundtracking example of Opeth, Trivium and others

24 Apr 2012

Ever since the very earliest days of home gaming and the release of the Atari 2600 (1977), videogame music has become a part of cultural life. The lack of processing power meant it was necessarily tinny, bleepy and repetitive. Despite this, 8- and…

Dan Slott & Humberto Ramos - Spider-Man: Spider Island

New Spidey adventure too frivolous to be genuinely engaging

24 Apr 2012

(Marvel) Spider-Man has always been one of the comics world’s more light-hearted superheroes. While there have been moments of introspection and heartache, he’s always more than ready with a corny quip as he swings into battle. Spider Island continues…

German house DJ Tensnake - interview

The DJ is set to play Musika, Heavy Gossip and Ultragroove's 12-hour bank holiday party

18 Apr 2012

Events like this usually happen in Glasgow. But Musika, in association with Heavy Gossip and Ultragroove, are giving something back to Edinburgh, presenting 12 hours of house and electro spread over three stages. Showcasing some of the best live…

Interview: Ben Sims gets ready for RockNess 2012

The techno DJ/producer among names added to festival bill

13 Apr 2012

DJ Ben Sims has been announced for 2012’s RockNess festival, where he joins Soma Records on the Arcadia UFO stage. With over 20 years of DJ experience, running his own Theory label (among others), he’s renowned for his DJ skills using vinyl, CD and…

Interview: Andrew Weatherall set for RockNess 2012

Esteemed DJ and producer on A Love From Outer Space and festivals

30 Mar 2012

Andrew Weatherall is just one of the new announcements for 2012’s RockNess line-up where he’ll be joining Soma Records who are taking control of the new Arcadia UFO. It’s a Scottish Festival exclusive as he’s joined by Sean Johnston as they present an…

Crate digging: Nick Curly of Kehakuma

The German house DJ shares his favourite tracks ahead of a set at Return to Mono

26 Mar 2012

I’ll start with ‘Easy’ Sante feat Daniel Wild (8Bit) for me it’s the best club record of the moment, people go crazy when I play it and there’s a great vibe on the vocal. I have two labels and sometimes you sign a track and you realise, ‘boom this is…

Trance act Above & Beyond to play set at Barrowland

Tony McGuinness sees trance music as a form of 'group therapy'

26 Mar 2012

Some dismiss trance as lowest common denominator dance music but for many it’s the epitome of club culture: the big build-ups, the huge breakdowns, glo-sticks, lasers and Gatecrasher kids. Whatever the critical reception, trance is wildly popular. Only…

Mark Millar & Leinil Francis Yu - Superior

The Kick-Ass creator's latest ponders what superpowers would mean to those who needed them most

16 Mar 2012

(Titan) Glasgow writer Mark Millar has really picked up the pace on his creator-owned series over the last few years, but what’s more remarkable is how high the quality has remained. Wanted, Kick-Ass and Nemesis were action blockbusters but Superior…

David Kushner - Jacked

An entertaining, if hyperbolic, 'unauthorised' history of Grand Theft Auto

16 Mar 2012

(Collins) After a similar book on Doom, journalist David Kushner returns to familiar ground with Jacked. This ‘unauthorised’ history of Grand Theft Auto traces the game’s development from its early beginnings in Dundee to become one of the highest…

Interview - US rockers 3 Doors Down head for the UK

Q&A with American rock group's bassist Todd Harrell

9 Mar 2012

Mississippi rockers 3 Doors Down are massive in the States, their debut single ‘Kryptonite’ reached number 3 in the Billboard Hot 100 and since then they’ve gone on to score multi-platinum albums. Now they are continuing to secure more fans across the…

Avengers Assemble in latest trailer

Trailer for superhero movie with Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow

1 Mar 2012

It’s the moment comic book and action movie fans have been waiting for as we get our first good look at all six members of the superhero team, The Avengers, in the latest trailer. The hype has been building for this massive blockbuster with Iron Man…

Edinburgh Rocks Music Awards

Awards ceremony celebrating the best in capital clubbing

28 Feb 2012

Edinburgh Rocks, in association with The List, are putting on an awards bash to highlight the club talent in this fine city as well as a top notch afterparty featuring Huggy, Yogi Haughton and a headliner still to be revealed at a mystery location (that…

GFF 2012 - Mark Millar interview

The comic book creator of Kick-Ass and Wanted tells us about his role at the Glasgow Film Festival

13 Feb 2012

Mark Millar has written some of the biggest comics of the last 20 years. He’s tackled the X-Men, Spider-Man, Superman and Fantastic Four alongside...

Sony PS Vita handheld console - playtest

We try out the new hardware with some of the PSV launch titles, including WipeOut and Uncharted

3 Feb 2012

Sony’s new PS Vita is a pretty impressive bit of kit. It’s the most powerful dedicated handheld gaming device on the market. In practical terms it’s pretty much a PS3 in your pocket. The full HD OLED screen really pops and, due to the processing power…

GFF 2012 - Frightfest highlights

A round up of the best films showing as part of the Glasgow Film Festival's horror strand

2 Feb 2012

FrightFest is back once again to terrorise the Glasgow Film Festival. Now taking over the GFT for two full days, this year (as with every year) it’s a vibrant snap shot of the state of horror cinema. It’s been so successful the organisers have launched…

Seven reasons to attend Cab Vol's seventh birthday

Edinburgh venue celebrates 49 dog years with three weeks of events

2 Feb 2012

1 Supernova Kicking off the Cab’s month long ‘seven splendid events for seven splendid years’ Glasgow tech-house and minimal night Supernova makes it’s Edinburgh debut with the tough techno sounds of Karotte (Cocoon). Fri 3 Feb. 2 Musika & We…

Tekken: Blood Vengeance

Fluid but uneven CGI movie based on the popular games franchise

1 Feb 2012

This is actually the third movie based on the immensely popular fighting games, but Tekken: Blood Vengeance (Manga Entertainment) is the first fully computer animated version and was originally available as part of the Tekken Hybrid package. It looks…

Courtney Taylor-Taylor & Jim Rugg - One Model Nation

Unsuccessful comic book crossover attempt from the Dandy Warhols frontman

27 Jan 2012

(Titan Books) It’s always interesting when someone turns their hand from one artform to another. However, One Model Nation is proof that the results aren’t always as interesting as the concept. The idea of a comic from Dandy Warhols’ frontman…

Oscars 2012 - predictions

Some of The List's film critics give their predictions on who'll win what at the Oscars

25 Jan 2012

Best Picture. The Artist; simplicity is the reason that is soars above the other Oscar bait. The Artist probably will win, as it has won pretty much everything else going. It deserves it - when was the last time a film came along that made everyone fall…

Preview of 2012 - Games

A look at the videogames that'll rule your world this year, including GTA V, Halo 4 and Max Payne 3

9 Jan 2012

First off the biggie: Grand Theft Auto V. We’ve seen the trailer and it looks like we’re back in Los Angeles, sorry Los Santos, for the latest instalment of the world conquering videogame developed by Edinburgh’s own Rockstar North. The shoot outs, car…

Preview of 2012 - Major Lazer

Tsunami of sound from Diplo and Switch's musical alter-ego

6 Jan 2012

Brace yourselves for some sub-heavy electro dancehall from Diplo and Switch as they unleash their collective alter ego Major Lazer: ‘A Jamaican commando who lost his arm in the secret Zombie War of 1984. The US military rescued him and repurposed…

Preview of 2012 - Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino flexes his Western muscles with Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio

6 Jan 2012

Quentin Tarantino has already given us his heist movie (Reservoir Dogs), his take on blaxploitation (Jackie Brown), his war film (Inglourious Basterds), horror (Death Proof), kung fu (Kill Bill 1 & 2) and of course his crime thriller (Pulp Fiction).

Shame

Steve McQueen's second directorial effort is an unflinching portrayal of sex addiction

5 Jan 2012

(18) 101min Sexual imagery oozes from every blockbuster and frat boy comedy, but serious discussion rather than cheap titillation is a rarity. Cinema actually finds it hard to confront sex, partly because the American censorship board takes such a…

Director Steve McQueen discusses latest film Shame

Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan star in story of sex addiction

5 Jan 2012

‘When I first heard of the notion of sex addicts I laughed,’ says Steve McQueen. ‘Then I did a bit of research. It’s very similar to an alcoholic that drinks a litre of whisky a day.’ The artist and director is talking about his new film Shame, an…

Top 5 secretive dance acts

In honour of notoriously interview-shy producer Fake Blood we name our favourite mysterious DJs

5 Jan 2012

Fake Blood For several years no one even knew who Fake Blood was. He was eventually outed as Theo Keating aka DJ Touché (one half of The Wiseguys), and while it’s now a fairly open secret he still refuses to do photo shoots and turns down nearly every…

The Hot 100 2011: 100-50

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

100: Gordon Ferris. Kilmarnock crime author makes good. The already packed Scottish crime writing field has finally found a bit of elbow room for another burgeoning talent. Joining the likes of Rankin, Brookmyre, McDermid and co is this Ayrshire-born…

Hot 100 2011 - No. 49 to 1

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

The Hot 100 is the definitive list of Scottish creative talent. From fashion designers to performance artists, everyone who has made a sizeable splash in 2011 has a place in this countdown. It’s for people who’ve created a buzz, but it’s also about…

The best family games this Christmas

Animal Croquet, Pointless, Angry Birds, Rory Story Cubes and Spyro the Dragon featured

13 Dec 2011

Animal Croquet One for the little ones or if you just fancy a very civilised mini game of croquet indoors. £24 (currently on special offer online at £16.50) from poshlittletots.com Pointless The much loved TV quiz show with Alexander Armstrong…

Korn – The Path of Totality

Blistering new dubstep direction from the nu metal overlords

25 Nov 2011

They’ll forever be known as ‘the godfathers of nu metal’, but on Path of Totality Korn have taken a massive side step. Sure the guitars are still heavy as hammers but they’ve gone dubstep. And we’re not talking the odd breakbeat this is a full on…

Charity club event Edinburgh Rocks to take place at Royal Botanic Gardens

DJs from Musika, Luvely, Ultragroove, Taste and more to take part

16 Nov 2011

It’s nice when the clubbing community bands together to give something back and there are many great nights across Scotland that help raise cash for charity. Now Edinburgh Rocks (in association with Leith FM) are planning something rather special. ‘We…

Opeth - HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, Thu 10 Nov

Mesmerising show from the Swedish prog metallers

16 Nov 2011

Prog metal (from Rush to Mastodon) is an acquired taste but Sweden’s Opeth are at the top of their game and it is in the live arena where you can really appreciate their musicianship. You can watch each musician and really piece together their input…

Five reasons to go to Skrillex

The dubstep remix master is coming to Glasgow

16 Nov 2011

1 Scary monsters Skrillex favours the ‘kitchen sink’ approach to electronica, the more is more method, piling electro squelches, acidic explosions, scratched up breakbeat and filthy bass wobble onto the heaviest dubstep you can imagine. 2 Very metal…

The Awakening

Superior British period ghost story sets a tone of creepy unease

15 Nov 2011

There’s been a glut of cinematic ghost stories this year. The likes of Paranormal Activity 3 and Insidious often relied on jump scares and cheap parlour tricks, whereas The Awakening goes in the opposite direction letting the story unfold to reveal the…

Rick Remender & Tony Moore - Venom / Zeb Wells & Clayton Crain - Carnage

Spiderman villains comics deliver great action

15 Nov 2011

(Marvel UK) A double dose of villains this month, reintroducing two of Spider-Man’s arch enemies to the Marvel Universe. Venom and Carnage are both symbiotes, a parasitic species that bonds with a human host bestowing them with immense power at a…

Interview - Max Cooper

Respected electronica producer and DJ set for Kollektiv show

3 Nov 2011

Max Cooper first came to the attention of clubbers and electronic music fans with his ‘Serie’ trilogy on Traum Schallplatten in 2009, each track inspired by a different mathematical or scientific concept. Since then alongside his own productions he’s…

Alice Cooper - SECC: Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow, Mon 31 Oct

2 Nov 2011

Could there be a more perfect date for Alice Cooper to play Glasgow? And the Halloween freakshow starts early with protopunks New York Dolls still pouting after all these years. A muted response from the crowd in this vast arena lessens the impact but…

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thu 27 Oct, 2011

New material and Oasis classics from Gallagher senior

28 Oct 2011

Some gigs feel more like football matches than concerts, there’s always a certain frisson in the air when it comes to anything Oasis related. And Gallagher senior has perhaps more weight of expectation on his shoulders than little bruv’s Beady Eye…

La Planete Sauvage, The Funhouse, Tenebrae and Pulp Fiction rereleased

Blu-ray releases round-up

21 Oct 2011

While inevitably the picture quality and audio track are vastly improved by the high definition offered by Blu-ray another bonus is the extra features you can cram on to the format. Trippy animated sci-fi allegory La Planete Sauvage (Eureka!) ●●●● is…

Interview - Manowar get ready for their first UK tour in 16 years

Q&A with the most awesome metal act in the world

21 Oct 2011

Manowar are the very embodiment of epic metal excess and they return to the UK for their first full tour in 16 years playing their debut album Battle Hymns in its entirety as well as other thunderous metal classics. We catch up with outspoken bassist…

Paranormal Activity 3

Surprisingly effective third instalment of found footage suburban ghost story

21 Oct 2011

(15) 84min Now Saw has relinquished it’s stranglehold on the multiplex each and every Halloween, Paranormal Activity has stepped up to fill the void. And it’s impressive that they’ve managed to mine this much back-story from the simplicity of the…

Interview - Royal Republic

The funky Swedish punk rockers on their debut album and 'The President’s Daughter'

19 Oct 2011

Touring in support of their debut album We Are the Royal, Sweden’s cheeky rock quartet Royal Republic are preparing to run riot across the UK. The List caught up with guitarist Hannes Irengård to find out more. How would you describe your music to…

Daniel Clowes - The Death-Ray

Amusing and poignant deconstruction of the super-hero genre

18 Oct 2011

(Jonathan Cape) More gorgeousness from writer/artist Daniel Clowes with this oversized hardback reprinting of 2004’s The Death-Ray. A slacker superhero story about 17-year-old orphan Andy discovering that smoking cigarettes charges him with…

DJs Radioactive Man and Billy Nasty team up for Radionasty

The twosome are to appear at the Caves courtesy of Jackhammer

17 Oct 2011

Radioactive Man and Billy Nasty have both played Jackhammer before but now they’re back in a new itineration, as two-headed techno mutant Radionasty, and drawing on both their styles to create a fresh new sound. ‘Our first track was quite dark fast…

NEoN Digital Arts Festival 2011

Highlights include works by artists Tom DeMajo and N55 and an event exploring the sound of stars

17 Oct 2011

Digital arts festival NEoN is once again transforming Dundee into an electronic playground for six days. With its series of film screenings, live music, DJ performances and workshops, NEoN’s main aim is to create works of art that couldn’t have existed…

Shark Night 3D

Dumb fun as big fish chow down on stereotypical college kids

6 Oct 2011

(15) 91 min The avalanche of 3D releases may be slowing down but there’s still a few chuckles to be had with the format. Shark Night 3D has the flimsiest of plots as seven college kids head out for a weekend at a luxurious lake house in Louisiana…

The Woman

Challenging horror from the minds of Lucky McKee and Jack Ketchum

28 Sep 2011

(18) 98 min There has been a spate of interesting indie horror recently, films like Dead Girl, The Loved Ones and Red, White & Blue have brought a real intelligence to the genre. A challenging leftfield take on the idea of what is horror. The Woman…

Heavy Gossip and Ultragroove join forces

DJs Nick Yuill and Gareth Sommerville discuss the past and future of the Edinburgh house nights

16 Sep 2011

Nick Yuill (Heavy Gossip) ‘Myself, [promoter] Paul [Cunningham] and Gareth [Sommerville] first got together to discuss doing one-off events and we realised we had the exact same aims and goals and it kind of rumbled on from there. ‘My first club…

Jonathan Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards - Turf

Slightly clunky comic debut from the TV personality

16 Sep 2011

(Titan) Yes that Jonathon Ross. The chat show host has long been an acknowledged geek with a superhero fixation, so perhaps it’s high time he stepped up to take the reigns on his own comic title. And he certainly goes for it, all guns blazing, with a…

Profile: Melissa George

Aussie actress Melissa George tells us all about her new film A Lonely Place to Die

1 Sep 2011

Born 6 August, 1976, Perth, Australia. Background Yet another Aussie soap alumni done good, after starring as Angel in over 300 episodes of Home & Away. ‘I’m a very good quitter, I always quit a job at the right time,’ explains George. ‘I was…

Primal Scream confirmed to headline Edinburgh’s Hogmanay concert

First name announced for 2011/2012’s Hogmanay celebrations

30 Aug 2011

Bobby Gillespie and co will be heading to Edinburgh to see in 2012 as Primal Scream are confirmed as the headline act for this year’s Hogmanay celebrations. Bringing their Screamadelica tour to Princes Street Gardens as they play the classic album…

Dead Island

The game behind the stunning trailer is finally ready for release

25 Aug 2011

A young girl’s body lies in the grass, the image intercut with her running down a corridor pursued by undead hordes; time rewinds as she flies up, back through the window her father just threw her through as she grapples him from behind, biting a huge…

Ravi Shankar - Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Mon 22 Aug

A mesmerising show of classical Indian music as part of 2011 EIF

24 Aug 2011

Ravi Shankar crossed over into popular culture with his associations with various 60s musicians, working with and/or influencing the likes of The Beatles, The Kinks and The Byrds. Going on to play at iconic festivals such as Woodstock and The Monterey…

Final Destination 5

Horror franchise gets back on track with some suitably gory bloodshed

24 Aug 2011

(15) 92 min In many ways the Final Destination series is the ultimate streamlined horror franchise, they have dispensed with a villain and it is death itself that stalks our victims. And FD 5 returns the glorious gory yucks to the screen after the…

A Lonely Place To Die

Tense and riveting Brit-thriller set in Scottish Highlands

24 Aug 2011

How far would you go to save a stranger? Would you risk your life? And your friends’ lives? It’s a question Alison (Melissa George) and her fellow climbers must answer after they stumble across a young girl (Holly Boyd) buried in a wooden box while…

Beckett & Smith

A genuinely funny 60 minutes

24 Aug 2011

There are some real gems on the free festival circuit, but picking the wheat from the chaff can be a daunting prospect. Split into two halves, Ian Smith launches this hour of stand up with some freewheeling rambling that at times cuts close to the bone…

Jay Cantoe & James Romberger - Aaron and Ahmed: A Love Story

17 Aug 2011

(Vertigo/Titan) Novelist, scriptwriter and essayist Jay Cantor’s foray into comics starts as a simple examination of the relationship between an army doctor/torturer and a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, then heads off on a wild tangent concerning the…

Crate digging: Gary Beck picks 5 great tracks

Producer releasing on Soma, Drumcode, Minus and Bek Audio

16 Aug 2011

Gary Beck is one of the younger artists signed to Soma (he also has releases on Drumcode, Minus and his own Bek Audio) and he joins Slam and Animal Farm at the Edge Festival’s annual Soma Night as part of the Glasgow label’s 20th birthday celebrations.

Terry Alderton

Hour of clever nonsense with surreal twist

16 Aug 2011

Taking many of the conventions of old-school stand-up – observational comedy, sound effects, impressions – Alderton gives them a surreal twist before cramming them all together. Some punchlines get lost in the chaos of songs, dancing and vocal mimicry…

Isy Suttie

Cute, clever music-based comedy from the Peep Show comedian

15 Aug 2011

Best known as geek love interest Dobby from Peep Show, Suttie’s an incredibly likeable comedian. Mixing stand-up and music, her humour has a real warmth and the stuttering love story of Pearl and Dave that runs through the show is instantly engaging and…

bETAMAX - New Edinburgh club plays 70s and 80s edgy dance

New club from promoters behind FAST and Vintage Violence

9 Aug 2011

‘In our heads bETAMAX will be halfway between some legendary NY night like Danceteria and a local disco in Basildon circa 1982. If the Tories want to drag us back to that era in the worst of ways, we can at least enjoy the soundtrack,’ explains…

Five great tracks by Plump DJs

UK DJ duo set for Edinburgh club Bass Syndicate

9 Aug 2011

1. Big Groovy Fucker An early Plumps production (their second release on Finger Lickin’) that takes its name literally. A big pumping groove machine that ends in a flurry of acidic breakbeat. 2. Creepshow Sees Andy Gardner and Lee Rous at their…

Review - T in the Park 2011

All the rain, mud and rock action from Scotland's biggest music festival

8 Aug 2011

Saturday Ke$ha proves trashy entertainment with a set that refuses to take itself seriously. A party up glam stomp though a series of electro pop hits that while low on art is high on glitter and cheap thrills (and inexplicably includes a six-foot…

Interview - Mike Slott, Eclair Fifi and Machinedrum of LuckyMe

Glasgow DIY label set for Edinburgh Festival clubnight

8 Aug 2011

Mike Slott (producer) I met Dom [Flannigan] who runs LuckyMe in Borders Books. He was sneaking flyers into hip hop magazines. We got chatting, we liked similar music and in Glasgow if you’re into a certain kind of music, you bump into the same people…

Sink or Spin

It’s gym life, but not as we know it

8 Aug 2011

A site-specific comedy set in the working environs of Bannatyne’s Health Club (you even need to fill in a fitness form as you enter), you’ll spend most of Sink or Spin on an exercise bike in a distinctly unusual class taught by Clement (Donal Coonan).

Slavery to Star Trek

Autobiographical show taking in Martin Luther King and Malcolm X

8 Aug 2011

Andreea Kindryd has lived a fascinating life. She knew Martin Luther King, was friends with Malcolm X and worked on the original Star Trek series. She’s an engaging storyteller whose tale starts in the days of her great grandparents and slavery…

Interview: DJ Sneak - set for Edinburgh's Telefunken

The legendary DJ on 'real' underground house

3 Aug 2011

DJ Sneak loves house music. In fact he’s kinda protective of the genre. ‘The word “house” has been murdered by the media and people like Swedish “blank” Mafia, which clearly know nothing about house music. Underground house will always keep the spirit…

Metal titans Manowar announced their first UK tour for 16 years

22 Jul 2011

The mighty Manowar have announced their first UK tour in 16 years. Where they will be playing their album Battle Hymns in its entirety alongside other bombastic rock classics. Famed for their over the top showmanship, love of swords, sorcery and Norse…

The best Scottish websites

The top 30 websites made for and by Scots

21 Jul 2011

When putting together this list, we weren’t necessarily looking for the biggest or the best-known cultural websites in Scotland. We were looking for unique and interesting ideas, cleverly realised and lovingly maintained on the web. This might mean that…

Mark Waid & Jorge Molina - Captain America: Man Out of Time

Marvel's classic character needs to concentrate on plot over patriotism

21 Jul 2011

(Marvel UK) Another month and yet another big-screen movie adaptation. Captain America is a peculiarly old-fashioned character, the US embodied in a patriotic soldier who risked his life taking the ‘Super Soldier Serum’ to become the ultimate…

Bon Jovi – Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Wed 22 Jun 2011

Polished if unremarkable show from the New Jersey rockers

20 Jul 2011

For many years to even admit a passing love of Bon Jovi lead to ridicule and derision. But the passage of time has been kind to these reformed poodle rockers, nostalgia has meant their hits have been reassessed as cheesy but ultimately life affirming…

DVD reviews: The Kingdom, Giallo, The Pack, Bloodrayne 3, Evil Rising and Lake Mungo

Summer horror DVD round-up

18 Jul 2011

Forget Hollywood – this month we embark on a European horror odyssey. First up, Lars von Trier's superlative haunted hospital drama The Kingdom (Second Sight ●●●●). Collecting both of his four-part Danish TV series into one boxed set for the first time…

Richie Hawtin announces Plastikman live show for Glasgow Barrowlands

Sat 3 Dec date for Hawtin's live techno show

18 Jul 2011

One of the true innovators of techno, Richie Hawtin, will be bringing his live Plastikman 1.5 show to the Barrowland in Glasgow on Saturday 3 December 2011. One of only three UK dates, this hugely ambitious live electronica show was last seen in…

Alex Smoke live at Edinburgh club Definition

Glasgow-born, London-based techno DJ set to appear at Sneaky Pete's

13 Jul 2011

Alex Smoke has just moved to London but he misses his home town. ‘Glasgow has one of the strongest scenes globally,’ he explains. ‘Very supportive and wide-ranging. It’s a culture that’s very proud of music and very explorative. Paris is stagnant, for…

Cabaret Voltaire venue launches Cab Vol Stars clubnight

New club helmed by Cab Vol employees from bar staff to cleaners

29 Jun 2011

Residents A rolling selection of Cabaret Voltaire employees from bar staff to cleaners Guests It will be a different line-up every month but as an example Prof, Dimi and Cunnie host this July date Music policy It really is a mixed bag, from…

Games contest Dare to be Digital attracts best of Scotland's gamers

University of Abertay comp is breeding ground for games industry talent

28 Jun 2011

Dare to be Digital, now entering its eleventh year, has become the breeding ground for Scotland’s games industry talent. Hosted by the University of Abertay, Dundee, 15 teams of five are already feverishly programming a working videogame before the…

DVD reviews: Amer, My Soul to Take, Season of the Witch, The Resident and more on DVD

Horror DVD round-up

24 Jun 2011

Time for another dastardly delve into the horror DVD pile. We’ll start on a highnote. Amer (Anchor Bay) is actually French but is a studied homage to Italian 70s gialo filmmaking, more concerned with sound, colour, style and mood than coherent…

The Last Circus

Spanish black comedy/horror takes in clowns, circus life, love and madness

20 Jun 2011

The latest film from writer/director Alex de la Iglesia is almost unclassifiable, a love story, a black comedy and horror all apply and as fans of his Accion Mutante (1992) will know it’s this glorious mess of ideas and themes that makes for such a…

Rabies (Kalevat)

An interesting twist on slasher movie conventions from Israel

17 Jun 2011

The problem with slasher films is that they perhaps have the most rigid rules in cinema. It’s so easy to fall into the standard clichés as set out by Halloween and Friday the 13th. Not that it means you can’t make a fun, entertaining film within these…

Phase 7 (Fase 7)

Dark pandemic tale from Argentina

16 Jun 2011

There’s a vague ‘pandemic’ theme in this year’s EIFF programme (with talks and screenings of the likes of 28 Days Later, The Divide and Panic in the Streets) and Phase 7 is the first to raise its diseased head above the parapet. As a global epidemic…

Daniel Clowes - Mister Wonderful: A Love Story

New York Times Magazine column story into bittersweet romcom

14 Jun 2011

(Jonathan Cape) Famed for titles like Ghost World and Art School Confidential (both adapted into films by director Terry Zwigoff), writer and artist Daniel Clowes’ real strength is the emotional realism he imbues his characters with. Mister Wonderful…

Ms Dynamite, Yasmin, Niki & The Dove announced for RockNess 2011

Yet more names join this year’s bill

31 May 2011

Garage MC Ms Dynamite who recently collaborated with both Katy B and Magnetic Man (who also appear at this year’s RockNess) leads the latest additions to the line-up. Joining her is female British rapper Yasmin, Highland singer-songwriter James…

Interview: Glasvegas - Rab Allan on being older, wiser and stronger in 2011

Glasgow band talk to us ahead of their main stage slot at RockNess

27 May 2011

‘My head wasn’t in a very good place either. My head was up my arse. I didn’t really know what was happening. I was just as bad as he was,’ explains Glasvegas guitarist Rab Allan with a nervous laugh. He’s referring to frontman (and Rab’s cousin) James…

Geoff Johns - Green Lantern: Secret Origin (review)

Modern twist on an old-school sci-fi hero

17 May 2011

(Titan) The Green Lantern might not seem the most likely candidate for a big-budget blockbuster. He’s certainly not your typical superhero, being based more in the world of retro sci-fi, his powers derived from a ‘power ring’ bestowed by the…

Video game LA Noire features Mad Men's Aaron Staton

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

5 May 2011

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…

Insidious - Leigh Whannell and James Wan interview

Terrifying new ghost story Insidious from horror duo behind Saw

26 Apr 2011

They gave the world Saw, followed it up with Dead Silence and now writer director team Leigh Whannell and James Wan are back with the terrifying ghost story that is Insidious. So what is Insidious about? Leigh Whannell: The film is our version of…

Scream 4

Fun, clever and thrilling revitalisation of Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson's horror franchise

26 Apr 2011

Back in 1996 horror was in the doldrums, the glory days and box-office clout of Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween were a thing of the past. Big budgets and horror were distant relatives. Then along came Scream. From the tense…

Beady Eye – Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Mon 18 Apr

Solid performance from Liam Gallagher’s post-Oasis rockers

25 Apr 2011

In the post-Oasis divorce no-one would have expected Liam Gallagher to walk away with custody of the rest of the band. Another surprise was Liam getting material out before Noel. Proving their work ethic Beady Eye return to Scotland for round two, after…

Insidious

New horror from the creative team behind Saw, succeeds in getting under your skin

15 Apr 2011

(15) 102 min There’s a real art in making a good scary movie – a film that sends shivers down your spine – and Insidious gets it just right. Well, almost. Perhaps not something you’d expect from the writer director team of Leigh Whanell and James Wan…

Cold Fish

Dark but overlong Japanese serial killer horror from director Sion Sono

15 Apr 2011

Sion Sono has had a varied and intriguing career directing hair extension horror Exte and the award winning four hour Love Exposure. Here he returns with a dark serial killer character study told from the perspective of Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi) who…

House night Luvely calls it a day after 15 years

14 Apr 2011

We’ve had a stint of big club nights closing over the last year or so (Taste, Optimo and Headspin instantly spring to mind) and now Luvely have announced their retirement. ‘There’s no point keeping going just for the sake of keeping going, it’s better…

Drum & bass duo Artificial Intelligence to headline Split's eighth birthday

Glenn Herweijer talks to us ahead of their headline slot

14 Apr 2011

Split has been rocking the Cab’s Tuesday night, based around a sound that encompasses drum & bass, dubstep, electro, breaks and techno. Now for their eighth birthday they have Artificial Intelligence guesting, and even with this drum & bass duo manning…

Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

Growling, heavy, punky goodness from the constantly entertaining Foos

13 Apr 2011

(Roswell/RCA) It’s impossible to talk about a ‘return to form’ when it comes to the Foo Fighters, they’re one of rock’s most consistently steady and constantly entertaining acts. They’ve never had a genuine down-turn. Dave Grohl’s (almost) outgrown…