SNACK magazine: Issue 45 – November 2022

CREDITS

Editor: Kenny Lavelle

Sub Editor: Leona Skene

Editorial Assistant: Lara Delmage

Food and Drink Editors: Emma Mykytyn and Mark Murphy

LGBT+ Editor: Jonny Stone

What's On Editor: Natalie Jayne Clark

Film Editor: Martin Sandison

Design: Joanna Hughes

Cover photo credit: Mihaela Bodlovic

To advertise in SNACK hello@snackpublishing.com 0141 632 4641

SNACK is a supporter of the global Keychange movement.

Disclaimer: Snack Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this magazine in part or in whole is forbidden without the explicit written consent of the publishers. Every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the content of this magazine but we cannot guarantee it is complete and up to date. Snack Publishing Ltd. is not responsible for your use of the information contained herein.

Hello and welcome to SNACK issue 45,

Was it always like this? I don't remember it being so consistently…chaotic… callous. The Scottish arts community held its collective head in its hands, again, with the October closure of Edinburgh’s Filmhouse and Aberdeen’s Belmont cinemas, along with the demise, at least in its recent incarnation, of the newly rejuvenated Edinburgh International Film Festival. The appalling treatment of their staff is especially difficult to stomach during what threatens to be only the infancy of our cost-of-living crisis. The whos and whys of the gathered storm that led to such a disastrous outcome will be for others to discuss and dissect. Quickly, thankfully, Scotland’s film world has started to assemble support, laying the groundwork for saving these vital institutions. We spoke to directors, and Edinburgh residents, Mark Cousins and Paul Sng, part of the Save the Filmhouse campaign, which is demanding fair treatment for staff and fighting for the future of the Filmhouse and independent cinema in Edinburgh. Head to page 32 for the interview and donate to the campaign at savethefilmhouse.com.

Stay safe and we’ll catch you back here in December.

Kenny Lavelle Editor

CHUNNACAS NA MAIRBH BEÒ

Glasgow

Print Studio, Glasgow

7th October till 26th November

Ken Currie has spent the last seven years since his last solo show at Glasgow Print Studio developing this fascinating new one, its name drawn from ‘Hallaig’, Sorley MacLean’s poem about the Clearances. Currie’s work depicts figures in maudlin, nebulous layers of reds and greys and blacks, blood seemingly oozing forth as your eyes cast about the portraits, each inked in the ilk of Egyptian funerary portraits. He says: ‘I allow a maximum of three imprints from one plate — an initial imprint, a ghost, or cognate, and a second ghost.’

glasgowprintstudio.co.uk

LAY LOW

The Rum Shack, Glasgow 8th November

Considering he currently seems to be playing in about half a dozen very successful bands, including Tom McGuire & The Brassholes and Fat-Suit, we’re not entirely sure where he finds the time, but saxophonist Mateusz Sobieski is bringing a new monthly event to Glasgow’s Southside. A change of pace from those groove-driven bands, Lay Low promises cushions and blankets and a general atmosphere of laid-back opulence as an antidote to the Glaswegian winter.

The first night, on Tuesday 8th November, sees singer Kitti – fresh from her own residency at The Blue Arrow, sadly now deceased – taking on the songs of the illustrious Ella Fitzgerald. rumshackglasgow.com

Chris Queen

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND EXHIBITIONS

Online and National Museum of Scotland Edinburgh

Ongoing

You’ve probably lived until now feeling assured you know what a bowl is and how simple a thing they are. Till now. As part of the Japanese Contemporary Design exhibition, you can view Hitomi Hosono’s A Very Large Pine Tree Bowl, simultaneously a beauty and beast of an object, carved with fluttering precision and beaming gold from its insides. If you’re a Whovian, then their Doctor Who exhibition is a must — as well as sonic screwdrivers, they have a ‘monster vault’ spanning all canon. There’s also Bernat Klein: Design in Colour, an exhibition marking the centenary of the birth of this influential designer, his creativity touching everything from the catwalk to the sidewalk. As well as ongoing exhibitions, there are plenty of events, too. You could turn your hand to traditional crafts and learn how to work with natural dyes, or you nosy parkers can be part of a behind-the-scenes tour of their collections. See what is happening, inperson and online, via their website. nms.ac.uk

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL AT HOME

Online 27th October till 1st December

In partnership with abrdn, EIF are showing curated and commissioned content from this year’s festival online, giving ‘global audiences the opportunity to experience a diverse programme of live performances for free’. Edinburgh is a Story is a central tenet of this programme, from Hannah Lavery’s rhythmic lullaby-like poetry and the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, to multiple short films which tie together this iconic city. Didgeridoos and ballet somehow capture and recall all nooks and parts of Edinburgh, tall and small, ancient and glassy-modern, in other events filmed for this programme. There are three releases every week at 4pm and it's a beautiful way to offer access to a snapshot of culture. eif.co.uk

SCOTTISH OPERA PRESENTS THE VERDI COLLECTION

Various Locations, Scotland 19th and 26th November

Over 50 years, Verdi composed 26 operas, and his relentless perfectionism elevated Italian opera. This concert compresses some of his greatest and most recognisable works into a dense fruit loaf crammed with raisins of romance, sultanas of sultry stories, demerara drama, lashings of lemony libretto and slathers of buttery, swoon-inducing, soulful singing. scottishopera.org.uk

A Large Pine Tree Pool, Hitomi Hosono Image credit: National Museums Scotland

PAINTING PARADISE

The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 3rd till 26th November

Lachlan Goudie’s new solo exhibition displays fresh paintings of his paradises — that is, locations like Scotland, Mauritius and the South of France, but also the act of painting itself being a place of paradise. ‘One of our best cultural commentators’, he is known not just for his own art, but for his broadcasting ability too, including his BBC series The Story of Scottish Art. His artwork is vivid, the kind of visuals that walk the preternatural edge of canny and uncanny in terms of realism. scottish-gallery.co.uk

An evening of ‘poetry, science and song’ is promised from Mountains and Love, programmed by poet Alyson Hallett and performed in front of art from Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, exploring the ‘love of high and wild places’ with fellow artists. For the Sneaky Pete lovers, they are hosting another show in Fruitmarket’s warehouse — an ‘innovative and immersive lighting display’ and many many epic performers. Fruitmarket have a makers’ market on at the start of December, featuring over 40 stalls — a perfect place to pick up a pressie. See more on their website. fruitmarket.co.uk

WOMEN IN CHAMBER MUSIC: HUES OF AUTUMN

FRUITMARKET

Online and Fruitmarket, Edinburgh 28th October till 8th January

Exhibitions and events aplenty here. There’s a ‘drawing limb performance’ by Andrew Gannon – live drawings created in front of your very eyes, utilising a long loosey-goosey bamboo stick. You can also see his sculptures on display, which centre on prostheses and question the notion of offering ‘normality’. There’s much from Glasgow-based Hayley Tompkins — a new book with its own launch, an exhibition, a conversation with artist Louise Hopkins too — all tied together to offer a 4D exploration of ‘the event of colour’ (her book title).

If you’ve never seen two people expertly play the piano together as one, this is your chance. There aren’t many opportunities to play the same instrument at the same time, but the piano offers such a space. This collective is at the forefront of women in classical music in Scotland, providing a performance platform for female musicians. Imagine a foggy autumnal evening, breath clouding, stepping inside into a warmth of soullifting stringed instruments and pianos.

womeninchambermusic.co.uk

HAVANA FILM FESTIVAL

Various Locations and Online 8th till 13th November

Glasgow was first twinned with Havana twenty years ago, and this year’s festival has a focus on Black filmmakers, ‘with a wonderful mix of films classic and new’. They have a programme with closed captions and sign language also.

Atlantic Dunes by Lachlan Goudie

Sherbrooke Mosspark Parish Church Glasgow 13th November

Over the course of the festival there are myriad documentaries, including a tribute to Sara Gómez, whose direction ‘brought a highly critical perspective toward Cuban revolutionary society’, and you can view newly restored films from this first female director of Cuba. There’s a series of films focused on Cuba’s literacy campaign, a series of Black Cuban short films stretching across forms and types and experimentation, and more. hgfilmfest.com

Highlights include: Moonage Daydream, an immersive screening of Brett Morgen’s recent documentary on David Bowie; The Oil Machine by Edinburgh-based filmmaker Emma Davie, which ‘explores our economic, historical, and emotional entanglement with oil’; The Business of Birth Control takes a hard look at the last sixty years of hormonal birth control and its inextricable links with women’s health and liberation; and El Arena from Jay B. Jammal conveys the intensity of the Lebanon rap scene. Plus much, much more!

macrobertartscentre.org/centscotdocufest

KAPIL SESHASAYEE

Audio, Glasgow 23rd November

Scottish Indian protest musician Kapil is here with his debut album, tailored with trancy trippiness for delving deeply into class and caste and more. Check out his hometown performance and feel it first-hand.

musicglue.com/audioglasgow/ events/2022-11-23-kapil-seshasayee-laalglasgow-album-launch-audio

CENTRAL SCOTLAND DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL

Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling

3rd till 7th November

Over 20 films submitted from over 20 different countries to be shown in just four days!

THE UMLAUTS

Broadcast, Glasgow 23rd November

The Umlauts are playing their first ever Scottish show as part of their first ever headline tour, and perhaps this could be your first ever experience of this art-punk troupe. An enthralling earache of dread, languages, bounce, and urgency.

broadcastglasgow.com/2022/11/23/ the-umlauts

AN EVENING OF NEW SCOTTISH WRITING

The Gallery Bookshop, Glasgow 10th November

Three new Scottish books: The Pharmacist by Rachelle Atalla, The Voids by Ryan O’Connor, and Ginger and Me by Elissa Soave. Join them for an evening of conversation and a look at their writing processes and the landscape of literature in Scotland today. gallerybooks.co.uk

SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE CONCERTS BY CANDLELIGHT

Across Scotland

1st till 8th December

GET MAD

New Glasgow Society, Glasgow 17th till 21st November

On the 17th there is a special preview of Emily Brooks Millar’s solo exhibition, with complimentary drinks. All work is previously unseen — be the first to view her new set of cartoons that exist on the cliff of grotesque whilst still staying firmly in the field of relatability and commentary. newglasgowsociety.org

Concerts by Candlelight is back again this December in the most gorgeous venues Scotland has to offer. Even those who quiver at the thought of impending tinsel overload and camp Christmas tomfoolery could be enticed into attending a mildly festive evening of live music – from Bach to Caroline Shaw – as candlelight sways to the tune. scottishensemble.co.uk

Photo credit: Yolanda Mitchell & Joseph Barrett

BOOK WEEK SCOTLAND

Across Scotland

14th till 20th November

Celebrate the wealth of literary talent our bonnie country has to offer at this year’s BWS. With a lineup that features free and ticketed workshops plus talks with Scottish writers of all disciplines, it’s the perfect tonic for the deep days ahead. scottishbooktrust.com/book-week-scotland

The festival is showing at cinemas all over Scotland, including Edinburgh’s Dominion, Glasgow Film Theatre, Oban Phoenix Cinema, Dundee Contemporary Arts, St Andrews’ Byre Theatre, and more. Also, if you share the sentiment that there's no better time to watch a French film than on a Sunday, Summerhall has you covered, showing a selection of films Français throughout November. frenchfilmfestival.org.uk

FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL UK

Across Scotland

2nd November till 15th December

The first ever French Film Festival UK was held in 1992 (30 years ago!) on our home turf in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and this year it returns with a stellar programme of Q&As and the best of Francophone films; short, long and everything in-between.

RESONATE

Platform, Glasgow and Online 24th November

When you think of a conference, do you think uncomfortable chairs, awkward eye contact and lots of grey suits? Well, Resonate is nothing like that. There is nothing dull about the annual Scottish music industry conference. It doesn’t waste a minute of the day, packing in insightful panels, workshops, and demonstrations, and speakers include a plethora of industry bigwigs like BBC Introducing’s Phoebe Inglis-Holmes, Aly Gillani from Bandcamp, the wonderful Josephine Sillars plus music from SHEARS. Don’t be scared off by the conference-ness of it all: the event is open to everyone, from industry professionals and aspiring artists to music lovers and people simply looking for something different to do on a bogging Thursday in November.

resonatescot.co.uk

Photo credit: Chris Scott @chrisandhiscamera

Tori et Lokita is showing at the Glasgow Film Theatre on 18th November

SCOTTISH ALTERNATIVE MUSIC AWARDS

Saint Lukes, Glasgow 8th December

SAMA’s prize-giving ceremony this year isn’t pulling any punches. VLURE, The Honey Farm and Becky Sikasa are all performing, and what better way to celebrate the nominees and Scottish music? Also, radio presenter & DJ Jim Gellatly and incredible writer, performer, and educator Leyla Josephine (who we interviewed in last month’s issue) are hosting, so you’ll definitely be in safe hands.

officialsama.com

The Honey Farm

DUNDEE MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL

Various venues, 24th till 26th November

In 1981, Dundee’s popular outdoor enthusiast Roy Tait died in a climbing accident in Lochnagar. The following year, his friends decided to host an evening of mountaineering films to raise money for a bridge renovation in Bachnagairn as a memorial project, and The Roy Tait Memorial Bridge (‘Roy’s Bridge’) and the Dundee Mountain Film Festival were born.

Had the festival not paused for two years through the pandemic, DMFF would be the longest-running mountain film festival in the UK; instead, its return for a 38th edition sees it settle for the tagline ‘Scotland’s pioneering film festival’. The moniker is apt for a fully volunteer-run gathering that mixes short films with speakers of notable outdoor achievement. This year’s three-day line up includes Pauline Sanderson, speaking about her Everest Max expedition from the Dead Sea to the summit of Everest, and Alan Hinkes OBE, the first Brit to climb all fourteen of the Himalayas’ eight-thousanders.

Also addressing the audience are poet Helen Mort, shortlisted for November’s Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature, and ‘Munro Moonwalker’ Alan Rowan, a journalist known for climbing nearly 300 mountains, all at night. Thursday’s opening ‘Fringe’ night will have musical accompaniment from silent film pianist Steve Gellatly, and practitioner of diddling (Gaelic mouth music) Denis Shepherd.

Of the films themselves, festival chair Alfie Ingram says the programme aims for a broad range to target outdoor activities beyond mountaineering: skiing, mountain biking, wingsuits and more get filmmakers into the wilderness.

The slate is also international, with many films sourced from the Vancouver Film Festival, and representatives from Germany, the US, France, and the Faroe Islands sit alongside Saturday morning’s Scotland thread.

Ingram estimates that 35–40% of DMFF attendees have previously visited, creating an air of familiarity and gaining it the label of 'the homely festival'. Embracing slow evolution and a connection to its roots – it has utilised Dundee’s Bonar Hall since its inception – the festival is a source of warmth as the weather descends. ‘People come earlier and earlier for a coffee and a blether. Folk come along and go, “Oh, I’ve not seen you since last year!’’’says Ingram. The bonds that led to Roy Tait being honoured and DMFF's inception thus remain at the heart of its existence four decades later: a festival where friendship and the mountains meet. dmff.co.uk

Jamie Wills

CENTRAL SCOTLAND DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL

TOP 5 RECOMMENDATIONS

Grahame Reid, head curator of this year’s Central Scotland Documentary Festival, graciously shared with us the five docs you’ll kick yourself if you miss. The festival runs from 3rd till 7th November.

Opening Night – The Oil Machine

3rd November

For me, there was only one film that I wanted to open this year’s festival with. The Oil Machine is a fascinating Scottish documentary that does a fantastic job of bringing together disparate voices around a key social issue at the moment. I am also delighted that we will have director Emma Davie with us on the night for a Q&A discussion after the film.

Awards Contenders

Last year, for the first time, we opened up the festival to submissions from creative documentary and non-fiction filmmakers and introduced both a Jury Award and an Audience Award. This year, we received submissions from across the globe. Whittling the final selection of award contenders down to 13 was no easy task (though an enjoyable one all the same). From battle rap to big waves and human trafficking to untold histories, I am incredibly proud of the programme of awards contenders this year.

World Premiere – The Ballad of Bessie Mae 6th November

Oliver Guy-Watkins returns to the festival this year with an explorative look into live action role play (LARP). Having won the inaugural Central Scotland Documentary Festival Jury Award last year with his film Who is James Payton?, the director now brings us the world premiere of his new documentary, The Ballad of Bessie Mae

Closing Night – My Old School 7th November

Moonage Daydream 5th November

When I first saw Moonage Daydream at the UK premiere at Sheffield DocFest in June, I was truly blown away and felt I got an insight into a man who captured the imagination of millions. This documentary is a whole experience in itself, and I am really excited to be able to present the film as a standing, immersive screening with a light show to create a full ‘gig’ atmosphere.

As an incredible story that grabbed headlines in the 90s and captivated cinema audiences this autumn, it seemed fitting to close this year’s festival with a celebration of the most successful Scottish documentary of the year. What’s more, we have some of Brandon Lee’s classmates in attendance, to reflect on their experience and see the story played out on the big screen.

centscotdocufest.org

T HISFESTIVES E NOSA

The nights may be drawing in, but Fife is still buzzing with activity and we thought we would share our round up of some of the best festive events taking place in the Kingdom this season. Whether you’re a lover of music and culture, or enjoy experiencing the very best food and drink and unwinding in nature, or if you're just in the mood for getting into the festive spirit, there’s something for everyone in the Kingdom of Fife this winter.

Find quirky gifts, support independent businesses and enjoy some of Fife’s best food and drink by coming along to one of Fife’s seasonal events.

On 10th and 11th December, Bowhouse in St Monans and Kinkell Byre in Kingsbarns are hosting Christmas markets, where you can expect handmade crafts from local makers and designers and some of the finest Scottish produce and festive street food. Bowhouse will be open from 10am till 4pm and Kinkell Byre will be open from 10am till 3pm both days.

Experience some feel-good festive entertainment by treating yourself to a dazzling night out to the panto. The Kings Theatre in Kirkcaldy are hosting their popular production of Ya Wee Sleeping Beauty from the 8th December till 15th January and the Rothes Halls in Glenrothes are hosting Cinderella from the 3rd till 24th December.

Largo Arts Winter Weekend is one not to be missed for those who are looking for something a little special present-wise this year. Taking place from 10.30am till 4pm on the 3rd and 4th December in the sleepy coastal parish of Largo, local creatives will be opening up the doors of their homes and workshops, where you will have the opportunity to find out more about their creative process and purchase some of their work.

Brush the cobwebs off the new year and experience a night filled with elegance and glamour at Dunfermline’s Carnegie Hall on the 7th January, where the Royal Scottish National Orchestra will be playing a selection of some of the finest Viennese waltzes, polkas and opera.

Discover the power of language, words and verse at StAnza, Scotland’s international poetry festival, which is set to take place in St Andrews from the 9th till 12th March. The theme of the event is ‘WILD! Forms of resistance’ and poets from across the globe will be invited to explore what this means to them.

For the nature lovers, Cambo Estate’s Snowdrops Festival offers a fantastic day out. A range of tours, talks, walks and plant sales will be taking place throughout January and February. Get wrapped up warm and explore the woodland forest trails, which are carpeted with thousands of snowdrops in the early winter months – a joyful sight on a chilly day! Visit the Cambo Gardens café, where you can enjoy hot drinks, hearty lunches and home baking.

Looking past the new year, sample some of the finest drams in Scotland and discover their origins at the Fife Whisky Festival from the 3rd till 5th March. With over 35 distilleries and independent bottlers showcasing their whisky wares, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

To find out what else is on over winter, visit welcometofife.com/events

JENNI FAGAN

Jenni Fagan is perhaps best known for her fiction, especially following the success and critical acclaim of both her last novel Luckenbooth and novella Hex. However, her poetry is just as arresting; There’s a Witch in the Word Machine was my choice as Scottish Book of the Year for literary magazine The Bottle Imp in 2018, and her new collection The Bone Library has just been published. SNACK spoke to Jenni Fagan to find out more.

What can you tell us about The Bone Library?

It was written at a time when I felt like there were words written all over my own bones, in a way that was more visible than usual. I was in a lot of pain, emotionally and physically. I have a very weird relationship with my bones; they have ached for decades and are constantly varing between being really painful to outrageously fucking hideous. It is an invisible thing I live with, so I was thinking about that and the other unseen things we live with. I was also thinking about DNA and the words and wounds other people imprint upon us; how the injuries of those we meet can create fractures we struggle to carry on top of those we already have. I guess I was stripping my essence back to the bone, it's something I do in poetry endlessly.

How did you come to be the Writer in Residence at Edinburgh’s Dick Vet Bone Library, and what did the role entail?

I was actually just Poet in Residence for Summerhall – it was the Gavin Wallace Fellowship – and so it was a really unique and brilliant chance for me to focus on poetry for a while. It's rare that I get to do it like that.

When I started my residency, I went along to a staff meeting and introduced myself, and told everyone that I really wanted to find the things that are unseen by the public.

I had a feeling that the building held secrets and I wanted to find them. Someone mentioned that there were bones in the attic (from when it was the Dick Vet) and they were still there because they were 'inferior bones', so weren’t good enough to go on display at the new premises. I wanted to work with those bones. It was a way to link the history of the building as an extraordinary place for veterinary studies with its modern incarnation as a huge home for art, artists, musicians etc.

I then found out that the Bone Library was being removed from the corridor where it had lived for a very long time, and the area was about to be redesigned to provide disabled access to the gig venue. I realised I had to then honour the actual Bone Library because it was too good not to, so those two things became a main focus of my time there. I spent weeks taking bones out of the attic and down to my wee study, and then a year engraving them with poetry I was writing. They are now on display in beautiful old cases in Summerhall.

Books by Alistair Braidwood

Photo credit: Mihaela Bodlovic

Did the building and its history feed into the poetry?

It did in some ways, but a lot of it felt more like a metaphor for the poetry written on my own bones, you know. The physicality of working with the bones impacted it a lot, though, and I used lots of scientific language. The history of the Dick Vet, and Mary Dick and her brother William (who founded it), really was fascinating. I wrote a long poem about Mary Dick using her journey to show how and why that building became the place it was.

Many of these poems appear intensely personal. Were they difficult to write?

No, the things behind them can be difficult to live through, but the writing is never an issue.

The Bone Library has the theme of reflection running through it – on the past, relationships, society, the modern world, and so much more. Does writing, whether poetry or fiction, help you to better understand yourself? Is it therapeutic on some level?

You know, I do wonder about that question – is it therapeutic? I wonder if Kelman, or Tom Leonard, or, like, Kafka got asked that often. I don't write for therapy; I go to therapy for that. I take poetry and all writing deadly seriously and it is absolutely not a sort of self-development project. However, I am the human I know best and studying what it is to be a person begins with me and then pivots out. If I don't have the ability to cast that eye – good, bad, critical or incredibly stark – upon myself, what courage would I be lacking?

One of the poems is titled ‘Fir Tom Leonard’. What is it about his work you connect with?

So much about Tom Leonard connects me to him. He was just a brilliant poet, so I was drawn to that. Totally uncompromising, absolutely himself, he had such a pinpoint laser sharpness for capturing life and people and the difficult things. He wasn't scared to piss anyone off, and he knew his own worth as an artist and thinker. I was lucky enough to have a friendship and correspondence with him that I valued more highly than any other poet I've ever met. He was a one-off, and a great big fuss should be being made about his work right now.

Another concerns the aforementioned Mary Dick and her family. Did that involve much research on your part, and do you approach a poem differently when it is about others rather than yourself?

If I am writing about a real person I always approach it totally differently. I need to create a painting, if you like, in words, bringing that person to life. I think a lot about who they are, and of course I have to do as much research as possible to get the best chance of showing some of who that person was.

Mary Dick had an extraordinary life, really, with so many challenges that she turned and channelled towards so many brilliant endeavours. She should be celebrated. What she achieved really went mostly unseen in a lot of ways, or certainly without the honours that would have been bestowed on her if she had been allowed to practise as a vet and as a teacher. If she had been a man, basically.

The poet this collection most reminds me of, in terms of use of imagery and intimacy, is Edwin Morgan. Are you directly influenced by the poetry of others when you write, or do you have to be single-minded, so to speak?

I am very single-minded as a poet. I don't read other poets when I'm writing a lot of poetry. It's a thing that descends, like death or mania or something, it won't be ignored, it arrives when it wants to, and I know far better than to mishandle it.

Being a poet is not a thing I do; it's a way of being. It is how I see the world and there is never an instance when I don't have one part of me alert for the poetry in any moment. I am so grateful for that.

The Bone Library is out now, published by Polygon

Books by Alistair

DAVID HOLMES

DJ. Producer. Song-writer. Tastemaker.

David Holmes is all of these things and more, as well as being a great guy, so SNACK was keen to catch up with him before his November Glasgow set. We talked about records, bands, corrupt government, and the importance of moving forward.

You’re DJing in Glasgow on 11th November –what should people expect?

I’m a very selfish DJ – I play what I want, I don’t have a set plan apart from I have a lot of good music, and I turn up and play it. I try to put it together in an exciting way.

I play a wide selection of music, you can dance to it, and it starts at about 60 bpm and goes to 140.

Four hours is great, I’d say that’s the perfect time as you can really go somewhere. You can take your time and build your set, bringing people on a proper walk through your record collection. It’s more of a marathon than a sprint.

It’s an interesting choice of venue in Glasgow. Does that help with a night?

I love DJing in places that have character; they’re really cinematic. It's amazing what happens when you turn the lights down, put candles on tables, and shoot some films. Everybody is used to going to shiny places, I was never about that, I always loved a shithole! You can’t buy that character; it comes from history and endless people through the door in its lifespan. You can feel the history in these places, and that works for me.

You soundtracked the This England miniseries. It’s recent, but it seems a lifetime ago with everything that has happened since – how was that project?

How can history be out of date? It was a moment in time, about that first year with Boris Johnston in power, getting Brexit done, an incredibly mismanaged Covid, corruption. It was a story that had to be told. It’s not entertainment; it's history. It happened, these people were that corrupt, and so many people died.

It’s never-ending. How many prime ministers have there been in the last fucking year? It's nuts.

I remember you saying when ‘Hope Is The Last Thing To Die’ came out that you didn’t think you’d sing again, but the last 18 months have shaken up your emotions. You can’t be short of lyrical inspiration now?

That was written during Covid and I decided to get Raven (Violet) to sing it. One day, there will be an original album for Record Store Day – a year or so after my next solo album – that will have all the songs sung by me. I just felt Raven, a 26-year-old woman, really young in this day and age, singing those lyrics, had more power to them.

Raven is singing on the whole album. I’m just chipping away at it; I’ve got a lot of the music finished and songs written, but I’ve a lot of priorities. I’ve a TV series and something else I can’t talk about, but I’m enjoying DJing at the minute, so I haven’t left myself much time to focus on it.

What’s next for David Holmes?

One day at a time! You have to plan, but the way my work is, if I’m working on a film, it's in stages, and then it gets to a point where I’m full-time for a month.

With my album I had some time, especially with Covid, I got things done. Now, I’m trying to finish Sinéad O’Connor’s LP. We're three songs away from finishing and we’ve got music, she’s got lyrics, we’re waiting to get her in the studio. We recorded a new track in Dublin on Sunday, but Sinead’s really busy and she lost her son, so this is the first time she’ll be in a studio since he passed away.

How do you continue to find new music?

I hate the internet, but I absolutely love it. I love that I can sit in the comfort of my own home, join a ton of mailing lists and hear about new shit on Instagram. When you’re on Bandcamp, give it a proper listen through your speakers and, I’ll have that, boom, it’s in your hard drive. I don’t have the time to go to record shops like I did when I was younger. I still do it and I love going into record stores, but sometimes I’m just too busy.

David Holmes plays Lynch’s Bar (the Old Burnt Barns) in Glasgow on 11th November

See snackmag.co.uk for the full interview

Photo credit: Steve Gullick

SHEARS

SHEARS is the musical moniker of Becca Shearing, a Scottish producer, artist, and multi-instrumentalist, proficient in flute, piano and guitar. Originally hailing from the west coast town of Ayr, she gained a following for her music on YouTube from a young age back in 2007. She then moved to Edinburgh to study vocals at university, where she refined her songwriting skills. Her third EP, Superhues, was released 26th October and is entirely self-written and produced.

For starters, tell us about Superhues? What inspired its name and what does it signify?

The name is sort of a journey through my mental state over the last year. It starts off with ‘Blurry’, where I'm feeling a bit lost and all over the place, and then ‘Carbon Copy’ where I'm a bit frustrated, but it’s getting a bit dancier, and then with ‘Neighbourhood’ I'm starting to feel a lot better.

It's like I've had an epiphany and figured out what I want to be doing. Then the last one, ‘We Can Still Be Friends’, has a sense of closure and happiness, and feeling of being on the right track. The last track is a bit more drum and bass, so the beats are a bit more complex than on the other ones. I tend to write the lyrics and melody along with doing the production at the same time now – so it all just builds together.

The name Superhues came from ‘Neighbourhood’ where I had that epiphany. In the second verse, it goes ‘I glow bright in the superhues’, and I thought that was quite a nice word to use, because everyone can imagine what it means – it gives off the sort of warmth that I wanted to give off with the EP in general, and that's the general vibe of it.

What feelings are you hoping to inspire in listeners?

I'm just hoping that they can take away whatever it is that makes them feel better.

You don't need to have the same meanings I've had from them. But just something to let people get together, see friends again, have a nice time, and get back to having fun again.

Which of its tracks is your favourite, and why?

How can you choose? I don't know, they're like all my children. I think I had a soft spot for ‘Neighbourhood’ because that was, on a personal level, where I figured out what I wanted to do, and I was feeling much happier. I like the other songs, but I was definitely in a good place during ‘Neighbourhood’, so I think it has the nicest sort of feel to it and memory for me.

Can you tell us more about your drive to learn the technical side of production recording?

Being a woman in the music industry, it's quite difficult to come across women who produce and mix and are on the technical side.

Obviously they exist, but it's predominantly men. That's sort of where that epiphany came from, where I was like, wait, I want to be able to do all of this as well. And that's what I did – I started learning how to do it, I produced everything at home by myself. It was just the most satisfying process, just having creative control of everything. I want to encourage other women to get involved because it's not as intimidating and as scary as it looks once you get once you get your teeth into it.

I'm also a part of Hen Hoose, the collective of women and non-binary artists making music together. They were just up for the SAY Award last week. I started working with them and that's been really like a game changer for me as well, just working with all these women doing technical things, and it just solidifies how I feel about the process. I'm really, really, enjoying it.

How would you describe your sound in terms of key influences?

I am very influenced by women who make music like Grimes, Kelly Lee Owens, Elkka and TSHA. I'm sort of moving into the space of being a bit dancier, and a bit more electronic and lively. I'd say like, five years ago, it seemed like it was something I wouldn't be able to do; now that's completely turned around and I see all the possibilities that weren't there before, so that's really special. I'm just following all these women.

Catch SHEARS playing at Room 2, Glasgow, 18th November Superhues is out now

Photo credit: Tiu Makkonen

DARREN HAYMAN

Following a wave of conceptual albums over the last 15 years, Darren Hayman – who you may know from Hefner or from his vast list of solo LPs – has returned to a more introspective, emotional take on music. After receiving critical acclaim, awards, and government grants for albums about the witch trials in the English Civil War and the political writings of William Morris, his forthcoming LP, You Will Not Die, is more personal, and substitutes folk guitar with tinkly synths. Brooding and reflective, the LP will lure you in, and once you’re in, that’s it: 24 tracks are beckoning.

What can we look forward to from You Will Not Die?

I think it's softer and warmer than other records –you can’t expect any guitars or any drums; it's all synthetic, apart from my voice. I don't want to say it's a lockdown album, because every album is a lockdown album now. What else were musicians doing other than making music in the lockdown? And so it's not specifically about it in any way. I never wrote a song about it. But that feeling of reconnecting with our homes and isolation is in the record, so it's very solitary, very still. It’s a break-up album as well. Less of an immediate reaction to a break-up, a sort of coming to terms instead.

With a 24-track album, you’ve reminded us again about your status as the hardest working man in music. It’s more introspective than your more recent LPs – where did this stem from?

Because of the amount of time available to me in lockdown, I thought why not make it 24 songs?

I appreciate I’m being a bad artist in some ways, that we should always edit and be concise. But there's something about this kind of thinking about age – it's a record about age and time as well –which is why it seemed appropriate that it was long, that the mood should be sustained. I knew that I was building up a dam of emotional stuff.

I consciously knew that there would come a time when I've done enough of the conceptual work. And it all feels really good, actually. And in fact, I can't really stop doing it now.

‘A Real Human Being’ was inspired by your experience of life drawing. How is all of that going – is it giving you some respite?

When you're drawing, one of many things you might be trying to do is forget what you know about what you're seeing. You have an idea of how to draw a human being – a circle for a head, two arms coming out – but when they're lying in front of you naked, what you're trying to do is see the model as shapes. You're trying to trust your eyes, which is quite hard to do, because your hand tends to draw what you think is there. Then suddenly you realise that there's a person there, with heart and lungs and feelings, and that they're thinking something – I don't know what they're thinking. And so, the sentiment of that song is also transferable to relationships and disagreements and break-ups. We spend our whole lives inside our heads, it’s the same with every person you walk past, or every person you argue with or every person you kiss. The song’s about how we can forget that. It's quite a hippy song really, but I quite enjoyed breaking it down to interrogate what a human being is, in literal terms.

You Will Not Die is intimate and stripped back, just you and some synthesisers. What did you find, compiling and working on this album – did you feel laid bare (pun intended)?

I've had a lot of synthesisers for ages. Towards the end of Hefner, I got quite into collecting old ones that tend to not work; they break because of entropy and decay, and that in itself actually feeds into the record. Some of them are really too expensive to own, and I can't really justify it. It’s stressful because every time I turn them on, I'm scared they're not going to work. I thought that I would make a record of using all these synths one last time, and then get rid of them. The nature of using those instruments was kind of a life laundry thing, or a realisation of time and age and mortality, that these machines were dying. This record was, in some way, a last little party orgy for synthesisers – I actually got them all talking to each other so each one would get its time to shine. I think there's something about pure sine waves and bleeps and bloops and bombs and stuff which can sound quite safe, and I’ve enjoyed making them sound friendly rather than chaotic.

Can we expect live performances of the LP?

It's a funny day to ask this because I initially thought I wouldn’t, because it's so hard and expensive to do. But then I was inspired by seeing Billy Nomates play, and by association, Sleaford Mods. I saw that there might be a way to do it with just one instrument, so maybe.

You Will Not Die is out now via Fika Recordings

See snackmag.co.uk for the full interview

Music by Keira

Photo credit: Michael Wood

SNACK had the pleasure of chatting to Jim Monaghan, poet hailing from Ayrshire, Govanhill’s political activist mainstay, and now host of The Stand’s shiny new cabaret show, Word Up. We mulled over the communicative power of poetry and comedy, Scottish poetic pub traditions, and all the wonderful cats he herded for Word Up’s lineup of musicians, poets, and comedians.

Are you excited to be the new host of Word Up?

What we’re doing with Word Up is combining spoken word with comedy, and it's quite a good match. People have tried it before and not quite pulled it off. We’ve had the first one already and it was an absolute triumph; everyone in the audience loved it. It's just about getting the balance of the right kind of poets and the right kind of comedians. I’m sad I missed the first one! There are so many parallels between comedy, poetry, and music. So, I was wondering, why is it that poetry is your stagecraft of choice?

I’ve been a live poet for about 40 years. In Ayrshire there was a bit of a tradition: everywhere you went there were old men who wrote poems on pub walls, poems about football games and mining disasters and things like that.

I’m nearly 60 now so I grew up in the punk era, when poets like Attila the Stockbroker, Linton Kwesi Johnson and John Cooper Clarke were popular. Between my friend’s gigs I’d get up and do a poem, so I’ve done it for a long time. I would say that in the last 15 years in Scotland there’s been a genuine resurgence of spoken word. Loads of good nights and shows happening, like Loud Poets and Sonnet Youth, that have brought it back to people’s attention. A lot of young people have got into it now as well. It’s a cheap way of expressing yourself – you don’t need to buy keyboards or guitars or anything, you just need a pen.

I think Scottish poetry is at a peak. With Word Up, I wanted to bring all that talent to a different audience, to The Stand, which doesn’t just have a poetry audience. I spoke to a lot of people after the show, and loads of them didn’t know what to expect and were completely surprised – they always are! People drag them along to a poetry night and they go ‘I didn’t know it’d be like that.’ They don’t expect it to be funny or political, and assume we’d be talking about flowers and trees and sadness and depression. The poetry you’re forced to learn in school is really dull – it almost scares people for life! If at school people were getting poets like Hollie McNish, there would be a different attitude.

Exactly! As a community activist, what role do you think poetry, storytelling, and comedy have in activism?

It plays a very, very important role, because it's about how people listen to you. You can get political messages across in a better way than standing doing a speech or preaching outside a shop and handing out leaflets – people listen and start to think about things in a much better way if they’re also being entertained. Sometimes the best way to communicate those kinds of issues is through poetry. And about being a political activist – all of that is about being able to have relatable conversations with people. To me, it feels like they’re all pretty much the same thing; poetry, comedy, music, storytelling.

If anyone goes to Word Up in November they’ll get a good night out, which is the first thing we want to do. They’ll have a laugh, but they’ll also be forced to think about things and get a lot of good politics in there as well.

Art is such an important way of communicating and making information more accessible. It’s also crucial to make light of it too, because it’s so easy to get bogged down by the state of affairs.

Absolutely! And I think that with the younger generation, political things have been forced on them, whether it's rent, they can’t buy a house, gig economy, things like that. For them, every part of their lives is political. There are political things happening today! I think it’s become a lot easier to follow now. Politics isn’t just something that happens over there in parliament; it’s what happens when your landlord puts the rent up, or you’re on a zero hours contract.

Could you tell me a bit more about the upcoming line-ups?

In November in Glasgow, we managed to persuade Rab Florence. A lot of people don’t know, but he’s actually also a poet – he published a poetry pamphlet with Speculative Books a couple of years ago, and he’s a really really good poet. So I convinced him to come and do a set. He’ll be alongside Bruce Morton, who’ll be doing comedy. Clarissa Woods, a young hip-hop artist from Govanhill, is going to be on. There’s some great poets, like Kevin Mclean and Iona Lee. In December our comedy guest is Josie Long, and she’s very very popular with young people. There’s lots of great names in there who I’m really looking forward to working with. With cabaret you’ve got to make sure you’ve got to make you carefully curate it, especially when you’re working with different vocabularies. You’ve got to make sure you’ve got the right mix of serious and funny, young and old, gender balance, to make sure you’re appealing to the crowd, and you don’t want one really serious poet followed by another serious poet.

It’s great seeing The Stand doing things other than comedy, not that the comedy isn’t brilliant, of course.

We had to persuade them a little bit. We did a couple of one-off shows at the fringe, just to get a feel for attendance, and show them what we meant. Until you see poets performing, you’re a bit cynical about it. The Stand are very much invested in us, and I’m hoping it’ll become a regular monthly thing. It was a bit like herding cats, but now we’ve got the full bill, it looks amazing.

Word Up is running from 26th October till 7th December at The Stand (Edinburgh and Glasgow). See snackmag.co.uk for the full interview. thestand.co.uk

Photo credit: Stephanie Gibson

MARK COUSINS & PAUL SNG

With the cost-of-living crisis, energy prices hiked, and the macabre shufflings of the UK Government, there has been much instability throughout what we’ve seen of 2022. The question of art and culture in terms of its longevity and value within our current society has been raised a concerning amount of times these past years, and the news of Edinburgh’s Filmhouse, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and the Belmont Filmhouse in Aberdeen together going into administration has galvanised those invested in Scotland’s film community to campaign and fight to keep cultural institutions alive.

Filmmakers Mark Cousins and Paul Sng are both actively involved in the Save the Filmhouse campaign, having organised vigils and petitions to raise awareness. Mark and Paul took some time out of their ongoing creative projects to speak with SNACK about their motives and hopes for the campaign, as well as outlining the void that would be left by the Filmhouse closing its doors.

Can you explain a little about the campaign?

Paul: Well, it’s still taking shape, really, I don't think we quite know exactly what it is. Other than that it's to save the Filmhouse, but not just to save it as it was – if it comes back it needs to be something that's more inclusive, something edgier, something that reaches young people, people of colour, and is more accessible to people with disabilities.

Also, it's not about that building, which isn't really fit for purpose as a modern day cinema. Does it have to be on Lothian Road? Could it be in Leith? Could it be somewhere else? So, the campaign is still taking shape at this stage.

Mark: I think for me, the thing in this interim phase is [that] whilst the Filmhouse has gone under for a while, and hopefully it will return, you have to keep the flame alive. The campaign is about showing the desire for it, the need for it, if anything, by increasing the desire for it. I always remember what happened with BBC 6 Music: when it was threatened there was a big campaign for it. And when it came back, the listenership went up quite a lot. I think the campaign is about visibility and saying that this is needed. For some people it will be just very nostalgic to reopen it, nostalgic for bricks and mortar things. But it must be rethought for the 21st century.

As for your motives in being involved in this campaign, what would you both like to see come from this?

Mark: Yeah, that's true. As we know, over the years when the Filmhouse started, the world was a different place, and now Vue and Cineworld show Hindi films and Tamil films, and French films and Spanish films, and classic films and restored films. So there's been a lot of shifting sands.

But what the Filmhouse did so uniquely was emphasise deep and wide programming; there was a depth to it – none of these people would do a real series on Arab cinema, for example, or specific types of activist documentary. I'm prepared to wait a few months for a new idea, and then let's give it laldy, let's all lend our shoulders to that wheel and get all the key figures in film culture who are ready to help – that's when we all apply pressure to a new model that really works.

Paul: Yeah, a lot is coming out now about the problems there have been for years. But I don't think it's worth getting into a blame-assigning exercise about the previous board, though I think there needs to be an awareness to the public that if it is to come back, the people at the CMI [Centre for the Moving Image, the charitable organisation involved with funding the Filmhouse and other venues] responsible for it – we all know who I'm talking about – are nowhere near it. In the public's perception, they might think, ‘they ran it into the ground once, how come it's coming back?’ And I think that's not quite clear enough yet.

What’s the situation with the EIFF at this moment, from what I can gather it can be salvaged?

Mark: I think it will happen next year.

It'll be umbrellaed for a year or two under another organisation, which can receive funds in order to donate to the Filmhouse so it can run. The Film Festival was in a transition phase anyway and I think that last year's was a rather successful step into a direction of artistic credibility. What I'm hearing – I'm no insider exactly – is that it'll definitely go along in an umbrella form for one or two years, until a more permanent solution can be found.

The Filmhouse is not the only one that has an uncertain future with the upcoming months. Do you feel the weight on your shoulders?

Paul: It's a campaign that from the very beginning doesn't have a hierarchy – people take it in turn to chair and the notes are shared publicly. Mark and I are both filmmakers, we don't have time to run it. So, the pressure is on the film community, I suppose.

Mark: I feel a wee bit of pressure because over the years I feel I’ve got so much from films, particularly inspiration about making other films. And to think that young people won’t have the same opportunities to see really unusual stuff. I’m also very lucky that I’ve travelled a lot with my work, and I’ve seen film culture buildings all around the world, so I feel I’ve had the opportunity to learn from other experiences. If I can bring some of that learning to the conversation, then I’ll be very pleased to do so.

To find out more about the campaign check out the Twitter campaign. Read the full interview at snackmag.co.uk/filmhouse twitter.com/SaveFilmhouse

FOODIE NEWS

EDINBURGH

Ciao

58A North Castle Street

Edinburgh EH2 3LU

The existing bar within Rico’s Italian restaurant is being turned into a new cocktail and cicchetti concept that can accommodate 26 people. Cicchetti? What’s that? Think of it as Italian tapas – snacks served to accompany drinks. It launches this month and will be open every Tuesday to Saturday. ricosristorante.co.uk

The Tollhouse

Canonmills, 50 Brandon Terrace

Edinburgh EH3 5BX

The former public toilets in Canonmills have been transformed into a 40-cover restaurant with private dining space below. Don’t worry, there is still room for toilets! The Tollhouse is brought to you by the team behind Dine Edinburgh at Cambridge Street and Dine Murrayfield, who intend to update their menus every fortnight in line with the changing seasonality.

There is also an outdoor drinks terrace overlooking the Water of Leith, where kingfishers, herons, badgers, ducks, trout, and even otters can be observed.

tollhouse.scot

Tigerlily

125 George Street Edinburgh EH2 4JN

Tigerlily was recently closed to undergo a revamp and has now reopened, following a bold transformation, to introduce more theatre and frolics and new cocktails made for sharing, like Mermaid’s Punch and Disco Ball.

tigerlilyedinburgh.co.uk

GLASGOW

Eighty Six

86 Dumbarton Road Glasgow G11 6NX

Hinba coffee shop at Partick Cross is no longer just a coffee shop. Now, every Wednesday to Sunday from 6pm till midnight, the venue will collaborate with neighbouring restaurant Eighty Eight to become Eighty Six, a new cocktail bar. The owners lived in Palma, Mallorca for five years, where it is quite common for cafes to turn into cocktail bars in the evening, so they want to introduce this laidback Mallorcan concept to Glasgow.

instagram.com/86glasgow

Cafe Verse

75 Deanston Drive, Shawlands Glasgow G41 3AQ

Coffee shop It All Started Here may have closed after seven years, but Cafe Verse – with a peachy colour scheme change – now occupies the same space and continues to offer great coffee, tea, cakes, and pastries. There are vegan options and it’s dog friendly too. Open Tuesday to Friday 8am till 4pm and from 10am till 4pm at weekends.

instagram.com/verseglasgow

East End Fox

192 Glasgow Road, Barrachnie Glasgow, G69 6EU

After a lengthy period of closure, the former Barrachnie Inn has reopened as a gastro pub. The main menu covers small plates, burgers, sandwiches, and grilled and stove-cooked dishes. A market menu also runs from 1pm–8pm on Sundays, noon to 8pm Wednesdays–Fridays (until 5pm on Saturdays). Christmas (£24 for two, and £29 for three courses) and New Year’s Eve menus (£66+) are available on their website.

theeastendfox.com

La Gelatessa

38 Nithsdale Road Glasgow G41 2AN

A new ice cream shop is opening in Strathbungo at the end of November/beginning of December. Located in the former Freddy and Hicks premises, this new venture is called La Gelatessa, or, if your Italian is a bit rusty, ‘The Ice Cream Woman’. The logo has been designed by the talented Kieron Redmond (you may know him from the Pollokshields Mango print).

instagram.com/lagelatessa

by Mark & Emma, Foodie

PRODUCT Devil of Brooklyn

42 Renfield Street

Glasgow G2 1NE

The team that brought you Tabac on Mitchell Lane have now launched new venture Devil of Brooklyn. Located where Sarti was, at the junction of Renfield Street and West George Street, the new bar will offer bespoke curated cocktails and sharing boards.

instagram.com/devilofbrooklyn

Piada

14 Minard Road

Glasgow G41 2HN

Filling the void left by Tapa in Crossmyloof, Piada, as its name implies, serves up different types of piada - or piadina, as they are known in some parts of Italy. These are homemade, authentic Italian flatbreads with fillings such as salami, Parma ham, fennel sausage, roasted vegetables etc. They are not licensed but their drinks menu includes six mocktails, alongside regular soft and hot drinks. Open Monday–Saturday from 11am till 8pm and on Sunday from 11am till 5pm. instagram.com/piada_glasgow

Koro Advent Calendars

Looking for advent calendars which are a little bit quirky? Koro produces high-quality calendars which focus on snacks, e.g. Fruit (fruits & fruit bars); Nuts (nuts, nut mixes and nut bars); Energy Balls; Vegan (sweet and salty); and Classic (sweet and salty). Although there is a dedicated vegan calendar, the Fruit and Nuts options are also 100% vegan. koro-shop.co.uk/advent-calendars

Sebastian

Kobelt - Advent Calendar

Scottish chocolatier Sebastian Kobelt also has a new advent calendar. Made in collaboration with David from trufflepigart.com, who has created the Christmas theme, each calendar contains the following flavours: cranberry; Douglas fir; Dominostein; hazelnut & miso; gingerbread latte; Christmas pudding; salted caramel; butterscotch; marzipan & Scottish sea buckthorn; osmanthus flower; orange & coriander seed, and caramelised banana & chicory root. Calendars will be posted on, or be available for collection from, Monday 28th November. sebastiankobelt.com

Stewart Brewing - Edinburgh Castle IPA

Edinburgh Castle has teamed up with Stewart Brewing to announce the launch of an official beer for anyone visiting the castle. Using Scottish malt and American hops, the resulting IPA has a tangy grapefruit profile rather than a tropical or piney one. It’s bottled at 5.0% ABV and will be available to buy from Edinburgh Castle itself (gift shop and tea room) or online from the Historic Environment Scotland website.

stor.scot

Pollokshields says

Support

ROASTED RED PEPPER AND TOMATO SOUP

With just a couple of months of 2022 remaining, try this easy roasted red pepper and tomato soup recipe. It’s not only bright and autumnal-looking, but is full of flavour, seasonal, and an ideal way to use up veggies at the end of their life. So don’t feel you need perfect veggies –instead buy reduced-price ones or use up veg that is starting to get a bit wrinkly.

Roasting the red peppers and tomatoes gives a fuller and more intense flavour as it removes some water from the vegetable, which concentrates the taste. The caramelisation of the vegetables also sweetens it, which our taste buds love.

Make a batch of this and freeze it for a filling and warming lunch or as a quick snack for when you get in after battling home in cold weather. It’s gluten-free, vegan-friendly, and filled with healthy antioxidants you can’t get enough of as flu season looms.

We added a sprinkling of some warm cumin and fennel Munchy Seeds for extra healthiness and a bit of a crunch.

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for roasting veggies

2 onions, chopped

450g tomatoes, chopped

3 red peppers, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp crushed chilli peppers

1 tsp smoked paprika

750ml vegetable stock

Optional - a sprinkling of Munchy Seeds warm cumin and fennel seeds on the top when serving.

METHOD

Spread the tomatoes and peppers out on a roasting pan or baking tray.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over paprika.

Roast the vegetables at 200°C/180°C fan/Gas Mark 6 for 35 minutes or until they begin to brown.

Add onion and garlic to pot, with a drizzle of olive oil, on medium heat and cook until softened.

Add roasted vegetables to the pot. Pour the stock over the roasted vegetables and bring to a simmer for a few minutes.

Add chilli flakes to the soup mixture.

Let the soup cool and blend, either with a stick blender or a food processor.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

MOVIECLUB GAY

Let’s be real: cowboys are perennial gay icons. In Western movies, the men are removed from the norms or rules of society, wear tight denim, and often seek solace or emotional connection from their buddies as opposed to their wives or girlfriends. It is not an enormous stretch, thus, to read more closely into the genre’s most iconic titles and find queer subtext from start to finish. In a surprising turn from us, this month’s chosen feature is very butch: we have decided to forgo the traditional glitz, glamour, and gay frivolity to induct 1969’s iconic gun-slingin’, horse-ridin’ buddy movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, into the (Not) Gay Movie Club.

Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and Sundance (Robert Redford – hello, gorgeous!) are two Wyoming-based free-spirited leaders of a criminal gang, gallivanting at the turn of the 19th century. Butch is charismatic, wry, and bold: Sundance is laconic, brooding, and a deadly shot.

They are the quintessential double act, and when their plan of robbing a bank goes awry, they flee – Sundance’s girlfriend Etta in tow – to Bolivia to rob banks, make some money, and half-ass their way through some Spanish. With breathtaking visuals, slick action sequences full of tension, and a screenplay full of wit, the movie ticks more boxes than perhaps I was initially willing to concede to.

Full disclosure: I was not expecting to enjoy this film. I do not enjoy Westerns. The only cowboys I have appreciated are Calamity Jane and Toy Story’s Woody, and I find gruff boys with guns and deep, hyper-macho brooding an enormous turn-off. However, Butch Cassidy pleasantly surprised me. Sure, the jaw-dropping beauty of our two leads didn’t hurt, but I found myself engrossed in the dynamic between Butch and Sundance; the pair possess a compelling chemistry, evident as much when there is dead silence on the plain as when sparring.

And, naturally, there is much to read within the film’s queer subtext, lifting this film way beyond a Channel 5 afternoon shoot-em-up.

The casting of Butch and Sundance is impeccable: our leads are handsome, charming, and I fully believe they could handle themselves in the grisly Wild West. But there is more at play than their pistol prowess: Paul Newman may have been married to iconic actress Joanne Woodward for 50 years, but he was allegedly queer behind the scenes, rumoured to have had affairs with the likes of James Dean. The mere hypothesis of this adds a delightful layer of subtext to the dynamic between Butch and Sundance. Redford seems particularly flirty, especially at the start of the film, and even refers to Butch as a ‘soft touch’. And upon my first viewing, I was fascinated by the dynamic between Butch, Sundance, and the latter’s girlfriend Etta. I had to pause to double-check who was whose partner, before gleefully accepting that, IMHO, everyone is into everyone. The trio flees to Bolivia and the lines of monogamy are arguably blurred:

This rapport brings a surprising, progressive element to the film, and one could argue that the movie evokes more polyamory and bisexuality than homosexuality. In one scene, Butch is in the midst of a romantic dalliance, with Sundance in the room, eyes peering out the window for danger. Clearly, they are very, very good friends and nothing more. Nope. Definitely just buddies; nay, colleagues! Great co-workers and consummate professionals.

Of course, our queer reading does not end with the duo’s dynamic; there are many layers of Butch Cassidy that subvert the tough, brooding characteristics seen in the movies of Sergio Leone, with the emblematic Clint Eastwood. Take Sundance’s touching, stereotype-rejecting admission of weakness – that he cannot swim, moments before they plunge into a waterfall – or instances of high camp: the outrageously OTT action sequences, the moment Butch winks at a passing bull, the topless knife fight with their old gang member… For a Western cynic, these elements are what elevate the movie and definitely suggest there was more intention behind the lens than bank robberies and stunning vistas.

With its dynamic duo and its queer subtext, Butch Cassidy inevitably subverts the Western genre, challenging the audience to view masculinity through a different lens. Did Butch Cassidy walk so Brokeback Mountain or The Power of the Dog could run? Perhaps. But what I love about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is how light it feels; humorous, stunningly shot, and full of poignant, emotional moments between these two tough guys, the movie has exceeded my expectations. And to be honest, it probably did us some good to veer away from sequins-laden, high-camp divas or glamorous, ghoulish women of horror for an issue...

Lampwork

Track by Track: Blew the Veils

A collaborative output from someone primarily known as a singer-songwriter and someone known primarily as a painter/visual artist will probably raise some red flags among the musically snobbish (including the guy writing this review). Prior to listening to the debut album by Blew the Veils, I was slightly wary of potentially indulging some unlistenable vanity project designed to sell tickets to an art show.

Thankfully, the creative meeting of Vivien McDermid and Icelandic songsmith Benedikt H. Hermannsson has resulted in one of the most emotionally varied and emotionally engaging records to have landed in our collective inbox.

Edinburgh-based McDermid is known as a songwriter as well as an artist, so perhaps my intro and pre-exposure attitude are slightly unfair to her. Hermannsson’s band Benni Hemm Hemm have produced ten albums and toured extensively outside of their native Iceland, so neither is approaching this as some sort of musical rookie, but the result is a truly gorgeous accomplishment spanning a plethora of emotive vibes.

The opener and lead track from the preceding EP, ‘Petrol Soft Breath’, is a blend of densely multitracked vocals and spookily echoing piano parts.

The percussion doesn’t start until the two-minute mark but, when it does arrive, it gently drives the track forward in a laconic, swaying manner. Considering most of the songs on Lampwork clock in at under three minutes, the five-minute run-time of ‘Petrol Soft Breath’ gives it a relatively epic feel. In contrast, ‘Blush Master’ has a much more direct mix and has the plonking storytelling feel of a Kinks song. The orchestration is worth mentioning here as various musical elements dance around the main vocal melody like the decorative streamers attached to an ornate float at some remote local gala day.

Revolving around a skipping drumbeat and spiralling verses, ‘Burnt Milk’ is an unabashed bopper with one of those choruses that makes you glad every time it comes around.

Sometimes the overlapping vocals sound like they’re directly fighting each other, in a manner more akin to hyperactive kittens than threatening ruffians.

‘Ray Guns’ manages to transform itself from downbeat, murky verses into relatively soaring, lovesick chorus renditions with plenty of thick strings padding the sound out. There might be a cello in there but it’s hard to tell, as it’s either using the higher strings or it’s another stringed instrument mimicking the deep drone of a cello.

‘Big Deal’ is a very direct message to someone giving contradictory visions of devotion. ‘The rules are simple / you can do what you want’ sings Hermannsson in a manner that suggests a love completely absent of the sort of dominating language male-sung love songs were plagued with last century.

The most sonically unsettling song on the album is ‘Fights in the Lot’. The staccato piano stabs are at odds with the flowing vocals that stretch over the top of it before the whole vocal line is re-sung at a slightly different time signature.

Featuring renowned multi-instrumentalist Lorna Gilfedder, ‘Pearl Night’ deploys something that sounds like a theremin to give a decidedly dreamy bedding, within which Hermannsson’s distinctive timbre weaves images of skyward wishes and the building orchestration of rich strings makes the entire track sound like it was recorded on the edge of the known world.

‘Butterflylight’ might be my favourite song on the record. ‘You can tear me into strips / you can chop me into bits / if you like / if you like’ is a devastating set of lines exposing an earnest yearning. The backing vocals as the song progresses would be worthy of a place on Pet Sounds.

With a slightly more rock-friendly backing, ‘Cool Gang’ also harks back to a hazy view of the late sixties. Hypnotic and reservedly groovy, it’s probably the best candidate for a future single release.

Closer ‘Dark Green Night’ utilises a much higher tempo than everything else on the record. As a sign-off, it actually works really well, although I don’t think anyone would complain if it switched places in the track-listing and was an opening track. Some of the instrumentation is quite hard to pin down, with a persistent sound in the mix that could be a highly pitched organ or a sample of someone whistling.

Lampwork is a warm mesh of influences. There are obvious lashings of folky warmth and the mostly baritone vocals lend more than a hint of Tindersticks’ later records. Lyrically, there’s a blend of the surreal and the intimate which knits together nicely with McDermid’s textile-focused approach to painting – various fabrics and objects being expertly blended with the traditional paint creating something all the more unique for its integrated approach. If you can get your hands on the vinyl version, which includes the limited-edition book of artworks by Vivien, you’ll have something both tactile and ear-caressing that you’ll revisit well into your old age.

Music by Stephen

Lampwork is out 4th November via Blackford Hill

POLARBEAR

Book: The Lost Chronicle: 2004-2009

With a career in music and performative poetry, it’s hardly surprising that we are only just seeing published work from Steven Camden, more commonly known as Polarbear. However, once you read this first collection from Steven you will immediately wonder why. Transformative, considered poetry that should be read in schools across the country, Polarbear’s work is masterful, rhyming, and yet holds a narrative. The Lost Chronicle: 2004–2009 is a must-have poetry collection and will inspire you to see Steven perform live.

Polarbear is one of the most influential poets of his generation, and yet we rarely see his name written down. The collection here is work that made his name, though I’ve sadly never seen them performed. With hundreds of thousands of views online, Polarbear’s work has found a place in the hearts and minds of audiences. It feels intimate to sit with The Lost Chronicle, which spans Polarbear’s early career and sees him marrying rap lyrics with visceral narratives.

From reading this collection it’s clear that Camden observes his surroundings and makes sense of the world around him. From ‘Jessica’ to ‘Sagat’, the poems provide vivid documentation of the lives connected to his, and the most intimate of the written words are taken from a discussion between him and poet and editor Kayo Chingonyi. Even this interview has an aural rhythm to it, if read out loud. A vital collection of poetry, The Lost Chronicle is a finely tuned collection, juxtaposing sound and story, and combining a documentary style of narrative with his rhyme, rhythm and rap.

The Lost Chronicle: 2004–2009 is out 10th November, published by Bloomsbury Keira Brown

DOUGLAS MACINTYRE, GRANT MCPHEE AND NEIL COOPER

Book: Hungry Beat: The Scottish Independent Pop Underground Movement (1977-1984)

Filmmaker Grant McPhee’s excellent documentary Big Gold Dream told the story of the Scottish independent music scene of the late 70s and early 80s, and focused on two indie record labels, Edinburgh’s Fast Product and Glasgow’s Postcard Records. McPhee found he had many hours of interviews that he couldn’t use in the film, but they didn’t go to waste. Instead, they became the inspiration behind Hungry Beat, written together with musician and Creeping Bent label owner Douglas MacIntyre and arts journalist Neil Cooper. The story of Postcard Records has been told before, but not as in depth as it is here.

We learn more about the Holy Trinity of Orange Juice, Josef K, and Aztec Camera, and the bands in their orbit, like The Go-Betweens, The Bluebells, Altered Images, Jazzateers/Bourgie Bourgie, James King & the Lonewolves, and more.

But it’s the story of Fast Product, and particularly the central figures Bob Last and Hilary Morrison, that intrigues most, not only because it’s a lesserknown one but because of those involved. They include not only local bands The Dirty Reds, Scars, and The Fire Engines, but also music legends The Human League, Gang of Four, and The Mekons. Set up to be similar to Andy Warhol’s studio, The Factory, and in turn influencing UK indie labels such as Manchester’s Factory, Liverpool’s Zoo, and Newcastle’s Kitchenware, Fast was as much about their manifesto as it was the music.

The book is structured around interviews, which works wonderfully as it offers various points of view. Though this leads to some repetition of information, it gives you agency in making up your own mind as to what really happened.

Hungry Beat doesn’t tell just one story, or force you to believe any single version of events, and is all the better for it. Most of all, it gives great insight into a time when Scottish independent music was so influential that the rest of the industry had to sit up and take notice.

Hungry Beat: The Scottish Independent Pop Underground Movement (1977-1984) is out now, via White Rabbit Books Alistair Braidwood

TERRA KIN

Single: Flames

The long-awaited debut single from the young Glaswegian is a minimal meditation on facing up to the harsh realities of the end of a relationship. Topped with a minimal guitar line, their languid, gauzy vocal and clever lyricism give ‘Flames’ a melancholic maturity that blooms out into rich, full, hopeful instrumentation.

‘Flames’ is out now

Chris Queen

Photo credit: Kai Gillespie

HAILEY BEAVIS

Single: Anything That Shines

Twinkling softly over a thrumming bass, Hailey Beavis’s latest single opens her debut album I’ll Put You Where the Trombone Slides. Contrasting the introspective solitude of lead single ‘Crow’, ‘Anything That Shines’ evokes a certain optimism, with hearty backing vocals and hand-claps. And against gritty guitars and raw, scraping violins, Beavis’ uplifting chorus is light breaking through a stormy sky.

‘Anything That Shines’ is out now. I’ll Put You Where the Trombone Slides is out 4th November via OK Pal Records

Zoë White

MIDNIGHT AMBULANCE

Single: Morlich

With every release, Midnight Ambulance venture further out, with ‘Morlich’ feeling fully formed and utterly confident in its surroundings.

There are themes of isolation, moving on, and putting faith in things around you, but it’s all wrapped up in the sense of wonder and optimism you cannot help but root for, something we all need now.

The track almost feels like three songs in one, with distinct sections vying for attention, and the interplaying melodies of Amelia Stokes and Fraser Fulton work well in the middle of the song. Pulsing guitars bring us home, and in less than three and a half minutes, the listener has been on a journey.

With a full EP to come before the end of the year, we know there’s much more to come from Midnight Ambulance. ‘Morlich’ is a more than welcoming place to start if they’re new to you, and it will please existing followers.

‘Morlich’ is out now

Andrew Reilly

AMUNDA

Single: Mess Me Up

Continuing her run of excellent power pop singles this year, this song comes bursting out with a thumping bass kick and brassy electro swagger.

Mess Me Up is a joyously defiant kickback at inadvisable crushes and their attendant bad decisions that is begging to be played out of the biggest speaker stack you can find.

'Mess Me Up' is out now via Hen Hoose

Chris Queen

ZOË BESTEL

Single: Utopia

The idea of ‘Utopia’ differs from person to person. Still, as someone living in a Glasgow flat during the lockdown, outdoor spaces or balconies began to feel like heaven for high-rise residents. The daily allotted exercise time was as highly prized as it would have been for the lags at Slade prison doing a spell of porridge.

It’s no surprise that Zoë Bestel felt similar, with her song weaving the tangible benefits of a greener surrounding over and under stirring strings and winsome melody.

The lyrics talk of nature’s healing capabilities, and the music does the same. There’s a soothing feel, with Zoe’s vocals washing over you, stripping away the harshness of inner-city living, which decayed on the inside and out.

As a precursor for more music hopefully next year, ‘Utopia’ is a warm welcome back from a wellregarded Scottish folk musician, when we need uplifting music more than ever.

‘Utopia’ will be released on 11th November Andrew Reilly

POST COAL PROM QUEEN

Single: Free Radio Phobos

On ‘Free Radio Phobos’, their pulsating vision of first contact with a hostile alien race (and a satisfying nod to Liu Cixin’s series of novels, Remembrance of Earth’s Past), Post Coal Prom Queen touch on sci-fi/horror themes while wryly reflecting on the state of contemporary society. Chiming percussion, flaring electronics, churning guitars and undulating bass all combine with clamouring strings, unbridled saxophone, and hushed vocals to create an urgent, irrefutable banger.

‘Free Radio Phobos’ is out now Chris Sneddon

Photo credit: John Farrell

Photo credit: Elvira Wilkinson

LINZI CLARK

Single: Without You

‘Without You' feels like an epilogue to ‘With You’, one of the strongest tracks from Linzi Clark’s 2021 debut album, All I Have Now. The way the different aspects of this track come together to tell a story is wonderful. Each layer works together beautifully, creating a world of desolate emptiness and profound beauty in the package of a stellar single.

‘Without You’ is out now

Daisy Cassidy

L.T. LEIF

Single: No Birds

‘No Birds’ is the latest single from Canadianborn, Glasgow-based singer-songwriter L.T. Leif.

Taken from her upcoming album Come Back to Me, But Lightly, the track is a furtive crescendo of radiant contemporary folk. In Leif’s dream-soaked vocalizations she ponders radical life changes as the track dances and twirls around your head like autumn leaves caught in a warm updraft. Moving on and forging a new path can be tough, but on ‘No Birds’ Leif makes the task seem a little less daunting.

‘No

Birds' is out now via Lost Map Records

Craig Howieson

FRIGHT YEARS

Single: Warning Signs

Edinburgh’s Fright Years have caught our attention this year with the pulsating ‘Every Weekend’ and ‘Another Life’, which prowled with a purpose. Their good run of form continues with ‘Warning Signs’, a song that musically fits neatly with the changing seasons.

The initial tempo drops (much like the recent temperature around us), but it creates breathing room for the band to showcase another side.

Photo credit: Bovine

Photo credit: Craig M. Stewart

Photo credit: Megan Henderson

The dreamlike song gently builds, taking you so much by surprise that by the time the inevitable instrumental break comes in, it’s a pleasant surprise, even if it’s a hugely familiar trope.

Fright Years make things feel fresh, which is no mean feat when wrestling with topics like failing relationships and taking responsibility. The more the band drip-feed tunes, the more there is to like, and this shimmering piece carries an almost hallucinatory tone.

2022 is shaping up to be a good one for the band, but there’s more than enough today to embrace Fright Years.

‘Warning Signs’ is out now Andrew Reilly

GOSSIPER

Single: Shades of Blue/Honeycomb

It shouldn’t be a surprise that bands are releasing songs dealing with loneliness, lack of connectivity, and making your way in a world that is changing (and often crumbling) in front of your eyes. It’s been a tough time, but this often leads to good music, which brings us to Gossiper and their split single.

Both songs deal with the modern blues, but do so pleasantly, embracing the troubles we face.

Anyone looking for new bands that put a voice to their feelings will like what’s going on here.

Lead track ‘Shades of Blue’ has a dreamlike feel while detailing the mundanities of everyday life and how we can escape or find solace in the things we do. ‘Honeycomb’ is the sprightlier of the two, slightly glitchy and more open to possibilities, with a quiet charm.

The guitars are sublime and the themes are relatable; Gossiper are worth inspecting.

‘Shades of Blue’/‘Honeycomb’ are out now Andrew Reilly

ROSIE H. SULLIVAN

Single: What a Life

Endings can be brutal and beginnings beautiful, and you seldom get one without the other. ‘What a Life’ paints a candid picture of moving on in search of a more fulfilling future. While there is a sombre poignancy to the way the artist’s voice and electric guitar intertwine, there is also an ocean spray of optimism. Imbued with the same captivating charm as Julien Baker's early releases, you can’t help but hold some excitement for what comes next.

‘What a Life’ is out now via Nettwerk Records

Craig Howieson

Photo credit: Elly Lucas

DAYYDREAM

EP: Bittersweet

Dayydream is Chloe Trappes – daughter of experimental musician Penelope Trappes – a visual artist and musician working in Glasgow. Her debut EP takes on the disorientation and isolation of a childhood split between two countries. Primarily on acoustic guitar, she’s set apart from the usual singer-songwriter fare by a healthy dose of distortion and phase, applying the aesthetics of shoegaze to acoustic music and giving it the homespun psychedelic feel of the early Plush or Elephant Six Records. Her lyrics are underpinned with a confessional honesty; ‘can’t say I didn’t warn you, you can’t say you didn’t see through’ she sings on ‘Wasn’t’, in a regretful wash with notes of Elliot Smith, a comforting weight of sadness. ‘Sweet Release’ promises a tingling glow that doesn’t quite come. The combination gives the whole EP a hazy, half-remembered quality, digging into a dream or grasping at the last tendrils of a fading memory.

Bittersweet is out now. The EP launch is at the Hug & Pint, Glasgow 7th November Chris Queen

RUDI ZYGADLO

EP: Chattanooga

Scottish musician Rudi Zygadlo cuts a striking figure in the promo shots for his new EP, Chattanooga. There’s a playful femininity to each pose, an aesthetic that's cheekily juxtaposed by an obviously drawn-on moustache. Zygadlo’s music is just as enchanting as his image suggests, and Chattanooga is a potent mixture of glam rock, dance, electro, hip-hop and pop music that collides luscious melodies with infectious drum beats, flamboyant, psychedelic guitars, and mesmerising electronics. It’s an intriguing collection of songs and probably the only time you’re going to hear elements of Queen, The Cure, Prince, Weezer, Type O Negative and Green Day brought together with influences from MGMT, Miike Snow, Maroon 5 and Justin Timberlake. It’s diverse, it’s vibrant, it’s unpredictable, and it’s full of personality. There’s even a gleeful Sean Connery impression on the title track that's impossible to emulate without a gigantic grin on your face. What more do you want?

Chattanooga is out now Chris Sneddon

Photo credit: Harrison Reid

GOLD PANDA

Album: The Work

Derwin Schlecker (Gold Panda) has always been one for making effortless sounds from disparate sources. This album is clearly very personal to the London artist, charting heavy times, in spite of its often breezy tone. The title itself references Schlecker's struggles with depression and his move towards healing through self-care and therapy, so it makes sense that much of the album is very soothing. It's beautiful, a worthy successor to his 2016 studio album Good Luck and Do Your Best.

Ultimately, it's the global reach of his electronic influences that keep things interesting, with enough playfulness for those into Flying Lotus, Four Tet, and Aphex Twin, while also reminiscent of the sweet melancholy of Yellow Magic Orchestra. Schlecker has one foot in the past and one in the future, and it's a real healing balm for the psyche; warm music for cooler nights ahead.

The Work is out 11th November via City Slang Lorna Irvine

As usual, easy genres are tickled into submission. Sinewy synth sounds, soft piano and minimalist percussion mesh with otherworldly vocal samples. There's ambient bliss to be found in 'The Corner', 'The Dream' twinkles with glitchy precision, and 'Plastic Future' could be a 21st-century travelling companion to Kraftwerk's 'Trans-Europe Express'.

Indeed, its pulsing rhythms and contemplative melodies, along with the inherently spacious nature of the eleven tracks here, make this the perfect contemplative music to accompany train journeys and times for quiet introspection.

The New Scottish Music Review Podcast

New episode out now

Photo credit: Laura Lewis

NYX NÓTT

Album: Themes From

Aidan Moffat has never been one to follow a script. From his debauched personal/social commentary as frontman of Arab Strap, and his misery-wracked alt-folk with Bill Wells, to his recent, heavily processed electronic beat making with James Graham as Gentle Sinners, he is a man who has always been more than comfortable forging his own path.

Back with a second record under his Nyx Nótt moniker, Themes From, he again proves himself a uniquely talented musician and producer, regardless of the style he turns his hand to. Originally loosely conceived as an idea to record twenty 90-second TV themes, the album was trimmed down to just eight instrumental pieces.

Far from losing any of his vision, he has expanded upon it, with each track playing out like a mini movie that requires none of the visual stimuli.

‘Tearjerker’, with its lofty string crescendos, solitary piano keys, and twinkling synths, will pull at the hardest of hearts, while the closer ‘Actioner’ contains all the pace and suspense of a late-night thriller.

Cleverly composed, expertly executed, and with the ability to absorb your full attention, on Themes From, Moffat has managed to make an album of instrumentals that refuse to fade into the background.

Themes From is out 2nd December via Melodic Records

Craig Howieson

SHYGIRL

Album: Nymph

Blane Muise, aka London singer/DJ/rapper Shygirl, is all about dualism in her music. It could be argued that this is the reason her debut studio album is called Nymph. After all, add an 'o ' to the word and you have an old-fashioned term, derogatory, for a woman who enjoys sex. Whereas a nymph is a spirit of nature from mythology. Both can equally apply here, and Shygirl is unabashed in expressing and enjoying her sexuality. But of course, there's a softer side too.

Working with producers like Mura Masa and Arca, the artist’s debut is as intelligent and sophisticated as it is sexually charged. She's clearly got more in common, sonically speaking, with Björk, Greentea Peng, and Solange than conventional pop artists, but is still accessible.

Opener 'Woe' dips a toe into trip-hop, with reverb-y vocals and murky synths. Elsewhere, Arca’s production is apparent in 'Come For Me' which has a nagging, dark undercurrent. 'Coochie (a bedtime story)' is like a coquettish nursery rhyme with beats.

It feels like dirty fairy tales. As with writers like Angela Carter and Alina Reyes, the imagery of Little Red Riding Hood is repurposed into focusing on a heroine with autonomy. 'Shlut', with its deliberate misspelling, is a more overt bump n' grind hip hop track with a declamatory intention: ‘I'm a bad girl, but I don't know what for/ When it feels so good, I'm-a do what I want’, she purrs.

'Firefly' is the most immediate track, pristine glitchpop that showcases Shygirl’s gorgeous voice, sweetest when used in a higher register. Here, she demands an answer from a potential lover, chanting, ‘You kept me waitin' on a lie/ Wastin' all my time’.

Well worth the wait, Nymph is a brilliant debut album: eclectic, coherent, and empowering.

Nymph is out now

Lorna Irvine

LIZABETT RUSSO

Album: While I Sit and Watch this Tree – Volume 2

A lot has changed since 2020, but if anything, that means we crave familiarity and consistency all the more.

Lizabett Russo returns with the second volume of While I Sit and Watch this Tree, and it’s just as beguiling as the first.

No matter the wide range of instruments on display here, the most impressive feature is the artist’s voice. At times, the ‘powerfully versatile’ description on her website seems to be a woeful underplay of the capabilities Lizabett harnesses.

‘Dincolo de nori’ is uplifting, stirring strings supporting yet not overpowering the lead attraction. ‘Woman, have you lost your mind’ sees the singer warbling over muted yet emotive electronic pulses. Overall, it's an unsettling collection in that you can never take it for granted.

The left turns jar initially, but as songs reveal themselves, a mysterious landscape unfolds, and ‘What grows inside dark souls’ is an excellent example of this. There are lighter moments of reflection and beauty, but the contrast will compel listeners to return.

With Scottish shows between the 4th and 12th of November, you might catch Lizabett in person if you move quickly. If not, sit back and settle in for a fully immersive and utterly engaging experience.

While I Sit And Watch This Tree – Volume 2 is released on 4th November via LNFG Andrew Reilly

LONGLIST

JULIA ROMANA

Album: Blood Be Fluid

Together with composer Veronika Hanl and a team of artists, Julia Romana has created a piece of work imbued with a powerful, corporeal energy that places itself firmly in the lineage of great feminine outsider art.

‘Seasons’ echoes the slinky blues growl of Rid of Me -era PJ Harvey or Patti Smith and the bodily confessions of Tori Amos or Aimee Mann; the title track a skittish, doomy bass arpeggio of The Eraser-era Thom Yorke. Album centrepiece ‘Moon’ has the Lalo Schifrin-inspired shadowy trip-hop atmospherics of Portishead at their haunted cabaret peak. There’s even a nod to Charlotte Church’s (excellent) experimental electronic phase, on the multi-layered ballad ‘See Her’. These disparate lines are pulled together by the depth of Romana’s multi-tracked layering vocals, and the dark, dreamy feel of the arrangements’ looping and slipping – dropping occasional dissonant notes and off-time beats that give the short album a slightly unsettled feel, a little edge of discomfort in the sensuality and beauty.

Working with director Laura Manners and choreographer Weronika Szczerek, the allfemale team have created a series of visuals to accompany the album, inspired by horror classics. The blood-soaked 70s movies of Argento and The Blair Witch Project all add to the general off-kilter opulence of Romana’s crepuscular dreamscapes. A seductive, blood-drenched dream of an album that draws the listener in like Lady March in The Lair of The White Worm, sinking in her fangs when it’s too late to escape.

Blood Be Fluid is out now Chris Queen

SKINT: THE TAKING OF BALGRAYHILL STREET

Film

Monologue as a form is often looked down upon within the world of film and TV as anti-visual, driven by the cardinal sin of exposition. Show, don’t tell! goes the rulebook, and for good reason. However, when you are working within a short format without compromising depth of character, it can work perfectly. When done right, there is nothing finer. James Price’s short film The Taking of Balgrayhill Street is a perfect example of this, released in March as part of BBC Four’s series of shorts, Skint.

Price’s story centres on Donny (Peter Mullan), a Glaswegian man around retirement age, settling in to watch his favourite show, Miami Vice. However, the run-up to this evening ritual is rudely affected by a knock at the door; a charity rep has come to inform him that there is a communal food parcel in the foyer of his housing block. All we see is the silhouette of the intruder, and Donny ventriloquises their exchange.

Following this, every supporting member moves silently through the scheme, nose pressed up against glass, as Donny impersonates them. This is not only funny, but allows Mullan to show off his range and incredible delivery.

We are given the privileged position of having Donny speak directly to us, in on the joke, as he mercilessly mimics and slags off his neighbours. As the story develops we better understand Donny’s actions are symptoms of softcore paranoia. This isn’t quite tinfoil hat ‘Biden is a cyborg’ type stuff; instead it’s more the ‘wear a balaclava to visit the communal pantry so you aren’t spotted stealing free food’ kind of paranoia. Whilst we watch Donny project onto his neighbours, we understand his narration comes not from a place of nastiness, but rather from someone whose sense of masculinity, pride, and self-esteem is under constant threat from poverty. The anxiety that comes with being skint bleeds into everything; the simplest of decisions easily become a Rubik’s Cube of existential questioning. Price represents this in a way that not only rings true, but is funny as hell.

This is Price’s first monologue short, and it stands in good company alongside his other work that explores flawed but lovable paternal figures. For more, check out Boys Night, which won the audience vote at Glasgow Film Festival 2020. You can catch Skint on BBC iPlayer, and if you feel yourself developing a thirst for monologue from the small screen, check out the incredible A Sense of History, directed by Mike Leigh and starring Jim Broadbent.

Watch The Taking of Balgrayhill Street at snackmag.co.uk/balgrayhill

Conor Molloy

SNACK BITS

We might get in trouble for saying November is an apt month for the next Guy Fawkes to descend on the Houses of Parliament, so we won’t say that at all. Instead, as November is the month of St Andrew’s Day, we’ll focus on the best new music in Scotland. As we do every month!

If you’ve got a good memory, you’ll recall SNACK heaped praise on Loup Havenith last year. Loup is back, this time known as Elephant In Red Thankfully, Loup’s Elliot Smith-like vocals still sound as glorious on ‘Silver’, and this track is a rollicking little number. At over five minutes, it has enough time to jolt into a Crazy Horse workout for the last 90 seconds. Everybody knows this is nowhere, but there are many worse places you can be. The song is out mid-November, with Glasgow and Edinburgh gigs around this time, so you’ve plenty of opportunity to check them out.

Another Glasgow gig we’ll remind you about is show taking place at The Hug & Pint on the 25th of November. We covered EP last month, but as a late October release, there’s no harm in

They might be new, but they have that jaded-withlife outlook we love, which means SNACK will keep eyes and ears out for a forthcoming EP.

You’ll also find Saint Sappho in The Hug & Pint in November, on the 7th. They’ll be armed with recent single ‘Two in the Room’, which is a short and snappy introduction, with dreamlike and nagging (in the good sense) sections in equal measure.

Something new for us, and probably you, is ‘Oh God’, the debut single from Edinburgh’s You Are Lost Be Careful. Right from the off, it’s a measured and moody track, and very disciplined for a debut track. And then you remember the pandemic and how many acts got all this extra time to hone their craft. On initial listens, it was time well spent, and if you love restrained angst with a bit of bite, this should be good for you.

A more traditional, and way heavier, rock number comes from The Rhubarb, with ‘Mist’ paving the way for the band’s debut album, set for release in spring next year. It’s a lunging and lurching track, with treated guitars crunching their way behind the warbling singing style of Hannah White, who splits vocals with Sean Maguire. The section where it all speeds up is as familiar and welcome as a story about Ozzy biting bats, and while there is an air of seriousness to the track, you cannot fault a band who prick pomposity by including the line ‘A chair dusty and unused it hasn’t seen any bum for so long’. The drum fills at the end are great too. We go from rock to pop, but we continue ‘Into The Dark’, the new single from Callum Gibson.

Photo credit: Eléonore Marty-Guiraud

The quick guitar strum and a reference to ‘Molly’s Chamber’ should position Callum with his audience in no time. It’s the soundtrack of house parties, warm-ups and comedowns, and the infectious groove should see the song fit neatly on playlists featuring Gerry, Jamie, and all those other lads who fuel daydreams and the sesh across the land.

We’re finishing off the November issue in late October, so it’s all pumpkin flavourings and forced frightening behaviour round here. A reminder that the spooky and unsettling isn’t just for Halloween – it can be an all-year round activity if you believe enough – comes from SNACK regulars Post Coal Prom Queen. The talented duo is back with ‘Free Radio Phobos’, an early insight to their forthcoming Music for First Contact release, a recorded version of their operatic debut from this year’s Hidden Door events.

We love bands that show ambition, and feel great relief when said ambition is matched with a quality song, it isn’t always the case. It is here. Anyways, the tinkling intro creates urgency and mild terror, while Lily Higham’s vocals cut through with a light and breathless manner that leave you with the sense that something bad is going to happen. Just like it does in the movies. The wail of sax and tripping backing track creates a feeling of dread, and it’s a performance piece as much as a song.

And the song mentions submarines, which is a guaranteed way to please this writer. Then again, what about that early demo of ‘Yellow Submarine’ on the Revolver box set? That’s a bit depressing, isn’t it? You wouldn’t want Ringo chirruping that version.

Looking ahead, the Humour pure misery EP, scheduled for late November, sounds well worth checking out. ‘yeah, mud!’, the opening track, refuses to stand on ceremony, merging melody and shouted sections with a pressing desire to get things done.

‘alive and well’ is slower, but more manic, indicating Humour is a band of conflict and complexity. In saying that, there’s earworms all over the release, so it’ll likely find a home amongst those looking for things to rail against.

‘NYC’ by Ava Carlyle is lovely, with the strings being particularly pleasing. ‘Take It All Away’ by The Distant Few is an interesting listen, switching from a rumbling and grumbling sound to something not far away from highly polished 80s fare. If you dabble with Marillion or Simple Minds from that era, this won’t be out of place or spirit.

SNACK advocates Protection, so it’s just as well we like the band’s debut release. Then again, as it features Scott Paterson from Sons & Daughters and Iain Cook from Chvrches, it was starting from a position of strength. ‘Still Love You’ blends electronica, a sky-scraping vocal sample and the intuitive sense of repetition that makes you feel everything is going to be all right. We certainly can’t promise that, but we think there’ll be more good stuff to come from this duo.

Let’s hope local bands don’t down tools early for the end of the year, or December’s SNACK Bits might have to regale you with our favourite festive tunes. See you then to round off 2022.

It started as a gesture of love. Mama, I asked her I want orange juice Baby, she said, My baby.

She squeezed it fresh one morning, and then it was orange juice with every single meal.

First came the little orange juicer It’s too small, she said Can’t make enough, then the juicy salif for her birthday. I used to lick the legs when she wasn’t watching the juices of tangerines and clementine’s and mandarins and sometimes a lemon sliding down the sides of the salif. We sent away for trifoliate’s one year and when she stopped leaving the kitchen I’d bring her blood oranges from the market.

I would sit at the counter after school and use my teeth to scrape at the rinds she’d pour a new juice down my throat

Why don’t you use the outside for a change? That’s not what orange juice tastes like

now only back and forth between the cutting board orange and the juicy salif Mama, have you tasted the best orange juice in the world?

I asked her once Yes, she said. It was on TV.

Oranges Oranges Oranges Oranges Oranges