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GLASGOW & EDINBURGH EVENTS GUIDE JULY–AUGUST 2022 | ISSUE 763

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All hail the wizard of Oslo

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KAPIL SESHASAYEE NINE INCH NAILS BEABADOOBEE STEWART LEE LAURA JURD ARI FOLMAN SUSIE DENT KOMBUCHA THE SNUTS

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2 THE LIST May 2022

CONTENTS

FRONT The Insider

6

Pavlovian responses and happy crying

My New Hobby

8

Urban birdwatching with Jo Clifford

FEATURES TRNSMT

10

Beabadoobee and Sigrid light up Glasgow

Anatomy

18

Unearthing Edinburgh’s murky medical past

EAT DRINK SHOP Heron

29

Barbecued octopus, anyone?

Bar Files

31

Vic Galloway on his perfect pub

Treen

33

Where style and ethics meet

GOING OUT Susie Dent

42

Countdown queen gets lost for words

Patti Smith

54

A homage from Doune The Rabbit Hole

Nitram

62

Cannes winner focuses on an Australian tragedy

Nine Inch Nails

66

Trent and the gang go deep, dark and dangerous

STAYING IN House Of The Dragon

77

Heading back in time with the folks of Westeros

“

It’s masochistic but addictive ARI FOLMAN ON MAKING ANIMATED MOVIES

Kate Molleson

80

Finding classical music’s hidden gems

Blocco 181

88

TV’s new Gomorrah?

50

BACK Stewart Lee

92

My reincarnation as an otter

Hot Shots

94

Nope

July–August 2022 THE LIST 3

WELCOME

CONTRIBUTORS PUBLISHING

We Scots love a good festival, which is a stroke of luck given that you’ll barely be able to move for them in the coming weeks and months. While this issue covers events in July and August, we’ve tried to keep most of our Edinburgh Festival powder dry but the odd thing has crept in: we have an interview with innovative trumpeter Laura Jurd who’s appearing with two jazz hats on at the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Fest, while there’s a fair degree of Art Festival business going on including Tracey Emin at Jupiter Artland. We also join the dots to see who’s linked to who at CONNECT over at the Royal Highland Centre.

But it’s the west (and slightly further north and east and south: so, everywhere) that’s having the biggest festival impact for us, with TRNSMT (the closest thing there is these days to a T In The Park) hosting the likes of our featured acts Sigrid, Beabadoobee and The Snuts, all of whom are conquering their own corners of the globe while also stretching far beyond their backyards.

There’s also Doune The Rabbit Hole headed up by Patti Smith and Dundee Summer (Bash) Streets Festival which celebrates all things related to The Beano. We also hail several food and drink festivals as well as Gathered Together, a dance event which aims to include those who wouldn’t normally look at a floor and think that it was something they could use to express themselves.

There’s a fair amount of seriousness happening across the pages with films looking at Anne Frank and a notorious Australian shooting while the National Museum Of Scotland opens up some old wounds (quite bloody literally) for Anatomy, an exhibition which explores the parts of Edinburgh’s medical past that are less than savoury.

But fear not, there are also laughs to be had. Stewart Lee is in the prankster zone as he tackles our Q&A, we revel in the jittery banter of an Alan Carr live experience, while our very own Kevin Fullerton is in fine form as he turns his tastebuds to kombucha with his Drink Up column. And Countdown’s lexicologist extraordinaire Susie Dent informs, entertains and bamboozles with a few words that have way too many consonants in them.

CEO Sheri Friers Editor Brian Donaldson Art Director Seonaid Rafferty Designer Carys Tennant Sub Editors Paul McLean Megan Merino Writers: Brian Donaldson, Carol Main, Chris Opoku, Claire L Heuchan, Claire Sawers, David Kirkwood, Emma Simmonds, Fiona Shepherd, Gareth K Vile, Gemma Murphy, James Mottram, Jay Thundercliffe, Jo Clifford, Jo Laidlaw, Kapil Seshasayee, Kelly Apter, Kevin Fullerton, Lucy Ribchester, Lynsey May, Malcolm Jack, Megan Merino, Murray Robertson, Paul Dale, Rachel Ashenden, Rachel Cronin, Sean Greenhorn, Shaun Milne, Stewart Smith, Suzy Pope Social Media and Content Editor Megan Merino Business Development Manager Jayne Atkinson

Brian Donaldson EDITOR

Affiliates Manager Kevin Fullerton Media Sales Executive Ewan Wood PICTURE: BOB MCDEVITT

Digital Operations Executive Leah Bauer

Published by List Publishing Ltd 2 Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh EH8 9SU Tel: 0131 623 3040 list.co.uk editor@list.co.uk ISSN: 0959 - 1915

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4 THE LIST July–August 2022

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CHRIS BROOKMYRE

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WORLD-CLASS CIRCUS ON THE MEADOWS Cirque Alfonse: Animal

Blunderland

La Clique

Briefs: Bite Club

CIRCA: Humans 2.0

Splash Test Dummies

Rebel

Hotel Paradiso

Circus Abyssinia: Tulu

Brave Space

05-27 AUGUST 2022 The List - July Issue.indd 1

July–August 2022 THE LIST 5

23/06/2022 14:50

FRONT

MO UTH PIEC E Kapil Seshasayee pays tribute to a unique musical artist whose work still rings true for displaced people

V

ytautas Beleska passed away on May 2nd, in Chicago, Illinois. He was 6 9 years of age. If you knew him at all it’s likely via his stage name V yto B and his cult 197 6 concept-record Tric entennial 2 0 7 6 . To this day, physical copies of the album are scarce and can fetch up to a couple of thousand pounds online.

Y ou’d be forgiven for thinking he fitted the bill of a typical ‘outsider artist’, but you’d be wrong. V yto B was an anchor point for the L ithuanian diaspora in Chicago and a window into its culture for outsiders like me. It’s easy to see why this record in particular continues to resonate. L yrically, a collection of sombre essays on a futuristic wasteland, dubbed N ew America, its paranoia around advances in technology (being in favour of profit versus anything resembling humanitarian aid) feels as relevant now as it ever could in 197 6 .

In stark contrast is its musical backdrop.

Reminiscent of a player-piano, the songs gallop along at a relentless pace you’d usually find in music far less catchy. While I was hooked from its opening

bars, this album isn’t why I found great influence in the work of V yto B. It wasn’t until years later that I read beyond his mythos. Although I had been handed a backstory of ‘someone who dropped three albums and disappeared’, V yto had, in reality, never slowed down. He recorded music as recently as 2016 and collaborated often with other musicians of L ithuanian heritage such as Edward Anderson of Chicago band The 1900s.

V yto was drawn to those with the duality of his heritage in the same way I was drawn to other South Asians who hadn’t known India growing up.

Reading about him volunteering at the L ithuanian Research And Studies Centre in Chicago and hosting L ithuanian-language radio programme M arg u tis made me realise that, if I wanted to find my own sense of community, I had to build it.

His status was such that when L ithuanian president V aldas Adamkus first left office in 2009, he granted an interview to V yto on M arg u tis. Some time later when I began work on my own concept album on the horrors of the Indian caste system, it wasn’t the prog eccentricity of V yto’s albums that I wanted to match but that diasporic connection he so lovingly cultivated throughout his life and his music. n K apil S esh asayee’s new sing l e R u ptu re O f Th e W h eel f eatu res D aranti G rou p and is ou t now.

In this series of articles, we turn the focus back on ourselves by asking folk at The List about cultural artefacts that touch their heart and soul.

This time around, Megan Merino tells us about cultural things which . . .

Made me cry: The string arrangement in Laura Marling’s ‘Song For Our Daughter’. I think it’s a happy cry, but it’s like a Pavlovian response at this point.

Made me angry: Howardena Pindell’s 1980 short ‘Free, White And 21’ is a deadpan account of the racism she experienced growing up in America. It stopped me in my tracks recently at the Fruitmarket in Edinburgh.

Made me sad: Asif Kapadia’s Amy. It took me days to get over it.

Made me think: Dogtooth by Yorgos Lanthimos. It’s definitely one of his more deranged films, but I fixated on its subversion of societal conditioning and our freedom to see the world as it really is . . . if that’s even possible.

Made me think twice: The display of Turner paintings at Margate’s Turner Contemporary curated by British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong. His commentary powerfully showcases how we can hold multiple opinions of the so-called greats.

THE INSIDER

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@EdFoodFest July–August 2022 THE LIST 7

FRONT

play LIST

my new hobby

The ultimate soundtrack to this issue, as curated by The List team Discover songs by featured artists including: Sigrid, The Snuts, Beabadoobee, Laura Marling, Biig Piig, Laura Jurd, LOTOS, Patti Smith, Medicine Cabinet, Nine Inch Nails, Rebecca Vasmant and many more...

Scan and listen as you read:

RE

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Playwright-performer Jo Clifford took up urban birdwatching and triggered the idea for a new Fringe work alongside actor/writer/neighbour Maria MacDonell JC: I’m googling the names of ducks. N ever done that before, but it’s the lockdown, and they’re swimming outside my window. And look!

There’s a funny black and white one I don’t recognise. It’s an eider. I have to tell Maria. She’s two floors up and along a bit, and we’re writing a play about the U gly D uckling together. We message each other new lines, backwards and forwards, marvelling at duck sex. It gets very complicated sometimes. And when another upstairs neighbour throws some food out, it’s like World War Three.

MM: The seagulls are so vicious. They’re dive-bombing the ducks! But what’s that odd looking bird?

JC: After a bit we can sit socially distanced out on my window sill and finish the script together.

MM: And that’s the play. Two older women looking out over the Water Of L eith. Anything can happen . . . n Th e N ot S o U g l y D u c kl ing : A P l ay F or G rownu ps, S c ottish S torytel l ing C entre, E d inb u rg h , v ariou s d ates f rom Th u rsd ay 1 1 – S atu rd ay 2 7 A u g u st.

PER

SPE C

TIVE

REAL DINOSAURS

SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS

Jurassic World: Dominion has plopped into cinemas like a pterodactyl dropping, signalling yet another creaky franchise stampeding towards extinction. The solution? Rewilding. Introduce real dinosaurs into the population and we can transform the next Jurassic instalment into a cinéma vérité hit. Raptors In Rothesay. Pterodactyls In Troon. A T-Rex In Tranent. The possibilities are endless.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs goes by many names.

Some know him as P Diddy. Others as Didmaster Flash. His mum calls him Diddums, while Batman fans will recognise him as pantomime villain The Diddler. But not even his mother would call him a good musician. Yet Puff The Magic Daddy is at it again, releasing new single ‘Gotta Move On’, a predictably soulless dancefloor-botherer.

Please, Piffy Piff Did, please stop.

Bring It Back

Get It Gone

Stuff we’d love to see return and things we wish would quietly exit 8 THE LIST July–August 2022

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July–August 2022 THE LIST 9

FEATURES

“I’m still

trying to heal the 13-yearold me

”

B

eabadoobee’s career may have been catapulted by a viral TikTok sound when rapper owfu sampled her first single ‘Coffee’ back in , but she remains unsentimental about the app. ‘TikTok is shit if you’re on it constantly,’ insists the ondon-raised singersongwriter who was born in the hilippines as eatrice Kristi. ‘ ut it’s a great opportunity for artists to show their work and be discovered. And I’m not going to ignore that.’

Kristi is talking down a slightly crackly phone line ahead of catching a flight to begin her stretch of UK and uropean music festivals, taking in lastonbury, ad Cool and T T. ‘I love playing gigs in cotland the kids are actually mental,’ she laughs. ‘ ne time I was in dinburgh and I got some random guy to recite the whole Trainspotting monologue.’

The combination of tweeness and emotional honesty in her early tracks (‘I’ll make a cup of coffee with the right amount of sugar how you like it’ ‘You haven’t been good for a while, is it the sound of your thoughts ’ resonated deeply with fans and pricked the ears of independent record label irty it, who she still works with today. After this fleeting trip to urope, eabadoobee is heading to the U where she’ll support leachers ( ack Antonoff’s band on tour, as she has done for the likes of alsey and The over the past couple of years. ot bad company to be keeping as she ascends from bedroom indie ‘it girl’ to full-blown rock star, but the glit doesn’t always sit well with Kristi. ‘I’m playing these shows and I wouldn’t want to change it for the world,’ she states. ‘ ut I’m still trying to figure myself out. I’m still trying to heal the -year-old girl inside of me.’ The -year-old ea was ‘very unpopular, very shy and super selfconscious’, she recalls, and it was only after an unsettling e pulsion from si th form that she picked up the guitar and began writing more seriously. hile album F ake I t F l owers (which reached number eight in the UK Albums Chart was a candid deep-dive into eabadoobee’s adolescent mind, upcoming record Beatopia sees the -year-old reclaiming a more whimsical world which originated in her seven-year-old imagination.

‘I created this world, eatopia. I made a poster, made up names for every country and even had these weird symbols for every single letter of the alphabet. I was so proud of it.’ Yet this sweet memory was tainted by an unthoughtful teacher (‘a complete dickhead’ she insists who found the poster and ridiculed her for it in front of the entire class.

The unlocked memory of eatopia became the inspiration for eabadoobee’s new record, where she wants not to inhabit the fictitious world but instead better understand the child that created it. ‘ riting Beatopia helped me focus on what was happening in my life, right in that very moment.’

Q uestions of identity make their way onto the album as she touches on bad mental health, psychedelics, the perils of growing up, and love. ‘I write a lot when I’m in love. I think it’s important to cherish that moment when you have it and write about it. In all honesty, the best songs I write are my love songs.

I am a big romantic. aybe it’s time to grow up a little bit.’

Beatopia certainly feels like eabadoobee’s most sophisticated album yet. The continued s indie-rock influences are also impossible to ignore, despite Kristi’s frustrations of always being saddled with the comparison.

‘It’s really flattering that people say they feel nostalgic towards my music, but in no way am I trying to recreate or revive this whole thing. verything is inspired by something and every generation wants to romanticise a generation before them. It’s just an inevitability. e’re going to be in the year and everyone’s going to be doing what we’re doing now.’

Beabadoobee plays the King Tut’s Stage at TRNSMT on Friday 8 July; Beatopia is released by Dirty Hit on Friday 15 July.

July–August 2022 THE LIST 11

TRNSMT

To kick off our TRNSMT coverage, Megan Merino speaks to Beabadoobee, the UK-Filipino star who grew up on 90s indie rock. Here she talks about riding a wave of nostalgia and refusing to be discouraged by bad teachers

TRNSMT

NO MO R The Snuts are rising to rock’s higher echelons at a cracking pace. Band leader Jack Cochrane tells Fiona Shepherd how the band’s momentum conquered covid

T

o invoke the old music biz cliché : artists have a lifetime to write their debut album with that difficult follow-up being cobbled together in hotel rooms and at soundchecks. That may have been true before the pandemic, but for long periods over the past two years musicians have had nothing but time: a lu ury or a curse, depending on circumstances. eing largely upbeat types, The nuts would err towards the former. ut not every band can say they scored a debut number-one album during a national lockdown. ‘ e were just determined not to let that slow us down momentum-wise,’ says frontman ack Cochrane. ‘ o, it was a good time to look at what we were trying to become as a band and take a breath to do that.’

The nuts are all about the progression. ormed at school in hitburn in , they moved steadily through the ranks of indie hopefuls to join their est othian neighbours ewis Capaldi and usan oyle at the top of the charts with debut calling card W L . It wasn’t an easy birth. ‘ e didn’t know what we were doing,’ says Cochrane. ‘ e started the first half in America and I don’t think we’d even been abroad before. e were stuck in A, which is a really depressing place if you don’t know what’s going on. e were just really na ve to how it all worked. And terrified: is anyone going to like this ’ In stark contrast, their second album (due out in early ctober was recorded in isolation with the pressure off. ‘ aving been through that e perience we are much less precious. I think the preciousness can put a chokehold on your music and this time we were very free and open, and not filled with pointless ego. ow when we’re writing songs, we’re trying to look at it from a more conversational point, less introverted, trying to look at the big picture, not just our small town and our culture.’ ever one to sit still, Cochrane is already writing for a third album before the second is out, and in the meantime, the taster singles ‘ urn The mpire’ and ‘ uckerpunch’ (about state and social-media control respectively are out there and ready to be showcased at The nuts’ forthcoming T T appearance. aving grown up with T In The ark as a distant totem, the band have cultivated their own growth-relationship with its successor. ‘The first shout we ever got for T T, we were still kids who didn’t know how to play our guitars yet,’ says Cochrane. ‘ o, it’s been a big part of the progression for us as a band: first time super amateur, second time semi pro. This time we want to show how far we’ve come in front of a home crowd. e’ve got lots of big surprises. e’re going to go right out there with this one.’

The Snuts play the Main Stage at TRNSMT on Saturday 9 July.

12 THE LIST July–August 2022

TRNSMT

O RE EGOS

July–August 2022 THE LIST 13

TRNSMT

NORTH 14 THE LIST July–August 2022

TRNSMT

Playing to a huge crowd in the Norwegian capital was less of a homecoming gig for Scandi pop star Sigrid than a statement of intent. As she prepares for a TRNSMT headline slot, Shaun Milne meets her backstage and talks harmonies, hits and happiness

T

here was a moment under the spotlight at Oslo’s Spektrum arena, only fleetingly, when the tiny frame of igrid shook her head and flicked her hand momentarily into the air, before launching into another vocal harmony with the band. link and you’d have missed it. It probably didn’t even register among most of the near , -capacity crowd of music-loving orwegians and international travelling fans who greeted the efforts on stage with roars of approval. ut when I asked later if there had been a point during the -song set where she’d been able to just pause, look out at the sea of faces and take in the absolute ama ingness of what she’d achieved, the -year-old says, ‘ouff . . . that was during “ row”. I really had to keep it together to not cry when I looked over at the band standing right ne t to me. I just felt so proud of us and them we’ve been rehearsing harmonies for everyone and it’s so fun.’

And she’s right to feel that swell of pride. ‘ row’ embodies confidence (the clue is in the title . tripped back from the dancefloor-bothering ‘ irror’ and ‘ urning ridges’, and the anthemic early days of a crowd-pleaser such as ‘ on’t Kill y ibe’, her musical family gathered around the piano is the e uivalent of a roaring fire. All very ‘koselig’, musically it’s a nod to Coldplay (an early inspiration , while the sheer work that had gone into preparing this full-band harmonising shouldn’t go unappreciated.

This was no ordinary gig. n the day that igrid’s second album H ow To L et G o was released in a bla e of publicity, this was e traordinary vindication of holding onto a cherished dream and telling herself: don’t stop believing. ‘I remember writing my first songs on the piano in lesund, daydreaming about maybe, maybe, one day playing slo pektrum. ever could I have imagined it to be as fun as it was, only hours after dropping my second album. I literally had the time of my life up there with my best mates, forever grateful to everyone who showed up and sang so loud that I could barely hear myself.’

It was emotional too. igrid spoke passionately on stage about how much it meant to her, with a vast crowd gathered there to watch this crowning moment of orway’s ueen of pop. tage cannons fired ticker tape and confetti high into the air digital screens wowed with da ling backdrops right from the star-studded opener of ‘It ets ark’ lights high in the ceiling delicately picked out the intimacy and illuminated moments of raw energy.

This full-on production was in view of the record companies, managers, publicity agents, make-up artists and stylists who together have come to respect igrid the business leader as much as the feted creative performer. rom the alluring, dangerfilled fight or flight of ‘ ancer’ to the street-skipping tears of a ta i in the discoes ue ‘A river aved y ight’, it was clear that her new album is a mature step on from the naked optimism of S u c ker P u nc h . igrid and her music are now very much stadium-ready.

H STAR July–August 2022 THE LIST 15

TRNSMT

Those who grew up with parents listening to The Beatles (or even Oasis) may smile at the strains of ‘Mistake L ike Y ou’ while ‘Thank Me L ater’ could be a Killers-edged tissue to wipe away the tears of a lingering break-up: ‘we’re just scared of being quitters,’ she laments in the latter song, while ‘someone should say the words we’re choking on’ perhaps shouldn’t sound so upbeat. But on an album that is as much a spinning story as it is a track-list, that ‘fuck it’ moment of moving on just makes sense.

While comparisons to other artists might help newbies contextualise her sound, make no mistake, the partnership with her songwriting and production team, including Emily Warren (who also created hits for D ua L ipa and Backstreet Boys), is original and still evolving. N o doubt they will face the intellectual snobbery of a music-mag elite or a surge in laz y, daytime-TV questions. But to do so misses the point.

‘How To L et Go’ has been a long time coming for her fans. N o doubt her too. Gigs have been rescheduled, trips to the U S made, signatures have gone from legible to scrawl in the never-ending signing sessions, social media activity has been stepped-up, posters have been plastered, and there are wall-to-wall TV , radio and live appearances for the next . . . well, how long have you got?

As her final track alludes, she wants to get as much in as possible.

To leave on a ‘High N ote’. N o regrets, just lived experiences. L ike the dream come true at the Spektrum or her current European tour.

All the things that make her one of the hardest working artists in the business. ne last uestion: what was the first thing she thought when she woke up after that stand-out gig in Oslo? ‘Fuck, I have to wake up? It’s too early! ’ Then, she adds: ‘I’m so happy, the happiest I could be.’ Which is how any one of us should learn how to let go.

Sigrid plays the Main Stage at TRNSMT on Sunday 10 July; Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Tuesday 8 November.

Who else to catch at TRNSMT FRIDAY 8 JULY Paolo Nutini and Sam Fender will be joint headliners on the Main Stage, which will also play host to perpetual party starters Nile Rodgers & Chic, twentysomething hunk Tom Grennan, and Brit Award nominee Ella Henderson.

But our pick of the day is Kitti, whose award-winning jazz noise make her a must-see when she graces the King Tut’s Stage.

SATURDAY 9 JULY Guitar thrashers The Strokes headline the Main Stage this year, with synth-pop warbler Years & Years and post-rock champs Fontaines DC also playing earlier in the day.

The King Tut’s Stage is well stocked for indie nostalgists, with performances from 90s punks Jimmy Eat World, art rockers Maximo Park and genre revivalists Wet Leg. Our fave rapper Bemz will also make his TRNSMT debut on the River Stage.

SUNDAY 10 JULY Lewis Capaldi returns to headline the Main Stage (presumably with Chewbacca mask in tow) alongside rock outfit Wolf Alice and big-haired Glasgow chanter Dylan John Thomas. Lovers of guitar-wielding lads can rejoice at the King Tut’s Stage, which features boy band Easy Life and exuberant alt-rockers Gang Of Youths, plus acoustic troubadours Thomas Headon, Jamie Webster and Alfie Templeman.

16 THE LIST July–August 2022

Sigrid serenades the masses at TRNSMT in 2019; pictures by Ryan Johnston

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July–August 2022 THE LIST 17

ANATOMY

The National Museum Of Scotland’s latest exhibition pokes around in Edinburgh’s anatomical past. Megan Merino gingerly draws back a mortcloth on the ethical complexities of medical advancement

I

t may now be internationally known for its annual arts celebrations, but back in the late 18 th century, Edinburgh was world-famous for a very different type of theatre. The city’s medical school was a renowned destination for aspiring doctors to learn their craft, with many going on to make significant contributions in the world of surgery and anatomical study. The N ational Museum Of Scotland’s new exhibition, A natom y: A M atter O f D eath A nd L if e, explores the relationship between society, poverty, ethics and science over a 5 00-year period, highlighting the capital’s position as a pioneering centre of modern medicine and how it earned this status.

‘The study of anatomy at that time (and now) was considered important for the education of medical practitioners, surgeons and physicians,’ explains D r Tacye Phillipson, the museum’s Senior Curator Of Science who was heavily involved in curating the exhibition. ‘However, this work relied on the dissection of bodies, the sourcing of which was often controversial and distressing. Anatomists could only get the quantity of bodies they wanted through dehumanising the dead and financing a murky industry. urder was a particularly shocking consequence of this, with people killed for the sale price of their bodies.’ She is, of course, referencing the infamous 1828 Burke and Hare murders, where 16 people were killed so their bodies could be sold to D r Robert Knox, a hitherto distinguished anatomy lecturer in Edinburgh, for seven to ten pounds a pop.

The circumstances that gave rise to Burke and Hare’s nefarious actions are explored in this exhibition through some of the intriguing objects designed to stop resurrectionists from bodysnatching. These include a curious coffin collar handed in to the museum 120 years ago by an unknown source, and a kg iron mortsafe that would have housed an entire coffin. The latter ended up being the trickiest item to prepare for display. ‘It has required trigonometry, model making and lots of head scratching! ’ insists D iana de Bellaigue, the museum’s Artefact Conservator.

Handling such sensitive material wasn’t just physically taxing; ensuring it was displayed in an ethical manner was a central challenge for the curators.

‘The whole of the exhibition covers such powerful topics that don’t need added sensationalism,’ says Phillipson. ‘We stuck to what could be supported by evidence, and especially where we could reveal the story through real objects.’

As a prime example, William Burke’s full skeleton is the only semblance of human remains on display. ‘Human remains have their own strong impact and ethical considerations, especially the remains of people whose bodies were probably dug up by grave robbers,’ continues Phillipson. ‘By limiting our display of actual human remains to Burke’s skeleton (and a note written in his blood), we anticipate that this will be particularly thought-provoking and impactful for our visitors. It should lead some to think about exactly this question of displaying such historic anatomical specimens.’

Elsewhere, dissections of specimens and references to the human body are e plored through animal bones, anatomical figures, and sketches by eonardo da inci and other uropean artists. ‘I hope the story people will find in all this

18 THE LIST July–August 2022

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BRING UP

HE BODIES July–August 2022 THE LIST 19

ANATOMY

is the contrast between the clean elegance of lines in anatomical drawings and the scientific knowledge,’ e plains hillipson, ‘as well as the realms of social and physical unpleasantness which were necessary to achieve that end.’

A more sociological look at how people dealt with illness is the focus of a charms and amulets display, highlighting some of the alternative healing methods adopted when medical intervention wasn’t available.

‘These show just how prevalent the use of charms were in every corner of cotland,’ says r Ailsa utton, the musem’s Assistant Curator, odern And Contemporary istory. ‘ ost of them had specific uses. or instance, a touch piece was handed out by sovereigns and the ueen for a very specific type of tuberculosis called scrofula.’ ther objects include a rattle made of geese windpipe that was used for healing whooping cough and a recipe book compiled by a housewife. ‘ n one page you could get a recipe for lemon sponge and then on the facing page there would be a remedy for curing convulsions . . . so it really does cover all bases,’ utton jokes.

Thought-provoking uestions raised by the e hibition range from how far medical practices have come since the th century to how many of our societal rituals around death have been influenced by this history. ‘ any more deaths are now handled in hospitals and funeral homes rather than at home with arrangements made within the community,’ says hillipson.

‘And the fact that your body can be useful after death, from organ donation to training doctors, has become a more familiar idea.’

As a society we may be more familiar with donating our organs to science, but with longer life e pectancy and less infant mortality, we are surely far less intimate with death in its truest sense than ever before.

Anatomy: A Matter Of Death And Life, National Museum Of Scotland, Edinburgh, Saturday 2 July–Sunday 30 October.

Body of evidence: (previous page) William Burke’s skeleton; Arthur’s Seat coffins; (clockwise from below) private sedan chair; illustration of William Burke’s execution; The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Willem Röell by Cornelis Troost (1728); group of charms to cure ailments

A bone to pick From tiny coffins to touring rhinos, here are some more enticing objects in Anatomy: A Matter Of Death And Life

to his patients. This was a common form of people-powered transportation among the wealthy, with carrier ranks located around the city.

CLARA THE RHINOCEROS

SILK ROBES

In 18th-century Europe, rhinos had a mythical status. So when a Dutch captain brought one back from India in 1741, Miss Clara made quite the name for herself among artists and scientists alike.

She features in the background of a sketch by German anatomist Bernhard Siegfried Albinus, drawn in 1747 while Clara was touring around central Europe.

A set of beautiful red silk robes worn by the judge who gave William Burke his death sentence have been loaned to the exhibition from Kelburn Castle. If you look closely enough you can spot ink stains on the sleeves.

SEDAN CHAIR This very high-status sedan chair was used to carry Professor Of Midwifery Alexander Hamilton through the smelly streets of Edinburgh so he could tend

20 THE LIST July–August 2022

ARTHUR’S SEAT COFFINS Perhaps the most mysterious of the objects on display here are a set of model coffins found on Arthur’s Seat in 1836. No one knows why they were placed there or who made them, but they’ve been one of the most popular items in the museum’s collection for some time.

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1 The Twilight Sad are signed to Mogwai’s label Rock Action . . .

P IC AR EP

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CONNECT

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3

Twin brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National recently scored an entire soundtrack for the film Cyrano . . .

Also on the label are Cloth, who appear alongside Caribou on the Normal People soundtrack . . .

PIC

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2

Everyone’s connected in the incestuous world of the music biz. Join us as we discover how a handful of acts at this year’s CONNECT festival are related. WARNING: tenuous links ahead

CONNECT(ION 22 THE LIST July–August 2022

6

Who share four letters of their name with Scottish post-punk veterans Idlewild, who’ll play their album The Remote Part in full at CONNECT . . .

CONNECT

7

Also of Scottish descent is Hamish Hawk, who shares similarly avian-themed names with rock acts Geese and Jealous Of The Birds . . .

Aiming to galvanise the proletariat with accessible punk tunes are IDLES . . .

5

. . . while pretend siblings The Chemical Brothers are famous for their hit track ‘Galvanise’…

4

ONS)

8

Speaking of birds, DJ/ producers Bonobo and Jon Hopkins co-wrote Bonobo’s track ‘Migration’ . . .

Both John Grant and Self Esteem have migrated from successful bands to become solo artists, Grant from The Czars and Self Esteem’s Rebecca Lucy Taylor from Slow Club.

9

CONNECT, Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, Friday 26–Sunday 28 August July–August 2022 THE LIST 23

Winner Hard Seltzer Category.

Survey of 9,897 people by Kantar.

FIND US AT @eastside.edinburgh 24 THE LIST July–August 2022

@candybaredinburgh

While many turn to the capital for summer festivities, there are plenty of food and drink events happening on the other side of the country. Glasgow has nabbed the biggest beer festival in the country (from Edinburgh of all places) with the Glasgow Craft Beer Festival (Friday 8 & Saturday 9 July) at SWG3 featuring hundreds of beers flowing freely. The ticket price includes all samples, plus live music, DJs and local food courtesy of toasties from Babos, pizzas from Beirm and burgers from El Perro Negro. If cider is more your thing, check out the touring Sausage And Cider Fest (Saturday 30 & Sunday 31 July) at the Briggait, with UK brews being joined by gourmet bangers. Later in the summer, Rouken Glen Park will host the city’s first Foodies Festival (Friday 12–Sunday 14 August), with top local chefs, TV stars and artisan producers dishing up food, drink, live music and more. (Jay Thundercliffe)

EAT DRINK SHOP

GLASGOW FOOD AND DRINK FESTIVALS

festival.summerhall.co.uk

FESTIVAL 2022 BOOK NOW

26 THE LIST July–August 2022

PICTURE: LASSE BERGQVIST

EAT

BRAISE NEW WORLD I

As the hospitality industry continues to adjust to a tricky post-pandemic and Brexit reality, Suzy Pope looks at how restaurants are trying to lure staff back with more appealing work conditions

n April 2020, just under 1.6 5 million staff in the hospitality industry were furloughed, and when the kitchens opened again after the latest lockdown, they didn’t all come flooding back. ong hours and a high-stress environment are no secret in the restaurant business. hen forced to find alternative employment over lockdown, it seems former kitchen staff discovered the appeal of a 3 5 -hour week ending at 5 pm every day. N ow the industry must make some big changes to entice staff back.

A handful of chefs and restaurateurs across cotland have been trying to redress the work life balance that e isted before the pandemic. In , aul edgwood of edgwood The estaurant on dinburgh’s oyal ile witnessed the toll which 6 0 to 8 0-hour working weeks took on his staff and decided something had to change. He introduced a four-day working week for all his staff, but retained the same wages as a five-day working week. ‘I realised that if we started treating our staff the best, we were getting the best out of them.’ dinburgh chefs aul Kitching and tuart alston subse uently introduced a four-day working week in but were met with a backlash from others in the hospitality industry. It wasn’t a model that could work for every business and some smaller restaurants closed down weeks after trying to implement the same fle ible working system. o, the years before covid failed to trigger a big industry-wide shift in working hours to avoid burnout, stress and high staff turnover. ut the

post-pandemic and re it-based labour shortage means restaurants are now having to offer a more enticing, fle ible working system to attract the limited number of available employees. eter cKenna of The annet in lasgow introduced a four-day working week for his staff in 2021, citing immigration restrictions and the post-lockdown labour shortage as direct reasons.

‘There’s a bidding war for chefs at the moment,’ edgwood confirms. Anyone with e perience doesn’t have to go through an agency, ‘they just need to post on social media that they’re a chef looking for work and folk will come snapping’, forcing a wage rise in the industry overall. edgwood welcomes this change. ‘The wage rise is a good thing; it will eventually encourage people back into the industry, and maybe encourage them to stay.’ e’re already seeing a rise in menu prices to cover costs and it’s clear that as well as seeing shorter opening hours, the customer will be footing the bill for some of those inflationary pressures facing the industry.

In , when edgwood introduced his fourday working week, hospitality was moving towards a better work life balance at glacial pace, and it seemed that punishing work hours, staff fatigue and high turnover were set to be the norm for the foreseeable. ut the current labour shortage might just accelerate that change, perhaps a surprising positive in an otherwise challenging time.

July–August 2022 THE LIST 27

Jay Thundercliffe reports on the latest news and openings as Edinburgh bids farewell to its last major brewery

EAT

E

dinburgh Food Festival, the capital’s largest free-entry food gathering, is back and bigger than ever. Taking over Assembly George Square Gardens, the festival runs for an epic ten days (Friday 22– Sunday 3 1 July), showcasing the best of Scottish produce, with lots of workshops, chef demos and local vendors manning street food and market stalls full of culinary delights.

The irrepressible Tony Singh MBE is back with a new gig at Edinburgh’s Bonnie & Wild marketplace. His Radge Chaat venture, focusing on Indian street food, joins a bustling food hall including Creel Caught, east PIZ Z AS, Joelato and El Perro N egro. Over on South Bridge, Britain’s Top Takeaways contender Ikigai have opened a second spot dishing up their ramen and other Japanese treats.

Glasgow’s recent seafood dining renaissance (Crabshakk Botanics, Kelp, The Fat L obster, Shucks) continues with the arrival of Scamp, in the old Charcoals spot in the city centre, where the folks behind well-regarded Eighty Eight and Hooligan are dishing up a small-plates offering. Also opened over in Finnieston is Sano, a N eapolitan-style piz z a place which already has two branches in their D ublin hometown.

Finally, raise your beer glasses to the Caledonian Brewery. Amid micro and macro breweries popping up, owners Heineken have announced that Edinburgh’s last major brewery is to shut down. Production at the famous brewery stretches back to 18 6 9 and plans are afoot to keep their brews (including D euchars IPA) in the country, with Greene King taking over production at the Belhaven brewery in D unbar.

side dishes Tony Singh (left) of Radge Chaat

street food We choose a street and tell you where to eat. David Kirkwood takes a stroll along Glasgow’s Duke Street and discovers a globetrotting range of dining options

BAKED Roman-style pizza ‘al taglio’ (by the slice): thick, airy, rectangular slices with toppings like mushroom and friarielli, or porchetta, potato and rocket. Their riffs on arancini are all laugh-out-loud tasty. This is street food at its simple best.

BILSON ELEVEN Genuine boutique fine dining, serving a tasting menu over three hours in a relaxed manner that feels very ‘East End’. Think langoustine with pine and birch, or red deer with cocoa and rhubarb, while a gallus maître’d with a curly moustache leads the line with class and good humour. You’ll need a booking.

NAKODAR GRILL Tell a Dennistounian that the best curries in Glasgow are in the West End and you’ll be met with a hard stare worthy of Paddington.

Nakodar is the real deal: thick, robust Punjabi sauces that cling to meats and fish, themselves seasoned and (tandoor) grilled with serious know-how.

MESA Brunch, but not (quite) as we know it.

Mesa’s confident embrace of myriad Mediterranean details makes for a spread of skillets, sandwiches and posh pancakes that look pretty and taste big. Expect appearances from Italian sausage, Middle Eastern panna cotta and zhoug (a Yemeni coriander sauce).

DENNISTOUN BARBQUE The neighbourhood’s ultimate guilty pleasure, this is proper pitstop Americana: burgers grilled and steamed on the chrome flat top; brisket, pulled pork, mac and cheese; US beers and original recipe Mexican Coke. There’s a solid meatless menu as well.

28 THE LIST July–August 2022

RESTAURANT

HERON

EAT

It’s ironic. For years, 87 Henderson Street has been considered an unlucky space for restaurateurs, but stepping through the doors today, it’s the beauty of that space that hits you first. Airy, uncluttered and soothing, the main dining area is filled with Scandi-style blonde wood tables, with huge picture windows framing one of the best views in Leith. Here, diners can choose from a ‘relaxed fine dining’ à la carte or tasting menu.

But perhaps recognising the time and cash commitment needed for seven courses, or maybe simply hoping to draw in a more casual kind of customer, Heron has recently introduced a compact and bijou bar-bites menu. Diners can perch at the bar or grab one of a handful of low tables before choosing from around ten snacks. If you feel the term ‘snack’ sets diners up for a few wrinkled olives and a wee dish of Pringles, prepare to be happily disappointed: every inch of the care and attention lavished on the main menu is also present and correct here.

Company Bakery sourdough comes warm, with intensely savoury whipped crab butter, while a teeny-tiny tart of chicken, leek and tarragon is almost impossibly pretty in miniature (though terribly hard to split: order two). But the scene-stealer is barbecued octopus, sous-vided for 24 hours before being blackened and made sticky with chilli and soy; it’s irresistible and bound to convert even the most diehard octo-hater. Service can be a hard act to balance when customers prop up the bar, but the staff get it exactly right, being chatty and knowledgeable without intrusion. There’s no sense of hurry and you do feel you could happily sit there all night; it’s an intelligent, successful and very tasty way to break down any barriers between prospective customers and restaurant. (Jo Laidlaw) n 87–91a Henderson Street, Edinburgh, heron.scot

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July–August 2022 THE LIST 29

PODCAST

EAT

SCOTTISH CHEFS PODCAST If you’ve been wondering what Jak O’Donnell, chef and former Glasgow restaurateur, has been doing since shutting up The Sisters restaurant in 2019, then you’ll find her hosting this podcast for The Federation Of Chefs Scotland. The member alliance was set up in 1994 to promote excellence across the industry and started its fortnightly podcast in autumn 2020.

Don’t be put off by the slightly incongruous Americansponsor voiceover which opens each episode, nor the made-by-chefs-about-chefs-for-chefs leanings.

There is much here to entertain those who like to delve into Scottish cuisine, from in-depth chats with well-kent restaurant chefs and lesser-kent ones working elsewhere (football grounds, aeroplanes etc) to interviews with fishermen, chocolatiers, gardeners, bakers and more.

While the podcast began on a rather sombre note, with episode one all about Andrew Fairlie (who died in 2019) and his mighty legacy, there’s plenty of goodnatured chat and humour sprinkled throughout.

O’Donnell proves a solid host, helped by her wideranging knowledge, not just of the kitchen scene but of Scottish food and drink generally. Her experience on radio and TV over the years, including the BBC’s Great British Menu, has primed O’Donnell for what feels like her own niche chat show. (Jay Thundercliffe) n scottishchefs.com/podcast

Cooking Sections & Sakiya

Free Exhibition Saturday 2 July – Sunday 18 September 2022

Inverleith House Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Open daily from 10:30 Last admission 17:15 Follow us @RBGECreative

30 THE LIST July–August 2022

DRINK UP In our regular drinks column, Kevin Fullerton tries a few tasty beverages and lets you know exactly what he thinks of them.

This month we need Kevin to talk about . . . kombucha

I

EAT DRINK SHOP DRINK

n the beard-infested world of hipster cafes, kombucha is the king of healthy drinks. This fermented, lightly flavoured tea has been noted for its myriad health benefits. It’s crammed with antioxidants and probiotics, and can eliminate nasty bacteria in your gut. Plus it’s a world away from the booz e and stimulants I usually cover for this column, so sadly I won’t be drunk by the time I meet my word count. Will this reluctant sobriety make me a better or worse drink critic? L et’s find out . . .

First down my gullet is You + I Ginger Kombucha (£3.05 per bottle), a spicy number brewed in Glasgow using handrolled organic Assam tea and fermented with French oak. It’s sharp and z ingy on the nose, but that initial olfactory overload doesn’t represent the drink as a whole, which offers light but heady snaps of ginger and black tea. Every flavour here swims in the undercurrent while the overtones ride on a wave of freshness that makes for a cooling, uncomplicated summer beverage.

From the subtle to the braz en, Hip Pop Apple & Elderflower Organic Kombucha (£2.10 per bottle) seeks to usher in a new generation of kombucha drinkers with unpretentious flavours. If it were a person, it would stand in a pub and obnoxiously yell ‘COME ON GRAN D AD ’ at someone who’d rather drink in the corner than join them in a karaoke rendition of ‘Islands In The Stream’. From colourful packaging to its fruit-filled flavour, this one favours sensation over subtlety, none of which is a bad thing. Hip Pop is a decadent pleasure and is a cut above any bogstandard supermarket soft drink.

The chin-strokers’ fermented tea of choice comes from Left Field Kombucha No 4 Darjeeling (£2.35 per bottle), which self-seriously describes itself as a ‘craft-brewed fermented tea’ ideally ‘paired with cheese or curry’. The packaging is as stern as a headteacher, but after two kombuchas that aimed for accessibility, it was refreshing to taste something that flies its fermented flag with pride. There’s a striking complexity here as the taste moves from a strong black tea to reveal a fruity, berrylike taste and the smoky tang of a light beer. Kombucha purists, welcome to your liquid utopia.

PICTURE: MIKE WILKINSON AND THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

BAR FILES We ask creative folks to reveal their favourite watering hole

BROADCASTER, AUTHOR & MUSICIAN VIC GALLOWAY

My favourite watering hole near me is Leith Depot. I’ve been in Leith for over two decades now, and always wanted a hub where good music, quality booze, tasty food and friendly people all meet. This is the place! It’s comfortable, unpretentious, the staff are lovely and it ticks all those aforementioned boxes. I can’t believe it was almost shut down too. Anyway, they’ve survived and have a loyal clientele.

What’s more, I can stagger home in five minutes at the end of the night . . . n Vic Galloway will host a monthly vinyl night with Andy Wake from The Phantom Band at Leith Depot in their live space which is due to reopen in late summer; his Radio Scotland show airs on Mondays and Wednesdays at 8pm.

July–August 2022 THE LIST 31

NAT URA L Discover 14 natural botanicals in one award winning classic gin Edinburgh Gin encourages responsible drinking

32 THE LIST July–August 2022

VEGAN VOGUE

Treen, 2–4 St Stephen Place, Edinburgh, shoptreen.com

PICTURE (AND TOP RIGHT): EVAN HOLAHAN

S

ince the age of eight, Edinburgh-based entrepreneur and stylist Cat Anderson has dreamed of owning her own shop. ‘I would always draw stores,’ she recalls. ‘I’d draw the shopfront and windows; I would talk about what the mannequin displays would be; I would even lay out visual merchandising directives . . . and it was always “Treen” above the door.’

Clearly destined for a career in retail, Anderson would go on to spend a number of years in Shanghai and Hong Kong (‘retail is like an Olympic sport over there’), building skills and expertise she would later use to make her childhood dream a reality. Treen (Cat’s family nickname) is now one of the charming independent shops on St Stephen Place in Stockbridge, selling clothing and lifestyle products from specialist brands with squeaky-clean supply chains.

It was Anderson’s adoption of veganism that made her reevaluate the way she shopped for clothing. ‘I started thinking that what I’m eating can translate into what I’m wearing, but then I found it very difficult to find what I was looking for: stylish products, a cool shopping experience that’s fun, and feeling prioritised as a customer but also meeting the new priorities in my life of being vegan, sustainable and ethical.

So I thought I’d give it a bash myself.’

SHOP

Megan Merino heads for Stockbridge and speaks to the founder of Treen, a designer clothing store specialising in to-die-for garments that don’t kill the planet

Committed to upholding Treen’s ethos, Anderson ensured every aspect of her shop was selected with utmost care, from the finish on the walls (Clayworks plaster that is naturally purifying and made from abundant materials in Cornwall) to researching and forging relationships with her favourite ethical designers.

‘There’s always talk of “we can restock you within five minutes”. Those things are little teeny red flags for me. I’ll just ask “how is that possible?” We would all be doing it if it was possible to do that sustainably.’

But it was precisely this tenacity which got brands like Angela Roi, Skall Studio and Girlfriend Collective on board (the latter chose Treen as their first UK stockist: ‘it was a big proud moment’). From the online launch in June 2019, Treen opened its Stockbridge store last September, and extended its range to include menswear in May this year.

Why was the in-person store so important? ‘For me, with what we do, it’s so important that people touch, feel and get to know the fabrics and the fit first-hand,’ Anderson says.

‘It also brings in a lot of other elements that we’re really interested in such as interiors and music and helping people out with styling.’

As anyone will realise when visiting Treen (and meeting Anderson), style is an all-important element of the brand.

‘It’s a reflection of your personality and how you’re feeling that day,’ she explains. ‘We do the hard work for people.

My biggest goal was that you can walk into Treen and you don’t have to be flipping up labels. You can just trust that every single thing you pick up in one of our stores or on our website will be ticking all of the boxes.’

July–August 2022 THE LIST 33

Often hailed as Scotland’s first female rapper, Wester Hailes’ own LOTOS (which stands for Last Of The Old School) lets Rachel Cronin peek inside her bag

PICTURE: ANIA CUNNINGHAM

SHOP

what’s in the bag?

SUNGLASSES So that nobody recognises me, I always need a pair of decent shades. I just think that as a woman in music, there’s too much emphasis on appearance. It was always important to me to prove how good I was without using looks. My whole message is ‘talent first, looks second’. My music really comes from the heart and it’s not commercial particularly.

DURAG I always have my favourite durag. It’s kind of blingy and silvery, and I’m planning on putting Swarovski crystals on it. I feel like I need to keep wearing it until it’s really worn out and then I’m planning on doing a really cool design with the crystals.

types of equipment. Sometimes when you go to gigs and you’ve forgotten your headphones or there’s no adaptor, you need it so you can hear when you’re mixing or playing.

ONESIE If I go on tour, I need a onesie. Nothing can beat it especially when you’re in a strange place. You get into your hotel, put your favourite onesie on and get all snuggy.

HEADPHONES

HEADPHONE JACK

I’ve always got some headphones because I quite like zoning out. Sometimes when you’re out and about, you just need to have some really happy tunes.

I never go anywhere without my jack. It’s one that musicians use when they do live performances.

It’s basically an adaptor and can be used for all

LOTOS appears at PITCH Scotland, various venues, Glasgow, Saturday 27 August.

In Other Words

shop talk Gemma Murphy checks out a trio of recent openings in our regular shopping column

GREEN.LEITH This new tropical plant shop in Leith focuses on social and environmental sustainability. GREEN. Leith opened in June and now runs alongside their other shop GREEN.Meadows, offering not only plants and funky pots but also a refill station for customers to create their own soil mix. n 55 Elm Row, Edinburgh, greenplantshops.co.uk

ORZEL Created by Grant Agnew, this new men’s clothing retailer focuses on selling authentic and sustainable fashion. The shop opened its virtual doors in May

34 THE LIST July–August 2022

and stocks a collection of staple pieces perfect for creating a lasting capsule wardrobe. n 678 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow, orzel.store

IN OTHER WORDS A miniature bookshop has popped up inside one of Edinburgh’s famous police boxes on the eastern corner of The Meadows. In Other Words offers a curated selection of translated works, with themes changing monthly. Launched and operated by Tills Bookshop (located over the road), it will be open all summer. n The Meadows, Edinburgh, tillsbookshop.co.uk

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GOING OUT

OTHERLANDS A brand spanking new music and arts festival during August in the grounds of a historical landmark that offers an alternative to Edinburgh’s cultural behemoth? Yes please, you might well be saying loudly and rapidly. Among the many beats-heavy highlights across the weekend are DJ Seinfeld, Joesef, Jamie XX, Folamour, Biig Piig (pictured), Tsha and Kojaque. If music isn’t your thing, well, what are you doing there? That said, there is also yoga and meditation, a showcase of local art, industry talks, and comedy from the likes of Abandoman, Mark Nelson, Emmanuel Sonubi and Andrew Maxwell. (Brian Donaldson) n Scone Palace, Perth, Friday 19–Sunday 21 August.

National Theatre of Scotland at the Edinburgh Festivals

BURN

Edinburgh International Festival King’s Theatre, 4 - 10 August

A co-production between the National Theatre of Scotland, New York City’s The Joyce Theater and Edinburgh International Festival

MEDEA

Edinburgh International Festival The Hub, 10 - 28 August

EXODUS

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Traverse Theatre, 31 July - 28 August

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nationaltheatrescotland.com

National Theatre of Scotland is core funded by

National Theatre of Scotland, a company limited by guarantee and registered in Scotland (SC234270), is a registered Scottish charity (SC033377).Company registered office and Charity principal office: Rockvilla, 125 Craighall Road, Glasgow G4 9TL. Vat number: GB 242 6436 16. Photograph by Lawrence Winram.

July–August 2022 THE LIST 37

NTS Festival_The List_ A4.indd 1

24/06/2022 15:00:25

PREVIEWS

State of play 38 THE LIST July–August 2022

GOING OUT

From Norway to the north of Scotland, European jazz is in very rude health. Ahead of two appearances at Edinburgh’s Jazz & Blues Festival, trumpeter Laura Jurd tells Stewart Smith that she's determined to improvise with the best of them

PICTURE: ALEX MORLEY

PREVIEWS

‘T

PICTURE: DAVE STAPLETON

he beautiful thing about improvised music is you can just rock up and do it. Trust is the key. Whether you’re putting artistic trust in a close musical colleague or a complete stranger, beautiful things can happen when you just let go and allow the music to lead the way. It really is a universal language.’

Composer and trumpeter Laura Jurd is gearing up for two gigs at the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival: one with her Mercury Music Prize-nominated group Dinosaur, another with Playtime, a project run by Scottish jazzers Martin Kershaw, Graeme Stephen, Mario Caribé and Tom Bancroft as a collaborative platform for improvisation. ‘I joined Playtime in lockdown for a livestreamed improvised concert and it was really enjoyable,’ Jurd recalls.

Based in London, Jurd’s Scottish links run strong. In addition to performing Miles Davis’ S ketc h es O f S pain and Kenny Wheeler’s S weet S ister S u ite with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, she has a Scot in her band, drummer Corrie Dick.

‘A highlight for me was playing S ketc h es O f S pain at the Queen’s Hall. I’ve also worked with students at the Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland, once again thanks to saxophonist [and SNJO director] Tommy Smith. The great thing about Tommy, aside from being a phenomenal musician of course, is that he has ideas and then makes them happen. It sounds simple, but there seems to be many jazz promoters out there who never figure out the “making it happen” bit.’

Jurd admires the ‘extremely vibrant’ Glasgow jazz scene and while she praises the ‘wonderful’ Jazz At Blue Lamp in Aberdeen, she senses a disconnect between Scotland and the rest of the UK in terms of programming. ‘I’d love to see bands from across the UK in the programmes of Scottish jazz festivals and venues, particularly bands led by Scottish musicians living outside the motherland. I’m thinking of the likes of Corrie Dick, Calum Gourlay and Joe Wright: all masterful creative voices and ambassadors for Scottish music-making. I realise I’m slightly contradicting myself here, as Dinosaur have been invited to play Edinburgh this year . . . I have lots of family there so I’m glad to be sharing my music in one of my favourite cities in the world.’

Dinosaur released their last album, To The E arth , in 2020. Dropping the electronic elements of their previous records, it saw the band tap into a classic yet contemporary acoustic jazz sound. ‘I haven’t written anything new for Dinosaur

July–August 2022 THE LIST 39

GOING OUT

Dinosaur, Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh, Sunday 17 July; Playtime With Laura Jurd, George Square Piccolo, Edinburgh, Monday 18 July.

PICTURE: ALEX MORLEY

PREVIEWS

PICTURE: DANIEL DITTUS

lately. We’re still enjoying exploring the music on To Th e E arth live and seeing where it takes us. I think this album draws more on my American ja influences than previous records, but it’s all delivered by a British band that have been steeped in European jaz z . What comes out sounds like inosaur in . As for the dinburgh show, e pect free-spirited, adventurous improvising over typical ja forms.’

In addition to having a five-month-old baby, urd has been busy recording a new solo album which is due out in eptember, featuring bassist Ruth Goller and N orwegian accordion player Frode Haltli. ‘The music is full of big friendly tunes and grooves and draws from Celtic folk, the blues and alternative rock, all of which I can’t live without.’

Influenced by art-rock band eerhoof, the single ‘ entaT IC’ fi es with jerky, driving rhythms and playful melodies. ‘It’s the one track on the record which doesn’t really have any improvised solos; it just didn’t need it.’ All the other tracks, she adds, are abundant with improvisation. Her main axe on the album is the cornet as it offers something a little different to the trumpet. urd is full of praise for her collaborators. ‘ uth’s the greatest. hat a sound And her band kylla is so wonderfully uni ue. I first heard Frode Haltli on an ECM album by N orwegian saxophonist Trygve Seim. This started an ongoing love affair with a number of N orwegian improvisers and their music. I was completely delighted when Frode agreed to remotely record some accordion parts for my new record. Hopefully we’ll meet in person some day and get to play that music together live.’

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40 THE LIST July–August 2022

July–August 2022 THE LIST 41

GOING OUT

‘We all know someone who is a mumpsimus’ Best known as Countdown’s legendary lexicographer, Susie Dent has been keeping contestants right on the iconic letter-scrambling series since 1992. Now she’s swapping Dictionary Corner for centre stage, touring with her one-woman show, The Secret Lives Of Words. She tells Lucy Ribchester about groaking, apricity, lalochezia and being lost for words Do you have a phobia or revulsion to any particular words? Or, in other words, do you suffer from onomatophobia? I think we all have a set of words that

have our teeth on edge. My one is ‘moist’, but I also really dislike ‘flange’ and ‘gusset’.

When was the last time you were tongue-tied? People often assume that

I’ll be flawless when it comes to speaking but I have bad days as much as anyone.

The last time I found myself speechless was when I was asked if there is a word for looking longingly at the food on someone else’s plate. It’s one of my favourite words but it went straight out of my head: I can tell you now that it’s ‘groaking’.

There are so many. We all know someone who is a ‘mumpsimus’, for example, a term from the 16t h century that describes someone who insists that they are right, despite clear evidence that they are wrong. My absolute favourite, though, which I’m determined to bring back is ‘apricity’, a lost word that means ‘the warmth of the sun on a winter’s day’.

You are marvellous on Twitter, but it has a bad reputation now for its associations with election rigging and nutty billionaires. What do you think the future holds for it as a place for word lovers? Thank you! Twitter

has been very good to me as it’s given me an outlet for indulging in my favourite subject. It’s a hard balance for any platform to allow freedom of expression while also preventing hate speech, but more certainly needs to be done to stem the viciousness and aggression that can permeate all social media. The key is the word ‘social’: these should be places to exchange views and to be listened to.

Have you ever made up a word and passed it off as genuine?

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Susie Dent: The Secret Lives Of Words, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Saturday 23 July.

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In Scrabble, perhaps, though I couldn’t possibly comment . . . I think every family has their share of invented words that mean something only to them. But the dictionary has enough weird and wonderful words in it that most people would swear are entirely fictional. Who would believe, for example, that there is an actual word for releasing stress through swearing? It’s ‘lalochez ia’.

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What obsolete or antiquated word would you like to see brought back?

After a string of 197 0s classics, Martin Scorsese entered the next decade packing a visceral punch with his biopic of Jake L a Motta. After their collaborations in M ean S treets, Tax i D riv er and N ew Y ork, N ew Y ork, who other than Bobby D e N iro could have slipped on the gloves to portray a flawed sporting icon e iro’s fre uent wingman oe esci is in here, too, playing an atypically decent guy as Joey, the pugilist’s brother and manager who takes, shall we say, the rough with the smooth. It’s difficult to judge which scenes are more brutal: the domestic ‘normality’ or the blood-drenched recreations of L a Motta’s bouts. Or maybe it’s neither, usurped as they are by the moments when we see him as a washed-up, overweight has-been, attempting to forge a new career as a nightclub stand-up. Those scenes make you flinch more than you would if a leather fist was heading straight for your chin. ( rian onaldson n G F T, G l asgow , M onday 18 J ul y.

July–August 2022 THE LIST 43

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Gathered Together aims to include people who had previously been locked out of expressing themselves through dance. Kelly Apter hails this Glasgow festival which shows exactly what can be done where there's both a will and a way

Gathered Together, Tramway, Glasgow, Wednesday 6–Saturday 9 July.

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autism and an extremely rare metabolic syndrome as a child, L ombard finds both dance and photography important creative outlets. ‘ ockdown was really difficult,’ he says. ‘ eing trapped in a single room, I just really wanted to get out, and photography was something that made me go outside. I liked how quiet it was with no cars and seeing all the empty streets; I wanted to capture that because it’s never been that way before. There were a few people out, but they were all on their own and I wanted to capture that loneliness, which is how I felt as well. And I’ve loved dancing since a very young age, so seeing all the different dance styles at Gathered Together is really interesting. I can’t wait to watch the other groups and meet new people. That’s the great thing about dancing: everybody dances differently so you can all learn from each other.’

PICTURE: IAN MACNICO

t’s about opening your mind and being curious,’ says Karen Anderson, in response to a question that shouldn’t really need asking, but I’ve asked it anyway. Essentially, why should dance fans attend Gathered Together, a four-day festival curated by Anderson celebrating some of the best in inclusive dance. As a genre, dance is still inextricably linked to bodily ‘perfection’, both aesthetically and technically, but it’s a reductive view that’s long outstayed its welcome.

‘If you enjoy dance, then come along and see what other people with different bodies and different abilities can achieve and express through their own way of moving,’ continues Anderson. ‘The festival, first and foremost, is a celebration of inclusive work, but what it also does really nicely is show work that’s at different stages. Some companies are quite young and others have been together for a considerable time and have a lot of experience. So audiences can see the breadth of what can be achieved with the right support.’

‘The right support’ is something Anderson herself has been providing since founding Indepen-dance in 1996 , bringing together disabled and non-disabled dancers in a spirit of inclusion and participation. N ow in its fourth year, Gathered Together has turned this relatively small Glasgowbased organisation into an international magnet, with inclusive dance artists and companies from Germany, Colombia, Estonia, Taiwan and the U SA all performing alongside an array of homegrown talent.

Inevitably, given the impact of the last two years, one topic will loom large at the festival. ‘The piece from Germany is set in a box and the Colombians have created a piece about what it feels like to be trapped in your house,’ says Anderson. ‘So there is a kind of thread running through it all. That’s just natural because people have experienced something, and art has always been a way to express that.’

Indepen-dance’s own youth company, Y oung 1’z , is capturing the pleasure of dancing together again with the aptly titled ‘Pure Joy’. And for one member in particular, 18 -year-old D ylan L ombard, Gathered Together is a golden opportunity. N ot only will he perform on stage but an exhibition devoted to his photography will be on display at Tramway. D iagnosed with

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July–August 2022 THE LIST 45

Our column celebrating music to watch continues with Medicine Cabinet, a Scottish five-piece with wildly diverse influences. Fiona Shepherd hears how they may have killed off the 80s

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edicine Cabinet are fond of a metaphor. When asked to describe their blend of tastes and talents, this smart, stylish punky pop uintet proclaim they are ‘five little ower angers’, ‘a wee wiss army knife’ and ‘the pice irls’.

Although to be fair, all of those descriptions come from the band’s erudite frontwoman. ‘ ach of us has our own thing that we’ve brought to the group,’ says Anna Ac uroff, who is also a model, tattoo artist and degree-holder in ociology f usic. ‘I was really into riot grrrl but I also like female pop stars like rimes, arina And The iamonds, Charli C . ilidh is our indie gal and into s music Cal made loads of e perimental music before joining the band oshua is into grunge and shoega e Tom says his music taste is where scary meets really cute. hen new artists play with lots of different influences, there’s this idea that somehow people are still working themselves out but we’ve worked out that what we are is varied.’ ike many new bands, edicine Cabinet have had two fallow gigging years in which to arrive fully formed. Their origin story, which the band reckon could be ‘future biopic material’, involves five teenagers from various parts of central cotland converging in dinburgh for studies, Tinder dates, underage clubbing and fortuitous encounters. All this ultimately led to a rehearsal room and a debut gig in neaky ete’s in . ‘ e did the opposite of what you’re supposed to do,’ says Ac uroff. ‘You’re supposed to release music and promote the shit out of that as soon as possible and then you build up your live stuff around it. ut we were really interested in seeing how long we could get away with playing gigs that were above our pay grade.’ adly, these pesky kids and their cunning plan were scuppered by the pandemic. ‘It was like we didn’t e ist in a sense,’ says guitarist keys player ilidh ’ rien. ‘ ut the limitations of not being able to be in person made us try to find a creative solution. That’s the silver lining if it wasn’t for the coronavirus, I don’t know what we would have sounded like but it absolutely wouldn’t be what it is right now.’

‘If we hadn’t had this reflective period we probably wouldn’t have come out with these songs,’ agrees bassist Cal ingus. ‘ e must be so annoying to producers now because we think we know it all, cos that was all we were doing for a year.’

The majority of band members have relocated to lasgow in what ingus calls ‘the great migration’, and edicine Cabinet have finally released some recorded music with more on the way to soundtrack their appearance at T T. According to ingus, their debut single ‘The igns’ is ‘like getting a bunch of vials and pouring it all in. It feels like a flashy one for us. It’s very s. The s thing has been murdered . . . I think we might have killed it.’

Medicine Cabinet play the River Stage at TRNSMT on Saturday 9 July.

46 THE LIST July–August 2022

GOING OUT

PREVIEWS

FUTURE SOUND July–August 2022 THE LIST 47

GOING OUT

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Since its first production in 1930, Private Lives has become the quintessential 20th-century comedy of manners. Noël Coward’s plot explores the ironies of sophisticated desire with a wry sense of humour that manages to expose the absurdity of his characters with affection, while hiding a bleak vision of love beneath a sardonic wit and apparent romanticism.

Beginning with two couples on honeymoon, it depicts love as a balance between passion and violence; the divorcees discover their love has not yet run its course, while their new spouses are forced into an alliance that seems equally star-crossed. Coward’s script features his distinctive sparkle, disguising cynicism and a dark philosophy beneath what appears to be a shallow bedroom farce.

Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s production is a reminder that Coward’s stylish script has rarely fallen out of favour. If theatre itself has been through many revolutions in the intervening years, with a political mission informing much of the later 20th century, Private Lives remains fresh because of the continued relevance of its themes. The sex war rages between characters, building towards an almost slapstick violence, while a recognisably human inability to resolve contradictions drives the fast-paced action.

(Gareth K Vile) n Pitlochry Festival Theatre, until Friday 30 September.

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48 THE LIST July–August 2022

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MY COMEDY HERO

Chris McGlade chooses . . . no one, while deriding the entire concept of having comedy heroes; fair enough, we suppose

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The word ‘hero’ is bandied around all too easily and all too often these days. A footballer scores a goal in a ‘vital’ match and suddenly, according to the Mirror, they’re a hero. Somebody shows somebody else kindness, in the mean world we live in, and they become a hero.

So, a comedy hero: can there even be such a thing? For me, I don’t think there can. There are professional comedians who you admire, who make you laugh, who make you think even, but does that elevate them to hero status? Surely not.

A hero, for me, is someone who endures real hardship and wins through against all odds. Someone who saves a life or alleviates the suffering of others through selfless actions. But a comedian? Nah. Comedians (me included) are, in the main, the most selfcentred, forty-faced, back-stabbing, egotistical, insecure pack of pricks (with barely any allegiance to anyone save themselves) that there are. These traits are about as far away from heroic as you can possibly get. That’s why, even though many comedians make me laugh, some hysterically, none of them, again me included, deserve to be elevated to that heroic status. n Chris McGlade: Forgiveness, Gardyne Theatre, Dundee, Saturday 16 July; Websters Theatre, Glasgow, Friday 22 July; Frankenstein, Edinburgh, Wednesday 10, 17, 24 August.

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July–August 2022 THE LIST 49

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Ari Folman received huge acclaim for his animated war drama Waltz With Bashir and has struck gold again with an innovative version of the Anne Frank story.

James Mottram talks to this Israeli filmmaker about the commercialisation of private grief

50 THE LIST July–August 2022

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think doing animations is masochistic,’ says Ari Folman, sitting in an air-conditioned bar in Cannes. ‘I truly believe that. But it’s addictive.’

The previous night, at the world-famous film festival, he was hosting a party for his new film, W h ere I s A nne F rank, with the various studios who worked on the film. ‘They were getting drunk and they were all repeating the same sentence: “oh, beautiful! ” But the making of an animation is always the same: it’s hell.’

He should know. In 2008 , Folman made the Oscarnominated W al tz W ith Bash ir, a highly personal animated account of his time serving in the infantry during the 198 2 L ebanon War. He followed it with 2013 ’s trippy partanimated sci-fi Th e C ong ress, starring Robin Wright.

‘There were nice notices from critics, but no one went to see it,’ he sighs. ‘Y ou think “what’s the point?” Y ou spend four or five years on a movie. Animation for adults is not commercial. D oesn’t work.’

This may explain why the outspoken Israeli found his way to W he re I s A nne F rank. Approached by the Anne rank oundation about making an animated film, Folman has crafted an original story inspired by the diaries of the titular Jewish D utch girl who hid from the

N az is with her family during World War II. ‘Kids will watch, I’m sure,’ he says. ‘I think children are much more clever than most think.’

Although the primary demographic may be youngsters, W he re I s A nne F rank will surely appeal to adults (Folman’s own mother, a Holocaust survivor, encouraged him to make it). The setting is not the 1940s , but ‘a year from now’, as tourists pour into the Anne Frank Museum, the very building that used to be the Frank family home and hiding place (look closely, and you’ll even see an animated Justin Bieber and Tom Cruise among the onlookers).

It’s here where Kitty, the imaginary girl referenced in Frank’s diaries, comes alive and begins a fantasy adventure as she looks for Anne. As the film spirits us through Amsterdam, it shows just how Anne’s story has been commercialised, somewhat without meaning.

‘Y ou have bridges, schools and theatres all named after Anne Frank but what do you do with it?’ asks Folman. ‘What is it worth if you don’t use this icon to understand what she went through?’

Folman is cautious about placing the Holocaust next to more contemporary horrors such as the refugee crisis

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PREVIEWS

“ Making an animation is hell

crisis in Europe, but he acknowledges that there’s still a lot of trauma in the world. ‘It tells you in the end titles: one out of every five children on the planet is in danger due to war z ones. The world is a better place, maybe, but there are still 17 million children on the run.’ ne thing the film does manage to convey is the bleak end to Anne’s story. ‘I think one of the reasons that the diary was so successful is that people don’t know what happened afterwards because that diary is her inner thoughts. There’s no cruelty. There’s no starvation in the ghetto. There are no camps, no death marches, nothing. It’s just her private coming-of-age story. Imagine if you had the last seven months . . . who knows?’ hile the film reunited olman with Yoni oodman, his animation director from W al tz W ith Bashi r, he feels the two productions were very different. ‘Bashi r was a . m film made by nine people. This is a m film made in countries by people. A totally different scale. It’s insane how big the scale was.’

The pandemic made it even more taxing, as animation studios shut down, forcing olman to look further afield for staff. ith so many forced to work from home, it added another ‘masochistic’ element to the film’s protracted production. ‘I found out that animators who were living with someone could function,’ he smiles wryly. ‘But those who were alone, singles, had a massive drop in productivity. They need the studio atmosphere, to be with people.’ Yet somehow, he and his team managed to pull off this truly magical movie.

Where Is Anne Frank is in cinemas from Friday 19 August; Waltz With Bashir is available on Disney+ from Friday 1 July.

Waltz With Bashir

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Despite the consistent perception that ‘Scottish hip hop’ is an oxymoron (even with Young Fathers winning the 2014 Mercury Prize), the scene has been thriving in its own special way. Rappers and MCs from all over the country have been making waves on their own underground frequency for decades now, and there’s a general feeling that things are about to properly break through.

PITCH Scotland could just be the spark that’s needed.

Having evolved from 2021’s HANG (Hip-Hop Aimed Networking with Grime), it brings together those who are making waves on the current scene and facilitates networking with more experienced artists. Also in attendance for this Glasgow-wide one-day event are industry professionals who can give these rising stars the leg up some of them may well need.

There will, of course, be music showcases and DJ sets to run alongside the event, and a specific space for 16 to 21-year-olds called Pitch360, making sure that the next generation are even more empowered to advance. HANG is already seen as a landmark event in Scottish alternative music, and PITCH Scotland promises to build on that foundation. Artists currently confirmed include Sean Focus, NoLay and LOTOS, with the full programme set to be announced in July. (Sean Greenhorn) n Various venues, Glasgow, Saturday 27 August.

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52 THE LIST July–August 2022

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Whether she has her adorable pooch Bernie (full name Bearnaise ‘Kapusta Pekinska’ Sauce) on stage with her ´ or not, Luisa Omielan (Saturday 23 July) will no doubt put on another breathless and warm-hearted stand-up extravaganza. This show is actually a best-of compilation from previous one-woman sets such as Am I Right, Ladies?! and God Is A Woman. Either wade deep into a nostalgic swim around her back catalogue or see for the very first time what the fuss has been about all these years.

Dean Wareham (Saturday 30 July) is also someone with a strong CV, having been the leader of US slowcore indie darlings Galaxie 500 and Luna. Now solo, he’s still happy to glance in the rear-view mirror from time to time, and among the evening’s delights is a full performance of his first band’s 1989 album, On Fire.

Jumping ahead to the end of August, Laura Mvula (Wednesday 31 August) brings her Pink Noise tour to the venue, a full year after she appeared at the Edinburgh International Festival. Then, she wielded a lurid pink keytar to herald her sharp turn into a vibrant 1980s aesthetic. It would surely be cruel of Mvula to deny a Glasgow crowd the same excitement. This time though, she’s performing in a hot packed room instead of a breezy outdoor space with everyone sitting apart. Thank the blazes for 2022. (Brian Donaldson) n oran-mor.co.uk

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54 THE LIST July–August 2022

“

Kids a little bit older than me kept dropping her name in conversations

'I

discovered Patti through the song “Because The N ight”,’ remembers Tim Burgess, frontman with veteran baggy indie-rockers The Charlatans, solo artist extraordinaire and lockdown soul-saver with his Tim ’s Twitter L istening P arty social media get-togethers. After Smith’s set on the Jabberwocky main stage at D oune The Rabbit Hole, Burgess will be D Jing until late in the Whistleblower tent. As he recalls, it was a pair of influential anchester music elder statesmen who first turned him on to this legend of the s ew York punkrock scene when he was just a teenager, and he’s been hooked ever since.

‘I read that Peter Saville and Tony Wilson were big fans,’ says Burgess, ‘and the kids that were a little bit older than me kept dropping her name in conversations. So, I bought E aster from a record shop in N orthwich and became a lifelong fan.’

He’s bought most of her albums, collaborations and books over the years. Particular personal favourites include Smith’s various link-ups with , as well as Th e C oral S ea, a live recording of two performances by atti mith and y loody alentine’s Kevin hields from and (this was Smith’s homage to her former lover, photographer Robert applethorpe, who was also the subject of her bestselling memoir J u st K id s). So if Burgess is a little late showing up for his D J set, then at least you’ll know where he’s been. ‘I definitely look forward to her performance at oune.’

For Holly Hole, bassist with south L ondon post-punk band Goat Girl, to play on the Jabberwocky stage at D oune right before one of her all-time favourite artists will be a dream come true. Her starting point with the canon was the same as urgess’: mith’s first and biggest hit, released back in , co-written with Bruce Springsteen.

‘I think I’d probably come across “ ecause The ight” first on the radio or something when I was a kid,’ ole reflects. ‘I also remember Warpaint used to slip a snippet of it into their live rendition of “Baby”. For a while I was pretty obsessed with “D ancing Barefoot” and I learned it on guitar; it’s such an incredible song and I love the spoken-word part at the end, it’s so emotive. It makes me well up nearly every time.’

How does the Goat Girl bassist sum up the brilliance of such an artistic polymath? ‘I rate her highly for being brave enough to do something different in a male-dominated sphere. And for being fearless enough to show her armpit hair on the E aster album cover back in .’

POWER

Doune The Rabbit Hole, Cardross Estate, Stirlingshire, Thursday 14–Sunday 17 July; Patti Smith plays on Thursday 14 July.

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PREVIEWS

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Punk poet laureate, rock’n’roll hall of famer, feminist icon, acclaimed memoirist. Patti Smith is many things to many people.

As she prepares for a headline slot at Doune The Rabbit Hole, Malcolm Jack speaks to a couple of fans who also happen to be appearing at the Stirlingshire festival on the very same night

PICTURE: DC THOMSON & CO LTD

PITCH IN

DARREN CONNELL

We ask a performer to sell us their show in exactly 50 words

PREVIEWS

Want to escape reality? But can’t be arsed going to the cinema? You could come to my stand-up show, then go to the cinema the day after it, then compare the two of them and randomly DM me on Twitter saying that you now hate the cinema and stand-up comedy. n Darren Connell: Thank You For Being My Friend, Palace Theatre, Kilmarnock, Saturday 20 August.

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h e Beano may be the unlikely renegade third child of D undee’s famous Js (jute, jam, journalism) but it’s surely the one with the toughest longevity. Beano’s most famous face, D ennis The Menace, turned 7 0 last year and is still going strong. N ow Gnasher’s pal and his comic comrades are set to take over the streets of their home city in a ten-day summer celebration of Th e Beano, as part of Scotland’s Y ear Of Stories.

‘The Beano has a particular edge on all the other comics that have come and gone over the years,’ says Professor Christopher Murray, an expert in comics and based at D undee U niversity. ‘It has always embraced a kind of playful anarchy, and readers young and old have always responded to that.’

Since launching in 1938, Murray says The Beano has had to change its own role in response to the changing social circumstances, providing uplifting laughs and thrills during the hardship post-war years to echoing the more liberal social experimentation of the 1970s . It even managed to buck the 1990s downward trend in comics and has thrived with the format’s modern revival.

Murray will be talking about D undee’s comic heritage and history as part of the festival’s Comicopolis event. He describes this upsurge in interest as ‘truly amaz ing’ and cites the myriad of ways you can engage with comics now, from dedicated comic shops to web comics and sprawling movie franchises. His top tip for the festival is to check out Sylvain Chomet’s animated comedy Bel l ev il l e R ende z - v ous at the D CA, which will be introduced by former Comics L aureate Hannah Berry. Other enticing events include the Blamaz ing Beanotown Trail Map (a guide around places associated

56 THE LIST July–August 2022

with the comic) and an exhibition inside D C Thomson’s HQ featuring original Beano artwork.

While D ennis survived the greater part of the 20th century, does Murray think Th e Beano will last 7 0 more years? ‘Of course! And I can’t wait to see what D ennis and the other residents of Beanotown have in store for the D undee of 2092.

I imagine D ennis and Minnie will be involved in misplacing the first robot ord rovost’s chains of office. aybe we might even catch a glimpse of Oor Wullie on his Hover-Bucket! ’ Dundee Summer (Bash) Streets Festival, Thursday 14–Sunday 24 July.

PICTURE: MARK THOMAS

Anarchy in the Tay

The world’s longest running weekly comic is taking over the streets of Dundee for a summer festival of all things Beano. Comics expert Professor Christopher Murray tells Lucy Ribchester about the enduring appeal of those pesky Bash Street Kids

THE BRUNTON FRINGE FESTIVAL AND SUMMER PROGRAMME 2022 VENUES 191 & 510

Alex Hodgson | Be Bop a Lula | Big Band Bublé Big Girls Don’t Cry | Cara Dillon | Dougie MacLean The Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular Main Street Blues | Oh! Carol | Siobhan Miller You Win Again | Classical Music Children’s Theatre | Outdoor Theatre FRI 5 – SAT 27 AUG

thebrunton.co.uk / edfringe.com / 0131 653 5245 TheBruntonMusselburgh

TheBrunton #FringeEscape July–August 2022 THE LIST 57

GOING OUT

PICTURE: THE FINE ART SOCIETY

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STREET SMARTS Scottish polymath John Byrne’s latest theatrical creation is sure to be a highlight of this summer’s programme at Glasgow’s Tron Theatre. Gareth K Vile gets a lowdown from the team bringing Underwood Lane to life

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rtistic director Andy Arnold describes the annual summer show at Glasgow' s Tron Theatre as a ‘joyous and uplifting experience’, pitched to appeal widely and lure new audiences through the door. He’s hoping U nd erwood L ane is no exception. From the pen of legendary Scottish artist and writer John Byrne, it' s a tribute to his friend and fellow Paisley Buddy, the late musician Gerry Rafferty. A unique take on musical theatre, the show celebrates those days of skiffle and the magic of being in a band, while not ignoring darker undercurrents.

L ike Byrne' s most famous theatre work The Sl ab Boys, U nde rwood L ane is precise in its geographical, historical and social location (Paisley, the 1960s ). And as with his plays Y our C he atin’ H eart and Tut ti F rut ti, the importance of music as both a soundtrack and inspiration to the characters’ emotional lives is critical. With Byrne involved in suggesting the musical numbers, it is both a testament to the past and a dynamic reminder of how music shapes us.

‘The play is set in the early 60s and features a fantastic collection of songs curated from that era,’ explains musical director Hilary Brooks. ‘Many of the songs were huge hits then, and will be presented differently within the context of the play’s story. The soundtrack will include great ballads, epic numbers and some skiffle-influenced songs all heartfelt or highly entertaining.’

Brooks herself is no stranger to contemporary musical hits, having worked on both G l asgow G irl s and Sun shi ne O n L eith . With the celebrated D arren Brownlie on choreographic duties, Becky Minto designing and Byrne himself working his magic on costumes, the production is a real showcase of Scottish talent.

Arnold is well aware of Byrne’s distinctive style and appeal. ‘This script is classic John Byrne,’ he says. ‘It’s set in Paisley in Th e S l ab Boys era, with similar characters but in many ways a different style of

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theatre, with music and songs very prominent.’ Initially, Arnold hoped to make the show as a key feature in Paisley’s bid for the 2021 City Of Culture award. Although Paisley didn’t win, both the council and Tron were determined to make the production happen.

The combination of Byrne’s script and Tron’s production made the show an easy sale. ‘Most Scottish actors would love to perform in a new work by John and it wasn’t hard to persuade the actors we wanted,’ Arnold notes. ‘There’s a cast of ten and, as well as being the right type of west of Scotland actors, they all needed to be powerful singers with most playing a range of musical instruments all the music will be live.’ ‘ ohn yrne is a man deeply connected to music he loves it and appreciates hearing it live. After all, he put a band at the heart of this story,’ adds Brooks. ‘The decision to utilise actor musicians in this production makes complete sense and allows for very fluid storytelling.’

For Brooks, this shaped her experience of the production.

‘Arranging and coaching vocals and working with actors on the instrumental arrangements are always the best things about being musical director. It is a more collaborative approach than the traditional separation of actors and musicians.’

While the performances begin in Johnstone Town Hall before transferring to the Tron, U nde rwood L ane is expressive of that theatre’s capacity to cross genres. It speaks to audiences that are often ignored by theatre’s middle-class identity, bringing fun without sacrificing the seriousness of the themes, from love through to skulduggery and passionate rivalries. ‘At the same time, as with most Tron productions,’ Arnold concludes, ‘we aim for irreverence, a bit of darkness and intense theatricality.’

Underwood Lane, Johnstone Town Hall, Thursday 7–Saturday 9 July; Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Thursday 14–Saturday 30 July.

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JOHNNIE WALKER PRINCES STREET RAMPS UP FOR A SUMMER OF CELEBRATIONS New summer menu refreshes at the 1820 bar and an exciting line-up of live music offerings at Edinburgh’s newest cultural hotspot.

AN EXPERIENCE LIKE NO OTHER IN A CITY LIKE NO OTHER

Since its launch last September, Johnnie Walker Princes Street has become a hub of activity for Edinburgh blending the art of whisky experiences with top quality food and drink, live music and state of the art retail space.

It has quickly become a must visit in the city.

Featuring eight storeys of incredible experiences, Johnnie Walker Princes Street has added two exciting new offerings, starting with Scotch Sounds. The evening pairs whisky cocktails with music, canapes, and good times.

With live music mixed by the brand ambassadors, cocktails shaken by the incredible head bartender, Miran Chauhan beautifully paired with canapes from head chef Paul Morrison and drams of exclusive whiskies, it’s a night to remember. Attendees are encouraged to have their dancing shoes at the ready…

BOOK NOW

also find their pre-bookable daytime whisky tastings or watch it transform by night into a whisky cocktail palace with unique cocktails such as Smoky Giggle Juice or Rocket Powered Air Mail with paired nibbles.

While you’re enjoying the heights of the building, be sure to check out the other whisky experiences. Choose from the flagship Journey of Flavour tour taking guests on a 90-minute immersive experience through the 200year history of Johnnie Walker, or the “Whisky Makers’ Cellar” designed for the aficionado and held in the underground cellar surrounded by maturing whisky.

Complete with a new look, the 1820 bar is the perfect place to enjoy the summer sun with exciting new cocktails including “Galia Melon & Pistachio” and “Gooseberry & Tarragon” to get the tastebuds tingling.

Looking for something a bit more chilled? The 1820 Bar also offers Jazz, Funk & Soul Sundays. Enjoy a twocourse lunch paired with refreshing Johnnie Walker cocktails and live music from different guest artists each month, perfect for a Sunday catch-up. June’s edition saw Georgia Cecile take to the stage dazzling guests with incredible live jazz. Guest performers for July and August are set to be announced soon and are sure to impress.

Johnnie Walker Princes Street also offers delectable small plates including “Pulled Pork Bon Bons” or “Smoked Salmon with Dill, Cream Fraiche, Balsamic and Sourdough” – perfect for sharing between friends.

Both events are held monthly with Scotch Sounds on 14th July and 10th August and Jazz, Funk & Soul Sundays on 24th July. Tickets are now available to purchase. The bar boasts more than just incredible events, stocking over 150 exclusive bottles of whisky as well as one-of-a-kind cask editions to whet any whisky lovers’ appetite. Here you’ll

www.johnniewalker.com/en-gb/visit-us-princes-street/book-whisky-tasting

1 THE LIST March 2022

Both the 1820 bar and Explorers’ Bothy can be booked in advance as well as tickets for Scotch Sounds and Jazzy Sundays via the website. for the facts

July–August 2022 THE LIST 59

Desperate Dan statue, Dundee (credit: VisitScotland/Kenny Lam)

Castlemilk Stables (credit: Jodie Armour)

Fionnphort beach, Isle of Mull (credit: Claudia Yielder)

(credit: Andrea Baker & Yard Heads International)

Dance Ihayami rehearsing (credit: Edinburgh Festival Carnival)

AS SCOTLAND CELEBRATES ITS YEAR OF STORIES HERE ARE OUR PICKS FROM A SUMMER OF FUN UNMISSABLE EVENTS INCLUDE A BEANO-THEMED BASH, A BRAND-NEW SCULPTURE TRAIL AND THE RETURN OF A LEGENDARY MANUSCRIPT Scotland’s Year of Stories has already seen lots of amazing events take place and, with better weather upon us and loads more events planned, it promises to be a summer to remember. Family festivals and dance displays line up alongside smaller scale events, ensuring there’s something for everyone as we continue to celebrate the sheer brilliance of Scottish storytelling.

Here are our tips: Inspired by great women from Perth’s history, artist Vanessa Lawrence has created twenty life-size sculptures which will be positioned around the city from early July to form a Wire Women Trail, with dedicated maps available.

Thought to be Scotland’s oldest surviving manuscript, the 10th century Book Of Deer is returning to the north-east of Scotland for the first-time in over 1000 years. Check it out at Aberdeen Art Gallery from Saturday 9 July until October.

East Linton phone box (credit: Davide Metzger)

60 THE LIST July–August 2022

The multicultural community of Castlemilk, Glasgow have shared their stories in a new film. Its launch event Fables from the Stables (Wednesday 13 July) takes place in Castlemilk Stables’ courtyard, and includes creative writing workshops for all ages, a professional storyteller and a local photography exhibition.

Dundee Summer (Bash) Streets Festival (Thursday 14 – Sunday 24 July) will be taking over the city Beano-style, with a pop-up outdoor comic museum, marble

runs, world record attempts, street performances and an inclusive fun run dubbed the ‘Dennis and Gnash Dash’.

The migration stories of senior members of the Scottish-Indian community will be brought imaginatively to life by Dance Ihayami in A Happy Namaste at Edinburgh Festival Carnival (Sunday 17 July). Expect dance, readings, music and more across Princes Street and Princes Street Gardens.

The latest in the Scottish Storytelling Centre’s Figures of Speech series (Friday 22 July) sees Russell Jones and TL Huchu journey through Scotland’s iconic books and stories as they discuss the theme of ‘Future’, while writer and poet Jeda Pearl Lewis is on hand to perform some brand-new work.

The stories of the fishing communities of South West Mull and Iona are told in new film Cliabh An T-Shenachais – The Story Creel. It gets its own redcarpet premiere on Saturday 23 July at Fionnphort’s Creich Hall on the Isle of Mull, with food, live music and transport included.

East Linton’s recently refurbished red phone box will be ringing off the hook with a soundscape

of stories, memories and music in The Phone Box – East Linton Voices Shared Down the Line (Friday 5 August – Monday 5 September), a cross-generational collaboration from Catherine Wheels and Climate Action East Lothian.

As part of their first Deaf Festival, trailblazers Deaf Action present Preserving and Celebrating Edinburgh’s Deaf Heritage (screening Friday 12 – Friday 19 August), a series of new film clips highlighting their relationship with the deaf community in Scotland.

Storyteller Jess Smith teams up with musicians Ciaran Ryan, Kevin Whyte and Ian MacGregor to explore their shared GRT (Gypsy, Roma, Traveller) heritage and perform a new body of work at Glasgow’s CCA in Tales Of A Travelling Scotland (Sunday 28 August).

For more information on all Year of Stories events, visit visitscotland.com/stories Scan to find out more.

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THE NICKELODEON EXPERIENCE

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HIT THE ROAD

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You might say that Panah Panahi comes from Iranian filmmaking royalty.

His father Jafar Panahi is the award-winning director behind films like Taxi and The White Balloon. And as a youngster, he’d spend his days watching and listening to Abbas Kiarostami, whose films such as Taste Of Cherry and The Wind Will Carry Us introduced Iranian cinema to a wider world. ‘I would always hang around them when my father was his assistant and they would travel a lot, scouting locations,’ Panahi says, speaking over video from his home in Tehran. ‘I would go with them, nourished by the conversations that they had.’

Now Panahi has struck out on his own, making his directorial debut Hit The Road. A vibrant road movie, tinged with comedy and pathos, it sees two parents (Hassan Madjooni and Pantea Panahiha) drive to the Turkish border hoping to smuggle their 20-year-old son Farid (Amin Simiar) out of the country. Joining them is their aged dog and mischievous younger boy (Rayan Sarlak). The idea of flight is all too familiar, says Panahi, for Iranians of his generation. ‘They feel that the only way they can reach this perspective [of a better life] is leaving the country; it would come to the mind of any Iranian.’

The sad irony is that Panahi’s father is unable to join them. Arrested in 2010, the content of his films infuriating the national government, he was sentenced to six years in prison and banned from making movies for 20 years. Even now, he cannot leave Iran. ‘This is something that's not questionable,’ Panahi says, when I ask if the film is a reflection on his father’s situation. ‘But what’s very interesting is that it was completely unconscious for me.’ Either way, speaking out against an oppressive regime feels like something he was born to do. (James Mottram) n In cinemas from Friday 29 July.

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PREVIEWS

Can there be anything more fun for children in the summer holidays than binge-watching unlimited hours of beloved TV shows? How about dragging your parents along to meet said TV shows’ favourite characters, along with (wait for it) a golden opportunity at the day’s climax to ‘get slimed’?

The team behind open-air drivethrough-movie experience, The Luna Cinema, have paired up with children’s TV giants Nickelodeon and Nick Jr to create a behemoth of a touring fair, kicking off its UK-wide schedule at Edinburgh’s Saughton Park. There are several zones to explore, each a homage to the channel’s most popular programmes. For the pre-schoolers, Chase and Marshall from PAW Patrol (surely the rock stars of this world) will be meeting and greeting, while for older children, Henry Danger’s maze promises ‘twists, turns, puzzles and passages’. There is even an escape room (no, not for parents to shelter in) to challenge the keenest-minded young code-crackers.

And then there’s the slime. Yes, there will be a whole zone dedicated to green-coloured goo, a ‘Slime Time Party’ in fact, a place where the words ‘fully immersive experience’ are taken rather literally. After all that, you’ll be needing a day’s rest . . . in front of the TV. (Lucy Ribchester) n Saughton Park, Edinburgh, Friday 1–Thursday 14 July.

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The gun lobby is likely to be up in arms about Justin Kurzel’s new movie which explores a notorious massacre in his Australian homeland. Emma Simmonds finds that the Cannes-winning Nitram contains difficult truths that everyone should pay attention to REVIEWS

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he dark underbelly of sun-kissed Australia is once again highlighted in the fifth feature from director ustin Kur el. is last effort, Tru e H istory O f Th e K el l y G ang , looked at the country’s legendary outlaw ed Kelly, while with its suburban setting and true-crime origins, N itram (pronounced it-ram, if you’re wondering covers similar territory to Kur el’s debut S nowtown, a film that felt almost relentlessly chilling. is latest adopts a very different tack. orking from a screenplay by regular collaborator haun rant, Kur el looks at events preceding the ort Arthur massacre in Tasmania, which remains the worst crime in modern Australian history to be committed by an individual. rovocatively, things are largely seen through the eyes of the massacre’s perpetrator artin ryant, known here by his much-hated childhood nickname of itram (his name spelt backwards who, rather than being portrayed as a shadowy and monstrous figure, is someone the film is interested in truly knowing: the good, the bad and the very, very ugly. itram is played in brilliant yet unshowy fashion by the American actor Caleb andry ones, who makes a decent fist of the accent too and was rewarded with est Actor at Cannes for his efforts. ith his head lolling and hair hanging, he often sports the sulky sneer of a petulant toddler or angsty teen despite being in his twenties, possessing a grungy Kurt Cobain-ness about him. ones is supported terrifically by udy avis and Anthony a aglia as his e asperated mum and soft-hearted but increasingly depressed dad, and by ssie avis (who also happens to be Kur el’s wife playing a reclusive and eccentric heiress who itram befriends and moves in with.

The film doesn’t shy from the gorgeousness of its backdrop, presenting the area’s radiance in marked contrast to itram’s spiralling behaviour and increasingly disturbed psyche Kur el is a resident of Tasmania and is as in love with its beauty as he is repelled by its horrors. As itram goes from moderately dangerous (playing recklessly with fireworks which he uses to try and impress kids to someone fascinated by guns, the way he gambols about without a care for conse uences morphs from childlike to sinister in a film that specialises in creeping, rather than solidly oppressive, unease. iven his recent forays into spectacle-driven moviemaking ( ’s magnificent but financially unsuccessful M ac b eth and the more e pensive flop A ssassin’s C reed , there’s something immensely satisfying about seeing Kur el take on something so modestly scaled and interrogatory. Although the director doesn’t try to absolve itram of responsibility by painting his life as a never-ending stream of misery, the attempts to understand him result in a clearly compassionate portrayal of a serial killer that has already proven controversial, especially in Australia.

or those who are grieving, this will, no doubt, feel like too much too soon and, honestly, who can blame them. ut it’s one of the responsibilities of artforms to confront truths that we may be unable or unwilling to recognise and perhaps shape them into something to learn from. Kur el’s insight here is admirable. itram is presented as intellectually disabled and lacking in impulse control through his mother’s recollections, the film suggests that he may have been wired wrong, yet it has much more to say. It illustrates his cruel treatment at the hands of others (which pushes him to the peripheries of society , the twin tragedies that befall him, the paltry help and support received by his family and, most devastatingly and damningly, Australia’s appalling gun-control regulations.

It was the latter and the lack of properly enforced changes in the years that followed which prompted screenwriter rant to tell the story from itram’s perspective he wanted audiences to ‘sit with a character who clearly should not have access to firearms and watch as they are so easily granted access to them’. ith such crimes unfortunately not as rare as they should be, particularly in the U , this is a film that contains some important lessons. et’s hope those who most need to hear them sit up and listen.

Nitram is in cinemas from Friday 1 July.

July–August 2022 THE LIST 63

COMEDY

ALAN CARR

Regional Trinket

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The comedian with ‘a face that only a mother could love’ and who can open his phone’s facial recognition app with ‘a potato and a pair of glasses’, reassembles himself for this much-delayed touring show. Alan Carr’s allegedly ‘cursed’ one-man stand-up Regional Trinket (a play on his current near national treasure status) traces his peculiar trajectory to, through and beyond lockdown. Matching the comic persona Carr has perfected over the last decade and a half, the show is irreverent, filthy and chaotic but oddly warm and occasionally euphoric. It reminds us that he is more than an omnipresent if gifted TV presenter and quiz master.

Like the comedians Carr grew up watching and studying (the 1980s alternative comedy set and Frankie Howerd among them), his schtick is belligerence, defiance and anarchy with a side order of working-class camp. He’s the wailing banshee at the gates of the aesthetic and politically correct, pushing buttons and threatening boundaries of taste and decency (he controversially once dedicated a media award to Karen Matthews, mother and fake kidnapper of her daughter Shannon).

Huffing, puffing, circling and criss-crossing the stage, Carr rakes over the last half a decade with barbed wit and self-mockery. Suspect romance, a celebrity wedding, the disintegration of that marriage, rubbing shoulders with a real gay icon superstar (Celine Dion: hilarious), alcoholic excess, and excursions into the odd world of ancestral-history reality TV are all detailed, embellished, derided and ultimately dismissed.

Combative, irascible and riotous, Carr pushes his tall tales of overindulgence and embarrassment along at an impressive clip. He’s also a brilliant physical comedian. Gag after gag is fortified by uglifying facial turns, weird body movements and fey fake injury. As it should be, this trinket is a gift of no purpose or pomposity. (Paul Dale) n Edinburgh Playhouse, Friday 8 & Saturday 9 July; King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Sunday 10 & Monday 11 July; reviewed at Perth Concert Hall.

GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL PIPING FESTIVAL

6th - 14th August 2022 www.pipinglive.co.uk PRINCIPAL SPONSOR

64 THE LIST July–August 2022

PRINCIPAL SUPPORTERS

MEDIA PARTNERS

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JOYRIDE

(Directed by Emer Reynolds)

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‘I’m not going back, I’m going forward,’ insists Olivia Colman’s ironically named Joy as she ploughs ahead with a plan to give away her baby and establish a new life abroad. This modestly budgeted and slightly ramshackle Irish roadtripper makes moving on its focus, with the movie certainly lucking out in securing the services of this much-loved Oscar-winner, giving her just enough to work with.

The narrative feature debut of documentary-maker and editor Emer Reynolds centres around the onthe-nose pairing of Colman’s struggling new mum and a motherless young lad (Charlie Reid’s Mully).

They come together when he nicks the proceeds of his late mum’s fundraiser to save it from his dodgy dad (Lochlann O’Mearáin) and makes his getaway in the taxi Joy has been sleeping in, kick-starting a rollicking odd-couple adventure.

Joyride’s willingness to be frank about maternal anxiety and post-natal depression can feel refreshing but the overarching story is slight and a touch cheesy, with the awkward blend of sunny caper and probing drama resulting in a seesawing tone. However, Colman makes every second she’s on screen matter, newcomer Reid is a winningly plucky partner-in-crime, and it builds to a touching, if overly neat conclusion. (Emma Simmonds) n In cinemas from Friday 29 July.

Experience the magic of cinema on Scotland’s largest screen Lose yourself in the latest blockbusters on our massive 24m wide by 18m tall screen with crystal clear digital projection and IMAX precision sound.

Independently operated by Glasgow Science Centre.

Book tickets online at: glasgowsciencecentre.org/IMAX

July–August 2022 THE LIST 65

REVIEWS

GOING OUT

MEN IN Trent Reznor and company made a thunderous return to Scotland after almost a decade away. Sean Greenhorn witnesses a Nine Inch Nails extravaganza featuring a career-spanning setlist of bighitters, deep cuts and unexpected covers

66 THE LIST July–August 2022

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t is an hour before N ine Inch N ails are due to come onstage, and Glasgow’s O2 Academy is already packed to the gills with an audience dressed 98 % in black. citement is at fever pitch, as this marks not only the first time Trent e nor’s long-standing industrial goth outfit have played cotland in almost a decade, but also the first of only a handful of shows the group are playing across the U K in 2022, taking place in venues they could easily sell out many times over.

The moment that e nor and bandmates Atticus oss, obin inck, Alessandro Cortini and Ilan ubin arrive on stage amid a ha e of smoke, breaking into ’s ‘The eginning f The nd’, it’s easy to remember why they are a generation-defining band. ack in the late s, e nor was an angsty misfit who took the abrasive sound of bands like inistry and kinny Puppy and imbued it with just enough of a melodic pop sensibility to punch through towards a larger mainstream audience. ince then, e nor’s omnivorous approach to music has seen him push the I sound to different places, such as s drum and bass, sI and

PICTURES: STEWART FULLERTON

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N BLACK the same skittering jazz explored by David Bowie in his final album. This has allowed them to continue to amass fans and admirers in a way that has kept them relevant beyond any of their peers.

With a minimal but nonetheless effective lighting set-up, the nimble fivepiece dart through different decades of the band with abandon. At one point, Reznor states that they are going to reach ‘way back into the archives . . . to the very first song’ before the band launch into NIN’s debut single ‘Down In It’. Questionable semi-rapping and incorporation of the lyrics ‘rain, rain go away . . . ’ aside, it is a thrill to see this song lead on to With Teeth’s main single ‘The Hand That Feeds’, a titanium-plated machine from two decades later that shows just how much Reznor has evolved.

Meanwhile, ‘Head Like A Hole’, one of the few other big hitters on the setlist tonight, is an absolute juggernaut. The audacity of somehow cramming two epic choruses into the same song is not lost on this audience as arms flail in the air. Other surprises include a cover of Bowie’s ‘I’m Afraid Of

Americans’ and the live debut of late-period song ‘Everything’. For the encore, the band eschew the temptation to ramp things up with one of their ferocious numbers, instead pushing to strange places with a triptych of songs that showcase the sonic exploration Reznor and Ross display on their soundtrack work. ‘Home’, a bonus track from With Teeth, ‘Even Deeper’ from The Fragile and ‘All That Could Have Been’ from their EP of the same name, each have the audience mesmerised before the obligatory rendition of ‘Hurt’ closes proceedings in typically epic fashion.

Five decades in, and with countless awards (including an Oscar and induction to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame) to his name, Reznor has more than earned the right to do what he wants. Tonight, what he wants is to take us deep into the crazed, angsty and confrontational world of Nine Inch Nails, and boy, we were happy to follow him down that path.

Reviewed at O2 Academy Glasgow.

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ART

TRACEY EMIN

I Lay Here For You

Tracey Emin’s first show in Scotland for 14 years features a beautiful amalgam of paintings, sculpture and monographs, with the majority created across the past two years. Themes of restoration, loneliness and intimacy recur across the exhibition. Alongside a small-scale sculpture of tumbling bodies delicately placed on an ornate fireplace, a painting of an unspoiled bed hangs on the walls. As her most iconic motif, the bed nods back to Emin’s trailblazing exhibit of 1999 which divided art critics into two camps: those who considered the artist to be ‘vulgar’ (as if being ‘vulgar’ is defined as a woman elaborating on her sexual history) and others who thanked her for it. For those in the latter category, the painting ‘WET’ (2021) will be a highlight of this show.

For more subtle and allusive renderings of a vulva, see Emin’s new series ‘Forest Of Love’. These acrylic paintings are both enchanting and fitting in the surrounding woodlands of Jupiter Artland. Of the same ilk, ‘I Keep Bleeding’ (2022) depicts a spooning couple entrapped in a bloody womb-like vacuum, staged like the memory of a past sexual experience.

Jupiter Artland is now the permanent resting place for Emin’s monumental sculpture, ‘I Lay Here For You’. A large-scale bronze woman lays on her stomach, as if resigned to unrequited longing, with her gaze directed inwards. The effect is such that passers-by may refrain from looking to grant her some privacy.

Characteristic of Emin’s work, the sculpture’s title is in the first person, prompting onlookers to question who the ‘you’ refers to, as well as who they might be yearning for in their own lives. Enduring the pandemic and battling bladder cancer, this show is testament to Tracey Emin’s extraordinary capacity to persevere and continue creating. (Rachel Ashenden) n Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh, until Sunday 2 October, part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

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A marvellous journey through the Italian Renaissance

MAGISTER RAFFAELLO

RAPHAEL

01.0724.09 2022 DOVECOT STUDIOS EDINBURGH MA GIS TER

www.magister.art

68 THE LIST July–August 2022

BOOK NOW: DOVECOTSTUDIOS.COM Ticket includes entry to Alan Davie: Beginning of a Far-off World exhibition

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

Consulate General of Italy Edinburgh

MUSIC

WITH LOVE, FROM GLASGOW

(Curated by Rebecca Vasmant)

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28 July–28 August

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SCOTTISH FESTIVALS TAKING PLACE THROUGHOUT 2022

MUSIC

OUT NOW

BOOKS ART THEATRE FILM COMEDY FAMILY

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FOOD DRINK OUTDOOR & MORE

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REVIEWS

Art starts here

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This year’s small but perfectly formed Glasgow Jazz Festival has been all about the local talent and there was a bumper line-up on display at this chilled closing party event curated by DJ and jazz ambassador Rebecca Vasmant. Even an infectious enthusiast like Vasmant struggled to coax numbers into a darkened basement on a sunny day but those who did attend enjoyed irrepressible DJ sets from Vasmant and longstanding funk-soul brother Nick Peacock.

There was also a succession of tasty live performances from the likes of Rebecca’s Records signings Azamaiah, whose cool funk-inflected vibes, lithe basslines and seductive vocals from India Blue were infused with a plaintive streak of saxophone. Enticing new ensemble Mama Terra performed by livestream at last year's event but this was their debut in front of an audience, who lapped up their cohesive spiritual jazz sound, with glistening electric piano, aqueous bass and cosmic vocalese from Rachel Lightbody emanating a blissful summer atmosphere.

All too soon they had to make way for the equally tasty closing set by Kalakuta Show, a tribute to the music of Fela Kuti from a supergroup ensemble of able players bringing chiming guitar, groove-laden trombone and heroic saxophony to the Afrofunk party. (Fiona Shepherd) n Reviewed at Òran Mór, Glasgow.

Udderly amazing family shows this August at Underbelly!

A MAGICAL ADVENTURE DIRECT FROM THE WEST END!

‘GREAT FUN, ACTION-PACK ED AND FULL OF HIGH JINX’ FAMILIES ED

INBURGH

S EVERYTHING ‘THIS SHOW HA IN JOYOUS’ AND IS JUST PLA THE LIST

Discov ver morre at dra agonsa agons andbeasstsslive and e.ccom A Nicoll Entertainment Production

12.05PM (1.05PM)

06-27 AUGUST 2022 (NOT 15,22)

11.20AM (12.20PM) 04-21 AUGUST 2022 ( NOT 10,17)

INSPIRED BY THE BOOKS OF MO WILLEMS

1.45PM (2.35PM)

70 THE LIST July–August03 2022 - 29 AUGUST 2022 (NOT 15)

2.15PM (3.15PM) 06-27 AUGUST 2022 (NOT 15,22)

FILM

EIFFEL

(Directed by Martin Bourboulon)

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‘You gaze at your tower like a man in love,’ Adrienne (Emma Mackey) tells Gustave Eiffel (Romain Duris) as they stand atop his partially built, soon-to-be iconic Parisian monument.

Directed by Martin Bourboulon, Eiffel is a film that combines romantic turmoil with epic feats of engineering in mostly satisfying style, but dishonesty proves to be its downfall.

Beginning in 1889 and with flashbacks shading in the lovers’ fraught backstory, it tells of the French tower’s construction by the determined, obstinate and outrageously talented Eiffel. Adrienne is the face from his past, now married to Eiffel’s champion Antoine (Pierre Deladonchamps). When the pair resume their affair, it jeopardises his project.

The film’s approach to truth is described as ‘freely inspired by’ and with this love story entirely fabricated, it certainly takes liberties. If Duris and Mackey are smouldering and plausibly smitten, their liaison has all the clichés of a doomed romance and its inclusion desperately undermines the film’s portrait of Eiffel. However, it’s a very handsome and often compelling production, with the trials of pushing engineering boundaries well realised. What a shame that it lacks the courage to focus purely on Eiffel’s professional achievements. Those would have been enough. (Emma Simmonds) n In cinemas from Friday 12 August.

REVIEWS

EXHIBITIONS

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STRIKING HERSTORIES

Striking Herstories presents a solid attempt at levelling the playing field for Scottish women in football. Exhibited by the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden, the historical ‘trail’ includes several add-ons dotted around the main gallery. New artwork and text panels accompany some of the already-existing exhibits and odes to our female football trailblazers. These include Scotland’s greatest goal scorer, Julie Fleeting, and Rose Reilly, who was voted the world’s best female footballer in 1983.

Stuart Gibbs’ paintings show several stages of the evolution of women players, starting as early as 1628.

Suffragette Helen Matthew and fellow football feminist Florence Dixie are two more stars of the exhibition, having created the British Ladies’ Football Club in 1884.

The museum provides a map that indicates where each stop of the ‘trail’ can be found. Without it, they’d be easily swallowed up by the museum’s other exhibits.

Although Striking Herstories does uncover a secret history of women’s involvement in football, the aim of the ‘trail’ doesn’t quite score. A lack of detail is obvious in the few exhibits that are dedicated to female players. An ode to Emma Clarke, Britain’s first female footballer of colour, has no explanation of her story in the main exhibit. We discover little about her from the map, and anyone who doesn’t ask specifically for a Striking Herstories leaflet may accidentally overlook this icon entirely.

Undoubtedly, there is an intention to shine a light on the beautiful game’s unsung heroines. However, upon leaving the museum, you walk through the Scottish Football Hall Of Fame, where the number of female players can be counted on one hand. Striking Herstories does teach the viewer some important history, but overall, it feels like an afterthought. (Rachel Cronin) n Scottish Football Museum, Glasgow, permanent exhibition.

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Scott Caruth and Alex Hetherington’s Seen And Not Seen begins with an absorbing darkness.

Two cube televisions on the floor play unseen 16mm outtakes by Hetherington, with three large photographic prints hung on the opposite wall. The shots were captured by Caruth in the ground-floor men’s toilet of Glasgow's Savoy Centre and have a grain-like image resolution which creates a ‘visual noise’.

Proceeding into a corridor, spotlight installations are sprung at the entrances of two parallel spaces, each constricted within tall black walls. A step inside feels like an initiation. Alongside artist Catherine Street, Hetherington produced the films that are projected in both rooms on an LED screen. Voices from Caruth’s film BOB, recorded and exposed in The Pipeworks sauna, lead to the final room where a scream vibrates through the whole place.

Although the exhibition’s title fits the atmosphere, everything that needs to be evaluated is in plain sight. Lighting changes create an expectation that more is hidden in the darkness, but that potential isn’t realised. Instead of appreciating the themes of visibility and legibility in these artworks, the viewer is disoriented and confused as to the overarching significance of it all. (Chris Opoku) n CCA, Glasgow, until Saturday 16 July.

72 THE LIST July–August 2022

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SCOTT CARUTH AND ALEX HETHERINGTON

FILM

BRIAN AND CHARLES

(Directed by Jim Archer)

The oddest of odd couples are at the centre of this delightful British mockumentary from debut feature director Jim Archer, based on his 2017 short. Set in rural Wales, it sees a reclusive and spectacularly unsuccessful inventor astonish even himself when he fashions a robot who turns out to be exactly the companion he needs.

The film’s writers David Earl and Chris Hayward play Brian and Charles, creator and creation respectively. Made from a washing machine, mannequin and other bits and bobs in a mere 72 hours, Charles looks pretty bizarre, has a peculiar turn of phrase (‘yumsville!’) and, it turns out, can be very cheeky indeed. There’s a romantic interest for Brian in shy Hazel (Louise Brealey), who lives with her fearsome mum in the nearby village, while local bully Eddie (Jamie Michie) and his menacing daughters provide the threat.

In the tradition of US indie charmer Robot And Frank, and with a sitcom feel to its domestic interactions, this is sci-fi in the lowest possible key. Combining folksiness with futuristic, synth-infused notes, the score does a good job at bridging the gap between big ideas about consciousness and rights, and the film’s enjoyably modest (or, in the case of Charles, deliberately shoddy) execution.

Brian And Charles might seem very minor but there’s climactic excitement that’s genuinely nail-biting, and the vulnerability and likeability of its characters mean there’s plenty at stake. Moreover, there’s a strange poignancy to the trajectory and essence of the story as Charles goes through something resembling adolescence and begins to yearn for independence. The titular duo have a lovely rapport, with Hayward delivering sublime, beautifully timed voicework, and Earl inhabiting an endearing curmudgeon. How wonderful that a film this funny can also be so sweet.

(Emma Simmonds) n In cinemas from Friday 8 July.

THE FORTH FLOOR BRASSERIE AND BAR

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Enjoy three courses and a cocktail for £33 with our new Summer Dining menu.

Available from 1st July — 30th September.

BOOK YOUR TABLE NOW +44 131 524 8350 | harveynichols.com ST ANDREW SQUARE, EDINBURGH, EH2 2AD

Daniel Silver Looking Free

Open Daily 11am — 6pm

45 Market Street Edinburgh

Exhibition.

11.06.22–25.09.22

0131 225 2383 fruitmarket.co.uk

Supported by

Daniel Silver Group (detail), 2022, oil painted ceramic, 45 x 45 x 100 cm Courtesy of the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London

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July–August 2022 THE LIST 73

My Old School (and clockwise from right), Cluedo, Billy Ocean as part of Rewind, Calvin Harris, She Will, Uncles

HIGHLIGHTS

OTHER THINGS WORTH GOING OUT FOR

As you’ll have read by now, there’s certainly a lot going in Edinburgh and Glasgow in the next couple of months, but here’s yet more stuff to get you excited about life ART

COMEDY

HUMAN THREADS

RUSSELL HOWARD

Curated by Artlink, this multi-sensory exhibition is an interactive landscape packed with light, sound, touch and smell, having been informed by individuals with profound learning disabilities. n Tramway, Glasgow, until Sunday 28 August.

The uber-energetic comic who is well established as a force on the telly, gets back on stages for his Respite tour as he attempts to understand a world which appears to be careering out of all control. n Edinburgh Playhouse, Wednesday 13 July.

UNCLES Fresh from his perhaps surprising success in the musical Orphans, Rab Florence teams up with his Burnistoun buddy Iain Connell once again for another selection of sketches and musings. n Tramway, Glasgow, Thursday 25–Saturday 27 August.

FILM

SHE WILL Exec produced by Dario Argento, this psychological horror stars Alice Krige as a former film star who heads

74 THE LIST July–August 2022

GOING OUT PICTURE: CRAIG SUGDEN

HIGHLIGHTS

to a healing retreat in Scotland which just so happens to be on the site where terrible things happened to women centuries prior. Malcolm McDowell, Rupert Everett and Amy Manson also star. n In cinemas from Friday 22 July.

dragons, dinosaurs, puddles and ice-cream. n King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Wednesday 13 & Thursday 14 July.

MY OLD SCHOOL

The Dumfries lad sold this gig out in less time than it took you to hear the words ‘your call is important to us’ twice. Bangers aplenty as the DJ/producer blows the National Stadium’s roofless roof off. n Hampden Park, Glasgow, Saturday 2 July.

Featuring Alan Cumming, Lulu and Clare Grogan, this documentary-style film is the true story of a 30-year-old imposter who enrolled in his old school in Bearsden, pretending to be 17. n In cinemas from Friday 19 August.

KIDS

PEPPA PIG’S BEST DAY EVER Peppa's family take a trip involving the likes of Mr Bull, Suzy Sheep and Gerald Giraffe. They perhaps weren’t aware it would also result in encounters with

MUSIC

CALVIN HARRIS

REWIND An 80s flashback for those of a certain vintage with the likes of Bananarama, Nik Kershaw, T’Pau, Blow Monkeys, Billy Ocean and Chesney Hawkes all descending on Perthshire. n Scone Palace, Perth, Friday 22–Sunday 24 July.

TALKS

DAVID SEDARIS His middle names might not be wit and incision, but those are the traits many will associate with the humourist whose 2018 Calypso was a bestseller and nominated for a Grammy thanks to its audio version. n Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Sunday 10 July; Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Sunday 17 July.

THEATRE

CLUEDO

For those not enamoured by the newest version of the classic murder-mystery board game (a spa? A video game designer? But no lead pipe? Sacrilege!), your nostalgia pang will be fed by this touring show starring Michelle Collins as Miss Scarlett. n Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Monday 4–Saturday 9 July.

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new leisure

NOW OPEN

ates d mates rates Take back Glasgow with

76 THE LIST July–August 2022

STAYING IN

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON King Viserys Targaryen. Lady Alicent Hightower. Lord Corlys Velaryon. Just seeing those names written down will have fans of fire, ice, dragons and lead characters being brutally offed at any given moment, saying a whispered ‘thank you’ to the old streaming gods and the new. The Game Of Thrones prequel has a cast to die for featuring Rhys Ifans, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke and Paddy Considine. This story may take place approximately 200 years before Ned Stark’s false confession led to a million jaws being dropped, but foreshadowing may well be one of the great pleasures in House Of The Dragon. (Brian Donaldson) n Starts on Sky Atlantic on Sunday 21 August.

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PODCASTS

RHYMES LIKE DIMES (From left) Peter Abiade, Yemi Abiade, Mohammed Yusuf

‘Sometimes, one of us wants to go on an almighty rant and that is where the energy is,’ Yemi Abiade explains, as his brother Peter plus Mohammed Yusuf immediately jump in to decide which of the three hosts likes to spout off the most. This infectious camaraderie sets Rhymes Like Dimes apart from many other music podcasts; not only do they all know their stuff about the entire genre of hip hop, but there’s no apparent fear about tearing off on a tangent when the moment calls for it.

The podcast broadly selects two or three topics for its biweekly episodes, but the free-wheeling, vibrant nature of their conversations is where the magic lies. Their journey to put the podcast together was not a short one, and despite each episode’s laidback and fluid nature, a lot of preparation goes into deciding how it should look and sound.

When Yusuf and Yemi were training to become radio DJs, all three immediately connected over their love (and disagreements) about hip hop. However, it took several years of chat before they finally decided to record anything.

Initially looking at a general podcast about music, the trio decided that narrowing it down to hip hop would not only

provide focus, but also form a perfect space where each of them could share equal knowledge and passion. They spent around nine months practising the format before releasing their first episode in 2019. All three cite Joe Budden’s podcast as a major influence, with a desire to create a voice for a new generation of hip hop heads, this time coming from the UK. ‘It can be about whatever we want,’ insists Yemi. ‘We can wake up one day and want to tell younger people about how great Nas was in ‘94 or Das EFX in ‘92. Or someday we want to show someone like Jordy some love and shine the light on young UK artists.’ Since the pandemic, Rhymes Like Dimes has grown and the team now include visuals at their YouTube link, along with album reviews and special guests (one thing they do agree on is that Little Simz would be their dream guest). Throughout the interview, the hosts continually state their aim to be inclusive, and to platform new ideas and perspectives. As Yemi puts it: ‘it’s all inclusive, as is rap, and we see ourselves as an extension of that.’ n Episodes available at linktr.ee/rhymesdimespod

BINGE FEST

78 THE LIST July–August 2022

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inding a T programme that e ually satisfies the tastes of a young and less-young audience is perhaps easier now than it was when H orrib l e H istories (BBCiPlayer) started grossing out the viewing public. Tales of warts and witchcraft, and boils and beheadings might not have seemed like ideal family watching, but with a lot of wit and hefty dollops of wisdom, the same crew who went on to make the excellent G h osts helped kickstart a different type of telly e perience.

H ous e O f C ards ( etfli was also ground-breaking in its own way, being the first major drama produced in-house by the streaming behemoth. robably a difficult watch now given the Kevin pacey scandal, but for several seasons it was unmissable, taking an almost uaint C original and twisting it to meta levels of murderous badinage and power-grabbing fun. ( rian onaldson O th er H b ing es: H ank Z ipz er ( BBC iP l ayer) , H ere A nd N ow ( N O W TV ) , H eroes ( BBC iP l ayer) .

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Our alphabetical column on viewing marathons reaches H

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PREVIEWS

Brimming with passion, knowledge and an appetite for healthy debate, the three hosts of a vital hip-hop podcast are a bundle of energy. Sean Greenhorn finds something that they can all agree on

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Sound Vision

STAYING IN

Classical music commentator and Radio 3 presenter Kate Molleson is on a mission to uncover some ignored talents from the 20th century. As she tells Carol Main, her new book is just a beginning

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via Z oom. They generously shared Dropbox folders with years and years of material they’d gathered. There was an overwhelming sense that people were so happy to be part of this project, having been frustrated by a narrow western-centric perspective.’

Each chapter tells an interesting story in itself but can also represent a further tale. Galina Ustvolskaya was writing under the Soviet regime at the same time as Shostakovich but putting her in the frame gives a different take on that era’s politics. Some stories are more universal, such as the exceptionally talented Ruth Crawford who pretty much gave up her composing career in the 1930s to be a wife and mum to three children, including folk musician Peggy Seeger.

‘With her [Seeger], I hit on gold,’ says Molleson. ‘She was so forthright and honest, speaking about this thing of inherited traits that go down the family line; how we inherit our gender expectations. She got into the same dynamics when she married Ewan MacColl. We do, though, have to be careful in retrospectively applying today’s values. I’m coming at this as a feminist in 2022 but they had to navigate different times.’

Another favourite is Filipino José Maceda, whose gigantic U gnay an, under the direct supervision of Imelda Marcos, was broadcast for an hour simultaneously on 37 radio stations. In the process, it became a new piece of music for millions of listeners. By opening this Pandora’s box, Molleson is lifting the lid on genre boundaries. ‘Where we are at now is tokenism without thinking of the real context,’ she insists. ‘It’s going to take time and effort.’ Molleson’s book is a starting point and the moment that signals things might be ready for real change.

Sound Within Sound: Opening Our Ears To The 20th Century is published by Faber on Thursday 7 July; Kate Molleson appears at Edinburgh International Book Festival on Thursday 18 August.

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PREVIEWS

f part of the ancient mythology of Pandora’s box is that opening it results in disruption, then journalist and broadcaster Kate Molleson is unlocking a contemporary version in S ou nd W ith in S ou nd . Standard histories of what is broadly referred to as classical music tend to focus on genius and masterpieces that should, of course, be lauded.

There is, however, much more out there but how do we find out about music by women and, in this generally white/ male/ western sphere of influence, from other people and places In her book, Molleson has selected ten composers who all challenged the conventions of 20th-century classical music, yet who are not widely recognised. Who are Else arie ade, os aceda or uth Crawford, for instance What are their contributions and why have we not heard about them before now olleson answers all these q uestions and more. In her role presenting Radio 3 ’s N ew M u sic S h ow, Molleson often has to ferret out the unknown, but she is also on a personal crusade to set the record straight on behalf of some incredible musical voices.

‘We were looking at how we diversify our programmes,’ she says, ‘and even if we wanted to play more music by women or by Black composers, the recordings are not there or they’re not good enough. e often find an obscure labour of love, with recording q uality not matching that of male composers of the day. This is not part of the narrative that’s taught at music college. If I want to be part of changing that, we need to get more people known about.’

The book is not intended to be comprehensive, but giving examples of hidden composers suggests there could be many more out there. Their absence from the standard music history books is another myth; that if we don’t hear a composer it must be because they’re not worth hearing.

‘But no,’ says Molleson, ‘it’s the systemic way in which society is structured.’

Molleson had been planning to visit Mexico, the Philippines and Brazil, countries with side-lined composers whose experimentation in music was crucial.

But lockdown put paid to that. ‘Maybe it was for the best as I ended up writing most of the book during lockdown.’ And the detail contained within each chapter is extraordinary. ‘I homed in on some incredible research that had been done by musicians and musicologists, by people who knew these composers and their work. I was able to sit and talk to them

FIRST WRITES In our Q&A, we throw some questions about ‘firsts’ at debut authors. This issue we feature Colleen Hubbard, author of Housebreaking, the story of a woman who takes the concept of moving home all-too literally during a harsh New England winter What’s the first book you remember reading as a child? A l l - of - a-

but not the bed she had laid down in a few hours since, and the room was not the same but it was a room she had known somewhere,’ from Katherine Anne Porter’s P al e H orse, P al e R id er.

Which debut publication had the most profound effect on you?

P onti by Sharlene Teo. Both the quality of the writing and the endless inspiration of good literary citiz enship by Sharlene, who is a cheerleader for emerging writers in the U K and beyond.

What’s the first thing you do when you’ve stopped writing for the day? Think about drinking a cup of water and then forget to do it.

In a parallel universe where you’re the tyrant leader of a dystopian civilisation, what’s the first book you’d burn? At over

3 000 pages, I n S earc h O f L ost Tim e might keep the fires going long enough to roast a few squirrels for dinner.

What’s the first piece of advice you’d offer to an aspiring novelist? Keep your day job.

Housebreaking is published by Corsair on Thursday 11 August.

PREVIEWS

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up on a writing day? Take care of my children.

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What’s your favourite first line? ‘In sleep she knew she was in her bed,

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wasn’t hundreds of years old or about boarding-school boys that were nothing like my working-class upbringing. Bel ov ed was spooky, modern and gripping.

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What was the book you read that first made you decide to be a writer? Bel ov ed by Toni Morrison. It was the first book I read in school that

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K ind F am il y, about a family of five little girls living in a Jewish neighbourhood on N ew Y ork’s L ower East Side in the 1910s.

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STAYING IN

PICTURE: NEIL BEDFORD

ALBUMS

KASABIAN

The Alchemist’s Euphoria (Columbia Records)

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If being a rock star means doing something silly and making it look cool, then Kasabian deserve a premier spot in the musical pantheon. The nation’s second favourite lad-rock contingent have spent decades filling stadiums while bellowing inane nonsense about velociraptors, Vlad The Impaler and sadomasochism. Shorn of disgraced frontman Tom Meighan, with Serge Pizzorno taking his place, they’ve lost none of their propensity for leftfield silliness.

Pizzorno is a criminally underrated songwriter, his polymathic musical palate making the band far more interesting than they need to be. While never far from a Match Of The Day-friendly indie banger, their albums are also awash with nods to Sergio Leone, Motown, psychedelia and any other genre they can shamelessly filch.

Their new material continues to trawl Pizzorno’s overactive imagination, with song titles that look like someone fell asleep with their head on a keyboard (‘ALYGATYR’, ‘SCRIPTVRE’) and elements of nu metal, indie and grime. Cool or naff? Who cares? Like their clearest influence, Primal Scream, they only want to give you a good time. So let your hair down and bellow ‘VELOCIRAPTOR!’ to your heart’s content. (Kevin Fullerton) n Released on Friday 5 August.

PREVIEWS

The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction Event

Patrick Radden Keefe: Money is a Drug Monday 15 August at 7.00pm Edinburgh International Book Festival, Baillie Gifford Sculpture Court It was a family whose fortune was built up

by Valium, then destroyed by OxyContin.

Patrick Radden Keefe’s electrifying history, Empire of Pain, won the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize, but he discusses the challenges he faced in publishing it. The celebrated staff writer at The New Yorker also introduces Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks, a new collection of essays for our times.

Chaired by Chitra Ramaswamy.

2021

All the best stories are true

To view the full programme and purchase tickets, visit www.edbookfest.co.uk

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Merging memoir with nature writing, Amanda Thomson has created a work that is stirring and stylish. But Claire L Heuchan suggests we needed to learn more about its author

eautiful without ever being pretentious, Amanda Thomson’s Bel ong ing pays loving homage to Scottish nature and history, while also marking their role in shaping the author. Meticulously curated and thoughtfully researched, the book creates vivid impressions of this country. In future, Thomson may well be remembered alongside N an Shepherd for her loving catalogue of the Highlands and L owlands. Indeed, Shepherd was a clear source of inspiration, her idea of the ‘unpath’ sparking some of Bel ong ing ’s most stirring reflections.

Thomson doesn’t simply reference the well-known or obvious choices: she highlights the work of botanist Mary McCallum Webster and weaves in references to Scotland’s former Makar Jackie Kay, as well as writers from further afield such as Claudia ankine and Adrian iper, lack women writers whose work e plores themes of race and place. Bel ong ing is highly original, blending nature writing with memoir to create a uniquely hybrid work. It is written with confidence and a maturity that allows Thomson to calculate precisely the distance she holds readers from her interior life. hile reflecting on being asked where she is from orig inal l y (the implication being that lackness and cottishness are mutually e clusive , Thomson considers the evolution of her own answer: ‘ epending on my geographical location at the time of the asking, my first answer could be cotland or lasgow or Kilsyth. If pushed, and in the mood, I might say something more. ut as a rule, as I’ve got older and more sure of myself and my boundaries, I don’t.’

The parameters of Bel ong ing are very much defined by those boundaries. And this is a courageous choice, resisting the market trend of tell-all relatability. It also demands an immense amount of skill from a writer, and in this respect, Bel ong ing is reminiscent of N eg rol and , ulit er ri e winner argo efferson’s book about her life among orth America’s lack middle-class community.

That Thomson holds the reader at arm’s length is both a strength and a weakness.

While Thomson’s choice to maintain her boundaries is admirable, there is no denying that additional detail about her life told through the lens of personal e perience would make Bel ong ing an even more rewarding read. The book is being marketed as ‘personal memoir’ but this label doesn’t accurately reflect its contents.

There’s more information about the migratory patterns of birds and the shape of Thomson’s local walks as recorded by than any meaningful account of her travels to South Africa and N orth America. This is frustrating because when she allows herself to be glimpsed, Thomson is a truly fascinating woman.

Her perspectives on nature, history, family and the true meaning of belonging all point to an e traordinary person. There is something undeniably powerful about her invitation, in a time when people are increasingly obsessed with how we present ourselves online, to look up at the world around us, and to invest conscious thought in the people and places that give life meaning as well as conte t. As nature writing, Bel ong ing is glorious. ut as memoir it is lacking in emotional resonance.

Belonging is published by Canongate on Thursday 4 August; Amanda Thomson appears at Edinburgh International Book Festival on Tuesday 16 August.

ALBUMS

INTERPOL

The Other Side Of Make-Believe (Matador)

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If The Strokes were the stars of early 2000s New York City’s indie-rock revival then Interpol were the gutter. A crepuscular recess of nihilistic sex and drugs that was, for a brief but very thrilling moment, channelled into deliciously deviant postpunk songs awash with seedy subway rides, catatonic sextoy lovers and public perversion.

But heaps of touring and ill behaviour took their toll, and Interpol’s lustre seemed to leave them around the same time as bassist Carlos Dengler did in 2010. By which point, as documented in Lizzy Goodman’s entertaining if ultimately dispiriting oral history Meet Me In The Bathroom: Rebirth And Rock And Roll In New York City 2001–2011, commercially savvier next-wavers like The Killers and Kings Of Leon had stolen a march on them (and everyone, The Strokes included).

On their epochal debut album, 2002’s Turn On The Bright Lights, and to a similar if already lesser extent its 2004 followup Antics, Interpol made irresistible music about life in the dark shadows of Manhattan. These days they make music in its shadow.

New records have continued to flow every four years, but it’s been a steady grind of diminishing returns. There is precious little on Interpol’s seventh album The Other Side Of MakeBelieve (which, oddly enough, was part-written in Edinburgh after singer Paul Banks got stranded there during the first lockdown) that sonically distinguishes this set of songs.

Not Daniel Kessler’s cautiously clipped guitar lines, nor Paul Banks’ moody tenor or Sam Fogarino’s heavy shuffling drums. All of it sounds like more of the same, but with none of the icy-sure hooks and evocative sinister-romantic lyrics which mark Interpol’s best work. Diehard fans will clutch at some of the marginally less stodgy and lumpen songs such as ‘Toni’ and ‘Greenwich’ for succour. To anyone else’s ears, this is an utter drag of a listen. (Malcolm Jack) n Released on Friday 15 July.

TV

BLACK BIRD

(Apple TV+)

After taking the lead in Eddie The Eagle, then as Elton John in Rocketman, Welsh actor Taron Egerton slides a buff six-pack into the prison uniform of Jimmy Keene, a real-life convicted drug dealer who helped the FBI get close to a serial killer. Based on Keene’s memoir, In With The Devil, his story is the inspiration for a taut sixpart TV series by Dennis Lehane.

Looking like a dapper Ricky from EastEnders, Egerton convinces as a grinning wiseguy then earnest buddy or scared son as he knowingly navigates complex networks of gangs and guards. Keene has been put in a neighbouring cell to the softly spoken civil-war LARPing fan Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), who is suspected of multiple brutal murders and sexual mutilations. Criminal psychology and male codes of behaviour make for a compelling and creepy watch, as Keene earns Hall’s trust through a blend of sincere confessions and coached pandering, with behind-the-scenes intel coming from the feds.

The late Ray Liotta delivers his last role as a retired sixtysomething cop (Keene’s dad). Seeing this famous macho man in brilliantly weakened warrior mode, frustrated to lose strength after having a stroke, adds an extra bittersweet layer. Mogwai provide a subtly great but dread-filled synth soundtrack too. (Claire Sawers) n Starts on Friday 8 July.

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Scotland’s music capital is the perfect destination for clubbers, gig lovers, festival goers and music enthusiasts

soak up some sensational sounds on a minibreak to glasgow A UNESCO City of Music since 2008, Glasgow is well-known as the home of some of the UK’s buzziest live music venues, including the Barrowland Ballroom, OVO Hydro and King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, but what makes it perfect for a music-themed break is the sheer wealth of options. In a city that’s dancing to the beat of hundreds of different drums, there’s always something going on. So if you’re a muso looking to get away, here are our top tips…

Want to learn more about the city’s musical past and present? Well, Glasgow Music City Tours offer guided walking tours of Glasgow’s legendary music scene. Or why not hop on an open-top bus and check out City Sightseeing’s Music Tour narrated by Eddi Reader? Glasgow is also home to the world’s oldest surviving music hall, the Britannia Panopticon, which is available to have a snoop around.

At the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, A Big Adventure retrospective of Paisley-born artist, playwright and theatre designer John Patrick Byrne celebrates his prolific career and delves deeply into his passion for music (until Sunday 18 September). Music lovers who can’t resist a record shop will want to try record cafes Some Great Reward and Strip Joint. While Riverside Museum is celebrating the city’s rich history with vinyl in the exhibition ‘Spinning Around – Glasgow’s Remarkable Record Shops’.

Festival season is upon us and the city’s Merchant City Festival will be delivering a long weekend of entertainment right at the end of July. Also taking place that weekend is the Junction 1 Summer Festival which boasts Soul II Soul, Groove Armada and Kelis amongst its line-up. And August sees the return of the Glasgow International Piping Festival (Saturday 6 – Sunday 14 August) known as Piping Live!, as well as the World Pipe Band 1 THE LIST March 2022

Championships 2022 (Friday 12 & Saturday 13 August), for the bagpipe-lovers amongst you.

Live music bars like shabby chic retreat The Butterfly And The Pig, jazz-loving piano joint Blue Dog, or trad specialists The Ben Nevis Bar should satisfy music enthusiasts and discerning drinkers alike. And if you fancy an authentic slice of Scottish tradition then Sloans Famous Friday Ceilidh promises a night to remember at a local institution. Hosted in its Grand Ballroom, it comes complete with an in-house ceilidh band, caller and Highland dancers.

The esteemed Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland has a busy summer schedule of events planned, including a production of beloved musical Grease (Friday 8 – Sunday 10 July). At the other end of the spectrum, you can revel in our return to nightclubbing by heading to the famed Sub Club, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, while its Sunday-night residents Optimo have been staying up late with us for 25 years.

And if you need somewhere to rest your head then hotel Radisson RED Glasgow offers both contemporary comforts and live music from their resident DJs at their spectacular rooftop bar.

For loads more ideas visit: peoplemakeglasgow.com

Credit: Gaëlle Beri

Credit: Emma Thompson © John Byrne.

All rights reserved. DACS 2022

PODCASTS

WE HEARD WONDERS

(Buzzsprout)

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The balance between intricate knowledge and self-indulgence is difficult to strike in the world of music criticism, but it’s one that We Heard Wonders deftly manages. This weekly podcast is hosted by Iain McKinstry and Andrew Hall, two rock and pop enthusiasts with a firm grasp on the musical landscape and a complete lack of pretension.

After a standard ‘casual banter’ segment, the show’s format revolves around five songs selected by the duo to be discussed in fine detail. They curate an eclectic playlist, from sex-positive R&B to gloomy Scottish folk, grimy guitar rock to Latin dance music. If it sounds good, then any genre is welcome. The lads then air their opinions and contextualise the songs within the broader culture, a conversation strengthened by McKinstry and Hall’s easy rapport.

Closing each episode is a portion called Vinyl Word, which celebrates a record from Hall’s personal collection. Like the best DIY efforts, We Heard Wonders makes you feel as though you’re among friends. It isn’t slick, and there are inevitable longueurs in the conversation, but it is a warm, well-structured and welcoming discussion show for anoraks and casual listeners alike. (Kevin Fullerton) n New episodes available every Wednesday.

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THE QUARRY

(PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series XS)

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REVIEWS

In 2015, Supermassive Games hit gold with Until Dawn, an innovative interactive horror about a group of youngsters trying to survive the night on a snowy mountainside. Since then, they’ve cornered the market in this niche genre, and The Quarry is another full-length adventure filled with drama, action and unnerving horror.

A collection of teenagers, having just finished their stint as counsellors at a summer camp called Hackett’s Quarry (the game’s polysemous title is a nice touch), find themselves at the mercy of an unknown terror. While the threat is teased in a pacy prologue, the early game is spent setting the scene and getting to know these characters. Much of this is set to winsome indiefolk music, heavily influenced by the melancholy Life Is Strange series. While this sometimes stretches patience (it turns into a teen relationship drama for a very long time), it’s crucial for players to invest in these people as each of them is playable at some point, and their fates will ultimately rest in our hands.

On top of a stellar horror cast which includes David Arquette, Lance Henriksen, Lin Shaye and Ted Raimi (outstanding as a creepy police officer), the main characters are well written and convincingly performed. If the majority of protagonists in horror films are disposable idiots, that’s certainly not the case here. Controlling nine different characters can be problematic, though; it’s discombobulating to suddenly switch to a new charge, and frustrating to be forced into a binary choice when neither option corresponds to how you’d personally react.

Each chapter is introduced by a mysterious fortune-teller played by Grace Zabriskie (Twin Peaks’ Sarah Palmer) and she is absolutely mesmerising: a deeply unsettling, tic-filled clairvoyant with mysterious intentions. The Quarry is a superb piece of interactive horror, featuring great performances and animation so impressive that you can easily forget it’s not a real film. (Murray Robertson) n Out now.

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BLOCCO 181

Sky Atlantic

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CON&KWAKE

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Milan, Italy. ‘Beautiful in the fog like a woman in a veil’ according to the divine Milano singer and actress Ornella Vanoni. Mists of rage are rising in the schemes and ‘periferia’ of the city. Italian gangs are going head-tohead with incoming Latin American ones. Frustrated and disillusioned, fearless Bea (Laura Osma), scion of the dangerous Misa gang, looks for escape and entertainment downtown, and like a polyamorous Juliet/Maria, finds herself in a steamy ménage à trois with a couple of mafia associates. Rich kid Ludo (Alessandro Piavani) likes to slum it by making drug deliveries on his moped while his best friend, gangbanger Mahdi (Andrea Dodero), is loyal and honest but also drawn to the forbidden fantasies that Bea represents.

Sky’s first fully in-house Italian drama is cobbled together by the second assistant directors and writers of Italian crime epic Gomorrah and feels like a thin attempt to plug the gap Roberto Saviano’s remarkable show left in its wake.

A sluggish, overly talky pilot episode does settle into an interesting dissection of multicultural Milan and the mix of crime syndicates ensuring the rich and privileged are kept in cocaine.

Things are also improved immeasurably by the presence of Italian rapper Salmo whose turn as an emotionally muted distribution kingpin centres the more fantastical twists and turns. He’s also responsible for the rap and reggaeton soundtrack that moves this blocco up a floor. (Paul Dale) n All episodes available on NOW TV.

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Eyes In The Tower (Native Rebel Recordings) Hip hop and jazz merge seamlessly on Eyes In The Tower, the debut album from CoN&KwAkE, the duo of Con (aka Confucius MC) and producer/drummer Kwake Bass. Musical director for Tirzah, Sampha and Kae Tempest, and drummer of choice for the late, great MF DOOM, Kwake brings a distinctive mix of hard-hitting rhythms, classy instrumentation and dubwise electronics.

Finding that sweet spot between structured hip-hop production and jazz improvisation is one of the album’s most impressive achievements, and Native Rebel label boss Shabaka Hutchings plays a major role, with his musical sketches threaded into the beats and live saxophone opening up the tracks.

A key figure in UK hip hop since the early noughties, Con brings a clarity of tone and measured intensity to the music, as he explores themes of surveillance and city life. Set to swirling electronics, staggered snare rolls and a spindly kora loop, the title track has Con ruminating on how social media encourages people to participate in the surveillance of their own lives. The music deftly captures that creeping paranoia, as the piano degenerates into discordant clusters. ‘15 Minutes’ continues the theme of control, with Con skewering the ways in which mainstream entertainment promises fame, but only within set roles.

The drums sit back on ‘CNS (City Never Stops)’, giving Con space to reflect on the pressures of modern life over gorgeous harp and saxophone. Recalling Space Afrika, ‘Mental Note’ is built around a lo-fi voice memo, with abstract saxophone, piano and percussion gradually emerging from the bustle of street life and traffic. Despite its name, ‘Greedy Drum’ is as much a showcase for the piano as it is Kwake’s driving cowbell groove. Switching between rhythmic vamps, sweeping runs and impressionistic flourishes, the piano responds to Con’s phrasing without overwhelming it. (Stewart Smith) n Released on Friday 29 July.

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The Cliff House (Little, Brown) In The Cliff House, award-winning crime writer Chris Brookmyre invites the reader along to a hen party soused in secrets and set to implode. The joy is in working out how. Seven women head off to a lavish weekend on a remote island with each of them bringing their own dark little secret along. But whose past transgression is the one that’s putting them all in danger?

There’s the hen, who is already doubting her husband-to-be; the famous singer who ditched another member of this party on her rise to the top; the morally compromised property developer who rented them this luxury pad in the first place. And that’s just the half of it. This is far from Brookmyre’s first rodeo, although the style is a departure from his crime novels you might be familiar with. You know you’re in experienced hands from the off, though, which is always a bonus when dealing with so many intertwining characters and storylines, and a decent amount of dialogue helps the story clip along at a pace while also helping to develop those various voices.

Brookmyre clearly enjoys exploring the relationships between characters and the ways in which they are betrayed, undermined or reaffirmed. For readers, much of the fun is unpicking each trespass and deciding where it ranks in relation to the rest. While there is an overarching threat, individual revelations provide most of the dramatic tension. Brookmyre includes enough disclosures and reassessments to make this work. As with many thrillers, The Cliff House is most entertaining when the reader is able to suspend disbelief and allow the characters to make leaps where needed. A great read for the holidays, unless you’re heading to a remote hen-do. (Lynsey May) n Published on Thursday 28 July.

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Ros

Enjoy 150 events with favourite authors in this year’s Baillie Gifford Children’s Programme, from storytelling sessions to interactive workshops, arts and crafts to walking tours and sing-alongs, and lots of free activities too.

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PEARL DIVER

Look For The Light (Pearl Diver)

REVIEWS

Led by singer and guitarist Matt Sage, Pearl Diver pick up from previous outfit Art Theefe and employ a similar melding of folk, rock and diluted psychedelia across this self-released EP’s four tracks. Sage’s background in founding the longstanding Oxford venue The Catweazle Club positions him as a sort-of unknown elder statesman for British folk-rock, and this informs the slightly regressive sounds on this collection.

Thematically, Look For The Light positions itself as ‘sunshine after the rain’, embracing a wave of positivity in a post-pandemic world. Opening with the EP’s calming, eponymous lead single, it floats by on a dreamy wave that stays just the right side of sleepy, thanks to some knotty effects-laden guitars. These pop up again on the similarly lethargic ‘Give It All Away’. The EP does get into more interesting territory with tracks ‘Heaven Help Me’ (which has a nice psych-tinged propulsion to it) and the more groove-oriented ‘You Can Bring Your Darkness’.

As a statement of intent, Look For The Light is a decent introduction to Pearl Diver. With a clear fondness for classic British blues and rock allied to an ease for delivering hooky melodies, this Oxford trio have executed a genuinely pleasant EP that points to a solid full album somewhere in the distance. (Sean Greenhorn) n Released on Friday 15 July.

25 June – 1 October 2022

Céline Condorelli After Work Free Exhibition Tue-Sat, 10am–5pm (daily in Aug) www.trg.ed.ac.uk

90 THE LIST July–August 2022

STAYING IN Bad Sisters (and bottom from left), Queer As Folk, Berries

OTHER THINGS WORTH STAYING IN FOR The summer is finally upon us but there’s a lot of great entertainment going on that might well keep many of you indoors ALBUMS

BOOKS

PODCASTS

NICK DRNASO

ANTISOCIAL

Last Night In The Bittersweet is the Paisley lad’s fourth album and aims to cement his status as one of the country’s biggest success stories in recent times. The sold-out signs for his upcoming tour are certainly indicative of that glory-laden tale. n Atlantic Records, Friday 1 July.

The author of the first graphic novel ever to be nominated for a Booker Prize (2018’s Sabrina) returns with Acting Class, which revolves around ten strangers who meet up at a free, yep you guessed it, acting class. n Granta, Thursday 18 August.

Social media is a polarising beast, right enough, and this ’cast hosted by Adam Fleming rips into the nonsense of pile-ons, propaganda and pettiness which infiltrates platforms that were meant to be fun, lively and chummy. n BBC Sounds, available now.

BERRIES

ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE

QUEER AS FOLK

This London punk trio deliver a blistering debut with How We Function, tackling difficult themes along the way under a torrent of fuzzy guitars and gritty melodies. n Xtra Mile Recordings, Friday 8 July.

A high-school student tries to hold it together as they go in pursuit of a relationship with a trans teen in this coming-of-age romcom hosted by Amazon and directed by Billy Porter. n Prime Video, Friday 22 July.

This is not the first attempt to Americanise the very Manchester story by Russell T Davies set in the 1990s but it certainly features a more diverse cast and collection of scenarios. Based in New Orleans, the drama begins in the aftermath of a shooting at a gay nightclub. n Starz, Friday 1 July.

FILM

TV

BAD SISTERS Sharon Horgan is back with a darkly comedic series about five siblings coping with death in their family. Also starring in this are Anne-Marie Duff, Eve Hewson, Sarah Greene and Claes Bang. n Apple TV+, Friday 19 August.

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HIGHLIGHTS

PAULO NUTINI

WITH STEWART LEE

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Comedy provocateur Stewart Lee is preparing not one but two Fringe shows this August.

He takes time out from all that to consider our intense Q&A which leaves him pondering about his days as an Army Cadet and wondering about otters, parrots and Snoop Dogg

Who would you like to see playing you in the movie about your life? Who do you think the casting people would choose?

I would like to be played by a cute puppet operated by Nina Conti when I was a child;

by Sydney Chandler ( Chrissie Hynde from P istol ) when I am in my 20s; Tanita Tikaram in my 30s ; and then Hattie Jacque s when I am old, but she is dead. I expect the casting people would want Romesh Ranganathan, as he seems to be the main person in most things these days.

What’s the punchline to your favourite joke? Y ou can keep your fucking plough!

If you were to return in a future life as an animal, what would it be? An otter, no q uestion about it ( preferably European not Asian Short Claw) . I would live at

92 THE LIST July–August 2022

Glenelg on the west coast, where R ing O f Brig h t W ater is set, and from where my Scottish ancestors left for India in the 1 8 00s.

I love otters and go into a trance of joy when watching them. I love the way they make all the things they have to do look such fun, and how they play with little stones and swoop through the water. I like to see a big pile of them asleep on each other. They are brilliant.

I wrote all the C om ed y V eh ic l e series in the café at London Z oo and I would look at the otters every day. Pricks used to feed them crisps and I would tell them off. I wish I could see otters in the wild. I used to love visiting all the Otter Trust sites, especially in Bungay, but they have mainly closed now as otter numbers in our rivers have recovered, thankfully. It remains to see how Brexit deregulations on pollution will affect this. I expect they will be OK in Scotland.

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If you were playing in an escape room, name two other people (well-known or otherwise) you’d recruit to help you get out? Susie Boniface (Fleet Street Fox campaigner and journalist) and Alan Moore the writer. Between them I think they would have pretty much everything covered. She would notice forensic detail and he would mystically intuit the bigger picture, but he wouldn’t like being shut in.

When was the last time you were mistaken for someone else and what were the circumstances? I was mistaken for D ave Callahan, of 8 0s post-punk survivors The Wolfhounds, by an ornithologist in May. We spoke at cross purposes for some time about the nesting habits of green parrots, which I knew a lot about because I’d just read a book about how they colonised the south east of England. The bloke was really confused when I wasn’t D ave Callahan.

I am fatter than him now though.

What’s the best cover version ever? Hillbilly band The Gourds brilliantly revivifying Snoop D ogg’s ‘Gin And Juice’; a genius exercise which sadly spawned a slew of point-missing low-brow comedy imitators.

Whose speaking voice soothes your ears?

John Peel: the sound of going to sleep in the 8 0s, brainwashed by post-punk, excited about all the wonderful things in the world that I would one day be able to see. Or be.

Tell us something you wish you had discovered sooner in life? Croissants are not a low-calorie health food. Too late now.

If you were a ghost, who would you haunt? I would take the form of all the covid dead and haunt Boris Johnson, but only he would be able to see us, like in M ac be th , and I would make him look mad in public until he cried and wet his pants.

If you could relive any day of your life, which one would it be? The day when I was about 14, in Army Cadets, and I did a speedroute march with just one mirthless commando bloke about a doz en miles over the Black Mountains and then camped alone eating my army rations that I cooked on a little stove, at the foot of the Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall in mid Wales. That was a hinge in my life, the happiest I ever was. It burns my memory. It’s been all

What’s your earliest recollection of winning something? I won a junior general knowledge competition at Butlin’s Minehead in 1975. The priz e was a game of Connect 4. Y ears later I won C el ebr ity M asterm ind . The child is father to the man.

If you were to start a tribute act to a band or singer, what would it be called? I have been lucky enough to sing the Mark E Smith part twice with all-female Fall tribute band The Fallen Women, which is a brilliant name for a brilliant idea. But I think my thing would be to hook up with a female vocalist and some griz z led rock-types and do L ee Haz lewood and N ancy Sinatra songs in the style of 80s Americana bands like Thin White Rope, The D ream Syndicate and Rain Parade. I would call it L ee Paisleywood & N ancy Thinatra.

What tune do you find it impossible not to get up and dance to? The music from Ed Gamble’s Caz oo advert. When it comes on, I sing ‘Caz oo Caz oo Caz oo! Ed Gamble is here for you! ’ and I dance round in a circle doing an impression of what Ed Gamble is like in the advert.

Which famous person would be your ideal holiday companion? Professor Alice Roberts, on a dig in Orkney, with a trowel and not N eil Twat Oliver. I would discover something significant by chance (some kind of fertility goddess figurine and oberts would compliment me on it while a load of young archaeology volunteers would clap. We would then all go to the pub and have Highland Park.

‘Beginner’s luck! ’ I would say, modestly, as everyone looked at me in admiration. That would do me, really.

As an adult, what has a child said to you that made a powerful impact? After a talk I did to schoolkids, a five-year-old said, ‘do you think the N ative American clown who kept throwing your notebook into the dust was actually the local activist you met on the reservation the next day?’ It changed the way I thought about comedy, and my life, for ever.

She saw something I had totally missed.

Tell us one thing about yourself that would surprise people? As a teenager I had a poem published in a book of poetry by precocious kids that also included one by the Scottish Tory Michael Gove.

When did you last cry? Weirdly, in the closing five minutes of P istol , when the Sex Pistols do the strikers’ kids’ Christmas party, which redeemed and transformed an otherwise erratic exercise. Those poor Sex Pistols boys. They were so young and no one was looking after them. But little kids got it! What a waste.

What’s a skill you’d love to learn but never got round to? Free jaz z saxophone and archaeology.

If you were selected as the next 007, where would you pick as your first luxury destination for espionage? Orkney. And I would have Highland Park instead of Martini, neither shaken nor stirred. But who would I be spying on? Seals? The Papay Ranger? I would put on tiny yellow Speedos and walk into the freez ing sea like D aniel Craig but it would make people sad.

Basic Lee, The Stand, Edinburgh, Wednesday 3–Sunday 28 August; Snowflake, New Town Theatre, Edinburgh, Wednesday 3–Sunday 28 August.

NEXT TIME This is the last ‘regular’ issue of the mag for a while as thoughts now turn to Edinburgh Festival matters.

We have our Edinburgh Festival Guide (out 11th July) followed by three weekly issues from 1st August. Across those publications, we’ll be talking to some big names heading to the capital and uncovering a new generation of stars. It wasn’t so long ago that people were predicting the very end of culture: the next couple of months will lay that theory to rest. n Next monthly copy of The List will be out on Thursday 1 September.

July–August 2022 THE LIST 93

BACK

Describe your perfect Saturday evening?

V ery hot curry, very sharp, crisp white wine, remastered 6 0s/ 7 0s Italian western on Blu-ray watched either alone or with someone who likes it.

downhill since then. Although I did have a nice lamb phaal in an Indian restaurant in the Forest Of D ean last year with the kids that gave me thrillingly burning urine for about a week after.

I felt so alive.

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HOT SHOTS Yes folks, that’s Daniel Kaluuya on a horse. Not in shot is Jordan Peele who’s directing him again in Nope after their hugely successful collaboration on Get Out. This one is another horror affair with Kaluuya playing a resident in an isolated town who witnesses a terrifying and abnormal event. Getting to the truth becomes the truly scary part.

Arriving on the blockbuster back of Van Gogh Alive is Dovecot’s Magister Raffaello, an interactive exhibition and contemporary tapestry which helps mark the 502nd anniversary of Italian Renaissance artist Raphael’s death. As part of the Edinburgh Art Festival, this is another example of a different way to exhibit the grand masters.

There’s a whole lot of festivalling going on right now, and down Stirlingshire way is a true gem of the music calendar. Doune The Rabbit Hole features a host of top names including Teenage Fanclub (pictured), John Cale, Peggy Seeger, Boney M, Buzzcocks, Bis, Sleaford Mods, The Rezillos and, yep, many, many more.

94 THE LIST July–August 2022

Wednesday 5 October

Fantastic Five of 14 Saturday 22 October

Saturday 2 July

Friday 12 August

Bongo’s Bingo

The Wombats

Saturday 9 July

Saturday 20 August

Bongo’s Bingo

The Gaslight Anthem

Saturday 16 July

Thursday 1 September

Bongo’s Bingo

Embrace

Tuesday 26 July

Friday 9 September

Shaggy

Jo Whiley’s 90s Anthems

Thursday 28 July

Stiff Little Fingers Wednesday 3 August

Pixies Saturday 6 August

The Dualers Monday 8 August

The Libertines

Saturday 17 September

Giants of Soul Tuesday 27 September

Ian Brown Tuesday 4 October

Bret McKenzie ‘Songs Without Jokes’ Tour

The Enemy + Little Man Tate Monday 31 October

Paolo Nutini Saturday 5 November Sunday 6 November

Big Big Wedding Fair & Fashion Show Monday 28 November

Fontaines D.C. Saturday 25 February

Paul Smith – Joker O2 Academy Edinburgh 11 New Market Road Edinburgh EH14 1RJ o2academyedinburgh.co.uk

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96 THE LIST July–August 2022