The Skinny iSSue 38 :: november 2008 :: Free

The Skinny .co.uk

ISSUE 38 :: November 2008 :: FREE

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Music | Film | clubs | theatre | games | books | events | art | fashion | listings

www.theskinny.co.uk

CPL Skinny Ad October PRINT.pdf

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SATURDAY 29TH NOVEMBER - EDINBURGH CORN EXCHANGE SUNDAY 30TH NOVEMBER - GLASGOW BARROWLAND MONDAY 1ST DECEMBER - GLASGOW BARROWLAND THE WEDDING PRESENT New Album ‘Dear Science’ out Now

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12TH DECEMBER - EDINBURGH LIQUID ROOM 13TH DECEMBER - ABERDEEN MOSHULU 14TH DECEMBER - GLASGOW QMU in association with DFconcerts

The Arches

Saturday 8th November

GLASGOW OLD FRUIT MARKET 26TH NOVEMBER

14TH DECEMBER GLASGOW ORAN MOR

CARDINALS

Featuring:

Ryan Adams

Curated by Rob daBank,BBCRadio 1

Live:

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip Kissy Sell Out (full band) Chester French DJs:

Rob da Bank Tom Middleton: 1988-1993 Classics Set Sombrero Sound System

Neal Casal Chris Feinstein Jon Graboff Brad Pemberton

14th November Edinburgh Picture House

Renfield Lane, Glasgow

16TH DECEMBER Don Caballero+ Ballad of Mable Wong 12th GLASGOW ORAN MOR These Arms Are Snakes /

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Nov Russian Circles 17th Nov Paul Gilbert 20th Nov To Rococo Rot + Laki mera - 6th Nov WHITE DENIM 24th Nov High Places - 17th Oct THE STILLS 27th Nov 185 GREAT WESTERN ROAD - 2 MINS WALK FROM ST GEORGES X TUBE Future of the Left - 25th Nov A Place To Bury Strangers - 30th Nov THE BLACK ANGELS WWW.CAPTAINSREST.CO.UK 16th Dec tickets and information available from: www.pclpresents.com, 0844 847 2487, tickets scotland, ripping and venue box offices

Welcome Opal Lounge, Edinburgh’s leading night club, appeals to a more discerning audience - those who appreciate that little bit extra. Open 7 nights a week, Opal Lounge creates the perfect atmosphere for anyone looking to party in style.

A selection of highly respected resident DJs lay down a sumptuous blend of classic tracks, current favourites and some party starters, while the lavish surroundings and exclusive drinks offers place Opal Lounge firmly at the cutting edge of the city’s late night scene.

Opal Lounge, 51a George Street, Edinburgh T 0131 226 2275, F 0131 226 3275 info@opallounge.co.uk ̸ www.opallounge.co.uk

Editorial The Changing Face of Punk One of the best music writers around is Garry Mulholland, and one of his excellent books is This Is Uncool - subtitled ‘The 500 Best Singles Since Punk and Disco’. His clear message is that much of the best pop music for the past 30 years (the book is a few years old, but the argument stands) has been strongly influenced by ‘punk’ (as well as ‘disco’, though that’s for another issue), and he makes a very convincing case.

Mulholland’s distinct qualities are his clarity of vision and the flexible yet well-structured worldview he operates with. Though most of This Is Uncool is made up of short passages on individual songs, the way he allows his reader to link concepts – like, say, punk – through the various references he makes, is educational in its own right.

This is especially true for the more surprising punk moments, like Born Slippy (a near-perfect blending of punk and disco influences), Windowlicker (in which the countercultural impulse is relocated in computers and art design, not guitars and shouting), or even Smith and Mighty’s pretrip hop Anyone... (which Mulholland digs in part for its punk-style ‘leap into the unknown’ approach to production). He gets you to reevaluate without hammering you with his point; it’s as though a punk agenda has been met with the subtlety of the best disco records.

This issue, though, we use a series of interviews to try to understand how punk – both as a cultural force and a semi-definable genre of music – has evolved: both by looking at where it came from and how it manifests itself now. We speak to a range of key figures, including Sex Pistols manager and general trouble-maker Malcolm McLaren, Buzzcocks and Magazine key-player Howard Devoto (both on page 34), as well as stalwarts the Melvins (page 30), and newcomers like the thoroughly challenging Fucked Up (page 31).

One thing that emerges very clearly, apart from the considerable difference between perspectives on what punk is or might be, is that there is a broad range of creative activity that could be classed as ‘punk’, and that it’s very unlikely

The Skinny Let us know what you think: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk

P: The Skinny, The Drill Hall, 30-38 Dalmeny St, Edinburgh, EH6 8RG Issue 38, November 2008 © Radge Media Ltd. The Skinny offers a wide range of advertising packages and affordable ways to promote your business. Get in touch to find out more: E: sales@theskinny.co.uk

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4 THE SKINNY

November 08

23/10/08 08:20:18

T: 0131 467 4630 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the explicit permission of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within this publication do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the printer or the publisher.

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anyone’s going to like all of it. Personally, for example, I’m inclined towards the kind of creative/ disruptive behaviour favoured by McLaren, – it’s just that his own approach, and somewhat smug way of reflecting on it, leaves me a bit cold (I think it’s safe to say the Sex Pistols achieved more than being his mere puppets; and you only have to listen to Public Image Ltd to know John Lydon had his own clear ideas on what he was doing).

And while I always get a bit put off when artists get too hung up on the ‘authenticity’ of their approach versus that of others, as many punks are wont to do, there’s no escaping the fact that punk has generated a lot of the best pop music going – and a stripped-back yet conceptually adventurous approach is often key to their success.

To further this discussion, we’re running a ‘Best Punk Tracks Ever – the hows and whys’ forum on theskinny.co.uk, so if you’d like to voice your opinion log on and get involved.

There are more punk connections throughout the magazine too, which came about largely as a result of accident. We interview Adrian Edmonson (page 27), for example, who famously played cartoon punk Vyvyan in The Young Ones, and also Glasgow techno stalwarts Slam, who casually (yet entirely appropriately) refer to their adoption of the punk DIY ethic when interviewed about the ten years they have been running mega-night Pressure (page 49).

As you choose your cultural activities for this month, spare a second to consider how punk has already seeped into your tastes (‘cause it almost certainly has). And if you can’t see any appeal in what punk has to offer at all, well, I can only assume you haven’t been reading (this, or in general). Punk has enriched our lives: so feel lucky.

It’s a Wrap This issue we’re running an advertising wrap (technical term for the four extra pages as front and back cover) around the issue, a first for us here at The Skinny. It’s certainly something we thought hard about – we’ve always placed a very high value on our content and the idea of giving away our cover was a challenging one. But really, when you’re busting a gut on a low salary, supported by an extended team of volunteers, it’s a no brainer really. The Skinny is coming along nicely, but you have to take the big opportunities.

Publisher Sophie Kyle editor Rupert Thomson Creative Director MATT MACLEOD ENterprise Manager Lara Moloney Production editor David Lemm sales Executive Becca Pottinger Aberdeen Editor Jaco Justice online & Music editor Dave Kerr CLUBS EDITOR CHRIS DUNCAN Heads up Editor Erin McEIlhinney Deviance EDITOR Nine Fashion Editor Lindsay West theatre EDITOR Gareth K. Vile FILM EDITOR GAIL TOLLEY DVD EDITOR Michael Gillespie comedy editor Lizzie Cass-Maran Books EDITOR Keir hind games EDITOR Josh Wilson ART editor Rosamund West FOOD & Drink editor Ruth Marsh Live music Listings Jason Morton Club Listings andrew cooke Subeditors Rosamund West

Paul Greenwood

ally brown

PAUL MITCHELL

euan ferguson Showcase curator Rosamund West Listings Editor becca Pottinger

Contents

Contents

6 8 12 14 16 18 22 23 24 27 28 30 42 50 54 65

Issue 38 :: November 2008

Showcase

thirty years of rough trade records

Daniel P Irwin on Daniel P Irwin

Heads Up

Edinburgh The Picture House

Dance like there’s no tomorrow

Friday 28th November

www.myspace.com/jarvspace / www.roughtraderecords.com

Fashion Fashion tips for boys.

Food & drink

Great food from a maverick Fife farm

Daniel P Irwin:: P6

Deviance

GLASGOW ARCHES

TUESDAY 25TH NOVEMBER DEBUT ALBUM ‘YOUTH NOVELS’ OUT NOW. SINGLE ‘LITTLE BIT’ OUT NOW WWW.LYKKELI.COM

Stating the bleedin’ obvious...

EDINBURGH CABARET VOLTAIRE FRI 28TH NOVEMBER GLASGOW ORAN MOR SAT 29TH NOVEMBER

Róisin Murphy

Film

A documentary on post-war Liverpool, plus the standard smorgasboard of reviews.

Games

GLASGOW ABC

Gaming on the iPhone - are touchsensitive games the future?

Thursday 27th November

Books

Allergic to poetry?

Fantastic Fashion: P12

New single "You Know Me Better" out now. www.roisinmurphy.com www.myspace.com/roisinmurphy

Theatre

The Traverse’s new writing program, and previews of our favourite upcoming shows.

comedy

Laugh it up.

Art

death cab for cutie:: P39

The Ingleby Gallery and New Work Scotland

EDINBURGH CORN EXCHANGE

Music

Wednesday 5th November

The changing face of punk, plus Death Cab, Fucked Up, Melvins, Dälek and Desalvo

New Album ‘Seventh Tree’ out now. www.goldfrapp.com

Records

Top albums and singles of the month.

Clubs

Mutate Records and Classic Grand.

Listings

Who, what, where, when.

Sort your life out!

Competitions

TICKETS: 24HRS: 08444 999 990 & www.gigsinscotland.com

Tell us what you think and win stuff!

www.theskinny.co.uk

dälek:: P40

IN PERSON: GLASGOW Tickets Scotland, EDINBURGH Ripping, DUNDEE Grouchos and all Ticketmaster Outlets. ONLINE: www.ticketmaster.co.uk

November 08

THE SKINNY 5

Contents

DF CONCERTS PRESENTS…DF CONCERTS PRESENTS…DF CONCERTS PRESENTS…

THE SKINNYShowcase

This month's Showcase, painter Daniel P. Irwin, in his own words: "And it beats me. Fevered surfaces. Rolled harsh words. Black fucked fist. Sweet things. Wide-eyed and facing the music. Terror.

Beauty and dear God. Sensuous and intelligent. Hard and soft, simultaneously flat and deep. Unsympathetic, ominous. Spit – soured. Vexed, shit-gripped. Horrible low brutality – punky, culty, unpleasant. Black. Holding your breath. Choked. Brutal harshness and intimate coaxing tenderness. Bastard smile. Pretty blush.

Hungry. Single to my fingers. Sad songs. Wide-eyed and facing the music. Hot, clinging, wet. Love and all manner of filth.”

"My work occupies a space between physicality and desire. It suggests evasive narratives of seduction, emotional fragility and lost love, whilst vearing headlong from the overbearingly aggressive and fearful to intimate, coaxing tenderness. Poetic nihilism, rarefied elegance. Decadent, pornographic, sensuous and clever, the work elicits strong reactions from its audience: revulsion, shock or laughter." www.theboysbadnews.com To submit your work send images and personal statements to showcase@theskinny.co.uk

HEADS UP Put on your red shoes...

Lauren

Laurie

LINKY

Ryan

Shiona

Wullie & Steven

Gutter Talk the mean streets of Glasgow

by Patrick Kondracki

Laurie Pitt, 21 Dancebase [Maria Falconer]

Yo yo yo, listen up. My girl Mi Mi is in the house and she be teaching us some moves, dawg. Ahem. Fortunately, Turn Up & Hip-Hop Beginners – one of the many drop-in classes available at Dance Base in Edinburgh – doesn’t actually require you to be in any way cool in order to attend, which is a bit of a relief for yours truly.

It does require you to put your inhibitions aside and give it some welly though, so it’s a good thing that teacher Mi Mi Mackenzie is adept at dispelling that awkward feeling one has when the realisation dawns that you’re about to get hot and sweaty in front of a bunch of strangers. We skip the chat and get stuck straight in. The best bit is that before you know it, you’re doing a pretty thorough workout…and its fun.

Even the warm-up exercises require a bit of ‘tude, the hour slips by fast, and before you know it, you’re

on the floor with your bum in the air and your left leg knotted round your right ankle. I think. The drop-ins are designed for two reasons: to give you a taste of a particular style, so you can ascertain whether you actually enjoy doing the cramp roll (tap), the grapevine (line dancing) or the cross basic (salsa) before signing up for a full term; or for those who baulk at committing to regular classes, and prefer the freedom of dropping in as and when. There are benefits to both, but if you’re dithering, the drop-ins are well worth a shot.

They’re fairly cheap, on at a variety of times, a good workout, and judging by the looks on the faces of the attendees coming and going, a good laugh too.

Word. [Erin McElhinney] www.dancebase.co.uk

Movember’s here...

The aim is to start the month with a clean shaven face and cultivate your tache for the next thirty days. Clip it, groom it, wax it or curl it – the style is entirely up to you.

McCAIN OR OBAMA? Obama, because a lot of bands that I like, like him.

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU GREW

BY YOURSELF? When I was working at a pub I spilt half a barrel of beer and it turned into a mushroom!

IF THE RECESSION LEADS TO WORLDWIDE MARTIAL LAW, WOULD YOU BUNKER IT OUT, OR TAKE TO THE STREETS? Get out there and take to the streets…

I’m all for anarchy and that…yeah.

FAVOURITE PIECE OF ART SEEN IN THE LAST MONTH? There was an amazing thing I saw at the CCA called Autoconstrucción, by Abraham Cruzvillegas. He wrote lyrics and sent them round to 15 different bands, who wrote songs to go with them.

November 08

Steven: My kickass mutton chops.

IF THE RECESSION LEADS TO A WORLDWIDE MARTIAL LAW, WOULD YOU BUNKER IT OUT, OR TAKE TO THE STREETS? Wullie: Take to the streets and start my own clan.

Steven: I’d go robbin’ and lootin’.

FAVOURITE PIECE OF ART SEEN IN THE LAST MONTH?

Lauren Cunningham, 20 McCAIN OR OBAMA?

Shiona Duffy. 20 McCAIN OR OBAMA? Obama, because he’s a Democrat and Republicans are bad.

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU GREW

BY YOURSELF? Cresshead, when I was quite small.

IF THE RECESSION LEADS TO WORLDWIDE MARTIAL LAW, WOULD YOU BUNKER IT OUT, OR TAKE TO THE STREETS? I would probably bunker it. I work in a garage and I’m supplied up.

FAVOURITE PIECE OF ART SEEN IN THE LAST MONTH? Found Magazine event, where the founders read out some of the notes and then played songs about them. There was also this balloon swallower. I don’t know how he did it, it boggles the mind, but it looked good.

Ryan Cleary, 25 McCAIN OR OBAMA? Obama – cause he’s black. No, I’m joking. Because he’s got proper views and he’s not trying to mock other candidates.

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU GREW

BY YOURSELF?

Mohawk, took six months, and then a hairdresser chopped it. Even though I told her not to! Bitch.

Obama. He’s the lesser of two evils.

IF THE RECESSION LEADS TO WORLDWIDE MARTIAL LAW, WOULD YOU BUNKER IT OUT, OR TAKE TO THE STREETS?

Patience for public transport.

I re-grew my eyebrows. Some guy at a house party shaved them off. A week later I found him: now he’s got no eyebrows and no hair.

IF THE RECESSION LEADS TO WORLDWIDE MARTIAL LAW, WOULD YOU BUNKER IT OUT, OR TAKE TO THE STREETS?

IF THE RECESSION LEADS TO WORLDWIDE MARTIAL LAW, WOULD YOU BUNKER IT OUT, OR TAKE TO THE STREETS?

Streets, it’d be more fun. Go for the shits and giggles.

I’d be out in the streets, on the front line.

You can’t get anywhere without martyrs.

FAVOURITE PIECE OF ART SEEN IN THE LAST MONTH?

FAVOURITE PIECE OF ART SEEN IN THE LAST MONTH?

The Dark Knight at the Imax. I hung onto to every word he (Heath Ledger\The Joker) said.

Grieshan’s brother from New Town Logistics is an artist, saw some of his stuff, it was some kind of graffiti art in K- Mag.

Saw an amazing band called The Final Voyage of the Liquid Sky; that’s shameless self promotion cause I’m actually in it.

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU GREW

BY YOURSELF?

ing a gala party at The Caves, where the Mo Bros get a chance to flash their tache in the hope of winning prizes and being crowned Man of Movember. And Mo Sistas can get involved too, as any girls who wish to sign up and raise some money are welcome; moustache grow-

8 THE SKINNY

Wullie: Ganja. It’s the only thing I’ve grewn – Did I just make up a word there?

Grewn ha ha, I sound like a right jakey.

Steven: There’s some new graffiti artists dotted all around Glasgow, kinda like Bansky, they are great.

FAVOURITE PIECE OF ART SEEN IN THE LAST MONTH?

The aim is to start the month with a clean shaven face and cultivate your tache for the next thirty days. Clip it, groom it, wax it or curl it – the style is entirely up to you.

Stop your friends laughing long enough to dig out their wallets and sponsor you and all money raised goes to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU GREW

BY YOURSELF?

MCCAIN OR OBAMA?

Head for the streets and try and mount some neo-punk post-apocalyptic movement!

It may have started with just thirty mates in Australia but has quickly taken over the world, with top lips sprouting caterpillars in the US, Canada, Spain and - for the second year running - the UK. Scotland’s first Movember in 2007 was a particularly huge success so the organisers chose Edinburgh as their third key location in the UK.

Steven: Whatever he said.

Wullie: Edvard Munch’s The Scream.

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU GREW

BY YOURSELF?

At the end of the month the Movember lads are throw-

McCAIN OR OBAMA? Wullie: Well other than the fact McCain sounds like he should own his own food company, Obama has some great libertarian views.

Linky Grey, 20 Obama, McCain is too old school: he’s not up to date on the new politics.

One dull afternoon in the pub, some five years ago, two friends decided it was time to bring reintroduce the world to the moustache. And to hell with it, they said, let’s raise some money for charity while we’re at it. And so Movember, the month of the Mo, was born.

Wullie “the Red” Williamson, 27 and Steven Hand, 27

Also on...

the skinny highlights some bits & pieces coming up in November

ing not obligatory...

Prostate cancer is not something generally talked about, and few people realise it’s the commonest cancer for men; fact is, one man dies every hour from prostate cancer in the UK. So what could be easier to raise some cash – and awareness - than looking silly or dashing or mad for a month with a great fluffy tache on your face.

Check out the website for details on how to sign up.

[Edward Whelan] 1 - 30 November

Also on this month… Now til 15th Ernst Loger’s industrial exhibition Invisible Oil at Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen… Dan Antopoloski visits Perth Theatre on 3rd… 6th is the deadline for submitting work for the first Cryptic Nights event at the CCA in Glasgow…

8th - 9th and 15th - 16th the artists of the East Neuk Studios open their doors… Trendy Wendy launches new club night Mumbo Jumbo on 15th at The Bongo Club... on all month at Dundee Contemporary Arts is Gravity Always Wins, an exhibition by Spencer Finch,

one of America's finest contemporary artists... 15th – 22nd cutting edge computer music at the Dialogues Festival in Edinburgh… there's a highly recommended Butoh Training & Workshop event at the Trongate on 22nd... 28th – 29th The Mighty Boosh return to perform at Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow… and to finish off the month, The Manifesto Political Kabaret, hosted by Tam Dean Burn and Sonic Sinema features digital agit-punk on 30th at Victoria Bar in Glasgow... see www.theskinny.co.uk for more details.

www.movember.com

HEADS UP

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