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Scotland Issue 104 May 2014
ART GENERATION GOLD JONZO CLUBS Mr. Scruff Derrick Carter BOOKS Alasdair Gray Prison Reading MUSIC Nine Inch Nails Brody Dalle Loop Tuff Love vs Josie Long Killer Be Killed Summer Field Festivals FILM GFT at 40 Anthony Chen on Ilo Ilo FASHION Mairi Macdonald
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Contents
JOU R NALI S M
Get in touch: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk T: 0131 467 4630 P: The Skinny, 3 Coates Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7AA
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CULTU R AL
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Editorial Editor-in-Chief Music & Deputy Editor Books Editor Clubs Editor Comedy Editor Deviance Editor Events Editor Fashion Editor Film & DVD Editor Food Editor Travel Editor Theatre Editor News Editor / Sub Editor
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In person from Ticket Scotland Glasgow/Edinburgh & Ripping Edinburgh and usual outlets
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regularmusicuk THE SKINNY
Photo: Gemma Burke
FRIDAY 23 MAY
GLASGOW Oran Mor
Contents 06 Opinion: Skinny on Tour tilts at a wind-
mill; Shot of the Month; Albert Hammond Jr. salutes his heros, and shares his awe of the universe; Crystal Baws reads the stars; regular scribe Chris Cusack eulogises a dear friend, much-loved musician Robbie Cooper; Jock Mooney asks Shelby Chuff what she’s having for lunch; and Stop the Presses clears up the breaking news.
08
10
Heads Up: It’s a 35-day month so your cultural schedule is jam-packed. Here’s what to do each and every day. FEATURES As they unveil fourth album Luminous, we confront The Horrors aka the UK’s biggest cult band to mine the paradoxes at the heart of their success.
12
As Nine Inch Nails' latest incarnation sets sail for Scotland, Trent Reznor gives us a look behind the scenes.
14
Critically acclaimed and loaded with festival accolades, director Anthony Chen shares his theories on his debut Ilo Ilo’s success.
15
As Glasgow Film Theatre turns 40, we ask a host of those connected with it to share their favourite memories of the place.
16
Mr. Scruff, aka Andy Carthy, celebrates the release of his latest album Friendly Bacteria by offering us an insight into his world of tea, tunes and potato men.
18
As the battle over Chris Grayling's book ban rages on, The Skinny looks at prison prose and a selfish reason for allowing access to literature on the inside.
19
Former Distillers frontwoman Brody Dalle tells us about the creative process as she prepares for the release of her debut solo album Diploid Love.
21
We speak to Alasdair Gray, elder statesman of Scottish art and letters, about his quasi-autobiographical collected essays Of Me and Others, and why you’ll need to read his novels to find the sexy bits from his past.
22
Back from the wilderness after 24 years and on tour with Godflesh, Loop frontman Robert Hampson explains their absence and return.
29 LIFESTYLE
Travel: One ‘socially awkward’ adventurer ponders the experience of travelling solo through Thailand. Includes shark story.
30 Fashion: Glasgow’s Mairi Macdonald
reveals her intricate, rock'n'roll-inspired new collection.
31
Deviance: For possibly the first time ever, Deviance hears from a straight white male aged 12-30 about the patriarchy of gaming.
32
Showcase: Taking a trip south of the border, we check out new Liverpool risograph studio JONZO.
35
Food and Drink: Ever wondered about how those cunning advertising folk make you buy beer? Probably not. It’s beer. We’ve put together a handy guide anyway. Plus Phagomania looks at outlandish yet oddly appetising burgers.
39
47
26 You are… GOLD! As an exhibition in the
Hunterian looks at that most beguiling of metals, we inspect its place within art of recent decades.
27
It’s the merry month of May – and Glaswegian theatre takes a political bent with Mayfesto and the culmination of Behaviour.
28
In the concluding part of our series on this summer’s festivals we scrutinise the highlights of line-ups in damp fields across the British Isles.
May 2014
Clubs: Alongside the usual exhaustive highlights spread, we have some words from house legend Derrick Carter ahead of his appearance at Glasgow’s Riverside Festival.
49 Art: Our correspondents cast an eye
over some GI offerings, starting with Avery Singer’s paintings, and ending with smashing up some kids’ art.
50 Film: Reviews of the swan song from
Studio Ghibli legend Hayao Miyazaki (The Wind Rises) and Jia Zhangke delivers another stunning, and stunningly violent, exploration of modern-day China (A Touch of Sin)
51
Books/DVD: The Wolf of Wall Street comes to DVD, as does Billy Wilder’s blistering satire Ace in the Hole.
52
Theatre: Looking forward to this month’s highlights across the country, including The Libertine and Biding Time (Remix).
54
Comedy: The inaugural Scottish Comedy Awards slipped under most folks’ radars. Our reporter looks at some of the reasons why. Competitions: WIN THINGS. Namely, tickets to T in the Park or the entire Scottish Album of the Year longlist (= 20 top notch albums) PLUS tickets to the award ceremony.
25 A staggeringly ambitious new exhibiting
programme, GENERATION aims to survey and present Scottish contemporary art from the last quarter-century across the country.
REVIEW Music: We venture to the set of Tuff Love’s new video, starring one Josie Long; Dillinger Escape Plan frontman Greg Puciato lifts the lid on long-incubating super quartet Killer Be Killed; gig highlights for the month of May; live reviews of Therapy? The Body and the Manics; plus the latest releases from Pixies, The Last Battle, Kate Tempest and Gruff Rhys.
55 Listings: So. Much. Culture.
Contents
5
Editorial
Hero Worship As Albert Hammond Jr. prepares to headline Glasgow’s Stag & Dagger festival, he tells us about his early experiences at Sunday school, the awe and wonder of the universe, and his admiration for atheist firebrand Christopher Hitchens
“T
his is an awesome issue,” said Bram, our subeditor, proofreading the contents. Of course, they all are, but this particular edition of The Skinny is particularly rich in megawatt stardom. Cover stars The Horrors, aka the UK’s biggest cult band, discuss the human need for escapism, and the paradoxes at the core of their creative output. Ramping up the star factor still further, the legend that is Trent Reznor talks exclusively to our Music editor. A quarter of a century into the Nine Inch Nails journey, he reveals the gruelling preparation that goes into their epic tours, dropping a few hints on what fans can expect when the band roll into town at the end of this month. Brody Dalle, she of Distillers fame, takes the time out from separating screaming children to discuss the songwriting process ahead of the release of her solo debut, Diploid Love. Loop frontman Robert Hampson tells us about returning from a 24 year hiatus, ahead of the band’s UK tour, co-headlining with Godflesh. New Blood Tuff Love let our writer hang out with them and Josie Long in Hampstead as they film the video for their new single. And, in the concluding part of our series looking at the many and varied festivals of 2014, we detail the line-ups you could get aff yer nut to (sensibly) in damp fields across Scotland and England this ‘summer.’ In Clubs, we have a cup of tea with Mr. Scruff to hear about his latest album, Friendly Bacteria. Tea? I hear you cry. Surely there’s no place for tea in the world of clubbing? Don’t underestimate how much Mr. Scruff loves a brew. Banging. We also chat to house legend Derrick Carter, paying homage to his Chicago home ahead of his set at Glasgow’s Riverside Festival.
Books has a new section editor, Alan Bett, who debuts this month with an article assessing the disastrous impact the planned ban on prisoners receiving books could have on the world of literature. Without books in prison we would have no Jeffrey Archer, people. In another incidence of the word ‘legend,’ Alasdair Gray discusses Of Me And Others, his newly released collected essays which functions as an autobiography. In Art, we are mostly looking forward to GENERATION, a mind-bogglingly vast programme of exhibitions running across the country this summer. Celebrating the extraordinary glut of creativity which has occurred in Scotland in the last quarter century, GENERATION stretches from Orkney to the Borders with over 100 artists of international renown. We also take a look at the use of gold in contemporary art, as an exhibition in the Hunterian examines that most beguiling of metals. Film is in celebratory mood, as the Glasgow Film Theatre prepares to celebrate its 40th birthday. We quiz an array of cinephiles associated with the venue to find out what their first and fondest memories of the place are. We also speak to director Anthony Chen about his accoladeladen debut Ilo Ilo and the disconcerting effect of reducing an audience to tears. As per usual, much else happens besides. Turn the pages to find out more. [Rosamund West]
This Month's Cover Trent McMinn is a London-based photographer www.trentmcminn.com
Shot Of The Month
Childhood by Richard Ferguson at Sneaky Pete's 24 April
I
used to read a lot of music biographies, people like Johnny Cash. I like reading about how they look at life – that can be exciting. But it’s not like there’s a single person I look up to in music – there are so many little influences, it’s almost like you have a family of people to look up to, rather than just one. Some of those people changed my life, over the years, and without them, I wouldn’t be who I am today. But the people who have influenced me the most, certainly in the last few years, have had nothing to do with music. Both Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins would be people who have definitely influenced my thinking. From a young age, I didn’t know how to express my thoughts on religion. When you heard Christopher Hitchens speak, he was just so smart – listening to him was like watching an amazing athlete. You were just in awe. He was always so calm – nothing got him emotional, he was too smart. When I saw him talk, he was speaking about either Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin. How he related everything really spoke to me. At the time I was figuring out my own views about the universe and stuff like that, having thoughts about life, and just wishing people would spend more time thinking about that kind of stuff, rather than believing in religion – just imagining what we could accomplish. It’s just a more modern approach – religions now are so dated. What I was most impressed with, in the talks given by both Hitchens and Dawkins, was their lack of hatred towards things. The way they explain something when debating with religious people was entirely without anger – they would just explain things very calmly, using factual
Chat
Albert Hammond Jr. plays Stag & Dagger at O2ABC on 4 May alberthammondjr.com
The Skinny On Tour
This month’s Skinny-reading traveller is a right ol’ perv. He/she may claim they’re visiting this city for its stunning architecture and world class museums and galleries, but rather than admiring paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer, or visiting the loft where that diary-writing Belieber used to live, they were trawling the city’s seedier side of town. The photo above is the only one that was publishable, quite frankly. If you know where they’ve been holidaying,
6
evidence. It always seemed like, in those debates, the smartest people in the room would say, ‘Well, we know a little bit.’ And the people who weren’t as smart were like: ‘We know everything.’ That kind of thinking just excites me – it inspires me. It helps me to think about what I want to talk about, what I want to say. It leaves me very curious; and I have no answers for that curiosity. That’s the excitement of being alive. It’s the start of a new journey. I’ve never really considered myself spiritual or religious. I’ve always looked up to the stars in more amazement than I could feel about spiritual ideas. That’s been the case since I was five, and attending Sunday school – they couldn’t answer any of my questions. They kept on telling me to be quiet. All this amazing, beautiful stuff in the universe, and there’s just one explanation? It all seemed so weird.
you could win a copy of The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez, courtesy of our pals at Canongate. Just head along to www. theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and tell us where they are for your chance to win. Competition closes midnight Sun 1 Jun. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Full T&Cs can be found at www. theskinny.co.uk/about/terms
THE SKINNY
Crystal Baws
Obituary: Robbie Cooper 1977-2014
With Mystic Mark
TAURUS I predict you will get bummed by a monster on your birthday.
GEMINI Just say ‘nose’ to drugs!
CANCER Rifling through your girlfriend’s bag for some filter tips you come across a tiny, half-empty pack of crow condoms.
LEO In May you arrive at your meeting with BAE Systems to finally show top brass what you’ve been working on in their R&D lab for the last decade: Rat on a Stick. It’s a rat you found, tied to a stick.
VIRGO You find yourself genuinely frightened by a story in the Daily Express about an infestation of Paedo-Wasps said to be making their way over to Britain from Romania.
LIBRA Thanks to the miracle of modern medical science it’s now possible to have that Jesus inside you surgically removed.
SCORPIO Your psychiatrist reassures you that feeling like an insect is a normal, perfectly natural human emotion.
SAGITTARIUS The last thing you remember before the car crash is an apparition of yourself turning to you and saying, “Have a dog’s birthday.�
CAPRICORN When you take a shit it sounds like you’re running a bath. Maybe try adding more fibre to your diet.
AQUARIUS Aim for the moon because if you miss you’ll die in the vast, cold emptiness
of space. PISCES You’re used to having wet dreams, but find yourself disturbed of late by the frequency of your wet nightmares.
twitter.com/themysticmark facebook.com/themysticmark
Words: Chris Cusack
I
mportant fact #1: Doctor of Psychology, loving husband, travelled lecturer, respected intellecHAVE YOUR SAY tual, gifted musician, DIY promoter, stand-up coThe longlist for the third annual Scottish Album median, music enthusiast, writer, thinker, dancer of the Year Award was unveiled at time of going and custom-built basketball gazelle Robbie to press, with recognition for some of Scotland's Cooper was named just that: Robbie. Not Robert. best-known and most established bands and Important fact #2: Knowing Robbie Cooper artists, such as Mogwai, Frightened Rabbit and in any capacity, whether as one of his many adorEdwyn Collins, as well as up-and-coming and ing siblings or one of his exponentially growing leftfield artists, such as Adam Stafford, Hector army of friends, was a privilege like no other. Bizerk and Kid Canaveral. Last year's winner, RM Robbie passed away on 23 April, 2014, at the Hubbert, is nominated again for Breaks & Bone, tragically young age of 36, after a long, brave, while world-conquering Glasgow synth-pop trio tumultuous battle with a rare and aggressive CHVRCHES are also nominated for their debut form of cancer. Having already spent a number album, The Bones of What You Believe. of stays in the wonderful Marie Curie Hospice in The SAY Award organisers are hoping for a Edinburgh, his admittance ten days prior proved record number of people to participate in the to be his final visit. At the end, after holding on public vote, which opens on 28 April, lasting 72 for hours longer than seemed humanly possihours. Fans will be able to vote for their favourble so his brother could arrive on an emergency ite from the longlist, which will then be added to flight from Germany, Robbie left quietly, surthe final shortlist, chosen by a panel of industry rounded by his family and close friends as well as judges from the nominated albums. The public the unspeakably wonderful staff of MCCC. vote will take place at the SAY Award website. The Robbie’s reputation as a true gentleman and final shortlist will be announced at a reception profoundly endearing person, not to mention on 29 May at the Centre for Contemporary Arts a musician of some note, was expanded during in Glasgow. For full analysis, commentary and his years playing in many great bands, including rolling news on this year’s SAY as it develops, see Iron Crease, Geisha, American Men and his first www.theskinny.co.uk/music love, Laeto. Few people in the bands and venues whose paths he crossed ever forgot the man, THE SAY AWARD 2014 LONGLIST even after only one meeting... and that is not just Adam Holmes & The Embers because of the sight of a strikingly handsome, 6ft Heirs and Graces 6 doctor dressed in white slacks and a sky blue Adam Stafford SEGA-style t-shirt, cramming his huge self behind Imaginary Walls Collapse a signature gaudy pink drum-kit then smashing Biffy Clyro it into next year with an unholy, Valhalla-worthy, Opposites rhythmic pummelling. Boards Of Canada Just over 18 months into his diagnosis, Tomorrow's Harvest already familiar with the terrific treatment and Camera Obscura support offered by Marie Curie Cancer Care, Desire Lines Robbie set out to repay the organisation, arrangCHVRCHES ing a series of events and releasing a compilation The Bones Of What You Believe album under the banner Human Is Not Alone, the Dunedin Consort (Dir. John Butt) title of a song by Laeto. After his own heart, the J. S. Bach: Six Brandenburg Concertos aim, more than just raising funds for the charEdwyn Collins ity, was to unite people through music and offer Understated hope to those in need. With contributions flying Frightened Rabbit in from across the planet, including works by hePedestrian Verse roes of his own such as Fugazi, Shipping News and Hector Bizerk Nobody Seen Nothing Kid Canaveral Now That You Are A Dancer Mogwai Les Revenants Rick Redbeard No Selfish Heart RM Hubbert Breaks & Bone Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire Scottish Chamber Orchestra (R. Ticciati) Berlioz: Les Nuit D’ÊtÊ Scottish National Jazz Orchestra In The Spirit Of Duke Steve Mason Monkey Minds In The Devil's Time The Pastels Slow Summits Young Fathers Tape Two
Photo: David Newitt
In tribute to the courageous musician, who sadly passed away on 23 April
Zu, the project went on to raise many thousands of pounds and in turn generated a huge amount of help for those relying on MCCC in similar circumstances to his. For those of us lucky enough to be close to him, we marvelled daily not just at his intellect, hilarious patter and endless benevolence, but at how 13 significant and painful operations, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and an unrelenting diary of hospital visits never broke the spirit or kind nature of the man. Even just days prior to his death, Robbie routinely messaged loved ones across the world enquiring as to their well-being and how they were spending their day, never looking to burden anyone with the difficulties he endured. As the final breath left Robbie’s body, his brother Glenn leaned in to say goodbye with the gloriously impromptu words “Robbie Cooper, you are a fucking eagle.� Never has there been a more appropriate description or a more fitting farewell. Robbie is survived by his loving wife Miriam and his large and justifiably very proud extended family. He will be sadly missed but even more fondly remembered. Robbie Cooper 1977-2014 For more information about donating to Marie Curie Cancer Care, go to www.mariecurie.org.uk www.facebook.com/HumanIsNotAlone
www.jockmooney.com
ARIES To make your dog walking job easier you create a dog centipede by stitching together a dozen thoroughbred canines snout to bumhole. It’s so much more manageable than individual dogs. You only have to feed it once, only need one lead and only have to bag up one easy-to-dispose of, concentrated turd-pellet. The only drawback is if it sees the cat centipede you made last year it’s likely to go mental and run off its leash.
WE NEED A NEW BILLIE. We’re looking for a production manager to look after our Scottish edition. If you think you might have what it takes, head along to theskinny.co.uk/about/get_involved for full details.
May 2014
Opinion
7
Managing to squeeze in a bit of April, all of May, and a few cheeky days of June, this month's Heads Up is a veritable monster – squeezing in Stag & Dagger, Tectonics, Over The Wall's final gigs, a whole loada Degree Shows, and even some zombies (at 2.8 Hours Later) as it goes. BRAINS!
Thu 1 May
Weaving together music, prose, poetry, and biography, The Beautiful Cosmos of Ivor Cutler tells the story of Ivor Cutler's remarkable life – from birth, through boyhood, to old age – with the play's title taken from the whimsical poetic gem: "This is our universe, cups of tea. We have a beautiful cosmos, you and me." Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 29 Apr-3 May, £15.50 (£12.50/£8)
The Night of the Jaguar collective take to their Art School union digs for what will be their third curated evening of merriment (likely still buzzing from JD Twitch's live takeover last month), with April finding 'em collaborating with Edinburgh's No Globe collective for a special versus night. And the best bit? It'll cost you the princely entry fee of zero pounds. The Art School Union, Glasgow, 11pm, free
Edinburgh folk-pop darlings The Last Battle do their ever-lovely orchestral-tinged thing in a live setting, giving second LP – Lay Your Body Down – a proper welcome into the world, with Meursault mainman Neil Pennycook their special treat of a support. Also playing Edinburgh's Liquid Room the following evening, with support from East Neuk lass Lidh. The Roxy 171, Glasgow, 7pm, £5
The Beautiful Cosmos of Ivor Cutler
The Last Battle
Night of the Jaguar
Tue 6 May
Wed 7 May
Thu 8 May
Fri 9 May
Ahead of their boat party shenanigans later in't month (see 27 May for details on that), the i AM boys lock horns with underground party crew, Wake (aka they of the secret-until-the-night location parties), for an i AM Vs Wake Tuesday special – boasting a stacked record collection between then, and promising to play sure fire selections all night looong. Sub Club, Glasgow, 11pm, £5
One of the more impressive modern circus companies on't scene, Quebec innovators Cirque du Soleil arrive in Glasgow with their new show, Dralion. Based around the four elements – air, water, fire, and earth – it'll bring nature to life through twelve acts taking in acrobatics, trampoline, juggling, contortion, and more. And not a bloody clown in sight. SSE Hydro, Glasgow, 7-11 May, £50
Like beer? Like rum? Congratulations – you're our new best pal. You're also in for a treat at the Hot Rum Cow Beer launch, which sees Edinburgh's Stewart Brewing join forces with Hot Rum Cow for the launch of their new Rum & Rye IPA – exclusively available for yer supping pleasure for one-night-only, bolstered by the joys of a 7.9% ABV. Hic. Jeremiah's Taproom, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, free
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra stage the sophomore Tectonics fest, squashing musical barriers – for the weekend at least – as experimental pioneers such as mixed-media composer Takehisa Kosugi, and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore rub shoulders with Icelandic composer collective S.L.Á.T.U.R., Scottish jazz rebel Bill Wells, and more. Various venues, Glasgow, 9-11 May
i AM
Cirque du Soleil
Rum & Rye IPA
Thurston Moore
Wed 14 May
Thu 15 May
Fri 16 May
Getting naughty on a school night, the Jelly&Gin pop-up lot host an immersive whisky experience – taking over a former milk factory in Leith and feeding y'all four types of whisky, whilst evoking the senses via tricksy lighting, projection, sound, and scent. Each dram will be accompanied by artisan bites. Nestle Condensed Milk Factory, Edinburgh, 14-20 May, various times and prices
Indulging our love of the night, various galleries, museums, and historic spaces across the UK stay open late for Museums at Night – with Scottish highlights including a pop-up event at the National Museum of Scotland, and an after-dark ogle at the pickled body parts in Surgeons' Hall before the venue closes for refurbishment. Across Scotland, 15-17 May, mostly free
Tom Wainwright’s sell-out Banksy: The Room in the Elephant gets an airing at the Trav – telling the story of Tachowa Covington, who lived in a disused tank for seven years, until Banksy scrawled ‘This Looks A Bit Like An Elephant’ on the side and it was carted off and sold, leaving him homeless. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 16 & 17 May, £15.50 (£12.50/£8)
National Museum of Scotland
Jelly&Gin
Thu 22 May
Industrial innovators Nine Inch Nails hit the UK with their reassembled touring line-up – which sees Trent Reznor backed by Ilan Rubin, Alessandro Cortini, and Robin Finck – in advance of flitting to the US-of-A come July, where punters will find 'em celebrating the 20th anniversary of Superunknown, accompanied by Soundgarden and Death Grips. The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, 8.30pm, £30
The musical clubber's delight that is Milk takes to its second home of Flat 0/1 for its final outing until August – waving au-revoir-for-noo via special sets from ex-Dananankroyd peeps Alarm Bells, lo-fi looping and sampling duo Conquering Animal Sound, and Edinburgh-based solo chanteuse LAW. Cake, balloons, and party bags seal the deal. Flat 0/1, Glasgow, 9pm, £4 (£3)
Austin natives White Denim get their jam-band vibe on, taking to the UK (as part of their current world tour) to give their latest LP, Corsicana Lemonade, a live airing – delivering an eclectic prog-assault of crunchy Led-Zep-a-like guitar riffs, rhythmic bass-lines, rapid-fire vocals, and dizzyingly complex drum patterns, as per their usual craziness. The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 7pm, £16
Nine Inch Nails
Conquering Animal Sound
Photo: Heidi Kuisma
Wed 21 May
Photo: Pete Dunlop
Tue 20 May
Banksy: The Room in the Elephant
White Denim
Mon 26 May
Tue 27 May
Wed 28 May
Thu 29 May
Known for their elaborate live outings (OT.T. costumes; multi-coloured confetti; hunners of giant balloons – y'know the drill), The Flaming Lips take to the Usher Hall with their thirteenth LP, The Terror – an ambient and restless gem, which finds mainman Wayne Coyne providing the soothingly familiar vocal backdrop to a crescendo of crazy. Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 7pm, from £25
DJs Beta & Kappa set sail down't Clyde for their now annual i AM Boat Party – promising extra production and the usual beefed-up soundsystem, followed by an after-bash at Subbie curated by one-half of the Optimo tag-team, JD Twitch. Boat leaves from Glasgow Science Centre. Ticket gets you bus transfer and after-party entrance. Glasgow Science Centre, Glasgow, 6.30pm, £tbc
Having sold out the Edinburgh Fringe three years in a row (not to mention winning the Hackney Empire New Act Of The Year award in 2010), comic Robert Broderick and multi-instrumentalist James Hancox get their hiphop on as Abandoman – their cheeky music act, which sees 'em creating musical sketches at speed in front of a live audience. Summerhall, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £12.50
The Scottish Album of the Year award Art Commission show opens its doors – featuring work from Scottish graduates Emma Rogers, Ross Hogg, Stephanie Mann, Flo Gordon, Kirsty Russell, Ian Jackson, Lucy Price – with the winner bagging £12,000 and the opportunity to create artwork for the shortlisted albums, which will be exclusively revealed the same evening. CCA, Glasgow, 8pm, free
The Flaming Lips
8
Chat
i AM Boat Party
Abandoman
Photo: Ewan Robertson
Compiled by: Anna Docherty
Wed 30 Apr
Flo Gordon, Quolly Tigg-Tigg
THE SKINNY
Photo: Ross Gilmore
Heads Up
Tue 29 Apr
Sat 3 May
Sun 4 May
Mon 5 May
Some 20 years on, Nineties Woman finds comedian and storyteller Rosie Wilby tracing her former colleagues from a feminist newspaper – told using live interactive storytelling, video interviews, music, and photo archive material to trace a journey through early 90s feminism, refracted through a personal lens. Summerhall, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £8 (£6)
Beefing up to a two-day affair, micro-festival party starters Electric Frog once more join forces with techno specialists Pressure for Riverside Festival, again in the iconic Riverside Museum location – joined by the likes of 2manydjs, Vitalic, Derrick May, Andrew Weatherall, Jamie Jones, Visionquest, and 'pure loads' more. Riverside Museum, Glasgow, 3 & 4 May, £55 weekend
A firm fixture on Glasgow's music calendar, the one-ticket, multi-gig export that is Stag and Dagger takes over Weegieland with an eclectic line-up set over half a dozen venues – with highlights including a headline set from The Strokes' Albert Hammond Jr., alongside outings from Skinny faves Causal Sex, East India Youth, and Honeyblood. Various venues, Glasgow, 1pm, £22
To celebrate the release of Gareth Edwards' Godzilla remake (out on 16 May), the Cameo dig deep into the classic film vault for a special screening of Ishirô Honda's original 1954 Japanese version, Godzilla (aka Gojira) – a cult phenomenon that's spawned around 30 sequels. And, c'mon, there's a gigantic radioactive reptile in it. Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, 9pm, £6.50 (£5.50)
Casual Sex
Godzilla
Sat 10 May
Sun 11 May
Mon 12 May
Tue 13 May
Handpicked live music showcase, Limbo, returns for its monthly slot at The Voodoo Rooms – this month welcoming euphoric pop locals Over The Wall for the first of their farewell gigs (the second is at Glasgow's CCA, 24 May), for which they're promising a greatest hits set cherrypicked from the last eight glorious years. Kleenex at the ready. The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, 8pm, £6
All-female Japanese kawaii-punksters Shonen Knife take their 19th LP, Overdrive, out on't road – full of deliciously cheery melodies and a seemingly never-ending supply of frothy bubblegum hooks, its sugary take on 70s dinosaur rock stands firmly in its favour. Also playing Glasgow's CCA the preceding night. The Electric Circus, Edinburgh, 7pm, £12
Born in a small shop in Edinburgh’s Old Town back in 1994, the creative hub that is Out of the Blue host a special 20th birthday exhibition – entitled OOTB is 20! – depicting iconic images of the venue's history, and the Bongo Club's (which was born in 1996 in the old bus garage awaiting demolition in New Street, where OOTB had space). Out of the Blue, Edinburgh, 12-23 May, free
Popping up for a three-day mini exhibiton at The Lighthouse, Art for Care will showcase 200+ works from over 80 well-kent Scottish artists including Jack Vettriano, Muriel Barclay, and Gerard Burns, alongside a selection of work from up-and-coming artists, with 50% of each sale going direct to Marie Curie Cancer Care. The Lighthouse, Glasgow, 12-14 May, Free
Shonen Knife
Over The Wall
Jack Vettriano
Out of the Blue
Sat 17 May
Sun 18 May
Mon 19 May
Kicking off summer's showcase of graduating artists' work, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design hosts its annual Degree Show – showcasing the work of 250 emerging artists and designers. Edinburgh College of Art follows suit the next week, then Glasgow School of Art and Gray's School of Art come June. DJCAD, Dundee, 1725 May, free
Robert Alfons dons his Trust alter-ego to tour sophomore LP, Joyland – a wholly solo endeavour (Maya Postepski left the project shortly after their debut) that finds him deftly exploring his vocal range across sonorous moans and plaintive falsettos, iincorporating strains of house, techno, and trance. Also playing Glasgow's Broadcast the previous evening. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 7pm, £8
Leading lights of the fertile mid- to late-90s breeding ground of Athens, Georgia, Jeff Magnum's indie legends – Neutral Milk Hotel – head out in support of their box set release, airing plentiful tracks from their monumental In the Aeroplane Over the Sea LP. You can catch them on Scottish soil again come August, playing Corn Exchange during Edinburgh Festival. King Tut's, Glasgow, 7pm, £19.50
Keith Thomas, John Macleod
Fri 23 May
Sat 24 May
Sun 25 May
Claire Duffy's interactive theatre piece, Money: The Game Show, arrives with £10,000 in real pound coins – inviting the audience to play a series of high stake games to demonstrate how the world’s economic system came close to collapse in 2008, interspersing the fun game show element with disconcerting reality. The Traverse, Edinburgh, 23 & 24 May, £15.50 (£12.50/£8)
Officially the season for art school graduate offerings, Edinburgh College of Art kicks off their Degree Show round-up, showcasing the fruits of more than 500 graduating artists, filmmakers, designers, and architects over an e'er eclectic programme, bolstered by the annual Revel shenanigans on 16 May. Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, 24-1 Jun, free
This year Southside Film Festival introduce a new strand, Cinemap – inspired by last year's Albert Drive project, asking the people of Pollokshields to meet their neighbours – taking in films on themes of 'community' and 'local', alongside site specific works created for the fest's pop-up spaces including a swimming pool and an allotment. 2325 May, Glasgow, various venues
Money: The Game Show
Jenny Drewitt
Neutral Milk Hotel
Trust
Southside film festival
Sat 31 May
Sun 1 Jun
Mon 2 Jun
Returning for s'more zombie-themed action, the apocalypse that is interactive chase game 2.8 Hours Later takes to a secret location, where attendees will be grouped and tasked with collecting supplies for their survival, before returning to the safety of the asylum. Ticket gets you entry to the Zombie Disco after-party. 23/24/30 & 31 May, Edinburgh, various times, from £28
The musical merrymakers behind The Wee Chill return to SWG3 for annual summer knees-up, The Wee Chill Live – with acts revealed thus far including Hot Chip coleader Alexis Taylor in his new solo guise, Alexis Taylor Band, plus The Vigo Thieves, TeenCanteen, The State Broadcasters, Our Future Glory, and more to be drip-fed revealed in the run-up. SWG3, Glasgow, 5pm, £14
The largest cultural event in Glasgow, West End Festival kicks off its month-long programme o' bountiful treats – set to take in a packed schedule of exhibitions, live music, performance, talks, tours, workshops, and screenings, with muted sets from The Vaselines and Edwyn Collins amongst the highlights in store. Various venues, Glasgow, 1-29 Jun
Glasgow artist Rachel Maclean exhibits a new batch of her hyper-colour, super-saturated work in Happy&Glorious – taking the transformative power created by the arrival of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and characteristically turning them there positive vibes into something a little more disturbing across a selection of prints and a new film. CCA, Glasgow, 31 May-13 Jul, free
Zombies!
May 2014
TeenCanteen
Edwyn Collins
Photo: Nuria Ruis
Fri 30 May
Rachel Maclean
Chat
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Photo: Fred Marcarini
Riverside Festival
Nineties Woman
Photo: Kat Gollock
Fri 2 May
Strange Fascination As they unveil fourth album Luminous, we confront The Horrors to mine the paradoxes at the heart of their success
Interview: Jazz Monroe Photography: Trent McMinn
F
aris Badwan tracks an imaginary fly around his dilapidated nest of hair. At once bored, absorbed, teasing and tortured, he’s a man who scrutinises questions like a landlord inspects carpets. Throughout the day, Faris proves incapable of genuine laughter; instead, he wheezes. People might tell you the Horrors’ singer is a contrary interviewee, but this isn’t strictly true. Faris isn’t shy, bullish or even evasive; he’s just completely fucking insane. Terribly postured with wide, pinballing eyes, he seems to have invented a private game that nobody else can play. And in a way, he’s already won. He’s already won because this is his dream introduction. In the eyes of magazine readers countrywide, this is Faris Badwan. And it sort of is, and it sort of isn’t, and it’s that desire to mess with us – rather than the act itself – that makes him interesting. Who’s the man who high-fives crew members in the dressing room, creasing up as somebody coins the nickname “F-Dogg”? Who’s the gangling giant hunched in a lift, offering M&S Percy Pigs to bandmates? These exchanges remain hidden, because Faris, above all, is a man who covets ambiguity. “Things that aren’t pinned down in reality are cool,” he states, sequestered with The Skinny in a dressing room of London’s Hospital Club. “I like it when a guitar sounds like something else – I like anything you can’t pin down. And maybe the way I act is an extension of that.” His gaze skips across the ceiling, and he chuckles. “Or maybe I just spend a lot of time alone.” Of course, there’s nothing gravely wrong with this sort of deception. It’s an artistic tightrope walked by everyone from Thom Yorke to Britney Spears, and this is their logic: so long as you aren’t one thing to everyone, you can be anything to anyone. That ambiguity is The Horrors all over, and fourth LP Luminous is as alluring and nebulous as ever, like an impressionist depiction of supernovas tearing through cushy summer skies. Recorded in an old Hackney loading bay that’s become the band studio, the album’s trick is to marry sonic and lyrical obscurity while courting big pop on the side. It’s perhaps unsurprising that a band of such ambition can lack a certain grounding. In austere times, The Horrors remain unwavering advocates of escapism. But as with Faris’s wilful ambiguity – which allows us to subconsciously construct his personality – there’s a counterargument that what people want to believe is rarely what they should, and even less often what’s true. Isn’t now the time for engagement? “Yeah, but everyone shirks their responsibilities, don’t they?” responds Faris. “I think humans need escapism to survive. It’s difficult, because if you start thinking about the stuff you could try to change, you feel kind of impotent.” He uncrosses his legs. “We are a band of escapists, but escapism is also discovery, you know? That’s what making a record is. It’s unbelievable how many bands make the same record again and again. That’s like purgatory for me, the idea of that.” Album to album The Horrors have made cosmic leaps, and Luminous is no exception. If the sumptuous stylings usher out Primary Colours’ fresh, ragged experimentation, there’s a raw emotion to songs like knock-kneed waltz Change Your Mind that pierces the sparkly production. They demonstrate touching songwriting talents that, like the band themselves, insist maturity is an open door to new possibilities. Listening to Luminous, it’s pretty hard to dispute. One peculiar development is that, despite sounding increasingly marketable since
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shriek-de-soleil debut Strange House, they still seem, at gut level, like a band of outsiders. Indeed, that an exquisitely produced indie band can retain cult status while scoring multi-million YouTube plays is either a shining testament to their subversion or, arguably, a sign that some of us register hype, marketing and physical appearance more viscerally than musical subtleties. Still, it’s true that every band has its cultural shadow, and the best – Bikini Kill, Nirvana, the Velvet Underground – covet concept and content equally. What’s interesting about The Horrors, though, is that more explicitly than even R.E.M.’s or Radiohead’s, their brand of ‘outsider’ music targets a universal audience. This means that while they reach from the outside in, their audience are, perversely, getting an enhan“Did you have dark circles around your eyes in kindergarten?” interjects Faris. He does this twice during our interview, and both times I’m momentarily stunned. Potentially? Do I now? “Yeah, but I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. But when I was a kid, the photo of me on the very first day at school, I had big black rings, almost like a panda. And I wondered if you might have had the same problem.”
“I like it when a guitar sounds like something else – I like anything you can’t pin down. And maybe the way I act is an extension of that” Faris Badwan
Oh. Not really, no. The thing with my eyes growing up was that everyone sort of assumed I was stoned. “Oh, I had that too. But I was never really that bothered. It didn’t, er. I didn’t... I mean, I also had grey hair on the first day of school. But what were you saying?” Well, I was trying to describe a sort of paradox, that you seem like outsiders reaching for something universal, but part of your fanbase are the direct inverse: they remain ‘inside’ the mainstream while using your music to manufacture a feeling of outsiderdom.
He nods, vaguely interested. “I think if you’re a music fan, you’re taking pieces of the things you like. I suppose we noticed that when we first started, because to a lot of kids who came to the shows, it was about backcombing your hair. Looking on those parts of the crowd is a bit weird, like looking out at tourists.” Does it bother you? “Well, not really. If I was performing to a roomful of me, it’d probably be the most boring crowd in the world, you know? It’d be people standing with their arms folded, trying to work out what the singer was doing.” He starts to laugh but stops suddenly, and wheezes. “You can’t make music for people exactly like yourself. Music is people piecing together the person they want to be.” At first this seems obvious; everybody knows popular bands excite people in myriad ways. But the more you think about it, the more astute it sounds. For a band sometimes criticised as shameless cratediggers, The Horrors elude pastiche because the final packaged result (which itself influences bands like Toy, Temples and Protomartyr) is unmistakably theirs. What Faris points out is that music fans are kind of the same: they seek out different music to better create a new personality. Still, if that’s the case, isn’t it odd that so many of us feel, however comfortably we occupy the collective western lifestyle, that who we truly are is something fundamentally ‘outside’ or apart? “Yeah,” Faris says. “But in some ways that’s a cool thing, because bands that enable that separation are the ones that changed the course of my life. It’s funny, because when you look at bands with a gang mentality, you want togetherness but also separation. You wanna be in with
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these people yet to shove the rest aside. Those bands are important because they change people’s lives.” When the gothed-up rabble-rousers invaded the 2006 indie scene, few would have pegged them as life-changers – least of all The Horrors themselves, who in Faris’s words “just wanted to make a record because we were collecting records.” Nonetheless, it’s with this attitude that the band – to whom the present is “the most boring thing in the world” – build a musical future from the past. “When I was younger,” Faris recalls, “I thought to be in a band you had to have years of musical training, but when I got into music that involved hammering away at a guitar, I realised that spirit is what matters. That’s when I lost interest in [fame]. All the other stuff can follow. When you discover that kind of thing, you get so excited that everything else turns kind of grey.” Luminous, then, feels aptly titled: that ambiguous glow representing one passion replacing another. But for now, as The Horrors congregate by the lift in the Hospital Club corridor, the record’s as far out of mind as garage-rock, eyeliner and the adolescent vagaries of fashion. Well, sort of. “Is that a new leather jacket?” asks Rhyss, flicking Faris’s shoulder. “How many have you got now?” “Oh, about 15,” Faris grins, pulling out his Percy Pigs. There’s a hush as The Horrors chew sweets awkwardly, trapped between the future and past. “Doors opening,” declares a computerised female voice. It’s pretty hard to dispute. Luminous is released via XL Recordings on 5 May. Playing Field Day Festival on 8 Jun thehorrors.co.uk
THE SKINNY
Photo: Rob Sheridan
The Upward Spiral As the 20th anniversary of Nine Inch Nails’ most celebrated work rolls by and their latest incarnation sets sail for Scotland, Trent Reznor says he can’t afford to look back
“W
here are we coming from?” Trent Reznor stops to wonder where he’s been for the last month. “Oh yeah, we just got back from South America and we’re heading your way next week.” Now a quarter of a century into the Nine Inch Nails story, the veteran frontman speaks between transatlantic legs of a globespanning year-long tour which will this month see his proto-industrial rock giants give The Hydro’s PA system its greatest challenge yet. Returning from a self-imposed five year sabbatical which could have been the very end of the band, today he’s mild mannered, focused and seemingly a world away from the troubled prodigy who penned furious Gen X anthems like Gave Up and Mr Self Destruct. But in an era of rampant reappraisal, where landmark anniversaries for classic records are celebrated weekly while a holographic 2Pac can stalk the stage, it seems nothing’s ever really over in latter-day popular culture. Besides, Reznor himself didn’t seem to know what early retirement might entail back in 2009. With an Oscar on his mantelpiece to show for a handful of high profile gigs scoring David Fincher films with sometime collaborator Atticus Ross (their third, Gone Girl, has just been announced), there’s a sense that the versatile composer was out there playing the game. “There wasn’t a master plan to bring Nails back,” he says, staring down suggestions that the reprisal is some calculated deceit. “There really wasn’t. I felt like I needed to force myself into some unfamiliar territory and try to progress other projects I’d been talking about doing. It felt like that format of Nine Inch Nails, where
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Interview: Dave Kerr
we’d just got off a couple of solid years touring, I needed to force my hand and try something new – period. So I started a family, scored some films and worked with some other people on How To Destroy Angels. I unexpectedly found myself really very inspired by all of that and started seeing what some new Nine Inch Nails material might sound like. It felt strong, and I felt like there was a whole record in there. I accepted that and it became Hesitation Marks. Somewhere along the line somebody said ‘Do you want to play some shows?’ It seemed like it was worth trying that out – put a band together, start rehearsing and it felt good. I try not to get too bogged down with the things that I can’t control. Will people like me? I don’t know. Will people show up? Are they interested? I hope so, but I don’t know. I try to live up to my end of the deal and see what happens.” Nearly five years after his last trip to Scotland – where Nine Inch Nails toppled The Killers on the neighbouring main stage and claimed their men of the match medallion after a memorable wave goodbye at T in the Park – they return to play their largest indoor gig in these parts. Has absence made the heart grow fonder? “It seems like that’s the case,” Reznor chews on the notion. “I don’t know exactly why that is. I just try to do the best work I can do. It’s nice just to see somebody out there gives a shit about us,” he lets out a genuine gasp of humility before a dry chuckle takes over. “…that feels pretty good.” A cursory glance at behind the scenes footage of the band’s high-tech Tension tour late last year hammers home a clear sense that this ‘reactivation’ was no small undertaking. “We’re
not the kind of band that will do a show here, then take six months off and play a handful of shows. We build a machine that can last X amount of time. In this case, we knew we’d be committing to a year of touring. Having done this a number of times in the past, what I realised is that when you build something that’s pretty production heavy – something specific that brings in theatrical elements or elements of video, almost like a film or a play where it starts in one place, winds up in another and there’s a kind of flow and a climax to it – the unexpected result of that as the performer is that it can start to fall into a routine. A lot of the spontaneity in terms of what happens during the show is gone – you know what’s gonna happen because you’ve done it 40 times. That’s something to be concerned about.”
“How do you keep the ending exciting in this spoilerbased world of Twitter?” Trent Reznor
Before they’ve even set foot on the next stage, Reznor points out that the perceived shock quality of any sustained string of live performances has already been undermined by the presence of a camera. “A lot of these shows
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– particularly festivals – are now webcast around the world. If you’re interested in Nine Inch Nails, chances are you could’ve seen our show at Fuji Rock or Lollapalooza, because it’s living on YouTube right now. How do we make that exciting in the spoiler-based world of Twitter? How do you keep the ending exciting? How do you keep things fresh? So we try to treat each leg of the tour as a separate tour.” Inspired by the unconventional lodestar of Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense tour, Reznor turned Nine Inch Nails into a rotating ensemble when it was time to head for the enormodomes. “With Tension, we went no holds barred, knowing it was a core audience coming into an arena to see us. ‘How far can I take that?’ So I expanded the band into an eight-piece, really went heavy on video and production integration and by the time we finished that at Christmas I felt like ‘Hey, we’ve proved our point and I’m kind of tired of doing that.’” So what shape has the Nine Inch Nails live experience consequently taken for their imminent UK return? “What you’re going to see is a different thing,” says Reznor, keen to emphasise that this perpetual reconfiguration isn’t about cutting corners. “Now it’s a four piece band – much more nimble, less about deeply exploring the new album and more about the integration of an electronic and rock band and how far we can take that aggressively and also spontaneously. The shows we just did in Australia and South America were pretty bare bones – the show we’re building for your neck of the woods has much heavier production than that. It’s not the same as
THE SKINNY
Ask Trent
BRODY DALLE T-Dog, do you believe in God? “I do. I take comfort in thinking there’s some purpose and higher power of some sort. I’m not affiliated with any particular religion but that gives me some sense of comfort. I’ve had some dark days through the years and been through some shit that makes me think there is some reason here and it’s beyond just physics and biology.”
heavier production than that. It’s not the same as we did last year. The challenge is that this is 100 times more hard work on my end, because I have to keep redesigning and this is now the fourth set of rehearsals. But the goal is that it’s exciting for us on stage and it’s exciting for you in the audience, and you’re not sure what’s coming.” Reznor offers prescient commentary on the plight faced by performing musicians in 2014. “I think that live music in general is suffering a bit, because aside from the EDM experience in the rave tents, the rock band suffers because there’s a lot of competition for your attention these days. There’s your phone, and whatever the fuck’s going on in that, and the various other options of entertainment platforms. If you’re going to invest your evening in Nine Inch Nails, then I want you to leave with a visceral experience, going ‘Fuck, well that was a lot better than watching it on my laptop.’” Maybe it’s just the old-fashioned compulsion to thrill an audience that really lies at the heart of Nine Inch Nails’ rebirth. But there’s an immense pressure attached to designing a foldaway, state of the art, multi-platform roadshow that needs a reboot for every new continent it lands on. “It always comes down to the last couple of weeks, feeling like you want to kill yourself,” says Reznor. “It comes together but it never feels like it’s going to. I remember, before we started the Tension tour, Rob [Sheridan, long-term art director and collaborator] and I utterly defeated after being up for three days solid, looking at each other and me saying ‘I know it’s always bad before we leave, but this time for sure it’s the worst.’ He
May 2014
said ‘Yeah, you said that last time.’ And I’ll probably say it the next.” With no small number of casualties along the way, Reznor’s team sheet over the years has been one of the most remarkable in modern rock – whether he’s joined in the studio by Dave Grohl or Dr Dre, or taking to the road with Aaron North or Josh Freese. One returning personality who has frequently plugged into various incarnations of the band is perennial cyberpunk Robin Finck. Is he just harder than the rest? “What it is with Robin – and it really became clear through this whole period – stems from this: I’ve been doing this now for something like 25 years – which is hard to even comprehend from my point of view. My fear is that it gets comfortable, that it feels routine, it becomes expected and it’s not progressing forward, taking risks and feeling unsure. What this can easily turn into is something that becomes a nostalgia show – y’know, ‘Let’s go see Nine Inch Nails and relive how we felt 10 or 20 years ago.’ I’ve been beating myself up over this.” Dismantling the past in an effort to move the band forward and match the scale of his evolving ambitions, Reznor carefully assembled a crew of virtuosic players hailing from various outside disciplines – most notably, occasional studio collaborator Adrian Belew (also an early accomplice of Bowie, Zappa and Talking Heads) and former Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery – both of whom dropped out before playing a single gig. “When I started to put this band together for this cycle I thought ‘What if I really stir things up and bring in some people you wouldn’t expect and flip it on its head?’” he reasons. “What I found
then was that Robin wasn’t a part of that initial rehearsal. I had really underestimated how valuable what he brings to the table is. It’s excellent musicianship and it’s also spirit. Singing those songs, looking over and not seeing or sensing him there wasn’t right, it was then I realised I’d very much miscalculated this. The second he walked through the door it was like ‘My bad – I fucked up here and it won’t happen again.’” Since having the plug kicked out while his supergroup was in mid-flow at The Grammys this past February (to which he directed a very public “heartfelt FUCK YOU” towards its producers), it seems Reznor’s latter-day dalliances with the red carpet might be on ice for a little while. So is this to be a short-term reprisal for Nine Inch Nails, or is another chapter already coming into view? “I’m looking forward to playing these shows, but if I could do what I want to do right now I’d walk in the studio and start writing an album,” he confesses. “I’m going to try and pull off some of that while I’m on the road. I feel reinvigorated under the umbrella of Nine Inch Nails and I feel like this is more of a fresh start than sweeping ashes around and trying to rearrange things. It feels pretty positive to me. Now, when we finish this touring cycle at the beginning of the Fall, ask me again and it may be a different answer. But right now I feel pretty optimistic about where I’m at.” Nine Inch Nails play Glasgow’s SSE Hydro on 20 May www.nin.com
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Photo: Alexander Bell
Reznor and Robin Finck in rehearsal
BEN SHEPHERD (SOUNDGARDEN) Is there a Soundgarden song you’d want to sing with us when we go on tour together? None of us can sing Half from Superunknown, would you give it a try? [Chuckles] “I’ll tell you, I’m a fan of Soundgarden. I’ve always been in awe of what Cornell’s capable of doing with his voice. I say this with flattery – when I was coming up in the 70s, listening to rock music, every singer could somehow sing high as shit, and I thought ‘Well, I can’t be a singer because my range isn’t that high.’ When Soundgarden appeared it felt reminiscent of that same kind of great rock singer, like ‘Goddammit!’ I was pissed off that he could sing that well. I don’t have the skill to sing like that! But I’d be happy to try anything in a scenario where I don’t look like an idiot, sure – if I can contribute.”
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Nanny Great Despite a seemingly cursed premier at Cannes, which included a thunderstorm and a blackout, Anthony Chen’s Ilo Ilo has gone on to great acclaim and dozens of festival awards. Ahead of its UK release, Chen gives us his theories on his debut’s success Interview: D W Mault
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ingapore cinema has very rarely travelled outside the confines of its borders to such acclaim as Anthony Chen’s multi-award winning debut film Ilo Ilo (the exceptions being the films by Cannes-favourite Eric Khoo), which, since premiering at Cannes last May in the Director’s Fortnight strand, has won over 30 international awards including Cannes’ prestigious Caméra d’Or (for best first film) and the London Film Festival’s Sutherland Trophy. At first glance Ilo Ilo is a slight cocktail of innocence, misplaced parents and emotional connections that are never forgotten. Koh Jia Ler plays Jiale, a headstrong young boy who has to deal with a typical middle-class enclave interrupted by the world financial crisis and his parents bringing a Filipina live-in maid into their home. Angeli Bayani is wonderfully stoical as the put-upon nanny, Teresa, who manages to be both the supportive and stern mother figure that Jiale so obviously cries out for. A slight internalised focus means that the film is an insidious gem that at first glance appears to slip away to nothing at any given time but somehow weeks and months later it stays lodged in your cinematic consciousness, awaiting anything to lighten it back in your mind. The Skinny: It is of course rare that a debut film explodes, like Ilo Ilo has, on the
festival circuit or otherwise, so the question is always how or why… Anthony Chen: My nanny came when I was four and she left when I was 12. Ilo Ilo came from one piece of emotion: when I was 12 standing at the airport sending her off and I remember I was crying and crying, it was quite painful. Now looking back at this memory that has been repressed for so many years I wondered how would a kid develop these feelings for a foreigner, a stranger who is not part of your family? The film is autobiographical, then, but how much so? It started off as a retelling of events and that wasn’t very interesting and slowly as I discovered my characters, I went on a journey and found what I was trying to say and create. It was a very organic process but I had to stand back and be more objective. I wish I was a more formulaic writer. I wish I was a more brilliant writer but I’m not. I have to slowly find things. Ilo Ilo won the Caméra d’Or in Cannes last year [Chen is the first Singapore filmmaker to do so] but the premiere sounds like you were cursed: you had blackouts, thunderstorms and the film stopped three times… I felt it was such a disaster to begin with and became so beautiful. There was a storm and all of a sudden 40 minutes into the film there was
a powercut and there was a complete blackout (which happened a further two times). I wanted to run out and bury myself, I was so worried people were going to walk but I was so surprised that they stayed right to the end. When the film received a rapturous standing ovation that was quite magical and electrifying. I thought at first that people were being polite because we had such a terrible premiere and they were trying to console us, but when I turned around and saw the tears in people’s eyes, and how moved they were, I realised that there is something special about this film. Have you been surprised by the international reception to the film? I’m surprised that the film has won over 30 awards from around the world. For me the film has always been such a humble piece of
filmmaking, it is not subversive, stylish, muscular or a groundbreaking piece of cinema. Your nanny came to a screening in Singapore, is that correct? It was because of the Caméra d’Or that spurred a lot of intense interest from the Filipino media, and they were the ones who hunted her down via TV news. We couldn’t have done it because all we had was her first name: Teresa. We knew her as Auntie Terry. What did she think of the film? I remember she told me the next day that “you make me laugh, you make me cry.” She is a woman of few words but when she says anything it feels that there is always something wise in it. Ilo Ilo is released 2 May by Soda Pictures sodapictures.com
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11 APRIL - 3 AUGUST 2014 Celebrating the Centenary of Animator Norman McLaren Screenings, Exhibitions, Workshops, Performances around the UK
Stirling • Glasgow • Edinburgh and across the UK www.mclaren2014.com @mclaren2014
/mclaren2014
The McLaren 2014 Programme is produced by the Centre for the Moving Image in partnership with the National Film Board of Canada. www.mclaren2014.com
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THE SKINNY
40 Years of GFT As Glasgow Film Theatre reaches middle age, we ask some of its staff and patrons to reflect on the place Interview: Jamie Dunn
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or four decades Glasgow Film Theatre has been at the heart of the city's film culture. While other much-loved picture houses like The ABC (now the O2 ABC) and The Salon (currently Hillhead Book Club) swapped double-bills for double Bacardi and cokes back in the 90s when cinema ticket sales were on the slide, the GFT has remained steadfast. In fact, it continues to grow, adding a third screen last year. For Glaswegians with film taste that extends beyond that of a 13-year-old boy’s, the GFT’s screens provide a window to cinema from cultures beyond North America and Europe. It’s also the HQ for the ever-popular and inventive Glasgow Film Festival, which celebrated its own ten year milestone in February, and it is now, in the age of digital projection, one of the few cinemas in the country with the capacity to screen films from 35mm and 70mm prints. Basically, if you’re a cinephile living in or around the city, it’s your second home. We speak to some of GFT staff and GFT movie-goers to find out what the place has meant to their own cinema educations and ask them their favourite memories of time spent in this Glasgow institution. Adam Stafford Musician and filmmaker – first film at GFT, ornithology documentary Winged Migration (Jacques Perrin) circa 2004 (he and his friend liked it so much they went back to watch it two more times!) I find it’s the perfect place to discover films new and old, populist and esoteric, especially during the Glasgow Film Festival and the specially curated regional screenings they have. Recently I’ve been making a point of going to see old classics that I’ve never had the chance to see on the big screen before and at the end of the month I’m going to try and catch as many of the Mark Cousins-curated Cinema of Childhood films as I can. I’ve had many memorable film-watching experiences at GFT, including both my own two short films, the last of which was exhibited in the beautiful brand new third screen. But I think the most memorable one, for some strange reason, was a showing of the odd slasher film Slaughter High. It’s such a poorly made, limp, paint-bynumbers horror, but there was just something about the tone and nastiness of the film – the cheapness, the crapness, the 80s-ness, the ridiculous music and the quality of the original print – that made the experience feel grubby. I’m all for the fun of crap films, but this, screened as a double with Tobe Hooper’s equally crass The Funhouse, got under my skin.
Sean Greenhorn Glasgow Film Festival Programme Coordinator – first film at GFT, a late night screening of The Thing (John Carpenter) I moved to Glasgow to study film – and I do not know how I would have lived without the GFT! From seasons on Agnes Varda to programmes of Hans Richter short films with live improvised music, the programme at GFT has both helped open my eyes and focus my interest in cinema. I also took a keen interest in the act of cinemagoing, something that was also supported by the event-cinema nature of Glasgow Film Festival. After years of not really ‘getting’ Jan Švankmajer, seeing his work brought to life with such vigour and aplomb as part of 85A’s installation/event/ party at the 2012 festival is still one of my most cherished memories.
May 2014
Margaret Lynch GFT Head Cleaner & Bar Staff – first film at GFT, The Sound of Music (Robert Wise), she ushered for it Being in the 60s age bracket, I never went to art cinemas from school. Working in GFT has opened up another world of film experience for me. The best of which was ushering for Nelly and Mr. Arnaud – it was the first French film I saw. Louise Welsh Author and card-carrying GFT Cineclub member – she can’t remember her first movie at the GFT, but it was sometime in the mid-80s I live not far from the GFT – I can make it in 12 minutes, but I’d prefer not to – so I go quite regularly. I’m one of those people who goes through the programme and highlights what I want to see and then miss a lot of it because of other commitments, but I’ve always been somebody who’ll just run up the road if I realise I’ve some free time – so that’s why you sometimes might see me at a film looking a right old state. But that’s what I like about the pictures. I tend to go with friends, but you can also just go on your own when the whim takes you. The GFT is where I first saw Louise Brooks’ silent movies. My first was Pandora’s Box, by G. W. Pabst, and it was on a double-bill with Broken Blossoms starring Lillian Gish. I remember that being a real seminal film for me and one that I thought about a lot. I went off and sought out biographies and books about Louise Brooks; I was a student when I saw it and I’m pretty sure it’s affected the way that I dress. Many years later I wrote a book called The Bullet Trick, which is partly inspired by that movie, so I guess that’s a screening that had a big effect on my creative life. So thanks for introducing it to me, GFT. I also remember seeing Brokeback Mountain there and the man behind me was crying his eyes out really loudly and I was just thinking, God, how important is it sometimes for people to see something on screen? It can be a real conduit for expressing experiences that people have had. The way that people can see themselves on screen in films that, on the surface, are rather different from their lives – what do cowboys in America have to do with living in Glasgow? Film can really touch people, and it’s so important to have a place where we can all go and experience those feelings together. Corinne Orton Glasgow Film Festival Producer – first film at GFT, Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman) I didn’t go to film school, I studied languages, so I came to cinema from the perspective of learning about new cultures and places. In the four years I’ve worked at GFT I’ve seen so many things I may never have given a chance, such as Haxan – the silent film/live score that was brought to GFT during the BFI Gothic season – some of the Crossing the Line programming and Japanese cinema, even anime. One event that springs to mind is recently watching Claudia Lennear, a former Ikette and backing singer for The Stones, sing to a captive audience along with a gospel choir, after the Festival screening of 20 Feet from Stardom. It was so moving and brought a tear to my eye! Fatemeh Nokhbeh Member of the 2014 Youth Film Festival programming team – first film at GFT, probably Ice Age (Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha) as a kid It has allowed me so much access to
international cinema and in general allowed for a chance to step outside the box and try areas of cinema which I was just not used to before. There are often discussions and events around certain films. Especially with all the different themed months and festivals, there is so much to dive into! Most memorable experience at GFT? It was quite something when someone proposed to his girlfriend before a screening of Beetlejuice during the festival this year! Anne-Marie Copestake Artist and Margaret Tait Award-winner – she can’t remember her first film at GFT, but it feels omnipresent in her life Watching and listening to films in a cinema feels very important and necessary at times. It’s an obvious thing to say, but it can be easily
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overlooked, you cannot pause and repeat sections but the gains are hugely apparent. When my Margaret Tait film [And Under That] showed at GFT I felt on alert throughout the whole screening night as there was also a live music soundtrack part, by Stevie Jones, Jer Reid, and Muscles of Joy, playing from the film, but it was an incredible experience altogether. One thing that struck me deeply was observing how various shots or images appeared very differently on a large screen. Shots that worked but that even seemed a little dull on smaller screens came to life in an extraordinary way on a large screen. GFT are screening a preview of Fruitvale Station on Sun 4 May at 4.15pm, as part of our 40th birthday celebrations glasgowfilm.org
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Inside the Imaginarium He may enjoy a good slipper and term himself an “old fart”, but Mr. Scruff aka Andy Carthy is still innovating, with a new album and the 15th anniversary of clubnight Keep It Unreal on the way. He gives us an insight into his world of tea, tunes and potato men
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r. Scruff is an out-and-out teahead, and a splash of milk into an accurately timed brew is most certainly his bag. He’s even got his very own cafe, Teacup, nestled in the heart of Manchester’s Thomas Street on the site of ex-record shop Vox Pop Music. It’s a quaint little place that serves up a whole host of loose leaf concoctions and scrumptious cakey things. It’s also where we manage to sit down with Scruff – who goes by the name of Andy Carthy by day – to pore over the thinking behind new LP Friendly Bacteria, and to catch a glimpse of the unreal world that both he and his cartoons inhabit. “I enjoy the simple enjoyment of life,” says Carthy, flipping the multi-coloured sand timer that accompanies our teapots. “There’ll always be nerds and trainspotters, but you don’t need to have a massive knowledge of all the internal workings to enjoy tea, or music. This place is great to have a chat with your mates and get a bit of cake, and it performs that simple function well. We’ve got loads of different flavours because selection, like with music, depends entirely on the mood you’re in. In the morning you might want something really strong to get the gears going; in the evening, you might go for something a bit mellower, or something nourishing that you can feel is good for you. It all depends on mood.” So what mood has Mr. Scruff been in recently? Early samples from Friendly Bacteria mark a shift from the carefree glee of 2008’s Ninja Tuna, with a wealth of collaborations and more serious song titles than ever before. “The ingredients are different this time,” Carthy explains. “It’s got a different mood, lots of long sustained notes and interesting textures. There’s definitely a bit of a fog to this one. “The benefit of working with other people is that you can bounce ideas off them. There are quite a few songs with a chap called Denis Jones, for instance. He’s a good mate of mine who plays guitar and keys with loop pedals, and melds feedback with his vocals to create these cracking, scuzzy harmonies, in a way that I know I never could. He has a completely different set of musical references to me, but that’s just it: when I collaborate with somebody, I want the end result to be something that I couldn’t have achieved by myself.” The end result is that, compared to his previous efforts, Friendly Bacteria has a tough electronic edge all its own. It’s darker, moodier, and not as spritely in places, and captures Carthy’s inclination to create something “less daft” this time around. “You have to force yourself out of your comfort zone all the time,” he reasons. “I mean, what’s the point in trying to replicate your successes?” The hip hop approach is still there, but instead of stealing from a funk or soul record, Scruff has upped the ante on sampling himself playing percussion, or another musician playing an instrument: “I’ve stepped away from using too many obvious samples and started chopping up more session material in Logic. What I suppose that means is” he takes a slurp from his cup. “I’m looking for a sound that has the toughness and reliability of sequenced music and the unpredictability and vibrancy of live music. It has to sit somewhere in the middle.” Most of the material for Friendly Bacteria was recorded in bits and pieces at Carthy’s home studio, Jones’ house and the Manchester School of Sound Recording: “I’ve been pottering on it for about five years or so, and I think that’s because I’ve been doing slightly too many gigs.
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Interview: Daniel Jones Photography: Elinor Jones
I also had a daughter three years ago, which is a big factor. I get up at seven with her, get to the venue to set up in the afternoon and not getting home ‘til about four in the morning. Then do it again the next day!” he chuckles. “I’m an old fart now. In the end, Ninja Tune tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘So, about this new album…’ which made me think, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot I was signed to you!’ “It’s odd because I’m really technical when it comes to DJing but a lot more free and easy in the studio. If I’m excited about something in my head, I need to get it down quickly, even if it’s on a crap mic. The most important thing for me is capturing a performance there and then, and getting the mood right. You have to capture the energy that inspires a performance because it gives the music a context and an attitude.” It’s comforting to know that, given the vast range of intricacies scattered throughout his back catalogue, Carthy has always made a conscious effort not to strive for perfection, or to second guess himself: “I like bad notes”, he explains further. “I like stuff being a bit out of time, or out of tune. In the world of electronic production it is far too easy to make everything perfectly sequenced. A lot of those intricacies are actually based around something unexpected that happened very quickly. You have to be very wary not to neaten things up too much.” Outside of the studio, it’s less than a month until the 15th birthday of Keep It Unreal, a night spawned from the launch party for Scruff’s 1999 debut album of the same name. Though he once booked guests, Carthy now tends to man the booth for the entire duration. “I like the progression involved in playing for six hours,” he says. “And it’s not too bad on the legs. Usually, all I need is a nice bit of carpet and some comfy slippers and I’m good to go. Birthdays are an excuse to socialise a bit more than you would normally, but we won’t be wearing hats or anything. I don’t tend to jump around on stage, waving my arms in the air; my cartoons can do that for me.” Carthy explains that the potato men first appeared in doodling sessions during his time at high school: “The surreal, Python-esque humour has always been there. It’s nice to be able to create an imaginary world where you look up and something freaky is happening. I spend a lot of time in my own little bubble anyway, so I think they live in that universe with me. There’s a humour and mischievous side to the drawings that provides a perfect illustration for my music, so it’s a great visual identity to have live.” Keep it Unreal is normally a veritable smorgasbord of jazz, soul, funk, disco, reggae, hip hop and house, along with healthy smatterings of miscellaneous. “I don’t have a massive amount of rock stuff,” Carthy reveals, when pressed on what he isn’t likely to play. “I mean, I used to buy rock in the past because, when it comes to sampling, the common element is drums. If it’s got drums in it, I’ll buy it. You end up with a really weird, wacky and wonderful record collection, almost by default. “But, no matter how adventurous you are, you’re always going to be nervous about playing new things. You might play something when the doors open one month, next time you play it an hour later, and then three months later you’re playing it at peak time and wondering why you were so worried in the first place. Also, a lot of regulars will have far more knowledge about records outside of my periphery, which is why
I’ve always had a problem with DJs who refuse to take requests. The combined knowledge of music on any dance floor, in any venue, far exceeds any DJ. And, if something has triggered a connection in somebody’s head, I want to know why they made the link.” It’s that curiosity which has kept Keep It Unreal alive and kicking for 15 years. “I really like the mellow, still atmosphere at the start of the night”, Scruff explains. “That’s where you start gradually building momentum. You can alter the mood completely by adding in something as subtle as a single hi-hat. They are the margins by which people choose to dance.”
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Whether it’s the studio or the club, Carthy’s signature sound is undeniable, but it has always been nigh on impossible to pin down. Perhaps most intriguing is how Carthy is able to arrive at that sound through different means. There is no stock synth, agenda or method of doing things; instead, Mr. Scruff is a channel for music that contradicts itself, rendering mellow and aggressive styles together to incredibly versatile effect. If nothing else, there are very few musicians who have succeeded in bridging the gap between hip hop, good humour and slippers. Friendly Bacteria is out 19 May via Ninja Tune
THE SKINNY
Incarcerated Words As the battle over Chris Grayling’s book ban rages on, The Skinny looks at prison prose and a selfish reason for allowing access to literature on the inside
Mad Professor
Photo: Sol Nicol
Words: Alan Bett Illustration: Guy Roberts
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he mightiest of spring flings, Stag & Dagger, returns to Glasgow on the Bank Holiday weekend (4 May). Now in its sixth year, the concept is simple: one ticket, eight stages, and a battalion of acts across Broadcast, Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, CCA, The Art School, and O2 ABC, all from 2pm. Look out for headliner Albert Hammond, Jr., he of The Strokes fame, Brooklyn rock storytellers The Hold Steady, and Wichita Recordings indie sextet Los Campesinos!, all at the O2 ABC. There’s plenty more on offer downstairs in O2 ABC2, with neo folk crew Anderson McGinty Webster Ward and Fisher, Welsh jangle-pop merchants Catfish and the Bottlemen, feral punk collective Fat White Family, rising visceral Brighton rock duo Royal Blood, angel-voiced soloist Sivu, and indie R&B trio Wet who’ll probably catch the same flight from Brooklyn as The Hold Steady. Probably. Do you want more? 5 May sees the return of Big Daddy Kane to O2 ABC2 – the hip-hop legend behind the Juice Crew and Cold Chillin’ Records is still going strong, and apart from dabbling in acting, and touring with his R&B / soul project Las Supper, still knows how to set it off with a set of old school hip-hop classics. Feel the wrath of Kane as he plays the O2 ABC2 in Glasgow, with support from Soundsci and Mixkings DJs. Only a few weeks after the 20th anniversary of late husband Kurt Cobain’s untimely passing (and subsequent landmark LP Live Through This), Courtney Love brings her latest entourage to the O2 Academy on Thursday 15 May. With a reunion of her career-launching band Hole reportedly in the pipeline, here’s a rare opportunity to see the actress-cum-rock-chick give it laldy in her own right. Meanwhile, your mid-May weekend kicks off with BBC radio veteran Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club (O2 ABC, Fri 16 May), where Lister himself will be spinning a selection of classic tracks from the titular genres. Don’t miss the support, courtesy of Federation of the Disco Pimp, a seven-piece jazz ‘n’ funk troupe from these parts, known for aggressively groovy sets. The following Friday, class is in session: Mad Professor with Jesse Royal and The Ariwa Posse (O2 ABC, Fri 23 May) come to school you in all things dub. Heralded as the genre’s own technical pioneer, Neal Fraser – Guyana-born but London-based – earned his nickname through an obsession with audio electronics in his youth, and it’s that nerdiness that helped digitise dub and reggae music. Needless to say, you’ll be in safe hands. [George Sully] www.o2abcglasgow.co.uk
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ibraries gave us power. Little wonder then that Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has limited the access to literature for those we incarcerate. This ban on prisoners’ books is currently being challenged from all quarters including academics, human rights lawyers and esteemed writers from around the world. Chris Haddon, Mary Beard and Philip Pullman are just three amongst tens of thousands to have signed a Change.org petition in a battle which looks set to rage for the foreseeable future. Beyond their most admirable motives, it’s tempting to consider a more self-centred position, thinking of the rights of the reader. Imagine the literature lost through restricting prisoners’ rights to read, and, as it serves as a window onto creativity, therefore to write. Some of history’s finest works were produced in captivity or inspired by stays there; that cold gruelling ‘day in the life’ with Solzhenitsyn and Ivan Denisovich, Brendan Behan’s formative years as a borstal boy, Jeffrey Archer’s... no, let’s stop there. A prime example: Chester Himes, a man hidden within Ohio prison for a criminal act and now criminally hidden from the reading public, was sentenced to 25 years for armed robbery in 1928. Forget those fugazi fables spun from second hand bullshit, Himes wrote and published short fiction while actually living, observing and surviving life behind the penitentiary bars, using his creativity to stay cool with guards and inmates. How else could he have got down so tight with prison patois: “I ain’t no chump, I’ll sit on my G’s and hatch out my time. But by the time another year passed, three days were eleven feet tall, so help me I was straining my conk thinking of how I could get out.” (Money Don’t Spend in the Stir, 1944), and shame even Irvine Welsh with his grasp of dialect. “Twuz thirteen of us. Lesse. Yessuh, leben, twelve. Nawsuh, fo of us is
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dead; me in prison, dat makes five. Ten, Leben, twelve, thirteen, foteen – dat ain’t right.” (The Way of Flesh, undated) How else could he so vividly sculpt this unbearable scene of anxiety and prison loneliness? “He sat hunched forward on his stool, taut nerves drawing his body into a tense question mark, chin out. Muscles were shadowed roots, springing from the open collar of his blue prison shirt to his jutted chin.” (The Visiting Hour, 1936). He saw literary success on his release in 1936, against all odds, with his own publishing house sabotaging his too-raw treatment of 50s America’s racial nightmare, If He Hollers Let Him Go, refusing the reprint destined to make it a bestseller. So yes, libraries gave us power, gave it to Iceberg Slim; to change from pimping to prose, pushing dope to typewriter keys. Gave it to Malcolm X, at that time Malcolm Little, as he languished in Charlestown State Prison. Later to be saved by printed word and wisdom, as he recollects in his autobiography, “What they termed ‘the true knowledge of the black man’ that was possessed by the followers of The Honourable Elijah Muhammad was given shape for me in their lengthy letters, sometimes containing printed literature.” From these literary seeds he grew into ‘the man’s’ worst nightmare. A cautionary tale for Grayling and warped reasoning to deny our prisoners those same rights of reading and learning, and a selfish reason for all who have or will read these great works (Archer excluded) to rally against him and sign that petition. Similar self interested challenges might be directed from his own political classes, those who have already served their time over cash for questions and ripping off the public purse, and the lying, cash-fiddling house flippers who maybe should. change.org
THE SKINNY
Love Buzz With her first solo release Diploid Love set to confirm her as an increasingly accomplished songwriter, Brody Dalle explains why the dual demands of family and music are a problem she’s happy to have Interview: Gary Kaill
May 2014
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h, I’m so sorry about that,” says Brody Dalle from her LA home, as screams and shrieks cause her to put the phone down for a few minutes. “I have a two year old and an eight year old and I had to step in. So, where were we?” Where we were, indeed are, is discussing the creative process, more specifically hers, and how it sparked Diploid Love, Dalle’s imminent solo album and arguably the best thing she’s put her name to yet. A distinctly more measured beast than the ragged punk rock of The Distillers, the band she formed in the late 90s after moving from Australia to the US, and yet a gutsier brew than Spinnerette, the post-Distillers outfit she made just the one album with, it smartly manages to splice the best characteristics of both. With Dalle now happily ensconced in family life with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, she reaches her mid-thirties as less of a firebrand, more of – certainly on the evidence of Diploid Love – a developed and developing artist. “I’ve always written my records in a particular way,” she says, when asked if these days she sees herself as songwriter first, performer second. “I’m not like Nick Cave where you go into the office and you sit down and you work from 9 to 5. I’ve never been that kind of artist. It just happens. You go through a phase when ideas come and they to start to flow through you. You can hear music all the time and you think ‘OK – it’s time to make a record.’ And I experienced that this time, but I have two kids, so you know…” Is Diploid Love more about the songwriting than the punk rock ruckus? “Yeah, definitely,” agrees Dalle, and goes on to explain just how it was stitched together over time. “It was made incrementally. So when I could sink my teeth into it, I really went for it.” It’s quite a cliché to assume that the artistic process can’t be pushed, that you just have to grab inspiration when it gets up in your face. “Yeah,” says Dalle, “but I think all songwriters are different. For me, it’s a phase thing. I’ll be in phase and out of phase. Then sometimes I won’t want to pick up an instrument for like two years!” She laughs. “But, yeah, I’d like to get more Nick Cave about it. I like the idea of freeing up some time – because family takes up all my time – and going somewhere to sit and tinker on a typewriter. I do like a typewriter. I dunno, it just sounds really romantic to me.” It’s not easy to picture Dalle dashing back from the school run before heading off to her study. The wild abandon of the early Distillers records seem somewhat at odds with her life now. It’s hard to imagine her ever again writing a line like “If I was you I’d fucking hate me too.” She’s not entirely convinced. “I don’t know,” she ponders. “It’s a different time. Maybe. I think that if I listen back to the first Distillers record and then the second and the third, I definitely think I’ve evolved. The lyrics on the first record make me cringe.” Really? “Yeah… There’s a song about Berlin [epic album closer The Blackest Years] I like. I like those lyrics, and the older you get, the more you know, the more you have more of those kind of songs. When you’re younger you might write just one.” Does she see herself as a figurehead? There’s a portion of her fanbase who admire her with a deep passion. “No!” Really? “Well, not really... I like it, I like the idea. It’s interesting.” Often, artists become hyper-aware of their impact or of their perception amongst their adoring legion, particularly, as is the case with Dalle, when that following is devout and loyal. She offers sober perspective. “I mean, look at Patti Smith. I found her really late in my life. Yeah, so when you get a woman like that, who has this legendary status…” She pauses to laugh again. “I don’t generally apply it to myself!” She ponders the debilitating effects of fickle fame and how it can drain the youthful purity of artistic ambition. Janet Weiss recently remarked in these pages that she was satisfied to have made a compromise-free living from music for so long, but worried that the new
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generation of female pop stars were more than ever constrained by the demands of the dollar – a very male dollar. Had Dalle faced similar hurdles? She’s slightly taken aback at the quandary. “Whoa, that’s really intense,” she says, and stops to consider. “I don’t really have to deal with it. If you’re at a certain level in the music industry, there’s a lot of compromise. And usually it’s you who’s compromising. I’m really lucky because I was liberated from my record company [Warner Bros] and got to keep my record – the Spinnerette record. They let me walk away when they could have made it really difficult for me.” “So since then,” she continues, “everything’s been on my terms. I haven’t really had to compromise at all. A little bit, but that’s normal. I’m signed to a label now [Caroline Records] and they’re music people; they love music. I’m the kind of artist who comes with everything. I’m the full package. There’s a lot of artists out there who aren’t really that and there’s a lot of bands who are, bands who know what they want. I think the more independent you are, the better. And if you are, you don’t have to compromise. You can just make it happen.” With the underground, if not the mainstream, allowing emerging female artists to grow at their own pace, is there a young new Patti Smith who speaks to Brody Dalle? She’s enthusiastic in response: “Yeah, I’m listening to this band called Dark Times. They’re from Oslo. Do you know them? It’s rad, it’s raw. It sounds gritty and thrashy and the singer, she’s got these shriek-y vocals, but to me they sound they’re really onto something. I was really excited to find them because the other day I was downloading some X-Ray Spex, all the old stuff I grew up with, but I’m always looking for new stuff. I guess you just have to search it out.” It’s there, though, right? “Oh absolutely. Totally. It’s totally there.”
“Sometimes I won’t want to pick up an instrument for like two years!” Brody Dalle
Sometimes artists struggle to shake off the glories of youth but Brody Dalle (a veteran of the scene at a mere 35) appears to be navigating the future by way of her past. Certainly Diploid Love makes a convincing case for a developing, maturing vision. Still, she’s good enough to indulge one more back catalogue query. The song Colossus USA from The Distillers’ self-titled debut contained a line that seems to encapsulate her there-and-back-again journey. In the song, Dalle meets someone who tells her to “Live in the world, not for gain.” It’s an appealing epithet – is it one that still chimes with Dalle? “That was a guy I actually did meet,” she recalls. “He was, how do I say, a street person. He wanted some money and I told him I wasn’t gonna give him any. I could tell he’d been up drinking all night. So I took him into this café and bought him lunch. He was just a regular person. It was really trippy to see someone so dishevelled and dirty and smell so bad, and yet have all their faculties intact. Yeah, that’s gnarly, dude...” A lesson for us all, perhaps? “Yeah, definitely. It depends on what you’re trying to gain, you know? You could be trying to gain all kinds of things. I think that as long as you’re not trying to hurt or exploit anybody… If you’re trying to gain love or experience, those kinds of things, then that’s cool. It’s all about your intent. What are you here to do? If you’re here to create, whether that be a life or something that can help people; art, even, that’s good. If you’re here to destroy, well…” She tails off at the thought. “But I’m good, regardless. I’m in a good place now.” Diploid Love is released via Caroline Records on 28 Apr brodydalle.com
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A Life of Letters Alasdair Gray is back with a new autobiography, Of Me & Others, and his to-do list is still more impressive than yours Interview: Adeline Amar lasdair Gray is no stranger to autobiography. He has used personal experiences in most of his writing, most famously for the story of Thaw in Lanark where, just like the author, the character studies at the Glasgow School of Art and paints murals. In 2010 Gray also published Autopictography: A Life in Pictures which, as the title suggests, takes the reader through the visual arts-side of his career. Of Me & Others, however, is described by Gray in the Foreword as “the nearest thing to an autobiography I can imagine completing” and the project is something that has been on his mind for quite some time. “I think when I was 40 or 45 I noticed that I had accumulated a quantity of essays that I would like to have gathered in one book, you know. When Lanark was published in 1981, I knew a book of my short stories was coming out, but I had no ideas for writing any more fiction. So I thought: I’ve got one novel – Lanark – one book of short stories, there will be one book of my poems, one book of my plays and one book of my essays. And I thought of this book, Of Me & Others, as being my one book of essays. Well, things kept being added to it. A couple of years ago I thought that now I could get them all together.” Of Me & Others is not a conventional autobiography but a multi-format book which pulls together new, previously published and unpublished writing. “This book is all words – no pictures. Only pieces of prose written between 1952 when I was 17, and 2013 when I became 79. There are some reminiscences of my own early days, reminiscences of people I met and introductions to books I’ve written, reviews of books I have read, and reminiscences of friends.” Texts include prologues and epilogues to major novels such as Lanark, 1982 Janine and Old Men in Love, stories about his childhood and his family, and essays about figures like Ian Hamilton Finlay, Liz Lochhead and Will Self. While Gray is famous for sometimes spending years editing his work, Of Me & Others ‘only’ took him a bit over two years. One would think that selecting only a handful of writing from a career spanning nearly sixty years would be a harrowing process, but Gray quickly shrugs off the assumption. As he puts simply, “It was just a matter of getting the texts together and editing them and cutting out repetitions.” When talking about his Autopictography in 2010, Gray’s primary concern was that publicly writing about his life might also affect friends and family mentioned in the book. But this time he is not worried: “This particular book does not deal with deep emotions that I have experienced, nor does it describe my marriages. It tells a little about my own infancy, it mentions the infancy of my son, but I don’t go into people’s…” He pauses before adding, with his usual straightforward-ness: “It’s not a book of sexual revelations. Anybody who wants that kind of stuff can get it from my novels.” Long-time readers will easily recognise Gray’s writing style, especially with aspects like annotations clearly circled by rows of asterisks where Gray suddenly appears in his writing to tell the reader they do not need further details about this specific story. But talk about postmodernism all you will, it is also Gray’s typical self-deprecation that emerges from the book. This begs the question of whether Of Me & Others is perhaps better suited for an audience already familiar with the author’s work, or if it can be easily picked up by new readers. “I
May 2014
Photo: Angela Catlin
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would hope it could be picked up by new readers, I just don’t know!” He laughs then becomes serious again. “I don’t think it’s as much fun as my fictional work, and it certainly isn’t as richly illustrated as the Life in Pictures book. It will just be a question of how much people are interested in my work, of whether there’s enough folk interested in my work to buy it.”
“Its not a book of sexual revelations. Anybody who wants that kind of stuff can get it from my novels” Alasdair Gray
Gray is known equally for his writing as for his art, and likes to illustrate his own work. This time however, he stuck to the spine and jacket, with a design of yellow and gold irises and butterflies he calls “rather lovely. I would have liked to have more illustrations in the book, if I’d had
more time. But in fact I’ve also undertaken to write a book about politics called Independence, and I’m working hard to get that finished in time. Therefore I had not enough time to choose carefully and select a variety of entertaining illustrations to enrich this book.” Independence is due to be published in July, but is not the writer’s first venture into political commentary. Over the past few years Gray has become quite vocal about the appointment of non-Scots to senior arts jobs in Scotland, whom he has dubbed “colonists and settlers.” Gray brought up the topic again at a reading in Glasgow just days before this interview, although he then praised the heads of the National Theatre of Scotland and of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. It is perhaps worth noting that, a few years ago, the Gallery acquired a major painting by Gray and held a display of his work. But it is not necessary to know Gray’s political opinions to think of the referendum when reading Of Me & Others, specifically its Foreword. At a time where independence debates clog up papers, radios and Facebook feeds on a daily basis, expressions like “struggle for a confident culture” and “nation” can easily take on a second meaning. Gray however quickly clarifies that this book was not written with a political agenda in mind: “I was quite surprised, when I got all the
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material together, to find it definitely had a political thirst to it. One of the earliest articles written was when I was commissioned to write a BBC television play, but was advised that I couldn’t give it a Scottish setting because the majority of people in the south of Britain would switch off any play that appeared on television where most people were talking with Scottish accent. I didn’t realise how well that connected in later essays in the book in which I was again finding that BBC censorship was preventing a play of mine being broadcast. There’s a number of references to that and I suddenly realised there was much in the book indicating that Scotland had better get more independence than it had.” He adds after a pause, “Though in fact it was a personal feeling.” All matters of independence aside, Alasdair Gray remains a busy man – and one who cannot focus on writing over painting for too long. As well as his forthcoming book, he notes he is also finishing up new paintings for a forthcoming retrospective at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, scheduled to coincide for his eightieth birthday in December. For someone who opened up Of Me & Others with the words “I do not know if I will live long enough to write a wholly honest autobiography,” Gray certainly shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. Alasdair Gray: Of Me & Others, published by Cargo. Hardback – with plastic screen printed sleeve. RRP £29.99
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Return of the Black Sun After a twenty-four year hiatus, Loop shocked fans with a sudden announcement of a reformation in 2013. About to play these shores on a co-headline tour with Godflesh, frontman Robert Hampson speaks to us about his absence and his return
Photo: Tom Sheehan
Interview: Colm McAuliffe
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or a man so well versed in the art of creating tectonically heavy grooves, Robert Hampson is a remarkably charming and mild-mannered individual. Formed in the grim London of 1985, Loop began as a loud and scrappy psychedelic rock band, hiding behind curtains of hair and walls of sound. But by the time of 1989’s Fade Out, the band embraced sonic extremities and became so grinding and intense that they threatened to collapse in upon themselves. Whereas their noise contemporaries looked to the skies for transcendence, Loop hammered through to the depths, with their thick, molten repetition, ripping holes in the earth’s surface. Of course, the only natural response to this was to disband, which they did in 1991; Hampson resurfaced initially as a member of Godflesh and latterly as part of Main, which deconstructed the ‘rock’ guitar until it was no longer a viable option. In the interim years, Loop’s reputation soared in tandem with Hampson’s outright refusals to bow to the burgeoning revisionist trade. Until last year that is, when the band returned to play a short UK tour and headline ATP. And now the band are touring again, this time as a part of a mind-melting double bill with the aforementioned Godflesh. So, what happened? “I refused to reform Loop for a very long time because I just wasn’t interested,” reflects Hampson. “I had been asked more times than I could count to do it but gradually, over the years, I guess I softened. It wasn’t a case of reforming the group just because a certain number of people were saying things; it was a considerable amount of people that wanted this. And being asked by people like ATP to curate the festival and being asked by bands like Mogwai to play with them, it just became a little bit more interesting and I thought ‘Well, I can only give it a go and see what happens.’ If it was an abject failure, you walk away from something very quickly. At this moment, it hasn’t been. We have a lot of commitments dating from when we originally announced the reformation so we’ll finish those commitments and then I’m not sure what the future will hold.” The era in which Loop formed was marked by
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‘indie’ music adopting a shambling, amateur-ish and ultra lo-fi approach to music making. In retrospect, the emergence of bands like Loop seem like a bold two fingers to the C86 scene and their ilk; instead of fey love songs that sounded as if they were recorded inside a sock, Hampson and co. embraced overt aggression and were arguably more at home amid the studio setting rather than the live venue. Even their Can and Suicide covers were more obsessive-compulsive than the originals. “It was radically different to everything else in the ‘indie’ scene,” admits Hampson, “but it was sonically not a million miles away from what people like Head of David were doing. I don’t particularly like labels or being categorised but we weren’t the only people beginning to embrace a louder and aggressive sound. But I was always obsessive about music from a very early age and I always had some form of recording studio since I was thirteen years old; I saved up all my money as a teenager to buy a Portastudio way back when! I do miss the days of old school analogue but I love being able to use digital systems that are so portable and accessible. Back in the day, you had so little, you would have to make the best of it and that was exciting, it was the challenge. But now you can do such radically different things.” To the untrained ear, the 2013/14 edition of Loop doesn’t incorporate Hampson’s more outré guitar experiments which characterised his work with Main yet both groups have their roots in the cranked-up, troubled guitar sounds of Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Wiliamson and Buddy Guy. “My uncle Roger was very much part of the English blues scene in the early 1960s,” Hampson concurs. “When it began, it was a very small circle of people, he knew a lot of the people who later became stars: Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson stayed with my grandmother. That’s been really interesting; it’s only really recently that I’m getting to the roots of what was going on within my family.” But did the guitar ultimately become an unwanted cross for Hampson to bear? “It wasn’t an albatross round my neck, If I had any issues at all, it was purely that when Main was beginning
to progress a lot more and there was much less guitar, people were basically talking about me being a guitar player but it was very difficult at the time to convey that the guitar is pretty much gone now, it has evaporated. That was very evident even from the very first Main EP, that the guitar was used as a tool but there was a shift away from the very traditional sound, it was much more about sound design and creating a soundscape and the focal point on the guitar wasn’t so important as Loop. As that progressed, that became the chain around my neck, the iconic nature of the guitar rather than the Loop aspect. After a while, when people got used to what Main was doing, there weren’t any similarities to Loop anymore. People would mention Loop to me but I never had a problem with that.”
“We had a reputation for being very loud, this time it’s even more powerful” Robert Hampson
Loop’s return to the live stage has heralded audience sizes markedly larger than the group’s heyday which creates an unusual irony for Hampson; as a solo artist, or with Main, he can nary get a single gig in the UK let alone go out on tour. This turn of events has seen him reside in Paris for the last number of years, a city much more open and accepting of his more recent musical output. “Musically, I don’t feel my home is in England anymore, it’s very, very rare I even get offered the chance to play in my home country which I find slightly sad,” he says. “Now you have places like Café Oto in London but it’s a very small audience, and that’s kind of a shame. Really, as a solo artist, even with Main, I can’t get arrested in my own country. I’d love to come
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home and do some shows but it’s not an option, I get the occasional offer but it never comes to fruition.” Did this have any bearing on his decision to reform Loop? “No, if people don’t want to listen to my music then they don’t have to – what can I do about it? I don’t hold any grudges, I don’t have an axe to grind. But it absolutely did not have any bearing on Loop reforming. I have mixed feelings about playing with Loop live. Being twenty four years older now, you have a very different perspective on things so there’s a twinge of nostalgia but it’s nice, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I’ve enjoyed the fact that so many people have said to me that these songs seem as relevant now as they did back then, as if they have an almost timeless quality about them. I don’t look at it in that way myself but a lot of feedback so far seems to have been ‘Wow! it’s quite relevant’. There’s a different element to it now, modern sound systems are much, much better than before and we have the ability to do a lot more on stage than we used to. That’s exciting, as we’ve embraced a little bit of technology here and there which we never had access to back in the day. Even though we had a reputation then for being very loud, this time around the volume is still there but it sounds even more powerful than it was then. That was definitely one of the reasons in doing Loop again; sonically it could be so much better than it used to be in a live situation.” Finally, for these Loop and Godflesh coheadlining shows, will Hampson be double jobbing? “No,” he laughs. “When we decided to play together at Roadburn it was only seen as a one off but right at this moment in time, I’m concentrating on Loop. The Godflesh boys have a new album coming out and I don’t wanna really play two shows in one evening! But you know, I’ve really surprised myself by reforming Loop and I’m beginning to fall back into old patterns of feeling certain things about the music again. And if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t do it.” Loop co-headline Glasgow SWG3 with Godflesh on 2 Jun roberthampson.com
THE SKINNY
May 2014
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A History of Contemporary Scottish Art As the eyes of the world turn on Scotland for the Commonwealth Games, one vast exhibition programme called GENERATION aims to present the stories of the nation’s visual art in the last 25 years. We speak to one of its architects, Simon Groom
Toby Paterson – Hypothetical Relief (CDA) – 2012
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t’s become so ingrained in the art world: that oft-cited idea of the ‘Glasgow Miracle,’ and the city and its surrounding nation being renowned for its visual art, that it’s easy to forget that the presence of Scottish contemporary art at the forefront of the international scene is a relatively recent development. Artists from or based here may routinely be nominated for the Turner Prize, a useful if debateable litmus of the prevailing currents in the higher echelons of the art world; but rewind just a few decades and you’d be hard pushed to find a Scottish artist blazing a trail on the world stage. This summer, a programme of exhibitions of astonishing ambition celebrates the flourishing of contemporary art in the last quarter century, with shows across the country from Orkney to the Borders. GENERATION includes more than 60 shows, over 100 artists, and is about the last 25 years of Scottish visual art. That takes us back to the late 80s, the year before Glasgow became European City of Culture; the year after the Glasgow Garden Festival, which brought visitors to the city for something other than fitba and chibbing. It was also, says Simon Groom, director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) and one of the architects of GENERATION, a pivotal turning point as it marked the start of the Environmental Arts course at Glasgow School of Art which famously educated a whole host of the artists associated with Glasgow from the 90s onwards (Douglas Gordon, Nathan Coley, Jim Lambie et al) with its focus on context and ideas as much as the work itself.
“It also dates to the first of the artists that we’re looking at,” says Groom. “For us one of the key artists is Steven Campbell, who really marks that transition between the kind of Vigorous Imagination generation of 80s painters to what’s happening now.” The Vigorous Imagination generation were displayed under that title in a survey of new Scottish art in the SNGMA in the late 80s, and included the so-called New Glasgow Boys of Adrian Wiszniewski, Ken Currie, Peter Howson, and a reluctant Steven Campbell, who gets lumped in with them, but really marks the step change between an era of Scottish art defined by figuration, and the one now, where the idea is king. Groom explains Campbell’s significance in the scene’s development. “He did a show in the Third Eye Centre in 1990 called On Form and Fiction. He’d just come back from New York with a completely different attitude to painting, to the work of art, and created a total environment where he papered the walls of the gallery with these drawings and watercolours and overlaid on that his painting, and had a soundtrack going. So you entered this total work of art and that just opened up so many possibilities for so many of the artists who saw it.” On Form and Fiction has been tracked down in its entirety to a London store, and will be redisplayed in the SNGMA from late June alongside work by such varied artists as Karla Black, Martin Boyce, Henry Coombes, David Shrigley and Rosalind Nashashibi. This disparity in practices, in methods, modes and meaning,
Rosalind Nashashibi – Midwest – 2002
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is a fundamental part of what makes the last 25 years of Scottish art so fascinating. You’ve got Nashashibi’s sublime, internationally engaged video art. But you’ve also got David Shrigley making his millions from mass marketed books of dry wit and photos of stuffed cats. This disparity is both a joy and a challenge for GENERATION. As Groom explains, “Trying now to think about how one might represent the art of a time, a country, a place, becomes increasingly difficult. How do you do an exhibition now that looks at a whole nation’s art? Or on art produced in a nation over 25 years, over a generation?” This led on to the thought of creating an exhibition that revels in these different strands and media. “An exhibition that’s contemporary, that’s relevant, that tells stories, rather than one imposed narrative on the last 25 years. Because of course it’s a complex place, history is always shifting, it’s always being redefined. It depends on where one stands. So GENERATION really mirrors that complexity, it mirrors the complexity of the scene at the time. There are many different strands to it, many different types of behaviour, media, practice.” As well as the many different artists and their practices, GENERATION takes in the whole
Interview: Rosamund West around contemporary art being some sort of inscrutable voodoo that can only be understood with a PhD in International Art English. “The thing about art is everyone feels like you need to be reverential towards it, you have to like everything. And I think what we’re saying here is there is no such thing as one type of contemporary art. I guarantee there will be things that you love. But also there are going to be things that you hate. And that’s part of the world anyway, and contemporary art’s no different. You have permission to not like things or to love things.” Emphasising the point that contemporary art is a relatable form like any other is a tricky message to deliver, and GENERATION is aiming to do so through a variety of means, with the months of exhibitions accompanied by explanatory publications, and the prerequisite digital campaign with special website and interactive social media strategy. Says Groom, “The opportunity to have a conversation with our audience is all we can hope for – that would be a great thing.” GENERATION has already started, with Toby Paterson currently on show in Kirkcaldy Galleries, Anthony Schrag up in Aberdeen and Corin Sworn in Inverleith House in Edinburgh. May sees the launch of Douglas Gordon’s Artist Room way
Richard Wright – The Stairwell Project – 2010
of the country, eschewing the traditional orthodoxy that the culture happens in the Central Belt and maybe a bit in Dundee. “It’s about the whole of Scotland. So whether you are on Orkney, or in North Uist, or Mull or Inverness of Aberdeen or Dumfries or wherever it might be, there’s an opportunity to come along, have a look, make up your own mind, learn a bit more about this thing called contemporary art.” Crucially, the programme is composed of existing contemporary art galleries and residency spaces that are scattered across the nation but rarely explicitly connected. The GENERATION concept was formed and shaped by a central curatorial team of the National Galleries, Glasgow Life and Creative Scotland, but the exhibitions would have been happening anyway, just with somewhat less fanfare. As Groom explains, 2014 and its attendant international focus offered the perfect opportunity to celebrate. “What we wanted to do was really use the occasion when the eyes of the world will be on Scotland during the Commonwealth Games to celebrate what we think is a really important, dynamic, interesting and powerful story.” Another concern is making the work as accessible as possible without dumbing down. As Groom explains, there is an attendant fear
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up in Caithness; Ilana Halperin showing in An Tobar on Mull; and a touring show of Christine Borland, Graham Fagan and Dalziel + Scullion taking in Gracefield Art Centre in Dumfries and the Maclaurin Art Gallery in Ayrshire. Closer to home, there’s also Mick Peter popping up in the Tramway’s Hidden Garden; Nathan Coley in GoMA and Rachel MacLean taking over CCA with her largest solo show to date, Happy & Glorious. This selection alone takes in performance, video, drawing, sculpture, sound and multimedia installation. As the exhibitions continue over the summer – Lucy Skaer, Alison Watt, Nick Evans, Richard Wright, Paul Carter, Raydale Dower, Charles Avery, and on and on and on – the disciplines, practices and media continue to unfurl and collide in all their contradictory brilliance. Says Groom, “Contemporary art can take so many different forms, as we’ve seen in the last 25 years from Scotland. It’s the same with anything – food, television, music – the more you know about it the richer the experience becomes and the more you enjoy it.” This year in particular, it’s all there to be explored. facebook.com/generationartscotland @genartscot generationartscotland.org
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You Are …Gold!
With a major new survey exhibition of Scottish Gold open at The Hunterian, Glasgow, we take a look at the history of this precious yellow metal and a tour around its use in contemporary art today
Photo: Matt Neale
Photo: The Girls NY
Words: Sacha Waldron
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old – a yellow metal which the Incas called the ‘sweat of the sun.’ Gold is both a chemical element and a symbolic colour, conjuring ideas of wealth, luxury and power and bound up with a darker side – corruption, excess and greed. King Midas ended up dying of starvation, partial to a little too much of it. Tolkien’s golden ‘One Ring to rule them all,’ by the same card, did not have the best effect on those who came into contact with it (despite stimulating neat side effects like the ability to understand spiders… shudder). We rely on this metal and are obsessed with it – bullion lies in bank vaults to shore up economies, we aspire to win Olympic Gold, wear it as jewellery, decorate cards and fancy chocolates with gold leaf and drink it in Goldschläger. We are reminded of the stuff every day walking down our high streets, seeing Cash for Gold stores and the trampled fast-food bags bearing the golden arches. Gold is a playground, both as subject matter and material, for artists throughout history and never more so than today. To understand why, it is useful to go back through time, to the beginnings of our relationship with this metal. Two exhibitions this year provide the opportunity to examine the past and then zoom forward to the present – Scottish Gold at The Hunterian, Glasgow, and, over the pond, GOLD, at the Bass Museum in Florida. Charting the history of gold usage, production and mining with a focus on Scotland, Scottish Gold runs until June this year. The first survey of its kind, the exhibition draws on the museum’s rich mineralogical collection and maps both a social and natural history from the Bronze Age to the present. There is a lot to see – jewellery, weapons, medals and nuggets are displayed in lit cases against sexy darkened walls. Some of the information it reveals is surprising – it seems hard to believe that Scotland had its own gold rush in the 19th Century. One of the earliest pieces of gold ever to be located in Scotland is, in fact, one of the most recent finds – a rather
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sagging Bronze Age hunting dagger with a bright, intact. handle made from gold. Found in a cist grave (a small stone coffin-like box), the body of the hunter who owned this weapon has long since disintegrated but the band of gold remains; polished up it is amazingly pretty much untarnished. There are a lot of facts and global contexts to what’s on display: 75% of all the gold currently ever extracted has been mined since 1910. The largest gold nugget, nicknamed ‘the welcome stranger,’ ever mined (in Australia) weighed approximately 90kg. In 2013 the consumption of gold produced in the world was about 50% for jewellery, 40% for investments and 10% for industry. The world’s largest gold bar has a mass of 250kg and is owned by the ToiGold Museum in Japan.
“People would think, it’s fake gold, and he has the armed guard there to fool us into thinking it’s real gold; but it would be real gold” Chris Burden
A piece of thread and cloth relating to Robert the Bruce is a highlight. Seven hundred years ago Robert I (the Bruce) defeated Edward II in battle and established Scottish independence. Ruling until 1329, when he died he was buried wrapped in a cloth of gold and inside a coffin with a white marble tomb gilded in gold. On display is a tiny piece of gold thread and a specimen of
late medieval cloth sewn with gold – the items introduce you to the history and story which is pertinent to current affairs today. It is unlikely Alex Salmond, if successful, will get the same treatment. Fast forwarding now through history. Skipping through craft, its relationship to making, multiple art movements and the birth of what we view as the modern-day artist, we arrive into the last 100-ish years. At the turn of the century, the famous gold-leafer artist Gustav Klimt, he of kissing couples and romantic ladies, discovered gold through his father’s work as a gold engraver. In the 1950s, Salvador Dali used gold for quite a number of Surrealist works and in his Surrealist jewellery making. The most striking and thoroughly mad is The Royal Heart brooch. Made for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, gold encases a heart made of rubies which is constructed so it can pump like a real heart. Head to YouTube for an unsettling video of the brooch pumping in action. The 60s brought Andy Warhol’s Gold Marilyn Monroe, and Yves Klein sold his immaterial work, colours and empty spaces, for quantities of gold leaf which he then threw into the River Seine in Paris. In the 80s and 90s things got a little more extravagant. Jeff Koons constructed the 12 foot high Gold Balloon Dog and gold leaf-plated Michael Jackson with Bubbles. Christo and Jeanne Claude wrapped the oldest bridge in Paris, the Pont Neuf, with golden sand-coloured cloth. Lit at night, the bridge glowed with a glitzy seductive glamour. Last year Chris Burden, the artist who had himself shot in the arm in 1971 as a comment on the Vietnam War, was the subject of a major retrospective at The New Museum, New York. A much publicised work was Tower of Power, a stack of 100 one-kilo gold bullion ingots (chocolate bar shaped and worth over $4 million) stacked in a low tower and surrounded by little matchstick figures. A security guard must be stationed with the artwork at all times which is both for security
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and part of the artwork itself. Burden has said “The guard was a trick in mind-thought. People would think, it’s fake gold, and he has the armed guard there to fool us into thinking it’s real gold; but it would be real gold.” Burden is just one of the artists featured in the upcoming survey show, GOLD, charting contemporary artists’ preoccupation and referencing of gold both physically and conceptually, at the Bass Museum, Florida, due to open this summer. The line-up of work includes Darío Escobar’s Untitled (McDonalds Cup) – a disposable soda cup gilded and touching on the differences and similarities between the throw-away product and the ceremonial receptacle; Olga de Amaral’s large gold-leafed tapestries referencing pre-Colombian archaeology and Eric Baudart’s Concave (2013) which mounts layer upon layer of gold foil atop each other; when hung on the wall they sag and separate at the edges creating a look of sad, damaged books or pasted gig posters. Elsewhere, John Millar’s gilded assemblages collect together found objects in circular panels, like spinning vortices they seem to have sucked in everything in their paths. Although the objects that can be seen, shells or shoes for example, are completely ordinary – there is a strange unnatural alien quality, albeit a pretty lo-fi one – like using kitchen foil to build a home-made spaceship. This otherness, strangeness is hardly surprising for gold, at least the stuff we use, is in fact not from our Earth at all. Due to its weight, most of the gold that occurs naturally on our planet has sunk to the centre of the earth, near the core. This means that the gold we mine and use comes from the farthest reaches of space, falling on Earth during meteorite showers. This metal is an intergalactic hitchhiker. No wonder it is an endless source of fascination for artists. GOLD!... always believe in. Scottish Gold runs until 15 Jun at The Hunterian, Glasgow. Admission £5/3 gla.ac.uk/hunterian/visit/exhibitions/major%20exhibitions/ scottishgold
THE SKINNY
It’s the Merry Month of May! One month closer to summer means one month closer to the Edinburgh Fringe and the Edinburgh International Festival. However, before critics start to run amok up and down the Royal Mile, Glasgow has a few festive events of its own
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ay sees Mayfesto taking over the Tron’s programming, showcasing explicitly political work that tackles the theme of colonisation. Quite a fitting theme, considering the summer of 2014 is expected to turn Glasgow into a centre of celebration of the twentieth Commonwealth Games. This will also involve Culture 2014 events, which are intended to celebrate the diversity of the Commonwealth; after all, the Commonwealth is made up of 53 countries, most – if not all – of which used to be part of the British Empire. Mayfesto itself is a reincarnation of the 1980s Glasgow-wide festival known as Mayfest, which celebrated Glasgow’s arts and culture scene in relation to its political and socioeconomic history. The last Mayfest took place in 1997, but Andy Arnold – artistic director of the Tron theatre – resurrected it as a spoken word season of programming with a political edge. This year, Mayfesto tackles colonisation – through war, through culture, and through language, which Arnold takes to heart and applies to Shakespeare and Aimé Césaire’s Tempest. Based on the novel The Playmaker by Thomas Keneally, Our Country’s Good takes quite a literal approach to things. Set in the penal colony of New South Wales (Australia), the play follows the attempts of an officer to rehearse a play with the inmates, promoting rehabilitation instead of the daily floggings and death threats the convicts had to deal with. Meanwhile, Saltbush – Children’s cheering carpet leads us on an interactive journey across Aboriginal Australia through live dance, music, song and stories. It is presented by Compagnia TPO and Insite Arts, as part of the Glasgow 2014 cultural programme, with the help of the Imaginate Festival on Tour. Imaginate promotes and celebrates performance for children and young people, and is also
May 2014
launching its own festival in May. Looking to the Middle East, the multi-disciplinary play Heart by ZENDEH examines the question of what Britain is doing in the Middle East (in this case, Iran) and how the current situation has come about. Director Nazli TabatabaiKhatabakhsh points out that the play could be considered “a study of humanity” as we zoom in on the lives of three individuals trapped in a love triangle, while they try to make it through the minefield that is Tehran of 1953, during the coup d’etat instigated and aided by Britain. While set in a relatively modern context, the play also nods to the rich cultural history of Iran and the Persian empire, as the love triangle itself is inspired by the poem Leili and Majnoun – what TabatabaiKhatabakhsh calls the “big sister of Romeo and Juliet.” It is the second of three plays that ZENDEH are performing in the period 2012 - 2015. Aside from plays, the Mayfesto programme features rehearsed readings, workshops and three debates – two of which are debate-performances. Alan Bissett’s work in progress Jock: Scotland on Trial tackles a debate about Scotland, imperialism, and whether or not Scotland has been colonised or acted as coloniser and hence can be held accountable for theft from other countries. Meanwhile, the Arches’ Behaviour Festival draws to a close on May 2 with Dark Behaviour. Performance collective 85A and their allies are taking over the space, with performances and visual art in every nook and cranny of the building, while the music programme features Golden Teacher, Planningtorock and Fem Bitch Nation to name a few.
© Daniel Hughes, Red Faced, 2014
Heart
Photo: Jemima Yong
Words: Eric Karoulla
FREE ENTRY Saturday 24 May to Sunday 1 June 2014 11am to 5pm
Late opening: Wednesday 28 May & Thursday 29 May 2014 11am to 8pm
Edinburgh College of Art Lauriston Campus Lauriston Place
www.eca.ed.ac.uk/degreeshow
tron.co.uk/whatson imaginate.org.uk/festival
02 SKINNY ADVERT 126mm x 314mm.indd 1
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A Field In Scotland (or England) We take a look at the wealth of experiences on offer on the UK festival circuit, focusing on the thriving and growing number of boutique outdoors festivals, and the big-top extravaganzas of T in the Park, Glastonbury, and Reading and Leeds
Words: Bram E. Gieben
ver the last three months, we’ve taken a look at some of the highlights from the European and international festival circuit, chatting to the likes of Warpaint and St. Vincent; and last month, we asked Factory Floor, Daniel Avery and others to talk us through the best of the UK’s showcase and ‘in the city’ festivals. This month, we come to the motherlode – the UK field festival calendar is more packed than ever, with events ranging from tiny, boutique shindigs tucked away in the grounds of country homes and farmers’ fields, to the spectacle of the big event festivals like Glastonbury and T in the Park, offering starpacked, sprawling bills and epic, hedonistic tentbased adventures. In the past it was more than possible do do a round of the entire circuit, taking in Glasto and Reading down south before heading north for T. Attempting that now would leave most festival punters with empty wallets and sore heads – so the smart thing to do is pick which kind of festival experience you want. Small and intimate, with new bands to discover and quirky experiences to be had? Or gigantic and memorable, with once-in-a-lifetime sets from the world’s biggest bands? It’s all there for the taking, and The Skinny has narrowed down the options for you with the final part of our guide to this summer’s festival madness. We begin with some festivals on our Scottish doorstep – relative newcomer Brew at the Bog (3 May, Bogbain Farm, Inverness) is a boutique, one-day festival up in the spectacular Highlands, with indie from the likes of Admiral Fallow, Kid Canaveral and King Creosote, hip-hop from Stanley Odd, and electro-rock and synth-pop from Miaoux Miaoux and Machines In Heaven. Later in the year, there’s the excellent Solas Festival (20-22 Jun, near Perth), which also features Stanley Odd and fellow hip-hop firebrands Hector Bizerk, indie-folk maestros Woodenbox, and a comedy strand featuring Josie Long. It’s family-friendly, and in a location with a scenic charm all its own. Similarly worth a swatch in Scotland in May is the annual Knockengorroch World Ceilidh (22-25 May, Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway), which features a wealth of roots, dub, folk and world music, as well as techno and other electronic party fodder, and live showcases from Ninja Tune mainstays Coldcut, Glasgow dub collective Mungo’s Hi-Fi, and art rockers How To Swim. Eden (12-15 Jun, Raehills, near Moffat) is another smaller-scale Scottish affair, but growing each year, with a spectacular headliner this summer in the form of Daisy Age hip-hop legends De La Soul. They’re joined by UK garage revivalists Artful Dodger, The Nextmen, Mungo’s Hi-Fi and The Black Diamond Express, amongst others. Bizarrely, celebrity fitness coach Mr. Motivator is also on the bill. The only festival which culminates in the ritual sacrifice of a pagan icon, Wickerman (25-26 Jul) have pulled some big names out as headliners this year, relying on the boundless energy and attitude of Dizzee Rascal and the patriotic swell of drunken appreciation that will no doubt greet Del Amitri to head up the main stage. But it’s the Solus Tent we recommend, where for the first time Scottish hip-hop takes centre stage with Young Fathers and Hector Bizerk headlining, plus rising hip-hop/R & B star LAW, and a lyrical showdown from Gasp’s Badmouth Battles, plus the cream of Scottish indie and rock including The Amazing Snakeheads, Tuff Love, Cairn String Quartet and others. This is another family-friendly event, with a pop-up cinema, a spoken word
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Photo: Nick Bojdo
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tent and other attractions apart from the bands. A new addition to this year’s festival calendar in Scotland is Electric Fields (30 Aug, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries) – this one-day affair, set in a seventeenth-century castle, and featuring performances from Fatherson, The Lafontaines, Prides, and many more up-and-coming and established Scottish bands, should be a real treat. Also returning is the warm, friendly, boutique experience that is Kelburn Garden Party (4-6 Jul, Kelburn Castle, North Ayrshire), which goes from strength to strength, and last year featured spoken word, a wandering brass band, and that rarest of festival treats, reasonably-priced craft beer. This year’s highlights include Red Snapper, Soom T, Dolphin Boy, Ubre Blanca, and a who’s who of underground, roots and experimental music. The Parklife Weekender (7-8 Jun, Heaton Park, Manchester) boasts one of the best bills for a small festival in the UK this year. Big name headliners include Snoop Dogg, Foals, Rudimental and Kendrick Lamar, while a little further down the bill you’ll find the likes of Warpaint and Jon Hopkins. One of the undoubted highlights is a double-feature from Flying Lotus, playing as FlyLo and also as his hip-hop alter-ego Captain Murphy. Download (13-15 Jun, Donington Park, Derby), the UK’s biggest celebration of all things metal, has a curiously retro slant to its bill this year, with Twisted Sister and Aerosmith leading the charge, presumably with the aid of zimmer frames. There’s commerical fare from Linkin Park, Fall Out Boy and Avenged Sevenfold; straight-up darkness and gory excess from the likes of Rob Zombie and Opeth; hardcore from Dillinger Escape Plan. Even Status-bloody-Quo are playing. All yer rock needs, um, catered for? Alternatively, there’s the smaller but arguably slicker Sonisphere (4-6 Jul, Knebworth Park, Hertfordshire) who welcome The Prodigy, Iron Maiden, Deftones and Metallica, as well as Mastodon, 65daysofstatic, and Therapy? playing their classic Infernal Love.
The big daddy of the UK festival scene is, and probably shall remain, Glastonbury (25-29 Jun, Worthy Farm, Pilton). It’s safe to say Glasto is the ultimate ‘experience’ festival, at least by reputation, with its sheer scale, its after-hours entertainment and community spirit making the place a pilgrimage for music fans, regardless of who is playing. Nonetheless, this year’s bill offers an embarrassment of riches, including high-profile slots for the likes of CHVRCHES and Mogwai, alongside everyone from Four Tet to Jurassic 5, and ESG to Interpol; from Kasabian to Skrillex, and from The Sun Ra Arkestra to Massive Attack. If you’re lucky enough to have a ticket, enjoy it, ya bam! Unmatched in Scotland, at least in terms of scale, is T in the Park (11-13 Jul). The main stage plays it safe this year, as has become its custom, with sets from Biffy Clyro, Calvin Harris, Paolo Nutini, Pharrell Williams, Elbow and the Arctic Monkeys. But, as always, there are some real treats lurking in amongst the bill, with the return of Soul II Soul, a bigger stage for CHVRCHES, DFA analogue techno trio Factory Floor, Odd Future phenom Earl Sweatshirt, and the always-excellent Slam Tent, which this year promises Dave Clarke, Carl Craig, Alex Smoke, Sven Väth, Julio Bashmore and others. The other enormo-festival worth checking out is the twin-headed hydra that is Reading & Leeds (22-24 Aug, Little John’s Farm, Reading, and Bramham Park, Leeds). Like T in the Park, the main stages are dominated by commercial pop, rock and indie, with the likes of Paramore, Blink 182 and Arctic Monkeys heading up the bill, but with a packed line-up, there’s something for everyone here, with sets from Queens of the Stone Age, Vampire Weekend, CHVRCHES, Temples, and a few choice electronic and hip-hop acts including Die Antwoord, SBTRKT, Andy C and Danny Brown. In London’s Victoria Park, the two-day, dance-oriented Lovebox (18-19 Jul, Victoria Park, London) offers some exciting highlights
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– alongside big-hitters like Chase & Status, M.I.A., Nas performing the classic Illmatic and Moderat, you can catch sets from Ninja Tune beatsmith Bonobo, LuckyMe’s Joy Orbison, post-dubstep pioneers Mount Kimbie, and Brainfeeder mentalist The Gaslamp Killer. Mount Kimibie also pop up at Farr Festival (18-20 July, near London) along with Hercules & Love Affair, Scuba, Daniel Avery, Andrew Weatherall and others, providing a more boutique alternative to the relatively commercial setting of Lovebox. Jabberwocky (15-16 Aug, The Excel Centre, London) is a new venture from the folk behind All Tomorrow’s Parties, Pitchfork and Primavera – it’s bound to be an eclectic highlight of the calendar, with Tri-Angle’s Forest Swords, Warp’s Patten and James Blake providing electronic highlights, with Neutral Milk Hotel, Pissed Jeans, Liars and Kurt Vile representing the guitar-slingers. Happening at the same time, Beat-Herder (18-20 Jul, Ribble Valley, Lancashire) offer a similarly beats and bleeps-focused experience, with headline sets from 2manydjs, Mr. Scruff, Eats Everything and Happy Mondays. The increasingly popular Latitude (17-20 Jul, Henham Park, Suffolk) is headlined by Damon Albarn, Two Door Cinema Club and The Black Keys, alongside Mogwai, Lykke Li, Tame Impala, Julia Holter, and reformed shoegaze pioneers Slowdive, amongst others. Like the Parklife Weekender, the Latitude bill is pretty monumental, so check online for details of who else is playing. Another excellent mid-sized outing is Beacons (7-10 Aug, Heslaker Farm, Skipton) with a line-up of searing quality, including Darkside, Action Bronson, The Fall, Hookworms, King Creosote, Girl Band, Golden Teacher and many others. One of the UK’s best boutique festivals, the Secret Garden Party (24-27 Jul, Mill Hill Field, Huntingdon) features a paint fight, theatre, art, and ‘guerilla science’ – as well as an amazing bill headed up by Public Enemy, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, and Morcheeba, and also featuring Honeyblood and The Amazing Snakeheads.
THE SKINNY
Shark Attack Thailand Words: David Wright Illustration: Alexander Jackson
What’s the backpacker circuit like for those who define themselves as ‘socially awkward’?
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REAT EXPECTATIONS For a lot of people a trip to Thailand would be something they would relish – the full moon parties, the new friends, the crazy extreme experiences, the drinking, the exploring. The stories I could recount when I become old and boring could have been endless. For me Thailand was never going to be like this. I am someone more sociable people would describe as ‘socially awkward.’ I like people but I struggle to become part of the group, I’m not good at small talk and it takes people a while to warm to me. I appreciate real friendships, interactions and moments. Perhaps I am a bit awkward. Sociable people seem to think this is something that needs to be fixed, that I need to make more of an effort to fit in, that I could try harder. This attitude does not help one's confidence and mine was about to be tested. I had gone to Thailand with Josh – not so much a friend, but someone I had worked with over the summer. We shared an abstract sense of humour while throwing Cornish pasties at customers in our summer job. He was in the local rugby team, mad for it (whatever it would be – he was mad for it) and I liked reading, thinking and dreaming. A week into our trip – on the paradise Island of Koh Tao – Josh told me he was going to spend the rest of his travels with his new friends from the scuba diving course he had been attending. I had sensed pretty early on that I wasn’t being interesting enough for Josh to accept me as me in his new found social group. I had started the week trying to fit in and taking part in their wild nights out. As the days went by I began to realise I wasn’t being me and I could not carry on like this. I started to sit on the sidelines – oing my own thing – but it felt clear that somehow this wasn’t enough. All I asked was that the one person I had come with would let me be myself but I guess this wasn’t possible. Josh had new travelling friends to impress. And so I was left to find my own way. FEAR Being on an island where everyone seemed to be making friends – and having just been dumped by the only person I knew for not being interesting enough – I felt the pressure of trying to fit in. So I decided to face my fear of group excursions and of being eaten by sharks – I booked myself on a snorkeling day trip round the Island. ‘Fuck it,’ I said to myself. An hour into the trip, half of the boat fell seasick and literally abandoned ship, leaving a
May 2014
less intimidating group of day trippers. It was my kind of trip already. I participated in small talk with the remaining day trippers before we moored up in a bay to do some underwater exploring. I did not feel particularly connected to anyone and definitely did not feel able to broach pairing up with anyone as that would involve a pretense of familiarity. My patience with trying to fit in was wearing thin. I faked an independent spirit, put on my snorkel and jumped into the water leaving my flippers behind. Who needs flippers I thought to myself – I have feet! THE DEEP BLUE SEA We would be seeing no sharks at this bay – the skipper had told us – just lovely fish. I didn’t look which way other people were swimming and I didn’t really care. It was time for me to head off in my own direction and explore. Going off and doing my own thing was going to be a theme of the rest of my travels. The further I swam away from the feeling I had to be making friends, having ‘mad for it’ experiences or bonding with people I didn’t really like, the closer I came to liking myself and enjoying being alone. Over my next week on the island I would discover second hand book shops, bike hire, small wonderful conversations with strangers and sitting on the curb eating alone watching the world go by. The joys of exploring the Island by bike to discover new beautiful places to read a book were endless. Stopping at little cafés or roadside food stalls, having a chat before heading off into the day, these moments were gentle yet made me very happy. BLOOD AND GUTS I had been swimming longer than I thought – daydreaming and following the colourful shoals of fish as they darted around me. I saw a huge rock rising up from the ocean floor. I thought it would be a good place to stop and rest my feet while I got my bearings. When I looked I appeared to be 100 or so metres from the boat. I felt a sudden pain as I moved on the rock for a better grip. The rock was covered in coral and it sliced through my foot. I looked down to see my blood clouding the water. The bleeding seemed to ease as quickly as it had begun. So I put my head underwater to carry on looking for fish. SHARK! EAT ME There, in the distance, I could see the shark. It appeared to be circling and getting closer. The only thing I could think to do was to not take my
eyes off it. It stopped about six meters away from me and looked at me. This shark was big. It must have been about 2 meters long, dark grey on top, fading to a lighter grey underneath. It had the build of a shark that eats people – wide and nasty looking. Its dark eyes were fixed on me. I am no expert but I reasoned it could do some damage. After all I was perched on a rock, submerged up to my knees – bleeding. It was big enough to try and eat me – I know, I’ve seen Jaws, Shark in Venice and every other shark movie (later, after studying extensive photos of all the shark species found in Thailand, I have come to the conclusion that it was a bull shark, probably. And yes – these have been known to eat people)! And I knew what it was thinking: ‘is the smell of blood the sign of a meal?’ One of the disadvantages of not being social enough to have already made ‘excursion friends’ – is that I had no-one I could shout to for some advice or to laugh with about my situation. I was on my own. I pictured the drama Josh would have caused – bleeding the incident for all it was worth and becoming the hero of the week. This was make or break for me. I could stay on the rock and scream for help or I could take this independent travelling thing seriously and swim for it. So that is what I did. Never has a swim seemed so lonely or so long. The further I got into the deep ocean between the rock and the boat – the more I began to doubt my wonderfully informed plan. I got back on the boat expecting my foot to be eaten just as I lifted it out the water. It wasn’t. I sighed. I decided to share my trauma with the first person I saw. “I saw a shark,” I told the boat's skipper, with a degree of obvious relief. “Impossible – they don’t come here!” he replied, visibly angry that I had questioned the safety of his trip. I rolled my eyes to no-one in particular and took my seat on the boat. For now I decided to keep what happened between the shark and me to myself. LETTING GO My remaining week on the island was a solitary one. At first, of course, I had felt lonely. Everywhere I looked were groups of people having crazy fun and interacting. They made it look so normal. But once I removed myself from the places
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that made me feel alone – the bars, the ‘mad for it’ groups of people and the restaurants – I started to feel more comfortable in myself. The interactions I had with people were short but genuine. By the time I got to Bangkok, I was finding my feet as a solitary traveler. I found a tiny café run by two quirky women. When I went for my morning coffee they would tell me places they thought I would like to go: the flower market, the park where everyone jogs round in the same direction, a bike tour… I would check in the following day to recount my day and get more tips. I booked myself on a day bike tour of the suburbs of Bangkok. When I arrived I discovered it was just me being taken on a tour by a Thai woman called Nok. No-one else had signed up. I welcomed the chance to spend the day with just one person. We hit it off and shared moments of reflection as we cycled along rural tracks, next to waterways and explored banana plantations. We got to know about each other’s lives as we were intermittently laughed at by passing locals for being on a bike ride on such a hot day. Sitting outside a remote overgrown Buddhist temple, I decided to share something I’d kept bottled up all week: “I was snorkeling last week and I saw a big shark. I cut my foot and it came up close to investigate.” “Sounds scary.” “Yes it was kind of. But I don’t feel scared of them anymore.” “I’m guessing it didn’t try to eat you then.” The gentle connection we had on that one day felt as strong as some of the friendships I have taken years to build. HOLIDAY SNAPS Josh had a very different traveling experience to me. He had some amazing adventures, which involved getting drunk, making lots of Facebook friends, flirting with ladyboys and partying on a beach in the full moon. He loved every minute. If I had stayed with him, faked fitting in and become the person his group wanted me to be – I’d have felt lonely as hell. For a ‘socially awkward’ person like me travelling is difficult. There will be fewer group moments. There will be fewer friends. There will be fewer mad stories to tell when you get home. But I suspect the brief moments that are life-affirming will be just as plentiful. I’m glad I did it my way. It was not easy. Finding your own way never is. Plus: I saw a fucking shark.
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Rock'n'Roll Signature Intricate and edgy, Glasgow-based Mairi McDonald designs garments with a distinctive rock'n'roll edge
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rowing up in a creative family in Largs, Mairi McDonald was always drawn to art and design, finding her inspiration in those closest to her. She says, “My mum is very artistic; she tells me about my gran who was a brilliant seamstress and unbelievably resourceful – when the Teddy Boy look came in she would tailor the trousers of the young guys in the area to give them the new ‘drainpipe’ look.” Additionally, “My great aunt Joyce Wieland was a filmmaker and hugely accomplished mixed media artist.” With a family pedigree like that, it seemed natural that McDonald would pursue a career in design in one form or another. Her love of fashion design came through being playful and daring with her own wardrobe. “I’ve always been interested in constructing a look, I was never scared of being the first to wear new trends through my teens and loved mixing things up with vintage finds,” she tells us. “I’ve always been obsessed with fashion and after spending the summer travelling Australia after school, I decided to turn my obsession into a profession.” After studying an HND in Fashion Design at Cardonald College, McDonald moved further afield to complete a BA Hons in Fashion Design Technology Womenswear at the extremely prestigious London College of Fashion. “It was an incredible platform and I felt lucky to be there. It really was the start of my career.” McDonald explains. As part of the degree course, students carried out a long term industry internship. Mairi was offered a place with international designer Julien MacDonald, renowned for his glamorous and luxurious collections. “I was working on intricate embellished pieces, which I’d then see twinkling on models such as Naomi Campbell backstage at London Fashion Week or on celebrities such as Kylie on the red carpet.” This internship was to prove to be a great success and Mairi continued to work with Julien MacDonald on catwalk showpieces and celebrity commissions once the work placement ended. “I was asked to stay on and ended up working on the team for over a year,” she says. “At the end of my time there, Julien – who was also then Head Designer of Givenchy – invited me to work with
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Lifestyle
Interview: Alexandra Fiddes
the Textile Designer. “ The highlight of this time was co-producing a macramé coat for the Paris Couture show, an incredible achievement for such a young designer. “ To have a piece in the Paris catwalk show before I graduated was just unbelievable!” McDonald exclaims. After such a glittering start in the industry and after finishing her degree, McDonald spent time at high profile luxury international and national brands, going on to build an extensive and diverse design career across womenswear, menswear and textile design. She explains, “I have a vast knowledge of the industry and I have learned where my strengths lie and have a good understanding of what works commercially.” This deep commercial understanding and time spent learning from working for hugely successful and influential fashion brands motivated McDonald into taking the risk of launching her own label in 2013. Her debut collection named Electric Eclectic was previewed at Edinburgh International Fashion Festival in July and McDonald was quickly awarded a prestigious Scotland Re:Designed New Talent Award in November. Mairi McDonald launched to an exclusive, international audience in London in early 2014. The Electric Eclectic collection is heavily influenced by the rock'n'roll aesthetic and is full of stunning contrasts – think edgy but luxuriously delicate and full of attitude yet with a sprinkling of Bohemian flare. Mcdonald says, “The Mairi McDonald label is explorative of the unconventional dark beauty within key textiles, dishevelled for a rock'n'roll edge.” What is she particularly inspired by? “ Iconic women in and around the music scene! The debut collection was inspired by the girlfriends of the Rolling Stones in the 60s, Marianne Faithfull and Anita Pallenberg.” Not forgetting the more contemporary embodiments of the look, “Kate Moss, Sky Ferreira, Alison Mosshart and Daisy Lowe are also perfect present day muses for this collection.” Adding that, “The 90s Grunge scene is a significant influence on the signature of my label. The
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Grunge spirit is something that is always around and has led me to focus on laidback glamour creating pieces that are effortlessly cool.” Electric Eclectic “Tells the story of the girl with the band. Travelling the world in search of something different, something iconic to add to her eclectic wardrobe.” She continues, “This character is attracted to the laidback L.A. vibe and her style reflects an element of Californian cool with a dark, rebellious edge.” The United States isn’t the only place to shape McDonald’s work, with local Scottish fabrics and traditional craftsmanship making a big impact. She explains, “The knit is always a starting point for me, developing intricate, deconstructed ideas, Scottish cotton lace fits perfectly with my aesthetic and it’s important to me to have Scottish heritage fabrics.” Cobweb-like knitwear, which when you look closely is sometimes woven to create a rose and thorn motif, is speckled with tiny Swarovski crystals. Pieces are also made with soft lamb nappa (leather) and suede, which is printed, laser cut and embroidered. These beautiful fabrics create highly wearable and covetable pieces rich in detail. This level of craftsmanship within the construction of her pieces is paramount to her brand ethos. “I create edited collections with lengthy processes involved in each garment to come to fruition and the result is pieces that will be ‘forever’ in your wardrobe.” An aspect that you can see in the fine details and garment shapes is McDonald’s passion for vintage fashion, where she creates an eclectic look by mixing influences; from Victorian silhouettes and elements, along with 60s and 70s bohemian styling. “I have spent time in my career trawling vintage markets in Paris and London for inspiration and it is still a starting point for my initial research today,” she tells us, adding, “Collecting ideas and setting my brief for the season is my favourite part of the process.” McDonald’s design process always has her overall brand in mind. “I have to truly believe in the initial direction and ensure it works with my label’s signature. I then start experimenting with textile sampling, fabric and colour research before moving onto silhouette ideas.”
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She explains, “I’m committed to growing and evolving my brand into a successful business whilst establishing my own distinctive signature. I want to expand the brand nationally and internationally with recent interest from international buyers. I’ll continue to build and develop my label, taking a beautiful product and creating a desirable, successful brand.” Since its launch last year the Mairi McDonald brand has gone from strength to strength extremely rapidly. McDonald says, “People in the industry have been really supportive of what I’m creating. Sarah Murray, owner of Jane Davidson Boutique in Edinburgh, has been really encouraging. We first met at Scotland Re:Designed in November and Sarah was excited about the product and is now one of our luxury stockists.” She adds that mentoring from advisers throughout the Cultural Enterprise Office’s Fashion Foundry programme has been, “hugely valuable in developing my business.” At the moment Mairi McDonald is stocked by several high-end online retailers such as Not Just A Label and Thoroughly British. From June, Jane Davidson boutique on Thistle Street in Edinburgh (which was awarded Draper’s ‘Best Premium Independent Award’ in 2013) will stock a range of Mairi McDonald pieces, where they will sit alongside the likes of Missoni, Issa, Diane Von Furstenberg and Victoria Beckham. And what’s next for the designer? “I have exciting plans around the launch of the next collection later in the year. The next few months will be very busy in the studio creating the new collection which I can’t wait to share...” We’re certainly looking forward to that! @Mairi_McDonald Photographer: Levi McDonald MUA Molly Sheridan Model: Daniela Parducci Joplin: Scottish black lace and silk dress, £725 Mosshart: Bespoke rose knit intertwined with Swarovski elements, £1350 Cobain: soft suede dress with original rose illustration print, £525 mairimcdonald.com
THE SKINNY
Call of Patriarchy In an unprecedented step for the Deviance section, we hear from a straight white male aged 12-30, reporting for duty to look at the patriarchy in gaming
Words: Alfie Pound Illustration: Andrew Denholm
God Doesn’t ‘Hate Fags’ Anymore? Is the hip, young, welcoming face of UK Christianity any less homophobic than the headline-grabbing fundamentalists across the pond? Words: Sarah J Stanley
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all of Duty, a game about nondescript gruff everymen, skulking around in combat fatigues, wielding all manner of sundry ballistics and firearms, invariably fighting against some predictable iteration of the other; be it Muslims, Communists, non-descript Arabs, non-descript Eastern Europeans, and so on. Now, I don’t hate the Call of Duty games. Games are games as films are films as books are books. Even the most hateful book or film still has the right to exist. I mean, I played a lot of Call of Duty when I was younger, as a game, as a space in which decisions and actions are governed by rules and mechanics to produce an entertaining and/or competitive environment, Call of Duty is fine. But for all the obvious western militaristic bias, by far the most obvious thing to me about Call of Duty is that it’s not for women, which is to say it is not targeted at women. It’s targeted at men. The most lucrative and widespread game ever made, and by extension one of the most lucrative and widespread online gaming communities in the world, is made by and for men. Now, I don’t think it’s deliberate. I don’t think Activision necessarily wants to marginalise or
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exclude women. I imagine they’re probably just after money; knowing your target market and what they respond to is part of making money. So what about the target market? The mostly male, mostly straight, white, and mostly between the ages of 12-30 target market, what share of responsibility do they carry? I just so happen to be a straight white man. I am, in nearly every sense, the target demographic. I remember going to my local gaming shop every day after school, and late on Fridays, to play Magic the Gathering. It was amazing, it was a cavalcade of geek outcasts, all shapes and sizes, the only real barrier of entry was how much of a Magic player you were. I remember playing Word of Warcraft for three years and feeling incredibly fulfilled playing in an organised group of my peers, having a laugh and downing some dragons, it was excellent. I remember playing League of Legends for three years, getting reasonably good, following the professional scene like my Dad follows football. I’ve always taken the gaming community as my own. But all those aforementioned spaces were male dominated too. I didn’t know any girls who played Magic the Gathering. I quested and raided
he infamous ‘God Hates Fags’ cult-daddy Fred Phelps died of old age last month. While not many people think it’s cool to picket someone’s funeral with signs such as ‘God Killed Your Sons’ and ‘God Hates Fag Enablers,’ being gay is still a taboo amongst churches here in the UK. Even the ‘cool’ and ‘relevant’ ones have ways of dealing with the disorder of SSA (same sex attraction). They are just clever enough to know that coming across as a hateful loony is counterproductive. The rise of these fashionable clothing, ‘cool’ music making (if it’s ever ‘cool’ to sing about Jesus), meet-in-a-warehouse kind of Christians are what I’d describe as a new generation of fundamentalists. I didn’t come out to my church until I was safely out of their ‘care.’ I had mentioned I thought I was probably not altogether straight to church leaders at one point, and I was told it was my mum’s fault and counselling would help. What she’d done I had no idea. My friend D had a full blown de-gaying experience at our church where he was set up with almost exclusively with men during WoW; the few a girlfriend, told to change his appearance, had ‘manly’ events created around him where guys women I knew were either very shy or very thickskinned. The League of Legends pro scene has no hugged and got rough and tumbled with each other (which seems a bit gay, don’t you think) and female players outside a few subs in some of the of course he was to never hang out with anyone Asian teams. What I’m getting at is that Call of Duty, for all gay, ever. He was given xtian music and had to throw out his secular music. I saw this similar its nondescript-ness is still definitively mascu‘therapy’ recreated in another two or three male line. The military angle is in a sense just a front: friends. an excuse to use an empowering and realistic For me, I was told to give up all my friends setting which is traditionally not for women. Not outside the church, cut ties with any social all straight white male gamers are traditionally masculine, but very few of them ever gain any self networks online, give up my career because it facilitated ‘free thinking and obsessive behavawareness of this inadequacy and go on to chaliour’ and focus entirely on pleasing my husband lenge it, because there are always spaces where they will be accepted just for being what they are. at the time. It was commonplace to make fun of gay ‘atSo long as they’re men. tributes,’ gay people and even to get the odd serYou see, it’s all so obvious to me now, but mon containing a story of someone having a ‘gay that’s only because I’ve been made to see it, demon’ cast out of them. These were real things I through my interactions and experiences with saw and heard at church. people who were also made to be self aware So while churches here don’t sport ‘Fags about their gender, sexuality or whatever Doom Nations’ signs, many still enforce strict else. And now that I’ve seen it, I can’t unsee it. gender roles, as well as misogynistic and homoPatriarchy is everywhere. Even in the spaces I phobic behaviour to combat kids ‘turning gay.’ grew up with and believed in. And in a way that kind of fundamentalism is much more effective.
DEVIANCE
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JONZO J
ONZO is Liverpool’s first risograph print, design and illustration studio, run by Lottie Brzozowski and Rachel Davey, one half designer and one half illustrator, the best of both worlds. We asked them to introduce themselves. We thrive off burgers, gin and glorious printed goods. We formed in 2013, at the end of our third year at Liverpool John Moores University. Having spent the entire year playing with this new toy, we decided we couldn’t live without a risograph. We bought the machine between us and quickly realised it would be great to turn it into a business and share it with the rest of Liverpool. It’s been a natural progression. We kind of fell into it but once we’d started we decided we wanted to go all out. JONZO is an opportunity for us to work together. Bringing together a design mind and an illustration brain has led to some really interesting ideas and very colourful work. Although we both do our own thing, it’s great to come together under an alias and produce some tasty treats. We love to get involved with the thriving Northwest creative scene, having sold at many InPrint fairs, including a fair at the Bauhaus in Dessau (we’re always up for a road trip), produced publications for Tate Liverpool’s Art Turning Left exhibition and most recently produced design work for arts and culture magazine The Double Negative. We ourselves would love to contribute to this rich scene by holding workshops, exhibitions and events, JONZO style!
hellojonzo.co.uk hellojonzo.tumblr.com @hellojonzo
Jazzy Envelopes (2013)
Postcard Detail (2013)
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SHOWCASE
Baba Marta (2013)
THE SKINNY
Bauhaus Designerei Print Fair (2013)
Page Detail of 1+1=3 Publication (2013)
May 2014
SHOWCASE
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Are you a small business, freelancer & or solopreneur?
small is beautiful conference Be part of Scotlands most important new event! 4 - 5 June 2014 Theatre Royal & Citizen M, Glasgow
Book tickets @ www.smallisb.com 34
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Pub-lic relations From getting your fans to come up with the recipe to roping in hilarious animals to front your ad campaigns, we look at the best way to flog a beer
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ood and drink has always attracted some of the oddest excesses of marketing folk, from the slightly dubious hijinks of the Kia-Ora crows to the bizarre association between golliwogs and marmalade. Still, it isn’t just over-sweetened fruit that sends the world’s marketers into a blind frenzy – beer also brings out the best from the PR world, as you’ll see shortly. First, some history. The spiritual home of the alcohol-fuelled PR stunt lies in Dublin, at the Guinness Storehouse. Now normally, when one visits a brewery or a maltings, a grey old man in a foosty jumper leads a tour through the dry but undoubtedly factual science of booze production. Trust us, we’ve smelled the knitwear, and it’s a haunting experience. Guinness, on the other hand, have an enormous monolith of a building filled with interactive gubbins at their disposal. It’s super-slick, very shiny, and features a whole floor dedicated to their own advertising. Yes, that’s right – Guinness will happily charge you to look at their adverts from eighty years ago. But if you’re anything like us you’ll forgive them because look, it’s a knight in shining armour, and he’s got a Guinness moustache! And now some toucans, and we all know that toucans love Guinness. Pelicans like a drink as well, and you can see how happy they are. They’re so happy, they haven’t even considered being a little bit racist. It’s enough to give Don Draper a massive pleasure-induced aneurysm, but it’s not for everyone.
May 2014
Words: Peter Simpson Illustration: Jodie McNeil
So what does today’s modern booze brand do to draw attention to itself? In the case of Brewdog, the most modern, booziest and most branded of them all, they get the customers to do all the work. The Mashtag project sees the brewery create an annual crowdsourced beer, with every aspect of the brew selected by the voting public. Now of course, it would be madness to just let people start naming things and throwing them into the beer, so the process is carefully guided along. Still, it’s a win-win; Brewdog fans will this year get an imperial red ale flavoured with blood orange to enjoy and claim partial credit for, while the brewery get loads of social media ‘buzz’ (which is basically the same as money these days), a load of fresh ideas and good will, and lots of free publicity from writers trying to hamfistedly pass comment on the world of food and drink. For brewers who don’t fancy a full-on interaction, there is the option of taking existing formats online. Formats such as the launch of a new beer with a online tasting, which Inveralmond Brewery conducted via that world wide web when launching their Inspiration series. Again, it’s a cunning idea – it’s cheap to do, it can’t really backfire because it’s just people who know about beer talking about beer, it makes the brewery’s fans feel like they’re involved in what’s going on, and it can all be done in a shed provided the shed has Wi-Fi. Of course, there are a few issues with the
format, namely that it’s very hard to make sure everyone has the beer. While your correspondent was indeed quaffing a delicious Czech pilsner while sitting in the dark at his kitchen table on a Tuesday evening, many of those logged into the
“Forget putting the horse before the cart, this is like going through the hassle of teaching the horse to drive a lorry, then putting it before the cart” online discussion were stuck in a state of beerless indifference. Plus, and this is more of a stylistic point than anything else, there is definitely an odd vibe to any footage featuring grown men staring down a webcam lens. It’s an iconography issue, and one that can surely be ironed out provided Inveralmond’s head brewer doesn’t start
FOOD AND DRINK
waving national flags around on camera again. And if neither of those options appeal, the brewers of the world can always take the easy option and buy a deserted island. Yes, it’s crazy stunt time, and this month’s contestant is ‘esteemed’ Australian lager Castlemaine XXXX. The idea is so simple it’s almost completely stupid – buy a tiny tropical island off the Australian coast, then work out ways of getting people interested. Forget putting the horse before the cart, this is like going through the hassle of teaching the horse to drive a lorry, then putting it before the cart. Of course in terms of PR it’s a masterstroke, because it’s a story that’s just mad enough to be believable but that few would ever bother to check up on. Look, now we’re talking about it, and we aren’t even in Australia. Scotland’s independent brewers don’t all have access to endless supplies of marketing cash or cartoonists who can capture the joy an anthropomorphised bear feels when he drinks a tasty, tasty Guinness, but we feel we’ve laid out some alternatives. Social media, online events, and getting your fans involved are key – or failing that, buying your own island. In fact, brewers, just buy one of the Hebrides; if you get lucky, you’ll end up with your very own beaked mascot to take on the big boys. What your new puffin mascot does or says next is up to you... Brewdog Mashtag is released later this year; Inveralmond Inspiration: Sunburst is available now
Lifestyle
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Phagomania: Burger Porn
Food News
Self-proclaimed “burger pervert” Mathew Ramsey shares his thoughts about porn, burgers, and the unexpected links between the two
Food news is almost entirely brown this month, with discussions on haggis, competitive coffee making, and enough whisky to float a battleship
Interview: Lewis MacDonald
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ttention all burger perverts. Look at the pictures on this page, and prepare to make the kind of noise normally heard on a building site as a “lovely lassie” struts by. Then take a moment to reflect on the shame, and wonder just what your life has become. But relax, you are in safe hands, as fortunately for you a classically trained chef has been pushing at the very limits of burger porn. What is the limit? Is there a limit? What is ‘burger porn’? Allow Mathew of pornburger.me to clarify: “My goal in photographing these perversions is nothing short of attempting to induce both salivation and an erection.” That’s cleared that up, then. A one-man band acting as chef and photographer, Mathew has been getting through “this particularly brutal winter” by seemingly abstaining from regular porn and honing his talents in the kitchen. “There’s something cathartic about rolling up your sleeves, throwing on a vinyl, pouring a couple fingers of whiskey, and immersing yourself in the dark arts of hamburgery.” Dark indeed, but classy. Each weekly offering has seen the burgers go from strength to strength and nothing is out of bounds… foodwise. “One week it’s figuring out how to make a burger patty out of duck confit,” reveals Mathew, “and the next – making pâte à choux with emulsified foie gras and encrusting in potato chips.” They sure look good and they certainly sound good, but do they taste good? In fact, in an age where polished food photography roams in prevalence, is there a superficial falsehood in all these pictures? Do we see lots of great things but never taste or experience them? Is that the real reason why all this ‘Instagram your food’ bollocks is so annoying? For Matthew, it’s a no, but food porn does match up with the naughty stuff in some regards. He concedes: “The photographer in me is a firm believer in porn for porn’s sake. That said, the chef in me is all about integrity of flavour, which is why I’m actually making a lot of the ingredients from scratch and recipe testing as I go. There’s no reason why they can’t taste as good as they look.” Well that’s the spirit, but ‘spirit’ is a dangerous word in Mathew’s company. It seems so many of us are loving burgers; but, we ask, why burgers? Mathew responds: “Porn Meatloaf just sounds weird... But seriously, when a burger is done well, it can be both a spiritual and erotic experience... They’re a guilty pleasure, and I am a pure glutton for pleasure. Also, I’m pretty sure they’re my spirit animal.” And we thought we liked burgers. We pointed him towards spectacular French duo ‘Fat and Furious Burger,’ whom we interviewed last year. Their experimental interpretations on what a burger can be became topical satire at points, albeit partially inedible, and they proclaimed them “the real food porn.” “In no universe can I see myself making a burger that I wouldn’t wrap my lips around,” Mathew retorts. Taking a closer look at the French site, he reflects: “I mean the thing about making 52 different burger fantasies, is that things are bound to get pretty weird. I’m looking forward to some fun collaborations with scientists, artists, and even a gelato maker.” Wow. So what else lies ahead on his road of hamburgery? Mathew has something big up his sleeve: “I will say there are plans for both a book and a porno mag where all the models are food.” Well slap our arse and call us Sally, we’ll sign up to that.
Words: Peter Simpson
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MacDaddy
www.pornburger.me
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Lifestyle
FOOD AND DRINK
Photos: pornburger.me
So Kalbi Maybe
his month’s food news is dominated by whisky. It’s ‘whisky month,’ you see, so there are innumerable whisky-based events going on in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. We’ll subtly mix the whisky stuff in with the rest of the news though, so we don’t have to be constantly talking about whisky. First, whisky! In an abandoned condensed milk factory in Edinburgh, Create:Eat:Whisky falls somewhere between art installation, ‘food experience’ and booze tasting. It’s in a kooky location, with specially-commissioned lighting and pieces of art, but there will be some drinks and nibbles, so it should all be fine. 14-20 May, Nestle Condensed Milk Factory, 4 Wellington Pl, £20. Next, coffee! Competitive coffee, no less, with the Scottish Aeropress Championships in Glasgow. Coffee enthusiasts from across Scotland will battle it out to prove that they make the best coffee using that weird device that looks like it came from the set of The Crystal Maze. For the entrants it will all be very serious and methodical, but for the reader who likes their weekend cuppa with a side of mild panic it should be great fun. 11 May, Old Hairdressers, 20 Renfield Ln. Now, whisky! The Whisky Stramash returns to Edinburgh’s Surgeons’ Hall for a third year of entertainment, intrigue, and brown liquids that could strip the paint off a barn door from ten yards away. The surrounding will be opulent and old-timey, and the activities should be fairly mad if the murder mystery and molecular experimentation of last year are anything to go by. And if none of that has you convinced, just remember that the Stramash has signed up just about every distiller and brand imaginable. Seriously, so much whisky. 24-25 May, Surgeons’ Hall, Nicolson St, from £26. Moving on, haggis! It may look a bit odd, but that hasn’t stopped Innis & Gunn from teaming up with haggis supremos Macsween for an evening of beer and various configurations of animal innards at the brewery’s Edinburgh base. James Macsween will talk you through the ins and outs of the mythic dish, but with four courses and four beers on the menu one hopes he won’t go into too much detail. A simple flow chart, with animals at one end and a cross between a sausage and a rugby ball at the other, will suffice. 6 May, 6.30pm, Innis & Gunn, 6 Randolph Cres, £20. Finally, whisky! But not just whisky, whisky attached to a ‘multi-sensory journey!’ Marrying Malts And Molecules will delve deep into the science of taste and hopefully bring a new insight to the world of nosing and holding glasses up to the light. Set at the Merchants House on the corner of George Square, prepare to bring a crazy new way of thinking to one of Glasgow’s most esteemed institutions. Take the system down from the inside, whisky first. They’ll thank you in the long run. 24 May, 7pm, Merchants House, 7 West George St, £45.
THE SKINNY
Online booking
May 2014
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25th & 26th July 2014 25th
26th
The Feeling Alabama 3 Martha Reeves & The Vandellas The Zombies Big Country Finding Albert Model Aeroplanes Young Fathers Hector Bizerk The Amazing Snakeheads Neon Waltz
LAW
FESTIVAL SITE NEAR DUNDRENNAN DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY 2014
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THE SKINNY
Gig Highlights This coming May, a visit from duelling techno behemoths Fuck Buttons, psychedelic visionaries Flaming Lips, industrial juggernauts Nine Inch Nails, and a look at the boundary-pushing Tectonics Festival, featuring Thurston Moore, Bill Wells and many more e begin with Fuck Buttons at The Liquid Room, Edinburgh on 4 May. The sheer sonic assault of their performance at Glasgow’s SWG3 last year – Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power facing off like duelling mad scientists – was impressive, but it is the complex twists and turns of 2013’s Slow Focus, The Skinny’s Album of the Year, that demand your attendance. Another enticing prospect on 4 May are experimental post-rockers Vasa, one of the most inventive bands to come out of Glasgow in recent years and a highlight of 2013’s T Break stage at T in the Park. They play throughout the UK in May to support the release of latest single Not A Cop, including a stop at Glasgow’s The Roxy 171 with Shrine and Shambles in a Husk in support (also at Non-Zero’s, Dundee on 1 May, Opium in Edinburgh on 2 May, and The Basement Cafe in Ayr on 3 May). On 7 May, Sub Pop signings Dum Dum Girls play Glasgow’s SWG3. Formed in 2008 by Dee Dee Penny, they signed to Sub Pop in 2011, this year releasing the excellent Too True, on which Penny steered things towards even brighter, shinier realms of new wave pop – the songs will no doubt take on an infectious energy in a live setting. 9 May sees garage rock legends The Sonics come to Glasgow for a very special gig at The Arches – formed in the early 60s in Tacoma, Washington, the band became a seminal touchstone for American rock and punk, with their adrenalised, choppy guitars, and uptempo takes on standards like Louie Louie. Two seminal albums, Here Are The Sonics and Boom, have influenced several generations of musicians, from The Fall and Mudhoney to LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, who referenced the band on the track Losing My Edge. This one’s sure to be a draw for anyone who knows their rock histroy, so book nice and early. Flame-haired songsmith Tori Amos is back, playing Glasgow’s O2 Academy on 10 May. Her latest album, Unrepentent Geraldines, was something of a return to the dark pop confections of Little Earthquakes and Boys For Pele, after a more experimental phase. The following night, at Edinburgh’s Electric Circus, you can catch Japanese pop-punk veterans Shonen Knife in concert, playing their immaculately-constructed, sub three-minute blasts of bubblegum punk, with
support from Smallgang and The Spook School (also playing the CCA on 10 May). Their latest, Overdrive, received high praise in these pages last month. On 14 May at the Classic Grand, a chance to catch one of the best bands of the 90s indie rock canon, the often under-appreciated Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Their lithe and lissome take on blues, swamp rock and funk, powered by gyrating eponymous frontman Spencer, is both powerfully familiar and completely unique. Over the years JSBX have collaborated with everyone from Beck to R.L. Burnside. The band’s last outing, 2012’s Meat and Bone, was appropriately stripped and raw, promising that Spencer is far from ready to hang up his brothel-creepers. Canada’s Trust, now a solo project for Robert Alfons, channels the best of synth-pop, darkwave, electro and goth music into productions that nod to rave, trance and classic synth music, but it’s his vocals – alternating between a bassy graveyard croon and a diva-like falsetto – that really mark Trust out as unique, along with songwriting chops to die for. The highlights of this year’s Joyland should take on shimmering, anthemic form at this live outing at Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh on 18 May (also at Broadcast, Glasgow on 17 May). On 19 May, one of the revived stars of the summer festival circuit this year, Jeff Mangum’s Neutral Milk Hotel, come to Glasgow for a gig at The Barrowland. Formed in the late 80s by Mangum, their trademark is a mercurial, relentlessly experimental approach to alternative rock. The current touring line-up features the band that backed Mangum during the recording of classic 1998 album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. The SSE Hydro in Glasgow gets another landmark road-test as a venue for touring bands rather than enormous tweeny-pop juggernauts like Gaga – it will be interesting to see how the usually spectacular affair that is the Nine Inch Nails live show translates in the city’s biggest indoor concert venue. After ‘retiring’ Nails in 2009, this is the first opportunity to see the reactivated Reznor and co in these parts since a furious headline set at T in the Park’s NME stage that same year. Whatever side of the fence you might fall on last year’s Hesitation Marks, the prospect of a live shout-along to Head Like A Hole and
Fuck Buttons
Closer will no doubt tempt fans out of the wooodwork on 20 May – support comes from darkwave ambassador Cold Cave. On 22 May, Austin, Texas experimental rockers par excellence White Denim come to Edinburgh’s Liquid Room, while over in Glasgow the following night (23 May) at Stereo, you can catch Cleveland, Ohio psych-rockers Cloud Nothings doing their thing, with support from Cheetahs. If you wanted to pick just two bands to represent the cutting-edge of American alt.rock, you’d be hard-pressed to do better – and you can follow up that impressive double whammy with a session from Michael Gira’s deafening, awe-inspiring Swans, returning to The Arches in Glasgow on 25 May replete with the expansive, ever-evolving fruits from imminent LP, To Be Kind. On 25 May, there’s an all-day music festival happening at The Art School in Glasgow – headed up by Carpenter lovin’ zombie synth duo Ubre Blanca, and the menacing electro torch songs of Hausfrau. Check our listings for the rest of the bill, and get down early – there’s a free mixtape for the first 100 through the door.
Photo: Daniel Harris
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Words: Illya Kuryakin
Edinburgh, on 26 May, will witness the always-welcome return of The Flaming Lips, who play The Usher Hall. You never know what to expect from the ‘Lips when it comes to their live show, but the smart money is on it being psychedelic, whimsical and elaborate. Wayne Coyne and co. are on the form of their lives following 2013’s ambitious The Terror, so expect an experience even more over-the-top than usual. The month finishes up with a gig at Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh for East India Youth – young William Doyle deserves some sort of medal for the sheer number of festival dates he is playing this year, and hopefully his ubiquity on the summer circuit will mean his ravshing Total Strife Forever will earn some new fans. He’s no slouch at the dancing either – catch his live show, by turns frenetic, soaring and exquisitely melodic, on 29 May. Alternatively, steamrollering Dundonian power trio Fat Goth bring their bad selves back to Edinburgh’s Electric Circus on the same night, showing off their rather excellent third LP, One Hundred Percent Suave.
Tectonics Glasgow, 9-11 May
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he BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s Tectonics Festival, which runs from 9-11 May in Glasgow, and is twinned with a sister-festival in Rejkyavik, is more than just a celebration of neoclassical music. Curated by composer Ilan Volkov, Tectonics offers opportunities for collaboration and exploration as well as pure performance, and alongside the world premieres of new works from classical composers and avant garde ensembles, this second outing for Tectonics Glasgow will also welcome a wealth of international stars and local heroes from the worlds of alternative rock, modern jazz and experimental music. The opening gala concert, on 9 May, will see a series of collaborations and special performances including Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore working with Japan’s Takehisa Kosugi; experimental pioneer Christian Wolff showcasing his latest work;
May 2014
iconoclastic jazz musician Bill Wells in collaboration with the SSO; and Conquering Animal Sound front-woman ANAKANAK, alongside a glittering array of globe-spanning players. For fans of classical music, there will be world premieres of new work by Georg Friedrich Haas, John Oswald, David Behrman, and Klaus Lang, and revised works by Michael Finnissy and James Clapperton, amongst others. On 10 May, catch Thurston Moore in concert at The Old Fruitmarket with Cindytalk and Dylan Nyoukis. Earlier in the evening, you can catch Muscles of Joy at the same venue. On Sunday 11 May, Icelandic composer collective S.L.Á.T.U.R. and Takehisa Kosugi play showcase sessions at the Old Fruitmarket and Grand Hall respectively. Exisiting at the bleeding-edge of contemporary experimental and neo-classical music, Tectonics has fast become a welcome addition to Glasgow’s busy cultural calendar.
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Thurston Moore
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Photo: EUan Robertson
Do Not Miss
whereas Cairns punctually offers Die Laughing in dedication to Peaches Geldof. With certain cameos to fill (Page Hamilton While the same old talking heads romanticise won’t be swooping in on wires to reprise his jazz Britpop’s worst B-sides and exhaustive Nirvana metal solo on Unbeliever tonight), the crowd are nostalgia draws to its ugly conclusion as pictures encouraged to recreate Lesley Rankine’s shriekof Kurt Cobain’s suicide scene finally claw their ing chorus for Lunacy Booth. More pertinently way into the tabloids, is seems too many players missing is the expressive clarity of prodigious from the class of ’94 have been casually swept founding drummer Fyfe Ewing, although Neil aside. Cooper can conjure up his own thunder. They’re Take Therapy?; in the 20 years since on fiery form and in good humour throughout; Troublegum propelled Andy Cairns’ men into the bassist Michael McKeegan bounds the stage like poster pages of Kerrang!, hindsight could call it a teen while Cairns gives praise to the rejuvenatboth a defining statement and an albatross for ing effects of Glasgow Royal Infirmary’s antibiotthe Irish trio. Marrying industrial rhythms with ics, to the point that chants for ‘one more tune’ pop nous and the sort of razor-wire riffs that become interchangeble with ‘N H S.’ Killing Joke had been struggling to bring over With Troublegum in the bag, the set’s secground for years, it was a disquieting masterond half is comprised of old heirlooms as Cairns piece. Punchy and political, Cairns’ despair vows not to play a note later than 1995. A few was as much at society as the self. “Domestic select bursts from the earliest corners of their refugees,” he growled on Stop It You’re Killing catalogue (most cheered for is their immortal Me, coming on like a weathered street preacher rock club crasher Teethgrinder) rub shoulders lobbing thought bombs at passing traffic, “sink in with covers of Judas Priest and The Stooges. the same boat as me.” It spoke for the times that Generations mingle in the mosh-pit and the first a band this joyfully nihilistic could find regular crowd surfer of the night goes over the barrier play around the clock on MTV Europe. as they break into I Wanna Be Your Dog. Potato Two decades on, Cairns surveys The Garage’s Junkie, affectionately introduced by Cairns as sweltering throng, assembled to recollect its ‘an old Irish folk song,’ is a potent closing nod dark genius. “I’m having a ball up here,” he cheer- to their punk roots with its charming sing-along ily imparts with a satisfied grin, apparently at refrain “James Joyce is fucking my sister.” peace with the moment they’ve been battling to Their most recent trio of albums have provbetter (rather than repeat) ever since. The latter en that they’re far from a creatively spent force, day obsession with seeing classic albums perand with those days of mainstream flirting long formed live in full by their original maker might since put behind them, in 2014 Therapy? seem seem unnatural in certain instances, but part of comfortable in their own skin as divisive margin Troublegum’s enduring appeal is its remarkable walkers. “I get the feeling that I’ve been cheated,” fluidity. The tempo seamlessly shifts from trackCairns wailed on Trigger Inside, speaking from to-track; Knives – still a thrilling two-minute the black heart of their anomalous breakthrough. juggernaut – gives way to Screamager before Probably not tonight. [Dave Kerr] careering into Hellbelly. Nowhere (still their bigtherapyquestionmark.co.uk gest international hit) is introduced by an unholy medley of Pretty Vacant and Nowhere Man,
Therapy?
The Body / VOE Audio, Glasgow, 22 Apr rrrrr Dotted inbetween the bald-headed and bearded metal-heads who are tonight’s main audience are a handful of nervous-looking hipster types (this reviewer among them), tempted into the womb-like space of Audio to see if Providence, Rhode Island doom-merchants The Body will play anything from their chilling and sparse, technoinfluenced album I Shall Die Here, produced by Tri-Angle beatsmith and avant garde electronic artist The Haxan Cloak. Before they take the stage, we are treated to a gloomy, somnolent performance from local mob VOE (Victims of Experience), whose brooding, intense tracks are like a duel between achingly melancholic postrock and pitch-black death metal power-riffage. They are remarkable, powerfully dynamic, clearly winning a clutch of new fans with their emotionally wrenching and flawlessly played slabs of
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Review
In June, the Manics will bring their studio album tally up to an even dozen – impressive considering their one-time pledge to release a double-length debut then idealistically self-destruct. Today, 22 years and (almost) 11 albums on from Generation Terrorists, they remain ensconced in many an ardent heart, and on recent evidence seem unlikely to be dislodged any time soon. The enthusiasm extends to tonight’s support, with The Twilight Sad’s James Graham declaring it a “pleasure and a privilege” to share the stage with one of his all-time favourite bands. From the majestic Cold Days from the Birdhouse onwards, The Sad deliver a suitably imposing and characteristically intense set; by the close, Graham spins and shakes as if physically buffeted by the stormy sounds trembling their way through the Barrowland’s sprung floor and all the way up to its starry ceiling. It’s a room the Manic Street Preachers
know well, with tonight their tenth visit to the iconic east end ballroom. The last was barely six months ago, yet déjà vu is avoided thanks to some strategic set-list shake-ups – most notably the insertion of a brace of songs from forthcoming LP Futurology. The title track makes a relatively muted impact, but its compatriot Europa Geht Durch Mich – a sort of krautrock-inspired Nutbush City Limits stomper – suggests an invigorating break from Rewind the Film’s tempered acoustics. Elsewhere, highlights come from familiar quarters – a stirring Motorcycle Emptiness; selffulfilling and self-sustaining prophecy You Love Us – but reach their peak with the less frequently visited Archives of Pain and Die in the Summertime; together, a thrillingly abrasive salute to The Holy Bible’s double decade anniversary. By balancing all eras of existence – from combustible young punks through to their still-vibrant present incarnation – the Manics ensure tonight is anything but another jog round the block. [Chris Buckle] www.manicstreetpreachers.com
misery-metal. The Body are a different proposition altogether. Lee Buford, tangle-haired and rake thin, pounds at drums and electronic pads in a blur of motion, producing contorted, lurching polyrhythms. Imposing, heavily bearded front-man Chip King sets up and loops walls of sickeningly brutal guitar noise and sampled speech, layering riffs with a deceptive complexity while screaming in a ragged, ear-piercing howl. Vague shapes from I Shall Die Here break the surface, like the tips of icebergs, but stripped of most of Haxan’s dub techno atmospherics. Instead, it is the complex tonal shifting, the sheer intensity of King’s screams, and the artful formlessness of The Body’s performance that stay with you, long after your ears have stopped ringing, and your stomach has stopped churning from the deep, guttural bass. [Bram E. Gieben] Manic Street Preachers
igetrvng.com
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THE SKINNY
Photo: Jassy Earl
The Body
Photo: John Graham
Manic Street Preachers / The Twilight Sad Barrowlands, Glasgow, 4 Apr rrrrr
Photo: Les Ogilvie
Therapy? The Garage, Glasgow, 7 Apr rrrrr
Murder Ballads Having formed with some secrecy in 2011, Dillinger Escape Plan frontman Greg Puciato finally lifts the lid on long-incubating super quartet Killer Be Killed and tells us which one is ‘The Riffpisser’
Interview: Ross Watson
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ith a membership boasting Troy Sanders of Mastodon, Sepultura co-founder and Soulfly pilot Max Cavalera, ex-Mars Volta drummer Dave Elitch and Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato, on paper it’s tempting to consider Killer Be Killed as one of the most exciting heavy metal supergroups in recent memory. Their selftitled debut – out this month – is an enraged, riffcharged blend of blinding thrash and thrilling, melodic hard rock. The band has been working away secretively over the past few years, but it’s only recently that concrete details of the project came to light. Puciato starts from the beginning, outlining the collaboration’s initial stages: “When we first started writing, I thought we were going to be making pretty aggressive, old-school thrash. When I was trying to think of a bassist that fits that attitude and that style, I thought Nate Newton [Converge] would have been perfect for that. He couldn’t do it, and once Troy got involved – because Mastodon has taken such an interesting development from sludgy prog to almost like a heavy Queens of the Stone Age – he started introducing the kind of songwriting I wouldn’t normally have considered, and we decided to just let go of the wheel and see what happened.” Puciato of course has already dabbled in projects outside his day job, contributing vocally to songs by Genghis Tron, The Devin Townsend Project and Every Time I Die, to name a few. He also got together with members of Isis, Candiria and Made Out of Babies for the Spylacopa EP in 2008, but this is the first long-player he’s been fully involved with outside of Dillinger. It will come as a surprise to many that he’s also a proficient guitar player; with Killer Be Killed, he’s stepping up to take on six-string duties alongside Cavalera. Puciato discusses his musical inclinations in and outwith his main gig: “Dillinger is Ben [Weinman]’s thing musically and my thing vocally, so we don’t intrude on each other’s roles a whole lot, but I’ve always written music outside Dillinger that didn’t fit into what that band already is. The fact that I play guitar isn’t really well known, because I’m not exactly gonna get onstage with Dillinger and shred, but when I was a nine year old kid, that was my thing!” He harks back to when he was a teenager: “I was playing in a band with a friend of mine who played drums when I was thirteen years old. I started singing out of necessity, just because I didn’t want anyone else to sing. I wasn’t very good at playing and singing at the same time, so vocals became the thing I was passionate about. I wouldn’t consider myself a ‘guitar player’ – I’m not Tosin Abasi – but I can play as well as Max can.” So why is he only just getting around to releasing music he wrote and played? “It’s not so much needing an outlet as I like the idea of collaborating and writing with different people,” Puciato remarks. “When you put yourself into an environment like that your role changes a little bit, and in Dillinger we already have really defined roles.” He admits that it’s nice to be able to flex outside of Dillinger’s hyper-technical blueprint. “I’m just constantly creative. I can’t switch it off. The Dillinger Escape Plan is such a precise emotion that I need to get out of myself; it’s such a violent, aggressive band, and you have to be in a certain headspace to be able to write and perform that kind of music. I have a lot of creativity that isn’t necessarily that all the time – if I was that emotional, I’d be fucking dead by now.” As their initial statement of intent, Killer Be Killed is a fluid work. Album opener Wings Of
May 2014
Feather And Wax screeches into sight with Troy Sanders’ freakish bellow accompanying a barrage of aggressive, fast-paced riffs before bursting into a soaring, melodic chorus spearheaded by Puciato. From the extreme roots of Sepultura’s speed metal to the oddly accessible heaviness of Mastodon, it’s all here, yet the quartet step into the arena with a distinct character of their own. “It wasn’t too hard to get everyone on the same page, because we didn’t really force anything,” Puciato attests. “We didn’t try to appease any
thirds of a song, in seeing what other people do differently, and then having to run with the idea for their part. It was a rewarding process.” Instead of running with the gimmick of ‘one song, one singer,’ Killer Be Killed decided to do things a bit differently. There was only one exception to the improvisational nature of the recordings: “We established pretty early on that Troy, Max and I would all write and sing on every song – that’s the strength of the band, I think.” Puciato unpacks this decision: “I wanted it to be in the spirit of hip-hop or jazz guys deciding to make records together. We were all in the room together at all times – we didn’t send files to one another – everyone was running around and jumping into the vocal booth for five minutes to get ideas down. One thing would lead to another. We were spinning off of one another instead of writing separately. Any time we would argue or have any disagreements, it was in a positive way. There was no ego involved.” Lyrically, each member had free rein. Cavalera’s socio-political commentary is fierce Greg Puciato as always, whereas Puciato’s words come from a particular fanbase, like ‘okay, this one needs to different place: “I write very autobiographically, have a Dillinger part,’ or ‘this one needs to have a though pretty abstractly. I just start writing, and Mastodon part.’ There was no real point for me in I almost use it as self-revelation. I’ll be like ‘Oh, doing that, so we just wrote whatever came natu- this is what I’m writing about. Why am I writing rally. The crazy thing was how much people’s voic- about that?’ and then be like ‘Okay, well there es affected what a part sounded like. If Max wrote must be some kind of unresolved tension and and played back a riff, I’d be like ‘Oh, that sounds dissonance between myself and that topic’.” like fuckin’ Sepultura!’, but then Troy would sing Although comprised of four distinct eleover that riff and it’d sound completely differments, Puciato confirms that, musically, the ent. It was fun to be a part of, being a fan for two group reference the kind of metal music that
“I think this ended up becoming a lot more than just a crossover thrash record”
MUSIC
was an influential common denominator. But one of the most rewarding aspects was the way in which the project brought less obvious ideas to the forefront: “The melody thing was a complete accident,” he claims. “When Max sits down, he basically writes thrash riffs. We call him the Riffpisser – that was his nickname – ‘cause he pisses out riffs. [He laughs.] ‘Every time you need a riff, just ask the Riffpisser and he’ll piss one out for you,’ we’d say. Every time you hear Max’s parts, you imagine him screaming over it, so when Troy came in and started humming melodies over these riffs, it opened the door up to go pretty much anywhere. I do a bit of everything, Max is pretty much all brutal, and Troy has his one style of singing that doesn’t sound like anyone else. I think that made the record a lot more dynamic – it ended up becoming a lot more than just a crossover thrash record.” It may prove difficult for their schedules to align, but Puciato is adamant that the desire to take Killer Be Killed to a live setting is definitely there. “We definitely decided that we want to play. We have other bands that take up so much of our time – getting people to want to play shows during their week off when they have families and everything else. It’ll happen man... just a matter of when and where.” For now, there’s ample sustenance to be found on this fully formed debut. Killer Be Killed’s eponymous debut is released via Nuclear Blast on 12 May facebook.com/KillerBeKilledMusic
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41
Album of the Month Tobacco
Ultima II Massage [Ghostly International, 12 May]
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A growling, distorted bass hums, a pitch-bent synth wobbles, clashing live drums shudder and lurch. “RIDE,” commands a distorted, vocoder-destroyed voice, “RIDE, MOTHERFUCKER, RIDE.” If the third album proper from Pennsylvania native, Anticon beatsmith and Black Moth Super Rainbow founder Tobacco is a ride, it’s a goddamn rollercoaster. There’s an organic, crunchy, layer of distortion over everything, and with an over-clocked palette of synthetic, digitally-created beats and crackling, dessicated analogue riffs, Tobacco pulls off the trick of making these tracks sound like they were played by a kick-ass band.
Swans
Little Dragon
To Be Kind [Mute, 12 May]
Nabuma Rubberband [Because Music, 12 May]
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Swans have consistently offered the most brutal of listening endurance tests with the maniacal Michael Gira spitting blood and venom at the wheel. This laudable commitment to extremity has its roots in the early 1980s downtown New York rock community but, on the evidence of To Be Kind, Gira and co. have thoroughly outlasted and outperformed their atonal contemporaries and honed their hostile grind into a sinewy and slinky onslaught of light and shade. The album displays much more diversity than its immediate predecessors; hear the brass-infused near-merriment of Oxygen, the skittering synths and chants of A Little God In My Hands, the accelerated chainsaw gang menace of opener Screen Shot or the seductive ambience of Kirsten Supine, replete with self-combustion outro. Despite the two-hour plus running time, Swans appear to be – gasp! – enjoying themselves; they’re still staring into the abyss but the abyss is no longer staring back. Anyway, never mind the length, feel and breathe the quality. [Colm McAuliffe] Playing The Arches, Glasgow on 24 May younggodrecords.com
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Playing T in the Park on 11 Jul
Watter
This World [Temporary Residence, 26 May]
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Damon Albarn
Everyday Robots [XL, 28 Apr]
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We never really knew Slint. New documentary Breadcrumb Trail goes some way to giving greater context to their brief history, suggesting that drummer Britt Walford may have been the mastermind all along, and its release coincides with the debut album from his first full-time project since 1991. This World actually resembles the work of his band mate more closely – Grails’ Zak Riles is audibly all over this record, concocting a beguiling mixture of murk and tension that’s as drawn-out and lusciously immersive. Seawater is the highlight, with sinister synth motifs coiled around a guitar mantra that eventually explodes into a glorious, yearning coda. Psych? Prog? Post-rock? Whatever. Small Business’ mountainous heaviosity leads unsuspectingly into wordless hymns of pastoral beauty. By the close, we’re transfixed by the fragility of Rachel Grimes’ lyrical dances across the piano; no longer focused on the who, what or why of this music, simply lost to its bountiful charms. [Will Fitpatrick]
Damon Albarn’s solo debut proper doesn’t feel like it labours under the weight of anticipation – the Blur front-man has already proved everything he has to prove with Gorillaz; on his work on the Dr. Dee libretto; with supergroup The Good, The Bad & The Queen; and in collaboration with Bobby Womack amongst many others. There is a comfortable, easy familiarity about Everyday Robots – the elegantly-constructed beats, produced by XL boss Richard Russell, are the perfect counterpoint to Albarn’s fragile voice. Albarn has never sounded better, in some ways; the nuances of his vocal performance are powerfully evoked here. The highlights – the subdued hip-hop soul of the title track; the piano, slide guitar and swooping drums of Hostiles; the sparse, melancholic balladry of The Selfish Giant – far outweigh the missteps (the plinky-plonky, overly whimsical Mr Tembo), making this a satisfying, intimate collection from one of the UK’s finest songwriters – a promising start to a new phase from an artist clearly revelling in his maturity. [Bram E. Gieben]
temporaryresidence.com
damonalbarnmusic.com
Alias
Mr. Scruff
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Pitch Black Prism [Anticon, 26 May]
Friendly Bacteria [Ninja Tune, 19 May]
Heralding a switch from his MPC-based productions to the more synthetic sounds of the Native Instruments Machine, there is a certain linearity to the drum programming on opener Ghost Cloudz that almost makes you yearn for the offbeat cadences and analogue fuzz of Alias’ earlier work. Then Crimson Across It, featuring a feral, schizophrenic performance from Doseone kicks in, and all doubts are demolished, as Doseone spits in a terrifying array of voices over a low-slung, bass-heavy beat. The icy synths and minimal trap drums of Amber Revisions nod to witch house and post-dubstep. When Alias explores these ethereal realms in greater depth on Joseph Greenleaf Mornings and Vallejo’s Sapphire Views, the results are impressive. Indiiggo, with Therese Workman, is a claustrophobic, dubbed-out slice of electro-pop. Its closing tracks stroll through more Warp-like territory, with shades of BoC, Aphex Twin and Plaid, exploring familiar realms in a way that is uniquely Alias. [Bram E. Gieben]
This isn’t the Mr. Scruff album you’re expecting. Not that his bouncy, jazzy, cartoonish broken beat had lost its charm – but fans certainly knew what to expect. Here, Andy Carthy nudges them in subtler directions. Opener Stereo Breath is a dark, bass-driven slice of neo-soul, followed up with the drifting, piano-laced two-step of Render Me, both featuring the vocals of Denis Jones. It’s a lean, spare sound, with none of the nudge-nudge, wink-wink humour of earlier records. The wonky disco of Deliverance is more familiar, while Thought To The Meaning is almost a little too slick, borrowing from commercial folk and R&B. The title track is a delicious, Brainfeeder-esque dose of stoned synth-funk. Vocal contributions from Robert Owens and Vanessa Freeman explore smooth house and garage; the over-clocked, drunken house of What is a standout. Despite a few moments of over-polish this is a considered and appealing step to the left. [Bram E. Gieben]
anticon.com/artist/alias
mrscruff.com
Review
Indie Cindy [Pixiesmusic, 28 Apr]
nabumarubberband.com
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42
Pixies
Perhaps to avert the crushing weight of expectation that comes with such a studio hiatus, the Pixies have been releasing this album in dribs and drabs for the best part of a year now, to mixed reception. However, finally presented as a single entity, Indie Cindy neatly fits into the Boston legends’ canon – in many ways the natural followup (after a mere twenty-odd years) to the experimental sound of their last studio album, Trompe le Monde. Running the gamut of familiar Pixies tropes, it’s hardly topnotch throughout. Ring the Bell is a melodic pop song that really should have been filed under ‘needs a lot more work’ and Snakes and Another Toe in the Ocean are mere pastiches of the greatness that went before. However, very loud/quiet opener What Goes Boom, the psychedelic rockout (AC/DC meet The Beach Boys) Blue Eyed Hexe and synth-rock oddity that is Bagboy add to the feeling that the finest Pixies album is really [adopts Alan Partridge voice] The Very Best of The Pixies, and the six standout highlights here (coupled with the delightful 13-track live set – worth buying on its own) make a strong claim for inclusion. [Paul Mitchell]
American Interior [Turnstile, 5 May]
gruffrhys.com
ghostly.com/artists/tobacco
The more layers Little Dragon shed, the more interesting their sound arguably becomes, with fourth album Nabuma Rubberband containing some of their sparsest yet most intoxicating work to date. It employs a palette broadly in-keeping with predecessor Ritual Union, yet here the parts add up to a more nourishing whole: shinier, funkier, more daring. Opener Mirror sets a slinky benchmark, leading with minimal components (slow, muffled beats; Yukimi Nagano’s supple vocals; sparkly, sporadic synths) before taking a subtle upswing. Both here and across the rest of the album, Little Dragon’s sound is simultaneously nostalgic and alien: on the one hand, influences from Prince to R&B production duo Jimmy Jams and Terry Lewis are liberally invoked, yet the band’s ambitions are kept resolutely future-focussed, never succumbing to the backwards-facing 80sworship that’s snared so many of late. Though the overarching restraint and precision might render Nabuma Rubberband too glassy and impersonal for some tastes, numerous others will find themselves transfixed. [Chris Buckle]
Gruff Rhys
Fresh from writing shiny electro-pop chronicling the life of Giangiacomo Feltrinelli as one half of Neon Neon, Gruff Rhys reverts to his own name to tell the story of an even more unlikely subject. American Interior, his fourth solo LP, is an enjoyable take on the fabled 18th century explorer John Evans, who left his native Gwynedd in a vain attempt to find a mythical tribe of Welsh-speaking Native Americans, drawing one of the first maps of the Missouri River along the way. Rhys retraced Evans’ tour of the American heartlands before entering the studio, and the musical influences are clear in the alt-country stomp of 100 Unread Messages, and the Muscle Shoals soul-tinged Liberty (Is Where We’ll Be). It’s all a long way removed from the pscyh-rock of the Super Furry Animals or the sleek Neon Neon, but this is a charming and at times fascinating album – as much a celebration of Americana as a legendary Welsh folk hero. [Chris McCall]
Eruption is one of the best pop songs of the year, buried under so much fuzz and grunge that it becomes a headbanging anthem. Video Warning attempts evokes scratchy VHS Manga soundtracks; Lipstick Destroyer is rabies-infected electro-house; Dipsmack is straight-up punk filtered through decimated techno, while Blow Your Heart melds shoegaze and Daft Punk, plundering the same realms of hyper-sexual neo-disco and cosmic P-Funk the French duo explore, but filtered through a grubby, trailer trash aesthetic that teams subversive, crotch-grabbing lyrics with steadily intensifying glitches and de-rezzed synths. Ultima II Massage will leave you feeling breathless, euphoric and drunk. This is hardcore. [Bram E. Gieben]
RECORDS
bis
data Panik etcetera [Do Yourself In Records, 5 May]
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When bis split back in 2003 they left behind a small but special discography, topped by hyperactive early EP Transmissions on the Teen-C Tip! and tailed with 2001 LP Return to Central. But the separation never quite stuck (to fans’ delight); two years later they were back for a shortlived stint as Data Panik, and since then they’ve re-emerged intermittently to play shows and tease new material. Comprised of the fruits of various unused recording sessions, data Panik etcetera curates material from the Glasgow trio’s absent noughties, placing previously released tracks like Control the Radical alongside songs that are finding their way to interested parties for the first time. Careful remastering ensures these disparate components fit together seamlessly; individual tracks, meanwhile, deliver trademark energy and finely honed indie-pop melodies. data Panik etcetera is the sound of bis renewing their vows; here’s hoping they now feel like making up for lost time. [Chris Buckle]
THE SKINNY
Killer Be Killed
Brody Dalle
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Killer Be Killed [Nuclear Blast, 12 May] Killer Be Killed – a new collaboration featuring members of Soulfly, Mastodon and The Dillinger Escape Plan – intelligently splice furious thrash together with soaring melodies. Masto’s Troy Sanders, Dillinger’s Greg Puciato and Sepultura co-founder Max Cavalera each lay vocals down over a fierce barrage of speed riffs, complete with well-timed moments of respite. Face Down initially exhibits the most brutal aspects of Soulfly, but it’s not long before the group begin to explore less obvious routes. Lead single Wings Of Feather And Wax starts out fierce and commanding before Puciato’s voice enters the chorus and the pace changes entirely. What’s most surprising is the calm, floaty intro of closer Forbidden Fire, which breaks into a powerful final barge towards oblivion. Unlike many other “supergroups,”, KBK aim for the throat with every track. [Ross Watson] www.nuclearblast.de
Much has been made of Brody Dalle’s transition from gobby punk reprobate to Hollywood mom. Jeez – what? A tattoo on her arm offering a friendly “fuck off” and they still let her drop the kids off for school? Someone get me Alice Cooper off the golf course! Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t what it used to be, kids! And for that let’s offer some thanks. Dalle has always been worth a look, whether it be for the acid splurge of her early Distillers material or the under-appreciated pop-rock of Spinnerette. Diploid Love, ostensibly her solo debut, marries attitude and craft. A strong supporting cast (Warpaint’s Emily Kokal, Shirley Manson) lend a hand but the songs (the breathless buzz of Underworld, the chill ballad I Don’t Need Your Love) stand up regardless. A Brody Dalle as fired up as ever but lucid and inspired like never before adds welcome brimstone to the rock ‘n’ roll firmament. [Gary Kaill]
Wussy
Kate Tempest
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If there’s one area where US music has always excelled, it’s depicting the dark underside to the nation’s sunny exterior. Country music exposes the sadness, pain and conflict that ensues when you sell people an individualist manifesto as an attainable dream, neglecting to mention the price of its likely failure; ditto the slackers of Generation X articulated – albeit obliquely – the directionless haze left when the aspirational baby-boomers fucked up their future. The reason Wussy (Robert Christgau’s favourite band – © everything written about them ever) rule so hard is the unique way in which they conflate the two, their heart-on-sleeve Americana coated with layers of disorienting fuzz. Of their two equally-arresting vocalists, Chuck Cleaver’s the more vulnerable, as his cracked croon imbues the Yo La Tengo-esque To The Lightning with subtle drama. Lisa Walker, meanwhile, is pure romanticism encapsulated, making Home and the title track feel utterly irresistible. [Will Fitzpatrick]
Spoken word artist Kate Tempest’s debut is undoubtedly impressive. The storytelling of Marshall Law and Lonely Daze – gritty, intimate and confessional – is far more effective than her closest peers (Scroobius Pip seems arch and condescending by comparison). She effortlessly melds the personal and the political, an inspiring writer, subverting rap narratives and ‘hood tales with a sharp eye for human behaviour, always creating compelling characters and precise, technical rhymes. Not everybody is going to love it – the spoken word delivery, of which she is a master, isn’t always a comfortable fit for the bass-heavy beats of producer Dean Carey, and for fans of conventional rap music, the mixture of poetic delivery, hip-hop flow and half-sung choruses may be too strange a brew. But for those who have waited a long time for an artist to emerge from that scene and make a compelling document, Everybody Down sees that promise fulfilled. [Bram E. Gieben]
wussy.org
katetempest.co.uk
Bastard Mountain
The Last Battle
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Meadow Ghosts instantly paints a lush-yetdisturbing atmosphere which permeates throughout Bastard Mountain’s debut; solemn strings decorate the aural landscape, guitar notes ring out quietly and croaked male and female voices whimper in and out of sight. A quick glance at the group’s members reveals a number of talented players: Meursault’s Neil Pennycook and Pete Harvey both feature on the record, as does Sparrow & the Workshop’s Jill O’Sullivan. Reuben Taylor from James Yorkston & the Athletes also appears. In the spirit of Cold Seeds – the collaboration from a few years ago between members of Meursault, Animal Magic Tricks and King Creosote – Farewell, Bastard Mountain blends together sweet instrumentation with drawn out atmospherics. Like that project, it also contains songs written by specific members which were then passed to the others to interpret vocally. Despite the improvised nature, everything sounds like it was cut from the same cloth, and what we’re left with is a fully formed work which gloriously showcases the best elements of the individual talents behind it. [Ross Watson]
WIFE
What’s Between [Tri-Angle, 26 May]
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Perhaps the most accessible release so far from the unimpeachable Tri-Angle label, WIFE offers up his full-length debut, a gleaming, polished collection of glacial synth-pop and deep, meditative, ethereal R&B with truly staggering vocal production and some scintillating, considered songwriting. Like former Tri-Angle artist oOoOO, his approach combines washed-out synth-scapes and delicate vocal hooks. But there is a majestic sweep, a widescreen, cinematic ambition to James Kelly’s songwriting that reaches for the melodramatic narrative touch of early Nine Inch Nails, or the abstract torch songs of Japan. The Haxan Cloak, on production duties, lends a doomed, romantic feel; resonant and spacious. A sense of transcendental light warring with dark and claustrophobic gloom pervades, and the results are emotionally wrenching. Kelly is drawing on ancient choral traditions, deconstructed forms of electronic music spanning decades, but the songs are never difficult or over-cooked. What’s Between is nuanced, unhurried, and in places, quite sublime. [Bram E. Gieben]
One Hundred Percent Suave [Hefty Dafty, 12 May]
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Fat Goth don’t have immediate crossover appeal; their music is too heavy and takes too many sharp changes that can leave the casual listener struggling to keep up. Then there’s the song titles, such as Caligynephobia (a fear of beautiful women, in case you were wondering) or The Stevie Nicks Method. But this hasn't stopped them being endorsed by celebrity chefs and playing unlikely Christmas gigs in Glasgow’s George Square. The Dundee power trio’s third album picks up from where 2013’s Stud left off; razor-sharp riffs, vociferous drums and Fraser Stewart’s surprisingly rich voice, which breaks into crooner-like qualities on the fearsome Class A. Far from a conscious, cynical appeal to the mainstream – you could never imagine the bruising Sin Altar making a Radio 1 playlist – but there’s no denying that Fat Goth are huge fun, a quality lacking in too many rock bands in 2014. [Chris McCall]
Thin Privilege
Everybody Down [Big Dada, 19 May]
Attica! [Damnably, 5 May]
Farewell, Bastard Mountain [Song, by Toad, 12 May]
Fat Goth
Diploid Love [Caroline Records, 28 Apr]
Lay Your Burden Down [Beard of Truth, 5 May] Opening their second album with a robust BeMy-Baby beat, returning Edinburghers The Last Battle initially seem a somewhat different band to that which made the predominantly stripped-down Heart of the Land, Soul of the Sea back in 2010. In a sense, it is a different band, with only drummer Liam O’Hare and bandleader Scott Longmuir remaining of the debut’s personnel – a line-up reshuffle that contributed towards Lay Your Burden Down’s lengthy gestation. While there are further signs of change here and there (for instance, The Crunching’s 90s-alt-rock air, which muddies Longmuir’s vocals and foregrounds a forceful bassline), the folk dynamics with which the band first established themselves are otherwise allowed to gradually reassert their dominance – which is no bad thing, since it’s in the quieter, simpler stretches where Longmuir achieves his finest work. While still partial to occasional clichés, he demonstrates his songwriting poise on multiple occasions, with closer Torness providing a low-key, late-stage peak. [Chris Buckle]
The Horrors
Luminous [XL Recordings, 5 May]
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When Brian Eno said My Bloody Valentine made “the vaguest music ever to be a hit,” he noted a group rejecting the mainstream/underground dichotomy to nail a fresh, nebulous and true angle on the human experience. That ambiguity lives on in Southend’s The Horrors, five eccentrics mangling their beloved early-electronic influences to make pop that’s vaguely magnificent and magnificently vague. Easily the most exciting recent band that could conceivably headline major festivals this decade, they consolidate the Psychedelic Furs-via-Hacienda stylings of 2011’s Skying for their fourth LP, which is gratifying enough to seduce fedora youths in a field without wholly sacrificing the experimental spirit. Songs like Sleepwalk and First Day of Spring sound like young hearts overflowing, resplendent and blue-sky vast, and though Faris Badwan sometimes annunciates with rigid formality, there’s a newly resigned, infatuated slur on highlights I See You and Change Your Mind that’s reassuringly human. [Jazz Monroe]
Thin Privilege Struggletown Records, 8 May
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Already making a notable impression in Glasgow over the past few months for their tense, cathartic live shows, Thin Privilege’s debut further proves they’re a force to be reckoned with. It’s a frenetic two-bass assault without rhythm or lead guitars, though they don’t ride on that gimmick – there’s no need for egos or showmanship when the music sounds this vicious. There’s short, frantic bursts of noize rock in the vein of Retox (who they supported last year), but there’s a surprising amount of variety across these twenty-seven chaotic minutes; No Such Constellation relies on a big ugly groove, whereas lead single Hex Charmer rides on a swarm of twisted melodies. Vocalist Paul McArthur (who also plays in Salò) audibly and entertainingly twists and writhes his way through caverns of sonic sludge. All the fat has been trimmed here, though it’s over so quickly you’ll likely be taking the trip more than once. Fierce yet infectious, playful yet respectably restrained, it’s a remarkable first set of songs. [Ross Watson]
Kreidler
ABC [bureau b, 5 May]
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Düsseldorf’s Kreidler are two decades deep, combining drifting ambient soundscapes with complex yet understated rhythmic patterns and richly-textured electronic riffs. The production throughout is immaculate, and although their sonic sculpture is sparse, it is often involving. The drums are the main guiding element, with the melodic and bass sections following the shifting rhythmic patterns, but often, the focus on rhythm lets the rest of the compositions drift a little too easily, and the record passes by in a minimalist haze. Given closer attention, the polyrhythmic beats deserve praise, but overall, Kreidler fail to deviate convincingly from the template of abstract electronica laid down by Warp artists in the early 90s. There are shades of Autechre, Plaid and Clark, but with none of those artists’ groundbreaking approach to structure – despite the complexity of the drums, these tracks have a conventional, coffee-table sheen which is altogether too clean, and as a result, ABC feels somewhat half-finished in places. [Bram E. Gieben] ikreidler.de
The Top Five 1 2 3 4 5
Tobacco
Ultima II Massage
Bastard Mountain
Farewell, Bastard Mountain
Damon Albarn
Everyday Robots
Watter
This World
The Horrors
Luminous
www.thehorrors.co.uk
soundcloud.com/wife
May 2014
RECORDS
Review
43
Tuff Crowd Glasgow three-piece Tuff Love have been making waves and breaking hearts with their grunge-influenced pop nuggets. The band recently journeyed to London to make their first official video starring comedian Josie Long. We sat in on the proceedings
Interview: Colm McAuliffe Photography: Gemma Burke
T
he Skinny sits in a crushingly hip eatery in east London with Julie (Eisenstein, vocals/ guitar), Suse (Bear, vocals/bass) and Michael (O’Hara, drums) from Tuff Love. We’ve been waiting for the last two hours for Josie Long to turn up. The prolific comedian is set to co-direct and appear in the band’s next video and has apparently been filming all morning in Hampstead. Or is it Hackney? No one’s quite sure as to what’s going on, or indeed where the star of the show has disappeared to. But it’s okay because Tuff Love are very charming and very hungry. Suse is wise beyond her years and speaks fondly of Glasgow and Johnny Lynch, AKA The Pictish Trail and now Tuff Love’s label boss. Suse marvels at Johnny’s press strategy: instead of traditional PR spiels, Johnny writes hand-written, swoonsome notes to journalists accompanying the band’s demo tape. This works a treat. Julie is originally from London but has forgotten the majority of the bus routes so the band are forced to travel in style, taking cabs around the city. She moved to Glasgow to study creative writing and never left. Meanwhile, Michael is desperate to take up smoking full time but is struggling with commitment and technique; his first attempt at rolling a cigarette comes out curiously ‘s’ shaped and Suse has to step in to salvage the tobacco. Nevertheless, while the two girls are away Michael opens up and tells me about his rather dark past: he once played in a band which sounded like a funkier version of The View. Tuff Love play pop music. It might be fuzzy, it might be grungey, it might be lo-fi but beneath the terms and the signifiers, there is an unabashed love for popular music. Their songs swoon and soar with harmonies –sometimes ropey, sometimes note-perfect – and yearning hearts of gold. But there’s nothing twee about Tuff Love; there’s muscle and grit behind the shiny pop façade. The band’s debut EP is called Junk and has perfectly formed song titles like Sweet Discontent, Penguin, and Copper. But Flamingo is the pick of the bunch as it gallops along like vintage Vaselines in Technicolor. At some point amid the food, the loose talk and the ceaseless yet good-natured chiding of Michael, Josie arrives, dressed appropriately for the occasion with ‘LOVE’ emblazoned across her tracksuit. It’s also her birthday and Julie expertly handcrafts a card made entirely out of tissue paper. The star of the video is breathless as she fills us in on the morning’s events. “The thing that added an hour on to us and kept us late is that we went to do some filming at one pond but the security guard would not let me jump in the water! Even though there was nobody there! So I thought I could charm him by saying [seductively] ‘Oh, it’s just me and my own private video’...he was having none of it – it was too dangerous! But there’s just loads of footage so far of me being tough. There’s a lot of swearing and me giving ‘two fingers’ to dogs in the park.” Nevertheless, the stresses of the morning have finally come to an end and Josie offers up a ‘cheers,’ albeit one that comes with a warning to us all: “The reason they do the clinking of the drinks is because the Vikings used to do it so hard to ensure that one person wasn’t poisoning the other! So, now instead of saying ‘cheers,’ I think we should all say ‘no one’s poisoning one another!’ Unless I want to poison someone….” Josie is dying to show us the footage so far and the band are eager to find out what exactly is
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required of them. Can she reveal what’s in store for Tuff Love? “My idea originally was that me and [partner in crime] Doug [King] had to fight each other but that was turned down. Basically, there’s an audition to become a member of Tuff Love and I see it and think ‘great!’. So, I’m training to become tough, doing loads of running, sit ups, swearing at dogs and throwing people’s phones in the pond which makes them cry! I’m also downing raw eggs in the video – I tried it with real eggs but it was too much so I had to use orange juice instead… the thought of drinking real eggs was so bad! Anyway, this tough guy ends up running out of the auditions crying and then the band just start throwing water at me before saying ‘Congratulations’! I think I’ve won the chance to be in the band, but then you point out that I’m actually just a security guard after all…” Michael is impressed at Josie’s physical exertions all in the name of making the first proper Tuff Love video. “Good effort!” he exclaims. However, Julie is somewhat more pragmatic as Josie tucks into her full English. “You wouldn’t be so hungry now if you had eaten all those raw eggs,” she points out. Josie is nonplussed. “This isn’t my first music video,” she confides. “But the other one, it meant nothing to me, honest! It was for [comedian] Tom Rosenthal who makes loads of silly videos. I basically had to go around and touch strangers’
faces. But I felt really weird at the end of it, having touched this long line of strangers.” I turn to Suse and enquire as to how she feels about the ritual of making music videos and having Josie as the star of this one. “We actually did one ourselves already,” she says. “it was part of an end of year university project. It turned out better than we hoped, we played in front of a green screen. But this is a step up!”
“This isn’t my first music video. But the other one, it meant nothing to me, honest!” Josie Long
Josie is incredulous. She thought she was the first. “You have another video?!” “Yeah…”, confirms Julie. “But is it online?”, gasps Josie. “I never knew. I’ll watch it later… and then I’ll send a very rude email to you guys saying ‘Dear band, I resign. Retrospectively.’” Having quickly gotten over this perceived
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infidelity, Josie tells us how she came across the band through the aforementioned Lynch. She also had plans to make a feature film but it’s on hold at the minute. This ignites an idea…“Why don’t you just make a bunch of videos for us,” enquires a very alert Julie, “ and then make it into one big long feature?!” “Yes!” gasps Josie. “It’ll be like The Beatles’ Help!! I’m in! Now I just need to start a huge fight with everyone…” Julie is by now visibly very excited at this prospect. Feverishly so. However, it turns out there’s something else at play. “Okay I think this fourth coffee has pushed me over the edge…” And at this point, with Julie wide eyed and teeming with impending mania, Suse the calm voice of reason, Michael grappling with his rollies and Josie spoiling for a fight, The Skinny decides to leave them to it. As their name suggests, Tuff Love are tenacious and charismatic in equal measure. Heaven forbid what they’ll turn into once Michael’s fag habit finally kicks in. Tuff Love’s Junk EP is released on 5 May via Lost Map They play Glasgow’s Old Hairdressers on 2 May; Inverness Brew at the Bog Festival on 3 May; Aberdeen Big Beach Ball on 4 May and Wickerman Festival’s Solus Tent on 25 Jul The Lost Map showcase rolls through Dundee Redd Suite on 7 May Manchester Night and Day on 9 May and Glasgow Bowlers Bar on 25 May lostmap.com/tuff-love
THE SKINNY
King Creosote
Joe Driscoll & Sekou Kouyate
Stanley Odd . Josie Long
20 – 22nd June 2014 The Bield at Blackruthven
Tibbermore . Perth PH1 1PY
solasfestival.co.uk
Liz Lochhead . Rachel Sermanni . Robin Ince RM Hubbert . Shlomo . The John Langan Band Jo Mango . Hector Bizerk . Beerjacket Randolph's Leap . Gerry Hassan . Call To Mind Woodenbox . Tom Devine . Shelagh MacDonald Lesley Riddoch . John Bell . United Glasgow Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 . Genesee Leo Condie and His Band . Sticky Kids and more...
GLASGOW VACANCY FOR MORE INFO SEARCH RED BULL MUSKETEERS OR APPLY ONLINE AT REDBULL.CO.UK/JOBS
May 2014
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THE SKINNY
Clubbing Highlights Words: Ronan Martin Illustration: Clio Isadora
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n Edinburgh Pulse and Compakt kick off the month with the visit of French producer Sebastien Devaud AKA Agoria. Emerging in the late 90s with a penetrating techno sound which he has increasingly laced with sombre melody and moody atmospherics, Devaud has amassed a considerable back catalogue for labels such as Different, UMF and Innervisions. As a DJ, Agoria’s track selections display a wide-ranging interest in electronica and beyond. His debut mix CD, the twilight-suited Cute and Cult, blended the likes of Carl Craig and Mathew Johnson with Radiohead and even Iggy Pop to create a well-rounded and immersive listen, brimming with energy but also marked with moments of hushed reflection. Since then, Devaud’s reputation as a selector has grown and – as evidenced by his mixes for Fabric and Resident Advisor – his repertoire more readily includes soulful house cuts and elements of bass music amid techno and spaced out dub (Sun 4 May, The Liquid Room, £9 adv). The next weekend sees the long overdue Edinburgh debut of Hotflush founder Scuba. Having cut his teeth in the formative years of the dubstep movement, Paul Rose has since gone on to develop his own sound and that of his label with more upfront house and techno seeping into his back catalogue. Joining him is a producer who has also evolved his sound considerably over the past decade. No stranger to creating monster club hits – his driving 2006 release as Bobby Peru, Erotic Discourse, has spluttered its way into countless club sets and mixes over the years – Paul Woolford is enjoying renewed attention and can lay claim to having one of the most played tracks of last year with his irrepressible Untitled EP on Scuba’s Hotflush becoming a firm favourite (Sat 10 May The Liquid Room, £16). Next up, we have the second birthday of one of the best nights on offer in the capital over the last couple of years. To mark the occasion Unseen has lined up a tantalising prospect in the shape of Paula Temple. Though potentially a new name to some, Temple has been carving out a reputation as a gifted techno producer and a skilled DJ for over ten years. Announcing her presence with the blistering EP, The Speck of the Future, in 2002 – a track from which found its way into Jeff Mills’ celebrated Exhibitionist mix – Temple has continued to express herself through a number of aliases such as Fragile X and Jaguar Woman. Last year’s breakthrough Colonized EP on the classic R&S label has been something of a defining moment and her engrossing hybrid live/ DJ sets have helped establish her as a nascent force in the future of British techno (Sat 10 May Studio 24, £7-9). On Friday 16 May the Substance lads hand an Edinburgh debut to German producer Rene Pawlowitz, better known as Shed, who will be performing under his celebrated Head High alias. Establishing the project with the deep but punishing It’s A Love Thing in 2010, Shed has put a very particular stamp on his foray into housier territory. While many producers were quick to jump on the piano house revival of recent years – sometimes with great results but often with a dearth of originality – Head High carries the unmistakable techno thud of Pawlowitz’s earlier output. It’s rare that Shed dons this particular guise for a club set, and Substance has a knack for drawing out the best in guests, so we recommend you get down to this one (Bongo Club, £7 adv). First up in Glasgow, the Motor City Electronics series continues to dazzle as La Cheetah host one of the most prolific modern talents Detroit has to offer. Omar-S set the bar precariously high with his breakthrough record,
May 2014
the confusingly titled 002 – a record named 001 followed a year later in 2004. Self-released on his now firmly canonised FXHE imprint, that introductory four-track offering might have only represented a solid and soulful contribution to the deep house genre, were it not for the mellow and beautiful Set It Out. Its placid chords and pining vocals, sampled from Midway’s track of the same name, confirmed Omar-S as a force to be reckoned with from the outset. Yet, rather than allow that record to define his sound, Alex ‘Omar’ Smith has continued to surprise with records that vary greatly in form and impact. Whether keeping it rugged and powerful, or smooth and reflective, he has earned his place alongside fellow Motor City producers such as Theo Parrish and Kenny Dixon Jr. Given his knack for unearthing great music – his label gave starts to Kyle Hall and Jus-Ed among others – Omar-S is unsurprisingly an accomplished DJ too. This one should be a no-brainer (Fri 2 May, £12 adv). Continuing the celebrations around 20 Years of Subculture, DJ Harvey is set to make his first appearance in Scotland since 2001. A veteran of the UK scene, Harvey William Bassett has been DJing since the mid-80s and has long been involved in the art of re-editing which he uses as a way to inject originality into sets which draw heavily on disco and classic house from the Paradise Garage era. Long celebrated for his skills behind the turntables – as evidenced by mixes for the likes of Ministry of Sound, Radio 1’s Essential Mix and more recently Resident Advisor – DJ Harvey comes with the kind of pedigree regulars at Subculture have come to expect (Sat 3 May, Sub Club, £30). A consistent force over the past few years, Suffolk-based producer Gerry Read brings his live set to Saint Judes for Uziki Muziki on Friday 9 May. Showing considerable adaptability in his sound, Read first impressed with his bass musicslanted releases for the likes of Dark Arx and 2nd Drop before moving on to release more four to the floor tracks on Delsin and AUS, incorporating darker elements of techno and house into his continually expanding palette. If you want to know what to expect on the night, his live set for the Boiler Room last year would be a good place to start (£4-6). Returning to CODE after a well-received appearance last year, Adrian Sandoval AKA Developer comes to town offering a particular brand of club music that is not readily associated with his native Los Angeles. Stark, sullen and unrelentingly driving, Sandoval’s take on techno undoubtedly seems to be more of a fit for the underground party scene of Europe than the sunsoaked surrounds of the City of Angels. With a steady stream of hypnotic and pulverising releases on the likes of Semantica, Mote-Evolver and his own Modularz outlet, Developer is the kind of artist who is refreshingly resolute in the pursuit of his chosen form. This one is highly recommended if you like to lose yourself in the mesmerising glory of stripped back, darkroom techno (17 May, La Cheetah, £6 adv, £10 on the door). Finally, with summer almost upon us, the appeal of venturing outside for your kicks becomes a lot more appealing and Aberdeen’s Big Beach Ball Festival has more than enough inducements to Al Fresco partying on Sunday 4 May. House legend Kerri Chandler tops the bill alongside the equally revered Green Velvet AKA Cajmere and Scotland’s Mylo. Keeping the party flowing are some of the country’s most respected outfits such as Optimo and Subculture’s Harri & Dom. Tickets are shifting fast so don’t sleep on this one! (Aberdeen Sea Front, £45 + BF, £40 students).
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Admission Free Open: Oct-Mar Apr-Sept August
Tues – Sun 10am-4pm 10am-5pm 10am-6pm
Collective Gallery City Observatory & City Dome 38 Calton Hill, Edinburgh, EH7 5AA + 44 (0)131 556 1264 mail@collectivegallery.net www.collectivegallery.net
Image credit: Camille Henrot, Grosse Fatigue, 2013, video (colour, sound), 13 mins. Courtesy the artist, Silex Films and kamel mennour, Paris.
Camille Henrot
Grosse Fatigue
From Chicago with Love Ahead of his appearance in Glasgow, house legend Derrick Carter shares his thoughts on life, art and his love for his hometown
Interview: Ronan Martin
10.05.14 – 16.06.14
Funded by:
O
f the many names billed for this year’s Electric Frog and Pressure Riverside Festival, few have been cited as an inspirational DJ as consistently as Chicago’s Derrick Carter. Over a production career beginning in the late 80s, with turntable skills honed since before he was a teenager, Carter has made music his life. Whether it was in sourcing releases for his Classic label partnership with Luke Solomon – a decade long endeavour which was perfectly calculated with releases famously running backwards from catalogue number 100 to zero – or producing tracks and remixes or touring the world with his inimitably upbeat and joyful take on selection, Carter has been a house music stalwart for longer than many of its fans have been alive. Rarely taking time to explain his style or his devotion to his craft, Carter has always put the work first and let the music speak for itself. So, we feel rather privileged to have been able to pick his brains a little ahead of his return to Scotland.
Is the relationship ever strained? If so, in what ways? Not really. Not enough to make me think about giving up on it anyway.
So Derrick, what’s been keeping you busy of late? My dogs, travelling, working on a few collaborations, refurbishing a car, dealing with the brutal winter – loads of things.
Have the dynamics of DJing for a crowd changed much in your mind since you first stepped up at the tender age of nine? Not really. People just want to have a good time. I try to help that along as much as I can.
How would you describe yourself as a person and how does this affect the kind of work you do? I think I’m fairly care-free; I’m not easily stressed or worried about a lot of things. Being easy-going allows me to be relaxed and settled when I work.
If you hadn’t followed a career in music, what would you see yourself doing? Nothing. I had no other desires.
I’ve heard you say you are in a committed relationship with Chicago. How has that love affair manifested itself over the years? I’m married to Chicago, but I like to sleep around. I’m not sure how to answer that second part though. I mean, I love Chicago and we have great fun together. Restaurants, street fairs, craft shows, art openings. We do loads together.
Finally, you’ve visited Glasgow countless times over the years. What comes to mind when you think of the city? Seeing old friends and having new good times with them. Also, once there was a Celtic group performing on Buchanan St and the dudes looked wild and crazy medieval. I saw that day what Scottish men wear under their kilts.
What do you look for when you engage with art, either in approaching your own work or when enjoying others’? Just something I like. Whether it be wit or emotion, colours or something completely abstract, it’s often hard to pinpoint. Over the years, the most vibrant forms of art have often been those emerging from alternative scenes, with house music being a major example. How important is “the underground” and what are your thoughts on the evolution of club culture? It functions as a breeding ground, a training situation, a place to work out ideas and hone your craft. Club culture is its own thing. I’m just a worker though. All that evolution stuff eludes me most days.
What do you value most in life in 2014 and why? My family and friends. My dogs. My health.
Derrick Carter plays at the Electric Frog & Pressure Riverside Festival on Sun 4 May
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THE SKINNY
Photo: Stuart Armitt
Avery Singer
with the wider influence of Cubism and mechanical form. rrrrr However, raring to conflict this vogue, the Commissioned by Glasgow International, Avery young artist employs the 3D modelling software Singer’s work hangs in the upper echelons of Sketch Up to outline the initial composition of Sauchiehall Steet’s McLellan Galleries. The five her work. This method proves a minute part of canvases characterise surreal timelines, motion- the assiduous process as masking tape, spray less models placed in a postmodern history. paint and a steady hand complete the final verThey merge with industrial hardlines, which are sion of the work. interdependent of the new millennium objects. An ode to the Russian dominant era is the An iPad protrudes from the corner of one canvas canvas Society of Realist Wanderers. Here, Singer while a male head rams itself into the toilet. It’s mimics the first known Constructivist exhibition the only human form to make an appearance and of 1921. Music stands are rigidly placed however emphasises a neo-Constructivist outlook. their telescoping arms waver and contort like The main subjects of Singer’s work are club limbs. The artist is careful to distance herself revellers and other artists, living obtusely within from the dogma of these politically charged compressed shades of light and faltering where times, creating a wholesome but peculiar feel. It a neon glare might be. Resident’s Reprieve sees makes us think where the American wanderer will a bikini-clad body slumped to one side while the fly to next, taking with her the fusion of centuries neighbouring Naum Gabo-inspired model stares and new-age abstraction of worlds. squarely into the abyss. Their clearly defined [Franchesca Hashemi] expressions, or complete lack of them, resonate McLellan Galleries
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RSA Annual 2014 W
orking under the title of Focus on Film, the Academicians of the RSA are joined this year by invited artists working with a broad range of moving image for the curated element of this year’s Annual – from infectiously energetic music videos by Douglas Hart and Rachel MacLean to meandering ambient work by Dalziel + Scullion and cinematic narrative shorts. Ronald Forbes, convenor of Focus on Film refers to his programme as “a pot-pourri of engaging creative activity” accessible for a general audience, rather than an academic thesis on the state of film in contemporary Scotland. The Sculpture court comes into its own as a preamble to the curatorial bent of this year’s offerings: the show flares into action at the top of those showy stairs with Sam Spreckley’s Time – a beautifully-wilful act of creative destruction in which a series of dandelion clocks are ignited by the rhythmic spark of disposable lighter – setting an appropriately metronomic tone for the consideration of time-based media. Continuing in the lower galleries, pick ‘n’ mix presentations of nine curated playbills cacophonously vie for audience attention from taster-sized flatscreens. The main course is presented in a specially installed cinema space presenting the same rolling programme but with space for the work to breathe and for the viewer to immerse themselves in the hypnotic intricacies of Katy Dove’s blissed-out
kaleidoscopic animated drawings, or to cosy-in and get a good look at Michael Fassbender’s lovely craggy face up close in high definition (thank you John Maclean). As ever in the main body of the Annual, topquality painting and printmaking from Scotland’s most esteemed practitioners abound (from the delicacy of Elizabeth Blackadder’s genteel tableaux to the anxious figuration of Ian McCulloch’s vibrant, throbbing, mega-canvases). There are works available through the Own Art scheme which could comfortably adorn vast mansion or pokey flat alike. The architecture display continues the big/ small dialogue with projects including Kengo Kuma and associates’ plans for Dundee’s new V&A alongside beautifully-succinct domestic projects such as Konishi Gaffney architects’ lasercut model for the redevelopment of a Regency dormer. Back downstairs, a deeply moving montage by Murray Grigor resonates with how far the acceptance of progressive architecture in Scotland has come. Revisiting the rubble-strewn shell of St. Peter’s Seminary, Cardross (for which 1980s west coast Scotland just wasn’t ready) after twenty-odd years, Grigor painstakingly recreates this double portrait of the now derelict modernist architecture masterpiece. In sculpture Edward Summerton – also
Destroying Art GoMA
rrrrr GoMA’s middle floor has been transformed into the bowels of curatorial constipation by Atelier’s modest selection of free materials and open invitation to the public to make and display artwork in the space. In the name of good digestion, Glasgow-based artist Anthony Schrag punctuates Atelier’s three month run with Make Destruction, an evening during which visitors are encouraged to destroy work they do not consider to be art. First entry is granted to some academic types. After some wondering if Atelier was a grab at easy funding for inclusive art events or whether children can make art at all, the destruction begins civilly, selectively and with justification. Already warm and crowded with construction paper, the atmosphere becomes equal parts fun and frantic as the event opens out to the public. Indiscriminate destruction is soon underway, complicated only by a few attendees who seek to
represented in Focus on Film – looks at the supernatural side of the natural world, never failing to delight and disturb in equal measure. His rural shenanigans seemingly result in lopped and stymied appendages and accessories served up with a good dash of his unique humour. A fauxdesigner handbag filled with bird shit (unfortunately minus tethered owl) and a gently-revolving leather glove flips us the bird… or a peace sign dependent on your perspective. The collective unconscious of the RSA members would generate a Pinterest board infused with Spring fever – birds and eggs are everywhere suggesting an age-old preoccupation. The answer to which came first with regards to film may be presented by Eadweard Muybridge’s seminal movement studies (or zoopraxographs of birds, beasts and naked cricket players), which have been lifted out of the RSA’s collection to sit neatly alongside a presentation of prize winners of the RSA’s Morton award for lens-based work. In Philip Braham’s Falling Shadows In Arcadia, nature stands sentry as haunting traces of ghostly bodies are invoked in notorious dogging sites across Scotland. Roger + Reid keep it dark and entertaining in their masked-romp around a grand country house. A number of the artists featured in Focus on Film work in an interdisciplinary mode and we see the fruits of their forays into film alongside a smattering of their works in other media. With such a packed exhibition, the film programme is generously light on longer-form films with the vast majority under ten minutes long. Little gems by Stephen Sutcliffe, Rose Hendry and
preserve as much as they can bubblewrap. There is a perverse, but very real pleasure in crumpling the cut construction paper letters of tourists’ boasting ‘from San Francisco’ and children ‘aged 6.’ Nevertheless, one quick wit brings genuine humour to the occasion by adding a red zero to a 21-year old’s premature anxieties of senescence to make: ‘210 is old.’ With differences in engagement and attention becoming obvious, the room becomes an index of the varying concentrations of a gallery audience: from perfunctorily passing through to active and thoughtful participation. It is nearing the end of the evening when Schrag and I become embroiled in a physical fight over a large white cardboard box that has been decorated with some unidentifiable blue shapes. But he’s already won, having shoved and elbowed out the indolence of passive, slow gallery strolling. For ninety minutes, art appreciation is somehow made a physically demanding (and seriously fun) sport. [Adam Benmakhlouf]
Edward Summerton_Soul and Sandal
Anna Pearson are bite-sized treats which sit well alongside slightly longer-form work such as Henry Coombes’ The Bedfords with its rutting be-antlered landed gentry occupying slightly more of our time. A wee trip to the pictures with the RSA provides the perfect context to absorb the both the big and the small in our own time. [Kate Andrews]
Galleries across Scotland are members of the Own Art scheme. By offering interest-free loans of £100-£2,000 through Own Art, buying an original piece of quality contemporary art or craft couldn’t be easier. For more information about Own Art and a list of participating galleries see the Own Art website: www.ownart.org.uk
Offer subject to age and status. Terms and conditions apply. You will need a UK bank account that can handle direct debits, proof of identity and address, and you will also need to be over 18. Own Art is an Arts Council England initiative operated by Creative Sector Services CIC, a Community Interest Company registered in England and Wales under number 08280539. Registered address: 2-6 Cannon Street, London EC4M 6YH.
Look for the pink logo. (representative 0% APR)
249 West George Street Glasgow G2 4QE
May 2014
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May Film Events There’s something for everyone this month, with horror at Dundead, celebrity impressions in The Trip to Italy at GFT and a celebration of one of Scotland’s great underappreciated filmmakers, Norman McLaren Words: Becky Bartlett
A Touch of Sin
A Touch of Sin
The Punk Singer
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Director: Jia Zhangke Starring: Wu Jiang, Tao Zhao, Lanshan Luo Released: 16 May Certificate: 15
Director: Sini Anderson Starring: Kathleen Hanna, Carrie Brownstein, Kim Gordon Released: 23 May Certificate: 15
Three burning cigarettes are used as joss sticks by a killer in an indecorous prayer to his victims’ ghosts; just one of the remarkable moments in Jia Zhangke’s stunning new film. Four violent vignettes – all taken from real life news stories – are presented with a confidence that avoids any perfunctory final scene crossovers or catharsis. Within this documentary style, momentary flourishes are deftly interspersed: the auditory jolt of a tiger’s roar; an abused woman, slapped repeatedly with a wad of banknotes, adopts the poise of a Wuxia heroine. Reality of China is even more surreal: backdrops of vast scarred landscapes are decorated with unfinished, disintegrating structures and a dilapidated Mao. But Zhangke is more interested in the present, where an increasingly atomised and unjust society creates an inhuman climate without outlet, forcing vicious retort. Controlled bursts of extreme violence, à la mode for the modern auteur, are in this case entirely justified. This major work is cinematic in scope but loses none of the provocative truth that defines Zhangke’s oeuvre. [Alan Bett]
Kathleen Hanna claims she started a band because no one ever listened to her. It’s safe to say that changed with Bikini Kill. The Punk Singer takes us back to the era when manifestos were spread in underground fanzines. Although renowned for her chameleonic success with acts as diverse as Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, and for her incredible lo-fi solo record, Julie Ruin, it is Hanna’s reputation as a feminist that forms the through line of her biography. Countless peers – musicians and activists – recount Hanna’s role in the formation of the riot grrrl movement, her inspiring presence, and the novel social experiment ‘girls to the front,’ which saw violent mosh pits reclaimed as safe areas for women to attend gigs without being molested. Sini Anderson’s film doesn’t present its subject as an icon; instead it humanises Hanna and empowers its audience. It’s a perfect representation of one of the founding riot grrrls, who connected young women in disparate bedrooms with each other using ideas, ‘zines, and record players. [David McGinty]
The Two Faces of January
Frank
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Director: Hossein Amini Starring: Oscar Isaac, Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst Released: 16 May Certificate: 12A
Although it has been co-written by former Oh Blimey Big Band member Jon Ronson, Frank is not a biopic of Frank Sidebottom or his creator Chris Sievey. Instead, Lenny Abrahamson’s film takes the idea of a musician performing inside an oversized fibreglass head and spins off into completely fictional territory. We experience life on the road with Frank’s defiantly uncommercial band through the eyes of naïve keyboardist Jon (Gleeson), a man whose hunger for social media-driven fame far outweighs his creative abilities. By aligning us with this perspective, Frank raises the question of what artistic success truly is – maximum exposure, or the creation of something genuinely original and distinctive. As he has shown in his previous films, Lenny Abrahamson is a filmmaker with a nuanced sense of tone, and he handles the shift from surreal comedy to something deeper and more complex with a typically deft touch. Credit is also due to Michael Fassbender, who delivers a brilliantly deadpan performance that makes this oddball character a very funny but ultimately empathetic figure. [Philip Concannon]
The Wind Rises
Pompeii
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From set-pieces with airborne dragons and gunships to having a literal flying pig as a protagonist, soaring into the sky has always been a recurring interest of master animator Hayao Miyazaki. Fittingly, his supposed swan song as a director, The Wind Rises, concerns itself with an aviation pioneer. The least overtly fantastical of his films, it’s a semi-fictionalised biopic of Jiro Horikoshi, chief engineer of key Japanese fighter plane designs in the 1930s. These planes would go on to be used by Japan during World War II, but to read Miyazaki’s avoidance of explicitly addressing this, until a nod in the coda, as some flattering endorsement of the machines’ legacy is to wildly misinterpret. Historical implications are pervasive throughout as bittersweet subtext, as Jiro’s pure devotion to innovation and inspiration leaves him naïvely blind to the consequences, both global and immediately personal, of how his passions are co-opted by other forces. The desecration of beautiful dreams is a ghost always lurking. [Josh Slater-Williams]
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Review
undead, Dundee’s horror film festival, returns this month with an excellent selection of new and old movies. As well as screening Sam Raimi’s classic Evil Dead trilogy (2-4 May), the UK premiere of The Unwanted is also showing (3 May). A Southern gothic vampire film based on Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 novella Carmilla, it stars Hannah Fierman, last seen in one of horror compilation film V/H/S’s most unsettling stories, Amateur Night. For people more interested in 80s nostalgia than horror, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey are also showing as part of the line-up (3-4 May). Cult favourite Crispin Glover will be at the Cameo in Edinburgh (12 May) for Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Slide Show, a one hour dramatic reading from his books, accompanied by projected images. Also showing is What Is It?, a surreal black comedy written and directed by Glover, about a young man struggling with real and metaphorical demons. The film, featuring predominantly actors with Down’s syndrome, initially showed at Sundance in 2005 and was met with critical acclaim. The event also includes a Q&A session with Glover.
Director: Lenny Abrahamson Starring: Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal Released: 9 May Certificate: 15
Patricia Highsmith adaptation The Two Faces of January is very much in the narrative mould of the author’s familiar brand of Mediterranean noir. Athens tour guide Rydal (Isaac) befriends the wealthy Chester MacFarland (Mortensen) and his wife (Dunst). He then aids them when Chester’s shady past sees the pair needing to flee the country. Money seems to drive parttime scam artist Rydal, but ulterior motives soon reveal themselves. First-time director Hossein Amini has respectable screenwriting credits to his name (The Wings of the Dove, Drive), and with this cast one would hope for a jazzy three-hander thriller. While a competently watchable affair, there’s some flimsy characterisation that these fine actors can’t quite embellish; Dunst in particular is saddled with an underwritten role. Isaac comes off best, although the tenuous nature of his devotion to this couple never quite convinces. He and Alberto Iglesias’ Herrmann-like score are the film’s highlights, but the overall piece doesn’t excel beyond being an ineffectual distraction – Mortensen’s recurring drunken sulking provides (possibly unintended) laughs. [Josh Slater-Williams]
Director: Hayao Miyazaki Starring: (English dub) Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt Released: 9 May Certificate: PG
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Director: Paul W.S. Anderson Starring: Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Kiefer Sutherland Released: 2 May Certificate: 12A The narrative arc of Pompeii was always going to have to be special to maintain an audience’s attention, given that all the characters involved face certain fiery doom from the get-go. And this preposterous tale of a gladiator (Game of Thrones’ Harrington) who catches the eye of a young heiress (Browning), who’s trying to dodge the affections of Kiefer Sutherland’s sleazy, vicious general, is pretty far from spectacular. Indeed, it just cobbles together the most unsatisfying bits of Gladiator and Titanic. The design is really quite striking; CGI rendering of the tragic city is big of scale and detail. But the flatness of Paul W.S. Anderson’s direction ensures that is one of few pleasures, as bland set-pieces are accompanied by even blander exposition delivered by the blandest of performances until Vesuvius spills her guts. Sutherland alone manages to provide some fun. So wildly slimy and camp, his turn would be right up/down there with the worst of the year were he not such welcome relief form all the other tedium. [Chris Fyvie]
FILM
The Trip to Italy
The GFT in Glasgow and the Cameo are both hosting a special screening of The Trip to Italy (21 May). Currently screening on BBC Two, Michael Winterbottom’s follow-up to his hit BBC series The Trip follows Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as they travel through Italy so they can review restaurants for the Observer – competing to see who can do the most convincing Michael Caine impression as they go. There will be a satellite Q&A session following the movie, with both comedians on hand to answer questions. There are two events celebrating the work of Scottish-born, Oscar-winning animator Norman McLaren at the GFT this month. On 3 May, The Art of Drawn Movements is screening in collaboration with the Glasgow School of Art, showing a selection of work by GSA alumni inspired by McLaren, followed by a Q&A session with some of the filmmakers. There’s also a chance to see some of McLaren’s own films on 25 May with the aptly named Norman McLaren Centenary Film Tour, marking one hundred years since his birth. On 17 May, it’s International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, and the Filmhouse is hosting a special evening of music, poetry and film to mark the occasion. Who’s Your Dandy? includes short films by queer and trans filmmakers, and includes performances by Andra Simons, Lake Montgomery and They They Theys.
THE SKINNY
The Wolf of Wall Street
That Sinking Feeling
Ace in the Hole
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Director: Martin Scorsese Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill Released: 19 May Certificate: 18 Like any Quaalude high, The Wolf of Wall Street depends on a certain degree of willing consumption, cerebral detachment and tenacity to be considered successful. A three-hour-long vulgarathon, it chronicles the rise, fall, and second coming of stockbroker turned motivational speaker Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio), while launching drug abuse, dwarfism (literally), vacant females and a bouffant Matthew McConaughey screenward. Its sundry euphoric moments defy such empty contrivances, though, and are instead found in the pitch-black exchanges between Jordan and his protégé Donny (Hill). Jordan Belfort is depicted entirely without charm, which means Scorsese’s badfella is interesting only as his heady trajectory remains skyward. When his inevitable decline begins, a modern truism emerges: it’s impossible to care for a bent broker on a comedown. [Kirsty Leckie-Palmer]
Director: Bill Forsyth Starring: Robert Buchanan, John Gordon Sinclair Released: Out now Certificate: 12 ‘The action of this film takes place in a fictitious town called Glasgow. Any resemblance to any real town called Glasgow is purely coincidental.’ So reads the disclaimer with which Bill Forsyth opens his 1980 debut. Like the director’s subsequent hits Gregory’s Girl and Local Hero, this story of disaffected youths planning the biggest kitchen sink heist in history is notable for the sincere affection shown toward its characters. Forsyth’s fairy tale depiction of Thatcher’s Glasgow is utterly compelling, with the city’s neglected wastelands populated by a legion of benign eccentrics. Unfortunately, while his best work deftly balances pathos and humour, That Sinking Feeling is too irreverent to impress. Its amusing premise throws up few surprises, while scenes featuring young men in drag have dated badly. Still, the acned cast are brilliant throughout and it’s a joy to hear their regional accents restored on this rerelease. [Lewis Porteous]
Director: Billy Wilder Starring: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling Released: Out now Certificate: PG Perhaps the most cynical director of Hollywood’s golden age, Billy Wilder relied on a revolving cast of writing partners to sugar-coat his unsentimental treatises on the human condition. One-off collaborators Walter Newman and Lesser Samuels must have shared his prickly temperament, however, as Ace in the Hole stands as the purest expression of Wilder’s caustic vision. The innocents found in The Apartment and Some Like It Hot are nowhere in sight as an electric Kirk Douglas plays fallen newspaperman Chuck Tatum. Exiled from New York City and forced to take on a dead-end job with the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin, he conspires to claw his way back to success by building a media circus around a local trapped in a collapsed cave. As grotesque hordes of tourists descend upon the site, Tatum’s greed intensifies to unsettling effect in this savage and timely attack on an unscrupulous and corrupt press. [Lewis Porteous]
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell
Theatre of Blood
Man of Marble
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Director: Terence Fisher Starring: Peter Cushing, Shane Briant Released: Out now Certificate: 15
This was the last of Hammer’s Frankenstein films, a return to the original franchise and star Peter Cushing following 1970’s illadvised re-boot. Given how tired and slapdash Monster from Hell feels, it’s probably best they stopped here. Cushing is reliably charismatic, his Baron now hiding out as in-house medic to a psychiatric hospital, but the sluggish plot involving a young protégé (the woeful Shane Briant) and a traumatised, mute, patient-cum-assistant (Madeline Smith) is pure bunkum. And when Frankenstein does inevitably get the sewing kit out and start fiddling with the inmates, his creation – resultant of the hands of a craftsman, the brain of a nutty professor and the rest of what seems like a Neanderthal they must have had lockedup for a very, very long time – is way too absurd to prompt pathos or chills. [Chris Fyvie]
Director: Douglas Hickox Starring: Vincent Price, Diana Rigg Released: Out now Certificate: 15
Director: Andrzej Wajda Starring: Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Krystyna Janda Released: 12 May Certificate: PG
Driven to suicide by bad notices, legendarily hammy stage actor Edward Lionheart (Vincent Price) has returned for a special comeback tour re-enacting Shakespeare’s bloodiest murders – with his critics on the receiving end. There’s lots of campy fun to be had with the “world’s greatest living actor” (Lionheart’s own words) demonstrating his flair for disguises and carving his way through an all-star cast, including Price’s future wife, Coral Browne. Diana Rigg is also terrific as Lionheart’s loyal daughter, who has a few secrets of her own. A reported favourite of Price’s, it’s not hard to see the film as his way of getting bloody revenge on the critics who had typecast him and refused to take him seriously as an actor. A macabre classic and a must-have for any horror fan. [Scott McKellar]
Made in 1976, Man of Marble tells the story of fictional heroic Polish bricklayer Mateusz Birkut, and the young female film student, Agnieszka, trying to make a film about his fall from grace. Using a mixture of original documentary footage from the construction of Nowa Huta and other subjects of Poland’s early communist era, as well as the propagandist/inspirational music of Stalinist Poland, Man of Marble is quite daring in its deconstruction of these period films, which Wajda uses to show Agnieszka trying and failing to get the ‘truth’ of Birkut and what he stood for before and after his demise. The film skates around Birkut’s death, but it was a story that Wajda returned to in 1981 with Man of Iron, which depicts Birkut’s son Maciej’s subsequent involvement in the Polish anti-Communist workers’ movement. [D W Mault]
Lexicon
Who is Tom Ditto?
Leaving the Sea
Caught
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By Max Barry
Great sci-fi has often traded on the genre’s potential for making abstract ideas real: Philip K Dick made the question of ‘what makes us human?’ tangible by creating a world of artificial intelligence, Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse played on the idea of identity with its memory erasing/ replacing technology, while cinema explored the very nature of reality in films such as The Matrix and Inception. Max Barry’s Lexicon has the same aims, but for neurolinguistics: the science of language. In Lexicon, neurolinguistics has been refined to the point where it can be used to essentially hack the brain: using the right combination of words to slip through the mind’s defences and manipulate it from within. A group known as ‘Poets’ are the masters of this art and run an elite academy, honing students into highly disciplined and dangerous wordsmiths. Lexicon aims to mix linguistic theory with an action-thriller plotline but the two never entirely congeal, resulting in something like a TED talk interspersed with car chases. The premise is interesting but never really gets developed beyond the cover’s ‘words are weapons’ tagline and, while it’s often funny and compellingly fast-paced, it’s all just a little too slight to ever become really engaging. [Ross McIndoe] Out now, published by Mulholland Books, RRP £14.99
By Danny Wallace
What did Danny Wallace’s Shortlist paymasters think of his swipe here at damagingly aspirational men’s mags? It’s one attempt of many to skewer the absurdity of modern living. The titular Tom Ditto presents the morning news and weather for the fictional Talk London radio station, a hellish bastion of hipster conformity and corporate management think. When his girlfriend suddenly deserts him his investigations uncover a mysterious group and lifestyle choice which will change his own irreversibly. The kernels of truth in Wallace’s observations play it far safer than the obviously inspirational Dice Man, while his psychological grand concept on sense of self could be battered and fried. It’s a comfortably mainstream yet unarguably enjoyable take on the isolation of urban life, where malleable identity fills out into the human void. Early gags hit at a moderate rate as he mimics the emptiness of circular, contemporary conversation with accurate yet stylised repetition. While this opening is little more than a stretched version of his fortnightly magazine features, when he picks up the core narrative the book moves well and Wallace proves an entertaining storyteller. Digressions into mysterious mock interviews display a more stylish prose tinged with genuine sadness. A full novel polished this way might prove a winning identity for the author himself. [Alan Bett]
By Ben Marcus
The human condition is too grand and vague, so Ben Marcus writes about the human disease instead. Many of the characters in these short stories are sick, or at least they inhabit oversized, overweight bodies that don’t do the job of hiding the fact that life is going to end soon. Someone suggests that we ‘try to think outside of our disease,’ but it’s not the physical decay we need to think outside of, it’s the urge to hide it and repeat the ubiquitous human fantasies of longevity. The prose is lethal, dissecting, surprising, oblique. Early on there’s an intolerable couple, keen to show that they are ‘vibrantly glistening sexual human beings, even in their late thirties, when most people’s genitals turn dark and small, like shrunken heads.’ The stories progress from this relatively familiar version of reality to ones where nothing is explained, the anchoring details are cut out and the kill hole is as easily referred to as the kitchen. The Kafkaesque corporate glacier looms large too, with the sort of disinterested menace that makes easy victims of emotionally helpless men. This is writing that pushes to the edge, where it’s bleak and awful and darkly funny. [Galen O’Hanlon] Out now, published by Alfred A. Knopf, RRP £16.99
By Lisa Moore
Lisa Moore turns the law on its head, inviting us to empathise with David Sanely, a criminal on the loose. Her novel Caught is an elaborate cat and mouse chase, written with a haughty bite. With ever growing command and intensity, Moore’s omniscient prose slowly reveals an intricate trap which surrounds her protagonist. Her investment in characters’ verisimilitude makes it hard not to root for the bad guy. “The most serious mistakes are the easiest to make,” but after years of imprisonment Sanely has wised up. Escaping from jail before serving his time for a drug heist which went belly-up has made the youthful Sanely more determined to take care of unfinished business. Using an alias stolen from a dead man, Sanely is not getting caught. We travel alongside him as he hitchhikes his way across Canada, in a bold attempt to reunite with Hearn, his partner in crime. This is no easy task, between dodging a web of incognito police, dotted in every hot-sheet motel and service station, to facing treacherous weather conditions. The plot grows increasingly multifaceted with every obstacle Sanely meets. Moore’s narrative landscape is rich in imagery and personality, contributing to the lasting impression of her latest novel. [Maria Whelan] Out now, published by Chatto & Windus, RRP £16.99
Out now, published by Ebury Press, RRP £12.99
May 2014
FILM / BOOKS
Review
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The King’s Theatre
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With music by Sergei Prokofiev and choreography by Krzysztof Pastor, Scottish Ballet resurrect their Romeo and Juliet for another tour of the UK. Without dialogue to rely on – especially the Shakespearean monologues and wordplay – Romeo and Juliet instantly becomes a much more difficult story to convey. This performance reflects the thought that is invested in the costumes, dancing, and acting so as to express the timeless star-crossed lovers’ tale. The scenography at the start of each act seems shaky at best, however the dancing makes much more of a positive impression. Erik Cavallari brings a playful Romeo to the stage, while Sophie Martin’s Juliet is obviously attracted to him. They convey quite well – through dance and a dash of acting – the lovers who are utterly obsessed with each other, who see no one else in the room, to the point that they will die for
one another. Even so, the show is stolen by the intense presence of Owen Throne as Capulet, and the energy of Victor Zarallo as Mercutio. Meanwhile, the company seem to have improved in the parts that involve dancing and acting at the same time, which seemed slightly shaky in past productions. Furthermore, the choreography of Mercutio and Tybalt’s (Christopher Harrison) fight and subsequent death uses the symmetry operated by West Side Story, with the two bodies laying on their respective side and mourned individually. Story-wise, it is interesting to see that the character of the Prince is non-existent, replaced by the peace-loving Friar Lawrence (Lewis Landini), which seems to give him a motive for uniting Romeo and Juliet in marriage. [Eric Karoulla] On tour throughout Scotland, 19-24 May. Check listings for venue information, prices and times scottishballet.co.uk/romeo-juliet/glasgow.html Romeo and Juliet
The Libertine
Citizens Theatre Directed by Dominic Hill, Stephen Jeffrey’s The Libertine is being revived for the Citizens’ stage. Made famous by the film starring Johnny Depp, the tale of John Wilmot, second Earl of Rochester, is as much a cautionary tale as it is a reflection of the excesses of the 17th century, and how a man could take a self-destructive path, in spite of his remarkable talent for poetry and playwriting. The play itself was premiered in 1994. Twenty years later, it can still evoke the disgust for Rochester’s excesses, as well as the intense fascination for the darkness within. He becomes
Biding Time (Remix)
Various Venues Biding Time (Remix) returns to the stage and screen after its run at the Fringe last year. A response to Pippa Bailey’s Biding Time, the mutlimedia, interdisciplinary show has been put together by Tromolo Productions and features live music, live performance and film all fusing into one. While it is one of the most difficult experiences to convey without giving too much away, the plot follows Thyme, the female lead played by Louise Quinn, and her attempts to rise to stardom. Aside from grappling with the art-versuscommodification issue, Biding Time (Remix) showcases the issues women have to deal with in
Photo: Andrew Ross
Scottish Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet
the man who could have been remembered as a talented young gentleman scholar, but was instead a ruthless, hedonistic fiend who sought pleasure through wine and sex, and scribbled a little on the side. Seemingly, had he been alive today, Wilmot might have been an advocate of the ‘rock star’ lifestyle of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Admittedly, he’s not a nice person. And yet, it’s incredibly difficult not to follow his story to the bitter end. [Eric Karoulla] 3-24 May, Citizens’ Theatre, see listings for times and prices citz.co.uk/whatson/info/the_libertine/
the music business, traditionally considered an industry where men are predominantly the ‘big winners’ in terms of renumeration and position. The bosses of corporate record companies that are supposed to be promoting music are nearly all male, and what’s more, they don’t have to twerk to get to those elevated positions. Featuring Diane Torr, A Band Named Quinn and a giant and incredibly ominous-looking rabbit, this show is certainly the experience of a lifetime – at once an immersive, surrealist play, a fun music gig, and an educational show. [Eric Karoulla] bidingtimeremix.com
La Tragédie Comique
Traverse Directed by Ian Cameron, La Tragédie Comique is Plutôt La Vie’s latest production - a one man show about love, discovery and the joy of being alive. Tim Licata takes the stage in this first translation of the play from French to English, which will tour Scotland through late May and June. Originally performed in 1988 by Yves Hunstad and created by the French theatrical team La Fabrique Imaginaire (Hunstad and Ève Bonfanti), the play follows a Character who is waiting for the Actor to tell his story. Observing him from birth and childhood, he anticipates he will grow into the Actor he needs, yet the Actor keeps putting this off. As the two interact and challenge each other, the play toys with the idea
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Preview
of identity, masks, fate, and forces the examination of the nature of theatre - what is fictional, what is a true story and what is reality? Licata trained with Phillippe Gaulier at the famous Lecoq Physical Theatre School in Paris, which has produced many other exciting physical theatre performers. Lecoq’s techniques and process for making work influence performers from across disciplines; from traditional clowns (as in, the circus clown) like the Alberti brothers in Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion to the physical, almost brutal nature of Red Bastard, all the way to visually ensnaring physical theatre performers like Theatre Temoin. [Eric Karoulla] Touring, see listings for venue information, times and prices plutotlavie.org.uk
Biding Time
THEATRE
THE SKINNY
Photo: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
La Tragedie Comique
Taking Comedy Seriously? The first annual Scottish Comedy Awards were held in an unassuming space in the basement of the Blythswood Hotel on Monday 31 March in Glasgow. Who knew?
If you’re saying to yourself, ‘My goodness I hadn’t a clue that was happening!’ you wouldn’t be alone. Except for a murmur of an announcement at the beginning of the year and a very quiet press release sent out on the day, the inaugural Scottish Comedy Awards went off with little fanfare. Hosted by a harried Des Clarke, and organised by local promoter / comedian Alan Anderson, the Scottish Comedy Awards had the same amount of gravitas as a primary school graduation. Clarke joked from the outset that the Scottish awards were an “arrogant back-slapping in response to the arrogant back-slapping of the British Comedy Awards,” where comedy north of the border had been all but snubbed. If the goal of these awards was for the Scottish comedy community to be taken seriously and rise above the sanctimonious perception that it’s parochial and limited in reach and scope... it didn’t entirely succeed. The awards themselves were rolls of paper that appeared to have been designed on Microsoft Paint and printed off an inkjet. What seemed to be the downfall of the event was, for all intents and purposes, its most valiant attribute. The awards recognised not just standup but radio, television, podcasts, and venues. Categories like Web Contribution (Darren Connell’s Twitter was given that honour) and Best Comedy Actor/Actress (Greg ‘Gary Tank Commander’ McHugh for the record) gave the evening a serious lack of focus. This was capped off with a botched video link-up to the Altitude comedy festival in Austria where the final two awards were presented to Fred MacAuley (Best Radio Comedian) and Daniel Sloss (Best TV Comedian) in all their delayed, pixelated glory – which left it feeling like amateur hour.
Words: Cayley James Illustration: Thomas Hedger
Win the SAY Award longlist!
T
he Scottish Album of the Year Award is back with a brand new, twenty-strong longlist featuring the best albums released in 2013. Drawn from the nominations of 100 people across the Scottish music industry and the arts, The SAY Award longlist champions the extraordinary strength and diversity of albums released by Scottish artists each year. The longlist will become a shortlist of ten following an announcement on 29 May before the winning album – which picks up a £20,000 first prize – is chosen at the award ceremony held in Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom on 19 June. For your chance to win all twenty titles from this year’s longlist PLUS a pair of tickets for
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The most annoying thing about the evening was that there were people who really wanted this to work. The Skinny’s very own Comedy ed, Vonny Moyes, wrote an enthusiastic piece back in February for National Collective, the arts and culture independence blog. She positioned these awards as the chance to seize on the historical momentum of independence: “Comedy has always existed as a means of palatable social commentary. It’s a vehicle for flinging ideas and opinions around that the socio-political stiffness among pals prevents.” The one moment where the chittering, unsavoury jokes about Malaysian airplanes and cliquey chiding subsided was when Arnold Brown was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. His wry sensibility was a refreshing highlight along with his deft roasting of Des Clarke who was turned into a timid fan boy in the presence of a comedy great. Gary Little, who was a double winner for Best Headliner and Best Festival or Tour Show said in his acceptance speech that it’s “easy to slag off award shows.” It may be, but the Scottish Comedy Awards have provided great material to do so. This isn’t to say that the talent was unworthy of their congratulations. It’s important to laud your industry. Awards instil an inherent sense of worth in the work and that always healthy rush of endorphins that accompanies it. There were a lot of hard working veterans among the recipients including Viv Gee (Outstanding Contribution to Comedy), Janey Godley (Best Podcast) and Mark Nelson (Best Radio Show). But this outing was held together by delusions of grandeur and sheer force of will. Let’s look forward to next year when Anderson can step up, and get a stage manager, to put on the show Scottish comedy deserves.
Win T in the Park tickets!
T
in the Park is back for 2014 with another unmissable weekend featuring some of the world’s biggest artists heading to Balado over the award ceremony just go to theskinny.co.uk/ 11-13 July. Headliners Biffy Clyro, Calvin Harris about/competitions and answer the following and Arctic Monkeys will be joined by Paolo question: Nutini, Pharrell Williams, Imagine Dragons, Franz Ferdinand, Haim, Tame Impala, The 1975, London Which album won the first ever SAY Award? Grammar, Chvrches and more! a) Everything’s Getting Older by Bills Wells Thanks to festival organisers DF Concerts & Aidan Moffat and founding partner Tennent’s Lager we’re ofb) Diamond Mine by King Creosote fering you and a pal the chance to win a pair of & Jon Hopkins weekend camping tickets plus return travel with c) Glass Swords by Rustie Citylink! To win, just head along to theskinny. co.uk/about/competitions and tell us which night Scots rockers Biffy Clyro will headline? Entrants must be 18 or over. Competition closes midnight Sunday 1 June. Winners will be notified via email within two a) Friday working days of closing and will be required to respond within b) Saturday 24 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our T&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms . c) Sunday
COMEDY / COMPETITIONS
For tickets, more information and regular updates from The T Lady visit www.tinthepark.com Citylink travel is valid from designated Citylink depots, for more information visit www.citylink.co.uk For the facts about alcohol www.drinkaware.co.uk This competition is open to over 18s only. Competition closes midnight Friday 30 May. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 24 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our T&Cs can be found at www. theskinny.co.uk/about/terms
THE SKINNY
Glasgow Music
Wed 07 May
Tue 29 Apr
O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £16.50
BLEECH (DISTRICT 55)
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6
London rock-meets-grunge trio, chock with heavy drums and howlin’ vocals. MV CARBON
THE ART SCHOOL, 19:30–22:00, £4
Staple of the New York avantgarde noise scene, renowned for her nauseous reel-to-reel tape manipulations and cello sawing. FATA MORGANA + THE SARAH SCHUSTER BAND + ROYAL EDINBURGH MUSIC
BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
Female-led alternative rock showcase, including a live set from Fata Morgana launching her new LP.
Wed 30 Apr THE FRATELLIS
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £23
Glasgow indie-rockers led by lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli, who’s also forged a solo career for himself of late. CAMPFIRES IN WINTER
BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
The alternative Croy indie-rockers play amidst the usual melodic wall of post-rock and experimental noise. SEAVAIGERS
THE ARCHES, 19:30–22:00, £13 (£5)
Folk super-duo Chris Stout and Catriona McKay perform the Sally Beamish-composed sea journey from Dundee to Shetland, Seavaigers, alongside a number of other special collaborations. CHURCH OF MISERY (ATRAGON + SKELETON GONG)
IVORY BLACKS, 19:00–23:00, £5
The legendary Japanese doom four-piece return to Scotland in support of their new LP, Thy Kingdom Scum. KITH AND KIN (STEVE HERON + CRAIG WHITE + JUNEBUG)
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £5
Vancouver ensemble encompassing genres of rock, indie, progressive, pop and space grunge. That do you?
Thu 01 May THE LITTLE KICKS
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £5
More upbeat and catchy indie-pop from the Scottish four-piece, peddling their own chirpy brand of indie-disco-pop. SNARKY PUPPY
O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15
With a rotating schedule of some 25 players, the US-of A collective share their unique musical enthusiasm for jazz-funk and world music. THE LAST BATTLE (NEIL PENNYCOOK)
THE ROXY 171, 19:00–22:00, £5 ADV. (£6 DOOR)
Edinburgh’s own folk-pop outfit do their ever-lovely orchestraltinged thing, launching their second LP – Lay Your Burden Down – on’t night. DAN STUART (KATHLEEN JASKARD)
THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £12
The irrepressible Green on Red frontman does his solo thing.
COPPER LUNGS (WE WERE HUNTED + FOREIGNFOX) NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:30, £6
The Dundee/Perth-based melodic alternative rock lot celebrate the launch of their self-titled EP. WOLF ALICE (SUPERFOOD)
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £8
London four-piece fronted by Ellie Rowsell, making un-pigeonholeable folky rock with a distinctly poppy vibe. MARMOZETS
STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £10
Cheeky young alternative math rock lot, recently signed to Roadrunner Records. BBC SSO: DVORAK’S CELLO CONCERTO
CITY HALLS, 19:30–22:00, FROM £11
Cellist Joshua Roman performs Antonin Dvorák’s suitably sweeping and romantic cello concerto. THE DAY MAN LOST (JESUS CROST)
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
The Preston blastbeat punks continue the ride the wave of their resurgence, after returning to active service in late 2011.
May 2014
WE LIVE INSIDE A DREAM (TUT VU VU + HAUSFRAU + MICHELLE HANNAH + STUART HENDERSON + CHRIS BATHGATE) MONO, 19:30–22:00, £5
Special showcase evening celebrating the music of Lynch/ Badalamenti, with stints from a selection of talented locals. SAM PEPPER AND MAZZI MAZ
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £12.50
YouTube prankster Sam Pepper takes to the road with Mazzi Maz for their WDGAF Tour, whatever that means.
Fri 02 May YES
SECC, 19:30–22:00, £37.50
The longstanding rockers return with original members Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White. POOR THINGS (SECRET MOTORBIKES + BOOK GROUP) STEREO, 19:30–22:00, £3
Three-piece sunny indie-pop mob in exile from their Perth homeland, launching their debut LP on’t night. MARTIN STEPHENSON AND THE DAINTEES
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £16
British rockers fusing elements of rockabilly, show tunes and rootsypop into their mix. UMBERTO (UBRE BLANCA + THE ORPHEUS CHOIR)
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:30, £7 ADV. (£8 DOOR)
Otherworldly electronic overlord and horror soundtrack fanatic Umberto (aka Matt Hill) plays a special set, weaving his usual hypnotic musical web.
THE OLD DANCE SCHOOL (FRASER ANDERSON) ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £12.50
Expansive landscapes of earbending contemporary folk, taking in duelling fiddles and soaring brass crescendos.
Sun 04 May NEON TREES
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £12.50
Utah alternative rockers brewing up a combination of slick pop hooks and sturdy organic rock, traversing the line between melodic and hardhitting as they go. JOE BROWN
GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £22
Musical ledge, packing in everything from rockabilly, gospel, country, folk, and rock‘n’roll. SPIDERS ON MARS
CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–22:30, £8
David Bowie tribute act. BAD RABBITS
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £8
Boston-based merrymakers fusing futuristic r’n’b and post-rock, known for getting decidedly sweaty in a live setting. DIRTY DIAMONDS (BULLETPROOF ROSE + NEST OF VIPERSN)
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
Five piece hard rock’n’rollers from Ireland, blending big hooks, screaming guitar solos and gritty vocals. VASA (SHRINE + SHAMBLES IN A HUSK)
THE ROXY 171, 20:00–23:30, £4
Rising young Nottingham quintet of the soft folk-rock variety.
Glaswegian progressive instrumental post-rockers, built on their own sublime brand of melodic, guitar-driven rock – launching their new double-A side single, Not A Cop.
O2 ABC, 18:30–22:00, £18.50
STEREO, 19:30–22:00, £9.50
AMBER RUN
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50
ANDREW STRONG
Irish singer and the son of Irish musician and singing coach, Robert Strong. SCO: MOZART AND STRAUSS
CITY HALLS, 19:30–22:00, FROM £14
A home team of three SCO wind principals take on a selection of Mozart and Strauss solos.
CHINA SHOP BULL (MICKEY 9’S + PHANTOM RIFFAGE)
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £5
The Leeds scamps bring their unique brand of ska-rave-rockrap back to Scotland, as in yer face as ever. SPACEGHOSTPURRP + YUNG SIMMIE
STEREO, 23:00–03:00, £12
Late night set from a duo of members from Miami based hip-hop group, Raider Klan.
Sat 03 May RALPH MCTELL
SECC, 20:00–22:00, FROM £29
The acoustic guitar songsmith fingerplucks a selection of newbies and classics. GREGORY PORTER
O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT
The multi Grammy-nominated jazz musician, and winner of the 2014 Grammy for Best jazz vocal album, embarks on his UK tour. XSLF
CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–22:30, £10
Stiff Little Fingers homage, composed of original ex-members Henry Cluney and Jim Reilly.
RSNO: SONDERGARD CONDUCTS THE NEW WORLD
GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £11.50
Guest Conductor Thomas Søndergård performs Dvorák’s popular New World Symphony. GNAW (OVO + NEW BLACK SUN)
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
NYC demented noise peddlers created by Alan Dubin after the dissolution of Khanate. SEAN NICHOLAS SAVAGE (THE YAWNS)
THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £7
Canadian singer and ballad composer, once a staple spectacle performer in Montreal’s all night illegal party scene. DE LA SOUL
THE ARCHES, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT
American hip-hop trio hailing from Long Island, New York, crafting their own genre-bending blend of alternative jazz rap since 1987.
BLOOD CEREMONY (SPIDERS)
Toronto ensemble whose distinct style of flute-tinged witch rock evolves from a marriage of occultinspired acid folk and vintage hard-rock riffin’. STAG & DAGGER
O2 ABC, CCA, NICE'N'SLEAZY, THE ART SCHOOL & BROADCAST 13:00–03:00, £22
A firm fixture on Glasgow’s music calendar, the multi-venue export takes over Weegieland with an eclectic line-up across multiple venues.
Mon 05 May BIG DADDY KANE
O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15
Grammy award-winning American rapper who started his musical career way back in 1986 as part of the Cold Chillin’ Juice Crew. SWALLOWS (SURRENDER THE COAST)
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
KEVIN MONTGOMERY
THE GLAD CAFE, 19:00–22:00, £15
Country, folk and rock-styled acoustic US singer/songwriter. CLUTCH
Southern rock ensemble formed in 1990, fronted by guitarist Neil Fallon. PANIC! AT THE DISCO
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £22.50
American alternative rock ensemble of dapper chaps (aka they wear shirts and clearly visit the hairdresser a lot), formed by Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith 10+ years ago. BARRENCE WHITFIELD AND THE SAVAGES
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £12.50
American soul-meets-r’n’b outfit led by vocalist Barrence Whitfield, recently taken under the wing of Bloodshot Records. DUM DUM GIRLS
SWG3, 19:30–22:00, £12.50
All-female US-of-A rock trio, out touring their third LP – which sees leading lady and songwriter Dee Dee Penny updating the project’s key reference points by a couple of decades, taking things in a shinier pop direction. HER NAME IS CALLA
STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £8
Post-rock English outfit whose origins lie in Leicester, Leeds and York. TWO GLASS EYES (BLUE NOVA)
BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
Irish alternative rockers with a mellow twist and full on screams.
Thu 08 May
STRUGGLE (DRUG CHURCH + THIN PRIVILEGE)
BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
Monthly punk and post hardcore selection of bands from DIY collective Struggletown. PURE LOVE
KING TUT’S, 20:00–23:00, £11
English-American alternative rock duo comprised of former Gallows frontman Frank Carter and exHope Conspiracy and Suicide File guitarist Jim Carroll. THE ROCKINGBIRDS
BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00, £10
London and Norwich-straddling country-rock lot, who’ve already stamped their maverick countryrock brand on the young Camden Town scene. CLEAN BANDIT
O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10
Eccentric young pups from London, building their sound on the instrumental core of bass, drums and strings, bolstered by a variety of budding vocalists. DAMON & NAOMI
MONO, 19:30–22:00, £8
American dream pop/folk-rock duo formed in 1991 by Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang, formerly of Galaxie 500.
Melodic hardcore Glasgow ensemble on’t go since 2011.
Fri 09 May
Tue 06 May
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £18.50
THE KOOKS
O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £17.50
Tousled-haired Brighton scamps with a kit-bag of guitar-based pop offerings. BLISS
CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–22:00, £10
Atlanta-based electro-pop girl group, composed of songbirds Alexis Branch, Falicia White and Taryn Moody. WE WERE EVERGREEN
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £8
Parisian indie-pop trio whose eclectic arrangements marry the organic, electric and electronic with ukuleles, xylophones and disco beats. ONE HAPPY ISLAND + THE WENDY DARLINGS + DORA MAAR
BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00, £5
International pop showcase headed up by melodic DIY Boston trio, One Happy Island. SOLIDS
MONO, 19:30–22:00, £7.50
Montreal-based effectsladen rock duo made up of Xavier Germain Poitras (on vocals and guitars) and Louis Guillemette (on drums and vocals).
PROFESSOR GREEN
Simplistic electronic beats and paint-by-numbers rapping is the order of the day, as the Prof attempts to entertain the yoof. BRIAN KENNEDY
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £16
Belfast-based songwriter known for his belting ballads and his role as one of the four coaches on The Voice of Ireland TV show.
HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS (SONNY AND THE LOST SOUL TRAIN + GRANT RICHARDSON) NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:30, £TBC
The Glasgow-based acoustic lovelies continue to blend their folk and classic pop influences into a honest, harmony-driven whole.
POLLY AND THE BILLETS DOUX (DAVID MURDOCH + ANGUS MUNRO) KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £7
Winchester and Bristol-straddling eclectic quartet dipping their toes into genres of folk, pop, rock’n’roll, soul, country, blues and gospel.
TECTONICS: OPENING NIGHT CONCERT (BILL WELLS + KLAUS LANG + JER REID + DAVID BERHMAN + CATHERINE LAMB + MARCUS WEISS + ABY VULLIAMY + CHRISTIAN WOLFF + RICHARD YOUNGS + VERNON AND BURNS + ANAKANAK + THURSTON MOORE + TAKEHISA KOSUGI ) ST ANDREW’S IN THE SQUARE, 19:30–22:00, £12.50 (£8.50)
A bustling line up including Conquering Animal Sounds’ Anneke Kampman in her ANAKANAK solo guise, jazz rebel Bill Wells, and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore help open the first night of Tectonics Festival 2014. TEN TONNE DOZER (LITTLE HANDS OF SILVER + SHAMBLES IN A HUSK)
13TH NOTE, 21:00–23:00, £5
Shetland-based noisemakers making slovenly metal mixed with downright filthy rock. SOUTHSIDE FRINGE FESTIVAL: LAUNCH PARTY (HOWLIN’ RADIO)
THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £6
We have lift off – South Fringe Festival launches official with a celebratory night of nibbles, booze and live music from Howlin’ Radio and special guests. THE FAT CAMELS
STEREO, 19:30–22:00, £5
Glasgow outfit blending 60sinfluenced psychedelia, freakbeat and classic power-pop, taking to a live setting for the launch of their new album. THE SONICS
THE ARCHES, 19:00–22:00, £20
American garage rockers originating from Washington back in’t early 1960s.
Sat 10 May
MICHAEL FRANTI AND SPEARHEAD
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £16
Genre-hopping Americans led by Michael Franti, blending hip-hop with funk, reggae, jazz, folk and rock. That do you? SHONEN KNIFE (TEENCANTEEN)
CCA, 19:00–22:00, £12
All-female Japanese kawaii-punk noisemakers now an impressive 19 albums in, all incessantly cheery melodies and cutesy lyrical conceits. RAY HARRIS (RAYMOND MEADE)
STEREO, 19:30–22:00, £7
Record Kicks jazz supremo, fusing a smooth blend of dancefloor jazz, funk and soul. JIMI GOODWIN
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £15
The Doves frontman goes it alone, playing tracks offa his debut solo album. TORI AMOS
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, FROM £25
The American singer/songwriter and her mesmerising arpeggios fill the O2, crafting new material around unpredictable selections from her rich back catalogue. TECTONICS: MUSCLES OF JOY
OLD FRUITMARKET, 20:30–22:00, £15 (£10) DAY TICKET
The seven-piece, all-girl Glasgow ensemble stage their usual allencompassing take over. Part of Tectonics festival. TECTONICS: CHRISTIAN WOLFF + DAVID BEHRMAN
CITY HALLS, 21:30–23:00, £15 (£10) DAY TICKET
Experimental composers David Behrman and Christian Wolff perform a selection of their most iconic works. Part of Tectonics festival. TECTONICS: CINDYTALK + THURSTON MOORE + DYLAN NYOUKIS
OLD FRUITMARKET, 22:30–00:00, £15 (£10) DAY TICKET
MISS THE OCCUPIER (THE FABLES + BAREFOOT) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £7
The punk-inflected Glasgow popsters play a special Southside Fringe Festival set, with local rock support from The Fables and Barefoot. ELECTROPOLIS (MACHINES IN HEAVEN + TEXTURE + ASMATHIC ASTRONAUT + HAUSFRAU)
THE ART SCHOOL, 18:30–22:30, £4
Showcase of up-and-coming electronic music and spoken word fae Glasgow. YUSUF AZAK
THE ROXY 171, 19:30–22:00, £5
The Gerry Loves Records Aberdonian (of Turkish descent) marries the delights of his honeyed voice and firmly-played Spanish guitar, celebrating the launch of his new LP. THE BAWLERS
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:30, £6
Electro-acoustic outfit from the West of Scotland.
Sun 11 May TELEMAN
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £8
London-based indie three-piece – formed from breakaway members of Pete and the Pirates – making nerdy chic indie music, not completely unlike Alt-J. DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £18
Alabama Ass-Whuppin’ southern rockers, traversing the line between juke joint stompers and soulful ballads. TECTONICS: USURPER
OLD FRUITMARKET, 15:00–17:00, £15 (£10) DAY TICKET
Usurper (aka Malcy Duff and Ali Robertson with Sacha Kahir, Fiona Kennedy, Luke Poot and Norman Shaw) perform a set of their experimental improvisation and trickery. Part of Tectonics festival.
Singer and multi-instrumentalist coming from a background of folk and traditional music. MONUMENT (KAINE + STORM OF EMBERS + DISASTER AREA)
STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £5
Heavy metal-styled Londoners formed on the streets of East London by vocalist Peter Ellis (ExWhite Wizzard and The More I See). SLOTH METROPOLIS
BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
Inspired indie-folky-jazzy excellence hailing from our own fine shores.
Wed 14 May
HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £15
Youthful jazz renegades and band of brothers; pretty much as authentic as you can get, without Sun Ra trumpeter Phil Cohran actually being their father. Oh wait, he is. THE EMERALD ARMADA (THE JEPETTOS)
OLD FRUITMARKET, 21:30–23:00, £15 (£10) DAY TICKET
Ilan Volkov conducts from the centre of the venue, with the audience grouped around – with the BBC SSO performing Richard Youngs’ first ever orchestral work, with the composer himself on electric guitar. Part of Tectonics festival. CON-DOM (BLACK LEATHER JESUS + SVARTVIT + KYLIE MINOISE)
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £6
A selection of super-heavy sounds curated by Vasa’s J Niblock and Detour’s Ally McCrae. THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–22:45, £18
MILEY CYRUS
The American popstress takes to the UK as part of her current world tour. HINDSIGHTS (MILK TEETH)
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £5
Four Japanese Londoners adept at head-bending psyche-rock that manages to fit elements of kraut-rock, metal, hardcore and funk into its mix.
Emo, pop-punk and grunge-rock straddling outfit signed to Beach Community (Big Scary Monsters Imprint).
Tue 13 May
BO NINGEN (THE SCENES + YOUNGHUSBAND)
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £10
WHITE HINTERLAND
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £6
American singer/songwriter and pianist Casey Dienel’s live alter-ego, on’t road with her new LP, Baby.
NERVE (HELLO CREEPY SPIDER)
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £8
RSNO: SHOSTAKOVICH’S TENTH SYMPHONY
Conductor Lawrence Renes opens with a rendition of Shostakovich’s Jazz Suite No2, before taking on the mighty Symphony No10.
GLOBULES (RIVER OF SLIME + CARBS + KONX-OM-PAX) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £5
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £15
TJ BILHAM (RACHELLE RHIENNE)
Fresh-faced Glasgow singer/ songwriter and X-Factor reject. MARTIN AND JAMES
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:30, £5
REVERE (THE YOUNG AND YOUNG)
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50
London-based post-rockers built on a backbone of guitars, with divergent tendencies towards melancholic strings and synth domination. MCBUSTED
THE SSE HYDRO, 18:30–22:00, £39.50
You know that nightmare you had about Busted and McFly touring as one? Well it was real. Run for the hills! HANK WANGFORD AND THE LOST COWBOYS
O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15
The English country and western singer/songwriter tours with his live band of players. COURTNEY LOVE
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, FROM £24
Collaboration between singer/ songwriter Lou Reid and music composer Brian McFie.
THE SSE HYDRO, 19:00–22:00, FROM £47.50
Toronto artist Robert Alfons dons his Trust alter-ego to tour sophomore LP, Joyland, deftly exploring his vocal range across sonorous moans and more plaintive falsettos, incorporating dark strains of house, techno, early rave and trance as he goes.
All-new production duo, where dazzling synths fidget alongside lazy two-step beats and pulledapart samples.
Mon 12 May DELAYS
TRUST
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £8
The US-of-A alternative rock trio continue to champion their own raw and rhythmic sound to suitably fine effect.
English industrial/power-electronics outfit exploring themes of control and domination (hence they arrived at the name Con-Dom, as you do).
O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12
London post-folk singer/songwriter Ross Wilson does his thing – big on the Celtic lullabies and Caledonian soul – playing a special live band set to launch their new LP.
TARIBOWEST
BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
The former Hole vocalist, lyricist and rhythm guitarist does her solo thing – now rather impressively in her 49th year of being bad ass.
Still riding along on frontman Greg Gilbert’s falsetto vocals, the English indie lot celebrate the 10th anniversary of their Faded Seaside Glamour LP.
BLUE ROSE CODE
CCA, 19:30–22:00, £12 (£10)
GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £11.50
Alternative folk ensemble, all soaring harmonies and cheekychappy banter.
Thu 15 May
TECTONICS: CLOSING CONCERT
Sat 17 May
Pioneering live electronica trio from NYC, bringing the fresh beats since 1998.
CITY HALLS, 19:00–21:00, £15 (£10) DAY TICKET
Music from two British composers, James Clapperton and Michael Finnissy, opens the second orchestral concert – including a new version of Clapperton’s Tomnaverie based on a melody by Aboyne fiddler Paul Anderson. Part of Tectonics fetsival.
The North Carolina songwriter (aka M.C. Taylor) plays a set of his delicate and mystical country tunes.
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
TECTONICS: ORCHESTRAL CONCERT #2
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
The psych country punk ensemble mark their debut release, and indeed the first release full stop on new Glasgow label, Map 75 Records.
HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:30, £5
Glasgow-based alternative pop duo made up of Martin Kelly and James O’Neill.
Scottish outfit Cindytalk plays a late set of ‘ambi-dustrial’ tunes, alongside Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore on guitar and Chocolate Monk label founder and experimental noise-maker Dylan Nyoukis. Part of Tectonics festival. FIN-RAY (CRAIG LOWRIE + FRANK MCEVOY)
LUKE DANIELS THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £14
LOLA IN SLACKS
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £10
FRIENDS IN AMERICA (SKIES FELL + ROSS CLARK)
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:30, £5
Glasgow-based outfit deft at atmospheric dream-pop-meetsalternative rock, driven by Matthew Rawlings heartfelt vocal performance.
Fri 16 May MCBUSTED
THE SSE HYDRO, 18:30–22:00, £39.50
You know that nightmare you had about Busted and McFly touring as one? Well it was real. Run for the hills! EMBRACE
O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £19.50
The post-Britpop Yorkshire quintet take to the road for their first UK tour in seven years. WAR IRON (FROM HIGH MOUNTAINS + IRON CLAW)
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
The Belfast twin-bass-sludgedoom noisemakers do their heavy as fuck thing. THE SKINNY GROUP
JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT
The former Drive-By Truckers chap continues to tour solo after leaving the group in 2007. TIM HICKOX
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:30, £9
Experimental musical craftsman who, in his own words, describes himself as ‘still learning’, giving his music an e’er adventurous bent.
Sun 18 May FISH
O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £22.50
The charismatic former Marillion frontman delves into his back catalogue, spanning an impressive 20+ years. SUNDARA KARMA
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6
Young Reading-based quartet who sum themselves up as ‘four pointy-shoe wearing sun-huggers with music to awaken the soul’. That’ll do us. S. CAREY
CCA, 19:30–22:00, £12.50
Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver collaborator and fellow Wisconsinite, Sean Carey, takes his new solo LP out on’t road. THE SPITFIRES (COMMON GROUND)
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £5
The Walford-based trio do their fiery and anthemic thing, marking their Glasgow debut while they’re at it.
Mon 19 May LA DISPUTE (O’ BROTHER)
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £10
Five pals from the Upper Midwest with a mutual passion for using music as a means to express and connect, taking their sound from blues to screamo as they go. NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL
BARROWLAND, 19:00–23:00, £19.50
Leading lights of the fertile midto late-90s breeding ground of Athens, Georgia – with legendary status bestowed on them after the monumental In the Aeroplane Over the Sea LP in 1998. GRAHAM GOULDMAN
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £23.50
English songwriter and musician best known as a long-time member of 10cc.
Tue 20 May DECADE (ONLY RIVALS)
KING TUT’S, 20:00–23:00, £7
Bath-based pop-punk quintet with an anthemic approach and penchant for unforgiving guitar assaults.
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £12
Evolving collective of Glasgow musicians based around the music of Grahame Skinner.
Listings
55
NINE INCH NAILS (COLD CAVE) THE SSE HYDRO, 19:00–22:00, FROM £30
The industrial innovators hit up the UK with their reassembled touring line-up, which sees Trent Reznor backed by Ilan Rubin, Alessandro Cortini and Robin Finck. Stellar support comes from pitch-black goth revivalists, Cold Cave. MAC DEMARCO
THE ARCHES, 19:30–22:00, £10
Slacker rock multi-instrumentalist and artist hailing from Canada, formerly known as Makeout Videotape. PAUL BRADY
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £23.50
Irish singer/songwriter and multiinstrumentalist built on the potent flavour of Irish traditional music and song.
THE SPARROWHAWK ORKESTREL (SONIC TEMPLARS) BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
The Dundonian rock bullies lay a set in Bloc’s murky lair.
Wed 21 May THE RECOVERY
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
Full-on blend of hardcore punk from the Glasgow five-piece, with a bit of metalcore thrown in for good measure (read: extra noise). THE HEARTBREAKS
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:30, £8
Alternative rock four-piece hailing from Morcambe, formed around a love for Motown and gritty Northern literature. PAUL HEATON + JACQUI ABBOTT
O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £19.50
The former Beautiful South bandmates return to the stage together. DROWNERS
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £6.50
American alternative rock ensemble formed in NYC in 2011, taking their name from Suede’s debut single. MUTUAL BENEFIT
MONO, 19:30–22:00, £10
Music project of singer-songwriter Jordan Lee and his various gathered musicians, whom he collectively describes as ‘post-lunar buddha turds’, which is nice. QUINNY (AARON WRIGHT + JEFF BROWN)
BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
The alternative Glasgow institution launch their new EP.
Thu 22 May CAVEMAN
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £6
New York-based outfit riding long on a lush wave of falsetto lead vocals, four-part harmonies and synthy Americana soundscapes. MELT-BANANA
MONO, 19:30–22:00, £10
Tokyo-based rock project known for playing fast grindcore and noise soundscapes mixed with experimental, electronica and pop-based song structures. PAUL BRADY
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £23.50
Irish singer/songwriter and multiinstrumentalist built on the potent flavour of Irish traditional music and song.
Fri 23 May THE REZILLOS
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £17.50
Edinburgh-formed punk/new wave outfit active since 1976, running on high octane, guitar driven, melodic anti-mope rock. THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND
CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–22:00, £13
The self-proclaimed ‘party band’ hit the road for their latest tour, all beats, bleeps and rousing indie choruses. CLOUD NOTHINGS (CHEATAHS)
STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £9
Dylan Baldi’s DIY project – which started life as lo-fi pop recordings done in his parents’ basement – now a fully-fledged live band. MIASMA (EARTHS + TETRA)
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:30, £5
Edinburgh-based alternative poprockers made up of various local musos and songwriters.
PAPA SHANDY AND THE DRAMS (SCOTT NICOL + SOPHIE ROGERS) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £7
Glasgow-based bluegrass-meetsfolk-meets-rock combo, still riding high on the last 2013 release of their debut album, One Ae’r The Eight.
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MAD PROFESSOR AND THE ARIWA POSSE (JESSE ROYAL) O2 ABC, 20:00–22:00, £12.50
The Prof takes y’all on a lesson in dub – dipping into his vast catalogue as he goes, taking in the rudiments of dub from early times to dubstep. HOSPITALITY (MY SAD CAPTAINS)
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £7
Brooklyn indie-pop trio fresh from SxSW and on the road airing their sophomore LP, Trouble.
Sat 24 May ALABAMA 3
CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–22:00, £13
The Brixton collective do their blues-rock-acid-house thing to pleasurable effect; cue teary eyes at the Sopranos opening theme song, Woke Up This Morning. IAN PROWSE (AMSTERDAM)
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:30, £10
The Cheshire singer/songwriter, who also fronts Pele and Amsterdam, does his solo thing. SO MANY ANIMAL CALLS
BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)
Glaswegian quartet who rather self-deprecatingly term their sound as ‘failpop’, welcoming their new EP into the world. SWANS
THE ARCHES, 19:00–22:00, £18
NYC-based post-punk lot, built on Michael Gira’s affecting baritone, unprecedented levels of volume and oodles of sheer visceral bloody energy. OVER THE WALL
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £6
The euphoric pop locals do their live thing for the final time, promising a greatest hits set cherrypicked from the last eight glorious years. Kleenex at the ready. RADIOLA (DIRTY BOOTS + MIDNIGHT MEN)
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
After taking time out to write and record, the alternative country rock ensemble return with their new EP. RSNO: OUNDJIAN CONDUCTS BEETHOVEN SEVEN
GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £11.50
Conductor Peter Oundjian takes on Beethoven’s Symphony No7, joined by Augustin Hadelich on violin. THE RIPTIDE MOVEMENT
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £8.50
Irish rock outfit with a fondness for big riffs and even bigger choruses. WEDNESDAY 13
STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £12
The Murderdolls frontman tours his a new project, still heavily into the horror punk, natch.
Sun 25 May
DEVIANT UK (METHOD CELL + CYFERDYNE + ADVANCE)
CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–23:00, £8.50
Solo electronic project of Jay Smith, joined by his touring live musicians.
THE UPLOAD TOUR 3 (EMMA BLACKERY + BRIBRY + DAVE GILES + LUKE CUTFORTH)
O2 ABC, 18:00–22:00, £8
Upload Tour, take three, bringing together a selection of underground artists that they reckon are leading the DIY recording scene. LOST MAP SHOWCASE (THE PICTISH TRAIL + MONOGANON + TUFF LOVE)
THE BOWLERS BAR, 13:30–16:00, £8
The Pictish Trail (aka Johnny Lynch) takes to the stage for a live showcase evening as part of micro-label Lost Map’s partaking of East End Social festival, joined by label chums Monoganon and Tuff Love.
INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA FESTIVAL (MOLLY NILSSON + GROUP RHODA + UBRE BLANCA + YONG YONG + HAPPY MEALS + MEDDICINE + HAUSFRAU + CLIP ART + APOSTILLE) THE ART SCHOOL, 12:00–03:00, £8 ADV. (£9 DOOR)
All-day mini festival featuring a bountiful schedule of musical talent – including Ubre Blanca, Happy Meals and Hausfrau – with a free mix-tape for the first 100 down.
Mon 26 May REAL ESTATE
CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–22:30, £12
Psych-pop styled indie offerings from the New Jersey foursome, all jangly guitars and catchy melodies.
THE CAULFIED CULT (GODARD) 13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £5
Melodic punk outfit hailing from Singapore, making a return visit to the 13th Note’s lair.
Tue 27 May
FUTUREPROOF (REWIND + CONNOR HARRIS + CANARY SWING)
O2 ABC, 18:00–22:00, £8
Three London chaps riding along on their own inimitable bass-infused, electronic pop sounds, played out via their usual energetic live performance. HOT 8 BRASS BAND
THE ARCHES, 19:00–22:00, £15
New Orleans-based brass band playing authentic New Orleans jazz mixed with various world styles. THE CHAMELEONS VOX
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £15
English post punk outfit hailing from Middleton, fronted by the emotive penmanship of singer and bass player, Mark Burgess. GABRIELLA CILMI (DANIEL DOCHERTY)
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £8
Australian singer/songwriter taking in delicate hues of pop, blues and rock. RVNES + FOUNDLING
THE ART SCHOOL, 20:00–23:00, FREE
Free gig session with Berlin-based doom drone duo Rvnes and their sideward ilk, Foundling.
THE MICKEY 9S + BLOOD INDIANS + PINACT BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
Eclectic bill of three stellar live acts, hand-selected by Saraseto Records.
Wed 28 May FLOOD OF RED
STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £TBC
THE THREE JOHNS (ALKOTRON + THE RAGNBONE MAN) MONO, 20:00–22:00, £11
Return of the 80s-formed Leeds punk-rockers, made up of The Mekons co-founder, Jon Langford, as well as John Hyatt and Phillip’ John’ Brennan, augmented by a drum machine. EMILY SCOTT AND THE FELL DOWN TRIO (ELA ORLEANS + ADAM STAFFORD)
THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £TBC
The Edinburgh-based multiinstrumentalist launches a new LP of her fragile folk soundscapes – playing live with a trio of violin, viola and cello, showcasing a canny knack for string composition. FREEZE THE ATLANTIC
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:30, £7
Farnborough-based alternative rock outfit, still resiliently holding strong after a number of line-up changes over their lifespan.
Fri 30 May THE HOLY GHOSTS
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:30, £6.50
Edinburgh rock’n’rollers infusing their sound with a splash of country and blues. ALBERT HAMMOND
ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £20
Longstanding singer/songwriter and producer, perhaps now best known for being The Strokes' Albert Hammond Jr's ol' da. FOXES
KING TUT’S, 20:00–23:00, £8
One-woman band riding along on Louisa Rose Allen’s resplendent synths, industrial percussion and by-turns-searing-and-soaring vocals. BLACK BOMBAIM
Airdrie-born experimental indie sextet who will play for cheese sandwiches, so say they.
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £11
THE GREAT ALBATROSS (JOE BLACK)
CHAIN AND THE GANG
Ian Svevonius of The Make Up and Nation Of Ulysses fronts his boygirl beat combo side project. BETTY WHO (JOY + BRONAGH MONAHAN)
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50
Australian singer/songwriter of the chirpy pop variety, known to her mammy as plain ol’ Jessica Anne Newham. SCHOOLBOY Q (ISAIAH RASHAD)
THE ARCHES, 19:00–22:00, £16
Californian hip-hop artist, known to his mammy as Quincey Matthew Hanley.
ANDREW PEARSON & LOVERS TURN TO MONSTERS (LIDH + ADULTBOY)
13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £5
The indie-pop five-piece launch their new single. SOFT METALS (JD TWITCH)
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:30, £7 ADV. (£8 DOOR)
Multi-disciplinary electronic duo from Portland, Oregon (now residing in Los Angeles), whose members Ian Hicks and Patricia Hall were brought together through a common love of 70s and 80s synthesizer music.
Thu 29 May BELLA HARDY
CCA, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£10)
Acclaimed Peak District singer combining traditional styles and ballad forms into one poetic, fairytale-like whole.
ALGIERS (TERRAFRAID + GREAT COP + ALGERNON DOLL) 13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £4
Indie-rock duo from Sheffield with a heady and visceral sound, celebrating the release of their debut album, You’re The Captain. THUMPERS (ALAVANO + TURTLE)
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £7.50
Alt-pop sounds from Londonhailing duo, Sub Pop signees and former tour buddies to CHVRCHES. ONLY REAL
BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £5
London-based band of hip young pups, all lovingly lackadaisical via lo-fi production with half-rapped vocals.
THE FEUDAL SYSTEM + THE MAGNETIC + LATITUDE FIFTY FIVE + CALUM O’CONNOR
RECORD FACTORY, 19:30–23:00, £5
Showcase evening of freshsounding college and universitybased student acts.
Heavy acid jammers hailing from the musically prolific small city of Barcelos in Portugal. THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £6
Collaborative project featuring Wesley Chung and a revolving door of collaborators and contributors, making laid back vibes drawn from Chung’s Californian roots.
Sat 31 May
MORE THAN CONQUERORS (FELIX CHAMPION)
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:30, £6
Belfast-based indie four-piece who describe themselves as ‘honest, raw and loud’ – we can’t argue with that. THE HOLY PISTOL CLUB (THE HUMMINGBIRDS)
KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £7.50
West Dunbartonshire rock’n’rollers fronted by vocalist James Cairns. RSNO SEASON FINALE: SYMPHONY OF A THOUSAND
GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £11.50
Peter Oundjian brings a worldclass cast of Commonwealth soloists to the stage to join the RSNO, RSNO Chorus and Junior Chorus to end the Season in epic style.
Edinburgh Music Thu 01 May
MATT NORRIS AND THE MOON (MIKE MACFARLANE + MOSCO)
WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5
Edinburgh-based modern folk collective resplendent with trumpets, fiddles, accordions and four-part harmonies. UMBERTO (THE SOUTHERN TENANT)
THE BANSHEE LABYRINTH, 19:30–22:00, £7
Otherworldly electronic overlord and horror soundtrack fanatic Umberto (aka Matt Hill) plays a special set, weaving his usual hypnotic musical web. TOURIST
TEVIOT UNDERGROUND, 19:30–23:00, £7.50
London-based electronic chappie with a passion for field recordings and analog wizardry.
THE BLACK DIAMOND EXPRESS: THE DARKTOWN STRUTTER’S BALL (THE JELLYMAN’S DAUGHTER)
THE BONGO CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £10 (£8)
The bluesy folk locals host a special party raising funds for their Canadian tour in June, to play at NxNE festival. BLACK
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £15
Musical alter ego of Colin Vearncombe – active on the scene in the 80s and then 90s, before returning in 2011 – accompanied on stage by Callum MacColl (son of folk legend Ewan and brother of Kirsty). THE BROKEN RAVENS
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5
The Stornoway thrashers deliver their usual wall of head-banging, foot-stomping fuzz.
ALEX TAYLOR AND THE RESISTANCE + MISS COUNTRY BLUE & THE JURE GRANDO BAND + THE BLUESWATER WHISTLEBINKIES, 19:00–02:30, FREE
Tue 29 Apr YOUNG KATO
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £8 ADVANCE
Breakthrough indie-pop lot hailing from Cheltenham and Birmingham.
Wed 30 Apr
COPPER LUNGS (DED RABBIT)
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–23:00, £5
The Dundee/Perth-based melodic alternative rock lot celebrate the launch of their self-titled EP. INUIT (BIANCA)
OPIUM, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
Glasgow post-rockers, interlocking dense strands of ambience with life-groping washes of sound. RALPH’S LIFE CD LAUNCH (STEVE HERON + UNIVERSAL THEE)
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:30, £TBC
Launch event for the crowdfunded double CD featuring 40 tracks from donated musicians, raising funds and awareness for the mental health charity of the same name.
A FIGHT YOU CAN’T WIN (HAGANA + BIRDHEAD) OPIUM, 19:00–22:30, FREE
The Edinburgh trio deliver their short and subtly distorted blasts of grunge-y rock, playing what will be their last gig. Ever. Sob. SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: MOZART AND STRAUSS
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £10
A home team of three SCO wind principals take on a selection of Mozart and Strauss solos. MUSCLETUSK (FUA + WIDT + FORDELL RESEARCH UNIT + DJ TERENCE SHARP)
THE BONGO CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £5
THE LAST BATTLE (LIDH)
THE ANNEXE, 19:00–22:00, £5 ADV. (£6 DOOR)
Edinburgh’s own folk-pop outfit do their ever-lovely orchestraltinged thing, launching their second LP – Lay Your Burden Down – on’t night. VASA (SHINE + THE GOTHENBURG ADDRESS)
OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £4
Glaswegian progressive instrumental post-rockers, built on their own sublime brand of melodic, guitar-driven rock. THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:00, £21.50
The acoustic guitar songsmith takes to the road for his 2014 Celtic Tour. RALLY & BROAD (RUTH MILLS + GERRY CAMPBELL + RYAN VAN WINKLE + BILLY LIAR + LACH)
THE BONGO CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £5
Special edition of the spoken word cabaret night as part of Bongo Lives, featuring a series of unique mash-ups and collaborations – including choreographer Ruth Mills’ team up with former Belle & Sebastian chappie Gerry Campbell. THUNKFISH + BONZAI QUARTET
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5
Double whammy of original and contemporary jazz, funk and grooves from the local arena. SAMH FUNDRAISER (THE HEAVY DRAPES + FACEHANDLE)
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5
Third annual SAMH fundraiser, taking in a heavy wall of musical noise. CHRIS FINN + HOUSEROCKERS + DEMONS EYE + MATT GLOSS AND THE EMULSIONS
WHISTLEBINKIES, 17:00–02:45, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £6
Indie rock’n’roll quintet full of guitars and songs about love an’ that. BEAR’S DEN
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £8
LEWIS FINDLAY + SUSCEPTION + THE DIVERSIONS
DECAGRAM 1.6: STEAMFUNK (TRIO VELCRO + LIPSYNC FOR A LULLABY)
Stellar night based on unique collaborations, featuring film (7pm till 9pm) and then live music (9pm-midnight), before discoing down ‘til the wee hours. GED HANLEY TRIO + SAFEHOUSE + RELOAD + BAD BOOGALOO
WHISTLEBINKIES, 17:00–02:45, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Sun 04 May FUCK BUTTONS
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £15
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 14:30–17:00, £8
More upbeat and catchy indie-pop from the Scottish four-piece, peddling their own chirpy brand of indie-disco-pop.
Tue 06 May
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00–03:00, £3 BEFORE 9 (THEN £4 BEFORE 11, £6 AFTER)
Fri 02 May
THE LITTLE KICKS (THE LONELY TOGETHER + KING EIDER)
NYC-hailing heavy metalers, building on the many diverse traditions of the genre – throwing leftfield rhythmic twists, deceptively complex riffage and even bursts of trumpet into the mix.
London-based trio led by folkster Andrew Davie (formerly of Cherbourg).
The Bristol electro-noise duo continue to ride the wave of their third and darkest album, Slow Focus, our Album of the Month back ‘pon its release.
WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £7
IKILLYA (OF ONE BLOOD + RAMAGE INC + EDGEVILLE HELLRIDE) OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £5
More avant-noise rock thuggery from the Edinburgh outfit, tying together detuned guitar deconstructions with fields of scuzzy electronic noise, distorted deep horns and loose drum work.
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
RALP MCTELL
Edinburgh
Sat 03 May
THE BOYDS
CLUTCH
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £16.50
Southern rock ensemble formed in 1990, fronted by guitarist Neil Fallon. WHISTLEBINKIES, 20:00–02:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Wed 07 May BLISS
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £TBC
Atlanta-based electro-pop girl group, composed of songbirds Alexis Branch, Falicia White and Taryn Moody. LAS KELLIES (SNIDE RHYTHMS + THANK YOU SO NICE)
WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £7 (£5)
Fiery Argentine trio drawing on their post-punk and punk roots, with added inspiration from reggae and dance music. EDDIE PREVOST
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–23:00, FREE
Unplugged duo covering a selection of classics, delivered with careful harmonies and arrangements.
Master drummer of free jazz, best known as the co-founder of the legendary improvisation groups AMM and Supersession.
THE BANSHEE LABYRINTH, 19:00–22:00, £5
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £7
CHINA SHOP BULL (MICKEY 9’S + PHANTOM RIFFAGE)
The Leeds scamps bring their unique brand of ska-rave-rockrap back to Scotland, as in yer face as ever. TWO GLASS EYES (RWM + IN ABSENCE)
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5
Irish alternative rockers with a mellow twist and full on screams. LEE PATTERSON + DIE HAPPY + SCOPE
WHISTLEBINKIES, 18:30–02:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com. FOR WE ARE MANY (THE OCEAN FLOOR)
OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £5
All-metal quartet from the north west, combining mind bending riffs and brutal breakdowns.
Mon 05 May
ST DELUXE (THEO VERNEY + WOZNIAK)
WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £6 (£4)
Weegie foursome currently reviving the spirit of US slacker alternative pop, then immediately drowning the bugger in syrupy scum-gaze textures. BIG UPS (HALFRICAN + THE ILL HERBS)
BALLERINA BLACK (DEER LAKE + JUSTHOPE)
The LA gloom pop-meets-mope rock outfit head out on their debut UK tour. CALLUM BEATTIE + BETTER DAZE + SPLENDID GENTLEMEN
WHISTLEBINKIES, 19:00–02:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Thu 08 May SKERRYVORE
Fri 09 May
THE BREW (THE RISING SOULS)
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £10
Brit rock trio with a rare father/ son line-up that seems to work for ‘em. HEADSHRINKER (CRIMEDESK + PURPLE KUSHTY)
OPIUM, 19:00–22:30, £TBC
Edinburgh indie rock’n’rollers pitching themselves somewhere between BRMC and Cage the Elephant. RSNO NAKED CLASSICS: BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH
USHER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £11.50
With the help of conductor Baldur Brönnimann, presenter Paul Rissmann strips Beethoven’s Fifth bare. THE NEW SHMOO + ALMA FIERA + MAD FERRET
WHISTLEBINKIES, 19:00–02:45, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Sat 10 May CHERRY SUEDE
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £6
Acoustic up-close-and-personal encounter with Randy Scott and Randy Young (aka Cherry Suede), playing a selection of new songs and classics.
POLLY AND THE BILLETS DOUX (DANTE) ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £6
Winchester and Bristol-straddling eclectic quartet dipping their toes into genres of folk, pop, rock’n’roll, soul, country, blues and gospel. PUNK PICNIC (ANGELIC UPSTARTS)
BANNERMANS, 20:00–22:00, £10
Day one of the weekend punk fest, Punk Picnic, featuring legendary Northern punks outfit, Angelic Upstarts. GED HANLEY TRIO + LEWIS HAMILTON AND THE BOOGIE BROTHERS + TRICKY FINGERS
WHISTLEBINKIES, 17:00–20:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com. ROAD TO MANILA (SWALLOWS + BRIGHT SIDE + IN PROVIDENCE + HOLD UP THERE’S HOPE)
OPIUM, 19:00–22:30, £5
SEA BASS KID (MICKEY 9’S + JEN AND THE GENTS)
Sun 11 May
More blazing bagpipes, fiddle and accordions, lynch-pinned on Alec Dalglish’s soaring vocals. THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–23:00, £6
VLADIMIR (NAKED)
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5
Edinburgh-based indie/ska/reggae/blues/rock/anything they damn well fancy bunch of musical merrymakers.
Noisy indie-rock ensemble hailing from Dundee.
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:00, £15 (£12)
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £12
RANT
Collective of four Scottish fiddle players, two from the Shetland Islands and two from the Highlands: Bethany Reid, Jenna Reid, Sarah-Jane Summers and Lauren MacColl. SCO: BEETHOVEN’S NINTH
USHER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £10
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
BANNERMANS, 22:00–23:00, £5
Five piece hard rock’n’rollers from Ireland, blending big hooks, screaming guitar solos and gritty vocals.
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Hardcore-styled ensemble hailing from Denmark, who released their split EP with Elephantis via Dream Atlantic Records in April 2014.
Nerdy, punctual punk lot hailing from New York City, listing PHP and Perl among their band interests. DIRTY DIAMONDS (BULLETPROOF ROSE + NEST OF VIPERS)
JASON KYRONE + THE GO FIGURES + STEELYARD BLUES.
WHISTLEBINKIES, 19:00–02:30, FREE
THE CAVES, 19:00–22:00, £12.50
The SCO close their 40th anniversary season with a special rendition of Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony.
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £7
YUSUF AZAK THE BANSHEE LABYRINTH, 19:30–22:00, £5
The Gerry Loves Records Aberdonian (of Turkish descent) marries the delights of his honeyed voice and firmly-played Spanish guitar, celebrating the launch of his new LP.
TEN TONNE DOZER (BOUND BY THE SEA + THE FALLING RAIN)
Shetland-based noisemakers making slovenly metal mixed with downright filthy rock. FILIP BLAST (KUNG FU ACADEMY + THE RISING SOULS)
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:30, £8.50 (£7)
Edinburgh-based seven-piece whose sound revolves around a rhythm section led by guitarist Fraser Christie, and fronted by Michael Sebastian, launching their new EP on the night.
SHONEN KNIFE (SMALLGANG + THE SPOOK SCHOOL)
All-female Japanese kawaii-punk noisemakers now an impressive 19 albums in, all incessantly cheery melodies and cutesy lyrical conceits. CATRIN FINCH + SECKOU KEITA
USHER HALL, 19:30–22:00, £14 (£10)
Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita do their ever enchanting collaborative thing. PUNK PICNIC (DISCHARGE)
BANNERMANS, 15:00–23:00, £13
Day two of the weekend punk fest, Punk Picnic, featuring original hardcore punk lot, Discharge. STEVIE SCOTT + MACPOLVO + BIG BOSS BAND
WHISTLEBINKIES, 18:30–02:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
THE SKINNY
Mon 12 May
KENDA NAGASAKI (COURTNEY LYNN)
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5
The Orkney-based alternative rockers hit the ‘burgh, hard. BRITNEY
OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £TBC
Scottish combo signed to Beef Wellington Enterprises.
Tue 13 May REVERE
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £8.50
SOUNDHOUSE BENEFIT #2 (SHOOGLENIFTY + THE BEVVY SISTERS + LORD ROCHESTER + DJ DOLPHIN BOY) THE PLEASANCE, 19:30–01:00, £10
Second in a series of fundraiser gigs raising pennies for The Soundhouse Organisation – a charity dedicated to founding a new music venue in Edinburgh offering a fair deal to musicians. Go support the cause. RSNO: SHOSTAKOVICH’S TENTH SYMPHONY
USHER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £11.50
London-based post-rockers built on a backbone of guitars, with divergent tendencies towards melancholic strings and synth domination.
Conductor Lawrence Renes opens with a rendition of Shostakovich’s Jazz Suite No2, before taking on the mighty Symphony No10.
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £TBC
WHISTLEBINKIES, 19:00–02:45, FREE
GOL
Edinburgh-based ensemble with an unusual take on world jazz. THE CASTANETTES + SPLENDID GENTLEMEN
WHISTLEBINKIES, 22:00–02:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Wed 14 May MONUMENT (KAINE)
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £6
Heavy metal-styled Londoners formed on the streets of East London by vocalist Peter Ellis (ExWhite Wizzard and The More I See). CHRIS FINN + RADIO PACHUCO + 3 CARD TRICK
WHISTLEBINKIES, 19:00–02:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Thu 15 May
SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: ANDERSZEWSKI PLAYS MOZART
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £10
Playing the piano and directing an orchestra at the same time, Piotr Anderszewski takes in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 12, amongst other works. AUGUSTINES
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £12.50
NYC trio who do a rather fine line in anthemic indie-rock (formerly playing as We Are Augustines), due in no small part to frontman Billy McCarthy’s measured and majestic vocals. THE APPARELLS (THE SOCIAL ORDER)
BANNERMANS, 22:00–23:00, £5
The Twin City Records rockers take to the stage for their usual pumped set.
WE ARE NOT IGUANAS + BLUESOUL + SUPERHOUSE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Sat 17 May SIX60 (DAVID DALLAS)
THE BONGO CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £12.50
New Zealand band of merrymakers headered by Matiu Waters on vocals and guitar. MIASMA
WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5
Edinburgh-based alternative poprockers made up of various local musos and songwriters. THE EMERALD ARMADA
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5
Alternative folk ensemble, all soaring harmonies and cheekychappy banter. ROBERT CRAY BAND
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 18:30–22:00, FROM £29.50
The American blues guitarist and singer returns to the UK with full band in tow, celebrating 40th years of laying down track after track of good-time blues. WAR IRON (SUNSMASHER + DUNE)
OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £5
The Belfast twin-bass-sludgedoom noisemakers do their heavy as fuck thing. THE DUKE + DETROIT + THE CARNABY’S + ERRANT BOY
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £5
The Hard Rock Cafe curate a night rock. GED HANLEY TRIO + MIDNIGHT BLUES BAND + BAD BOOGALOO + ELWOOD
WHISTLEBINKIES, 17:00–02:45, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
BRIAN KELLY + BIG TUNA + THE BLUESWATER
Sun 18 May
WHISTLEBINKIES, 19:00–02:30, FREE
FESTIVAL THEATRE, 19:30–22:00, FROM £27.50
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Fri 16 May
THE JACKALS (THE MIRACLE GLASS COMPANY)
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £7
Guitar-driven psychedelic sounds crossed with gritty songsmithery, served up with a good dose of attitude. HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE (THE KATET + DJ ASTROJAZZ + SURFIN’ BEAR)
THE CAVES, 22:00–03:00, £12
Youthful jazz renegades and band of brothers; pretty much as authentic as you can get, without Sun Ra trumpeter Phil Cohran actually being their father. Oh wait, he is. THE HOOSIERS
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 19:00–22:00, £10
Now trading as a four-piece, the London-based chaps showcase their pop-meets-rock musical wares. ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–22:00, £26.50
Still fronted by original member Ian McCulloch, the longstanding Liverpudlian rockers tour their first studio album in four years, Meteorites.
IAN ANDERSON
The Jethro Tull man plays an intimate acoustic set, playing the music of Jethro Tull along with some of his solo repertoire. TRUST
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £8
Toronto artist Robert Alfons dons his Trust alter-ego to tour sophomore LP, Joyland, deftly exploring his vocal range across sonorous moans and more plaintive falsettos, incorporating dark strains of house, techno, early rave and trance as he goes. ESTRELLA (STORM ZONE)
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
70 and 80s-infused rockers, built on riffs, anthemic choruses and proper big mullet hair. FREDDIE STEVENSON (GEORGIA GORDON)
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:15–23:00, £9
British/American singer/songwriter originally from Edinburgh, currently living and working in New York, when he’s not on’t road touring. RYAN MORCOMBE + BRUISE + DIRT BETTY
WHISTLEBINKIES, 18:30–02:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Tue 20 May DROWNERS
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £7
American alternative rock ensemble formed in NYC in 2011, taking their name from Suede’s debut single.
May 2014
EMPIRE DECLINED + THE DIVERSIONS WHISTLEBINKIES, 23:00–02:40, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Wed 21 May EDINBURGH QUARTET
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:00, £15 (£12)
The local quartet complete their tribute to Czech composers with Smetana’s semi-autobiographical first string quartet, Quartet No 1 in E minor. VIRGIL AND THE ACCELERATORS
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £9.50
Energetic young blues scamps, still riding high on the release of their debut LP, The Radium.
DESPITE MY DEEPEST FEAR (FATHOMS + LOCK & KEY + SHIELDS + PORTRAITS + TERRAFORM) OPIUM, 19:00–22:30, £TBC
London-based metalcore scamps formed in 2010 from the remnants of high school bands. LISBEE STAINTON
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £9
English singer/songwriter and her trusty 8-string guitar. THE LAST VEGAS (HEARTBREAK REMEDY + THE KING LOT)
BANNERMANS, 19:30–23:00, £8.00
The Chicago rockers take their new LP out on’t road. CALLUM BEATTIE + JOJOCOKE + SPLENDID GENTLEMEN
WHISTLEBINKIES, 19:00–02:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Thu 22 May BOO HEWERDINE
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £10
The English songwriter and lead singer of Bible plays a set of his own songs. WHITE DENIM
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £18
Genre-spanning Texans, omnivorously squeezing as many diverse influences as possible into every track. NATIVES
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £7
Hampshire-hailing pop-rockers formerly known as Not Advised. EVA PLAYS DEAD
BANNERMANS, 19:30–23:00, £6
Derby-based alternative rockers built on the powerful female vocals of Tiggy Dockerty, bolstered by feisty guitar riffs and a powerhouse rhythm section. BURY TOMORROW
STUDIO 24, 19:00–22:00, £10
Touring with their latest album, The Union of Crowns, the Portsmouth/Southampton hailing five-piece bring the metalcore sounds to Manchester. ETHAN JOHNS
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £10
The acclaimed English record producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and all-round talented chappie – and son of legendary producer Glyn Johns – does his solo thing.
LUKE SCOTT DUMPER + RECKLESS + GLAMOUR AND THE BAYBES
WHISTLEBINKIES, 19:00–02:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Fri 23 May JUDIE TZUKE
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–22:00, £22.50
The English singer/songwriter showcases songs from her new album, alongside classics spanning a three decade career.
NORMAN SILVER AND THE GOLD (THE FNORDS + THE EXHUMED BONES + SEAN WASTE)
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £6 (£5)
The Edinburgh-based country punk lot play a set of their selfdescribed ‘uncheerful country and western’. Jolly bunch, so they are. RSNO: OUNDJIAN CONDUCTS BEETHOVEN SEVEN
USHER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £11.50
Conductor Peter Oundjian takes on Beethoven’s Symphony No7, joined by Augustin Hadelich on violin.
THE SOUTHPAWS (LITTLE KINGDOM + OLLIE LEE) WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £4 (£3)
Local rock/blues trio playing a mixed set of covers and originals. LYLE WATT
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)
The instrumental rock-meetsblues artist launches his new EP. AVENGER (SPARTAN WARRIOR)
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £7
Tue 27 May PAOLO NUTINI
USHER HALL, 19:30–22:00, £29.50
The Paisley-born singer/songwriter tours his new album, Caustic Love.
Wed 28 May CHRISTINE TOBIN
The Irish born jazz singer performs her salute to the one-and-only Leonard Cohen, A Thousand Kisses Deep.
OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £TBC
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £6
CAPITAL X
Instrumental post-rock quartet from Edinburgh, pairing heavy distortion to melodic, delayed guitars and driven drum beats.
Two weeks after supporting Republica, the electro female duo take to Bannermans stage.
Sat 24 May
FAT GOTH
THE REZILLOS
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £17.50
Edinburgh-formed punk/new wave outfit active since 1976, running on high octane, guitar driven, melodic anti-mope rock.
EXCELLENT CADAVER (DISPOSABLE + THE FALLING RAIN + OUR SUN IS DEAD) OPIUM, 19:30–22:30, £4
Metalcore Dundonians upping the noise levels with their hurricanelike brand of metal. JACK ROWBERRY
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £6
The young blues guitar singer/ songwriter plays an acoustic set. FOXES
POTTERROW, 19:30–22:30, £10
One-woman band riding along on Louisa Rose Allen’s resplendent synths, industrial percussion and by-turns-searing-and-soaring vocals. YVONNE LYON (ANDREW HOWIE)
THE CAVES, 19:00–23:00, £10
The Scottish singer/songwriter plays a batch of her uplifting folkpop soundscapes.
THE DERELLAS (BUZZBOMB + HELLO CREEPY SPIDER + THE BROTHEL CORPSE TRIO)
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £7
The English punk rock’n’rollers bring their loud and sleazy take on the genre. GED HANLEY TRIO + BLACKJACK BLUES BAND + SPECIAL GUESTS + JOJOCOKE
WHISTLEBINKIES, 17:00–02:45, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Sun 25 May MOSCOW PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
USHER HALL, 15:00–17:30, FROM £12
The popular Moscow orchestra play an evening’s worth of expertlyperformed Russian music. SKY LARKIN
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £7
The Leeds-based trio – making indie rock since 2005 and known for touring with the likes of Frightened Rabbit – bring their third album, Motto, to a live setting. CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £TBC
Rock outfit centred around multiinstrumentalist Justin Greaves, which began to take its successful form when Mogwai bassist Dominic Aitchinson became involved. ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK (THE AMORETTES)
BANNERMANS, 19:30–23:00, £8
The Japan rockers make their return visit to Bannermans. LEE PATTERSON + CLAYTON BELLAMY + BANNOCKBURN
WHISTLEBINKIES, 18:30–02:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Mon 26 May THE FLAMING LIPS
USHER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £25
The famously O.T.T. live merrymakers give their thirteenth LP, The Terror, an airing – an ambient and restless gem, which finds mainman Wayne Coyne providing the soothingly familiar vocal backdrop to a crescendo of crazy.
Edinburgh rock’n’rollers infusing their sound with a splash of country and blues. BLACK ARM BAND + UNIVERSAL THEE + THE OMEGA CORRIDOR
OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £TBC
Trio of alternative Scottish bands all hailing from Edinburgh.
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:00, FROM £12
80s-founded heavy metalers who’ve had their fair few line-up changes over the years.
WE CAME FROM THE NORTH (STAR ROVER + DAS MCMANUS)
THE HOLY GHOSTS ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £6.50
Thu 29 May ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 20:00–23:00, £6
Ex-Alamos members in a new alternative guise, out and touring their third LP, One Hundred Percent Suave. EAST INDIA YOUTH
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 19:00–22:00, £7.50
William Doyle’s one-man experimental soundscapes, built on vocal and instruments that wander down alleyways of electronica, techno, krautrock and pop. TOUMANI DIABATÉ + SIDIKI DIABATÉ
USHER HALL, 19:30–22:00, £20
In a rare collaboration, genius of African kora music, Toumani Diabaté, performs alongside his son (and the instrument’s emerging star), Sidiki. MARC FORD (ELIJAH FORD AND THE BLOOM)
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £15
American blues-rock guitarist, formerly lead guitarist of The Black Crowes. BLUEPRINT
BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5
Edinburgh-based blues rockers, taking on a blend of old and new influences. TONI ETHERSON + DARKHORSE + GLAMOUR AND THE BAYBES
WHISTLEBINKIES, 19:00–02:30, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com.
Fri 30 May JOHN DOYLE
THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:00, £15 (£12)
Grammy-nominated Irish singer/ songwriter, also known as the founding member of Solas. RSNO SEASON FINALE: SYMPHONY OF A THOUSAND
USHER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £11.50
Peter Oundjian brings a worldclass cast of Commonwealth soloists to the stage to join the RSNO, RSNO Chorus and Junior Chorus to end the Season in epic style. SPACE SIREN (FORKEYE + FATALISTS)
LEITH CRICKET CLUB, 20:00–01:00, £5
The Netherlands indie foursome layer guitars and sweet vocals to suitably catchy effect. CALLUM BEATTIE + ELEMENTS + SCOPE + FATLIPS
WHISTLEBINKIES, 17:00–02:45, FREE
Daily free live music in Binkie’s late night basement hangout, moving between rock, indie, blues, folk, funk and soul. Full line-ups at whistlebinkies.com. FREEZE THE ATLANTIC
OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £7
Glasgow Clubs Tue 29 Apr KILLER KITSCH
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
The Killer Kitsch residents take charge – eight years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic. VOODOO VOODOO
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE
Duncan Harvey plays a mix of vintage rock’n’roll, sleazy R’n’B, swing, soul, surf and pop from a bygone age. I AM
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)
Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of house, techno and electronica – a live guest or two oft in tow. TV TUESDAY
THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
Weekly Tuesday party playing a selection of dancefloor-friendly anthems.
Wed 30 Apr SUB ROSA
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5
Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm. DISCO RIOT
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
THE MERRYLEES (NEON WALTZ)
The country-tinged Edinburgh trio bring the retro vibes, chock with hallucinogenic riffs and a load of reverb – celebrating the launch of their new single, released on Neu! Reekie! Records.
Two floors of the best in rock, metal and industrial tunes picked out by DJ Barry and DJ Tailz. PROPAGANDA
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5
Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie rock’n’roll. CATHOUSE FRIDAYS
CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
Residents night of rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels. JAMMING FRIDAYS
MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)
Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to the 00s, with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez. HARSH TUG
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4
Hip-hop and gangsta rap brought to you by the Notorious B.A.G and pals. YES!
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
New gay indie night on the block, with a playlist that mixes classic Bowie, The Smiths, Blondie et al alongside new kids like Django Djanjo and Grimes. ROCK THE BLOC (DJ KRASH SLAUGHTA)
BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)
The midweek residents serve up their usual midweek rammy of pop punk, hardcore and dangerously alcoholic slushies. NIGHT OF THE JAGUAR (NO GLOBE)
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE
The NOTJ collective nestle into their residency on the Art School roster, known for their love of all things unusual. DANSE MACABRE
CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £4
The Danse Macabre regulars unite those two happiest of bedfellows, goth rock and, er, classic disco, in their regular home of Classic Grand. NEVERLAND
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Themed night with a live Twitter feed and a bouncy castle for added LOLs. R.U.IN THURSDAYS
CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)
Rock, metal and emo mix up, plus guest DJs mixing it up in the Jager Bar. HIP HOP THURSDAYS
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3
Early weekend party starter, with Euan Neilson playing the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop. JELLY BABY
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4
GOOD GRIEF’S GOOP SHOP (INUIT + BLANCA)
BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
PLEASURE GARDEN (HANK JACKSON)
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2-£4 AFTER 12)
Thursday night party hosted by a rotating group of residents from the underbelly of Glasgow’s musical community, this time joined by frenzied Brooklyn techno chappie, Hank Jackson.
SKREAMIZM (SKREAM + ROUTE 94 + JASPER JAMES)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £12 EARLYBIRD (£15 THEREAFTER)
Skream brings his Skreamizm party to Glasgow for one-nightonly.
I HEART GARAGE SATURDAYS THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart. FREAKBEATS
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
Mod, soul, ska and groovy freakbeat 45s, with DJs Jamo, Paul Molloy and Gareth McCallum.
RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL (2MANYDJS + VITALIC + PAN-POT VS SLAM + TIGA + DERRICK MAY + FELIX DA HOUSECAT + ANDREW WEATHERALL + MATTHEW DEAR + MORITZ VON OSWALD + #NOTSOSILENT + MAHS) RIVERSIDE MUSEUM, 16:00–23:00, £55 WEEKEND
The Electric Frog and Pressure join forces to make merry on the banks of the River Clyde, with an electronic weekender featuring 2manydjs, Vitalic, Derrick May, Andrew Weatherall, Jamie Jones and a metric scale of ‘pure loads’ more. THE RAGGA TWINS
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Crucial cogs in the development of UK dance music, the Destouche brothers (aka The Ragga Twins) tear up the dancefloor, as is their merry way.
LET’S GO BACK... WAY BACK! (JUSTIN ROBERSON)
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 22:00–03:00, £10
Residents Bosco and Rob Mason bring acid-house, techno and rave back to the dancefloor, welcoming back Justin Robertson for a guest set. DUKE DUMONT: BLASÉ BOYS CLUB
The HNDPCKD Cassette chaps take control of the decks, playing a set of classic hip-hop, instrumental beats, future funk and headnodders.
Chart-topping DJ and producer Duke Dumont comes to The Arches with his Blasé Boys Club in tow.
O2 ACADEMY, 21:00–03:00, £29.50
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £30
DIMITRI VEGAS + LIKE MIKE
Belgian dance producer brothers Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike do their brotherly thing. FRESH BEATS
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE
BEAST WEDNESDAYS
PILRIG ST PAUL’S CHURCH, 19:00–23:00, £7 ADV. (£9 DOOR)
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £5
DAMNATION
CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £6
CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)
The DIY label and zine collective present their monthly club outing and fresh zine launch combined.
Sat 31 May
Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul.
Split up night of chart classics in the main hall and underground hip-hop in the wee room.
Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.
Stellar night of poetry, music and short film, this time taking in music from collaborative collective Bang Dirty, and Kim Moore’s new project, Wolf, plus poetry from Helen Mort, animation from John Davide, and myriad other lyrical and literary lovelies.
OLD SKOOL
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Disco-styled party night with Alfredo Crolla spinning a selection of favourites, bolstered by karaoke and popcorn stalls, just cos.
Farnborough-based alternative rock outfit, still resiliently holding strong after a number of line-up changes over their lifespan. NEU! REEKIE! (BANG DIRTY + HELEN MORT + WOLF + JOHN DAVIDE)
Fri 02 May
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
MILLENNIUM PARTY
Partyin’ like it’s one day after nineteen ninety nine, the Millennium Party celebrates the turn of the naughties with a selection of DJs, performers, installations and indoor fireworks.
LA CHEETAH CLUB: OMAR S (WARDY + DOM D’SYLVA) LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £12
The La Cheetah Club lot welcome coup of a guest, Detroit’s Omar S, into their fold for the evening, playing a three-hour set bolstered by a 4am licence. ANIMAL FARM (BEN KLOCK)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £16.50
Animal Farm welcome the one man techno wrecking machine that is Ben Klock for a four-hour deck takeover.
Sat 03 May NU SKOOL
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk. BLACK TENT
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4
Indie, electro and anything inbetween with Pauly (My Latest Novel), and Simin and Steev (Errors). ABSOLUTION
CLASSIC GRAND, 22:30–03:00, £6
Alternative weekend blowout, taking in metal, industrial, pop-punk, rock, emo and ska soundscapes over two floors. CATHOUSE SATURDAYS
CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet. THE ROCK SHOP
MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)
THE ARCHES, 22:00–03:00, £15
SUBCULTURE (DJ HARVEY)
The long-running house night continues to celebrate 20 years of greatness, with regulars Harri & Domenic bolstered by DJ Harvey – making his first appearance in Scotland since 2001, no less – and the joys of a 4am licence.
Sun 04 May SUNDAY ROASTER
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4
Residents Garry and Andrew incite more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath, taking in chart anthems, mash-ups and requests.
RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL (JAMIE JONES + LAURENT GARNIER + VISIONQUEST + DJ SNEAK VS CAJMERE + DERRICK CARTER + LORD OF THE ISLES + MELTING POT + SUNDAY CIRCUS) RIVERSIDE MUSEUM, 16:00–23:00, £55 WEEKEND
The Electric Frog and Pressure join forces to make merry on the banks of the River Clyde, with an electronic weekender featuring 2manydjs, Vitalic, Derrick May, Andrew Weatherall, Jamie Jones and a metric scale of ‘pure loads’ more. GET A WEE ROOM
BRUNSWICK HOTEL, 20:00–02:00, £7.50
The Get A Room party-starters return to the Brunswick Hotel for a micro-sized version of their usual multi-room, hotel take-over event. STAR WARS PARTY
CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)
Star Wars-themed party where the residents celebrate official Star Wars Day on May the 4th (geddit?), with dressing up encouraged. SOLOMUN + H.O.S.H.
THE ARCHES, 22:00–03:00, £18 EARLYBIRD (£20 THEREAFTER)
German talents Solomun and H.O.S.H. take control of the decks for a Bank Holiday special, with support from Glasgow collective The Shimmy. SENSU (TALES OF US)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £20
Rock, indie and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney.
Sensu welcome Berlin-based duo Tales of Us to round off the Bank Holiday weekend at the Subbie.
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5
Mon 05 May
LOVE MUSIC
Saturday night disco manned by Gerry Lyons and guests. DEATHKILL4000
BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)
Industro-rock noise party with live players and bespoke visuals to boot.
BURN
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/FREE WITH WAGE SLIP)
Long-running trade night with Normski, Zeus and Mash spinning disco beats.
Listings
57
Glasgow Clubs SPACE INVADER THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Andy R plays chart hits and requests past and present, while DJ David Lo Pan holes up in The Attic playing retro classics.
Tue 06 May KILLER KITSCH
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
The Killer Kitsch residents take charge – eight years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic. VOODOO VOODOO
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE
Duncan Harvey plays a mix of vintage rock’n’roll, sleazy R’n’B, swing, soul, surf and pop from a bygone age. TV TUESDAY
THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
Weekly Tuesday party playing a selection of dancefloor-friendly anthems.
REPEATER (BAD LUCK + PINACT + IAIN BETHEL)
BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
KINO FIST NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4
Genre-spanning mix of 60s psych, leftfield pop and Krautrock with resident Charlotte (of Muscles of Joy). PROPAGANDA
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5
Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie rock’n’roll. CATHOUSE FRIDAYS
CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
Residents night of rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels. COMMON PEOPLE
THE FLYING DUCK, 21:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
Celebration of all things 90s, with hits a-plenty and a pre-club bingo session. JAMMING FRIDAYS
MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)
Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to the 00s, with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez. FRESH BEATS
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Post-hardcore DIY gig/club effort, with a selection of live acts dropping by.
Split up night of chart classics in the main hall and underground hip-hop in the wee room.
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
WAKE VS I AM
Resident young guns Beta & Kappa lock horns with underground party crew, Wake, for an i AM versus special.
Wed 07 May TAKE IT SLEAZY
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE
An unabashed mix of 80s pop, electro and nu-disco. They will play Phil Collins. SUB ROSA
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5
Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm. DISCO RIOT
MY NU LENG
The Core Black Butter artists present a set of their hard-tocategorise tunes, moving through pitch shifted vocals and bass heavy rumbles. VOID (CASIONOVA)
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)
The Void lot present a set of deep house at its finest, with good friend and Magic Waves founder Casionova their guest for the evening.
Sat 10 May NU SKOOL
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.
BEAST WEDNESDAYS
Alternative weekend blowout, taking in metal, industrial, pop-punk, rock, emo and ska soundscapes over two floors.
Disco-styled party night with Alfredo Crolla spinning a selection of favourites, bolstered by karaoke and popcorn stalls, just cos. CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)
The midweek residents serve up their usual midweek rammy of pop punk, hardcore and dangerously alcoholic slushies.
Thu 08 May NEVERLAND
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Themed night with a live Twitter feed and a bouncy castle for added LOLs. R.U.IN THURSDAYS
CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)
Rock, metal and emo mix up, plus guest DJs mixing it up in the Jager Bar. HIP HOP THURSDAYS
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3
Early weekend party starter, with Euan Neilson playing the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop. JELLY BABY
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4
Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer. PLEASURE GARDEN (DAVID BARBAROSSA + HUSH)
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2-£4 AFTER 12)
Thursday night party hosted by a rotating group of residents from the underbelly of Glasgow’s musical community. KUNST (MIRRORS)
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5
The Kunst lot welcome up-andcoming Glasgow producers Mirrors for some midweek mayhem.
Fri 09 May OLD SKOOL
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul. DAMNATION
CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £6
Two floors of the best in rock, metal and industrial tunes picked out by DJ Barry and DJ Tailz.
ABSOLUTION
CLASSIC GRAND, 22:30–03:00, £6
CATHOUSE SATURDAYS
CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
FIRECRACKER SHOWCASE (LINKWOOD + FUDGE FINGAZ + HOUSE OF TRAPS) LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8
Edinburgh-based Firecracker Recordings showcase a selection of their label talent, featuring Linkwood, Fudge Fingaz and House of Traps. SUBCULTURE (TAMO SUMO)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10
Deep house doyenne and Panorama Bar regular Tamo Sumo brings the party to Subculture’s Subbie lair, as the club continue to celebrate 20 years of greatness.
Sun 11 May SUNDAY ROASTER
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4
Residents Garry and Andrew incite more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath, taking in chart anthems, mash-ups and requests.
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5
BACK TAE MINE
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
House-party styled night with residents Gav Dunbar and Sci-Fi Steve, plus free toast for all as standard. I HEART GARAGE SATURDAYS
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart. FANTASTIC MAN
BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)
Messy Saturday night uber-disco featuring a rotating schedule of live talent. HOT MESS
THE POETRY CLUB, 22:00–02:00, £4 (£6 AFTER 10.30)
DJ Simonotron hosts the gay disco party like no other, playing disco, house and acid on vinyl only. WRONG ISLAND
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4
The legendary Teamy and Dirty Larry spin some fresh electronics for your aural pleasure. EVERYDAY COURAGE
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£3 AFTER 12)
All-new gay disco for yer Saturday night dancing pleasure.
Rock, indie and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney.
CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5
R.U.IN THURSDAYS
Rock, metal and emo mix up, plus guest DJs mixing it up in the Jager Bar. HIP HOP THURSDAYS
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3
Early weekend party starter, with Euan Neilson playing the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop. JELLY BABY
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4
Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer. PLEASURE GARDEN
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2-£4 AFTER 12)
Thursday night party hosted by a rotating group of residents from the underbelly of Glasgow’s musical community. HIGH RISE (EAN)
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 12)
All-new night, kicking off with a set from The Void and Magic Waves resident, Ean.
I HEART GARAGE SATURDAYS
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart. STRANGE PARADISE
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4
Party night from floral-shirted Wild Combination man David Barbarossa, specializing in leftfield disco, post-punk and far-out pop. CODE (DEVELOPER)
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 EARLYBIRD (£10 THEREAFTER)
Underground techno specialists Code host a special return set from cutting edge innovator, Developer, pumping oot the dark and industrial techno tunes. TYCI (RUBY + MANDA RIN)
BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)
Mon 12 May
Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul.
BURN
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/FREE WITH WAGE SLIP)
Long-running trade night with Normski, Zeus and Mash spinning disco beats. SPACE INVADER
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
DAMNATION
CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £6
Two floors of the best in rock, metal and industrial tunes picked out by DJ Barry and DJ Tailz. PROPAGANDA
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5
Andy R plays chart hits and requests past and present, while DJ David Lo Pan holes up in The Attic playing retro classics.
Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie rock’n’roll.
Tue 13 May
Residents night of rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels.
KILLER KITSCH
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
The Killer Kitsch residents take charge – eight years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic. VOODOO VOODOO
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE
Duncan Harvey plays a mix of vintage rock’n’roll, sleazy R’n’B, swing, soul, surf and pop from a bygone age. TV TUESDAY
THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
I AM (MARK ARCHER)
Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of house, techno and electronica – joined by one half of iconic 90s duo Altern 8, Mark Archer.
Wed 14 May SUB ROSA
CATHOUSE FRIDAYS
CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
JAMMING FRIDAYS
MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)
Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to the 00s, with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez. KILL YR IDOLS
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4
The Kill Yr Idols residents present an [Emotional] Especial showcase with guests Jamie Paton (Cage & Aviary) and Chuggy (Emotional Rescue) playing their brand of electronic new wave future-pop. FRESH BEATS
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Split up night of chart classics in the main hall and underground hip-hop in the wee room. FACE INVADERS
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£4 AFTER 12)
New night powering itself on postpunk, 60s garage, funk, electro and the weirdest pop they can lay their grubby mitts on.
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5
THE CRAIG CHARLES FUNK AND SOUL CLUB
DISCO RIOT
DJ and actor Craig Charles mans the decks until 3am, playing his picks of funk and soul.
Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm. THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Disco-styled party night with Alfredo Crolla spinning a selection of favourites, bolstered by karaoke and popcorn stalls, just cos. BEAST WEDNESDAYS
CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)
The midweek residents serve up their usual midweek rammy of pop punk, hardcore and dangerously alcoholic slushies. NIGHT OF THE JAGUAR
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE
O2 ABC, 21:00–03:00, £15
OFFBEAT (LORDY D)
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8 ADV. (£10 DOOR)
The Offbeat crew welcome Italian techno legend Lory D back to Glasgow for a special live set. SENSU (SETH TROXLER)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £20
One of electronic music’s most memorable personalities, Seth Troxler, hits up Sensu for a guest set.
The NOTJ collective nestle into their residency on the Art School roster, known for their love of all things unusual.
Sat 17 May
BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
ABSOLUTION
TARIBOWEST
A selection of super-heavy sounds curated by Vasa’s J Niblock and Detour’s Ally McCrae.
Thu 15 May NEVERLAND
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Themed night with a live Twitter feed and a bouncy castle for added LOLs.
NU SKOOL
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk. CLASSIC GRAND, 22:30–03:00, £6
SELECTED SERVICE: ROUGH TRADE
Playing tunes from one record label all night long, yer man Sci Fi Steve plays the finest of independent London label, Rough Trade. HIGHLIFE: 4TH BIRTHDAY
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £5
Afrobeat, funk and house birthday celebrations with the ever-capable residents Auntie Flo and Esa Williams.
The rather ace gig-in-a-club bows out with its last regular outing until August, featuring one helluva bill in the form of Alarm Bells, Conquering Animal Sound and LAW. Milk cocktails and free cookies seal the deal. RIDE: GLASGOW
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE
The Ride girls play hip-hop and dance, all night long – skipping along the M8 for a Glasgow edition.
Thu 22 May NEVERLAND
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Themed night with a live Twitter feed and a bouncy castle for added LOLs. R.U.IN THURSDAYS
CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)
Rock, metal and emo mix up, plus guest DJs mixing it up in the Jager Bar. HIP HOP THURSDAYS
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3
Early weekend party starter, with Euan Neilson playing the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop. JELLY BABY
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4
Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer. PLEASURE GARDEN
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2-£4 AFTER 12)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
SUNDAY ROASTER
RUBIX (KOWTON + BAKE)
Residents Garry and Andrew incite more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath, taking in chart anthems, mash-ups and requests.
The Rubix crew welcome the summer with a duo of guest sets – welcoming one third of Livity Sound, Kowton, and Glaswegian hero Bake.
CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)
Fri 23 May
HAIR OF THE CAT
Sabbath-bothering mix of rock, metal and punk, with punter requests accepted all night long.
Mon 19 May BURN
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/FREE WITH WAGE SLIP)
Long-running trade night with Normski, Zeus and Mash spinning disco beats. SPACE INVADER
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Andy R plays chart hits and requests past and present, while DJ David Lo Pan holes up in The Attic playing retro classics.
Tue 20 May KILLER KITSCH
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
OLD SKOOL
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul. THE HOT CLUB
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4
Tearin’ it up with 60s psych-outs and modern sleaze, provided by Rafla and Andy (of The Phantom Band). DAMNATION
CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £6
Two floors of the best in rock, metal and industrial tunes picked out by DJ Barry and DJ Tailz. PROPAGANDA
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5
Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie rock’n’roll. CATHOUSE FRIDAYS
The Killer Kitsch residents take charge – eight years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic.
Residents night of rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels.
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE
MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)
VOODOO VOODOO
Duncan Harvey plays a mix of vintage rock’n’roll, sleazy R’n’B, swing, soul, surf and pop from a bygone age. I AM
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)
Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of house, techno and electronica – a live guest or two oft in tow. TV TUESDAY
THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
Weekly Tuesday party playing a selection of dancefloor-friendly anthems.
Wed 21 May NOT MOVING
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE
Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm.
Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet.
FLAT 0/1, 21:00–03:00, £4 (£3)
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8
SUBCULTURE
MILK (ALARM BELLS + CONQUERING ANIMAL SOUND + LAW)
Sun 18 May
South African house, grime, jungle, R’n’B and hauntology – tropical mix, ayes.
Long-running house night with regulars Harri & Domenic manning the decks.
The midweek residents serve up their usual midweek rammy of pop punk, hardcore and dangerously alcoholic slushies.
Thursday night party hosted by a rotating group of residents from the underbelly of Glasgow’s musical community.
Alternative weekend blowout, taking in metal, industrial, pop-punk, rock, emo and ska soundscapes over two floors.
CATHOUSE SATURDAYS
Listings
Saturday night disco manned by Gerry Lyons and guests.
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
OLD SKOOL
CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
58
LOVE MUSIC
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 (5)
Saturday night disco manned by Gerry Lyons and guests.
Members of Glasgow’s posthardcore noise-masters, United Fruit, curate their lively event of big-beat alternative indie.
Fri 16 May
MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)
LOVE MUSIC
BEAST WEDNESDAYS CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)
Sabbath-bothering mix of rock, metal and punk, with punter requests accepted all night long.
HAIR OF THE CAT
CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)
Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet.
Rock, indie and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney.
THE ROCK SHOP MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)
The all-female collective, blog and fanzine bring together a selection of live acts and DJs for their monthly party night.
Weekly Tuesday party playing a selection of dancefloor-friendly anthems.
THE ROCK SHOP
TEENAGE RIOT BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
SUB ROSA
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5
DISCO RIOT
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Disco-styled party night with Alfredo Crolla spinning a selection of favourites, bolstered by karaoke and popcorn stalls, just cos.
CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
JAMMING FRIDAYS
Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to the 00s, with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez. ZANE LOWE
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£8)
The New Zealand radio DJ, record producer and television presenter takes control of The Garage decks for the evening.
Sat 24 May NU SKOOL
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk. ABSOLUTION
CLASSIC GRAND, 22:30–03:00, £6
Alternative weekend blowout, taking in metal, industrial, pop-punk, rock, emo and ska soundscapes over two floors. CATHOUSE SATURDAYS
CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet. THE ROCK SHOP
MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)
Rock, indie and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney. LOVE MUSIC
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5
Saturday night disco manned by Gerry Lyons and guests. I HEART GARAGE SATURDAYS
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
BIGFOOT’S TEA PARTY (MR TIES)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 ADV. (£10 DOOR)
The Nomadic techno and techhouse night makes its regular(ish) trip to Subbie’s basement, this time handing over the decks to Berlin cult figure Mr Ties.
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)
The i AM chaps round off their Boat Party outing down’t Clyde with an after-bash at Subbie, curated by one-half of the Optimo tag-team, JD Twitch.
Wed 28 May SUB ROSA
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5
Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm. SO WEIT SO GUT
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Andy Divine and Chris Geddes’ gem of a night dedicated to 7-inch singles from every genre imaginable. PISTOLS AT DAWN (I-F)
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 EARLYBIRD (£10 THEREAFTER)
House-orientated night with a distinct Balearic lean, this month welcoming Intergalactic FM bossman I-F to their party lair. SUBCULTURE (TELFORD)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC
Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic manning the decks, this edition joined by regular Subbie frequenter, Telford, as the club continue to celebrate 20 years of greatness. FREAKY FREAKY: SUMMER PARTY
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £TBC
Special summer-welcoming edition, with Vitamin’s Sam Murray sifting through some fresh R’n’B and electronic from Scotland and beyond.
HAUSDIMENSION VS OFFBEAT VS SO WEIT SO GUT
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4
A trio of Sleazy’s club nights join forces for thrice the party. Yaldi!
Sun 25 May HAIR OF THE CAT
CATHOUSE, 23:00–04:00, £2 (£1)
Sabbath-bothering mix of rock, metal and punk, with punter requests accepted all night long. THE OPTIMO (ESPACIO) BARROWLANDS REVUE (TODD TERJE + OPTIMO + BEN UFO + TIM SWEENEY + GOLDEN TEACHER)
BARROWLAND, 17:00–22:00, £18
East End Social and Optimo team up for a stellar revue that sees Barrowland Ballroom transformed into a club bacchanal for one night – with Norwegian disco trailblazer Todd Terje heading up a splendiferous bill. And it’s not often we say splendiferous. SPRING MAY BANK HOLIDAY
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Bank Holiday special, playing a selection of mash ups, chart anthems and punter requests.
Mon 26 May BURN
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE
DISCO RIOT
Disco-styled party night with Alfredo Crolla spinning a selection of favourites, bolstered by karaoke and popcorn stalls, just cos. BEAST WEDNESDAYS
CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)
The midweek residents serve up their usual midweek rammy of pop punk, hardcore and dangerously alcoholic slushies. SUAVE TEAM FUERTE
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Unique party night comprised of multi-instrumentalist Jodi Cave and psychedelic R’n’B duo Yong Yong, taking in batida, kizomba, souk and all forms of kuduro.
Thu 29 May FROGBEATS
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC
The Frogbeats crew pump out the jungle and D’n’B beats a-plenty, as per. NEVERLAND
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Themed night with a live Twitter feed and a bouncy castle for added LOLs. R.U.IN THURSDAYS
CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)
Rock, metal and emo mix up, plus guest DJs mixing it up in the Jager Bar. HIP HOP THURSDAYS
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3
Early weekend party starter, with Euan Neilson playing the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop. JELLY BABY
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4
Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer. STRETCHED (JAMES STEELE)
BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE
Jazz-influenced sound sauna, moving through mathcore to postrock, with a few live acts thrown in for god measure. PLEASURE GARDEN
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2-£4 AFTER 12)
Thursday night party hosted by a rotating group of residents from the underbelly of Glasgow’s musical community. HEX: 1ST BIRTHDAY (F.T.G.)
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£6 AFTER 12)
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/FREE WITH WAGE SLIP)
The house and techno-orientated Hex crew celebrate their first birthday with a guest set from F.T.G.
SPACE INVADER
Fri 30 May
SCANDY
Clubber’s delight dedicated to allNordic indie, pop and rock – moving from ABBA through to The Knife like a proper legend o’ a thing.
I AM: BOAT PARTY AFTER-PARTY (JD TWITCH)
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
Andy R plays chart hits and requests past and present, while DJ David Lo Pan holes up in The Attic playing retro classics.
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
TV TUESDAY
THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
Weekly Tuesday party playing a selection of dancefloor-friendly anthems.
The party sounds of Ean, Smiddy and Kenny White on decks.
SINGLES NIGHT
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC
The For The Record residents welcome energetic duo Leftwing & Kody for a party-ready set, with support from Ged Preston and 44 resident Doug Harris.
Duncan Harvey plays a mix of vintage rock’n’roll, sleazy R’n’B, swing, soul, surf and pop from a bygone age.
Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart.
Long-running trade night with Normski, Zeus and Mash spinning disco beats.
FOR THE RECORD (LEFTWING & KODY)
VOODOO VOODOO NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Tue 27 May KILLER KITSCH
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
The Killer Kitsch residents take charge – eight years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic. I AM: BOAT PARTY
GLASGOW SCIENCE CENTRE, 18:30–22:00, £TBC
DJ Beta & Kappa set sail down’t Clyde for their now annual boat party – promising extra production and the usual beefed-up soundsystem, followed by an after-bash at Subbie curated by Optimo’s JD Twitch.
OLD SKOOL
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul. DAMNATION
CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £6
Two floors of the best in rock, metal and industrial tunes picked out by DJ Barry and DJ Tailz. PROPAGANDA
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5
Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie rock’n’roll. CATHOUSE FRIDAYS
CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
Residents night of rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels.
THE SKINNY
JAMMING FRIDAYS MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)
Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to the 00s, with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez.
Edinburgh Clubs
SHAKE APPEAL
BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)
Damn fine evening of hip shakers and neck breakers, combining everything from Buddy Holly to Motorhead. GLUE
THE FLYING DUCK, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
Fresh from their inaugural party smashing night in November, the Glue lads are back with all the best in indie, electro, punk, rock’n’roll and dance. FRESH BEATS
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Split up night of chart classics in the main hall and underground hip-hop in the wee room. DJ RASHAD + DJ SPINN
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £TBC
Double dose of Chicago house producers responsible for globalising the sound of footwork. LA CHEETAH CLUB: XOSAR + PALMS TRAX
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10.00
La Cheetah Club host a duo of guest sets, welcoming XOSAR and Palms Trax for a bit of the ol’ deck sharing. SLABS OF THE TABERNACLE: 6TH BIRTHDAY (CALL SUPER)
NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4
The Slabs lads celebrate their 6th birthday, with Berlin-based DJ Call Super helping ‘em blow out the candles (or, erm, playing a DJ set). RINSE GLASGOW (DENSE + PIKA)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8 EARLYBIRD (£10-£12 THEREAFTER)
The Rinse Glasgow lot disco down with guests Dense and Pika, manning the decks all night long.
Sat 31 May NU SKOOL
BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk. ABSOLUTION
CLASSIC GRAND, 22:30–03:00, £6
Alternative weekend blowout, taking in metal, industrial, pop-punk, rock, emo and ska soundscapes over two floors.
Tue 29 Apr HIVE TUESDAYS
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk. SOUL JAM HOT
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team. I LOVE HIP HOP
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3
Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be. HECTOR’S HOUSE
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)
The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.
Wed 30 Apr COOKIE
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Midweek student rundown of chart, club and electro hits. WITNESS
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Ross Blackwax and Danet. CHAMPION SOUND
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£3 AFTER 12)
Midweek celebration of all things dub, jungle, reggae and dancehall. TRIBE
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5
Weekly dance bangers party manned by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson. THE GETTUP
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 21:00–03:00, FREE
New midweek party night, with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours.
Thu 01 May JUICE
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)
Pumped Thursday nighter playing a mighty mix of everything from Hud Mo to Fly Mo.
THE ROCK SHOP
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)
CATHOUSE SATURDAYS
Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet. MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)
Rock, indie and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney. LOVE MUSIC
O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5
Saturday night disco manned by Gerry Lyons and guests. I HEART GARAGE SATURDAYS
THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart. HOUNDIN’ THE STREETS
THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
Resident DJs Jer Reid, Martin Law and guests play music from, and some music inspired by, 1970s and early 80s NYC .w TEENAGE RIOT
BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)
Members of Glasgow’s posthardcore noise-masters, United Fruit, curate their lively event of big-beat alternative indie.
MUNGO’S HI FI SOUNDSYSTEM: OUTLOOK FESTIVAL LAUNCH PARTY
THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £12 (£10)
Pretty much as it says on the tin: an Outlook Festival launch bash, featuring sets from Mungo’s Hi Fi, Swindle, My Lord Sound, Compa and Shanti D. #NOTSOSILENT (PRINS THOMAS)
LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10.00
The #notsosilent lot host a guest set from Norway’s Prins Thomas, with support from residents young guns Belch and Ray Philp. SUBCULTURE (KERRI CHANDLER)
SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC
Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic manning the decks, this edition joined by New Jersey house hero, Kerri Chandler, as the club continues to celebrate 20 years of greatness.
May 2014
I AM: EDINBURGH
Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass. HULLABALOO
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)
Mash-up mix of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Mumbo Jumbo’s Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin, bolstered by Tall Paul’s vintage selections. HI-SOCIETY
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.
Fri 02 May MISFITS
THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)
Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms. FOUR CORNERS (DJ DIESLER)
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)
Soulful dancing fodder, from deep funk to reggae beats with your regular DJ hosts and the occasional special guest. PLANET EARTH
CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)
IN DEEP: LAUNCH NIGHT (BILL BREWSTER) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)
Launch night of Sneaky’s new regular Friday nighter, with true archivist of club culture and underground music, Bill Brewster, making a special guest appearance. ROAD TRIP
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)
All-new night intended to act as an audio visual vacation around the globe, with the best mixtapes to match. SKOOL DISCO
STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £3
School Disco-styled night playing the best of the 70-00s.
Sat 03 May TEASE AGE
CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)
Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the classic and modern spectrums. THE GO-GO
STUDIO 24, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 11)
Long-running retro night with veteran DJs Tall Paul and Big Gus. KARNIVAL (JOHN DIGWEED)
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £16.50
Residency party night from the local house crew, this edition hosting the Edinburgh leg of Bedrock label boss John Digweed’s UK tour. BUBBLEGUM
THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)
Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard.
BIG ‘N’ BASHY (BIG NARSTIE + BIG H + LOGAN SAMA) THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£6 AFTER 12)
Mighty mix of reggae, grime, dubstep and jungle played oot by the inimitable residents and their occasional guests. VEGAS!
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:30–01:00, £6
50s-themed party fun night, with Frankie Sumatra, Bugsy Seagull, Dino Martini, Sam Jose and Nikki Nevada. Plus Vegas showgirls ago-go, natch. SPEAKER BITE ME
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)
The Evol DJs worship at the alter of all kinds of indie-pop, with their only rule being that it’s gotta have bite. BORDELLO
STUDIO 24, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 11)
Classic sleazy rock action, all the night long. POCKET ACES (THUNDER DISCO CLUB)
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Dance-inducing party with an anything goes attitude and rotating schedule of guest DJs, with TDC making their monthly journey to the capital for a night of discoinfused house.
Sun 04 May SAYTEK
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10
Special DJ set from the electronic specialist, with a rep for innovative, hardware-heavy live sets that span the house and techno spectrum. THE CLUB
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Distinctly retro selections from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.
Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5
Eclectic hip-hop, funk and soul playlists with yer DJ experts Cunnie and Beef.
PROPAGANDA
Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie rock’n’roll. FLY
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
A powerhouse of local residents take over Cab Vol, joined by a selection of guest talent both local and further flung (aka London). MINI ETC
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £TBC
Concentrated version of Edinburgh Tekno Cartel’s main party night – ETC – playing the usual wealth of sleazy bass and techno beats.
CAB VOL SUNDAYS
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4
COMPAKT VS PULSE (AGORIA)
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £8 ADV. (£10 DOOR)
The Compakt and Pulse crews welcome French electronic music producer, composer and DJ, Agoria, to their Liquid Room lair. MUSIKA (ÂME)
THE CAVES, 22:00–03:00, £14
The favourited ‘burgh house night welcome German duo Kristian Beyer and Frank Wiedemann (aka Âme) for a three-hour deck takeover.
COALITION (CAUSE N EFFECT) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
CONFUSION IS SEX THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)
Glam techno and electro night, mixing tunes, installation and performance – this time with a prohibition theme to proceedings. PROPAGANDA
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
Weekly cross-genre of bass from a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs, joined by a guest slot from Dublin duo Cause N Effect.
Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie rock’n’roll.
Mon 05 May
STUDIO 24, 21:00–03:00, £3 (£6 AFTER 10)
MIXED UP
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics. NU FIRE
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.
Tue 06 May HIVE TUESDAYS
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk. PLAYDATE
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3 (MEMBERS FREE)
House specialists Stewart and Steven play, er, some special house – marking what will be their last final outing in their Playdate guise. SOUL JAM HOT
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team. I LOVE HIP HOP
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3
Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be. HECTOR’S HOUSE
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)
The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.
Wed 07 May COOKIE
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Midweek student rundown of chart, club and electro hits. WITNESS
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Ross Blackwax and Danet. CHAMPION SOUND
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£3 AFTER 12)
Midweek celebration of all things dub, jungle, reggae and dancehall. TRIBE
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Weekly dance bangers party manned by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson. THE GETTUP
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 21:00–03:00, FREE
New midweek party night, with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours.
Thu 08 May JUICE
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Pumped Thursday nighter playing a mighty mix of everything from Hud Mo to Fly Mo. I AM: EDINBURGH
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)
Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass. HULLABALOO
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)
Mash-up mix of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Mumbo Jumbo’s Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin, bolstered by Tall Paul’s vintage selections. HI-SOCIETY
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.
Fri 09 May MISFITS
THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)
Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms. PLANET EARTH
CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)
Distinctly retro selections from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.
COSMIC
Monthly club bringing the spirit of the psychedelic trance dance ritual to the floor, with live acts, VJs and colourful fluoro decor. FLY
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
KAPITAL (EXTRAWELT) THE CAVES, 23:00–03:00, £14
The Kapital crew return with their usual beefed-up soundsystem, which Hamburg duo Extrawelt will be duly destroying with their electronic noise. HOT AND BUSTED
WEE RED BAR, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£4 AFTER 11.30)
Pop and dirty grime tuneage selected by ECA’s finest boys and gals.
Sun 11 May COALITION
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Weekly cross-genre of bass from a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs. THE CLUB
A powerhouse of local residents take over Cab Vol, joined by a selection of guest talent both local and further flung (aka London).
Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4
TEESH
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
CAB VOL SUNDAYS
DJ Cheers – frequent flyer at many a Sneaky’s night – finally gets his own show on the road, playing disco, house and boogie gems.
Eclectic hip-hop, funk and soul playlists with yer DJ experts Cunnie and Beef.
WEE RED BAR, 20:00–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 10)
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
WARM FUZZY (CHRIST + MORPHAMISH)
Funky electronic night from NastyBiscuit and Bill Spice, offering an all-inclusive club environment bolstered by a strong visual element featuring hangings, installations and projections – this time bolstered by special guests Christ and Morphamish. ROAD TRIP
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)
Mon 12 May MIXED UP
Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics. NU FIRE
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.
Tue 13 May HIVE TUESDAYS
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
All-new night intended to act as an audio visual vacation around the globe, with the best mixtapes to match.
Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.
Sat 10 May
Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.
TEASE AGE
CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)
Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the classic and modern spectrums. BASS SYNDICATE
SOUL JAM HOT
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
I LOVE HIP HOP
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3
Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be. HECTOR’S HOUSE
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)
The regular Edinburgh breaks and bassline Manga crew takeover.
The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.
THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)
Wed 14 May
SOULSVILLE
Midweek student rundown of chart, club and electro hits.
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3 (MEMBERS FREE)
BUBBLEGUM
Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard. THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5
Swinging soul spanning a whole century, with DJs Tsatsu and Fryer. DR NO’S
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£5 AFTER 12)
Danceable mix of the best in 60s ska, rocksteady, bluebeat and early reggae. BEEP BEEP, YEAH!
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)
Retro pop stylings from the 50s to the 70s, via a disco tune or ten. POCKET ACES (THINK TWICE)
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Dance-inducing party night, with Craig Smith making his monthly appearance rich with deep, soulful house sounds.
MIGHTY OAK SOUND SYSTEM (DESTA*NATION)
THE MASH HOUSE, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)
Heavyweight roots reggae and dubwise selections played through Mighty Oak’s own custom built sound system, welcoming Oxford’s notorious roots sound lot, Desta*Nation, for a guest slot. UNSEEN: 2ND BIRTHDAY (PAULA TEMPLE)
STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£9 AFTER 11)
More stripped-down techno with a back-to-basics warehouse style from the Unseen crew – this month celebrating their 2nd birthday in the arms of guest DJ Paula Temple, bolstered by 3D projection mapped visuals from VJ Planet Arm. MUSIKA (SCUBA + PAUL WOOLFORD)
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £15
Musika return to their original home for their usual party-ready brand of clubbing, bringing two legends of dance music with ‘em: Scuba and Paul Woolford.
COOKIE
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
HULLABALOO
POP ROCKS!
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)
Mash-up mix of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Mumbo Jumbo’s Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin, bolstered by Tall Paul’s vintage selections. HI-SOCIETY
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.
Fri 16 May MISFITS
THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)
Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms. PLANET EARTH
CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)
Distinctly retro selections from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top. ANIMAL HOSPITAL
STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 11.30)
The Animal Hospital troops continue to medicate Edinburgh with their unique blend of techno, house and minimal. HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE (THE KATET + DJ ASTROJAZZ + SURFIN’ BEAR)
THE CAVES, 22:00–03:00, £12
Youthful jazz renegades and band of brothers; pretty much as authentic as you can get, without Sun Ra trumpeter Phil Cohran actually being their father. Oh wait, he is. THE REVEL (BLANK CANVAS + BAT BIKE + DAGGER ALIF + NAKED)
WEE RED BAR, 22:00–03:00, £10 EARLYBIRD (£15-£20 THEREAFTER)
Annual end of term piss-up, setting free the latest batch of art school graduates – this year with a dress up sci-fi theme, bolstered along by the usual live bands, DJs and cans o’ Red Stripe. FLY
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
A powerhouse of local residents take over Cab Vol, joined by a selection of guest talent both local and further flung (aka London). SUBSTANCE (HEAD HIGH)
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
The Substance crew mix up cutting edge and classic electronic music from across the spectrum, with resident Gavin Richardson joined by Berlin’s Head High for a special guest set. BIXON (BENJAMIN BRUNN)
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£3 AFTER MIDNIGHT)
Hip young party collective Bixon welcome Move D’s Hamburg-based production partner, Benjamin Brunn.
TRIBE
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)
CHAMPION SOUND
Midweek celebration of all things dub, jungle, reggae and dancehall. THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4 GUESTLIST)
Weekly dance bangers party manned by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson. THE GETTUP
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 21:00–03:00, FREE
New midweek party night, with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours.
WITNESS: 3RD BIRTHDAY (BOK BOK)
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)
Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures, this time celebrating their third birthday in the fine company of Night Slugs founder Alex Sushon (aka Bok Bok).
Thu 15 May COALITION
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Weekly cross-genre of bass from a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs. JUICE
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Pumped Thursday nighter playing a mighty mix of everything from Hud Mo to Fly Mo. I AM: EDINBURGH
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)
Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.
ROAD TRIP
All-new night intended to act as an audio visual vacation around the globe, with the best mixtapes to match.
Sat 17 May TEASE AGE
Pop and rock gems, taking in motown, 80s classics and plenty danceable fare (well, the Beep Beep, Yeah! crew are on decks after all). ANTI-GON
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £3
Eclectic party night taking in punk, flamenco, hip-hop, ska, rock, schranz and anything else it damn well fancies.
WASABI DISCO (EMOTIONAL RESCUE RECORDS)
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)
Heady bout of cosmic house, punk upside-down disco and, er, Fleetwood Mac with yer man Kris ‘Wasabi’ Walker – joined by guests from the Emotional Rescue Records label.
Sun 18 May COALITION
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Weekly cross-genre of bass from a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs. THE CLUB
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of. CAB VOL SUNDAYS
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4
Eclectic hip-hop, funk and soul playlists with yer DJ experts Cunnie and Beef.
Mon 19 May MIXED UP
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics. NU FIRE
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.
Tue 20 May HIVE TUESDAYS
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk. SOUL JAM HOT
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team. I LOVE HIP HOP
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3
Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be. HECTOR’S HOUSE
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)
The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.
Wed 21 May COOKIE
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Midweek student rundown of chart, club and electro hits. WITNESS
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)
Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Ross Blackwax and Danet.
BUBBLEGUM
STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £TBC
Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the classic and modern spectrums.
ITCHY FEET
Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard.
DJs Tall Paul and Sam the Sham Jose celebrate old school rock’n’roll, vintage tunes and wild dancing.
STUDIO 24, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 11)
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£3 AFTER 12)
THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)
THE GREEN DOOR
CHAMPION SOUND
Surf, blues and rockabilly from the 50s and early 60s, plus free cake. Job done.
Midweek celebration of all things dub, jungle, reggae and dancehall.
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Weekly dance bangers party manned by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson.
GASOLINE DANCE MACHINE
More classic Italo and straight-up boogie allied with contemporary house and disco, as Edinburgh’s GDM crew do their thing. MESSENGER
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£7 AFTER 12)
Conscious roots and dub reggae rockin’ from the usual beefty soundsystem. DECADE
STUDIO 24, 19:30–03:00, £2 (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 11)
Fresh playlists spanning pop-punk, emo and hardcore soundscapes.
TRIBE
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
THE GETTUP
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 21:00–03:00, FREE
New midweek party night, with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours.
Thu 22 May WHITE DENIM
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £18
Genre-spanning Texans, omnivorously squeezing as many diverse influences as possible into every track.
Listings
59
JUICE
THE REZILLOS
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £17.50
Pumped Thursday nighter playing a mighty mix of everything from Hud Mo to Fly Mo. I AM: EDINBURGH
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)
Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass. HULLABALOO
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)
Mash-up mix of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Mumbo Jumbo’s Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin, bolstered by Tall Paul’s vintage selections. HI-SOCIETY
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.
Fri 23 May MISFITS
THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)
Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.
Edinburgh-formed punk/new wave outfit active since 1976, running on high octane, guitar driven, melodic anti-mope rock. DEFINITION
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)
Mark Balneaves and Martin Lightbody play some of the finest underground house and techno across four decks, fx units and laptops. POCKET ACES (GARETH SOMMERVILLE)
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Dance-inducing party night, with Mr Gareth Sommerville making his regular monthly appearance. JACKHAMMER (DAVE CLARKE + SLAM)
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £10
I AM: EDINBURGH CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)
Danceable mix of the best in 60s ska, rocksteady, bluebeat and early reggae.
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
50s-themed party fun night, with Frankie Sumatra, Bugsy Seagull, Dino Martini, Sam Jose and Nikki Nevada. Plus Vegas showgirls ago-go, natch.
HI-SOCIETY
Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.
Fri 30 May FOUR CORNERS
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)
Soulful dancing fodder, from deep funk to reggae beats with your regular DJ hosts and the occasional special guest. PROPAGANDA
STUDIO 24, 22:00–03:00, £10
Pure indie-pop dance party for the twee of heart.
UNPOP
WEE RED BAR, 23:00–03:00, £4
Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie rock’n’roll.
STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11.30)
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC
Sun 25 May
HOT MESS
PROPAGANDA
XPLICIT
Heavy jungle and bass-styled beats from the inimitable Xplicit crew, likely joined by a guest or two. LUCKYME
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)
The globetrotting music, art and all-round party crew host their regular Sneaky’s outing, with an as-yet-unrevealed guest in tow. Dirty teases. FLY
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
A powerhouse of local residents take over Cab Vol, joined by a selection of guest talent both local and further flung (aka London). DISORDER
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)
Pumped night of acid, techno and electro soundscapes with the Disorder residents. ELECTRO CYCLE
WEE RED BAR, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£5 AFTER 12)
All-new night with DJ Nikki Foxx playing the best of 80s house and electro, fused with the latest deep house and electro beats. SLAM DUNK
THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £10
Scottish offshoot of Slam Dunk Festival, featuring a handpicked line-up of alternative acts. ROAD TRIP
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)
All-new night intended to act as an audio visual vacation around the globe, with the best mixtapes to match. ROLLER DISCO
STUDIO 24, 21:30–03:00, £5 (£2 SKATE HIRE)
DJ NikNak plays the best in retro, boogie, electro and, yes, disco, to accompany your falling over (sorry, we mean skating).
Sat 24 May TEASE AGE
CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)
ILLUSION
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Occasional night aimed at bringing the freshest international DJ talent to the ‘burgh. DIVE: HELL ON EARTH
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 21:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Queer party night flaunting its eclectic wares across a packed programme of music, drag, live art and performance – this edition with a special sinful theme in honour of the Bank Holiday weekend. LOVEBIRDS
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£8)
Glam-styled night manned by a selection of fresh DJ talent.
Mon 26 May MIXED UP
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics. NU FIRE
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.
Tue 27 May HIVE TUESDAYS
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk. SOUL JAM HOT
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team. I LOVE HIP HOP
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3
Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be. HECTOR’S HOUSE
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)
The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.
Wed 28 May COOKIE
THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE
Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the classic and modern spectrums.
Midweek student rundown of chart, club and electro hits.
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£7/£5 STUDENT AFTER 12)
Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Ross Blackwax and Danet.
MUMBO JUMBO
Funk, soul, beats and mash-ups from the Mumbo Jumbo regulars, joined by Bubble DJs Brainstorm and Durkit for some added acid and house. BUBBLEGUM
THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)
Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard. SPEAKER BITE ME
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)
The Evol DJs worship at the alter of all kinds of indie-pop, with their only rule being that it’s gotta have bite.
60
Listings
WITNESS
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
TRIBE
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
Weekly dance bangers party manned by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson. THE GETTUP
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 21:00–03:00, FREE
New midweek party night, with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours.
Thu 29 May JUICE
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE
Pumped Thursday nighter playing a mighty mix of everything from Hud Mo to Fly Mo.
VEGAS!
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:30–01:00, £6
NIGHTFILM (GRUM + MIGHTY MOUSE + LE VISITEUR + KIPP$ + LEE MARVIN) CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
The musical hub and record label brainchild of Mighty Mouse and Matt Van Schie, Nightfilm makes its now regular appearance at Cab Vol.
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie rock’n’roll.
Alternative party night taking over both floors of Studio 24, with Brian Dempster and Alan Joy playing downstairs, and Brett King and new kid on the block DJ Shapeshifter playing upstairs.
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
MASK FAT SAM’S, 23:00–03:00, £8 (£5)
Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.
The Jackhammer crew up our dose of all things techno, this time featuring headline sets from Dave Clarke and Slam. MINGIN’
DR NO’S HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£5 AFTER 12)
SHAKE YER SHOULDERS
Celebration of all things techno with the Shake Yer Shoulders residents.
THE ANNEXE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£6 AFTER 11.30)
DJ Simonotron hosts the gay disco party like no other, playing disco, house and acid on vinyl only. FLY
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
A powerhouse of local residents take over Cab Vol, joined by a selection of guest talent both local and further flung (aka London). #NOTSOSILENT (FANTASTIC MAN) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5
Belch and crew bring the best in underground house joined by Australian DJ Mic Newman (aka Fantastic Man) and his mixed bag of party jams. ROAD TRIP
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)
All-new night intended to act as an audio visual vacation around the globe, with the best mixtapes to match. UNIFY
Dundee Music Thu 01 May
VASA (SHRINES + WOJTEK + CAPTAINS)
NON-ZERO’S, 20:00–23:00, £TBC
Glaswegian progressive instrumental post-rockers, built on their own sublime brand of melodic, guitar-driven rock.
Fri 02 May
LAMB OF GOD (EXCELLENT CADAVER)
BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 19:00–22:00, £6
Lamb of God tribute act.
BUBBLEGUM
London-based metalcore scamps formed in 2010 from the remnants of high school bands.
Sat 31 May PEACE (DROWNERS)
FAT SAM’S, 19:00–22:00, £13.50
Alternative indie up-and-comers who describe their sound as ‘music to fuck you in the heart’, which is nice.
RIDE
The Ride girls play hip-hop and dance, all night long – now in their new party-ready Saturday night slot. MADCHESTER
THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £6
Monthly favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like. BIG ‘N’ BASHY
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£6 AFTER 12)
Mighty mix of reggae, grime, dubstep and jungle played oot by the inimitable residents and their occasional guests. BETAMAX
STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)
Monthly offering of new wave, disco, post-punk and a bit o’ synthtastic 80s with your hosts Chris and Big Gus.
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC
Thursday nighter (as the name would suggest) playing anything and everything ‘good’. WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
FAT SAM’S, 22:30–03:00, £4
All-new early weekend partystarter, bolstered by a bouncy castle, gambling tables and a wedding chapel. Obvs.
Fri 09 May
MESSENGER SOUND SYSTEM
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC
FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS
Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests.
HEADWAY: 10TH BIRTHDAY (PAUL WOOLFORD)
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £8 EARLYBIRD
GORILLA IN YOUR CAR
KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4
Hardcore, emo, punk and scenester selections. Also perhaps the best-named club night in Dundee’s existence.
DJ, producer, remixer and label owner Paul Woolford takes to Headway for the night, ready to help ‘em celebrate their 10th birthday with his fresh take on modern dance.
Sat 17 May
FAT SAM’S, 23:00–03:00, £8 (£5)
KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4
MASK
Classy club takeover snaking across four rooms, with a VIP lounge to boot. ASYLUM
KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4
Saturday best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes.
Thu 15 May ROOMS THURSDAYS
MASK
FAT SAM’S, 23:00–03:00, £8 (£5)
Classy club takeover snaking across four rooms, with a VIP lounge to boot. ASYLUM
Saturday best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes. THE BOMB
BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 23:00–02:30, £6
Messy Saturday party night playing nowt but techno.
Sat 24 May LOCARNO
READING ROOMS, 22:30–03:30, £TBC
Rockabilly, doo-wop, soul and all things golden age and danceable with the Locarno regulars. MASK
FAT SAM’S, 23:00–03:00, £8 (£5)
Classy club takeover snaking across four rooms, with a VIP lounge to boot. ASYLUM
KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4
Saturday best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes. SUBMERSION ROUND VI
BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 23:00–02:30, £2 (£4 AFTER 11.30)
Saturday night party playing drum’n’bass selections.
Thu 29 May ROOMS THURSDAYS
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC
Thu 22 May
Thursday nighter (as the name would suggest) playing anything and everything ‘good’.
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC
FAT SAM’S, 22:30–03:00, £4
ROOMS THURSDAYS
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC
Thursday nighter (as the name would suggest) playing anything and everything ‘good’.
All-new early weekend partystarter, bolstered by a bouncy castle, gambling tables and a wedding chapel. Obvs.
DEGREE SHOW PARTY #1
FAT SAM’S, 22:30–03:00, £4
Fri 30 May
Thursday nighter (as the name would suggest) playing anything and everything ‘good’. READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC
Weekend takeover in honour of DJCAD Degree Show, hosting a duo of official after parties (Friday and Saturday evening) with a selection of DJ guests in tow. WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
FAT SAM’S, 22:30–03:00, £4
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
All-new early weekend partystarter, bolstered by a bouncy castle, gambling tables and a wedding chapel. Obvs.
Fri 23 May CTRL ALT DEFEAT
READING ROOMS, 22:30–03:30, £TBC
OPTIMO
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £8
Optimo tagteam duo JD Twitch and JG Wilkess mix up selections of techno, electro, rock and other assorted records out of leftfield. FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS
All-new early weekend partystarter, bolstered by a bouncy castle, gambling tables and a wedding chapel. Obvs.
Electro musings with a danceable beat, with regular merrymakers Clouds, Ado and Ken Swift sharing deck duty.
Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests.
Fri 16 May
FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)
Sat 31 May
DEGREE SHOW PARTY #2
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC
Weekend takeover in honour of DJCAD Degree Show, hosting a duo of official after parties (Friday and Saturday evening) with a selection of DJ guests in tow.
FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS
Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests.
FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)
BOOK CLUB
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC
Is Kill and Diabetic spin all genres of electro, disco, techno... and anything else they damn well fancy. MASK
FAT SAM’S, 23:00–03:00, £8 (£5)
Classy club takeover snaking across four rooms, with a VIP lounge to boot.
ROOMS THURSDAYS
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £3.50
FAT SAM’S, 22:30–03:00, £4
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5
ROOMS THURSDAYS
Sat 10 May
Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests.
Thu 01 May
MAGIC NOSTALGIC
A hodgepodge of quality tracks chosen by JP’s spinning wheel. Expect anything from 90s rave to power ballads, and a whole lotta one-hit wonders.
Thu 08 May
Handpicked-style night inviting a guest DJ to play tracks from artists and albums that would make their definitive mixtape.
UPLOAD FESTIVAL
Thursday nighter (as the name would suggest) playing anything and everything ‘good’.
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£8 AFTER 12)
FAT SAM’S, 22:30–03:30, £8
Taking over 15 venues across the city centre, Dundee Dance Event rounds off at Fat Sam’s – with guests including Subculture resident Harri, acid house pioneer Yogi Haughton, Cream legend Paul Bleasdale and Rhumba Club regular James Bradley.
FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)
BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 13:00–22:00, £10
THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)
Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard.
DUNDEE DANCE EVENT: CLOSING PARTY (HARRI + YOGI HAUGHTON + PAUL BLEASDALE + JAMES BRADLEY + YISSEL CABRERA + ANDY RAESIDE + CHRIS MANN + JONNY KENNEDY + NEIL LOWDON + DEREK MCCUSKER + BARRY MILLER + DJ ZED + SCOTT WILLIAMS + FELIX THE SAX CAT)
FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)
Dundee Clubs
Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the classic and modern spectrums.
Sun 04 May
NON-ZERO’S, 19:30–23:00, £5 ADV. (£6 DOOR)
Sat 31 May TEASE AGE
Saturday best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes.
Conscious roots and dub reggae rockin’ from the usual beefty soundsystem.
DESPITE MY DEEPEST FEAR (LOST AND KEY + PORTRAITS + LOST IN INSOMNIA + XENO)
Two stages, 19 bands in total, and a tenner on’t door – making this without a blaady doubt the best value hard-styled music extravaganza in Dundee this month.
CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)
ASYLUM
KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4
Thu 22 May
THE MASH HOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £5 ADV. (£7 DOOR)
All-new diverse club night taking in live art, dance jams, live drumming, bespoke visuals, a progressive house set from Sayyil, and more.
Classy club takeover snaking across four rooms, with a VIP lounge to boot.
CASSETTE KAGE, 23:00–02:30, £4
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
All-new early weekend partystarter, bolstered by a bouncy castle, gambling tables and a wedding chapel. Obvs.
Fri 02 May CONTOUR
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC
More fresh beats and flashy visuals from the Contour crew. FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS
FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)
Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests. WARPED
KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4
Ska, screamo and pop-punk offerings, moving from Alkaline Trio to Zebrahead. JUNGLISM 8
BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 23:00–02:30, £3 (£5 AFTER 11.30)
Friday night party of drum’n’bass soundscapes.
Sat 03 May AUTODISCO
READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £5 (£7 AFTER 12)
Electro-funk, house and disco with your regular hosts Dave Autodisco and Dicky Trisco.
THE SKINNY
Art
Glasgow School of Art
The Common Guild
4 APR – 4 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Glasgow
Ambitious new body of work from the Glasgow-based artist, considering the context of the art school as an ‘expanded field’, whereby creating a sequence of points where the audience can encounter the artwork. Part of GI.
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 APR AND 7 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
1 Royal Terrace CAROLINE INCKLE
17 MAY, 18 MAY, 24 MAY, 25 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE
Solo showcase of work from the artist whose practice centres on engaging with making processes, often involving natural materials in the environment, often resulting in bodies of work which include documentation, sculpture and drawing.
CCA
KHALED HOURANI
4 APR – 18 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
First retrospective of the Palestinian artist’s work, bringing together existing and new paintings, installations and conceptual work from throughout his career. Part of GI. RACHEL MACLEAN: HAPPY&GLORIOUS
31 MAY – 13 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE
New batch of hyper-seductive, super-saturated work from the Glasgow artist – taking the transformative power of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and characteristically turning the positive vibes into something a little bit more disturbing. THE SCOTTISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR AWARD ART COMMISSION
30 MAY – 20 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
Group show for the SAY Art Commission, timed to coincide with the announcement of The Scottish Album of the Year Award shortlist, offering the winning artist £12,000 and the opportunity to create a new artwork for the short listed albums of 2014.
Church on the Hill ART ON THE HILL
2–31 MAY, 12:00PM – 10:00PM, FREE
Independent, artist-run exhibition as part of the South Side Fringe Festival, displaying the work of around 100 artists across areas of sculpture, installation, film, painting, photography, illustration, ceramics and more.
Compass Gallery LESLEY BANKS: BREATHING SPACES
15 MAY – 6 JUN, NOT 18 MAY, 25 MAY, 1 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
MICHAEL STUMPF: THIS SONG BELONGS TO THOSE WHO SING IT
Glasgow Sculpture Studios GARETH MOORE
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 APR AND 7 JUN, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
Produced during a three month residency at Glasgow Sculpture Studios, sculptor Gareth Moore’s presents a series of new commissions that engages with the environment and landscape surrounding the studios and the Possilpark area. Part of GI.
Goethe-Institut BERLINBILDER
15 MAY – 13 JUN, WEEKDAYS ONLY, TIMES VARY, FREE
The HND Photography students from West College Scotland (formerly known as Reid Kerr College) display a series of photographs taken during their most recent field trip to Berlin to document the city.
Kibble Palace UTOPIAN VISIONS
17–25 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Bringing together both her artistic practices, artist Louise McVey showcases an exploration of Utopian notions and ideals via ceramic sculpture and sound, inspired by her interest in late Victorian constructions of Utopia.
Mary Mary
JESSE WINE: CHESTER MAN
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 APR AND 31 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE
The London-based artist showcases a group of new ceramic sculptural works, made using traditional materials and construction methods. Part of GI.
SWG3
CLAUDIA COMTE
4 APR – 24 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
The Swiss artist displays a new body of work incorporating largescale wall murals, wood-cuts, and sculptures produced while on residency in South Africa. Part of GI.
Solo showcase from the Glasgowbased artist, taking in a selection of paintings and pastels of the West End of Glasgow and its environs.
St Mungo Museum
Gallery of Modern Art
Exhibition of photographs by Glasgow Museums’ photographer Jim Dunn, exploring the rich diversity of religious life in 21st Century Glasgow – capturing the ways in which festivals are celebrated across the city.
ALEKSANDRA DOMANOVIC
4 APR – 1 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
In her first institutional solo exhibition in the UK, Aleksandra Domanovic focuses on the figure of the lone female cosmonaut, exploring the marginalised representation of women within popular science fiction and time travel. Part of GI. ATELIER PUBLIC #2
20 FEB – 27 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Following the success of its first iteration in 2011, Atelier Public #2 explores ideas of play, participation, democracy, permission and the public space, developing as the show progresses. Part of GI.
Glasgow Print Studio ALEX FROST: REPRODUCTION
4 APR – 18 MAY, NOT 28 APR, 5 MAY, 12 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
New work investigating themes of multiplicity, uniqueness and reproduction – based on the playful use of references, processes and materials dually referencing the nature of print and the current baby boom. Part of GI.
May 2014
JUST ANOTHER DAY
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 1 APR AND 29 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
GABRIEL KURI: ALL PROBABILITY RESOLVES INTO FORM
New body of work by the internationally acclaimed Mexican artist, known for works that utilise the remains of everyday objects and materials. Part of GI.
ALASDAIR GRAY + FRANKETIENNE
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 22 MAR AND 17 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
Scottish poet, painter, graphic artist and short-story writer Alasdair Gray displays a selection of work – including half a dozen of a more abstract bent – shown alongside pieces from Haitan writer, poet, playwright, painter and musician, Frankétienne.
The Lighthouse STARTER FOR 6: MAKER OR MANUFACTURER?
11 APR – 8 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
Four Starter for 6 businesses at different ends of the maker/ manufacturer spectrum exhibit their products, giving an insight into their process and hint at whether they consider themselves makers or manufacturers. AIR SCOTLAND: 16
16 MAY – 1 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
Sixteen contemporary jewellers and silversmiths present new work made during one year residencies at three Scottish art schools: The Glasgow School of Art, Edinburgh College of Art and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. ART FOR CARE
12–14 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Three-day mini exhibiton showcase of 200+ works from over 80 well-kent Scottish artists, alongside a selection of work from up-and-coming artists. 50% of each sale will go to Marie Curie Cancer Care.
The Modern Institute
LIFE & THE INVITATION& VAPOUR IN DEBRI
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 APR AND 17 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
The collaborative ensemble of Jeanne Graff, Tobias Madison, Flavio Merlo, Emanuel Rossetti, Gregory Ruppe, William Z Saunders and Stefan Tcherepnin explore notions of spatial, textual, visual and sonic distortion in their UK debut. Part of GI.
The Modern Institute @ Airds Lane ANNE COLLIER
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 APR AND 7 JUN, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE
Street Level Photoworks
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 APR AND 18 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
The Pipe Factory
JOHAN NIEUWENHUIZE: IMG_
The Aberdeenshire artist presents a new body of work that takes the architecture of the gallery space as its starting point, displaying a selection of exploratory drawings and moving image work.
For his first major solo show in the UK, Latvian artist Arnis Balcus presents a new body of work and visual narrative of what Latvia is like in the 21st Century. Part of GI. 4 APR – 18 MAY, NOT 28 APR, 5 MAY, 12 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Johan Nieuwenhuize presents his new project, IMG_, a growing collection of abstract and semiabstract photographic observations of the city. Part of GI.
The Arches KIM GRANT: VIBES I & II
1–31 MAY, 11:00AM – 11:00PM, FREE
Showcase exhibition of work by the Edinburgh-based artist and illustrator, taking in prints, paintings and street art exploring themes of female youth and city living, inspired by urban culture, fashion and music.
The Welsh artist – concerned with worst-case scenario situations – presents a new installation, including a film depicting a dystopian future where a fast-track feudal system has left the country divided among new chieftains. Part of GI.
Transmission The Hidden Lane Gallery BEATRIZ SANTIAGO MUÑOZ: POSTGallery MILITARY CINEMA
First solo exhibition in Scotland by the New York-based artist, presenting photographic work drawing on continued investigation into perception and representation, the nature and culture of photographic images, and the mechanics of the gaze. Part of GI.
ARNIS BALCUS: VICTORY PARK
BEDWYR WILLIAMS: ECHT 4 APR – 25 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
DUNCAN MARQUISS: SPANDRELS
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 23 MAY AND 6 JUN, 12:00PM – 4:00PM, FREE
Tramway
MICHAEL SMITH: VIDEOS AND MISCELLANEOUS STUFF FROM STORAGE (PT. 2)
4 APR – 4 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
In his first solo exhibition in a UK institution, Michael Smith presents a series of important works from the last three decades, across Tramway 1 and 5. Part of GI.
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 APR AND 22 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
Moving image project about the ideology embedded in the physical landscape of a decommissioned US Navy Base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico. Part of GI.
iota @ Unlimited Studios ED HUNTER
23 MAY – 1 JUN, 10:00AM – 4:30PM, FREE
Showcase of work from the Scottish artist known for his oil paintings of landscapes, seascapes and mountains, during the course of which he’ll be setting up his easel and working in the gallery space.
Edinburgh City Art Centre A-Z: AN ALPHABETICAL TOUR OF SCOTTISH ART
26 APR – 16 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE
Informative exhibition cutting across time periods, themes and media to explore the breadth and diversity of Scottish art, representing the key movements that have shaped Scotland’s artistic identity. A CAPITAL VIEW – THE ART OF EDINBURGH
10 MAY – 6 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE
Special exhibition tracing the growth and development of Edinburgh as seen through the eyes of painters, printmakers and sculptor, amongst the earliest views of which are works by William Delacour, Paul Sandby and John Clerk of Eldin.
Collective Gallery
KATHRYN ELKIN: MUTATIS MUTANDIS
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 28 MAR AND 11 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
Glasgow-based artist Kathryn Elkin presents a new video and installation exploring the potentials for abstraction and misdirection in the combination of language, object, body and memory. CAMILLE HENROT
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 10 MAY AND 15 JUN, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
Looped screening in the City Dome space of Camille Henrot’s Grosse Fatigue – am ambitious film for which she won the Silver Lion at 55th Venice Biennale in 2013, attempting as it does to tell the story of the universe’s creation from a computer desktop. DANE SUTHERLAND
30 MAY – 27 JUN, NOT 2 JUN, 9 JUN, 16 JUN, 23 JUN, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
New project by the Satellites Programme Intern, for which he’s worked with a number of artists to create new music, sound artworks and texts, available to purchase as a limited edition USB designed by Plastique Fantastique, or as a free digital download.
Dovecot
LEITH SCHOOL OF ART ALUMNI
2–31 MAY, NOT 4, 11, 18, 25, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE
Leith School of Art celebrate 25 years with a group exhibition of past students who have gone on to make their own distinctive marks on the contemporary art world – Toby Paterson, Tommy Grace, Owen Normand, Jane Keith, Pernille Spence and Jamie Stone.
Edinburgh College of Art ECA DEGREE SHOW 2014
24 MAY – 1 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
Edinburgh College of Art present their annual graduate student round-up, showcasing the fruits of more than 500 budding graduating artists, filmmakers, designers, and architects over a e’er eclectic programme.
Edinburgh Printmakers
REBECCA GOULDSON: THE INDUSTRIAL SHIFT
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 29 MAR AND 24 MAY, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE
The Liverpool-based metal work artist displays a series of etched metal artworks influenced by the sites and relics of historic industry, including shipbuilding and printmaking, featuring new work commissioned specially by Edinburgh Printmakers.
Forest Centre Plus VERGES: THE WILD PROJECT
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 2 MAY AND 17 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Following a residency in Czech Republic, The Wild Project artists continue to make and exhibit work in response to personal and public perceptions of Wild(er)ness – this time darkening the Interviewroom11 gallery space entirely to change the atmosphere. PAINT LIKE YOU MEAN IT: IR11 PAINTING PRIZE AND EXHIBITION
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 30 MAY AND 14 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
Exhibition of shortlisted works by artists from around the world who work within the medium of paint, demonstrate the versatility and different approaches of the medium, with the winning artist invited to hold a solo show at IR11 in 2015.
Ingleby Gallery RICHARD FORSTER: MODERN
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 3 MAY AND 21 JUN, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE
The Bristol artist displays a series of his complex pencil drawings, made with an intense level of skill and a lonely determination over many months, drawing from photographs rather than life.
Institut Francais d’Ecosse KRISTIAN SMITH: IMPRESSIONISM
12 APR – 10 MAY, NOT 13 APR, 20 APR, 27 APR, 4 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Solo exhibition of photography and collage reflecting on fantasy and projection, taking its reference points from French pop star Claude Francois’ song My Way and Emile Zola’s novel The Masterpiece.
Inverleith House CORIN SWORN
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 12 APR AND 22 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:30PM, FREE
The winner of the 2013-15 Max Mara Art Prize for Women presents a body of new work made after a period of research into the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh’s Herbarium’s collection of plant specimens.
National Museum of Scotland WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 1 AUG AND 1 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
49th annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year award exhibition, brought together by judges from across the globe, featuring 100 images taking in everything from fascinating animal behaviour to breathtaking wild landscapes.
Out of the Blue Drill Hall OUT OF THE BLUE IS 20!
12–23 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
The creative hub that is Out of the Blue host a special 20th birthday exhibition depicting iconic images of Out of the Blue and Bongo Club (which was born in 1996 in the old bus garage awaiting demolition in New Street, where OOTB had carved out space).
Patriothall Gallery
FORESTRY: THE SCIENCE, ART, AND CRAFT OF CREATING
24–26 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Group exhibition by the students of the Art, Space and Nature master programme at the Edinburgh College of Art, touching on significant and complex ecological issues via visual arts and architectural expressions.
Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) 188TH RSA ANNUAL EXHIBITION 29 MAR – 4 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Annual highlight showcasing work from RSA Academicians the length and breadth of Scotland, providing a platform for contemporary paintings, sculpture, film, printmaking, photography and installation alongside work by leading architects.
Scottish Arts Club PAUL MOWAT: AT NIGHT
10 APR – 12 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
Series of new paintings produced as a result of winning the RSA Painting prize, concerned with the night in an urban environment – using Edinburgh, London and Berlin as inspiration.
Scottish National Gallery
TITIAN AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF VENETIAN PAINTING
22 MAR – 14 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE
Special exhibition celebrating the recent acquisition – jointly with the National Gallery in London – of two mythological paintings by Titian, shown alongside work from almost all of the major names in Venetian art of the period. EDWARD LEAR IN GREECE
15 FEB – 8 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
A collection of 27 watercolours by the famous Victorian writer, poet and artist, taking in his depictions of Greek landscapes – an area which, from his first visited in 1848, positively mesmerised him.
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
LOUISE BOURGEOIS: A WOMAN WITHOUT SECRETS
28 OCT – 18 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
Major presentation of works by the late French-American artist, highlighting a selection of her late work – revealing how Bourgeois, working in a variety of materials and scales, deftly explores the mystery and beauty of human emotions. THE SCOTTISH COLOURISTS SERIES: JD FERGUSSON
7 DEC – 15 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £7 (£5)
The National Galleries of Scotland draw to a close their Scottish Colourist Series, culminating with a retrospective of the work of Edinburgh-born JD Fergusson – taking in more than 100 paintings, sculptures, works on paper and items of archival material. NEW ACQUISITIONS
27 JAN – 4 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
All-new display occupying the whole top floor of the Modern One, highlighting some of the most recent additions to the gallery – including a major bequest from the collection of the late Henry and Sula Walton of prints by Picasso, Cézanne, and Hockney. A RED APPLE AMONG THE ORANGES
5 APR – 15 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
The fruits of a project that began in January, for which a group of third year students from the Painting and Printmaking Department at GSA have produced work in response to the third and last exhibition in The Scottish Colourist Series, J.D. Fergusson.
Scottish Talbot Rice National Portrait Gallery JASON LEE: PURSUIT OF A SHADOW Gallery 31 MAY – 5 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE WORK, UNION, CIVIL WAR, FAITH, ROOTS
5 OCT – 6 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Group exhibition created during five community outreach projects investigating the contemporary relevance of major transformations in Scottish history – inspired by portraits and personalities from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery collection. MAKING HISTORY
12 OCT – 28 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE
Solo exhibition of recent work by Sandy Stoddart (Sculptor In Ordinary to The Queen of Scotland), of which the main focus will be the creation of a new figurative statue of William Birnie Rhind commissioned by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. MODERN PORTRAITS
16 NOV – 11 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Collective exhibition bringing together a varied series of 20th and 21st century works of portraiture, including Stanley Curister, Robert Heriot Westwater, Victoria Crowe, Maggi Hambling and William McCance. THE TAYLOR WESSING PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT PRIZE
The Glasgow-based video artist displays his most comprehensive exhibition of work to date, concerned with the transformation of cinema’s material origins, revealing the uncanny effects of a contemporary medium still haunted by its past. NORMAN MCLAREN: HAND-MADE CINEMA
31 MAY – 5 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE
Showcase of the Scottish-born Canadian animator and film director’s fluid – almost alchemical – creative process, screening examples of his films alongside the physical materials that made them possible.
The Fruitmarket Gallery TANIA KOVATS: OCEANS
15 MAR – 25 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
British artist concerned with our experience and understanding of landscape, with her latest commission including her All The Seas installation – displaying water from all the world’s seas, amassed via a global social media open call to arms.
1 MAR – 26 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Selection of sixty portraits anonymously selected for inclusion from over five thousand, featuring a batch of emerging young photographers, alongside that of established professionals, photography students and gifted amateurs. PIONEERS OF SCIENCE
27 JAN – 11 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Revealing exhibition looking at the innovative figures who have helped shape the modern world, moving from portraits of John Logie Baird and Alexander Fleming, to Dolly the sheep’s death mask. THE MODERN SCOT
27 JAN – 11 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Exhibition revealing how Scottish artists and writers expressed a uniquely modern sensibility in the first decades of the twentieth century, looking at the creative men and women who championed a progressive national culture post-WW1.
Stills
A THOUSAND OF HIM, SCATTERED
12 APR – 20 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE
Group exhibition exploring the history, definitions and simultaneous utility/redundancy of diaspora as an umbrella term, sparked by Edward Said’s outright rejection of the concept.
Summerhall
JESSICA LLOYD-JONES: HIDDEN ENERGIES
5 APR – 24 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE
Merging art, science and technology, Jessica Lloyd-Jones’ energy inspired sculpture and installations manipulate materials and light to reveal new perspectives, revealing her interest in energy and her distinct fascination with natural phenomena. SILAS PARRY: POSSIBILITY OF LIFE
5 APR – 24 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE
New work from the kinetic sculptor – known for working with materials that have lost their original purpose – taking in a series of robotic taxidermy, with a soundscape at the core of each piece coming from the creatures themselves. 26/04/86
5 APR – 24 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE
Group exhibition in which artists Norrie Harman, Rebecca Appleby, Dean Kemp and Dean Townend explore the nuclear nightmare of Chernobyl through the media of paint, ceramics and sculpture. THE BONE LIBRARY
5 APR – 24 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE
Students and staff from Edinburgh College of Art and the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies explore the use of 3D models in veterinary education, examining and interpreting the creation of 3D models.
Dundee DCA
NAVID NUUR: RENDERENDER
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 29 MAR AND 15 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
Largest UK exhibition to date by Dutch-Iranian artist Navid Nuur – known for his magical mixed media installation, he plans develop an ambitious new installation for DCA, presented alongside a developed configuration of existing work.
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design DJCAD DEGREE SHOW 2014
16–25 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE
Annual degree show from the graduating students at Duncan of Jordanstone School of Art and Design, showcasing work from a 250-strong batch of emerging artists and designers.
Generator Projects
THEY HAD FOUR YEARS 2014
17 MAY – 8 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE
Annual exhibition featuring new works by recent graduates selected from across Scotland, this year featuring new works by the Brownlee Brothers, Flo Gordon, Jonny Lyons, Ailsa M. Mackenzie and Mary-Beth Quigley, curated under a contextual arch.
Hannah Maclure Centre PIXEL PUSHERS
28 MAR – 9 MAY, WEEKDAYS ONLY, 9:30AM – 4:45PM, FREE
Five renowned artists – all with ties to Dundee – demonstrate that be it for illustration, modelling, games or books, it is the artists’ vision that is the driving force behind their art, with technology simply another brush in their palette.
The McManus A SILVERED LIGHT
6 DEC – 30 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE
Exhibition of Scottish art photography selected from Dundee City’s permanent collection, showcasing images from over 50 photographers collected in the 28 years following the purchase of two important early photographs by Thomas Joshua Cooper in 1985.
Listings
61
Comedy
Tue 29 Apr
Wed 07 May
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£4)
RED RAW
COMEDIAN RAP BATTLES
Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.
Wed 30 Apr
Ro Cambell and The Wee Man’s comedian rap battle-off, where a select batch of comics compete to see who’s got the most swagger when it comes to hippity-hop wit.
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5
Thu 08 May
BRIGHT CLUB
A selection of comedic academics do a stint of stand-up for your entertainment and enlightenment. Laughs and learning in one neat package: tick.
THE THURSDAY SHOW (PHIL NICHOL + ALISTAIR GREEN + KEIRON NICHOLSON + MC MARTIN MOR) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)
Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.
Thu 01 May
THE THURSDAY SHOW (DANA ALEXANDER + NEIL MCFARLANE + MC RAYMOND MEARNS)
Fri 09 May
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)
THE FRIDAY SHOW (PHIL NICHOL + ALISTAIR GREEN + KEIRON NICHOLSON + MC MARTIN MOR)
Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)
Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.
Fri 02 May
THE FRIDAY SHOW (DANA ALEXANDER + NEIL MCFARLANE + MC RAYMOND MEARNS)
THE 10 O’CLOCK SHOW
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)
VESPBAR, 22:00–23:45, £10
Your weekend host Viv Gee introduces a mixed bag of new talent, topped off with a bigger name headline act.
Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. THE 10 O’CLOCK SHOW
THE SATURDAY SHOW (DANA ALEXANDER + NEIL MCFARLANE + MC RAYMOND MEARNS)
VESPBAR, 22:00–23:45, £10
Sun 11 May
MAYDAY LAUGHTER (GARY LITTLE + SUSIE MCCABE + BRUCE MORTON + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH)
MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (THE REVEREND OBADIAH STEPPENWOLFE III + MATT WINNING + SIAN BEVAN)
THE STAND, 16:00–18:00, £10
Scottish Left Review and the Jimmy Reid Foundation present a gala afternoon of lefty stand-up.
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)
Chilled Sunday comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and guests.
THE 10 O’CLOCK SHOW
VESPBAR, 22:00–23:45, £10
Your weekend host Viv Gee introduces a mixed bag of new talent, topped off with a bigger name headline act.
Mon 12 May
HAL CRUTTENDEN: THE TOUGH LUVVIE TOUR
Sun 04 May
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12
As seen on The Royal Variety Performance, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and The Rob Brydon Show, Hal Cruttenden brings his usual brand of simultaneously warm and catty stand-up oor way.
MAY BANK HOLIDAY COMEDY SPECIAL (DANA ALEXANDER + NEIL MCFARLANE + MC RAYMOND MEARNS)
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9)
The Stand celebrate the May bank holiday weekend with a special Sunday show of laughs.
Tue 13 May
Mon 05 May
RED RAW
IMROV WARS
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2
Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6
More improvised comedy games and sketches, with an unpredictable anything-goes attitude – as it should be.
Wed 14 May BBC COMEDY PRESENTS...
THE GREAT MAY DAY CABARET (MARK THOMAS + IAN SAVILLE + RAB NOAKES + FRASER SPEIRS + DAVE ANDERSON + STEPHEN WRIGHT + ARTHUR JOHNSTONE + BRUCE MORTON + ELEANOR MORTON) ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £13
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £4
BBC-selected sketch comedy showcase where handpicked new acts get their chance to shine – with each performed getting a quickfire 5-10 minutes on stage.
Annual celebration of international workers’ day in the best May Day cabaret since, well, er, last year’s sold out show, taking in live music, magic and comedy.
Tue 06 May RED RAW
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2
WRITE IT!: THE REFERENDUM REVIEW SHOW!
THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–21:00, £5 (£3)
Themed session of comedy and music from Graham de Banzie, Alex Cox, Ewan Park and the Write It! Team, providing their own irreverent trawl through the issues of the indy debate.
Fri 16 May
THE FRIDAY SHOW (JUNIOR SIMPSON + FERN BRADY + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)
Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.
WRITE IT!: THE REFERENDUM REVIEW SHOW!
THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–21:00, £5 (£3)
Themed session of comedy and music from Graham de Banzie, Alex Cox, Ewan Park and the Write It! Team, providing their own irreverent trawl through the issues of the indy debate.
Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.
Thu 22 May
Fri 30 May
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)
THE THURSDAY SHOW (JEFF INNOCENT + PATRICK MONAHAN + JULIA SUTHERLAND + MC BRUCE DEVLIN)
Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.
Fri 23 May
THE FRIDAY SHOW (JEFF INNOCENT + KEITH FARNAN + JULIA SUTHERLAND + MC BRUCE DEVLIN) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)
Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. THE 10 O’CLOCK SHOW
VESPBAR, 22:00–23:45, £10
Your weekend host Viv Gee introduces a mixed bag of new talent, topped off with a bigger name headline act.
THE 10 O’CLOCK SHOW
THE FRIDAY SHOW (MARKUS BIRDMAN + RO CAMPBELL + DEBRA-JANE APPELBY + MC BRUCE MORTON)
Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. THE 10 O’CLOCK SHOW
VESPBAR, 22:00–23:45, £10
Your weekend host Viv Gee introduces a mixed bag of new talent, topped off with a bigger name headline act.
Sat 31 May
THE SATURDAY SHOW (MARKUS BIRDMAN + RO CAMPBELL + DEBRA-JANE APPELBY + MC BRUCE MORTON)
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15
Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.
where could a tenor take you?
VESPBAR, 22:00–23:45, £10
Your weekend host Viv Gee introduces a mixed bag of new talent, topped off with a bigger name headline act. WRITE IT!: THE REFERENDUM REVIEW SHOW!
THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–21:00, £5 (£3)
Sat 17 May
Your weekend host Viv Gee introduces a mixed bag of new talent, topped off with a bigger name headline act.
Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.
Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15
THE 10 O’CLOCK SHOW
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)
Sat 10 May
Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.
Sat 03 May
THE THURSDAY SHOW (JUNIOR SIMPSON + FERN BRADY + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)
Themed session of comedy and music from Graham de Banzie, Alex Cox, Ewan Park and the Write It! Team, providing their own irreverent trawl through the issues of the indy debate.
THE SATURDAY SHOW (PHIL NICHOL + ALISTAIR GREEN + MATT WINNING + MC MARTIN MOR)
VESPBAR, 22:00–23:45, £10
Your weekend host Viv Gee introduces a mixed bag of new talent, topped off with a bigger name headline act.
Thu 15 May
THE 10 O’CLOCK SHOW
VESPBAR, 22:00–23:45, £10
Your weekend host Viv Gee introduces a mixed bag of new talent, topped off with a bigger name headline act.
Sun 18 May
MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (FERN BRADY)
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)
Chilled Sunday comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and guests.
Mon 19 May THE COLOUR HAM
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£3)
Three-man sketch project built on character comedy, mentalism and magic – we’re talking contacting your dead pets, re-enacting your first kiss, and rewriting Pinocchio through the medium of a military crotch.
Tue 20 May RED RAW
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2
Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.
Wed 21 May
CYSTIC FIBROSIS TRUST BENEFIT (GARY LITTLE + JANEY GODLEY + STU & GARRY + MC SCOTT GIBSON) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10
Live comedy fundraiser in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Trust, with Scott Gibson the brave MC keeping a selection of stand-up acts in check.
THE FRIDAY SHOW (GARY LITTLE + CAIMH MCDONNELL + ANGIE MCEVOY + ROSIE WILBY + JOE HEENAN) THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)
Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB
BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7
Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.
Sat 03 May
THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB
BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7
Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.
Sun 04 May
MAY BANK HOLIDAY COMEDY SPECIAL (GARY LITTLE + CAIMH MCDONNELL + ANGIE MCEVOY )
Mon 05 May RED RAW
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2
Sat 24 May
THE SATURDAY SHOW (JEFF u26 4x scatter ads MB.indd 1 INNOCENT + KEITH FARNAN + JULIA SHED, 20:30–23:00, £8 (£6) SUTHERLAND + MC BRUCE DEVLIN) Ro Cambell and The Wee Man’s
comedian rap battle-off, where a select batch of comics compete to see who’s got the most swagger when it comes to hippity-hop wit.
Fri 02 May
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9)
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15
COMEDIAN RAP BATTLES
Fringe favourties Improv FX – made up of West End actors, physical comedians and musicians – stage their fast-paced sketch show at home in the ‘burgh, inspired wholly by audience suggestions.
The Stand celebrate the May bank holiday weekend with a special Sunday show of laughs.
THE SATURDAY SHOW (JUNIOR SIMPSON + FERN BRADY + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)
Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.
MEN WITH COCONUTS CANON’S GAIT, 20:30–22:00, £5 (£4)
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15
Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend. THE 10 O’CLOCK SHOW
VESPBAR, 22:00–23:45, £10
Your weekend host Viv Gee introduces a mixed bag of new talent, topped off with a bigger name headline act.
Sun 25 May
MAY BANK HOLIDAY COMEDY SPECIAL (JEFF INNOCENT + KEITH FARNAN + JULIA SUTHERLAND + MICHAEL REDMOND)
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9)
The Stand celebrate the May bank holiday weekend with a special Sunday show of laughs.
Mon 26 May
WORK IN PROGRESS: DES CLARKE + SUSIE MCCABE
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £7
A batch of comedy stalwarts roadtest a selection of work in progress material.
Tue 27 May RED RAW
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2
Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.
Wed 28 May VARIETY CLUB
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£8)
Ye olde style variety showcase taking in selections of music, comedy, magic and dance.
Thu 29 May
THE THURSDAY SHOW (MARKUS BIRDMAN + RO CAMPBELL + DEBRA-JANE APPELBY + MC BRUCE MORTON)
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)
Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.
THE 10 O’CLOCK SHOW
Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.
VESPBAR, 22:00–23:45, £10
Tue 06 May Your weekend host Viv Gee introG-SPOT duces a mixed bag of new24/04/2014 talent, 11:46 THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5 topped off with a bigger name MC Jojo Sutherland leads an headline act. all-new camp-styled evening of comedy and cabaret.
Edinburgh Tue 29 Apr BRIGHT CLUB
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5
A selection of comedic academics do a stint of stand-up for your entertainment and enlightenment. Laughs and learning in one neat package: tick.
Wed 30 Apr
GLENN WOOL: THE JOKES I’M MOST FOND OF (FRANKIE BOYLE)
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10)
The Canadian-born, UK-living comic performs a special set of jokes cherrypicked from his personal favourites, with a different set chosen for each date of the tour. Support comes from cantankerous bastard, Frankie Boyle.
Thu 01 May
THE THURSDAY SHOW (GARY LITTLE + CAIMH MCDONNELL + ANGIE MCEVOY + ROSIE WILBY + JOE HEENAN) THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)
Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase. ABSOLUTE IMPROV
THE TRON, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£3)
Improv-styled comedy show in the vein of Whose Line Is It Anyway, in which the performers create sketches based on audience suggestions.
Wed 07 May
THE BROKEN WINDOWS POLICY
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4)
More fast-paced and anarchic skits and character comedy from The Stand’s resident sketch comedy troupe.
Thu 08 May
THE THURSDAY SHOW (SEYMOUR MACE + STEVEN DICK + PAUL F TAYLOR + DAISY EARL + MC SUSAN MORRISON)
Sat 10 May
THE SATURDAY SHOW (SEYMOUR MACE + STEVEN DICK + PAUL F TAYLOR + DAISY EARL + MC SUSAN MORRISON)
Fri 16 May
THE FRIDAY SHOW (GAVIN WEBSTER + NICOLA REDMAN + BRUCE DEVLIN) THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15
Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.
THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB
BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7
Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend. BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7
Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.
Sun 11 May
WAVERLY CARE BENEFIT (VLADIMIR MCTAVISH + KEIR MCALLISTER + JIM PARK)
THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB
Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.
Sat 17 May
THE SATURDAY SHOW (GAVIN WEBSTER + NICOLA REDMAN + BRUCE DEVLIN)
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£6)
Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.
Mon 12 May
BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7
Live comedy fundraiser in aid of Waverly Care, featuring Vladimir McTavish, Keir McAllister and Jim Park.
THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB
Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.
Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.
Tue 13 May
Sun 18 May
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)
RED RAW
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2
HAL CRUTTENDEN: THE TOUGH LUVVIE TOUR
As seen on The Royal Variety Performance, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and The Rob Brydon Show, Hal Cruttenden brings his usual brand of simultaneously warm and catty stand-up oor way.
Wed 14 May THE MELTING POT
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4 STUDENTS/£2.50 MEMBERS)
THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN
Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-to-work blues.
Mon 19 May RED RAW
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2
Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.
Wed 21 May
Series of comedy sketches picked by the audience and performed by a varying troupe of actors and musicians.
JOKE THIEVES (KEIR MCALLISTER + RAYMOND MEARNS + PEARSE JAMES + JOJO SUTHERLAND + CHRIS FORBES)
Thu 15 May
Will Mars hosts his live comedy swapfest, where a handpicked batch of comedians perform their own jokes and then each others.
THE THURSDAY SHOW (GAVIN WEBSTER + JAMIE DALGLEISH + MC BRUCE DEVLIN)
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6
Thu 22 May
Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.
THE THURSDAY SHOW (MARTIN MOR + LIAM WITHNAIL + BEC HILL + JO CAULFIELD)
THE TRON, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£3)
Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and
in the vein of Whose Line Is It Anyway, in which the performers create sketches based on audience suggestions.
newcomers over a two-hour showcase.
ABSOLUTE IMPROV
Improv-styled comedy show
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)
Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase. ABSOLUTE IMPROV
THE TRON, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£3)
Improv-styled comedy show in the vein of Whose Line Is It Anyway, in which the performers create sketches based on audience suggestions.
Fri 09 May
THE FRIDAY SHOW (SEYMOUR MACE + STEVEN DICK + PAUL F TAYLOR + DAISY EARL + MC SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)
Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB
BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7
Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.
MEN WITH COCONUTS
CANON’S GAIT, 20:30–22:00, £5 (£4)
Fringe favourties Improv FX – made up of West End actors, physical comedians and musicians – stage their fast-paced sketch show at home in the ‘burgh, inspired wholly by audience suggestions.
ABSOLUTE IMPROV
THE TRON, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£3)
Improv-styled comedy show in the vein of Whose Line Is It Anyway, in which the performers create sketches based on audience suggestions.
Get £10 tix if you’re under 26. Any seat. Any performance. 191x13.6 skinny banners MB.indd 1
62
Listings
24/04/2014 11:34
THE SKINNY
Fri 23 May
THE FRIDAY SHOW (MARTIN MOR + GARETH RICHARDS + LIAM WITHNAIL + PHIL O’SHEA + MC JO CAULFIELD) THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)
Fri 30 May
THE FRIDAY SHOW (ROGER MONKHOUSE + JOHN SCOTT + SIAN BEVAN + MC JOE HEENAN)
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)
Theatre
Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.
Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.
Glasgow
BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7
BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7
BIDING TIME (REMIX)
THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB
Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-andcoming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.
Sat 24 May
THE SATURDAY SHOW (MARTIN MOR + GARETH RICHARDS + LIAM WITHNAIL + PHIL O’SHEA + MC JO CAULFIELD)
THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB
Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.
Sat 31 May
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15
THE SATURDAY SHOW (ROGER MONKHOUSE + JOHN SCOTT + SIAN BEVAN + MC JOE HEENAN)
THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB
Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.
Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend. BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7
Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-andcoming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.
Sun 25 May
MAY BANK HOLIDAY COMEDY SPECIAL (MARTIN MOR + GARETH RICHARDS + LIAM WITHNAIL + PHIL O’SHEA + MC JO CAULFIELD)
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15
THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB
BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7
Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.
CCA
7 MAY, 8 MAY 8:00PM – 9:00PM, £10 (£8)
Re-interpretation of Pippa Bailey’s global theatre experiment by Glasgow art pop act A Band Called Quinn, combining film, a live band soundtrack and silent disco technology. REMASTERED
12 MAY, 7:00PM – 8:00PM, £4
Performance of Katherine Angel’s Unmastered: A Book On Desire, Most Difficult To Tell – a collection of literary non-fiction on feminism and sexuality published in 2012. RIDING OVER BLINKITY
1 JUN, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, FREE (BUT TICKETED)
Filmmaker Pierre Hébert and musician and composer Andrea Martignoni present an evening of live animation, music and performance inspired by Norman McLaren’s film Blinkity Blank.
Citizens Theatre THE LIBERTINE
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 3 MAY AND 24
Mon 26 May RED RAW
Tue 27 May
ABANDOMAN
SUMMERHALL, 19:30–20:30, £12.50
Comic Robert Broderick and multiinstrumentalist James Hancox get their hip-hop on as Abandoman – their cheeky music act, which sees ‘em creating musical sketches at speed in front of a live audience.
Thu 29 May
THE THURSDAY SHOW (ROGER MONKHOUSE + JOHN SCOTT + SIAN BEVAN + MC JOE HEENAN)
THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)
Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase. ABSOLUTE IMPROV
THE TRON, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£3)
Improv-styled comedy show in the vein of Whose Line Is It Anyway, in which the performers create sketches based on audience suggestions.
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: DRALION
7–11 MAY, TIMES VARY, £50.00
The ever-impressive Cirque du Soleil take their signature production of Dralion on the road for its 15th anniversary, blending acrobatics, choreography, live music and clowns to suitably dazzling effect.
Theatre Royal SCOTTISH OPERA: MADAMA BUTTERFLY
2–3 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £15 (£10)
Dundee Sat 03 May
THE ONLY WAY IS DOWNTON
DUNDEE REP, 19:30–21:30, £14 (£12)
Luke Kempner presents an evening of impression comedy, bringing his YouTube hit Downstairs at Downton to the big stage, with hilarious culture and era crashes on the cards as celebrities start appearing at Downton. JO CAULFIELD: A CELEBRATION OF ANGER
THE GARDYNE THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £12 (£10)
The seasoned comic, writer and Radio 4 presenter delves into the depths of her anger about, well, everything.
Fri 09 May
ED BYRNE: ROARING FORTIES
DUNDEE REP, 19:30–21:30, £19
The self-confessed miserable git takes his mid-life crisis of sorts on the road as he embraces middle age with open(ish) arms.
Fri 30 May
JONGLEURS COMEDY CLUB
DUNDEE REP, 20:00–22:00, £12
The famed comedy club hits Dundee for its monthly outing, joined by three comics and a compere.
MAY, TIMES VARY, FROM £12 (£8 PREVIEW)
Stephen Jeffreys’ adaptation of the true story of John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester – a hedonistic poet, playwright and rake whose appetite for women and wine made him a notorious figure of the time. Matinee performances also available.
Platform INVISIBLE EMPIRE
MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY
Interrogation of our conflicting tendencies to conform and to rebel, told using dynamic movement with haunting polyphonies from Siberia and Albania performed live.
The Arches DARK BEHAVIOUR
2–3 MAY, 9:00PM – 3:00AM, £10 (£5 WITH BEHAVIOUR PASS)
Behaviour festival 2014 gets the send-off it deserves as the 85a Collective curate a debauched evening of cutting-edge performance art, live music and bespoke visuals. UWS PERFORMANCE SHOWCASE
21 MAY, TIMES VARY, £7 (£5)
Graduates from the UWS Performance course showcase a diverse programme of new and classic plays, devised performance and physical theatre created in their final year.
The King’s Theatre TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 2 AND 14 JUN, TIMES VARY, FROM £10
Ben Elton’s musical comedy inspired by the songs of Rod Stewart, taking to the road under the watchful eye of director Cjay Ranger and choreographer Denise Ranger.
season 2013 | 14 191x13.6 skinny banners MB.indd 2
May 2014
The SSE Hydro
YAMA/KINGDOM
BRIGHT CLUB
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5
A selection of top comics from the contemporary Scottish circuit do their thing, aye.
New play based on the alleged tempestuous weekend in which Scottish author Ena Lamont Stewart wrote her seminal work, Men Should Weep.
Scottish Dance Theatre’s riot of choreography music, light and sensation – collaborating with theatrical choreographer Fleur Darkin and fashion designer Hayley Scanlan, presented in an intimate format by putting the audience up close with the dancers.
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 19:30–23:30, £3
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£3 MEMBERS)
ENA AFORE THE WILDERNESS
28–30 APR, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10
9 MAY, 10 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £15 (£10)
The Pandamonium Comedy crew return to Cab Vol with a line-up of the best in new, fresh stand-up comedy. Hosted by Rory McAlpine.
THE BEST OF SCOTTISH COMEDY (JOHN SCOTT + MC RAYMOND MEARNS )
29–31 MAY, 7:45PM – 10:00PM, £10
SCOTTISH DANCE THEATRE: SISGO
PANDAMONIUM
Wed 28 May
The Old Hairdressers
Tramway
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2
Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.
A SEASON IN THE CONGO
20 MAY, 7:45PM – 10:00PM, £3
Scottish Opera return with a retelling of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, telling the tale of a young girl living in Nagasaki who falls for a reckless American naval officer stationed near her home.
The Stand celebrate the May bank holiday weekend with a special Sunday show of laughs.
Premiere of a new work-in-progress by that talented chappie Alan Bissett, presented in a dramatised debate format posing the question: is Scotland the colonised or the coloniser?
Captivating, multi-award winning and oft-sold out musical, telling the story of how the two witches of Oz came to be known as good and bad, told through song ‘n’ all that. Matinee performances also available.
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 27 MAY AND 31 MAY, 7:15PM – 10:00PM, PRICES VARY
THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9)
A selection of comedic academics do a stint of stand-up for your entertainment and enlightenment. Laughs and learning in one neat package: tick.
WICKED 6–19 MAY, NOT 11, 18, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £20
JOCK: SCOTLAND ON TRIAL 15–17 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10
Scottish Dance Theatre present two compelling works from international choreographers, performed by the company’s dancers – taking in Damien Jalet’s Yama and Jorge Crecis’ Kingdom. GRIT: THE MARTYN BENNETT STORY
30 MAY – 7 JUN, NOT 1 JUN, 2 JUN, TIMES VARY, FROM £8
Ambitious new cross-form, site specific production penned by Glasgow playwright Kieran Hurley, based on the inspiring life and music of late Scottish musician Martyn Bennett.
Tron Theatre THE TEMPEST
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 7 AND 16 MAY, TIMES VARY, £10
Re-working of the classic Shakespearean drama, riding along on vivid tales of shipwrecks, dark forces, magic and love lost and found. OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 8 AND 17 MAY, 7:45PM – 10:00PM, £10
Play within a play that demonstrates the redemptive power of theatre – set in an 18th-century Australian penal colony where convicts are set the task of staging a production of Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer. HEART
22–30 MAY, NOT 25, 26, 27, 28, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY
Set between Durham and Tehran, an Iranian woman, her English husband and her Syrian lover experience love in all its complexity against the backdrop of the 28 Mordad Coup d’Etat in 1953.
Aimé Césaire recounts the tragic death of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Republic of Congo and an African nationalist hero, who fought to free the Congolese from Belgian rule. MY NAME IS...
Thought-provoking play telling the story of 12-year old Gaby who fled the west to spend her life in Pakistan. RETURN TO MY NATIVE LAND
30–31 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £3
Lynnette Holmes and Renee Williams perform a rendition of Amié Césaire’s epic and moving response to colonisation in the 1930s.
Govanhill Baths HAMLET
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 10 AUG AND 7 JUN, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY
Strathclyde Theatre Group and The Royal Shakespeare Company Open Stages present a reworking of Shakespeare’s most famous play, featuring an all-female cast and staged in the magical surrounds of Govanhill Baths.
Edinburgh Edinburgh Playhouse LET IT BE
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 3 AND 7 JUN, TIMES VARY, FROM £10
West End show charting the meteoric rise of the Beatles, taking the audience on a musical journey through all the hits, from their early days at the Cavern Club to global hits like Yesterday and Hey Jude. ROCK OF AGES
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 3 MAY AND 24 MAY, TIMES VARY, FROM £10
King’s Theatre HAPPY DAYS
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 12 AND 17 MAY, TIMES VARY, FROM £18
The creator of the legendary television series, Garry Marshall, takes the much-loved show to the stage – centred around Fonz’s attempt to save the beloved Arnold’s Diner from demolition. BRASSED OFF
UNITL 3 MAY, TIMES VARY, FROM £14
Damien Cruden’s passionate retelling of the colliery brass band threatened by the Grimley Corrier closure, performed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike of 1984. UNCLE VARICK
7–10 MAY, TIMES VARY, FROM £16.50
Acclaimed author and painter John Byrne relocates Anton Chekhov’s masterpiece to 1960’s rural Scotland – telling the tale of a pretentious art critic who returns to his Scottish country pile with his new, much younger, wife in tow. A SLOW AIR
22 MAY, 23 MAY, 24 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY
Funny and poignant new piece from Oliver Award-winning playwright David Harrower, centred around a brother and sister who haven’t spoken to each other for 15 years. HETTY FEATHER
27–31 MAY, TIMES VARY, FROM £16
Best-selling author Jacqueline Wilson’s tale of plucky Hetty Feather is brought to life on stage for the first time, taking in live music and circus skills as it goes. LAST OF THE DUTY FREE
2–7 JUN, TIMES VARY, FROM £14
Staged version of the favourited British sitcom, reuniting Keith Barron, Gwen Taylor and Neil Stacy to play-out the next instalment in a series which regularly pulled in audiences of over twelve million.
TUTTA CASA, LETTO E CHIESA 16 MAY, 6:30PM – 9:00PM, £7 (£5)
Actress Marina De Juli performs a combination of comic-grotesque monologues about the condition of women, preceded by a round table discussion with Professor Joseph Farrell, Dr Donatella Fischer and Marina De Juli herself. WONDER
3–4 MAY, 2:00PM – 3:30PM, £7.50 (£5)
Creative Electric present their latest piece based on real experiences, this time informed by people from all walks of life who dared to answer the question: what do you see when you look at me?
Traverse Theatre BANKSY: THE ROOM IN THE ELEPHANT
16 AND 17 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £15.50 (£12.50 STUDENTS/£8 UNEMPLOYED)
Tom Wainwright’s sell-out play, telling the story of Tachowa Covington – the man who lived in a disused tank for seven years, until Banksy scrawled ‘This Looks A Bit Like An Elephant’ on the side and it was carted off and sold. PESTS
22–31 MAY, NOT 25, 26, 27, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY
Vivienne Franzmann returns following her critically acclaimed play, Mogadishu, this time turning her attention to two women trapped in a rotting world, as one wants out and the other needs her to stick around. THE BEAUTIFUL COSMOS OF IVOR CUTLER
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 29 APR AND 3 MAY, TIMES VARY, £15.50 (£12.50 STUDENTS/£8 UNEMPLOYED)
PRESSURE
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 1 MAY AND 24 MAY, 7:45PM – 10:00PM, FROM £14 (£12 MATINEE/£10 PREVIEW)
1–3 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £15.50 (£12.50 STUDENTS/£8 UNEMPLOYED)
where the future of Britain, Europe and our relationship with the US rested on the shoulders of one reluctant Scotsman. Matinee performances also available.
of their work, which started life in 2009 as an FOI for data on the British Army’s activities on Inchkeith during the Second World War.
Summerhall
23 MAY, 24 MAY TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY
Real-life thriller centred around the most important weather forecast in the history of warfare,
30–31 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £15.50 (£12.50 STUDENTS/£8 UNEMPLOYED)
Rare opportunity to experience adventurous American playwright Sam Shepard’s work across a duo of double bills (30 & 31 May) taking in a play and a film apiece.
The Bongo Club
Weaving together the music, prose, poetry, and biography of Ivor Cutler to tell the story of his remarkable life – from birth, through boyhood, to old age and ultimately death.
Royal Lyceum Theatre
CHORALE: A SAM SHEPARD ROADSHOW
Dundee Dundee Rep WOMEN IN MIND
21 MAY – 7 JUN, NOT 25 MAY, 26 MAY, 1 JUN, 2 JUN, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10
Reworking of Alan Ayckbourn’s humourous and poignant play about a woman slowly unraveling, as her real and fantasy worlds start to collide and merge. Matinee performances also available. A SLOW AIR
13 MAY, 14 MAY TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY
Funny and poignant new piece from Oliver Award-winning playwright David Harrower, centred around a brother and sister who haven’t spoken to each other for 15 years. ‘ALLO ‘ALLO! LE DINNER SHOW
1–3 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £28.50 (INCLUDING DINNER)
Site specific dining experience tribute to the popular 80s sitcom, performed in Dundee Rep’s 1914 restaurant as punters dine on a three-course meal.
Kage
THE HARD MAN
MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10
In Your Face Theatre take their 2013 Edinburgh Fringe-debuting show back on’t road, based on the life of Scottish hard-nut Jimmy Boyle.
THE FORBIDDEN EXPERIMENT.
This year’s Platform 18 Award Winners, Rob Jones and Michael John O’Neill, present the fruits
80s-themed musical out on tour after five years on Broadway, following three years of ovationinducing performances in London’s West End.
Festival Theatre NEDERLANDS DANS THEATER 2
29 MAY, 30 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £17.50
Youthful contemporary dance company expertly using their bodies to express feelings and emotions through dance, buoyed by involving visual art, music composition and innovative light and set designs into their shows. TAKIN’ OVER THE ASYLUM
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 15 AND 17 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10
After its world premiere at Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre in 2013, Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre play host to the moving new adaptation of Donna Franceschild’s Glasgowset cult 90s BBC television series (which starred Ken Stott and a young David Tennant). SCOTTISH BALLET: ROMEO AND JULIET
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 21 AND 24 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY
Scottish Ballet’s majestic take on Shakespeare’s classic tale of star-crossed lovers, set against a dramatic multimedia backdrop. SCOTTISH OPERA: MADAMA BUTTERFLY
VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 8 MAY AND 17 MAY, 7:15PM – 10:00PM, PRICES VARY
Scottish Opera return with a retelling of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, telling the tale of a young girl living in Nagasaki who falls for a reckless American naval officer stationed near her home.
BIDING TIME (REMIX)
6 OCT, 7 MAY, 8 MAY, 24 MAY, 8:00PM – 9:00PM, £10 (£8)
Re-interpretation of Pippa Bailey’s global theatre experiment by Glasgow art pop act A Band Called Quinn, combining film, a live band soundtrack and silent disco technology. NINETIES WOMAN
2 MAY, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £8 (£6)
20 years on, comedian/storyteller Rosie Wilby traces her former colleagues from a feminist newspaper – using live storytelling, video interviews, music and photo archive to trace a journey through early 90s feminism, refracted through a personal lens.
Madama Butterfly 8 May-3 Aug | Edinburgh • Glasgow • Inverness • Aberdeen
MONEY: THE GAME SHOW
Claire Duffy’s interactive theatre piece, inviting audience volunteers to play a series of high stake games with £10,000 in real pound coins – demonstrating how the world’s economic system came close to collapse in 2008. HEART
22–30 MAY, NOT 25, 26, 27, 28, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY
Set between Durham and Tehran, an Iranian woman, her English husband and her Syrian lover experience love in all its complexity against the backdrop of the 28 Mordad Coup d’Etat in 1953.
scottishopera.org.uk 24/04/2014 11:34
Listings
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