The Skinny Scotland July 2014 by The Skinny

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Scotland Issue 106 July 2014

UNBOUND 2014 Edinburgh International Book Festival late night programme revealed MUSIC Cocteau Twins Brian Reitzell T in the Park Deathcats Kiran Leonard BOOKS Mark Z. Danielewski CLUBS Glitterbug Julius Steinhoff ART Barnaby Barford Edward Humphrey GSA Degree Show Edinburgh College Liverpool Biennial

GR AND DESIGNS

REMEMBER REMEMBER SCORE THE CHANGING WORLD

FILM From Scotland With Love Africa in Motion Sports Stories David Gordon Green

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P.15 The Cocteau Twins

P.25 Liverpoo Biennial, Claude Parnet

P.57 GSA Degree Show, Richard Krantz

P.29 Naromode

July 2014

Issue 106, July 2014 ÂŠ Radge Media Ltd. Get in touch: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk T: 0131 467 4630 P: The Skinny, 3 Coates Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7AA The Skinny is Scotland's largest independent entertainment & listings magazine, and offers a wide range of advertising packages and affordable ways to promote your business. Get in touch to find out more.

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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 Games Editor Tech Editor Travel Editor Theatre Editor

Rosamund West Dave Kerr Alan Bett Ronan Martin Vonny Moyes Tasha Lee Anna Docherty Alexandra Fiddes Jamie Dunn Peter Simpson Darren Carle Cathleen O'Grady Paul Mitchell Eric Karoulla

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Contents

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Sophie Kyle

THE SKINNY

Contents 06 Opinion: Skinny on Tour gets ruined;

Shot of the Month; Crystal Baws; Comedian Richard Gadd shares his opinions on crack whores; What Are You Having for Lunch?; and Stop the Presses.

Deviance: Matthew Bobbu discusses the integrity of his condom collection; section editor Tasha Lee ponders the etiquette of pregnancy.

Food & Drink: There’s eating in those Commonwealth Games – a round-up of food events in Glasgow this month. PLUS Phagomania has some sort of bacon conference; and Food News sweeps up the rest of the July highlights.

08 Heads Up: Your monthly events calen-

dar with the best of culture in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

With third LP Forgetting The Present awarded our coveted ‘album of the month’ award last issue, Remember Remember celebrate with a well-earned e-fag on Google Hangouts. Poetic documentary From Scotland With Love sees director Virginia Heath create a story of Scotland made from archive footage and set to the unmistakable voice of King Creosote. The pair discuss the project.

Ahead of that wee sports tournament happening in Glasgow, Africa in Motion bring the best of Africa’s sports films to Scotland.

As 4AD re-release Cocteau Twins' seminal albums Blue Bell Knoll and Heaven or Las Vegas, Simon Raymonde revisits the legendary dream-pop trio’s purple patch.

Inspired by childhood experience and his labelmate Gold Panda, German producer Glitterbug brings death into the club with new LP Dust.

Artist Barnaby Barford discusses his figurine sculptures, on show at Dovecot this month.

As T in the Park waves goodbye to its longstanding Balado site, we profile some of the best new artists, grizzled veterans and wildcard acts playing at this month's big musical bunfight.

David Gordon Green likes weirdos. He also likes Nic Cage, the star of his new feature, Joe. Are these two facts connected? Read our interview with the genial director to find out.

Former Redd Kross drummer Brian Reitzell tells us about his unorthodox career path which has seen him create remarkable scores across mediums for film, TV, and now surveillance thriller video game Watch Dogs.

stitching narrative threads and forming his own atelier. LIFESTYLE Fashion: Looking forward to Glasgow’s Vintage Festival; creative duo Naromode introduce their latest collection.

30 Showcase: Our selection from this year’s DJCAD degree show, Edward Humphrey presents some background on his video work ahead of its showing in Edinburgh Art Festival.

JURA UNBOUND Introduction

Syria Speaks’ Ryan Van Winkle on the importance of humanising conflict zones.

Louise Welsh discusses The Empire Café, arriving in Glasgow in July and popping up for one night at Jura Unbound. Page Match’s Dan Cockrill introduces a literary fight club.

Nasty Little Press co-founder Luke Wright is quizzed by fellow Unbound performer Michael Pedersen.

Séance master E.O. Higgins bring the spirits to the Spiegeltent.

Jim Lambie’s Poetry Club, Bookshop Band, James Yorkston and Canongate nights previewed.

Listings: Jura Unbound events in full.

REVIEW Music: The Afghan Whigs are uptown again; we take in Television, Wye Oak and Demdike Stare live, survey new records from Honeyblood, Plank, Slow Club and Claude Speed, plus an introduction to Deathcats and Kiran Leonard.

Clubs: At long last, an analogue synth fetishist! We jest – rather than fetishising them, Hamburg producer and Smallville label co-founder Julius Steinhoff sees his machines as merely tools to craft his warm, playful music.

Art: Glasgow School of Art degree show; Edinburgh College Let’s Glow.

58 Film: Something for everyone this

month, with animated dragons (How to Train Your Dragon 2), a lyrical comingof-age drama (Boyhood) and a 300lb drag queen who liked to eat dog shit (I Am Divine).

59 Books/DVD: Established classic Harold and Maude rubs shoulders with underseen classic Boy Meets Girl and future classic We Are the Best! Books reviews highlights including Happy and the Happy, The Matiushin Case and The Glasgow Coma Scale.

Has the cabaret bubble burst? In the face of harsh criticism from Gary Barlow, the Scottish community soldiers on. Back for its eighth outing, we take a look at the highlights of Liverpool Biennial.

26 Visionary writer Mark Z. Danielewski on

60 Theatre: Highlights from Nederlands Dans Theater, Scottish Opera, Home Nations festival and (i)land.

Comedy: Casual Violence on life in the criminal underworld. Competitions: Win tickets to Edinburgh

62 International Book Festival.

63 Listings: Your what’s on guide to

Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow for July.

Ask Fred: Our agony uncle attempts to fix the environment. On crack, as per.

Travel: One writer gets off his tits on shrooms in Amsterdam.

July 2014

Contents

Editorial T

his month marks the jumping-off point for that summer of grand cultural programming we’ve been looking forward to for pure ages here in Scotland. There’s some sort of sporting event happening in Glasgow soon, to follow those other sporting events that everyone’s so excited about right now, and it has an enormous pile of culture running alongside it. Previous issues have covered the GENERATION art shows currently happening across the country, and Scottish PEN’s series of literary events. We also look at Africa in Motion’s touring programme of sport-related films from the African Commonwealth (turns out there’s loads of them), popping up in a string of imaginative events from this point onwards. After all that Commonwealth excitement we’ll be running into the Edinburgh Festivals (and then afterwards there’s some sort of vote happening that hardly anyone’s been talking about). As is now traditional, we dip our toe gingerly into the August waters this month with the exclusive release of the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s late night programme, Jura Unbound. The centre of the magazine has a special pull-outand-keep supplement detailing all of their exciting live literary performance events for 2014. Our cover stars for July are multi-instrumental sextet Remember Remember, celebrating the release of album number three, Forgetting the Present. Ringmaster Graeme Ronald pops up in Google Hangouts with ‘synth wizard’ Tommy Stuart and percussionist Joanne Murtagh to tell us all about the evolution of the group, the genesis of the album and the wonder of e-cigarettes. Elsewhere in Music, the Cocteau Twins’ Simon Raymonde marks the long-awaited reissue of seminal albums Blue Bell Knoll and Heaven or Las Vegas, offering an insight into life in the band during their commercial heyday. One-time Red Kross drummer Brian Reitzell talks to our Games editor about scoring video game Watch Dogs, while Glasgow’s Deathcats preview their appearance at that T in the Park by refuting all rumours

of feline murder. Speaking of T, we offer a rundown of the prospective highlights from its last year of operation in a field in Balado. Finally, the precocious Kiran Leonard drops by to discuss his disarmingly straighforward creative process ahead of a gig in Edinburgh this month. Film has a look at those sports stories, and also has words with King Creosote and director Virginia Heath about From Scotland With Love, a narrative of the country’s history compiled of hundreds of hours of archival footage. Director David Gordon Green talks about liking weirdos and Nicolas Cage, and tells us about new film Joe, arriving on a screen near you this month. Outside of Unbound, Books talks to cult author Mark Z. Danielewski about his visionary writing and experiments on the cutting edge of printing techniques. Art rounds off the degree show season with a trip to Glasgow and introduces the first of four graduate artists being shown in our Edinburgh Art Festival exhibition come August (on which much, much more next issue – brace yourselves). There are also some words with artist Barnaby Barford, who makes work commenting on contemporary life by messing about with porcelain figurines. This issue ends, as is now traditional, with Fred Fletch pretending to be sympathetic to the world’s problems and screaming about 80s movies. This month he tackles the environment, fielding questions from one B.O. and a polar bear. Turn to p71 to have all your problems solved. [Rosamund West] This Month's Cover Emer Tumilty is an illustrator and printmaker living and working in Glasgow who, since graduating from Glasgow School of Art last year, has had work featured inThe Skinny and Grafik Magazine. Emer is one half of Colour Hotel, a design and screen printing studio based in The Glue Factory. cargocollective.com/emertumilty

The Skinny On Tour

his month The Skinny got ruined. But where? Hint: this place was buried in lava, not ash. For your chance to win The Awakening by Kate Chopin (courtesy of those lovely folk over at Canongate), just pop along to theskinny.co.uk/ about/competitions and tell us where you think this is.

Chat

ELECTRIC FIELDS FESTIVAL (a one day event in the picturesque surrounds of Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfrieshire) are currently putting the finishing touches to a fine bill of well-kent names from the local landscape, including United Fruit, Miaoux Miaoux, Stanley Odd, Honeyblood and most recently the resurgent We Were Promised Jetpacks. Promising a break from the scale, slog, and cost of your standard overpopulated radgefest, we look forward to partnering with the event on 30 August. Tickets are on sale now via electricfieldsfestival.com. THERE’S A FRICKIN’ COMPETITION FRENZY over on our website, including ticket giveaways for Vintage Festival Glasgow, Green Man Festival, East End Social and The Pleasance. We’re also in cahoots with Cleaner Scotland to give away gig tickets if you’re willing to share your dirty little secrets. Go to theskinny.co.uk/competitions to find out more.

GET F@*%ED, an independent new film made for and about young gay and bisexual men in Dundee, will be screened at the Hannah Maclure Centre, Abertay Student’s Centre, Dundee on 30 July 6-8pm.

Online Only Young Fathers

YOUNG FATHERS’ TAPE TWO CLAIMS THE SAY AWARD. Facing stiff competition from the likes of Steve Mason, Boards Of Canada and last year’s winner RM Hubbert, the Edinburgh hip-hop trio seemed dazed by the decision, but excitedly accepted the £20,000 prize. As they commented later: “What started in the basement has become worldwide. Something that is personal to us, is for everyone.” In a ceremony at Glasgow’s Barrowlands ballroom, Young Fathers also received a specially commissioned piece of artwork by the Edinburgh College of Art’s Ian Jackson, following performances from RM Hubbert, LAW and Issho Taiko Drummers. SAY Award organiser Stewart Henderson was delighted with the result: “Tape Two is an extraordinary album and a deserving winner out of a phenomenally strong shortlist.” He went on to describe the award, now in its third year, as: “a prestigious and increasingly important celebration of Scotland's quite exceptional musical output.”

As festival season cranks into gear, so does The Skinny’s chopper as we survey Barcelona’s Primavera Sound, Birmingham’s returning Supersonic Festival and Ireland’s boutique Body & Soul event. theskinny.co.uk/music Similarly, our crack team of film writers have been living on haggis vol-au-vent and no sleep while they were covering this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. Head over to theskinny.co.uk/film to read first look reviews of the movies coming to UK shores over the next 12 months, including stone cold gems like Snowpiercer, Stray Dogs, Skeleton Twins and other films not beginning with S. theskinny.co.uk/film Liverpool Biennial is here! And it’s hanging around for four whole months. We kick off our commentary with Judith Hopf and an overview of the programme – and, most importantly, details of where you can see some jellyfish in a window. We also took a field trip to Paris and interviewed Dazzle Ship artist Carlos Cruz-Diez in his studio; read our report at theskinny.co.uk/art.

Shot Of The Month Stanley Odd, Solas Festival, 21 Jun by John Graham

Competition closes midnight Sun 27 Jul. 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 Ts&Cs can be found at www. theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

THE SKINNY

Crystal Baws With Mystic Mark

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Take risks. Accept failure.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Richard Gadd, creator of Fringe 2013â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most twisted success story, Cheese and Crack Whores, on writing, performing and toying with bad taste

ARIES Your problems with premature ejaculation reach their peak this month when you blow your load the moment the tip of your penis enters the snakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vagina. It looks at you wearily and seems to sigh with disappointment.

TAURUS No matter what anyone says, always believe in your nightmares. You are living proof that nightmares can come true!

GEMINI You have to take a leave of absence from your stockbroking job after a malignant tumour sprouting teeth and hair is found growing out of your soul.

CANCER This month your balls get caught in the spokes of your penny-farthing.

LEO Never satisfied in the bedroom, you snaffle away dildos in your crotch like a hamster stores nuts in its cheeks.

LIBRA This month you manage to convince your boss that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re dead and only he can see you.

SCORPIO After months of listening to your nagging wife complain about how lumpy her side of the water bed is, you open it to find the bloated corpse of a scuba diving-expert pervert inside the fluid-filled mattress. A baffled policeman explains the highly-trained deviant appears to have swum in there for a wank and got trapped like a lobster. Maybe next time the wife tells you she can hear the dull cries of a drowning man inside the bed, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll listen more carefully.

SAGITTARIUS You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t teach an old dog new tricks in bed.

CAPRICORN Lonely and wanting a friend to play chess with, you place an ad in the lonely hearts section of your local paper: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Very, very hairy guy, no SOH, WLTM enormous-jugged F for piping hot, no strings friendship.â&#x20AC;?

AQUARIUS Your an idiot.

PISCES Abseiling your way down into a cavern on the lookout for archaeological treasure you discover the titanic stone vagina of Mother Earth herself. Unfortunately, brushing dust away from the boulder-sized clit causes a shuddering global earthquake, killing over four billion people.

July 2014

On show development... A lot of subject matter is real; just fabricated slightly. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d signed with an agent and a production company, and they both wanted to send me to Edinburgh. I was still reeling from the year before, and vowed never to go back, but they persuaded me. I see Edinburgh as akin to childbirth. Absolute torture from start to finish, but somehow, your memory erases the bad times and you only remember the good. It was six weeks to go; I had no idea what the show was going to be about and I hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t written a single line. I took a look at all the things that were getting in the way of the writing process: a genuine break-up; the fact I had no money; the fact Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d been given a notoriously volatile venue, and the fact I had six weeks to write a show. I decided to make the show about all these things. It was extremely autobiographical â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more than Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d care to admit â&#x20AC;&#x201C; so I thought Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d bring all my fears and idiosyncrasies to the stage in all their ugly glory. I was shocked at how many people greeted my, how shall we say... â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;darknessesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; with positivity. It was all very surprising. Turns out weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all a little fucked up.

On crossing the line... No successful show has happened by being carbon-copies of their predecessors. Copying is an important part of the learning process, but most shows are successes by breaking what we have come to expect as the norm. Look at the awardwinners from last year. Bridget Christie, Adrienne Trustcott, and John Kearns. They definitely wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have had the success they had without breaking a few lines here and there â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whether thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s through socio-political commentary, or by subverting convention. It needs to be done. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how art/comedy stays in constant flux. On deciding to break convention... The minimal success that I have had stems from taking risks. If you have an idea, and you find it funny, do it and work it up until it becomes funny. I spent a few miserable years trying to make the idea of talking to disembodied voices funny, but it just didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work. I knew in my heart it could, so I

just worked it up, practiced, and accepted failure until it worked. Anything can be funny. There is no set formula. If you think something is funny, chances are it probably is. If nobody is laughing, then youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just not doing it right. Exhaust all your options before giving up; the circuit can be stifling at times. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of cynicism over that guy that turns up with a projector and a bazillion props, who stuffs his face with cake, and makes a mess â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t try, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll never know. Stuff that breaks convention has a higher risk, but there is also higher reward. It takes practice, and perseverance; never care if you die or what people think. If you start to second-guess your audience, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when things will go awry. I did and it set me back a good couple of years. Be original. Take risks. Accept failure. Persevere! You can catch Richard Gadd on Twitter: @MrRichardGadd. His show Breaking Gadd runs from the 1-24 Aug, 9.15pm, The Counting House Attic Space

On the fruits of success... Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve generated interest from production companies Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve admired for a long time, so people are now taking my work seriously. But the most important thing Cheese and Crack Whores did for me was find â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;my voice,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; unearth what I really wanted to say and do. I reckon if I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going through so much upheaval in my personal life, I would have churned out the same â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;notebook crapâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; I was doing on the circuit for years. The best comedy is honesty. People who arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afraid to say what they feel, however controversial. On having a crisis of confidence and audience receptionâ&#x20AC;Ś A crisis of confidence? My life is a crisis of confidence. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why I do comedy! The style of C&CW is different to most shows. It swaps the whole man-and-mic concept for audio-tracks and filmed videos; all of which batter the audience into submitting to my vexed psychology. I find playing/ being a psychopath helps stop any heckling. But yes, it takes time â&#x20AC;&#x201C; particularly on the Free Fringe. People come expecting a very work-in-progress thing, so hitting them with videos of psycho-sexual torture can often be a little destabilising.

www.jockmooney.com

VIRGO It can be very easy for us to flippantly diagnose people who annoy us with mental illnesses, and since youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a qualified doctor itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s even easier to have them committed.

Opinion

Compiled by: Anna Docherty

Ahead of Edinburgh Festival Everything, we revel in the relative calm of July with musical outings from the likes of Beth Orton, Kid Canaveral, and eagleowl, plus the biggest Neu! Reekie! to date, a dip into the Africa in Motion programme, and the obligatory jaunts to T in the Park and Wickerman

Wed 2 Jul

Thu 3 Jul

A shining beacon of studied, innovative songwriting – not to mention that voice – Beth Orton takes to the stage for a special trio of gigs (also taking in Manchester and London) celebrating the re-issue of Central Reservation in bumped-up bonus material format, performing the LP live and in its glorious entirety with full band backing. O2 ABC, Glasgow, 7pm, £25

As part of The Arches' Glasgow Culture 2014 Programme, drag artist and theatre maker Drew Taylor presents his poignant new dance theatre piece, 44 Stories – a kaleidoscopic journey around the globe, taking in the 44 countries (of the Commonwealth's 70 competing countries) in which homosexuality is still illegal. The Arches, Glasgow, 2-5 Jul, £12 (£10)

Rising troubadour Algernon Doll – aka the off-kilter alternative folk project of Glasgow's Ewan Grant – takes to a live setting to give sophomore LP, Citalo-pop, an airing with full band entourage in tow to replicate the LP's delightfully chaotic sound. You can check out the premiere of new single, Suicide, on our Skinny YouTube page. Opium, Edinburgh, 8pm, £5

Drew Taylor

Beth Orton

Tue 8 Jul

Wed 9 Jul

A fledgling event launched in February, this month the Scran Salon hit the Traverse, where members of the local food community – this time including a food book publisher, a new Edinburgh lunchtime delivery service, and the Traverse kitchen wizards – come together to chat all things food with like-minded scran lovers. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 7pm, free (but registered)

With Frankie Boyle having popped by for a secret guest slot last month, who knows what treats The Stand's open mic comedy showcase crew, Red Raw, have in store for July – opening up the floor up to a selection of beginners (and a few old hands) to roadtest new material. You can also catch 'em jollying up Monday's at The Stand's Edinburgh outpost. The Stand, Glasgow, 8.30pm, £2

This year's Africa in Motion film festival makes a foray into the world of food, hosting a Film and Food Marathon, pairing three courses of Africaninspired fare with a film. You'll watch Sabbat El Aid with your couscous starter, Gun to Tape with your coconut chicken main, and Kushaya Igagasi with your custard tartlet pud! House For An Art Lover, Glasgow, 7pm, £20

Photo: Jan Mehlich

Mon 7 Jul

Scran Salon

Sabbat El Aid

Mon 14 Jul

Edinburgh slowcore sextet eagleowl celebrate the full release of their LP this silent year by taking to Leith Dockers with the similarly birdy Woodpigeon in tow, also launching a limited -edition split cassette EP at the gig. And they've mindfully made it a matinee show, y'know, so you can watch the fitba' after (World Cup Final day, folks). Leith Dockers, Edinburgh, 3pm, £6

Artist Rachel Barron kicks off her participatory exhibition project Assemblage with an interactive flagmaking print workshop at Wasps Studios in the Briggait (14 Jul-2 Aug), before each flag is transferred to the original Ladies Pool at Govanhill Baths (21 Jul-9 Aug), to form part of an evolving installation of public prints. Go marvel. Various venues, 14 Jul-2 Aug, free

Photo: Heidi Kuisma

Sun 13 Jul

eagleowl

Algernon Doll

Rachel Barron, printmaking

Thu 17 Jul

Fri 18 Jul

Sat 19 Jul

The veritable musical marathon that is King Tut's Summer Nights kicks off its 2014 run with a headline set from Glasgow-based indie-rock lot The Calm Fiasco, before taking in the likes of Algernon Doll, SchnarffSchnarff, Gerry Cinnamon, and a too-many-to-name list of about 25-odd more across the seven-day schedule. See listings for full details. King Tuts, Glasgow, 17-27 Jul, 8.30pm, £6.50

From rough-hewn beginnings with their Big Top Halloween LP, to the enduring elegance that was their late 90s release, 1965, The Afghan Whigs blow the dust off 16 years and take to the road with their long-time-coming new LP, Do to the Beast – a swaggering barroom rocker sure to go down a dream in a live setting. O2 ABC, Glasgow, 7pm, £20

Edinburgh literary merrymakers Neu! Reekie! daytrip to Weegieland for an East End Social special, marking their biggest show to date with a bumper cast in the form of music from The Pastels and Broken Records, poetry from Jock Scot and Jackie Kay, a film showcase from Rachel Maclean, plus live visuals and free drams. That do you? Platform, Glasgow, 7pm, £12.50

The Afghan Whigs

The Pastels

Wed 23 Jul

Thu 24 Jul

Fri 25 Jul

An Edinburgh Art Festival commission – and sellout at last year's EAF – Parley for Power pops up for another outing, taking in a short play written by Michael Pedersen and Alan Bissett, with music written and performed by TeenCanteen's Carla Easton and The Vaselines' Eugene Kelly, plus individual mini performances by all four. Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, 8pm, £8 (£6)

Taking to The Voodoo Rooms for their quarterly music fundraiser of local tunesmithery – SOUND – hi-fi specialists James Morrow welcome sets from Irvinebased rockers Culann, Edinburgh indie-rock quartet The Martellos, blues and soul-infused Scottish rock troupe The Rising Souls, and Discopolis' Dave Lloyd. The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £7

Coming around but once a year, the annual Bucky Skank shenanigans rear their party-ready head, with Optimo messieurs JD Twitch and JG Wilkes celebrating Jamaican music in all its forms – with Twitch delving into his collection to play his favourite dub, dancehall, ska, roots, sleng teng, and rocksteady records, while Wilkes provides the samples. The Art School, Glasgow, 11pm, £6

Chat

The Parley for Power crew

The Martellos

JD Twitch and JG Wilkes

THE SKINNY

Photo: Blair Young

Heads Up

Tue 1 Jul

Sun 6 Jul

Indie-pop chaps and chapesses Kid Canaveral take to Glasgow's Broadcast for an intimate show giving their 2013 SAY Award-shortlisted LP, Now That You Are A Dancer, a final dalliance in the live spotlight – bringing their usual singalong joy, joined by Prehistoric Friends (the project of multi-instrumentalist Liam Chapman and violist Nichola Kerr). Broadcast, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £8

Visionary choreographer Fleur Darkin unveils her new collaboration with Linbury prize-winning designer Alexander Ruth, The Human Scale – a gem of a thing featuring a 10-strong collection of dancers, alongside original music by Glasgow's Daniel Padden and his merry band of sonic wanderers, The One Ensemble. Marryat Hall, Dundee, 4 & 5 Jul, £15 (£12/£5)

Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman takes to the Usher Hall for a special storytelling evening, reading aloud, his story The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains (specially written for Sydney's renowned Graphic festival), with the added live bells'n'whistles of Eddie Campbell illustrations and an underscore from the FourPlay String Quartet. Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £25

Thu 10 Jul

Fri 11 Jul

Sat 12 Jul

The Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival descends for a three-day showcase taking in 36 youth dance companies from across the Commonwealth – including the fresh-faced dancing pups of the National Youth Dance Companies of Scotland, England and Wales, alongside talent from as far flung corners as Australia, Canada, and India. Tramway, Glasgow, 10-12 Jul, 7.30pm, £8 (£6)

Taking over a two-story shop space in Ocean Terminal for the summer, the fledgling Pop Up! Edinburgh lot host To The Nth Degree – an exhibition showcase encompassing a selection of this year's graduate degree show work from art schools and universities across the UK. And, as if you needed swaying, there's an on-site bar to boot. Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh, 11 Jul-2 Aug, free

With party-in-a-field season well and truly nigh, the biggie of the bunch, T in the Park, rears its head – with surefire (Skinny) crowd-pleasers including Pixies, CHVRCHES, and The Twilight Sad, plus handpicked fledgling talent care of the T Break stage, whose treats include Fat Goth, TeenCanteen, Tuff Love, and Secret Motorbikes. Balado, Kinross, 11-13 Jul, £194 weekend

Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival

Keiko Mukaide, Glass Flowers

Wed 16 Jul

A bumper batch of comics take to Edinburgh's The Stand for a special work-in-progress performance, with Des Clarke, Kai Humphries, Susie McCabe, Keir McAllister, and Vladimir McTavish all taking to the stage to roadtest new material, in advance of a fair few of 'em popping up at the Edinburgh Festival come August. The Stand, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £7

With the indy ref looming e'er closer, sci-fi author Ken MacLeod adds his pro-union thruppence to the debate with Imagining Future Scotlands – reading from his new book, Descent, which offers a dystopic vision of a postindependence Scotland, set against a background of near-future independent Scotland. Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, 7pm, £6 (£4)

Keir McAllister

Photo: Sally Jubb

Tue 15 Jul

Mon 21 Jul

Tue 22 Jul

The Edinburgh International Fashion Festival returns, with this year's programme including a talk from fashion industry mother and daughter Amanda and Tallulah Harlech, discussing the stories parents tell their children, stories passed on through time and the new stories that are told in return. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, 4pm, free (but ticketed)

Lead singer of Bright Eyes – as well as Desaparecidos, and a sometime player in myriad other outfits – Conor Oberst takes to the road solo to showcase tracks offa his latest LP, Upside Down Mountain, which features collaborations with pals including multi-instrumentalist Blake Mills, and Swedish sibling folkies First Aid Kit. O2 ABC, Glasgow, 7pm, £20

Frightened Rabbit mainman Scott Hutchison unveils the fruits of his new solo project, Owl John – a self-titled LP that began life on the Isle of Mull (and birthed into an album of songs many miles away in LA) – playing a select batch of just four dates, kicking off on Scottish soil at Edinburgh's The Caves (and then Glasgow's Cottiers Theatre the following evening). The Caves, Edinburgh, 7pm, £14

Conor Oberst

CHVRCHES

Ken Mcleod

Sun 20 Jul

Amanda and Tallulah Harlech

Neil Gaiman

Scott Hutchison

Mon 28 Jul

One of Scotland's bestloved small fests, Wickerman returns for 2014 with Dizzee Rascal and Del Amitri among the headliners, while the Solus Tent provides a hotspot of indie Scottish talent, with local rap chaps Young Fathers and hippity-hop duo Hector Bizerk amongst them. Plus the burning of a massive pagan effigy, obvs. East Kirkcarswell, 25 & 26 Jul, £110 weekend

Glasgow folk-pop melody merchants Randolph's Leap get in on the East End Social action, hosting a specially-curated all-dayer they're calling I Can Dance To This Music – featuring live sets from State Broadcasters, Skinny Dipper, Meursault, BMX Bandits, and a DJ set from Vic Galloway. Plus dancing, all the dancing. The Bowlers Bar, Glasgow, 1pm, £10

With Massachusetts-born singer/songwriter and guitarist Jonah Matranga’s old band, Far, well-and-truly on hiatus, he returns to Scottish soil under his solo guise – as emotive lo-fi guru onelinedrawing – to give new LP, Me And You Are Two, a live airing. Also playing Glasgow's The Glad Cafe's a few nights later, on 31 July. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 7pm, £7

July 2014

Meursault

Photo: Ross Baynham

Sun 27 Jul

Photo: Ross Gilmore

Sat 26 Jul

Deathcats

Photo: Ann-Margaret Campbell

Fleur Darkin

Jonah Matranga

Chat

Photo: Wes Kingston

Kid Canaveral

Photo: Anna Isola Crolla

Sat 5 Jul

Photo: Jassy Earl

Fri 4 Jul

Time Bandits Interview: Jazz Monroe Photography: Jassy Earl

As time and geography conspire against them, Rock Action sextet Remember Remember pull off an unlikely victory for grandiosity

t’s Wednesday evening and Graeme Ronald, a video game sound designer by day, is trying to relax. He’s in Nottingham, his grudgingly adopted hometown, where a stray job application landed him this March. Early evenings are a rare cool down period but tonight he wolfs down some Spanish rice and veggie sausage and fires up Google Hangouts to talk Scotland’s most grandiose rock band while huffing an e-cig. “Making this album, all the smokers in Remember Remember jumped on the electronic bandwagon,” Graeme muses of his latest instrument. “It’s vape-rock, vape-prog,” adds synth wizard Tommy Stuart, grinning through fake smoke. “Not stoner music, none of us are into that.” Spirits are nonetheless high for the ensemble’s new LP. Their third album for Mogwai’s Rock Action, Forgetting The Present fleshes out questing instrumental songs composed for a string of performances at a planetarium, film festival and ice rink. It seems apt, given the recent shakeup, that the music feels so mind-windingly unsettled. Although wordless, themes of lostness and impermanence meander through the mist. “There is a search in the music,” Graeme agrees. “Two things I really like in music are repetition and sudden radical change. You express something internal you can’t quite find words for. That sense of journey is a definite theme that I’ve felt in myself, after years trying to figure out where I’m going.” Those uncertain travels cover serious ground. In 2006, the multi-instrumentalist began

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Remember Remember as a solo project buoyed by favours from friends. Without a drummer, percussion was staplers, coffee spoons and scissors. After an auspicious debut LP, the setup expanded fast until 2009, when Yann Tiersen took a punt on the then-septet and offered a vital UK support slot. Support swelled and permanent players now populate the group’s ranks. For Graeme, who previously did time with Multiplies and The Royal We, Forgetting The Present finally establishes Remember Remember as a complete unit. “My original concept was a band that anyone could be in,” he explains, “and anyone could come and go whenever they wanted to. But now, with everyone who’s still in the band, I’m just really happy they stuck around, you know?” In a video-chat window beside Graeme’s and Tommy’s is percussionist Joanne Murtagh, leaving absentees Joseph Quimby (guitar), James Swinburne (sax and keyboard) and drummer Andy Brown to round out the line-up. Throughout the chat, Tommy, an art gallery’s technical manager whose latest exhibition scored five stars in The Times, entertains himself by teasing Graeme, the band’s long-suffering uncle figure. (Imagine a friendly child terrorising a cat with a nerve disorder.) Asked about the rest of the band’s creative input, Tommy jests, “Are we allowed to answer that Graeme?” Graeme can barely contain his laughter. During these exchanges Joanne stays lowkey, sometimes chuckling privately. She has

a fond look on her face like, ‘Come on boys.’ Outside Remember Remember, Joanne teaches percussion at a primary school. “Children can be very excitable and a bit mental,” she says of the day job, “so it’s good practice for looking after all these guys.” Coincidentally, a disused primary school hosts the band’s Glasgow rehearsal space, an abandoned classroom decorated by a taxidermy warthog and old nametagged coathangers, which looks out ten-foot windows and over a screaming twelve-lane stretch of the M8. It’s from this elevated position that Remember Remember do their dreaming.

“This is vape-prog. Not stoner music, none of us are into that” Tommy Stuart

“A lot of rehearsal rooms are dark windowless boxes,” elaborates Tommy. “Ours is this huge bright space. The M8 was there through the whole genesis of the album. There’s a wall of photographs of children’s puppies. Every time I see them I think, ‘All of those pets are dead now.’” Tommy paints a vibrant picture, but it’s hard to suppress a pang of disappointment. Shouldn’t music like Remember Remember’s be recorded

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in an ancient desert cave stacked with animal skulls? “There’s always that disassociation,” concedes Graeme, smiling. “My wife talks a lot about how, being a big Mogwai fan, when she eventually met the guys she was disappointed they weren’t 10-foot giant barbarians, because that’s what she’d pictured from the music.” “I once saw Iggy Pop,” Tommy recalls, “and he had a walking frame to help him after he’d been onstage. And he put his radio mic in the little basket on the front of his Zimmer.” “But that doesn’t spoil any illusions,” contends Graeme. “That just makes me love him even more.” The title Forgetting The Present, which references an obscure performance instruction Satie scribbled on a score, represents, in Graeme’s words, “our battle with the real world... if that’s not too grandiose.” Thematically, it’s a fantastical rejection of the limitations that restrict artistic idealism. “We’re a six-piece group with a lot of analogue equipment,” he states. “We purposefully avoid using software instruments. We don’t make life easy for ourselves.” “I was talking to [Rock Action labelhead] Craig [Hargrave],” he continues, “discussing booking agents. We were straight up told by a number of booking agencies that, due to the difficulty of transporting people, they’re only taking on duos and solo acts. It’s harder and harder, when you’re not making a great deal of money from music, to actually do something, especially on a large scale. And we tried regardless, which is what the whole Forgetting The Present notion is. It’s worth

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trying to make big statements, even though it’s economically more difficult.” “You can assume the computers give you unlimited options for everything,” explains Tommy, “and you can tweak every parameter infinitely, choose from a million synthetic marimbas. But if you say we can just use that marimba, limit your variables, it’s always gonna be better.” Sure enough a new aliveness penetrates Forgetting The Present. Like predecessor The Quickening, its songs apply old eastern scales, post-rock structures and krautrock propulsion to the entrancing minimalism of Philip Glass and Steve Reich. But here it feels urgent and proud, almost regal. Within the listener there swells an unshakeable urge to travel in time and overthrow monarchies. Lead track Magnets has an air of ambient mysticism, its eerie medieval undercurrent gracing the fringes of David Bowie’s Berlin period. The record materialised at Castle of Doom, a studio co-owned by Mogwai and in-house producer Tony Doogan. It’s cliché to hype the Scottish music scene’s camaraderie, but few bands illustrate it like Remember Remember. Featured on earlier records were Graeme’s Multiplies partner James Hamilton, now of Errors, and beloved songwriter RM Hubbert. Via longstanding member James Swinburne, a sometime Belle & Sebastian collaborator, that legendary group’s rehearsal space is also open to Remember Remember during downtime. “Oh, and we got Stuart Braithwaite doing handclaps on the first

July 2014

record,” remembers Graeme. “Which puts me in mind of the Beach Boys getting Paul McCartney to chew celery on Vegetables.” To minimise studio costs the record’s two week gestation involved serious time in a booth strewn with e-cig supplies and marker pens. Says Tommy, “We recorded the album twice as fast as we would’ve had we been smoking.” “In the past we’ve never had music left over,” Graeme goes on, “but this time we had some from the time we saved not having fag breaks. I don’t think it’s too grand an exaggeration to say that recording this album saved our lives. It’s saved me some money, anyway.”

“My original concept was a band that anyone could be in” Graeme Ronald

What went on the whiteboard? “The whiteboard’s a sacred thing,” Tommy asserts, “it’s not a thing to be abused. I mean, that’s our ticket to ride. It’s such a privilege to be able to record in a proper studio with a proper Tony – none of your pretend Tonys. We were very conscious of making the most of our time, and making good on our record label’s trust.”

“That’s the thing,” Graeme agrees. “When someone is essentially paying you to do this, that’s one situation where it’s like, ‘This is alright,’ y’know? We complain about how hard it is, but that’s one real amazing advantage. We have a label that pays for us to record, which is something that should never be taken for granted.” “The first week was really intensive,” Tommy recalls of the period. “I think Joe Quimby, the guitarist, won the prize for most first takes on the final record.” “Everyone got rapped on the wrists when they made mistakes,” adds Graeme, grinning. “Joanne got her teacher voice out and chastised us.” The result is a refinement of the traditional style of 2011’s The Quickening. But as much as it evokes various folk musics, Forgetting the Present feels pan-global, its roots interweaving under the ocean and connecting continents. The result, intriguingly, is a music of homelessness; its worldly influences surge together and whip up an aural hurricane, whisking you away and into the ether. Is there a political or social frustration driving the band? “Well, we’ve got a pretty strong sense of what’s not cricket,” offers Tommy, before Graeme finishes, “But I don’t think any of us are out there protesting. Still, some of that awareness is reflected in the music. There’s anger, there’s frustration... I’m just not politically and socially aware enough. Although I’m angry at injustice and a lot of things about the way the country is, I don’t really do anything about it. But the last thing I

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would want is for the music to be considered just background music, passive.” “I suppose,” Tommy continues, “that in repetitive music, or progressing music – not progressive, that’s a dirty, stinking word – there’s that idea that you repeat an action or you repeat a day or you repeat a process. But you try and do it better the next time, see what the difference is, do it again. And then over time, you think you’re doing the same thing but you’re not.” “You’ve progressed,” Graeme concurs. “And sometimes it’s a bit more productive than constantly changing direction.” On record these journeys lead, eventually, to a sort of melodic settlement, even if it’s a long way from home. “You try and make something beautiful,” summarises Graeme. “There’s a lot of chaos, and by organising music, arranging music, for me it helps deal with the chaos. And hopefully for people hearing it, they’re finding something that speaks to them. Often things aren’t clear, but maybe you hear some music you relate to – you’re communicating with people in that way. Making the world make a bit more sense.” “Besides,” Tommy concludes, “you’ve got to listen to something while you’re plotting to change the world. These revolutionaries, they need good cooking music.” Playing Kelvingrove Bandstand on 1 Aug as part of Commonwealth Games 2014. Forgetting The Present is out now via Rock Action rememberrememberband.blogspot.com

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Oursels As Ithers See Us Compiled from hundreds of hours of archive material, From Scotland With Love narrates Scottish history and heritage through the lives of everyday people, to a soundtrack by King Creosote. We speak to KC and director Virginia Heath about the project

Interview: Chris Buckle

atch From Scotland with Love closely and you might just spot Wayne. He’s there somewhere in the dynamically edited archive footage; in one of the long-gone dancehalls or nightclubs, making the most of the weekend’s limited opportunity to cut loose. The nightlife section occurs early in director Virginia Heath’s film – a poetic documentary painstakingly compiled from the contents of the Scottish Screen Archive. During the sequence’s busy cavalcade, faces from the past flit by: powdering their cheeks, queuing for picture shows, sinking drinks and spinning each other across polished floors. Different eras melt together, building a composite vision of the country’s preferred night-time entertainments across the first several decades of the 20th century. Helping to thread it all together is the unmistakeable voice of Kenny Anderson (aka King Creosote) whose soundtrack provides the film’s rhythm, heart – and its characters. 'Now it’s the weekend, we’re spending our money / Wayne is appearing for one night only,' Kenny croons, raising a glass to an unknown Good Time Charlie, inspired by one (possibly all) of the sequence’s merry-makers. As the song whips onwards, clever editing causes the onscreen figures to twist, twirl, and tap their fingers in time with the music. Speaking to us a fortnight after the film’s unveiling at Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket, Virginia discusses the project’s conception. “I really wanted to tell history from below, to look at ordinary people’s lives,” she says, before cataloguing ambitious themes: “love, loss, work, play, resistance, migration, war and death.” With a background in fiction filmmaking, she was also keen to discover “characters in the archive that people might relate to – and that’s where my collaboration with King Creosote really was fantastic, because he had a similar interest when writing the songs. You’re never quite sure exactly what person he’s singing about, but they’re in there somewhere.” As well as Wayne (aforementioned star of the song For One Night Only), there’s the ice cream queen of Largs, the fisher lassie of Cargill, the homesick voyagers of Miserable Strangers, and more – each tale carefully matched to evocatively grainy and inherently romantic archive material. Previously only familiar with KC via 2011’s Diamond Mine, Virginia first considered him for the job on the recommendation of the project’s music supervisor David McAulay. “I started to listen to a lot more of his material,” Virginia explains, “and was really struck by his lyrics. I just thought that he would add an incredible amount – because we didn’t want to use interviews or voiceover, so it really was a question of me shaping the visual material and working with a composer who could help to bring out the stories.” At this point, Virginia journeyed to Anstruther to strike a deal with the “quintessentially Scottish” songwriter – only to find him reticent to get involved. Taking time out from watching the World Cup (“I’ve got the wall chart and everything!”), Kenny explains why. “I was in a weird frame of mind last summer, what with ankle breaks and…” He takes a breath: “Er, other breaks…” – a thinly veiled reference to the rifting of Fence, following which former cohort Johnny Lynch departed to set up Lost Map. Additionally, Kenny continues, he doubted his ability to produce tracks to someone else’s remit. “I know I’ve written a lot of songs, but I’m actually quite a lazy songwriter,” he sighs. “I kind of write songs when they arrive. Also, I’ve had a lot of bad experiences of

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suggesting music for film, or of sitting down and looking at a blank sheet of paper with that ‘Right, I need to have this done by tea-time’ feeling, and that combined with the mood I was in… I just felt I didn’t want to take the thing on and then make a total arse of it.” Eventually, however, McAulay prevailed on him to accept. “Him and [producer] Paul Savage had talked about it at length, and they reckoned I could do the job. So I sort of went ‘Well, if you guys think I can do it, then game on…’” “I have to say, we collaborated incredibly closely right from the start and throughout,” stresses Virginia. “It really was such a two-way thing: he would do a sketch of the music and I would do a sketch of the visuals and feed back to him, backwards and forwards.” Kenny similarly emphasises the closeness of their working relationship. “She didn’t have the film all ready to show me,” he explains, “so she wrote a synopsis, split up into three-minute sections, where she described what she was looking for and what sort of stories she wanted to tell. And then beside that I had a list of existing KC songs that she liked and thought would fit. So it was never as simple as rewriting, say, You Are Could I with different lyrics, but at least I had a handle on the kind of mood that she wanted, and a rough idea of where I could go lyrically.” He continues, “I was just hoping that I could pen songs about universal themes – universal with a small u – and she could find the footage to stack them up. So it was like letting my imagination run riot, really – so long as I kept the lyrics away from, you know, satellites and mobile phones...” He reflects on the breadth of connections offered by the visual material. “When you watch archive footage, you can pretty much look at a crowd and pick out your own leading lady or leading man,” he suggests. “So from looking through these films once, I had to just trust my judgement; trust that the character that my eyes fell on would be one worth writing of. I mean they’re all worth writing for,” he adds, “but I’m more likely to spot the guy in the background who’s up to something, or the one who’s a bit nervous about a camera being on them… So I’m not saying I could go wherever I wanted with

these songs, but I certainly had a pretty wide viewpoint to start from.” One thing in shorter supply, however, was time. “I was approached last July, and they were only just starting to trawl through the archive,” Kenny recollects. “By the time I actually got to see any footage it was the third week in September, and we had a rehearsal space in Loch Fyne already booked for October, and then the studio booked for November. So it was all pretty tight – I wrote all the lyrics on a train journey to London and back, pretty much.” As new footage trickled in, adjustments were made: verses dropped, perspectives adjusted and so forth. “It was like a game of table tennis, backwards and forwards, right up to the final edit – and even then Dave and I were making some really cavalier decisions... We had to just go with whatever was there with this blind faith that it’d somehow make sense. It probably sounds like we didn’t really have much of a plan,” he laughs, “but in actual fact we didn’t have any plan. We just kind of went for it…”

“I’m not saying I could go wherever I wanted with these songs, but I certainly had a pretty wide viewpoint to start from” King Creosote

As well as soundtracking From Scotland with Love, the resulting songs also constitute a new KC album of the same name. “At the start, Davey pretty much said ‘look, you can’t think of this as an album because not only will the songs

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get edited in weird and wonderful ways, but the order of the songs will not be down to yourself.’ It wasn’t really until Domino got to see the first cut with the music that they offered to put it out as an album. At that point I was a lot more at ease with the way the film was cutting up the tunes, because I just thought ‘Well, I can go back and redo it.’ We had just one day to put this album together, so I didn’t get the luxury of going back and making it the KC album that I would have made in other circumstances. But I’m glad that Domino did hear it as an album – although I’ve purposefully not listened to it that way yet, because we still have to play the soundtrack live.” The first full soundtrack performance set a high benchmark. “The reaction was phenomenal,” he says. “People really got absorbed. Apparently there were folk crying and laughing... I think it really caught people emotionally – because it’s a real emotional hurly burly. But as a band playing live, you never really hear how it sounds out front, and you certainly don’t see the film in all its glory.” The next such performance will be in conjunction with the Commonwealth Games, as part of an all-day event on Glasgow Green; that’ll be followed by shows in London, with a low-key cinema tour planned for autumn. Looking further ahead, there are hopes that the film will find audiences overseas. A New Zealander by birth, Virginia is keen that her film not be seen as parochial. “I think there’s lots of interest, particularly in countries with a Scottish diaspora, so there’s potential for touring,” she states. “I’ve always hoped it would have an international perspective, because I do think that it has very universal themes. We always wanted it to have themes that people in any kind of industrialised country could relate to – the big themes of the 20th century I suppose.” Love, loss, work, play, resistance, migration, war and death; plus, of course, the giddy pleasures of a Friday night on the dance floor. On yersel Wayne. From Scotland with Love will be performed at Glasgow Green, 31 Jul www.glasgow2014.com/culture

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This Sporting Life

We look ahead to film festival Sports Stories from Around the African Commonwealth, which sees screenings popping up all over Edinburgh and Glasgow this month

Public Enemy

Photo: Sonia Kerr

Words: Josh Slater-Williams

f you’re looking for summertime soul, there are few safer hands than Lalah Hathaway, daughter of Chicago legend Donny. Having scooped a Grammy this year for her astonishing performance on Something with Snarky Puppy, Hathaway brings her sultry tones to the O2 ABC on Sunday 6 July. On support are Scottish Soulful Weekender maestro DJ Yogi Haughton and British up-and-comer Unoma Okudo (whose debut EP Odyssey drops soon). Riding that high, you’d do well to return to the ABC for yet more rhythm ’n’ blues with Mavis Staples (O2 ABC, Wed 9 Jul). With a career spanning over a half century, Staples is best known for singing with family band The Staple Singers, the voice of the US civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s. Her move into solo work still carries the same sense of activism and heartache, netting her a Grammy Award in 2011 for her thirteenth album You Are Not Alone. Def Jam titans and longtime collaborating MCs Method Man & Redman storm the O2 ABC on Saturday 12 July. With hefty individual legacies – Wu-Tang and Def Squad notwithstanding – as a duo Red & Mef are a dynamic live presence, as much now as when they first hooked up twenty years ago. Drawing mainly on the seminal Blackout! and Blackout! 2, the pair’ll no doubt delve into their own respective catalogues as well as serving up a few boom bap classics. And if that isn’t enough Def Jam action for you, look no further than a swift Scottish encore for the politically incendiary hip-hop crew Public Enemy (O2 ABC, Wed 30 July). Some thirty years in the game haven’t slowed down Chuck, Flav and their synchronised SW1s, so expect them to rip it up with slick cuts, promiscuous sampling, and militant hooks. We don’t need to tell you that 2014 is a big year for Glasgow, what with them there Commonwealth Games on the horizon. As such, a slew of class acts have been branded official Games events; don’t miss a whole night of grooving with the former Robot Wars presenter and radio regular Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club (O2 ABC, Fri 25 July), reggae mega-veteran and one of the only two surviving members of the Wailers Bunny Wailer (O2 ABC, Tue 29 Jul), and local lively electro-folk outfit Sketch (O2 ABC, Thu 31 July). Peeking ahead to August, we advise keeping the first Friday free for Asian Dub Foundation (O2 ABC, Fri 1 Aug), the genre-splicing big beat collective who blend drum ’n’ bass with punk and Eastern sensibilities. One last Games event deserves a spotlight: the Club Noir Commonwealth Carnival & 10th Birthday Party (O2 Academy, Sat 2 Aug), the Guiness World Record holder for biggest burlesque club. This time they’re inviting you – Glasgow’s Glambassadors – to welcome our international guests, with over twenty burlesque acts themed around the Commonwealth. And, of course, a massive birthday cake. [George Sully] www.o2abcglasgow.co.uk

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The Fighting Spirit

ith so many other cultural outlets curating events to tie in with the upcoming Commonwealth Games, it’s little surprise to see a film festival taking part, though Africa in Motion have a more interesting and unique hook than most. Since launching in 2006, the annual festival has screened over 350 African films for Scottish audiences; with Sports Stories from Around the African Commonwealth, they bring 30 more. For the last month the programme has been touring Scotland, with screenings and events in Dundee, Dumfries, Inverness, Oban, Isle of Skye, Cromarty, Coll and Dunoon. July sees proceedings move to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Among the sports stories on offer, most fans are catered for. Football-nuts have a couple of options: there’s hard-hitting doc Inside Story (8 Jul, The Grosvenor, Glasgow), which follows a young footballer from Kenya whose life is turned upside down when he gets an offer to play football in South Africa’s professional league and at the same time discovers he has contracted HIV; and Streetball (11 Jul, CCA, Glasgow), which looks behind the hoopla of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and tells the story of the home nation’s 2008 Homeless World Cup team. Unsurprisingly, given the African nations’ dominance in the sport, there are a fair few films featuring distance running. In The Runner (17 Jul, Summerhall, Edinburgh), we see how champion athlete Salah Ameidan used his talent to fight for what he believed in: “running is part of my resistance,” he says in the doc. “It’s the only weapon I have.” There’s also Athlete (10 Jul, Grosvenor), a biopic of tragic Ethiopian long-distance runner Abebe Bikil, who shook the world by winning gold in the marathon at the Rome Olympics while running barefoot, and Town of Runners (11 Jul, Summerhall), a doc that visits the extraordinary rural town of Bekoji, in Ethiopia, whose runners have won eight Olympic golds, 32 World Championships and broken ten world records in the last 20 years. Rising from Ashes (3 Jul, Filmhouse) is a documentary that follows a group of struggling genocide survivors in Rwanda as they pursue the dream of having a national cycling team. We discover the country has a rich history of bike racing, and in the film we see cycling legend Jock Boyer move there to help the group with

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their goal. The Fighting Spirit (7 Jul, CCA; 12 Jul, Summerhall), meanwhile, is a spunky doc centred on several boxers from Bukom, a small Ghanan town where a tenacious coach is encouraging kids to fight their way out of poverty. Kenyan short film Beach Boy (10 Jul, Andrew Stewart Cinema, Glasgow) is concerned with a different kind of sport. It’s a vérité documentary following one of the so-called ‘beach boys’ on the coast of Mombasa, who are young men that date older, wealthy European women in the pursuit of riches, visas for abroad, and, er, other successes. We follow one named Juma, who embarks on a relationship with an older British woman on holiday in the region. That particular screening is run in collaboration with the Commonwealth Film Festival, and it screens with main feature Rain. Govanhill Baths in Glasgow is, appropriately enough, hosting a South African surfing doc double-bill (6 Jul). Titled Waves, Vibes and Vimand, the programme promises a ‘sensory and site-specific audio-visual experience.’ Zulu Surf Riders follows a pair of surfer twins, Cyril and Mishak, who have become inspirational figures in their neighbourhood, teaching local youngsters to continue on the path of the ‘Zulu wave.’ It’s paired with Kushaya Igagasi, an inspirational doc following four street kids who love to hit the waves. The films will be followed by a night of South African house and Afrobeat DJ sets. Other innovative events at unusual venues include a Film and Food Marathon at the Mackintosh-designed House for an Art Lover in Glasgow (9 Jul). While most screenings in the festival’s line-up are free and non-ticketed, this event will set you back £20, but you get your money’s worth, with a three course meal, each dish paired with a film that reflects the nation the dish in question comes from. Although the various screenings within established cinemas like The Grosvenor and Filmhouse are welcome and appreciated, it’s the creative approach of these site-specific screenings that should help bring an intercultural dialogue regarding African sports and filmmaking to a wider audience during the Commonwealth Games. For the full line-up of Jul events and screenings beyond these highlights, visit www.africa-in-motion.org.uk

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Divine Rapture As 4AD re-release Cocteau Twins’ seminal albums Blue Bell Knoll and Heaven or Las Vegas, Simon Raymonde tells us what life in the fold was like during the band’s commercial peak

Interview: Colm McAuliffe

ver since Liz Fraser and Robin Guthrie ascended to another world from their Scottish home of Grangemouth in the early 1980s, a certain fear of interpretation defined and honed the Cocteau Twins’ sound. This fear came entirely from the band themselves; while journalists had a descriptive field day in attempting to pin down their sound in semantic terms, the band themselves gruffly refuted lofty terms and pointedly refused to speak about what they were doing. Nevertheless, the Cocteau Twins appeared to arrive and thrive in their splendidly hermetically sealed isolation. The chiming splendour of Guthrie and bass player Simon Raymonde’s instrumentation provided an immaculate foil for the glacial purity of Fraser’s remarkable voice. And during a period when bands were increasingly looking to deconstruct the traditional rock idiom, Cocteau Twins did the same, albeit entirely on their own terms. By 1988, they hadn’t recorded a full album as a complete trio in four years. Side projects with Harold Budd and This Mortal Coil had seen the trio veer off into more overtly ambient territory but the arrival of Blue Bell Knoll in September of that year heralded not only a defining album of the era but also a spectacular work on its own terms, soaring amid a stately production with xylophones, glockenspiels and marimbas trilling through the sumptuous sound. Some twenty six years on, Simon Raymonde admits it was an unusually happy time to be in the Cocteau Twins. “That whole period was incredibly fertile,” he says. “Even just before Blue Bell Knoll, with This Mortal Coil projects that I was deeply involved with, the Victorialand album [which Fraser and Guthrie recorded alone] and the Harold Budd collaboration, we were all super busy and – seemingly – fairly happy. Things seemed to be pretty good. We were at our most creative during that period, 1985 through 1990. And all the drug stuff hadn’t really come to the fore yet. The catalyst for it all was the studio we built in North Acton in an industrial estate with all these other small businesses, Dif Juz helped us build the studio inside this little unit. It was there that everything came together, and Blue Bell Knoll was probably the first record we made start to finish in our own place. We’d do bits and pieces elsewhere – we did some work at William Orbit’s house, the Tiny Dynamine and Echoes in a Shallow Bay EPs were done there and mixed somewhere else – but Blue Bell Knoll was the first time we had a studio with our own key and a front door we could shut and just get on with it. And that made a massive difference as the three of us were getting on and understanding what we were trying to do; it all gelled pretty well in that period.” The fruits of this increased level of control are evident listening back to the album now. Blue Bell Knoll showcases a band in complete control of their sound; the slightly hesitant motions of the Treasure era are abandoned in favour of a spectacular sonic blitz while Fraser’s vocals were always audible in the mix; their impenetrability became even more pronounced. “What is interesting about Blue Bell Knoll,” reflects Raymonde, “is that it was our first time with a bigger tape machine and a bigger desk which was bigger than anything we had used before. It freed up the recording process enormously because, instead of it being restricting, in terms of ‘oh well, we need to leave some room for Liz,’ we had so much more space to put other instruments in. And I guess that was the beginning of the sound change, both those records do sound more sophisticated, or better produced,

July 2014

than the previous ones, and more lush sounding and more developed. And that was really down to our circumstances changing. It did affect the way things sounded. With this album, we did get to the point where we would fill up twenty odd tracks of music and suddenly think ‘Holy crap! Where’s Liz gonna go? There’s no room left!’ That’s in a way why the record sounds like it does. Because it’s very full, we used up every space of tape we could.” “There was an element of freedom about the whole thing. It really felt like a period of creativity and freedom, we were all getting on great musically and socially, Liz and Robin were about to have a baby, I was about to get married, there was lots of joy around. Very productive! It was a really fun record to make.” However, by 1990, the first obvious signs of distress behind the Cocteaus’ veneer were beginning to show. Despite the sudden familial responsibilities for all three members, domesticated bliss was not on the agenda. The band became increasingly brusque in interviews, with Fraser often appearing to be on the verge of some form of breakdown. At one point, Guthrie ordered fans to “burn down all the old records… you have to trade in all your own Cocteau Twins records to get the new one, therefore you move with the band and you don’t get stuck.” Conversely, the resultant album – Heaven or Las Vegas – was the band’s most commercially successful release with Fraser’s lyrics becoming marginally more intelligible and the band’s sound adapting a sweeter – edging towards poppy – atmosphere. “When Robin and Liz had their baby,” explains Raymonde, “we all thought – well, Liz and I probably thought – that the drug use was gonna stop and a new baby in the house would make things better and they would play happy families for a while. That’s what we figured would happen but it didn’t really turn out like that. And it was a really weird time; while the music was amazing and great fun to be a part of, together Robin and I wrote some of our best tunes and separately too, he wrote a couple all on his own and I wrote a couple all on my own and when he added things to mine it made them better and vice versa. We were in a very good space musically but we were putting so much time and effort into the music,

it was trying to mask all the other shit that was going on that we didn’t want to stop and think about for too long. But the drug problem did get absolutely out of hand by the end of the recording of Heaven or Las Vegas and that obviously led to the rehab period which we moved into shortly afterwards.” Heaven or Las Vegas is, quite simply, a magnificent album. Peppered with paeans to Guthrie and Fraser’s daughter Lucy Belle, the expansive sound developed on the previous record was now more muscular and more defined and often erupted in paroxysms of sonic euphoria. The title track encapsulated the band’s staggering confidence in arrangements and execution with a showcase Guthrie slide guitar solo and strikingly effective – almost funky – drum programming.

“Blue Bell Knoll was the first time we had a studio with our own key and a front door we could shut and just get on with it. That made a massive difference” Simon Raymonde

“The drum machine programming is all down to Mr. Guthrie,” admits Raymonde. “He has always been a frustrated drummer. And ever since we started recording together, from the very first drum machines you could programme, that was always his big obsession, that would be the first thing he would start off with. But to run you through the Cocteau Twins’ recording process, we would get in the studio, have a chat about what sort of song we wanted to do: fast, slow,

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medium, whatever. Robin would sit at the drum machine for two minutes, put together some kind of pattern, we’d record it in a loop and then just plug guitars in – or sit at the piano – and jam. And then we would record it and that would be the song. And that’s pretty much the template for every Cocteau Twins recording from the time I joined until the end of the band. He wasn’t bad as a real drummer but he became an excellent programmer as a result of having that innate understanding of rhythm and a lot of his rhythms are hip-hop related if you think about it – certainly on Heaven or Las Vegas and even Garlands, there are some hip-hop beats. Even though the music is as far away from that as you could imagine, the rhythms do come from quite a dance-y place.” But what was it actually like being in the Cocteau Twins in 1990? “Well, my dad [arranger Ivor Raymonde] died during the recording of Heaven or Las Vegas,” Raymonde reveals. “I was only 27, I was still quite young and he was a very influential guy for me so that was a big blow but, looking back on it, having a major life event happening probably helped the record have that edge to it. You go from Pitch The Baby which is a joyous song about Elizabeth giving birth and having a kid and how amazing that is over to Frou Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires which is my song and is quite miserable really but Elizabeth makes it beautiful with the lyrics. But that was just a melancholic piano song I wrote a day or two after my dad died. So, it’s got up and down, which is why the record works over the whole ten songs, it has light and it has dark and I think that’s good in a record. “Looking back on it now – twenty four years later! – those are my two favourite Cocteau Twins albums. These two records sound both bright and well rounded at the bottom, deep bass sounds, and it felt like everything we put in there, you can hear. Whereas with the next two, the good bits are hidden. If I had to pick between them, today I’d probably choose Heaven or Las Vegas but tomorrow I might choose Blue Bell Knoll.” The deluxe vinyl remasters of Blue Bell Knoll and Heaven or Las Vegas are available on 14 Jul via 4AD www.cocteautwins.com

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Half Of Where They Lived Childhood experiences have left German producer Till Rohmann aka Glitterbug married to his mortality – new record Dust draws inspiration from his labelmate Gold Panda to take it further

Interview: Simon Jay Catling

eath and disease are old acquaintances,” chuckles Till Rohmann from his studio in Berlin. Before he’d reached double figures in age, the German producer, who writes and records under the name of Glitterbug, had already been forced to stare his own mortality in the face enough to last him a lifetime. Stricken by cancer as a child, the first seven to eight years of his life were soundtracked by the dull bleeps of hospital machinery, and left behind memories filled with the sterile smell of hospital linen, intrusive tubes and needles, and a constant, persistent cycle of sorrow, as those in the beds around him gradually disappeared one by one. “It all became part of a routine though,” he tells, his warm, matter-of-fact intonation belying the weight of our conversation. “As out of the ordinary as it might seem to other people, our own experiences are very normal to ourselves. So for me life, death, sickness – not being able to function ‘normally’ in the society I grew up in– they were very obvious things to me as a child.” Rohmann suffered three relapses before recovering, a process extended thanks to the limited medicinal knowledge of the 1970s and the consequent trial and error approach to his treatment. The experience left him weak as a teenager, but it was at this point he began to immerse himself in music. He fondly recalls crying at the first listen of Meredith Monk’s Dolmen Music. “I started to get deep into experimental music around 14 years old,” he explains. “I guess I was trying to find other odd people so I wouldn’t feel so lonely. I was never into pop music as a child – I skipped that phase. It was the life of ‘the others’ – the normal people – and I couldn’t really relate to them. I had to shape my own parallel universe and music was definitely a big part of it.” Beginning his self-tutelage in the industrial Ruhr district of Germany at the dawn of acid house in the 1980s (“with so many abandoned warehouses and mines, it was inevitable it would become a Mecca for illegal raves”), while also immersing himself in the gay house scene of the time, Rohmann’s recorded output has only come into focus over the last few years under the name Glitterbug. After two albums and a series of EPs, he revisited his childhood with the weighty deconstructed techno of cancerboy in 2012 – which, as well as being a sonic manifestation of thoughts and emotions around his own battles, was also inspired by a series of conversations with a friend going through their own, tragically unsuccessful fight against the disease. “Going through these experiences, it’s like you’re marked – whether you get through it and survive or not,” Rohmann says. “To revisit my own emotions for that album wasn’t necessarily a painful place to go. I mean it’s scary and not pleasant – but it’s just there.” It becomes easy to join the dots in Rohmann’s work with the indelible marks left on him through experience. Much of his material is imbued with a sense of solitude; the sparse arrangements of cancerboy feel vividly spectral, the rhythms that are there brittle and quick to disintegrate under the weight of the surrounding silence. For the breath-taking Dust, his latest album, Rohmann has removed himself – and his music – a step further. Still focusing on the ideas of death and departure, he’s expanded it to take on entire cities and the sense of those they have left behind. “Dust is… imagining this notion of people disappearing or dying and leaving their traces, which evaporate into dust but are still there,” he ruminates. “It’s trying to imagine a city as a multitude of all these memories piling up, in addition to what is there in the present and just

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Photo: Ronni Shendar

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pulling back layer after layer. It’s a story of dealing with mortality and thinking about what we leave behind and the traces of memories, as well as the physical marks that we leave behind with our beloved ones.” One of the idiosyncrasies of Dust is that it’s an album that – despite being put together by a producer who’s spent much of his time in the techno powerhouses of Cologne and Berlin – has a distinctly British feel to it. Rohmann agrees when that’s put to him, but admits he’s not entirely sure why such cross-channel pollination has come to be; certainly though, Dust sits well alongside the hauntology of the Ghost Box label, Boards Of Canada’s seminal 90s works and, more recently, the foggy detachment of Leyland Kirby’s bleaker plains. There are two names from England, however, who Rohmann openly admits draw tall shadows over the record – the first is the late film director Derek Jarman, whose final auto-biographical film was also titled Glitterbug. “What I love about his movies – Glitterbug in particular – is that they don’t have a clear narrative but retain this super personal storytelling,” he enthuses. “It’s just a kaleidoscope of his life – there’s a lot of footage that he probably shot without originally intending it to be a part of anything. With my music, I’m writing very personal stories that convey a certain mood to the listener, but also allow them to draw their own pictures.” The other big touchstone for Dust in particular is his close friend and fellow producer, Gold Panda. The pair met at a festival in Amsterdam, bonding over a shared feeling of

awkwardness backstage. “Some famous people I won’t name had done too much coke and were being obnoxious,” Rohmann laughs. “Derwin and I were the only sane people in the room and we bonded over this discomfort.” Consequently striking up a firm friendship together, while Gold Panda lived in Berlin – where Rohmann still resides – Dust has since come out in the UK on the producer’s NOTOWN Records. The album’s ideas were not in fact crystallised until several conversations with Derwin over where his latest record, Half Of Where You Live, was heading. “I already had this idea of doing something about memory and remembrance – to walk down streets wondering what they meant to someone else. It was very vague though, until Gold Panda told me of the concept for his album,” Rohmann says. “That record is all about – as he puts it – ‘celebrating urbanity and manmade things’ so I became keen on taking that notion further.”

“I had to shape my own parallel universe” Till Rohmann

Where Gold Panda’s record shimmers in representation of the present day, the clarity of his samples conveying the constant desire for material newness, Glitterbug’s Dust pulls downwards as it looks to the past and the ghosts of

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what might have been. Far less beat-driven and dictated by fewer samples, the singular pulse of Silent Glory, for example, feels like the loosest of links to Half Of Where You Live, as though picking up that record’s transmission from a parallel universe. Rohmann claims he’s far more comfortable working in large studios than his contemporary, with Gold Panda a bedroom producer to this day, and unable to resist the lure of a more dancefloor-friendly sound. “But there’s something about the mood of our music that’s similar,” the German artist explains. “There’s a certain depth to his music that I really love – although he’s a bit more playful than me, certainly.” To listen to Rohmann’s back catalogue in chronological order is to hear an artist gradually withdrawing from that side of things himself; Dust continues that trend, focusing around a self-enforced limited selection of instruments and effects, instead attempting to put a lot into not very much at all. The producer has long since left behind Berlin’s clubbing scene, finding it far removed from his own ideals of what club life should be. “My idea of a club was a place where all things can literally come together,” he says, “just as much as cancerboy was a techno album about cancer and death. But a lot of people found it bizarre and were almost like ‘how dare you bring death into the club!’ But it should be there, you know? It’s a part of life. I think with Dust it’s a little bit the same; but I really like telling stories through my music and that’s very hard to do with just a drum machine and a bass line.” www.glitterbug.de

THE SKINNY

Broken China Dolls Showing in Dovercot this month, artist Barnaby Barford sculpts onto porcelain figurines to tell bittersweet tales of the modern world Interview: Rosamund West

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hat I’ve done, and what I continue to do, is reappropriation. Take something, change its context, and make it relevant to us, so that we relate to it.” Barnaby Barford works with ceramics, with the found objects of porcelain figurines, intervening with them through the gift of a Dremel Multi Tool and then painstakingly twisting and reconstructing them to form narratives of contemporary life. From happy slapping to the three graces as played by Amy Winehouse, he uses these loaded sources to hold up a mirror to society, a wry tone concealing a serious core. “The fact that they’re figurines – we’ve all seen them, we know the stories we expect them to tell. These sweet, saccharine stories and their representations of life. By putting them together and changing something I’m giving them a new context and new life,” he explains. The figurine itself is just another material, one to be manipulated into the desired form and meaning. “One of the reasons I use the figurines is they’re all made by different people from different ages and places. Some are really expensive, some are classical, some are contemporary, and I like that mix. If I made them they’d all look the same; I like playing with different styles.” He now mainly sources them from eBay, although when he first started working in this mode a decade ago he was shopping locally. “I put the price of figurines up in Hammersmith when I first started. You’d go in to begin with and they’d be 50p, then four years later I’d go in and it’d be like ‘£5?!’”

Barford’s interventions use this source material and undermine it, playfully skewing our preconceptions to deliver grander messages about our society. In Come On You Lightweight – Down It! two blue and white Delft-ish porcelain ladies interact atop a plate, one seated and one standing with her hand on the other’s shoulder. Their table is covered in empty booze bottles, some half drunk pints of beer and discarded cartons of fags, the leftover detritus of a contemporary bender suddenly scandalous when put in the context of the fancy ladies. Psycho Bunny, his earliest piece in this exhibition, is relatively simple in comparison to later works, in many ways indicative of an artist just beginning to realise the potentials of his newfound media. A Peter Rabbit plate, a remnant of childhood, is embedded vertically into another dish, an homage to the plate stand of chintzy 80s living rooms. Added brutality is provided by the blood trail leading round the back of the plate, where we discover a white china bunny with a barrow full of severed porcelain heads. The inverted bunny boiler is minimal in the context of the later works, yet supremely effective in setting out Barford’s tone of humorous recontextualisation. Film work Damaged Goods, created on commission from Animate Projects, takes the old classic story of forbidden love between a poor boy and a rich girl, told with the social strata literally represented by shelves of porcelain. She’s

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from the top shelf, he’s from the bottom, he goes up to court her and she falls to the ground where she’s smashed and then gloriously resurrected in shiny porcelain glory. “Whereas usually the poor person ends up living the happy ending, in this one there’s a twisted ending and she ends up on the floor,” says Barford. Created using stop motion animation, it’s been a smash (aharhar) hit at film festivals around the world. How Else Am I Gonna Learn, from 2011, questions how we deal with the proliferation of pornography through the juxtaposition of the innocent and the jazz mag. It shows a red hooded child figurine sitting wide-eyed amid a sea of miniaturised porn titles. Say Barford, “It’s looking at young people’s access to porn on the internet,

and how there’s the potential of young people learning about love and sex and relationships from looking at this explicit material. It’s about creating a debate about how it affects people.” The latest piece in this show, Paradiso, shows Pope John Paul II and Jesus playing beachball on a paradisical beach. Says Barford, “Again it plays on the preconceptions. I spoke to my inlaws, who’re Catholic, about it and they were like, ‘Oh yes well you know Pope John Paul was really sporty.’ That’s confidence with your religion, isn’t it.” Which makes perfect sense, once you think about it. Barnaby Barford, Dovecot, until 19 Jul, free dovecotstudios.com

Admission Free

Ross Sinclair 20 Years of Real Life

Open: October - March April - September August

Tues – Sun 10am – 4pm 10am – 5pm Mon – Sun 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

27.06.14 – 31.08.14 Funded by:

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THE SKINNY

The Final Fling As Scotland’s largest music festival waves goodbye to its longstanding Balado site, we profile some of the best new artists, grizzled veterans and wildcard acts playing at this month’s big musical bunfight, otherwise known as T in the Park

o, farewell then Balado. The former airfield, a name that few had ever heard of pre-1997, will soon no longer be home to Scotland’s biggest music festival. From 2015, T in the Park will shift some 20 miles north to the picturesque surrounds of Strathallan Castle, in the heart of Perthshire’s countryside. The switch follows a long-running Health and Safety Executive gripe regarding the current site; apparently you really shouldn’t have thousands of revellers in close proximity to a gigantic oil pipeline – not that this has ever stopped the residents of Grangemouth, of course. Many folk won’t miss the trek along the M90 to the rather featureless venue near Kinross, but let’s not forget that the festival would unlikely have grown to become the 85.000 capacity behemoth it is now without moving from its original home in Strathclyde Park. Perhaps this next reinvention will give the festival another shot in the arm. The final Balado shebang is on 11-13 July; let The Skinny be your guide, with a rundown of the rookies, veterans and wildcards who will be packing their wellies and lugging their flight cases into hire vans to make the pilgrimage this month. THE ROOKIES Atom Tree (T Break Tent, Friday) Glasgow trio Atom Tree are one of the few bands with the distinction of playing both T in the Park and Wickerman this month. Given the quality of the densely textured soundscapes they create, which retain a firm pop sensibility, it’s not difficult to understand why they are such an in-demand booking. The perfect accompaniment for the kind of warm afternoon/early evening weather which is of course guaranteed at every large-scale outdoor event in Scotland. Vladimir (T Break Tent, Friday) Festivals are not all sweetness and light. Not when there’s the mud, the warm lager and the skull-cracking hangovers to contend with. If you feel an existential crisis developing, then Vladimir will give you a refreshingly tight embrace within their dense wall of guitars. It’s a violent cocktail that’s one part Pyschocandy and three parts fuck-me-this-band-are-loud. Then again, even if you’re a sensible sort that drinks

moderately, this Dundee four-piece remain definite must-sees. Handily, they’re on at both Wickerman and T in the Park. Royal Blood (King Tut’s Tent, Friday) If Michael Gove’s list of supposed British values had any basis in reality, it would include the national desire to select a band on the verge of releasing their debut album and anoint them as ‘ones to watch’ at the summer festivals. This summer, that honour/albatross has been handed to Brighton duo Royal Blood. But don’t let the hype put you off; these guys do actually have songs, and their basic bass and drums set-up provides surprisingly rich and varied returns. Think QOTSA meets DeathFromAbove1979, then punch yourself in the face.

but that’s never been entirely sound festival recruitment criteria (see: Travis). Simon Neil has promised their tenth appearance (more than any other band) will be the best show they’ve ever done. If that kind of prediction doesn’t kindle your interest, nothing will. Manic Street Preachers (King Tut’s Tent, Friday) The Manics long ago passed the point of needing music hacks to promote their shows; they can rely upon the kind of devotional following that’s beyond the comprehension of new bands. There are some fans who claim the one-time Generation Terrorists’ shows lack the burning intensity of old, but others insist that, on the day, they remain peerless. If you’ve somehow reached 2014 without catching them in the flesh, firstly take a look at yourself and then make sure you’re in the King Tut’s tent on Friday night at T in the Park– a festival they’re on the record as being big fans of since debuting there on day dot back in 1994.

Birdhead (T Break Tent, Saturday) When is the optimal time to take to the stage at T in the Park? Midnight on Saturday is when the right sort of wild-eyed punters are in their most desperate need of sustenance, away from the crowded main stages, and that’s exactly when Edinburgh duo Birdhead will power out their progressive cocktail of mega synths, sharp guitars and powering drum sounds. Precisely the sort of pick-me-up you’ll need to take you through to the Sunday morning. Drenge (King Tut’s Tent, Friday) Another two-piece. With album artwork that depicts a Sheffield graveyard and a bizarre public endorsement from a West Bromwich MP, Drenge were never going to sing harmonies about California beach life. Working from a rough postpunk template that recalls The Mozfather fronting the White Stripes (honest, like), the brother duo have a real snotty side, with album standout I Wanna Break You In Half being a case in point. Not one for the bairns.

Slam (Slam Tent, Sunday) The Slam tent might not be quite as cavernous as it was in its mid-00s heyday, but its name still resonates as being home to the biggest dance party in Scotland for one weekend every July. If you’re looking to bid farewell to the Balado field in which you left a sizable part of your mind over successive years, then it’s only fitting that you catch the DJs that have curated the arena since its inception. Stuart MacMillan and Orde Meikle need no introduction; co-founders of Soma Quality Recordings, purveyors of the finest techno. They’re certain to give the old place a fitting send off ahead of the flit to Strathallan next year.

THE VETERANS Biffy Clyro (Main Stage, Friday) It’s remarkable it has taken this long for our native Biffy to headline T in the Park. In so many ways, they are the ideal candidates; their recent anthemic output is ideal for lighter-waving opportunities, but they can still rock out with the best of them. There’s also the homegrown factor,

Chvrches

July 2014

Biffy Clyro

James (Main Stage, Saturday) It seems unfair that James are doomed forever to be associated with that 1991 single which implored everyone to rest their legs. The group were once Manchester’s most respected postpunk outfit long before The Smiths or Stone Roses came along. You could do a lot worse than pull up a pew and explore the extensive back catalogue of this incendiary live band, who still play in the sprawling incarnation that recorded their most revered record, 1993’s Laid.

Photo: Jassy Earl

CHVRCHES (King Tut’s Tent, Friday) From producers’ side project to transatlantic critical darlings, with sell-out hometown shows at the ABC as well as a wee appearance on Jimmy Fallon along the way (and Glastonbury under their belt by the time you read this), it’s fair to say that CHVRCHES have enjoyed a decent two years. While they might not be veterans in the traditional sense, this is their second consecutive T in the Park and they’ve come a long, long way in a short space of time. Their much-anticpated Friday night slot in the King Tut’s Tent, essentially playing support to the Manics and Pixies, is sure to be one of the weekend’s big draws.

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THE WILDCARDS The Human League (King Tut’s Tent, Saturday) Not so long ago Sheffield’s synth-pop pioneers were shorthand for early 80s sartorial excess, especially among those too young to remember either their creative peak or a time when people actually visited places advertising themselves as cocktail bars. But The Human League’s lasting influence has never been more apparent, with indebted electro artists ruling the airwaves. None of this will surprise the irrepressible Philip Oakley, a consistent performer with a dazzling range of songs at his disposal. Factory Floor (Slam Tent, Friday) If there’s one common complaint about T in the Park line-ups, it’s that there’s not enough industrial post-rock electronic bands with avant-garde leanings. Thankfully, this yawning chasm has been filled with the addition of London’s thrillingly demented Factory Floor. These DFA-signings are hard to pin down but never ever dull; you genuinely do not know what to expect next from their live shows. But be prepared for disappointment if you go in hoping for a hands-together sing-along. Dan Croll (T Break Tent, Friday) Music fans with an excessively cynical/jealous streak might turn their noses up at Dan Croll. A music graduate with major label backing, he’s a fine looking chap who’s just released a well-received debut album that neatly follows on from the played-everywhere single From Nowhere. But those open minded enough to ignore the polish are likely to find much to enjoy in his strong harmonies and lush electronica. Arrive early, or you’ll be watching from the back. Maximo Park (Radio 1 Stage, Friday) It’s 10 years since Maximo Park first invited us to sing to them in French, but the inventive Geordie alt-rockers have proved more resolute than most of their contemporaries from the indie class of 04/05. They released their fifth album in February and have endured as a popular live draw; thanks in part to the energetic Paul Smith who remains one of the most engaging frontmen around. Fat Goth (T Break Tent, Saturday) Fat Goth can’t be classed as a new band (they’re already on album number three) and neither are they first-time visitors to Balado. But The Skinny was at the BBC Introducing stage last year and can confirm it wasn’t packed to the rafters, meaning there’s obviously a load of festival punters still unfamiliar with this Dundee power trio. They’re on the T Break stage this time round, and with the loud, abrasive and totally obnoxious One Hundred Percent Suave to promote, there’s no excuse to miss out again. T in the Park takes place in Balado, Kinross-shire on 11-13 Jul www.tinthepark.com

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Photo: Roth Christiansen

Words: Chris McCall

THE SKINNY

Back to Reality

David Gordon Green has one of the strangest CVs in Hollywood, easily switching from lyrical drama (George Washington) to goofy stoner comedies (Pineapple Express). He’s back in a more contemplative mood with Joe, a lived-in slice of American Gothic

Interview: Michelle Devereaux

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hat dog is an asshole!” Joe (Nicolas Cage) declares mid-way through David Gordon Green’s Southern crime drama, when the vicious beast bares snarling teeth and bars him from entering his favourite local brothel. Later, in the film’s most arresting sequence, Joe sets his own French bulldog on it in a fight to the death, sublimating his own desire to kill. The scene serves as a central metaphor for Green’s film: dogs (a favourite subject of the director) are our closest animal allies, the most domesticated of beasts, but they’re just as easily capable of tearing us apart when backed into a corner or abused. Or even, like true assholes, just because they feel like it. The ostensible hero of the film, Joe is most certainly an asshole, and one often without cause, like his whorehouse canine nemesis. Struggling to control his impulse to continually lash out at the world and blow up his own life, Joe is plunged into an existential despair he thinks only sex and booze can quell. Green, however, seems like the quintessential amiable guy, just excited to be getting the chance to do what he’s doing. But he admits he has some of Joe in him, like we all do. When pressed about the idea of suppressing the beast within the man – whether it’s something that’s even possible, and whether it denies basic human nature – Green is circumspect. “Wow, man, we need a few drinks at the bar to talk about this,” he offers with a chuckle. “To me the whole movie is like – I mean, you have that, I have that, Joe fucking certainly has that – how do you juggle who you are with your community’s laws and your culture’s expectations of you?” Green knows a thing or two about cultural expectations. He first burst on to the indie filmmaking scene with his 2000 debut, George Washington, a stunning, near-perfect film about youth on the economic fringe of Southern U.S. society, which won the New York Film Critics’ award for Best First Feature and the Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. by turns deadpan, funny and harrowing, with exquisite naturalistic cinematography from his now-longtime collaborator Tim Orr, the film announced Green as an heir to the likes of Terrence Malick (who produced his third film, 2004’s Undertow). But unlike that filmmaking legend, Green had an obvious sense of humour, and seemed more content to study the roots of terrestrial human relationships than what happens in a more spiritual realm, above the tree branches. “I like weirdos. I like outcasts. I like places around the corner and down the street that you have to kind of like, hold your breath when you enter,” he says. “I like when you take a little bit of the polish off people and their places.” Green himself might not be a weirdo, but his career trajectory is most certainly strange. After following up George Washington with a few moderately successful indie dramas (All the Real Girls, Undertow, Snow Angels), he scored his biggest hit to date, the uproariously funny doper comedy Pineapple Express (2008), and quickly followed it up by co-producing and directing the profane HBO cult sitcom Eastbound & Down (star Danny McBride is an old friend from university). It couldn’t have been a bigger about-face, something Green readily acknowledges. “I work in a very playful, whimsical way,” he says. “When I’ve done something I try to do something different. I try to exercise a different muscle.” Green was drawn to Joe’s star Nicolas Cage, in part, because of his similar career

July 2014

trajectory. “I just think somebody that has that weird career, is somebody that has the complicated levels and layers of Joe,” he says of Cage. “A lot of movie stars, once they’re accepted at something, won’t mess with it. He’s constantly willing to go out on a limb and challenge that, and I think that’s exciting. I like to do that as well.”

“I like weirdos. I like outcasts. I like places around the corner and down the street that you have to kind of like, hold your breath when you enter” David Gordon Green

While Green says he likes to take “a bit of the polish off” his characters, that lack of shine has unfortunately applied to his own output in recent years. His 2011 studio projects Your Highness and The Sitter were critically eviscerated commercial failures, ironically (at least in the case of

the latter) not because of any artistic risk-taking, but out of a slavish adherence to the bland Hollywood “product” by committee that Green himself despises. When discussing the creative leaps made by the filmmakers of the late 60s and 70s that he so admires, and their subsequent dissolution by Hollywood, he is noticeably dismayed. “We’d betrayed everything we’d learned and started making everything that was an action figure and a franchise, and everything had a commercial polish,” he says. “And so, when you go to the movies now, you’re buying a product. You’re getting on the assembly line and you’re taking a ride with the toys.” Perhaps he feels a bit burned and is just too genial to admit it, because Green’s last two films, the charming, contemplative and quirky Prince Avalanche (2013) and now Joe, mark a return to his filmmaking roots and a return to form (although he has yet to re-attain the heights of his debut). Green denies being an auteur, deriding the entire concept. “Nic [Cage] actually, he looked at me and said, ‘You’re a character-actor director. You like to disappear into your work,’” he recounts proudly. But his characteristic early thematic and stylistic preoccupations are all over the film: the outside (nature) invading the inside (both figuratively and literally), a heightened sense of naturalism nearing the sublime, animalistic masculinity, love as an emotional brutality, a diffuse episodic narrative leading to a decisive moment, children and animals (the latter, and sometimes the former, as both companions and meat). Above all, Green desires to find the humane

FILM

in the horrible, baring a seed of hope nestled in diseased, rotten fruit. That’s personified in Joe by Wade, the vicious drunk and Joe’s chief antagonist, played by Gary Poulter, a homeless man discovered in Austin who sadly passed away a few months after filming. After seeing Poulter teaching people to breakdance on set, he decided to integrate it into the film. “I was like… let’s have the villain have a side of humanity,” he explains. “Let’s challenge our perception of this guy and like him for a second. “ Similarly, Green gave non-scripted direction for Poulter to place a tender kiss on the forehead of a fellow drifter he’s just robbed and murdered. His penchant for ad-libbing makes sense given his affection for human foibles and oddball connections. Green’s next film will be another antihero drama, the Al Pacino–starring Manglehorn, but he’s also got more comedy in the works, including a television collaboration with his own personal career hero, Steven Soderbergh, called Red Oaks. Whatever he does, Green will most likely continue to make a career out of keeping it weird, like any true iconoclast. “Sometimes you just say it out loud and you put your foot in your mouth, and sometimes you say it out loud and get in trouble,” he muses. “And sometimes you say it out loud and people say you’re a genius. You never know, man.” It seems for Green, the not knowing – just being in the moment – is the whole point. “There are no rules. There really aren’t,” he declares. Spoken like a true nice-guy antihero. Joe is released 25 Jul by Curzon Film World

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Old Dog, New Tricks If the notion of a videogame soundtrack floods your mind with bleeps and bloops, it might be time to wrap your head around Watch Dogs – a progressive score for a cutting-edge game. We asked Brian Reitzell about his unorthodox path to becoming its composer

hink carefully about your career. Plan what you want to do with your life. Have goals and ambitions. Don’t squander your time with videogames. It’s advice we’ve all heard in some form or other over our lifetimes. However, it’s not advice that Brian Reitzell has particularly followed, and yet the former rock drummer now finds himself as a pretty hot ticket, composing music for film, TV and, yes, videogames. Having come to prominence scoring 2003’s Lost in Translation, and more recently putting his touch to the acclaimed Hannibal television series, Reitzell seems to be in something of a purple patch, cemented by his stunning and progressive work on Watch Dogs, one of this year’s biggest and most anticipated games. “I’m really not someone who plays videogames, because my job is like a videogame,” laughs Reitzell when The Skinny asks about his gaming credentials. “I sit at my computer with all this equipment trying to make it work, to fit into whatever I’m scoring at the time. It’s like the best videogame ever.” With indie games covering topics as diverse as playing a fictional immigration officer to controlling a set of self-aware, artificially intelligent, polygonal shapes, we suggest to Reitzell that perhaps such a game could exist. “Yeah, then I could soundtrack it,” he laughs. However, Reitzell didn’t always have such a clear idea of his future path. Back in 1990 the young musician joined alternative punk band Redd Kross as their drummer, a position he held for seven years before deciding to forge his own path. “Redd Kross weren’t my band,” he begins on why he quit the veteran group. “They had been around for over a decade when I joined and eventually I realised I wanted to do something that was completely my own. I didn’t know what that would be, but then Sofia Coppola asked me to help her with the music for her first film [1999’s The Virgin Suicides, for which Reitzell assisted French stargazers Air]. We were friends. I had a big record collection. I used to make mixes and play them while we would hang out. It was an extension of that really.” Though The Virgin Suicides was a confident first outing for both, it wasn’t until the pair teamed up again for Lost in Translation that the real acclaim began to emerge. Reitzell, along with My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields, received a BAFTA nomination for his work on the soundtrack. It opened up many unexpected

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Interview: Darren Carle

doors for Reitzell, which allowed him to develop his own style. “I was approached to work on a small horror film called 30 Days of Night,” he begins, detailing the offers that came in. “I really didn’t know how to score a horror film, but I wanted to do it my way rather than just copy someone like Bernard Herrmann. I didn’t have access to huge orchestras or anything like that, so I just had to develop my own way of doing things.” Reitzell claims that his ominous and brooding score for 30 Days of Night led directly to the offer of his first major videogame project, 2011’s Red Faction: Armageddon. As a reasonably wellreceived fourth instalment to a fairly non-descript franchise, it was perhaps a good starting point for the new frontier Reitzell found himself at. However, his next major videogame project was certainly quite different on paper. Watch Dogs was pitched as an ambitious, open-world, stealth-action game; a new IP for Ubisoft and clearly one of such investment that a whole new franchise would be riding on its trenchcoat-clad shoulders. “I went to E3 in 2012 and had no idea what to expect,” begins Reitzell on his first proper look at the game he had been working on. “Up until then it had been called Nexus. I didn’t even know the name had changed until I turned up. I watched it in a small room and was just blown away by the trailer. As were a lot of people, it turns out.” Indeed they were, and Watch Dogs went on to be one of the most anticipated games of recent times, partly due to its grand, far-reaching ambition and partly because it was slated to be one of the first triple-A releases for the next generation of consoles. Yet despite being in a strange new world, and with some weighty expectation from notoriously hard-to-please gamers, Reitzell claims no such pressure intruded on his day-to-day work. “I started with the script,” he says of the process he went through. “That gave me a good feel for the tone of the game, and I’m also very familiar with Chicago, where it all takes place. I had been thinking of doing something in a krautrock style for a while and felt Watch Dogs would be a good match. At the time, Drive had just been released and that got a lot of attention, but I felt the Tangerine Dream comparisons were a little off. So that made me really want to do a proper krautrock, early Tangerine Dream score.” With his ideas in place, Reitzell went to work

on recording his score, but says he discovered more and more the complexities of making a videogame compared to a movie. “With in-game music, you might know what’s happening in the story or where in the city it takes place but ultimately you have no idea what the player will be doing at that time,” he explains. “So you have to make the music fairly ambiguous. And even with cut-scenes, where you have a visual cue, the early versions would have people with no lips or even no head at times. Things would be edited and changed in ways that just don’t or can’t happen in movies.”

“My job is like a videogame. I sit at my computer with all this equipment trying to make it work to fit into whatever I’m scoring at the time – it’s like the best videogame ever” Brian Reitzell

However, just as he claims with his score to 30 Days of Night, adversity bore art and Reitzell’s struggles saw him adopt some clever approaches to the difficulties he faced. “I ended up going over and above what my remit was,” he admits. “I’d maybe be asked for a two-minute piece of music for a certain section, but by manipulating that piece, by slowing it down, changing octaves and looping it, it would go on for twenty minutes without ever repeating itself. I thought that was important for a game people will be playing for thirty hours or more.” Delayed for six months while Ubisoft tightened the game’s underlying mechanics, Watch Dogs was eventually released in May to record

MUSIC

sales and strong critical acclaim. Not least of the plaudits were those for Reitzell’s unconventional, progressive soundtrack, and it wasn’t just cyberhacking gamers taking note. Invada Records, a small, specialist label co-owned by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, release the Watch Dogs soundtrack this coming month, a development that pleased Reitzell plenty. “A mutual friend of mine had been telling me I should meet Geoff for a while and it was kind of on my radar but we both just didn’t have the time. It was pure coincidence that Invada decided to release Watch Dogs on vinyl and CD, and a real compliment, as they only release stuff they really like themselves.” With the physical release of game soundtracks something of a rarity, Watch Dogs seems indicative of a maturity within the craft and we’d wager on it being something of a pivotal soundtrack in years to come. On that note, we quiz Reitzell on some touchstone videogame scores of his own. “Like I said, I’m not really a games player but I’d love to do something along the lines of those 8-bit sounds,” he states surprisingly. “I remember Malcolm McLaren playing me all these crazy Game Boy soundtracks and it was quite an eye-opener. Some of those things were as intricate as any classical piece. I’d love to work in that area, do something as a tribute to those classic arcade games like Pac Man, Donkey Kong and Centipede.” For now though, Reitzell has just released his debut solo album proper Auto Music (again collaborating with Shields) and is currently putting the finishing touches to the physical release of his Hannibal soundtrack. After that he has no plans, or is at least remaining tight lipped, causing The Skinny to ask if, after the success of Watch Dogs, a sequel is on the cards. “Let me tell you, they [Ubisoft] are like the CIA,” he jokes. “They know how to keep a secret, so no, I haven’t heard anything. But then again, I wouldn’t, not yet anyway. But yeah, if the offer comes up I’d certainly be interested.” So it continues for Brian Reitzell then. No firm career plans, no overarching goals, taking opportunities where they arise and absolutely, positively wasting his time with videogames. WATCH_DOGS OST is released on 28 Jul via Invada Records www.invada.co.uk

THE SKINNY

July 2014

THE SKINNY

Give them the old… Razzle Dazzle Words: Sacha Waldron

iennial/Triennale/Internationalennial/ Anythingennial season is upon us. Glasgow International kicked everything in April. Whitstable Biennale in May/June saw gin drinking in beach huts, life-guard performances and stories from a meteorite. Folkestone Triennale in August/September promises us work with an architectural slant: more beach-huts, this time from Pablo Bronstein and a cruise-liner hotel lookout from Alex Hartley. No-one knows quite what to expect from the new Bristol Biennial

in September but, back up in Manchester, the Asia Triennale (September also) looks set to be a winner. The oldest Biennial in the UK is, however, Liverpool Biennial which opens this month for its 8th edition. The festival launches with two new commissions, Carlos Cruz-Diez’s Dazzle Ship and composer Michael Nyman’s memorial symphony to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster 25 years ago, which will be performed at Liverpool Cathedral on 5 July. The core exhibition, titled

Cabaret: Status 2014 What happened to the cabaret revival? We take a look at some of the month’s events to find it in rude health Words: Eric Karoulla

July 2014

A Needle Walks Into A Haystack is curated by Cairo-born, Brussels-based Mai Abu ElDahab and Geneva-born, San Francisco-based Anthony Huberman. The two are attempting to “disrupt the way we assume our habits and experience our habitats” through a group exhibition of international artists and several more focused installations and exhibitions across the city which look at not just contemporary work, but also the historical and archival. The Bluecoat will be presenting the work of James Whistler (1834-1903), particularly his infamous Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (1876-77). This ambitious interior Anglo-Japanese mural/artwork was considered shocking by the Liverpool ship owner it was created for and, in part, resulted in Whistler’s eventual bankruptcy. Across town, FACT presents a solo exhibition of L.A-based artist/filmmaker Sharon Lockhart, her first in the UK, which includes a new installation created for the Biennial. Tate Liverpool, as they did last year, will curate from their own collections in the second floor galleries. The exhibition includes the work of over 46 artists, including Rachel Whiteread, Susan Hiller, Francis Bacon and Leon Ferrari (good name!). Downstairs, in the Wolfson Room, an exciting new commission from architect Claude Parent remodels the gallery with slanted floors and ramps, allowing the visitor to re-navigate the space. Biennial visitors have come to expect sneaky peeks into previously disused or private buildings all over the city. In 2012 we were invited to explore the old postal sorting office on Copperas Hill and the rather epic Cunard buildings on the riverfront. This year does not disappoint, and visitors are invited into the Old Blind School (and former Trade Union building) on Hardman Street, which has been derelict for many years. Another new venue has also been announced this year, referred to mysteriously as ‘The Apartment’ (located in St Andrews Gardens), which will host the work of experimental Belgium television director Jef Cornelis. A notable bow-out from the main Biennial

ack in October 2012, the UK cabaret scene reacted strongly to X Factor judge Gary Barlow’s use of the term ‘cabaret’ in a derogatory fashion. There are many articles – both in print and online – about the ‘too cabaret’ incident, but it seems that since the cabaret revival, artists appear to be moving out of the cabaret scene. This revival appeared to be in full force during 2012 and last year‘s Fringe festival, yet seems to be hitting a low point this year. On the other hand, February 2014 brought the opening of Wild Cabaret, Wicked Lounge in Glasgow. Injecting the decadence of the 1920s into the Merchant City, and bringing some London performers up to mix with the Glaswegian talent, the venue promises delicious food, drinks, and a good time. While this is the first purpose-built venue for cabaret in Glasgow, with in-built aerial equipment, it’s not the first venue to host cabaret nights in Scotland. In Glasgow alone, several venues have hosted regular cabaret nights over the past few years: Spangled Cabaret at the Art School, the Creative Martyrs’ Sinister Wink in the basement of the bungo bar and kitchen, and the Gatsby Club, run by Miss Hell’s Belle. Edinburgh’s cabaret scene demonstrates that it is equally community driven, with a few good ‘cabarati’* having rallied together to form a weekly cabaret slot at Henry’s Cellar Bar every Wednesday night at 7pm. Hosted by Miss Annabel Sings and Cherryfox, this cabaret night promises a taste of everything: comedy, some puppetry, spoken word, music and the occasional burlesque act. It features both emerging and established artists trying something new. Does cabaret as a genre suffer from bad press? Possibly. From the outside, it’s obvious that quite a few people don’t approve of its links to burlesque, although the latter is only a part of the bigger genre called cabaret. Even so, theatre companies seem to have taken a few tips from

ART / THEATRE

exhibition is Open-Eye, who have chosen to do their own thing this year with an exhibition curated by Lorenzo Fusi (previously curator at the Biennial) called Not All Documents Are Records: Photographing Exhibitions As Art Form. The exhibition looks to be a meaty one, with work including Hans Haacke’s 1959 photographs of the Kassel quinquennial documenta and a new work from Cristina De Middel that reinterprets the history of Liverpool Biennial. This should be a good recursive loopy moment within the festival: you will be in the festival, looking at documentation of art festivals, which are in themselves artworks within the festival and at the same time they tell the history of the current festival, which could itself be an artwork. Exhibition as medium. Take a photograph to complete the oddness. As usual you can expect to see major partner exhibition the John Moores Painting Prize (dubbed the “Oscars of the painting world” according to the website, but slightly less glam in reality) at The Walker Art Gallery. The Skinny has its (conceptual) money on either the black and white worm-like totems from Christopher Cook or the stark nakedness of Robert Fawcett. Bloomberg New Contemporaries, the important platform for recent graduates and now in its 65th year, is also back, this time at the World Museum and selected by Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Enrico David, and Goshka Macuga. Over the course of the festival, The Skinny will be covering all elements of the Biennial programme, reviewing the shows and profiling and interviewing the artists both in print and online. First up we chatted to German artist Judith Hopf, exhibiting new work at the Old Blind School. We also recommend the best of the exhibitions and projects that form the wider festival and Independent programme alongside key events and performances to look out for and book ahead. Happy Biennialing! Liverpool Biennial runs from 5 Jul-26 Oct 2014. The exhibitions take place in most of the major venues in the city. See www.biennial.com for the full programme and Listings

the artform – after all, cabaret has a reputation for its grassroots, DIY approach to performance. This doesn’t mean the shows are amateurish in performance, but rather, that the artists produce, direct, and perform the show themselves as well as making most – if not all – of the props and costumes they need. The cabaret aesthetic, however, can be as broad as you like it, although it often falls under vintage fashion in some way. Fortunately, Glasgow has no shortage of that – the Glasgow Vintage festival is on its way at the end of this month, as part of Glasgow XX Commonwealth Games celebrations. Events range from a Charleston Brunch to the vintage dance-class called From Peabody to Jitterbug, both at Wild Cabaret. To help suit up for this festival, the organisers have arranged for a marketplace as well as an array of art and fashion design workshops. Most recently, London-based Time Out has dispensed with its cabaret section, which appears slightly counterintuitive. Admittedly, this could be due to a financial issue, but the section’s absence can raise questions about ‘the right place’ for cabaret. Not on the performers’ part, but rather as part of marketing; getting exposure involves correct product placement, which could mean cabaret performers are ‘forced’ to move into other sections of magazines, simply to get their shows seen. This is reflected in the Edinburgh Fringe 2014 brochure, with a few cabaret artists – think of Frisky and Mannish, EastEnd Cabaret – listed under comedy or theatre. Nonetheless, the cabaret section seems to be bursting with new names, and a few theatre companies that seem prepared to tackle the norms. *a word used by Ben Walters of Time Out, who also wrote the Beginners’ Guide to Cabaret www.vintagefestival.co.uk/events/vintage-glasgowmerchant-city-festival-26th-27th-july-2014

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Paper at the Cutting Edge of Fiction Visionary writer Mark Z. Danielewski on stitching narrative threads, the joy of collaboration, why you’ll never read an e-book of his work, and the loneliness of the young novelist

Interview: Bram E. Gieben

ark Z. Danielewski’s visionary breakthrough novel, House of Leaves, published in 2000, didn’t so much re-write the rules of genre fiction as tear them up, burn the remnants and start over. A dizzying, challenging, often bewildering take on the traditional haunted house tale, and a fractured meta-narrative that unfolded, maze-like, through footnotes, marginalia and distressed, disturbed printing techniques presented in the visually-led style of ‘ergodic literature,’ it was intended as a meditation on the concept of the labyrinth in fiction, and borrowed heavily from cinematic techniques. In April, Cargo Press republished his 2005 novella The Fifty Year Sword, a mysterious, Scheherazade-like fireside tale with multiple narrators, their voices indicated by intricate lines of coloured thread stitched into the very pages of the original manuscript. Now, Danielewski is in the process of writing The Familiar, an ambitious long-form serial inspired by the surge of creativity in the world of television in recent years. Just as House of Leaves took its cues from film, and Only Revolutions from music, and just as The Fifty Year Sword was inspired by the folk tale, The Familiar will attempt to achieve a simulacrum of the long-form TV series “through the lens of a book.” For anyone hoping to bag a discounted copy of any of Danielewski’s work in e-book format, think again. His ergodic novels operate at the cutting edge of printing technology, employing experimental approaches to typography, illustration and printing that bind his novels inextricably to their printed forms. Take The Familiar: “The electronic form will be explored, but the reality is that the electronic forms available are not really up to speed with what I’m doing,” he says. The Fifty Year Sword has gone through several iterations, with previous editions being illustrated in some way, and even coming to life as a ‘shadow play’ at a theatre in Los Angeles. “The more I worked with the text, and its musicality, and the literalness of the threads, I began to understand I needed to use thread,” he says. “House of Leaves and Only Revolutions were so much about the self. That ideal and awful dream of the novelist – to get everything his or her way. Once I’d done that, I thought, is that really such a great goal? Is that really what you want? And I realised that for my own happiness, my own personal wellbeing, I wanted to include others.” To achieve this goal of working collaboratively, he created his own ‘atelier’ – a French word for an artists’ collective or workshop. There were “three people busily scanning and stitching and collecting pieces of thread; running out and getting new colours, or needles; exploring different papers... very much like you’d see in an atelier in Genoa, on an architectural project, or in a kitchen in Angoulême,” says Danielewski. This led to just the kind of inspired improvisation he had been yearning to be a part of: “My assistant came in one day with all of these butterflies, and set them loose around the place, so that we were constantly reminded of these butterflies we were attempting to assemble through thread,” he recalls. This led him to consider “how novels, as important parts of our culture, stitch together a larger array of people, and voices.” In building his atelier, he built not just a unique novella, but a family of sorts. “The stitching was central to the narrative, but it was also the stitching together of a community,” he says. It is this community aspect that conceptually drives The Familiar, too. “I thought how sad that the novel, which is such a powerful medium,

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always seems to argue against itself; about all it can’t do, and the little it can do,” he says. “The little that it can do is so impressive, but why not expand? So already, for The Familiar, there are half a dozen translators, graphic artists involved... Its origins, really, were The Fifty Year Sword, which was where I finally managed to break out of my own ego, and say, ‘Okay, I need help for this.’ Now, I’m not saying community’s gonna work...” He gives a soft chuckle. “But it seems to be a valid exploration.” Perhaps this desire for community and collaboration was a reaction to the typically lonely working life of the novelist? “A first novel is always a lonelier experience,” says Danielewski. When House of Leaves was published, he was 34, and had been rejected by publishers; “rejected in writing seminars – I was verging on being that crazy guy who just keeps tapping away at his novel, which no one had really seen,” he remembers. “It was a difficult period. The twenties are the hardest years for a young man. I see that now, in retrospect, and I certainly see it with other young men. It’s a time when you are dispossessed of any fortunes or futures. Even though everything is wide open, it can be a really terrible time. I think women have a very difficult time as well, but it plays out a little differently, in terms of where and when that happens.” He values that first novel experience, an unrepeatable phase in a writer’s career which, while challenging and lonely, also means you are “completely without expectations, or pressures from a larger commercial institution, without the pressures of getting older, living longer.” Now, his biggest challenge is “the drive not to repeat yourself, to not be derivative of a former work. To explore new phases, new voices, new ideas that aren’t necessarily comfortable, or necessarily familiar.” Given the hard work he has put in to make his works so definitively tied to the paper form, what are his thoughts about the future of the novel? “The novel is always going through a

revolution,” he believes. “What we recognise as the important revolution isn’t always the important one. The big revolution was the mp3 – the ability to compress files down into nothing and transfer them effortlessly.” He strongly believes that “the changes on the novel are always contingent on the reader – then of course they come back, and are contingent on the author.” This dialogue between reader and author is a question he wants to explore, but he refuses to reduce it to a sound bite. “My exploration of this in The Familiar is the answer to this question,” he says. “It’s a book that cannot be written without an audience.” Entering into a dialogue with his readers, Danielewski intends to shape the novel, guided in part by their feedback. “If the readership isn’t there, if they don’t want to participate in this form, then the only thing I can say is that this particular direction of how the novel could take shape clearly didn’t work. And if it does, then we can start to say, ‘Okay, it looks like there’s life in the old form yet.’”

“That ideal and awful dream of the novelist — to get everything his or her way” Mark Z. Danielewski

Proving that there’s life in the old form seems to have been the defining ambition of his career so far and, with The Familiar, it is just possible that Danielewski has hit upon a new, thoroughly modern way to engage readers with his highbrow mix of genre fiction and experimental literature. “As the volumes come out, and people begin to express their opinions, they will become kind of distant collaborators or co-authors of the

BOOKS

experience,” he predicts. “I’ll be open to those kinds of input. A musical dialogue will take place.” Asked if he is at all bothered about House of Leaves’ greater fame, he is self-deprecating and pragmatic. It is “the monster that keeps going – my little monster. I find it carrying out different conversations and relationships now, which are far beyond me. I’ve described it before as my kid, but the kid’s grown up even beyond the teenage years, and now it really has a life of its own – I can watch from a distance, but I’m not as privy to those dialogues.” He continues: “Only Revolutions is probably the odd kid, but it has deep, fiery resources – I’ll get a picture of a woman’s back, and she’s tattooed the first page of Only Revolutions on it. Or, I had the wonderful pleasure of seeing and spending an evening with Simon [Neil], the lead singer from Biffy Clyro and his wife – getting to talk about their album Only Revolutions, which was rooted in the novel. So certainly, those two examples are very strong reactions. Who am I to say one is weaker or stronger than another? They clearly had an impact that meant something in their lives.” He resists the urge to tame or disown his “little monster,” instead preferring to let it lead its own life, free of the burden of being judged by the reactions of others. “I think probably, if we were asked to rate other works of art or music that were weak or strong in our own lives, we would struggle, we would hem and haw,” he says. “They play different roles – they are like different friends, different teachers that we encounter over the course of our lives.” As academics dissect and discuss his writing, Danielewski continues to teach by example – carving out a trail that can only be described on paper, but one that perhaps leads to the future of the novel by less circuitous a route than technologists might predict. The Fifty Year Sword is out now, published by Cargo Press markzdanielewski.com

THE SKINNY

July 2014

Retro Chic Looking forward to the second Glasgow outing of the Vintage Festival, returning this month as part of the Commonwealth Games Culture 2014 programme Words: Morgan McTiernan

he past has a story which influences all that we experience today and with this in mind, husband and wife duo Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway founded the Vintage Festival in 2010, where the concept is to embrace the history of British creativity. The Vintage Festival rewinds to the sub-cultures of the 20th century, bringing everything from food to fashion to music to be experienced in the present day. The festival, which sold out last summer, is now being held on a larger scale as part of Merchant City Festival across venues in the Merchant City on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July. The Vintage Festival falls on the first weekend of the highly anticipated Commonwealth Games and we think it’s one of the must-go-to events of the summer. Vintage Glasgow began in 2007 when Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway, both designers, created a concept to found a festival that proclaimed British creativity through the decades. The team worked alongside researchers from Wolverhampton University who archived British culture by researching music, fashion, art, design, film and food from the 1940s to the 1980s and enlisting experts who analysed how these decades, known for their cultural achievements, influenced present day Britain. The first Vintage Festival was held in August 2010 on the Sussex Downs with over 50,000 attendees and won Best New Festival at the 2010 Festival Awards. The popularity of the event proved to the

Lifestyle

Hemingways that there was a gap in the market and the success of Vintage continued into 2011, where the festival coincided with the Festival of Britain at London’s Southbank, with over 200,000 people per day experiencing culture through the decades. For its second year running in Glasgow, the designers announced the Vintage Festival programme at the Old Fruitmarket, where, for the first time ever, the festival will celebrate all things vintage from across the Commonwealth to pay homage to the Games as well as rejoicing in British music, fashion, film, design and art from the 1920s to the 1980s. Wayne Hemingway explains, “Being part of the Commonwealth Games Culture 2014 programme will allow us to explore international elements of vintage culture that will take us all on a voyage of vintage discovery.” The 2014 Festival will be one of its kind in bringing forward international cultural history to Glasgow. The events of summer 2014 will make Glasgow a popular hotspot with thousands of people anticipated to visit the city for the Commonwealth Games. Glasgow will be transformed into a cultural hub during the Merchant City Festival, which has been extended to 11 days, a step up from the typical five, and the Vintage Festival will be one of the highlights of the summer. Some of the key events to truly experience the past decades include the Vintage Makeover Salon, which will be situated in Merchant Square

and will provide makeover transformations by experts in vintage hairstyles and beauty. Curated by Jacqui McIroy, founder of The Make Up School, and hairstylist Marcantorio from Miss Dixibelle, armed with a team of 30 experts to help festivalgoers transform into their favourite vintage era look, offering 1940s finger waves, 60s bouffant beehives, 80s New Romantic curls, accompanied by thick black liquid eyeliner and of course, the red lip. To perfect the vintage look, the Vintage Marketplace and Fashion at Vintage will celebrate the best of British fashion through the eras. The Vintage Marketplace, managed by The Vintage Vendors, provides a space for 50 hand-picked vintage vendors, selling clothes from the 20s to the 80s, mid-century homewares, and furniture with a mini car boot sale. Music at Vintage Glasgow will be era appropriate, with performers dipping into the genres and sounds that have influenced pop culture as it

FASHION

is today, with specialist musical acts such as The Charleston Brunch (20s) and Martin Compston (rockabilly to Northern Soul). From experiencing the eras in fashion to music, the festival will also offer festival-goers the chance to experience the decades by taste. The Food Marketplace will take place in Candleriggs, outside the historic Old Festival, offering high quality street food traders serving British produce from vintage Volkswagon campers and buses, and street performers parading the festival. The Vintage Festival is a unique event in exploring international decades that hold a major influence on the arts, music, film, fashion, theatre and food of today. After a sell-out last year, Vintage Glasgow is set to be a success once again. Tickets can be purchased on www.ticketmaster.com and for more information visit www.vintagefestival.co.uk

THE SKINNY

Print and Pattern

With their imaginative take on concept for design, creative duo Naromode are developing beautiful garments, with depth. Their collections to date have been striking yet considered, taking simplistic shapes and making a statement with their dramatic prints

aromode is the creative venture of textile designers Anna Thorn and Iain Macdonald, who joined forces after they both graduated in 2012 from the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, with BA Honours degree in Textiles and Surface Design. Having both grown up and completed their studies in Scotland, Thorn and Macdonald praise the country for the positive influence it has had on their work: “Scotland is such a beautiful and inspiring country and it is recognised around the world for its quality, especially in textile design. Embarking into this industry we hope to endorse this relationship between textile design and quality through our collections, as we are a print focused label.” Wanting to continue working in Scotland, both designers decided that Glasgow was the perfect place to start their business: “We felt Glasgow is a city of creativity and culture and felt it was the right place to launch Naromode. We now work in a studio/office in Glasgow city centre.” During their studies at Gray’s School of Art, at Robert Gordon University, they learned how to use their creative talents as fashion textile designers. Along with their textile design abilities, both designers have developed pattern-cutting skills, allowing them to create new fashion collections with their exclusive print designs for every season. Since forming Naromode, Thorn and Macdonald have been on a steep learning curve discovering how to run a small business, and are grateful for the help they have had along the way: “We have had a lot of support from the Prince’s Trust, Young Enterprise Scotland, and Business Gateway. These organisations have all been really supportive and helped us grow our business.” This support, along with the positive feedback they have received over the past few years, has

July 2014

Interview: Jessica Campbell

spurred the designers on to make Naromode a success. Specialising in illustrative prints, Naromode are very sketchbook-based, using an array of mixed media, from watercolour and acrylic to fine line pens and inks for their designs. “We love to use mark-making to create textures along with detailed and intricate drawings to develop.” This hand-drawn element is then developed through computer-aided design (CAD) to create overall prints that are later printed digitally straight on to their fabric. “We choose to print digitally for our main collections as it enables us to get all the colours and marks as close to original artwork as possible.” When it comes to fabric, Naromode only use the best, choosing high quality silks and chiffons to complement their beautiful prints. Describing their studio space as a fun and exciting environment, Naromode explain why: “We love colour and inspiring artwork, so you will usually see a mixture of our own sketches and research spread over the walls and sometimes desks.” Naromode, translating as narrative fashion, use stories and books to influence their collection. They describe their design process as ‘telling tales through textiles’ and start each collection with a story that inspires them both as designers. “We research styles and trends, but don’t feel bound by them as we want to create something that is original to our brand. We sketch and develop artwork together to create our original prints, which translates the story through the collection from start to finish.” Their latest collection, entitled 'Little Snow White', is inspired by the original Brothers Grimm tale and its darkly twisted themes. It features delicate patterns and detailed illustration on

a backdrop of deep blacks, pure whites and sinister reds. “We use feathers to represent the beginning of the story, using stark black lines, representing the window frame as intricate feathers cascade down the garment. Mirrored prints are a key theme through the collection to play on the ‘Mirror Mirror on the wall’ concept, which is repeated throughout the tale. The contrast between light and dark encapsulates this Brothers Grimm tale.” Alongside their own collections, Naromode love to collaborate with other designers, and are currently working with Kirsteen Stewart to create the 'White Snake' jewellery range. Inspired by their SS14 catwalk collection of the same name, the jewellery range will feature koi fish, raven wings and white snake necklaces. “Kirsteen Stewart has really supported the Naromode brand and we admire her and how far she has come in the industry. We were honoured to get the opportunity to work with her.” The 'White Snake' jewellery range will be showcased at the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival Makers Market running from 21-22, July and at the Tea Green Pop Up Event at Glasgow School of Art on 26 July. With their passion for Scotland and its charismatic culture, one of Naromode’s goals is to become a global ambassador for Scottish Fashion. “We are so excited to already be playing an active role in the thriving Scottish Textiles and Fashion Industry. As we grow, we want to inspire other fashion and design graduates to base their careers in Scotland.” When asked who their dream client is Naromode once again look to Scotland, stating that they would love the opportunity to dress the likes of Karen Gillen or Nina Nesbitt. “They are

FASHION

very relevant in the style scene and it would be great to showcase new up-and-coming Scottish fashion on such influential Scottish women.” They also consider Paloma Faith a fashion icon due to her clear identity and clever styling of vintage and modern pieces. When it comes to Naromode’s personal fashion sense, the dynamic duo are quite similar, opting for a casual, relaxed style with a hint of print. Macdonald describes his style as quite simple. “I don’t overcomplicate things; I wear a lot of greys and blacks with shirts and printed t-shirts. I like a more streetwear and relaxed style.” Although Thorn enjoys wearing jeans and Converse most days, she can’t deny her passion for print. “I love the opportunity to indulge in print, mixing it in with a placement printed top, bold printed dress or a statement scarf just to give my look a burst of colour.” Launching their second collection 'Little Snow White' this September, these ambassadors of Scottish design are steadily making their artistic mark on the fashion world. www.facebook.com/naromode @naromode Stockists: Godiva in Edinburgh stock t-shirt and scarves in store and online www.godivaboutique.co.uk 9 W Port, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH1 2JA We Love To Boogie in Glasgow stock t-shirts in store 721-723 Great Western Rd, Glasgow The Studio Shop in Orkney stock t-shirts in store The Studio,27 Albert Street, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1HP La La Land in Glasgow stock t-shirts online www. livinginlalaland.co.uk Spoiled Brat in Glasgow stock t-shirts online www. spoiledbrat.co.uk www.naromode.com

Lifestyle

'Here he goes, there he is, is that him' Still from Birdbrain

'our beliefs and our wishes and our hopes are not often anchored in reasons they are anchored in something else that comes from within and is different.' from Another Fiction

'These were once as quick as foxes on the hill' from Another Fiction

'Here is one who has lost forgetting' from Another Fiction

SHOWCASE

THE SKINNY

'A place where your bones and mine are buried.' Another FIction Installation

Edward Humphrey

DJCAD graduate Edward Humphrey introduces his film work, showing in The Skinny Showcase exhibition in Creative Exchange as part of EAF

nother Fiction is a two screen film using borrowed and recorded speech to explore the necessity of conceptual frameworks to our understanding of a complex reality. Disparate voices come and go, expressing often quite uncomfortable ideas into a cocoon-like exhibition space. The images are discordant, but like the belief mechanism the work considers, once you stop resisting, it starts to make sense; and your own connections fill in the blanks. The film explores the distance between abstract thought, language, and material existence, The two free-standing screens suggest certain abstract connections between the ideas, but they only really resolve once the tumbling words have run dry. In the video Birdbrain, garden birds play on a small television in the gallery while two amateur twitchers have an intermittent chat via standing speakers; a complete reorientation of the actual event, positioning the viewer somewhere in-between. The text print works are an experiment with people's expectations of gallery labels, swapping out the usual blurb for an abstractly related short story or anecdote. After looking at the origins and necessity of myth I'm going to explore the imaginative possibilities of it, in a new film. Given we need intellectual frameworks to be able to function, what is the scope for a different imaginative experience of our day-to-day environment? The captions under the films stills are snippets of the dialogue you hear while that part of the film is playing.

July 2014

'Surely the hard problem is, what is consciousness and why is it there' Another Fiction Installation

SHOWCASE

The Longest Way Round Words: Scott Campbell llustration: Clio Isadora

Psychotropic adventures in Amsterdam

t has become a by-word for the bulk of society’s carnal excesses and eccentricities, but Amsterdam remains, for me, one of the most beautiful cities to walk around and simply be in across the whole of Europe. Its hard-earned reputation as a mecca for the sexually and narcotically underprivileged stands in contextually stark relation to the hard facts of Netherlands life. A mere 6% of Dutch people use recreational drugs such as mushrooms or cannabis on a regular basis, despite widespread decriminalisation. The figures for brothel attendance were not, last time I checked, widely published. It is primarily we Brits who make the pilgrimage to its narrow streets and mesh of canals, with 20% of its annual tourist contingent (second only to domestic visitors) emanating from our fair, repressed Isle. Braying packs of football supporters and swaying herds of various stag parties sniff out the coffeeshops and nightclubs, before the wind picks up and the prevailing scent steers them, inevitably, to the city’s red-light district. The primary ingredient of Amsterdam’s Britmagnet is of course the ubiquity of soft drugs. There are nearly a hundred coffeeshops (to be distinguished from cafes) in the city. A brief scan of the menu of types of cannabis on offer is a potentially dispiriting experience. Various types of ‘high’ are itemised, before one happens upon one strain’s claim to offer ‘no paranoia’, which certainly undercuts the appeal of the remainder of the menu. On perhaps my second visit to the city, my travelling companion raised the prospect of trying some mushrooms during our visit. It was apparently something that he’d always wanted to do. When it comes to recreational drugs, I’ve always been of the opinion that one’s inclination towards certain types bears some relation to one’s taste in music. The dance and hardcore crowd gravitate towards the endless energy and euphoria of speed and pills. The manic art-schoolers who won’t leave the house unless promised synthesisers favour cocaine’s manic buzz. I was very much an old-fashioned lover of the relatively fashionable wave of sixties sounds – appropriating actual sixties music with the soundalike indie groups of my youth. The odd toke would provide

Lifestyle

an excellent backdrop to much of our listening, though the hippy-ish and idealistic curiosity as to the limits of our minds led one, perhaps inevitably, to the psychotropic end of the scale. LSD and mushrooms are, of course, not the same thing. Through prudent selection, though, one can experience a fascimile of the former’s effects and symptoms. Mushrooms are legal in Amsterdam, their stockists a range of ‘head shops’ that nestle in back alleys, the better to ensnare the errant tourist whose stoned wanderlust has led them off the beaten track. Perfectly sober, we entered one such establishment, and started to scan the various display cases. The layout put me in mind of a jeweller’s shop transplanted to an interrogation facility, with the goods on offer being an oddly enchanting (even when ‘straight’) array of funghi. We explained our ‘predicament’ to the proprietor and made our selection, and were assured that, should we begin to feel ‘unwell’ at any stage, we should simply drink some water and eat a banana. Perfect – the exhilaration of the jump and the safety net all for under twenty Euros. Now, I had little sense of exactly what psychoactive drugs such as LSD do to the mind, or how their effects presented themselves. In music, poetry and literature there is a trove of abstract jargon relating to doors being opened, to altered perspectives, to some synaesthetic elements such as ‘seeing’ sounds. But like one’s balance, it is a hard thing to describe to the unbalanced – one can’t imagine it into being. As such, I probably anticipated a slightly refined version of being high, or drunk. Dear reader, I could not have been more wrong. Back at our rented apartment, we began by dropping a couple of mushrooms into our mugs of tea and stirring them around. This merely gave the tea an earthy tinge, and we chewed and grimaced our way through mouthfuls. We opened a bottle of wine – the better to dispel the arid taste in our mouths – and resumed our game of chess. And we waited. For what, we weren’t sure, though were convinced we’d know it when we approached it. Baffled at the lack of effects, and cursing the charlatan who had sold us some fancily

shaped, psychotropically dormant mushrooms, we finished off the remainder of the box. But still the chess pieces simply failed to come alive and address us as to the best course of their movement. The wine we were drinking had a screwtop, one of us noticed. This was becoming rather common, we agreed. God only knows what’s likely to become of the world’s cork manufacturers, we pondered. And then laughed. And laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more, our mirth comfortably scaling the heights of hilarity. And we were suddenly ushered onto and buckled into the kind of trip that we had been promised, and had read about. The initial laughter subsided, and we scrabbled around for some music to listen to – the better to experience it through such an auditory filter. I remember that my friend opted for something classical, though it could scarcely have mattered less who the composer was. The sounds of the cello seemed to bounce around inside my head, at numerous points seeming to flit across my field of vision. The conversation was shelved as we simply lay, or sat, and gazed into the middle distance or into the streets below. The music wasn’t simply bouncing around the room, it was IN me – with each climb up the musical scale, my brain reacted with a gushing of euphoria. Eager to experience new realms of touch sensation, I roused myself from the rug that I was lolling around on and took a shower. Quite how I managed to undress and eventually re-dress myself given my state of mind remains off-limits to my memory or understanding. Suddenly, we were ‘normal’ again; we agreed to take a walk. The sanity that had been tantalisingly glimpsed moments earlier once more eluded us as we weaved along the street – not intoxicated or unbalanced, just drawn to the merest light or architectural nuance. I surrendered in my staring contest with a cat stationed inside one window, and we took ourselves to the canal’s edge. We sat there for some time before getting up to leave. I remember falling over, though without pain. Again, disorientation was not to blame, but the fact that I had loosened my belt whilst sitting had caused

TRAVEL

my trousers to slide down and ensnare me at the knees. We laughed some more – one of the few moments of appropriate response – and decided to take a longer walk around the canals. Now, I maintain to this day that, alongside the attendant madness, and discombobulation of ordinary mental processes, the sheer longevity of psychoactive drugs remains their most potent feature. After about half an hour of taking our place in a coffeeshop, and smoking a little local ganja, we once more began to feel weird. The perceptions were the same, but our overall ‘sense’ of ourselves and our environment suddenly altered. Or, more correctly: dived. This wasn’t a happy place, but one of unexplained and unattributable worry and concern. We hurriedly packed up and scurried off home. Sleep it off, and leave tomorrow for the reflecting, we thought. Sleep does not come easily to the user of such drugs. Its overall palette of sensations is too abstract to adequately describe, but none of them are physical. There is no reduction in alertness, co-ordination or vigour. The mind, on the other hand, responds as if it has been injected with enough energy and insight to sustain a thousand waking moments; a million hopes, dreams, paranoias and anxieties. I lay awake, wishing that the enhanced scrutiny that my psyche was now imposing would dissipate, but such wishing served only to make it worse. I eventually slept, though not for long. I was suitably physically fragile the following day, while my mind felt as if I had been ridden hard and put away wet. We groped our way through what can only be described as a psychological hangover, before eventually recovering sufficiently to sit down in a local boozer and recount and connect some of the features of the last twentyfour hours. There are still songs and sights that remind me of the frame of mind that I was in, though there is no corresponding emotional state or realm of perception that one can equate with such trips. The apperception of the fragility of mere rational consciousness was immediate and vivid. It was an education of sorts – perhaps that the longest way round is often the shortest way home...

THE SKINNY

UNBOUND LATE NIGHTS AT THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL 10–25 AUG 2014

An Introduction to

Jura Unbound 2014 T

he Edinburgh International Book Festival is 18 days of bookish brilliance bursting out of the tents inside Charlotte Square Gardens. 16 of those days transform into nights of literary delight with Jura Unbound, the Book Festival’s eclectic programme of fantastic, free events inviting you to discover the makers of some truly magnificent stories. Jura Unbound is a mischievously magical thing. Quietly created from dreams and schemes, ideas and frivolous fancies, it unleashes our unique creative chaos onto the world from inside the magnificent Guardian Spiegeltent. Each night, enveloped by the velvet roof and mirrored walls, a little bit of magic happens. Maybe it's because of the mysterious stilt-walking Belgians who build the venue, or perhaps it’s the audience, who are looking to fend off the festival frenzy that make it so special. Whatever it is, people gather together after a day of sunshine or rain to restore themselves with stories, to be entertained, enthralled and surprised, but most of all to share their love of storytelling. This year’s Jura Unbound programme grabs the themes and ideas from across the wider Book Festival programme, plays with them and celebrates them. It presents an astonishing array of Scottish and international writers, artists and performers, capturing the indefatigable energy and creativity that continues all year round. From the Caribbean to Syria to Poland, we span the globe with readings, poetry, performance, hip-hop and translation, and no doubt some dancing! With nights created by Scottish regulars Canongate, Neu! Reekie!, Jim Lambie’s Poetry Club and Rally & Broad we prove

once more that it’s not just in August that the literary sun shines bright in Edinburgh. It wouldn’t be a proper Jura Unbound programme without a delicious collision of words and music, and the lovely Willy Vlautin and legendary Vic Galloway both host their own special evenings. Importantly, we remain rooted in books and stories, with the ethereal tales of E.O. Higgins and the literary fitness freak Andy Miller. To top it all, Spoken Word takes to centre stage with Nasty Little Press plus a wordwrestling battle-to-the-death independence debate with a difference. Look out for Jura Unbound’s special series of #shelfies from participants, performers and, hopefully, you. And the most magical thing about Jura Unbound? It is still completely free. Come along, and if you see something you like, you’re sure to find something just as good elsewhere in the Book Festival programme – you can browse the events on www.edbookfest.co.uk – I promise you won’t be disappointed. Thanks go out to those who have helped to keep Jura Unbound free. First and foremost Jura, sponsor of our Unbound programme, the City of Edinburgh Council, the Idlewild Trust who have supported individual events and, most importantly, huge thanks to all the partners, authors and organisations who have contributed the time, energy and passion needed to make each Jura Unbound night extra special. This year the Book Festival is saying to people ‘Let's Talk’. For Jura Unbound we’re saying Let's shout! Let's sing! Let's dance! [Roland Gulliver]

‘Let’s Talk’

Edinburgh International Book Festival

perfect place to escape the madness of Edinburgh in full festival mode, the leafy Charlotte Square Gardens, home of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, offers a peaceful green space to relax, take a breath and decide what event to see next. Each year a bustling tented village is created replete with bookshops, cafés, bars and plenty of grass to lounge on with friends and a glass of whatever takes your fancy. It’s also right in the heart of the city, just off the west end of Princes Street. The Book Festival doesn’t just put on the popular Jura Unbound late evening entertainment – details of which you’ll find on the following pages – it also has hundreds of author events and activities to broaden your understanding of the world, spark debate, make you laugh, make you think. If you want diversity, we have it. The range of authors appearing in events is always surprising and often people can discover their next ‘favourite’ read, something they would never have otherwise found. Have a look at the debut fiction on the Book Festival’s First Book Award list for the emerging talent of 2014. Familiar names include such literary stars as Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin, Japan’s heavyweight Haruki Murakami, who

makes his first trip to Edinburgh, Martin Amis, who launches his new novel, Will Self, Amy Bloom, Willy Vlautin, Alan Warner, Esther Freud, Kevin Eldon, Christopher Brookmyre, Gruff Rhys, Ali Smith. The list goes on… and on. On Saturday 16 August, an eclectic range of voices from Britain’s cutting edge Spoken Word scene can be heard in Babble On, a series of events staged in partnership with rambunctious poet Luke Wright and produced by Becky Fincham. Featuring celebrated live performance artists including Phill Jupitus, Elvis McGonagall, interactive theatre makers Hannah Jane Walker and Chris Thorpe and poets William Letford and Rachel McCrum amongst others. Of course the few events mentioned here are only a fraction of the highlights. Come along to Charlotte Square Gardens, enjoy a drink, have a flick through the programme and pick something to see. We’re pretty sure you’ll discover something memorable. There’s so much to explore and Jura Unbound is the perfect starting point. [Roland Guliver] Full details of the programme can be found at www.edbookfest.co.uk. Tickets to all events can be bought online, by calling the box office 0845 373 5888 or in person at The Hub, Castlehill.

Editors: Rosamund West & Alan Bett Designer: Maeve Redmond Production Manager: Billie Dryden Illustrator: Emily Nash

Feature

JURA UNBOUND

THE SKINNY

Beyond the Headlines As Reel Festivals return to Jura Unbound, this time with Syria Speaks, Literature Programmer Ryan Van Winkle explains how they plan to open a window into the country and culture beyond the conflict

yria Speaks, and so does its Literature Programmer Ryan Van Winkle while sitting in Summerhall discussing his evening of Syrian culture at Jura Unbound. He displays the type of enthusiastic verbosity you would hope and expect from somebody working on such an interesting and worthwhile project. “The idea is that we use art and culture as a way of exploring a place beyond the headlines,” he states while discussing the primary aim of this event, and also of Reel Festivals in general; an organisation which works in regions of conflict, “using art to show that when people get together there are not too many dissimilarities between humankind.” In this case the medium is song, dance and word; provided by a diverse range of Syrian artists, keen to show us the true culture and character of their country. “Your first immediate thought is a warzone,” Ryan admits, “... and it’s not a very human portrait of the place. What art does, it gives you empathy, understanding and context about where these conflicts are happening and what they’re doing to people.” These are people just like you and I. Who care about their kids, who want a good boyfriend or girlfriend, who want to go out dancing on a Saturday night. They don’t want to work too hard, they want a good education; our basic human concerns, no matter where we’re from, what kind of trauma our countries have been through, are the same. And by holding their lives in comparison with our own we may begin to see past the region’s one-dimensional media generated stereotypes. “We have this feeling like, of course it happened there, they must have been expecting it, it’s a hotbed, a zone of terror,” suggests Ryan of our pre-programmed patterns of thought. “...but mostly people were just hanging out there. I mean if a bomb fell on Summerhall people would be amazed.” Insight and empathy, as far as Reel Festivals are concerned, is not only built through experiencing the work of others but by collaborating with them. “From working together and using art and literature we create

July 2014

relationships, and those relationships are really powerful and they’re something we love to share in events like this one.” A prime example is their poetry workshop, where artists come together to translate each other’s work. An act which must prove difficult, considering the intricacy and hidden personal meaning contained within this form. It’s something Ryan believes is “A really intimate and special act, one person to another.” Acknowledging its difficulties while discovering an unexpected bonus. “The great thing about the translation workshop is you get to say that thing to a poet that you never get to say, which is ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’” This refreshing honesty pays dividends. “They’ll explain what it means, they’ll break the poem down, they give a real insight into their lives and their experience and you need to internalise and translate that into English as best you can, translate that feeling. It’s a really incredible process.” And that bond of trust will then further benefit the Jura Unbound audience. “That friendship and that relationship when it gets on stage is really palpable, there’s a connection deeper than text.” The evening promises a varied collection of artists, each offering a fresh perspective and very personal viewpoint. “We’re bringing Golan Hagi over,” a Syrian Kurd, doctor and Robert Louis Stevenson aficionado – having translated The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde into Arabic. A trip to Scotland will obviously suit him and he will be reading his award-winning poetry on the night. “He feels the conflict very deeply,” Ryan explains, having been forced out of Syria and now living in France. The event also features Samar Yazbek, awarded the prestigious PEN/ Pinter prize of International Writer of Courage. She wrote a diary of the first 100 days of the war and will be reading from this. Providing a unique view of the conflict through two sets of eyes will be Scottish Syrian Robin Yassin-Kassab, author of The Road from Damascus, a man who has written not only on the conflict but the general culture of the region. Malu Halasa’s Secret Life

Interview: Alan Bett of Syrian Lingerie will highlight the humour, resilience and strength of Syrian art, even in these most challenging times. Ryan suggests that the tone of the evening will be respectful while at the same time a celebration of life and culture. This will be typified by the band Raast. “The band is formed around one member who grew up in the Palestinian refugee camp outside of Damascus.” While providing some context about where their songs are coming from they plan to end the evening with some party music and a bit of a dance.

“Art gives you empathy, understanding and context about where these conflicts are happening and what they’re doing to people” Ryan Van Winkle

While Ryan earlier acknowledged that war is what comes instantly to mind when Syria is mentioned, it is a subject which will be addressed without miring an evening which hopes to delight as well as inform us. “It doesn’t always need to be about the war, I mean we’ve shown loads of great films which have taken place in areas of conflict but are really about something simple, like your first bicycle.” Yet the backdrop cannot and should not be ignored. “You can’t talk about Syria without acknowledging conflict but we’re not going to

JURA UNBOUND

spend two hours dwelling on the horrors. We’re going to present the fullest possible picture we can. I want people to come away thinking that they’ve hung out with some beautiful friends in a beautiful place that they’ve never been before. I want to give that feeling to the audience.” But what’s the role of poetry and music in this situation, is it going to save a single life? What can art achieve in the face of war? Beauty seems futile next to the suffering of millions. “It’s really hard to see the point of art when guns are being fired and many people would say there is no point,” Ryan acknowledges. However Reel Festivals attach a simple yet important purpose to their events. “The role is to remind us that there are human beings and lives here. I don’t really think that Assad is going to see a poignant painting and change the course of action, but I do think the more of these things can be seen and felt the better.” We compare with Picasso and his painting in response to the hellish bombing of a Basque town during the Spanish Civil War. “What role does Guernica have to play? It makes us sad and shows us the bloody horror of it.” There is an additional function of art over reportage which allows a level of understanding and compassion. “The great thing about filmmaking and telling stories and writing is that it’s a direct line right into your heart – here are people and their situation, and here’s understanding for another human being.” And a final result may be for the artists themselves – for many the work must act as catharsis. So, this is an event which offers many things: to see beyond the detached rigid headlines, to understand and empathise, to form bonds of friendship. Quite simply to sing and dance and experience the words and music of Syria. It refuses to present a one-sided flyer, or exist as a political or revolutionary tool. “We’re not going to try and tell you that war is bad.” Ryan concludes, “If you don’t know that by now...” Syria Speaks is at 9pm, Tue 12 Aug in the Guardian Spiegeltent, part of Jura Unbound

Sticks & Stones

he unmistakable riff of Eye of the Tiger throbs through the arena, and as the smoke slowly clears a microphone descends from the heavens into hell, to be clasped in hand and amplify the cry, the question, the challenge... ‘Are you ready?’ This is Page Match; a literary fight club, but the first rule being that you do talk about Page Match, where masters of spoken word suffer the death of 100 cuts from verbal lacerations. It is the opportunity for poets to stretch lycra in place of imagination and slip into their wrestling finery and the ring, to clothes-line their opponents’ egos. “We were just trying to find platforms to make poetry entertaining, and attract people who wouldn’t normally go to a poetry event,” suggests Dan Cockrill, the man bringing Page Match to Jura Unbound. “It’s a bit of false advertising as a poetry event for people who don’t like poetry... the acts were the best poetry acts around, but it’s the glue between them which makes it more accessible, there’s music, fun games, a lot of drinking; it’s really raucous.” Even more so when you use this year of referendum to organise a Scotland versus England grudge match in Edinburgh. In the headlining bout, Luke – The Earl of Essex – Wright will boldly challenge an – as yet – mystery Scottish poet (come along to find out who). And while Salmond and Darling refuse to squeeze themselves into leotards, perhaps we can view these Page Match competitors as surrogates – conduits for public feeling. Or will they simply indulge in a juvenile slanging match of racial and political insults, so far from the mature and reasoned referendum debate witnessed to date (cough!). Past battles have resulted in head shavings and book shreddings as forfeit for defeat, so English poet Wright may have a tough time in store at this away day, considering the winner is judged by the bloodthirsty, baying crowd. “The audience are going to vote with their noise,” Dan confirms, suggesting that this might offer some real life political prophecy. “You may get a feel of how people will vote in the real referendum... if they were drunk at 9pm in the Spiegeltent.” This night will act as antidote to the recent comments from Jeremy Paxman, suggesting that

As opposing poets get into character and enter the ring (no literary metaphor — an actual wrestling ring), we find that at Page Match names can and will definitely hurt you Interview: : Alan Bett

poetry has “connived at its own irrelevance.” It seems a ridiculous point to raise with Dan, a man no stranger to hosting poetry in entertaining and accessible ways. “He caused uproar on the scene... there were lots of poets really upset by it.” Then agreeing diplomatically that Paxman may be correct in challenging one small corner of the universe. “I don’t think the things he said were that bad; I think he gave quite a balanced argument. But what he didn’t say is that there are poets engaging audiences. A lot of nights I know are raucous, passionate and are talking to everyday people.” The form is engaging with those far beyond the upper echelons of the scene. “Today I was doing poetry takeaway which is an amazing thing,” Dan tells me. “Ordinary people come up and order a poem, on any subject and within fifteen minutes you deliver it back to them. It’s just another way of honing your skills as a writer but also delivering poetry to people who

“Like watered down beer your lines are weak, you must be drunk because you think you can challenge me”

Peter ‘The Penge Pulveriser’ Hayhoe

wouldn’t necessarily come along and see it.” Page Match offers a line-up of the finest wordsmiths around – sharpening their stanzas in preparation are Rob Auton, winner of the Fringe 2013 funniest line, Mark Grist the rapping teacher and many more. Gather around the bearpit on 16 August to witness the stereotypical role of poet as soothsayer turned on its head and piledriven into the mat. Page Match is at 9pm Sat 16 Aug in the Guardian Spiegeltent, part of Jura Unbound

Helping the Sun to Finally Set One creative initiative is looking beyond the Commonwealth Games countdown, to examine the roots of Scotland’s relationship with Empire and the transatlantic slave trade. Author Louise Welsh talks to us about The Empire Café

n 2012 Louise Welsh worked with architect Jude Barber on the project Merchant City Voices, which explored Glasgow’s relationship with the slave trade through a series of sound installations in the city. “It’s a really tangled history,” Welsh explains. “We’re quite rightly proud of our history, our working class culture, our buildings – but we’ve got to realise that a lot of these buildings were built with money made by working slaves on plantations in the Caribbean. The widening of the Clyde – which enabled our ship-building industry – was initially for import of products of the Empire from overseas.” Unlike England, whose big port cities typically have some memorial recognising their past links with slavery, Scotland has rarely acknowledged this sobering aspect of its history. While it can be difficult to come to terms with national culpability for such atrocities, Welsh believes it is important to remember our national past, including those who fought against the slave trade. She recounts that “Glasgow, like other big ports of that time, was a centre of abolitionism, a place where people were actively fighting against the idea that you could own other people and use their labour for profit.”

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Interview: Ceris Aston

The Empire Café was born out of this earlier project. Welsh remarks: “When we finished Merchant City Voices we felt as though the story wasn’t finished, there was more to do.” The Commonwealth Games – once the British Empire Games – provided a timely opportunity to revisit the subject: “Commonwealth is intimately connected with Empire and we still feel uncomfortable with this association. We don’t really know what it means to Commonwealth countries to be part of the Commonwealth. It would have been nice if we’d had this discussion ten years ago, twenty years ago – but it’s still relevant today.” Together, Welsh and Barber came up with the idea of The Empire Café – opening up ‘a welcome conversation’ about Scotland’s imperial past to coincide with the Commonwealth Games. They have created a programme of readings, debate, films, workshops and installations in a specially designed café venue at the Briggait, Glasgow. “So many of the conversations of the Enlightenment went on in tea shops,” Welsh says of the venue. “Sugar, tobacco, cotton – all these things that make up the quintessential Scottish tea table – came from Jamaican slavery.”

“All these things that make up the quintessential Scottish tea table came from Jamaican slavery” Louise Welsh

really textured anthology.” On 10 August The Empire Café will bring poetry, music and discussion to Jura Unbound. The aim of the event is to provoke conversation, “to make the audience aware of our history – and then aware of what is happening now. We still have so many people in the world enslaved. These things haven’t ended.” Stephen Mullen, author of The Truth about Glasgow and Slavery, will introduce the event with a short talk on Scotland and the slave trade. A number of poets from Scotland and the Caribbean will perform a set of poems from The Empire Café anthology, which will be available at the event. Already confirmed are Millicent Graham, Dorothea Smartt, Malika Booker and Sanesarine Persaud. Alternative hip-hop band Stanley Odd will bring music to the evening with a high-energy set including a song composed specifically for The Empire Café. The band is known for intelligent, impassioned social commentary and vibrant performances to get audiences moving. It’s a stunning line-up for what promises to be a brilliant, eclectic and thoughtprovoking event.

In collaboration with the Scottish Poetry Library and Scottish PEN, The Empire Café has also commissioned a poetry anthology, in which Caribbean and Scottish poets respond to themes of Empire and the slave trade. “We’ve been extremely lucky – everyone has been so generous,” Welsh effervesces. “They’ve all been intrigued, or angered, or moved to write something – really different pieces from different angles. There’s an essay too, by historian Stephen The Empire Café is at 9pm Sun 10 Aug in the Guardian Mullen, putting everything into context. It’s a Spiegeltent, part of Jura Unbound

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THE SKINNY

Luke(y)-likey With Nasty Little Press co-founder Luke Wright bringing a full programme of spoken word to the Book Festival under the banner of Babble On, we arranged a tête-à-tête with his fellow poet, pal and Jura Unbound performer

hen I was starting out in 2008 / 2009, Luke Wright was one of the biggest names in the poetry business. It’s safe to say he’s even bigger now: slicker hair, more fastidiously styled and, most importantly, he’s progressed – a powerhouse of the spoken word scene and more prominent in publication too. He curates regular nights in London, the Spoken Word Stage at Latitude Festival, plus he’s often on the ‘telly’ (which doesn’t usually happen to poets) and seen touring about the country with John Cooper Clarke. Last year Luke and myself re-launched our first full-length collections in a joint show at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. This year he’s back with a bang – bringing cads and cadres with him and it seems he’s many a trick up his sleeve. Let’s talk about this year, Nasty Little Press and the Jura Unbound Event. I’ve programmed a section of the 2014 Edinburgh International Book Festival called Babble On – mainly to bring more spoken word into Jura Unbound and the main programme. It’s about nine events, two of which are Jura Unbound events – the first of which is Nasty Little Press. I started Nasty Little Press to get great spoken word acts into print. Also a bit out of the frustrations I was having getting my own work to print with a publisher. I met a two-year waiting list on a pamphlet when I wanted it to arrive immediately. So I found four people to publish and made it happen – myself, Byron Vincent, John Osborne and Martin Figura. Even if we hadn’t done any more books after these, we’d have still got four people swiftly into print (myself included) that deserved to be in print. It went well, people got excited and it didn’t really stop from then on. We’ve done about 20 books now and still seem to be punching above our weight. John Osborne got a highly commended in Forward Prize Best Single Poem last year. I just wanted to make beautiful books with people I like – things like that are an

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Interview: Michael Pedersen

added bonus. This NLP event at Jura Unbound is of the spoken word all-stars ilk. Can you tell us about who’s coming along? Martin Newell is maybe the top jewel in there. He’s an odd one, in that if you learn to understand everything he’s done he’s clearly a leading poet of his generation but he doesn’t really (and I think he’d be the first to admit this) play the poetry game (i.e. flock to London, crave prizes or get big reviews) – it’s a bit of a hackneyed phrase but he is a Peoples’ Poet. But then, for example, when his collected works came out a few years ago Germaine Greer volunteered to write the foreword for it – she loves his stuff and she gets it. He writes poems that get you in the gut and hit you first time out, still they’re beautifully crafted. Salena Godden: I love Salena to bits and pieces, she’s great. Her poems are great on the page and a real force when delivered live – there’s nothing like it. Good Cock and Imagine If You Had To Lick are two stand-outs. Salena was running the Book Club Boutique in Soho when we first started and we worked with her on some of our launches. And then she said to me after one of our nights – something like “I love what we’re doing would you be interested in working with me.” Salena’s been in the game longer than me and I’d always thought she was both cool and talented. So I, of course, said YES, in a flash. I took this as a massive compliment. Elvis McGonagall has just had his first Radio 4 series, he was on The One Show the other day too. It’s political satire, clever rhyming and he’s very funny in between the poems as well, a sign of a great performer. Believe it or not, Elvis McGonagall isn’t his real name. The persona is almost a character but there’s lots of him in there too. A lover of language, very visceral, it’s really funny stuff, alliterative and the words jump out. Everyone’s going to be rolling in the aisles for him.

Molly Naylor is our newest signing. She’s all sorts of things, a writer of theatre shows, she’s just written a sitcom with John Osborne that’ll appear on Sky in September. Like a lot of people who write multi-genre, often poetry has a special place in their hearts – she really wanted to do a book. We published a book of her first show years ago, but I always wanted to work with her in the poetry way – that’s where my heart lies. We made a vow to make this happen and now we have – well nearly, it’ll be ready in the autumn. Tim Clare is such a visceral writer, he brings things to life, often in a horrific and gory way and then he can be completely surreal too. My favourite poem in his book is where he’s imagining his lover getting decapitated on a roller coaster. Tim was the first full collection NLP published and a great first choice. I was chuffed he wanted me to do it because he’s such a great mate and the thing about great mates is they know how flawed you are as a human being. So with all that knowledge he still wanted to come to me.

“I just wanted to make beautiful books with people I like” Luke Wright

The Nasty Little Intros series sounds interesting – limited releases of mini pamphlets for fresh voices. You’re the elders, they’re the youngsters. Can you tell us a little about the ethos behind it? Yeah it’s a way of giving support to newer writers. There wasn’t much support when we were

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starting out. Martin Newell and John Cooper Clarke stepped in and were good to us and you want to be good to people back. We produce the book, they keep all the money and we try and get them some press and publicity off the back of it. If we like working together maybe we’ll do a bit more, if it doesn’t work out then good luck to them. Because NLP isn’t my job, but more of an enjoyable hobby, if people want to head elsewhere for future works – to a bigger publisher say – that’s great for them and fine by us. Who are some of your favourite people to share a bill with and who’s still on your hit list? I have to mention John Cooper Clarke – my first ever professional gig was supporting him and I’ve gigged with him a lot over the years. I’m really lucky in that I’ve met and gigged with a lot of my heroes – and that’s not just in poetry, that’s some of my favourite comedians too. I’ve gigged with Michael Pedersen now so the list is complete [MP: naturally there was a slight tone to this.] What’s more exciting than heroes is those people you weren’t expecting – for example three or four years ago I was at Arvon, I picked a pamphlet off the shelf by Catherine Smith – I was just blown away. A bit later I met her and invited her to Latitude to perform, now we’re mates with loads of gigs together under our belts. What’s more exciting than gigging with someone you loved at fifteen? Luke departs to tend to his children who’ve made a few cameos throughout the interview: the customary checking on how long he’s going to be and post dinner chatter. At one point Luke remarks – “Aidan could you please put some pants on.” Like father like son? Let’s wait and see at Jura Unbound! Nasty Little Press is at 9pm Fri 15 Aug in the Guardian Spiegeltent, part of Jura Unbound

100% Proof: Spirits in the Spiegeltent Séance master E.O. Higgins (or is that Laars Head?) talks about breaking on through to the other side, in both publishing and psychic matters Interview: Rosie Hopegood

t’s no secret that the last decade has seen the face of publishing exponentially altered. The advent of e-books, self-publishing and the internet have left some publishers running scared, and many writers stifled beneath a mass of promotional events, Twitter accounts, blogs and marketing. Yet there is a flipside to all this negativity, and E.O. Higgins, author of the acclaimed Conversations with Spirits, is riding high in the

wake of the change. Higgins’ success story is a thoroughly modern one, and the unorthodox manner of his rise to fame was unimaginable a few years ago. With a few draft chapters of the novel under his belt, Higgins stumbled upon Jottify.com, an online community for writers. As he explains, “I posted the first five chapters of my novel-in-progress, and was amazed by the positive response it received.” Within a short time his writing was the most read work on the

website, and he was quickly spotted by literary crowd-funding website Unbound.co.uk. Higgins continued to receive overwhelming support from his online readers, and Unbound.co.uk’s funding target was promptly met. The author was then picked up by a conventional publisher and given three short months to complete the novel – a pressure which would see lesser writers founder, but under which he flourished. “I don’t think I slept for about two of those three months! It really sped up the process. Before this I’d spent a long time working on a really long-winded novel that must have got to about 1000 pages. In fact, it’s in a shoebox somewhere – it’s probably still growing in there.” So what was it about the book that captured his readers’ attention? Most likely it is his improbable hero, the eccentric Trelawney Hart, who, when the novel opens, has suffered a breakdown and is holed up in a gentleman’s club in Pall Mall, having replaced his childhood diet of logic and reason with one of cherry brandy and cigarettes. When Arthur Conan Doyle arrives unannounced and asks for his assistance in a case investigating a medium, Hart agrees halfheartedly and so begins the comic mystery that leaves the protagonist questioning his life choices. “It’s really less of a whodunit, and more of a howdunnit,” Higgins comments, and it is perhaps this mix of enigma and humour that has snared him an army of loyal fans. In keeping with the psychical theme of the novel, Higgins will be hosting a special séancestyled event at Jura Unbound this year, unlike anything the Book Festival has seen before. He will be appearing as his ‘psychic thaumaturge’ alter ego, the comic creation of Laars Head. Fans of the author’s work will not be disappointed, as his unique brand of comedy shines through in this entertaining sketch. While Conversations with Spirits features a medium who seems to be the real deal, this tongue in cheek performance will make no such claims but rather poke fun at the sort of psychic performers who, as Higgins/

Head succinctly puts it, “appear on cable television with Yvette Fielding and lock members of the boyband McFly in a cellar.” While many authors are awkward in the spotlight, Higgins appears unfazed: “I don’t think of myself as a natural performer – but it’ll be Laars conducting the séance, not me.” And to see who from ‘the other side’ decides to turn up and what they wish to communicate, you only need to be in the Spiegeltent on 23 August.

“There is no life and no death, merely a misunderstanding of the everdecreasing energy vibration. I am at the centre of that energy, swaying gently” Laars Head, Psychic

It’s been an exciting couple of years for Higgins, whose unconventional route to success has culminated in a nomination for the Book Festival's First Book Award. When asked whether he feels confident about the award his answer sheds good humoured doubt upon his psychic ability. “Um, am I really nominated? This is the first I’ve heard of it – wow!” E.O. Higgins presents Laars Head at 9pm Sat 23 Aug in the Guardian Spiegeltent, part of Jura Unbound laarshead.com

Browse events and buy tickets: www.edbookfest.co.uk

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THE SKINNY

Lost is the New Found C

anongate Books are one of Scotland’s longest established and most exciting publishers. They achieve that rare literary alchemy of classy credibility and cult cool. From publishing Alasdair Gray’s momentous Lanark back in the 80s, to launching the global phenomenon that became Life of Pi, to becoming the UK publisher of a little known politician who then became the President of the USA, they have always known how to pick a winner. In tandem with some damn fine Scottish writing, they continue to publish the most exciting international voices: Niccolo Ammaniti, Ron Rash and Tahmima Anam to name just a few favourites. And in celebrating their 40th anniversary last year, they continued to push the envelope (all puns intended!) with their hugely successful Letters Live events (check the Book Festival programme on 9 August to find out more).

For Jura Unbound, Canongate explore what it means to be Lost and Found. Whether that is through the hedonistic excess of drink and drugs, the trauma of illness or through the sheer pleasure of reading literature. Hosted by author and comedian Viv Groskop, the night will feature readings, performance and music from the likes of Emma Jane Unsworth, whose new novel Animals is an unflinching insight into being young and female; poet and performer Byron Vincent, whose work explores mental illness, and Ella Berthoud, co-author of The Novel Cure, who offers an A-Z of literary remedies. Join them and more for a night exploring the lines of our limits, how and why we lose control of consciousness and what stories we find on the other side when we lose ourselves. Canongate Night, 9pm, Mon 11 Aug, free

James Yorkston

Hero’s Return J

Shattered ice, Jim Lambie

ames Yorkston is becoming something of a fixture in the Jura Unbound programme. Fife’s finest takes up residence for the Edinburgh launch of his new album The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society, which features contributions from The Pictish Trail and KT Tunstall. Yorkston went down a storm when he first performed at the Book Festival with The Pictish Trail and Lisa O’Neill. Earlier that day he chatted with Ian Rankin about his excellent It’s Lovely To Be Here: The Touring Diaries Of A Scottish Gent, a humorous, intimate account of the aches and absurdities of life on the road. He returned last year in Jura Unbound to celebrate Vic Galloway’s book documenting the life of the Fence Collective. James, Vic and King Creosote sang, talked and entertained audiences late into the evening, sharing tales and rude jokes until

chucking out time. Musicians like Yorkston encapsulate the strong bonds between literature and music in Scotland, a nation steeped in storytelling regardless of the format. Many an author has been known to take up the guitar and record an album. Yorkston’s songs are crafted like short stories and if you have read the epilogue of It’s Lovely to be Here, you will see an astute short story-writer-in-waiting. So for this one-off Jura Unbound night Yorkston is joined by some of the album contributors and specially invited poets and performers to play, tell tales and no doubt further the Festival merriment. The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society is out on Domino Records on 18 Aug. It is produced by Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip. James Yorkston & friends, 9pm, Sun 24 Aug, free

Join the Club

Band Books

he Poetry Club is renowned for its nights of spoken word, music, small-scale theatre and performance art. The story goes that the everresourceful Glasgow-based artist Jim Lambie had an upcoming collaborative event with writer and punk-pioneer Richard Hell, but rather than look for a venue he opted to design and build his own in the space of six weeks. The Poetry Club in Glasgow successfully blends the excitement and immediacy of a pop-up venue with the over-arching aesthetic of something more permanent. And now that same Poetry Club will be in residence at Jura Unbound for one night only of indie-art magic. Bringing a sampler of highlights from its past two years, it assembles some of the people who, in Lambie’s words, “give us our dreams.” First up is John Giorno. Born in New York in 1936 and with a career spanning over 50 years, he is considered to be one of the originators

July 2014

of Performance Poetry. Key to the Factory art scene, Giorno was a friend and contemporary of many of the most significant 1960s writers and artists, including Ginsberg, Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, and was the subject of Andy Warhol’s experimental 1963 film Sleep. The Poetry Club’s Jura Unbound evening will continue with live music from resident band Elara Caluna plus special guests, and the club’s DJs will bring the night to a close. Glasgow School of Art alumnus Jim Lambie is also a musician and DJ who once played in the popular Glaswegian band The Boy Hairdressers, which went on to become Teenage Fanclub. His art is rich with references to music and his installation Mental Oyster was shortlisted for the Turner Prize back in 2005. He’s currently exhibiting at The Fruitmarket Gallery. Jim Lambie's Poetry Club, 9pm, Sun 17 Aug, free

he Bookshop Band makes a very welcome return to Jura Unbound after the success of their 2013 debut. Once more they are set to beguile and charm with their own unique brand of words and music. Not only are Poppy Pitt, Beth Porter and Ben Please ridiculously multi-talented musicians but they also have the incredibly unnerving ability to take a novel and distil it into a delicately crafted four minute song. Since forming in 2010 and first performing at Mr B’s Emporium of Reading in Bath, they have recorded an impressive seven albums and toured the country’s bookshops and festivals sharing their sounds. No novel is too daunting, no book too big, no genre too intimidating. Authors like Hilary Mantel, China Miéville, Andrey Kurkov, Armistead Maupin and Eleanor Catton have all fallen under The Bookshop Band’s musical scalpel to be delightfully dissected and musically reborn. Last year they even managed to

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persuade Ian Rankin to introduce his own song. This year they promise to create another literary kaleidoscope of words and music in the Book Festival’s Guardian Spiegeltent drawing on their extensive back catalogue and performing new songs, reflecting new work and linking into the World War One anniversary. Alongside the music there will be readings from Kate Mosse whose short story collection The Mistletoe Bride has had three stories transformed and performed, and Ned Beauman whose novel The Teleportation Accident has been the subject of two songs and whose brand new story, Glow, will inspire a new song. If you are suffering from the noise, clutter and intensity of Edinburgh in August, a night in the company of The Bookshop Band will revive your sagging spirits and have you returning to your bookshelves for that book that’s slipped your mind. The Bookshop Band, 9pm, Thu 21 Aug, free

What's On Sun 10 Aug

The Empire Café Jura Unbound opens with a celebration of Glasgow’s Empire Café project created by Louise Welsh and Jude Barber to explore Scotland’s relationship with the North Atlantic slave trade. Tonight will be a delicious, scintillating mixture of poetry, prose, new writing and music, including newly commissioned poetry from Yonder Awa, the Empire Cafe’s poetry anthology read by Caribbean and Scottish writers plus performance from hip-hop band Stanley Odd.

Mon 11 Aug

Canongate presents: Lost & Found Join host, author and comedian Viv Groskop as she explores what it means to lose ourselves – our minds, our meaning, our mojo – and how to get it back. Including readings from Emma Jane Unsworth (whose Animals has been described as ‘Withnail with girls’) and Matt Haig (Reasons to Stay Alive), comedy from self-confessed neurotic Byron Vincent and live music. Ella Berthoud, author of The Novel Cure, will prescribe literary therapy throughout the evening which will push us beyond our limits and explore our excesses.

Tue 12 Aug

Syria Speaks: An Evening of Resistance & Celebration Reel Festivals presents Syria Speaks, a celebration of contemporary Syrian writing and music. With readings from Samar Yazbek’s Pinter Prize-winning war diaries and Malu Halasa’s sly (but not shy) Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie, this event highlights the humour, resilience and strength of Syrian art, even in these most challenging times. Through the poetry of Golan Haji, the adventures of novelist Robin YassinKassab, and the storytelling and songs of the irrepressible Raast Collective, Syria Speaks will make you laugh, cry and maybe even dance.

Wed 13 Aug

Vic Galloway and friends BBC presenter, DJ, journalist and author Vic Galloway brings together a brilliant night of music and words. Music comes from SAY award longlister Adam Stafford, The Hazey Janes’ Andrew Mitchell and singer-songwriter Siobhan Wilson. Readings come from Anneliese Mackintosh and her debut story collection Any Other Mouth; Kate Tough and her debut novel Head for the Edge, Keep Walking, plus Liam Murray Bell whose second novel is appropriately called The Busker. Whether writing or singing, you will find Scotland in fine voice this August!

Thu 14 Aug

Neu! Reekie! Curated by poets and Neu! Reekie! founders Michael Pedersen and Kevin Williamson, this launch will showcase the virile new limbs of the Neu! Reekie! literary collective / circus: the bold birth of Neu! Reekie! Publishing and the snap, crackle and pop of Neu! Reekie! Records. Expect a greatest hits style cut to the jib – with past participants including everyone from Irvine Welsh to Primal Scream, Liz Lochhead to The Pastels, Tom Leonard to Frightened Rabbit, Alasdair Gray to David Shrigley, who knows who could rock-up?

Fri 15 Aug

Nasty Little Press Nasty Little Press publishes distinctive books full of poetry that gets you in the gut. Their list includes some of Britain’s best loved poet-performers. Tonight we have sharp satire from Elvis McGonagall; bawdy, visceral delight from Tim Clare; the tumbling, breathless, boozy confessions of Salena Godden; witty yet reflective words from Molly Naylor; and a rare Scottish gig from Martin Newell, with poems that are wistful and gorgeous, aching for the past in a chippy tetrameter. Hosted by NLP Editor Luke Wright.

Sat 16 Aug

Page Match What is Page Match? Imagine all your favourite spoken word artists smashed together with the razzmatazz of WrestleMania. This is PAGE MATCH. So join BANG SAID THE GUN for the finest purveyors of stand-up poetry, the Biggest and Toughest Word Wrestling Grudge Match Ever: The Battle for Scottish Independence. This is going to hurt. Expect head ripping, blood curdling, limb breaking, arm locking, lip splitting, eye popping, hair raising, knock out prose. DIRECT FROM RINGSIDE – PAGE MATCH – THIS TIME IT’S PERSONAL.

Sun 17 Aug

Jim Lambie’s Poetry Club On the back of his exhibition at The Fruitmarket Gallery, Jim Lambie hosts a special edition of his iconic Poetry Club. Running since 2012 in Glasgow it has quickly built a reputation for presenting cult heroes, legendary icons and new voices from Scotland and abroad. Tonight is no exception, with American poet and performance artist John Giorno and punk musician Lawrence and his band Go Kart Mozart taking to the stage.

Mon 18 Aug

Born To Be Wide For 10 years Born To Be Wide has provided a focal point for Scotland's music scene, combining discussions, interviews and self-indulgent DJ sets from invited guests. Join founder and host Olaf Furniss for a talk show with a difference, featuring veteran manager Simon Napier-Bell and live music. Simon, who managed acts including the Yarbirds, Wham and Japan, will be talking about his career and his latest book, Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay, which charts the history of the music business.

Tue 19 Aug

New Wave Krakow We celebrate the 10th anniversary of Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature with a special evening in partnership with Krakow, the seventh city to earn the status. Krakow is a city steeped in literature, from 11th century scriptoriums to Nobel winner Czesław Miłosz and the iconic Joseph Conrad. In recent years Jura Unbound has enjoyed the likes of Paweł Huelle and Olga Tokarczuk from Poland; tonight we discover the next wave of exciting new writers and musicians.

Wed 20 Aug

Willy Vlautin & friends A very welcome return to Jura Unbound for Willy Vlautin. The author and singer of Richmond Fontaine will be performing and reading from The Motel Life, Lean on Pete and his new novel, The Free. In addition, he will be joined by fellow authors Michael Pitre, Joseph Boyden and Craig Davidson to explore myths, masculinity and making do in modern North America.

Thu 21 Aug

The Bookshop Band After their brilliant debut performance in 2013 we are delighted to welcome back Beth, Poppy and Ben to beguile us with their beautiful book-inspired ballads. Their musical versatility is paired with courageous creativity in crafting miniature musical masterpieces from a startling array of

JURA UNBOUND

literature – Mantel to Miéville, Catton to Kurkov. This year they will be joined by authors Ned Beauman and Kate Mosse, who will be reading from their work.

Fri 22 Aug

Read Y’self Fitter with Andy Miller The 4th Estate Literary Salon presents a night of literary confession and inspiration. Andy Miller is the author of The Year of Reading Dangerously, his account of how to live, love and most importantly, read the classics of literature. In Read Y’self Fitter he invites you on a whirlwind literary tour to repent, rediscover and refresh your reading lives.

Sat 23 Aug

E.O. Higgins presents Laars Head & friends Join world renowned psychic medium Laars Head for a séance in the Spiegeltent. Head, the creation of author E.O. Higgins, will be joined by authors that explore the sinister and the spooky, the ghoulish and the unnerving, as well as some special guests from 'the other side.'

Sun 24 Aug

James Yorkston & friends The magnificent James Yorkston returns to Jura Unbound for the Edinburgh launch of his new album The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society. And he is bringing some very special guests including contributors to the album – The Pictish Trail and KT Tunstall.

Mon 25 Aug

Rally & Broad What better way to toast the finale of Jura Unbound than with Edinburgh’s own Rally & Broad. Created and hosted by Jenny Lindsay and Rachel McCrum, Rally & Broad have re-energised the city’s live literature scene in recent years. Join them for a special Ampersand Edition, bringing together artists from different art forms to create original collaborations, including poets Don Paterson and Ryan Van Winkle, plus many more.

THE SKINNY

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July 2014

Shamelessly Safe Fighting the stigma of being prepared Words: Matthew Bobbu Illustrations: Julie Ritchie

y student years were exciting, unpredictable times. Each night out could end with me in bed with a beautiful man; struggling to keep my dignity while having sex on a leather sofa; or passing out in a garden ten yards from my front door because rum hates steep hills. Like any sensible person who engages in sex in unforeseeable locations – sometimes with unforeseeable people – I carried condoms with me. Yes, condoms plural. Not even just one or two: some people are allergic to latex, or the spermicide included in some condoms. Some people enjoy flavoured condoms, while others don’t like cock to taste like rubbery fruit salad. So for the safety and pleasure of everyone, I kept several in my pocket. Of course, as with every man who carries condoms in his wallet, I acquired a reputation. Despite merely acting responsibly to protect my health and the health of others, I was simply known as a shameless man-whore. I was having the time of my life, but I would increasingly wonder if it was a positive thing that I was always prepared to be safe. Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? And women who exercise healthy, consensual sexual freedom have to face far worse judgements than I ever dealt with. So I stopped carrying condoms. I decided to shake off the reputation, maybe convince people I liked that I didn’t just want to fuck them. It seemed clear to me that not carrying condoms

would help me to stop sleeping with all those wonderful people, as I wouldn’t be prepared for it all the time. Clearly I could not find a long-term committed relationship while I was still behaving like a man who carries condoms. I realised the stupidity of this one day when I was at my girlfriend’s house. We were getting naked and sweaty when she realised she had run out of condoms. I didn’t have any with me, because I didn’t want to be a legendary man-slag any more. It made no sense – that my reputation and happiness should rely on being unwilling to take responsibility for my own health and safety. I decided right then to start carrying condoms again: it’s my health, and it should be my responsibility to look after it. What’s more, I realised that I was trying to get away from a reputation that made no sense. We see adults having safe, consensual sex, and we judge them for it to the point where we discourage them from staying safe. We shame the people who choose to always be protected, because this society still somehow thinks that having lots of sex is a bad thing, no matter how you do it. So now I, like a good scout, am always prepared. And whether I have sex with the pretty girl from the pub, or my boyfriend of two years, is none of your damn business. Unless you want to join in, in which case – make sure you bring your own condoms, too.

Good Girls Don’t Get Pregnant Our Deviance editor ponders the practicalities of motherhood

Words: Tasha Lee

s a teenager, in the circles I moved in, getting pregnant was the worst thing that could happen to you. Girls at my school were transferred to another secondary down the road once their bumps got too big. The other school had a nursery and was better able to facilitate pregnant teens, but to my peers it was as if these girls were being expelled. We learned that getting pregnant meant you were punished. Getting pregnant was shameful. At my mum’s church someone always seemed to be pregnant. The headscarf-wearing women, who weren’t allowed to read the Bible to a mixed congregation, would gather together to talk about how so-and-so’s pregnancy was coming along. Sometimes they got sick, but usually they’d recover. They didn’t talk about it in front of the boy children. Only the girls. Very few of the women in my mum’s church worked. Good girls worked hard at school, went to university, met a nice Christian boy, got married and had babies. I would get into arguments with the pastor’s wife about the order. Why go to university if you’re not going to have a career? And also, if education wasn’t necessary, why was it shameful to get pregnant while in secondary school? The idea seemed to be that my own education was necessary so that I could homeschool my children. Only that way could I control what influences they received. Protect them.

Lifestyle

DEVIANCE

It takes a single-minded young woman to go to a state school, study for three or four years at university and still want to settle down, have children and never work. It’s also virtually impossible now – supporting another adult and a few children on even a professional male graduate’s salary would be a struggle. So what are you to do, as a heterosexual young woman who wants a family and a career? You’ve got through school and university, met a nice boy... do you get married and start having babies? While working? In my profession working from home is an option, but it seems like it would be lonely and unstable. I want to know how to integrate work and childrearing without shame. Colleagues start to whisper about maternity leave. How many months on full pay? It doesn’t seem... profitable. Wouldn’t your employer resent you? Or just fire you? My ignorance on the subject is embarrassing. While at university my friends and I understood that this would be a problem we would have to deal with one day, but I guess I assumed there’d be guidance on the issue. Leaflets in the women’s toilets at work or a booklet from human resources in your starter pack. Instead the silence and shame around pregnancy still hangs heavily over me.

THE SKINNY

Playing Games with Your Food Scotland’s biggest ever sporting event kicks off this month, and there’s some food hidden in there as well. Time for supersized cakes, morning drinking, and a medal for finishing a biscuit

lasgow is the centre of the sporting world this month, if you ignore that big football thing that’s still going on in Brazil, and luckily there is actually some foodie benefit to the Commonwealth Games turning up in Scotland. That benefit comes not in the form of the usual trauma wrought by major sporting events, like a sudden surfeit of multinational chain restaurants or the announcement of a packet of ham in the shape of ‘Iconic Local Image A.’ Nope, the team behind Culture 2014 and Festival 2014 have got it right, and laid on some actual food events that you might reasonably want to attend. Events such as Africa in Motion’s Film and Food Marathon. Don’t worry though, it isn’t an actual marathon or anything mad like that. Instead it’s an evening set in the opulent surroundings of House for an Art Lover in Bellahouston Park that requires very little in the way of athletic exertion. It’s a short film triple bill, with the films telling the varied stories of sportspeople from Kenya, South Africa and Tunisia. The three-course meal is crafted to match, with influences from across Africa thrown in. Of all the ways to get

July 2014

Words: Peter Simpson Illustration: Jode Pankhurst

involved with sport this month, watching other people do it while having food brought to you in a lavish setting will take some beating. House for an Art Lover, Bellahouston Park. 9 Jul, 7pm, tickets £20. The Empire Cafe doesn’t go for the extravagant angle, but it might be one of the more engaging elements of the whole Games. Popping up in the Briggait for the first week of the Games, the Cafe is a place to reflect on the somewhat dubious history of the Commonwealth, and Scotland’s relationship with the Caribbean slave trade. Expect music, poetry, art, film and a whole host of events, as well as… y’know, a cafe. The experimental menu was developed in a series of workshops and recipes using traditional techniques alongside those troublesome ingredients. One thing’s for sure: a trip to the Empire will certainly leave you with plenty to talk about over your afternoon cuppa. The Briggait, 141 Bridgegate. 24 Jul to 1 Aug, various times. For a slightly more upbeat blast from the past, hit up the Merchant City Festival’s Charleston Brunch. Having said that, quite what this 1920s-inspired brunch with dancing folk

and cocktails has to do with the Commonwealth Games is completely beyond us. AiM and the Empire Cafe examine the cultural and personal impact of sport on entire continents, while this Merchant City event seems to be an excuse to fling about in a nice frock and do some light to medium drinking at 11 o’clock in the morning. Not that we’re complaining, we just can’t see how it fits in. Wild Cabaret, 18 Candleriggs. 26 Jul, 11am What we can see the point in is making a giant cake to commemorate the Games, so it’s good news that the option exists. Yes, it’s that food event beloved of world record-hunters and producers of ‘I’m on a journey’-type documentaries – it’s the chance to help make a pointlessly large foodstuff! In this case it’s a giant Commonwealth cake, although not the kind of Commonwealth cake from the Empire Cafe a few paragraphs ago. Don’t expect any thought-provoking social commentary here – this is all about helping to make a cake, which will be large. Your role, should you choose to accept it or have some time to kill with small relatives who don’t want to sit in the pub with you, is to make all the little decorations and accoutrements that go on the

FOOD AND DRINK

standard ‘Big Event Cake.’ We suggest trying to make a marzipan Usain Bolt or a Mo Farah out of icing sugar and those little silver balls, although if anyone asks we told you to make a generic sportsperson whose resemblance to a cake decoration is purely coincidental. Chisholm St, Merchant City. 2 Aug, 12pm. Of course, no major sporting event would be complete without souvenirs, or ‘tat’ as they’re more commonly known. As it turns out, some of the Glasgow 2014 merch is a) highly foodular and b) not rubbish. That’s down to Panel and their Scotland Can Make It! project, which teamed up designers and artists with producers and manufacturers to come up with some unique souvenirs of the Games. When we say unique, we mean things like Katy West’s art deco jelly mould inspired by a Glasgow restaurant from the 1930s, or Claire Duffy’s gold, silver and bronze Tunnock’s teacakes complete with detachable medals to celebrate your achievement of eating gold, silver and bronze Tunnock’s teacakes. Well, it’s a bit late to try and win a real medal, so it’s the closest any of us are going to get. South Block, Osbourne St. 19 Jul-3 Aug.

Lifestyle

Phagomania: You Must Be Bacon This Up A year on from our attempts at bacon-making, we review the landscape in the wide world of pork products. Spoiler alert: it’s still full of crazy people Words: Lewis MacDonald

Food News Having been undermined by Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, the city of pandas and insanelypriced public transport systems hits back with burgers, street food, and beer made by students Words: Peter Simpson

e know what you’re thinking, people of Edinburgh. Your noses are somewhat out of joint due to Glasgow stealing your mantle of ‘Scottish City Noted For Lengthy and Expensive Summer Event’ for this year. Well, we have something to make you feel a bit better, something from Glasgow. Burger Meats Bun, the Glasgow burger joint beloved for its tasty burgers and quirky yet chummy aesthetic, opens up shop in Edinburgh’s New Town this month. For the uninitiated, expect dense but delicious burgers, typography Wes Anderson would be proud of, and the kind of cool vibe that Edinburgh people find very unnatural for some reason. 1 Forth St, from 4 Jul From burgers to beer, and the annual collaboration between Stewart Brewing and students from Heriot Watt’s Brewing and Distilling course. The students unveil their Mutiny on the Beagle IPA in the opulent surroundings of Summerhall, having spent the best part of six months crafting, slogging, and stopping occasionally for a cup of tea. Seems only right to head down and help his time last year, in this very column, we them destroy the evidence, and the prospect of everyone likes those. A couple of minutes later moves into a weird maple and smoke territory showed you how to make your own bacon. and we tucked into a big warm bowl of disapfinishing with an aftertaste that is almost bacon. barbecue street food and some nice background Cuba Libre bacon, no less – check through your pointment. Dry, almost cardboard-like popcorn One product we most certainly won’t be try- music only sweetens the deal. Summerhall, 1 carefully-arranged back issues of Phagomania if Summerhall Pl. 9 Jul, 6pm, tickets £5 with a tiny hint of faux-bacon flavour (which didn’t ing, yet still caught our interest, is whiskey-flayou can’t remember. Speaking of tea, it’s time for tea-based even seem deliberate). Pass the sweet or salted. voured bacon. Templeton Rye distillery, in Iowa, Nowadays it seems that everything that cocktails. Yes, you read that correctly, tea-based The next taste test brought on equal measUSA (naturally), have launched an experimental was once embellished with bacon has now been cocktails. Glasgow’s Dormouse Tea offer up a ures of well-deserved astonishment, exciteproject whereby they are trying to rear pigs that replaced with the now-ubiquitous pulled pork. twist on the standard cuppa with a night of tea ment and fear. We bring you Chocolate Covered taste like their whiskey. They seem pretty confiPulled pork on your burger? Pulled pork in your Maple Smoked Bacon Soda. Imported from the dent that adding spent rye mash grain to the pig’s cocktails and mixed drinks, but manage to keep soup? Pulled pork in your Tesco sandwich? Bacon USA, of course. “Breakfast in a bottle”, the label things traditional by promising cakes to go with food will deliver the goods. The pigs are due for was the universal accompaniment for every meat promised. “I’ve actually had all of those things the tea. A sensible choice in our minds, as the “processing” this month and we wait with bated eater and we feel it’s time to… return to the batogether,” proclaimed a Canadian member of our breath to see if bourbon bacon could be a reality. alternative of putting out a tray of biscuits is just con. We’re bacon’ changes, bacon’ it back to the asking for trouble. Good Spirits Co, 23 Bath St. 10 tasting team. “On top of a cupcake. This does Then we’ll know how to really make Cuba Libre old school, etc etc. Jul, 7pm, tickets £20 sound like home in a bottle.” Cracking it open, bacon; just find a farmer who will accept some We’ve taken a whirlwind tour of porky prodThe real reason that Glasgow has the we admittedly felt like a group of Neolithic men molasses and swap his grass for lime trees. ucts and tackled them ourselves to see if bacon lacking the assurance of knowledge on what was As we were losing faith in the prospect of ba- edge on Edinburgh this month is the variety of is back. First on the agenda is popcorn. It does events on offer in the west. If only there were safe to eat. con products, we did what one should always do seem increasingly difficult to get regular flavours First the sniff test. “Smells like Hershey’s,” in this situation, and went back online. Our faiths some multi-faceted celebration of food that of popcorn these days. Everyone is messing might help pull things around. Wait, what’s this? our native offers. “Yep, definitely a kind of artiwere soon restored with the sight of a giant and around with seemingly odd combinations of both ficial chocolatey smell.” Nothing left other than The Scottish heat of the British Street Food literal mug of bacon, filled with melted cheese. sweet and savoury ingredients and packaging to swig the bacon, and there’s a sentence even And our old friend Nick at dudefoods.com (whom Awards? Yes, we suppose that’ll do. it in an austere manner to make it look like it is Some of the top street food vendors this column never thought it would see. The facial we interviewed in November) has upped his a traditional and sensible flavour for popcorn. from across Scotland will convene on central expressions here tell the most accurate story. A bacon taco game by producing a Double Decker The latest off the production line: smoky bacon multi-staged affair where ambiguity evolves into Mac & Cheese Stuffed Bacon Weave Taco to his Edinburgh for a day of cooking and chowing popcorn. across 12 categories of on-pavement grub, folgrief. “Tastes like ass. Don’t drink it,” was the first repertoire. This comes from a leading microwave poplowing the well-contested and saliva-inducresponse. “It’s soapy. Like soapy water that has If you haven’t seen your favourite bacon corn brand and was sampled by an assorted team been cleaning up chocolate and bacon,” was the ing Manchester competition featured in our flavoured food item mentioned here, please give of unsuspecting taste testers. Initial optimism Northwest edition last month. Well played, second. Someone broke rank with an “it’s not that us a shout. Let’s create some sort of Wikibacon. was aroused by the pleasant aroma from the Edinburgh. You may not have seen off Glasgow bad,” while we even had an “I could drink that.” Why not, eh? Couldn’t be madder than what the microwave as the popping commenced. Very 2014, but you’ve set things up nicely to get your One thing is for sure, it certainly follows the pros are up to. much like a packet of Frazzles bacon crisps – and syntax of the description. Starts off chocolatey, revenge next month. Grassmarket, 20 Jul

Lifestyle

FOOD AND DRINK

THE SKINNY

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July 2014

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THE SKINNY

Gig Highlights

Uptown Again As his reinvigorated soul rock ensemble play their first gig in Scotland since 1999, The Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli relays the virtues of make ups, break ups and calling Saul Goodman Interview: Dave Kerr

The National

nton Newcombe’s men return to Glasgow’s O2 ABC on 5 July with their most critically respected record in some time. Fourteenth Brian Jonestown Massacre album Revelation has proven to be precisely that; focused, propulsive and often unsettling, eastern folk flavours collide with the hazy, well-worn psychedelic tropes that the band established well over a decade ago in San Francisco. Since relocating to Berlin, there’s no doubt the man has reclaimed his mojo – not that we ever doubted his (or Joel Gion’s mutton) chops. Since touching down in Nice’n’Sleazy’s humble basement for their Scottish debut in 2003, The National have slowly but surely won the hearts of thousands over the intervening decade. This month they’ll reach the next plateau as The Usher Hall plays host to their emotive indie rock on 10 Jul. With 2013’s stately offering Trouble Will Find Me gradually slipping into the rear view already, expect this to be one of the last opportunities to commiserate middle age with the Brooklyn quintet before they batten down the hatches to record its follow up. Having legitimised his old band’s reprisal with the affecting, battle-ravaged yet entirely graceful Do to the Beast, Greg Dulli’s resurrected, soul-inflected Afghan Whigs make an appointment with Glasgow’s O2 ABC on 18 July. As this is the first occasion they’ll have visited these parts this side of the millennium, who knows when they’ll be back. So don’t sleep (‘cos sleep is the cousin of death. Least that’s what Nas says). Owen Pallett has travelled a long way since being introduced to the music world as a prodigious fiddler with a Canadian Celtic rock group named Enter the Haggis, enjoying shifts with everyone from Arcade Fire to ehhhhh… Robbie Williams. Known internationally as a seasoned string composer, and subsequently in high demand, here’s a rare opportunity to catch the man formerly known as Final Fantasy take flight in his own right with stirring fourth LP, In Conflict. Glasgow CCA, 18 July.

Do Not Miss Numbers presents… Ghostface Killah, The Arches, 15 Jul

retty Toney is back. While the Wu-Tang Clan continue to scrape a new album together from fractured sessions, its most consistently visceral MC – that’s Dennis ‘Ghostface Killah’ Coles – sets course for The Arches this month. Famed for marrying his supple flows with a relentless, aggressively fast-paced performance style, Ghostface has more classic cuts than will fit in a single live set. Right now seems a fertile time to catch the man; with last year’s immaculate Twelve Reasons to Die in his back pocket and that long-awaited DOOM team-up apparently on ice, the Wally Champ’s next move is anyone’s guess. His gig for Numbers at the Sub Club in 2006 is the stuff of legend, and you know an Arches rap show is mandatory. [Freddie Boswell]

July 2014

RM Hubbert goes back to where it all started, revisiting his old band El Hombre Trajeado (for one night only?) as part of East End Social at Platform in Easterhouse on 12 July. Falling somewhere between the chilly landscapes of postrock forefathers Slint and the warmer climes of surviving peers Pan American, their blueprint was timeless. Revisiting their brief catalogue now, it still is. Noir-pop chanteuse Ela Orleans and Wolf (AKA Kim from Zoey Van Goey’s new thing) round out a compelling bill. After bum-rushing Nice’n’Sleazy last month, notable experimentalists The Telescopes (well, remaining member Stephen Lawrie) will reprise the collaboration he started with St Deluxe nearly five years ago, performing at Glasgow’s 13th Note on 19 July. Having emerged as contemporaries of My Bloody Valentine and Spacemen 3 before forging their own unique path, it should be of interest to all fans of out-there music to see Lawrie perform in such an intimate environment. The resurgent St Deluxe also perform in their own right while pitch black doomsayers Skullwizard are along for the ride. Long known to devout FRabbit followers as Owl John, frontman Scott Hutchison resurfaces in his understated, formerly secret guise to offer a glimpse of his eponymous America-flecked solo debut (due for release in August) at The Caves, Edinburgh on 22 Jul and Glasgow’s Cottiers Theatre the following night. Pick up the next edition of The Skinny where he’ll reveal all (not like that, for fuck’s sake). As the summer hurtles towards insanity, squeegee your third eye with experimental, instrumental jazz-hop outfit BADBADNOTGOOD. The Ontario trio have collaborated with everyone from Ghostface and Danny Brown to Odd Future and specialise in reworking tracks from the varied likes of My Bloody Valentine and mad Kanye West. Latest LP, III could well be the one that brings them overground. 3 Bristo Place (26 Jul); fluffy haired kids called Tarquin are gonna scream. Speaking of ol’ Ghost...

he Skinny: Congratulations on Do to the Beast – an album we didn’t even see coming until just a few months ago. The Afghan Whigs’ last LP [1965] had a celebratory tone that was hard to shake – even 16 years later, you’re still left wondering whether a follow up would sound like the after party or the morning after. Greg Dull: Haha, well I think [The Twilight Singers’ 2003 opus] Blackberry Belle was the morning after for me.

Not up to me, no one ever asks me what I think. Someone else always picks the song. I’m always bad at that – I don’t think of things in that way. My favourite songs are rarely everybody else’s favourite songs. I understand the process behind picking a song, and there were four or five songs suggested as the first single. When they picked Algiers, I had nothing to do with it. And I never do, by the way. My brain doesn’t work that way. It’s like, here’s my songs, do your thing.

You’d managed to keep some secrecy around the project for so long, and then it was Bob Odenkirk [Aka Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad] who spilled the beans on Twitter. Were you even a wee bit mad? No, because it happened in such an innocent way, and he’s such a charming guy. I was a fan of Breaking Bad and I was a fan of Mr Show – the TV programme he did with David Cross in the 90s. I was thrilled to meet him; as he began unveiling what he was gonna do I was mildly protesting. But after it was done, we all had a laugh.

This is your first album without Rick McCollum – was that an obstacle to get past? Is it premature to ask whether he’s welcome back to the fold? Rick has to work on Rick and has had to work on Rick for a long time. I think I haven’t known Rick for a long time now and if by some miracle he got it together and was able to work with people and respect himself and respect the people working and living and caring around him, then of course I would work with him again. But I’ve been waiting for that for a long time. I just kind of got tired of waiting.

John Curley referred to the prospect of getting back on the horse as “exhilarating and scary at the same time.” I imagine that’s how the guy throwing two fistfuls of cocaine in his face on the album artwork must feel. It’s like he’s just saying ‘Fuck it, let’s go.’ Yeah, I think that once we decided to do it, and once we decided to do it how we were going to do it – it was incredibly liberating. The sky was the limit at that point – it was a new thing. This album was incredibly gratifying, really fun… even when we swung at a pitch and missed, we were doing it together. As it began to build, the pieces started to fall into place; it became clear that we had something special. Was it a task to pick the first single to represent the band after all this time away, or was Algiers intuitively the one?

MUSIC

Since the band’s resurrection in 2012, does the Afghan Whigs feel like a long-term proposition again? Yeah, I think I’m going to play it out and see what happens. I’m also interested in recording with Mark Lanegan again. We want to do another Gutter Twins record and I’m relatively certain that will happen in the next couple of years. I think the Twilight Singers will probably become something like it was when it first started again. These are three different entities and I think I know what to do now with my time and my sounds. I’m feeling incredibly creative and looking forward to the future of all of these projects. The Afghan Whigs play O2 ABC on 18 Jul. Do to the Beast is out now via Sub Pop theafghanwhigs.com

Feature

Television O2 ABC, Glasgow, 14 Jun rrrrr

Despite the billing, Television don’t actually perform Marquee Moon tonight – not exactly. Yes, all eight of its songs feature, but the tracklisting is jettisoned and there are plenty of detours along the way – neither of which are negatives per se (particularly not the latter, since it extends the set), but they do constitute a slight disappointment for anyone expecting to hear the record played as a single cohesive body of work, Don’t Look Back-style. Also liable to lightly sully some experiences is the meticulous re-tuning between every song, which keeps things tonally precise but saps the evening’s momentum. But, to offer an articulate counter-argument

to these preliminary gripes: it’s Television. The Television, featuring the Tom Verlaine, demonstrating his pioneering, sinuous style on tracks as perfect as Friction (with its collapsing, piercing intro), Torn Curtain (possibly the gig’s refined pinnacle) and Marquee Moon itself (sounding suitably epic). While original foil Richard Lloyd is no longer with the band, long-term associate Jimmy Rip is a note-perfect replacement; furthermore, his frequent grins contrast nicely with the more serious expressions worn by the rest of the band. It’s fair to say the renditions don’t always have the same frisson as their recorded counterparts, but it’s nonetheless a joy to witness. [Chris Buckle] thewonder.co.uk

Angel Olsen

Angel Olsen / Jaye Bartell Mono, Glasgow, 9 Jun rrrrr Performing solo for the most part, yet blessed with the kind of oaken baritone that can enthral a crowd unaided, Jaye Bartell gently starts tonight’s ball rolling with a selection of rich, slow balladry – an offering that dovetails beautifully with the headliner’s own intimate style. A reverential cover of Unfucktheworld whets appetites for the main event, while Olsen herself lends backing vocals to a brace of mid-set songs on which the duo’s contrasting voices melt together sumptuously. This evening’s sold-out show comes at the tail end of a four month tour that’s taken Angel Olsen around the US and Europe in support of stunning second album Burn Your Fire for No Witness. But if time on the road has fatigued the

St Louis-born songwriter she keeps its impact hidden; from the first note onwards, her crystalline performance casts a definite enchantment, with versatile vocals commanding near silence throughout. As she flips between tender, hothouse fragility and a more formidable, toughskinned croon, highlights quickly accumulate – from scuffed-up rallying cry Hi-Five to the blisteringly emotive Stars. Elsewhere, the desperado blues of Miranda (from 2012’s Half Way Home) and a shimmering Some Things Cosmic (from debut EP Strange Cacti) serve as potent reminders that Burn Your Fire… wasn’t Olsen’s first rodeo; a desolate White Fire, meanwhile, brings all the divine sadness to a suitably intense head. [Chris Buckle]

Photo: Vito Andreoni

PAWS / Tuff Love The Art School, 6 Jun rrrrr

and he thanks those singing along in the audience for their backing. Whether it’s the chance to showcase a new album to a hometown crowd, or Punters who made the mistake of bringing a proof of their dogged determination, something jacket on what is an unusually warm Glasgow propels Taylor to find his range and the band evening must be envious of Julie Eisenstein from increase in strength the longer they play. They’ve Tuff Love. The guitarist is a picture of cool in a hit their stride by the time a cello player joins pair of three-quarter length jeans as she leads them for Erreur Humaine and Alone, two of Youth her band through a sure-footed set of razored Culture Forever’s standout tracks. With an hour indiepop that recalls Le Tigre and even Elastica. set to fill, the trio take the chance to revisit Oh, The crunchy riff of Poncho is a standout, suggest- the Places You’ll Go from early EP Misled Youth, ing headline shows await. before bringing things to a raucous conclusion PAWS are in ebullient mood. This is their with an extended version of War Cry. They might second-last show of a mammoth tour that’s seen look knackered, but with a band like PAWS, who them play some 80 gigs, and the trio appear dethrive on the energy of performing, they’ll no mob happy as they take to the stage. There are doubt be back on the road soon. [Chris McCall] some scars from the road; Phillip Taylor sounds wehavepaws.com strained on a thrashy rendition of Sore Tummy,

angelolsen.com

infernal industrial church. By contrast, Demdike Stare would go down a treat in any main-room techno environment, There’s a point in Wolf Eyes alum Nate Young’s twisting the often abstract, minimal bass-scapes set where he seems satisfied with the unearthly, and textural tone poems of their Test Pressing feedback-drenched howls of static and the rumseries into energised slabs of shuddering, towbling thud of funereal bass drums – slowly and ering dub techno. There are hints of fractured calmly, he takes out a set of smoked black shades dubstep, brooding skeletons of rhythm inspired and puts them on. Completely improvised, his set equally by Detroit and Berlin’s aesthetic legacies, is comprises of looped and processed feedback and towards the end, brief but rousing excurgathered from contact mics, delay units and foot sions into proto-jungle and hardcore rave. pedals, tied together with omnipresent, thudding Sean Canty and Miles Whittaker brood over bass. obscure monoliths of analogue sequencers, glimThroughout the heavenly static, he is utterly mering MIDI devices, and a turntable spinning indifferent to the rapt, statue-still crowd, or any specially-cut dubplates. Propulsive, kinetic and mainstream notions of form or structure. It’s darkly euphoric, they are still as remorselessly self-indulgent, perhaps, and arguably lacks musi- experimental and as surely improvised as Young, cality, but in its sparseness, its harshness, there but their move towards the centre of the danceis an undeniable beauty. Young sits reverently floor is thrilling. [Bram E. Gieben] before his machines like the organist in some modern-love.co.uk/artists/demdike-stare

Son Lux Broadcast, 3 Jun rrrrr Local lads Kill The Waves draw a big crowd for their dream pop-inflected indie set – tracks Friend and Oak Tree showcase some serious songwriting chops, but they pull focus a little from Luxembourg’s Sun Glitters, who follows up their set with some luscious, shoegazing electronic drawing on post-dubstep and glitched broken beat. His dreamy beatscapes, equal parts Jesus and Mary Chain and proto-Warp IDM, resonate with spectral beauty nonetheless. New York’s Son Lux, aka Ryan Lott, is backed

Review

by guitarist Rafiq Bhatia and drummer Ian Chang, pulling the measured, haunting crescendoes of 2013 album Lanterns into angular shapes. Above it all, Lott’s voice soars, at times angelic and pure-toned, at others like the growl of a heartbroken and disaffected choirboy. Pleading with the audience, crooning and beckoning, Lott has the crowd transfixed. The cathartic sweep of Alternate Worlds bleeds into a funk-infused Easy; a rousing Pyre and a breathless, cumulative Lost it to Trying nearly elicit tears. On record, Son Lux are unique – live, they are dynamic, cathartic, heart-stopping. [Bram E. Gieben] music.sonluxmusic.com

Wye Oak

Wye Oak King Tut’s, Glasgow, 13 Jun rrrrr

her ennui-laced delivery later turned towards an appealing cover of Running up That Hill in the encore. Tonight, Wye Oak’s sound echoes their stage If there’s a downside to Wye Oak’s handsome setup: lots of space, lots of room to breathe. The reinvention, however, it’s an occasional dip in enBaltimore duo lean heavily on new album Shriek, ergy, with attentions dissipating during the set’s letting its synth-led melodies set the evening’s more diaphanous numbers. But luckily, they’ve an tone: Before’s skittering drums and throbbing effective remedy on hand; an intermittent return bassline act as an alluring step-off point, while to earlier, guitar-led material, with muscular the band’s newfound passion for lucid electronrenditions of Holy Holy and Civilian particularly ics is further explored on the glimmering title effective at shaking things up and restoring entrack and the ice-cool pop of Glory. As Andy Stack thusiasm. [Chris Buckle] fluidly multitasks between drum kit and keys, wyeoakmusic.com Jenn Wasner provides impressively lithe vocals,

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THE SKINNY

Photo: John Graham

Demdike Stare / Nate Young The Art School, 14 Jun rrrrr

On the Prowl

Their logo proclaims they belong to the Reverb Militia, but rising ‘surf catcore’ trio Deathcats don’t do battle offstage (provided your ticket prices are reasonable)

Interview: Chris McCall Photography: Ross Gilmore

he balaclava has one hell of a backstory for a simple item of headwear. Named after the Crimean city where British soldiers first wore them in 1854, it became the garment of choice for late-20th century terrorists keen to hide their mugs from the gaze of security forces, and subsequently became a visual shorthand for bad guys up to no good. But none of that matters to Deathcats, who proudly brandish their guitars in a black and white picture with their faces hidden, looking like a proscribed Eastern Bloc punk collective from the early 1980s. They simply wanted to avoid another average group shot in which a bunch of musicians stand staring blankly into the middle distance. “When we started the band I never wanted to have to do any press photos,” explains guitarist and songwriter James McGarragle. “Most of them are so boring. The balaclava came from these guys in America who skate, called the Barrier Kult. There’s loads of pros, but no one knows who they are because they always wear balaclavas – they basically wanted to take the celebrity out of skateboarding. It’s just kind of a piss take.” After the resulting picture was used to illustrate a profile of the trio in a Sunday newspaper, much to the chagrin of his parents, McGarragle decided it was time for a slight change. “Some people found it very cool, but being from the west of Scotland, and with the whole IRA/UDA thing, some people were like ‘nah’. So we reshot it for the album with scarves instead. “It’s just an awkward thing to do; posing for photographs isn’t natural. When we played Beat Generator in Dundee, they have the walls wallpapered with gig posters. It’s like a history of the shittiest bands of the last ten years. Wearing a balaclava, it’s easier. We like to have fun, but we don’t want to offend people, so we changed it.” But the sartorial realignment didn’t end there. “We used to play in Hawaiian shirts but we stopped doing that as well.” Deathcats are now past the point of worrying about their first promo pictures. They have their debut album, All Hail Deathcats, to talk about, and a growing reputation as one of the most exciting new live acts around, which has led to bookings at this month’s T in the Park and Wickerman festivals. Specialists in sub-three minute, reverb-heavy fuzz-pop, their songs are a lot of fun, with titles like Danny Dyer and Danny DeNato, but retain enough bite to keep you on your toes when around them. The group got together in 2012 but remain largely unknown outside of Glasgow, where they have been a regular live fixture for more than a year, often playing three gigs a week in the city. McGarragle and drummer Christopher Harvey hail from Cumbernauld, the North Lanarkshire town more known for its tenebrous shopping centre than its music scene, and played in Queen Jane, a more conventional group that the latter grew tired of. “When we started I didn’t even know what reverb was,” he laughs. “We played proper nice guitar pop, but I’d always been into heavier stuff and written these songs that I knew wouldn’t fit. I was at uni with Scott (bassist Scott Whitehill), and knew Harv could drum, so I decided to form a new band for a laugh. It was just a total piss take really, not even a side project – and two years later we’ve achieved so much more than we ever could have with Queen Jane. I just wanted to play songs and not have to explain them.” Their very name, Deathcats, is a reflection of how seriously they first viewed themselves. “It was meant to be a pure thrash band singing

July 2014

about cats. I think it’s good to have a stupid name for a band. You want your gran to hear it and shake her head.” Harvey agrees. “A guy came up to us after a show in Aberdeen and told us he thought we were going to be a metal band.” McGarragle reckons it’s a common misconception people have. “It’s funny when you’re at work. Someone will congratulate you on playing T in the Park and then ask what your band is called. And you say [mumbles] Deathcats. Last night someone asked if we wanted cats to die. No, we definitely do not want cats to die! But if you put death before anything, like ‘deathlasers’, it just makes it sound cooler.” Aside from the balaclava press shot, the band’s stand-out visual profile was greatly boosted by the kind of sharp razorband logo you can imagine fans having inked to their upper arms, stitched to denim jackets or stuck to guitar cases. McGarragle himself is wearing a jacket with an impressive number of patches when he meets The Skinny at Glasgow’s CCA, shortly after arriving back in town from a gig in Dundee the previous evening. The Deathcats logo – “it’s a panther, but technically it’s just an angry cat” is inspired by the badges of American army divisions, and proudly proclaims them as members of the ‘Reverb Militia.’ It has no military meaning, rather it’s an indication that this is a group that fans can rally behind and identify with. It’s also a shout-out to other fuzz-pop garage bands, like Glasgow’s Halfrican or Dundee’s The Shithawks, with whom Deathcats regularly share stages. It was this scene that nurtured the band, even if it was largely ignored by almost everybody else. “For the first year, naebody gave a shit to be honest. We put out one bedroom EP, but we just wanted to play gigs. We found bands that wanted to play with us, like Halfrican, who weren’t snobby about anything, and did hunners of gigs at the 13th Note that were just for fun. The whole time we were in Queen Jane, I think we played with only two or three bands that I actually liked,

whereas with Deathcats, right from the beginning, we’ve played with so many weird, fucked-up bands but they’ve all been amazing. It’s a different mentality.”

“Hopefully we’ll always be a fiver at the door band. I don’t want it to be £15, fuck that shit” James McGarragle

Such a freewheeling attitude can only take you so far, however. The group teamed up with Fuzzkill, a small independent label, after playing a gig last year – of all places – in the Shetland Isles. There was an immediate rapport between the two parties and a shared feeling that some professionally recorded material was urgently needed. By this chapter in a typical band’s story, our intrepid adventurers would now retreat to a cheap out-of-town studio and record a few tracks in the hope of attracting attention from some big-shot label. But Deathcats, in keeping with their feline profile, landed on their feet and strolled right in to Glasgow’s respected Green Door studio. Thanks to a Creative Scotlandfunded initiative for young bands, they were invited to record an EP over four days. Sensing a rare opportunity, McGarragle paid for an extra day so they could instead complete a full album. “It’s insane how much money it costs to put out a record,” he explains. “But I knew we were never going to get another opportunity like this, so we put as much as we could into it. We wouldn’t have been able to afford to do it otherwise. It would have cost at least a grand. Instead,

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I ended up spending £150 for the last day, £100 for the artwork, £125 to get it mastered, and then a grand to get it pressed. But we raised £500 in pre-sales, and we put in some ourselves but we’re getting that back through sales pretty fast.” It’s a modest investment considering the potential rewards. Armed with this record, Deathcats are now ready to prowl the stages at Scotland’s biggest festivals, which they hope will lead to their first UK-wide tour. “Because we don’t have a big label or a booking agent, we have to contact bands and do gig swaps. We did that with Fruit Tones from Manchester and it was brilliant; the show was mobbed and they really looked after us. But I’ve done it with bands who I would say are on the same level with us, in regards to how much coverage they’ve been getting, and so many of them don’t even email you back. It’s really bad etiquette. I don’t see why. Hopefully we’ll always be a fiver at the door band, I don’t want it to be £15, fuck that shit." Until they get to the reunion stage in 20 years? “Aye and then it’ll be £500 for a meet-andgreet! The Fleetwood Mac thing is disgusting. Even with Sabbath it’s like £80 a ticket, I can’t get on board with that shit. But we need to make the band sustainable. It’s the same with these two guys. I’ve said that to them as of August, I want to go with this for another year, bring out another record, but if they turn round and say they want to move in with their girlfriend or something, I’m not going to say no. So many bands teeter on the edge of getting a bit bigger, but they never do.” As they peel off with our photographer for a shoot across the street at Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, you suspect that Deathcats might be able to navigate trickier paths than most. Playing the T Break stage at T in the Park on 11-13 Jul and the Solas Tent at Wickerman Festival on 25-26 Jul. All Hail Deathcats is out now on Fuzzkill Records deathcats.bandcamp.com

Feature

Album of the Month Honeyblood

Honeyblood [FatCat Records, 14 Jul]

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In tone, Stina Tweeddale’s vocals on Super Rat are disarmingly sweet; in content, they’re scintillatingly vitriolic. “I will hate you forever,” she trills in unison with drummer Shona McVicar, firing syllables at a presumably quivering target. “Scum! Bag! Sleaze! Slime! Ball! Grease! You really do disgust me!” – a pretty unequivocal payoff, set to a punch-the-air slice of hook-filled, grungy guitar pop. It’s a genre the Glasgow duo are already mavens of, with their eponymous debut possessing the special kind of vitality that only a lean and acutely focussed two-piece can muster. As anyone fortunate enough to witness their live shows over the last couple of

years already knows, the absence of a third pair of hands on bass limits neither their power nor clarity, and producer Peter Katis has successfully ensured that all that charm and energy translates to record. Joining Super Rat on the album’s invigorating highlight reel are the pacey, sugared chorus of Killer Bangs, the moody alt-rock of Choker, and the cantering, shout-along refrain of All Dragged Up – though really, you can stick a pin anywhere in its 40 minutes and turn up a choice guitar line or a razor-sharp melody worthy of enthusiastic praise. [Chris Buckle] Playing Glasgow CCA on 13 Sep honeyblood.co.uk

Claude Speeed

The National Jazz Trio of Scotland

Shabazz Palaces

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My Skeleton [LuckyMe, 14 Jul] Releases like My Skeleton ground LuckyMe in a more vibrant, experimental milieu than even their brightly-hued, dancefloor-led 12"s. Composed by Stuart Turner, a member at various times of American Men, Degrassi and Russia, this is a deeply personal, almost beatless collection of compositions constructed from field recordings, laptop jams and esoteric instrumentation, both synthesised and analogue. Written on a round-the-world sojourn which began after the death of someone close to him, it is a record washed in the acid sting of survivors’ guilt, capturing some of the sunlit beauty of the world while revelling in mournful compositions powerfully evoking loss and darkness. Fragmented vocals deliver a sense of narrative. Strings swell and sweep through the title track; Some Other Guy’s processed static is bone-chilling; the reverb-soaked pianos of Tiger Woods nod to the more sombre notes of Mogwai and Remember Remember’s journeys into tone and form; the achingly beautiful Taj Mahal is an etherial centrepiece. Magnificent, understated, and beautifully realised. [Bram E. Gieben]

Standards Vol. III [Karaoke Kalk, 7 Jul]

Lese Majesty [Sub Pop, 28 Jul]

On their third volume of Standards, Bill Wells’ mischievously christened National Jazz Trio of Scotland (actually a quartet, completed by vocalists Aby Vulliamy, Kate Sugden and Lorna Gilfedder) sound more gracefully minimalist than ever. Deploying only the most sparing and precise of musical accompaniments, melodies are built around the soft, sylphic tones of its vocal trio, pitched one notch above a whisper throughout. A balmy atmosphere is established by opener Alive and Well, with lyrical references to summer heat underpinned by ersatz cricket song and shimmering instrumentation. This mirage-like delicacy is maintained across the remainder of the album, with the twinkling music box air of Unguarded Moment and the glockenspiel-led bossa nova of Surprising Word among its many gentle pleasures. The only reservation to be had is a minor sense of overfamiliarity, with the Trio’s milieu undergoing only the slightest of changes between volumes. But otherwise, these finespun creations are altogether enchanting. [Chris Buckle]

Palaceer Lazaro (formerly known as Ishmael ‘Butterfly’ Butler of Digable Planets) and Tendai Maraire broke through in 2011 with the mercurial, minimalist and abstract Black Up. With stripped digital beats and playful, worldly-wise lyrics, that album was a considerable achievement, setting out a template for Seattle hip-hop that was challenging, experimental and rugged without recourse to macho declarations of street toughness. On Lese Majesty, they push the envelope even further. The beats draw on cloud rap and cult electronica, with the best cuts – drifting, dreamlike openers Dawn in Luxor and Forerunner Foray – achieving a hazy, LSD-washed, cosmic vibe. Wisely avoiding exhortations to take shrooms and open minds, the duo retain their humour (see the chuckle-inducing #CAKE). At points, over-ambition causes them to lose focus, but at a sprawling 18 tracks, even the less invigorating moments drift by pleasantly. Superior psychedelic hip-hop from a band yet to reach their peak, and sure to dominate when they do. [Bram E. Gieben]

www.facebook.com/NJTOS

www.shabazzpalaces.com

soundcloud.com/claudespeeed

Alvvays

Alvvays [Transgressive, 21 Jul]

www.alvvays.com

Slow Club

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WATCH_DOGS OST [Invada Records, 28 Jul]

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Looking for your summer soundtrack? Get ready to swoon. This ain’t no hackneyed trust exercise either, so make sure you’re stood well away from sharp corners while listening. Alvvays’ sumptuously pretty pop glistens with hazy reverb and insouciant jangles, recalling yer La Seras and yer Dum Dum Girlses without really sounding too much like either of them. The Canadian quintet’s debut brims tantalisingly with effortless magnificence, reaching an early peak when Molly Rankin’s soft sighs melt like crushed ice under the radiant warmth of Archie, Marry Me’s sun-kissed melody. Throughout the record, there’s a shoegazey fug that wraps the listener up in fuzzy earworms, almost obscuring its true, sorrowful heart. But as with all great pop nuggets, these songs are at their best when left to glide cheerily over their melancholic undercurrent – subtly yet irrevocably chipping away at your unsuspecting heartstrings rather than tugging at them outright. Vvonderful stuff. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Brian Reitzell

Finding esoteric music in videogames isn’t so hard on the fringes of the indie scene, but for a multi-million dollar, next-gen, new hope like Watch Dogs, it’s certainly something of a welcome surprise. Not since, perhaps, Amon Tobin scored Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory have such worlds collided with results as good as this. Brian Reitzell, better known as a composer within film and TV, turns his hand to fleshing out Watch Dogs’ near-future world of cyber-hacking and deceit with singular results. Creeping, foreboding and claustrophobic are all watchwords but, whilst being imbued with an insect-like electro pulse, there’s an organic, human feel at the heart of it all. It’s also a very adaptive in its delivery while keeping a consistent tone, perhaps a result of its primary purpose but certainly a trait that keeps interest when removed from its natural environment. In lieu of a DualShock joypad, a good pair of headphones will more than suffice to get into the world of Watch Dogs. [Darren Carle]

Complete Surrender [Caroline International, 14 Jul] Midway through Everything Is New, the second track on Complete Surrender, the strings and big, gospel-style vocals kick in. At that point the penny will drop that you’re listening to a very different Slow Club. Previous works – not least 2011’s Paradise – were brassy and cheeky, and while it might risk somebody somewhere sounding the cliché klaxon by describing this as a more mature offering, Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor have crafted a record that’s both soulful and a musical step forward. That said, the Haribo rush of the title track sounds like an old friend popping her head round the door for a goofy ‘hiya’ while you’re in the middle of a proper grown up dinner party – but overall this is a beautiful, lovelorn record that pushes the boundaries of what can be achieved in a three minute pop song. More serious? Sure, but doesn’t everyone grow up eventually? [Stu Lewis] www.slowclubband.com

www.invada.co.uk

The Icarus Line

Anna Calvi

Avowed Slavery [Agitated, 7 Jul]

Strange Weather EP [Domino Records, 14 Jul]

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Tut Vu Vu

Slow Sound Horn EP [JAS POW, Out Now]

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Hot on the heels of last year’s slow-burning Slave Vows, California’s meanest return with five more slabs of molten psychosis for our sick pleasure. If its predecessor felt like an exercise in unnerving tension and blood-spattered groove, Avowed Slavery is very definitely the flipside of the coin. It snarls, sneers, screams and – crucially – sweats its way through the Iggy-informed creepy-crawl of Leeches And Seeds, dripping with menace and drool. More voyeuristic thrills abound on the thoroughly wracked Junkadelic, where Joe Cardamone’s intense shrieks amplify the band’s staccato, Norman Bates-style stabs: truly delightful horror. An immersive experience above all else, The Icarus Line’s sinister charms owe little to simple hooks or pop classicism, instead preferring to churn guts with gusto. Thirteen cacophonous minutes of the climactic The Father, The Priest, however, serve as a timely reminder that we are all in the gutter, but some of us are more adept at sifting through the slime. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Anna Calvi has defined herself as a singer-songwriter who trades in the markets of gloom and theatrics. With this EP, she has sought to apply her craft to the works of others. Released on Domino Records, Strange Weather is a concentrated display of interpretive and vocal talents, which sensitively takes on songs from Suicide to Bowie. The title track sees Calvi collaborate with David Byrne to cover Israeli songwriter Keren Ann’s staple, with vocal harmonies that play with the conventions of the form; Byrne sounds crisp and forlorn, Calvi sounds deep, in both tone and sentiment. Also notable on the EP – for more than just its relative newness – is a rich, dusty take on Connan Mockasin’s willfully creepy I’m The Man That Will Find You. Diverging form the fiery nature of some of Calvi’s original material, Strange Weather stands testament to a confident stylistic distinctiveness that spreads well over many textures. [Lucy Holt]

Footsteps on a wooden floor. Then a drifting backbeat leads into schizoid trumpet and a decidedly unsettling organ motif. Suddenly, ‘Gallic psyche noir’ is a genre. This is Lynch, the opening track of the Glasgow-based ensemble’s debut, six-track EP for JAS POW, a collective formed by Django Django’s Dave Maclean and The Phantom Band’s Andy Wake. It’s a singular work that takes a free jazz foundation as its starting point and adds various layers of artful exploration that could be more readily interpreted as dicking around. In the words of an accompanying text on the back of their vinyl sleeve (penned by our own former Theatre editor), mindful of the critic’s response, “bland documentation” is rejected and “flights of fancy will not do.” Touché. Aside from this posturing, the Slow Sound Horn EP is accomplished enough to (probably) not be a joke, diverting enough to warrant more than a cursory glance. But like most provocateurs, they’ll leave you unsure as to whether they’re laughing with you, or at you. [Gary Kaill]

www.theicarusline.com

www.annacalvi.com

www.facebook.com/tutvuvu

Review

RECORDS

THE SKINNY

Midnight Masses

Gulp

Bright Light Bright Light

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Season Sun [Sonic Cathedral, 14 Jul]

Departures [Superball Music, 21 Jul]

Life Is Easy [Self Raising Records, 7 Jul]

Established in 2008 by Autry Fulbright and buddy Jason Reece of …And You Will Know Us by The Trail of Dead (whom Fulbright later joined), Midnight Masses was inspired by the passing of Autry’s father; an artistic balm for a raw wound. The death three years later of friend and mentor Gerard Smith of TV on the Radio, however, almost closed the Midnight Masses chapter permanently, as Fulbright considered whether to proceed. Now, after a lengthy hiatus, debut Departures arrives – but for all the cathartic heft of a song like All Goes Black (on which Autry’s vocals spill feverishly), the results struggle to cohere. There’s plenty to respect in There Goes Our Man’s melancholic march, or Clap Your Hands’ crisp groove – both evidence of the talent involved. But as a whole, Depatures feels unexpectedly tepid, often failing to scale the promised heights. [Chris Buckle]

The woozy clip-clop of opener Game Love sets the dreamy tone for this, the debut by Super Furries’ Guto Pryce and his partner Lindsey Leven. Coloured by skittering percussion, trim guitar, Leven’s austere vocals and a dusting of Farfisa parp, Season Sun is grounded in a carefree 60s psychedelia. Its home-grown origins are evidenced by sparse arrangements and a sharply executed lo-fi production. Written and recorded over the last couple of years in a multitude of places, including their home, various studios and a local community centre classroom, it’s an album with aspirations beyond those thrift shop origins. For the most part, it’s all rather lovely, and a reedy, top-end soundboard does little to diminish its warmth. It doesn’t engage at depth, particularly, but that’s perhaps not the intention. It’s a pointedly stylised piece and, a risk-free addition to your summer soundtrack. [Gary Kaill]

Rod Thomas has feelings, and he wants you to know about them. Over a backdrop of superpolished disco beats, he implores us earnestly to know how it feels to be lonely. He alludes to elements of love – breakup and aftermath, specifically, and sounds bafflingly smug in the process. Make no mistake, this is a terrible record, amalgamating anaemic electro-pop with the tritest of lyrical sentiment (sample offender: “I hope that there is colour in all your days”). The influence of 90s rave is everywhere, ditto the Pet Shop Boys’ technicolour sheen, albeit sans the titanic splendour of either. Instead, Thomas drones on in excruciatingly wet fashion about experiences we’ve heard described a million times before, offering little of note beyond a duet with Elton John. This truly is the sound of an easy life, and yours doesn’t need such transparent nothing. [Will Fitzpatrick]

www.facebook.com/midnightmasses

www.gulpgulp.co.uk

brightlightbrightlight.com

Dalhous

Will To Be Well [Blackest Ever Black, 30 Jun]

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A wordless ambient concept album about pioneering Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing might sound like too conceptual a proposition for some electronica fans, but in the hands of Edinburgh-based producer Dalhous, it is nothing short of remarkable. A Communion With These People luxuriates in sampled white noise, washed-out synths and pulsing, narcotic percussion. The beatless, bubbling synths of Function Curve are warm and welcoming, like a stripped-down Boards of Canada. Elsewhere, glitched drums and a distant, guitar-like refrain brocade the stately electro of Sensitised to this Area; the stuttering, Autechre-like drum patterns of Four Daughters by Four Women approach proto-techno; while the industrial overtones of Thoughts Out Of Season are almost hypnotic. The richly-textured beatless tracks will continue to haunt you, ethereal and strange, and if the titles pique your curiosity, this album would perfectly accompany an afternoon spent researching Laing’s work. [Bram E. Gieben]

Blues Pills

Lawrence English

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Blues Pills [Nuclear Blast, 28 Jul]

Wilderness of Mirrors [Room40, 21 Jul]

Once upon a time, you could get away with this sort of histrionic blues-rock. Back then, of course, it was a logical progression from the hip-shaking immediacy of pop; an exploration of roots that birthed some fascinatingly wondrous treats (Hendrix’ demented psych-blues, the ragged throat of Janis Joplin) and some incredibly tedious awfulness (Eric fucking Clapton and his disciples). That’s where multinational foursome Blues Pills come in. Positives first: they’re solid musicians, building from the groove up, and singer Elin Larsson certainly packs an impressive punch. In another time, you’d call ‘em contenders, but therein lies the problem. To 21st century ears, this pursuit of so-called ‘authenticity’ ironically comes across as over-rehearsed theatre – pop’s seen, heard and done too much for these paleontological exercises to work. “I’ve tried to find myself,” Larsson hollers on Gypsy, channelling some vague simulacrum of soulful anguish. Maybe try looking elsewhere, because this prescription of fake nostalgia ain’t gonna cure no ills. [Will Fitzpatrick]

A series of abstruse sonic abstractions? Or something, judging by its wholly prescriptive titling, more narratively inclined than that? The latest in a portfolio that encompasses sound installations as well as recorded work, Wilderness of Mirrors is an unwavering and disorienting experience, born of a methodology that erases melody and rhythm, and strips musical expression back to little more than noise. It seems almost pointless to attempt to distinguish between ‘tracks.’ There is little that separates the stark minimalism of, say, Another Body and Hapless Gatherer. But they fascinate nevertheless. English’s materials are difficult to locate, his sound nigh on impossible to explain. It’s a drone, yet not; a buzzing, keening squall, but possessed of an unfathomable beauty. Built from almost intangible elements, Wilderness of Mirrors’ aural scree is equal parts harmony and discord. Its inarguable aesthetic makes for a listening experience as unsettling as it is exhilarating. [Gary Kaill]

www.bluespills.com

lawrenceenglish.com

www.facebook.com/pages/Dalhous/166534330152827

Fhloston Paradigm

King Creosote

To Rococo Rot

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Phoenix [Hyperdub, 7 Jul] Philadelphian producer King Britt returns to his science fiction-inspired Fhloston Paradigm project, which sees him switching from the soulful techno of his main alias into a kind of stuttering, stroboscopic machine funk informed by early Warp experiments, pioneering synth soundtracks, and the heavy conceptual bent of ground-breaking SF. Having released an EP on Hyperdub in 2012 following two EPs for smaller labels in 2009 and 2011, Phoenix sees Britt finally realising the full potential of Fhloston Paradigm, with some impressive, ethereal vocal contributions from Natasha Kmeto, Pia Ercole, and Rachel Claudio. The gloriously analogue tones of Chasing Rainbows makes a welcome appearance; but it’s the bubbling arpeggios of opener Race To The Moon; the dubbed-out percussion and whispered vocals of Never Defeated; and the glittering post-dubstep of It’s All About that demonstrate the album’s diversity and quality. The blistering anaogue acid of the title track seals the deal, making this a standout in Britt’s impressive discography. [Bram E. Gieben] www.soundcloud.com/kingbritt

From Scotland With Love [Domino, 21 Jul] Written to soundtrack the archive-compiled documentary of the same name, From Scotland With Love is equally effective in cut-down, re-ordered album form. The strength of KC’s lyrical, narrative-led songwriting is such that, even shorn of their redolent visual accompaniments, the tales told in the likes of Cargill (a fisherman’s wife waiting for her partner to return from sea – Kenny’s first attempt to write from a female perspective and a moving triumph) or Miserable Strangers (an outpouring of heartfelt homesickness from émigrés clinging to dreams of a new life around the corner) are deeply felt. The latter is the album’s emotional pinnacle, buoyed by Pete Harvey’s majestic string arrangements and a rising choir of backing vocals (used again to stirring effect in Pauper’s Dough). At the pacier end of the spectrum, meanwhile, is Largs – a jazzy toe-tapper that translates the overarching romanticism into punch-drunk childhood nostalgia. Utterly transportive, and truly special. [Chris Buckle]

The latest from these Berlin experimentalists belies its uncompromising title; for the first time in an eight album career, they’ve chosen to embellish their expansive electronica with live vocals. The trio of brothers Robert and Ronald Lippok, and Stefan Schneider, invited No Wave pioneer Arto Lindsay to sing on three tracks, a development down to happenstance (Lindsay is a friend and a fan) as much as design. It’s a little wrong-footing at first – the likes of Classify and Many Descriptions seem initially too welcoming, a distinct remove from the band’s previously trenchant designs. Lindsay’s soft vocals feel at odds with the Instrument(als); an intrusion, almost. Because, for all of that commendable experimentation, the highlights here are those tracks (the nervy warp of Pro Model, the listless melancholy of Gitter) that reference earlier recordings, and demonstrate the trio’s ability to deftly create and manipulate space within their work. [Gary Kaill]

King Creosote will perform alongside the film at Glasgow Green on 31 Jul www.glasgow2014.com/culture

www.dominorecordco.com/artists/to-rococo-rot

Plank

Matthewdavid

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Hivemind [aA, 30 Jun]

In My World [Brainfeeder, 30 Jun]

Manchester’s Plank play with Krautrock in a slightly more groove-based way than fellow motorik warriors BEAK>, delivering a head-nodding collection of math-y, riff-packed instrumental rock on their second album. Analogue synths, drums, bass and guitar interlock in inventive and challenging ways, managing to channel the classic likes of CAN and NEU! without sounding derivative. Aphidelity incorporates louche cosmic disco; Dark Web’s initially gentle post-rock explodes into tightly-wound riffage; while Swarm Behaviour’s looping, psychedelic fretwork and growling bass linger long in the memory. The band are constantly playing with structure; the beatless wash of Drone shows they have an understanding of texture and atmospherics even without the riffs, while the melancholic, stargazing expanse of Waterboatmen is a gentle, understated highlight. Field recordings and library sounds round out the sonic landscape, making Hivemind a satisfying experience, worthy of many a repeat listen. [Bram E. Gieben]

Matthewdavid’s second album for Brainfeeder is a very different beast to the ambient, experimental textures of his debut, Outmind. Where that album explored off-kilter beat workouts, sample collages and drawn-out, textural depth charges of bass and synth noise, In My World is a mercurial, constantly shifting pop album. Beginning with a chopped-up smooth soul cut refracted through typically Brainfeeder-esque sonic weirdness, it only gets stranger amd poppier, occasionally sounding like what might happen if Luther Vandross dropped acid and hung out with FlyLo. Even the customarily Low End Theory-oriented tracks, like Perpetual Moon Moods, are overlaid with a sheen of polished popsoul, making this album either a leftfield choice for pop fans, or a more melodic choice for beat enthusiasts. Thankfully, it works as a showcase for Matthewdavid’s sophisticated beat-work, and a surprising revelation of his abilities as a hook-delivering neo-soul crooner. A treat, then, for those with open minds. [Bram E. Gieben]

www.facebook.com/plankuk

soundcloud.com/matthewdavid

July 2014

Instrument [City Slang, 21 Jul]

RECORDS

The Top Five 1 2 3 4 5

Honeyblood

Claude Speeed

My Skeleton

King Creosote

From Scotland With Love

Fhloston Paradigm

Phoenix

Brian Reitzell

WATCH_DOGS OST

Review

A Matter of Choice

Prodigious Oldham songwriter Kiran Leonard is a teenager who fully embraces our era of all-access

Photo: Manox

Interview: Simon Jay Catling

Feature

aced with overwhelming choice, some will retreat, daunted, while others will leap gleefully into its volumes of possibility. For example: at the end of February, Jake Bugg played the BBC’s much-vaunted 6 Music Festival at the Victoria Warehouse in Salford; a champion of the outdated vagaries of what supposedly constitutes Real Music – having bashed One Direction for not writing their own songs (while having co-writers for his own material) – Bugg’s hugely reductive style almost proudly refused to accept anything other than a hackneyed caricature of guitar-led music, as he pretended the previous 50-odd years of popular music had never happened. Earlier that day though, on the same stage as Bugg, another songwriter born in the mid-90s ripped through a set that criss-crossed through different terrains like a slalom skier – doing so with a gloriously uninhibited freedom as he and his band swept through everything from operatic camp to hard-driving kosmische. At 18 years old, Kiran Leonard is a musician who views choice as something to be embraced; his music – represented most comprehensively on last year’s album, Bowler Hat Soup – is a patchwork torn apart to reveal fantastical worlds, with narratives taking in everything from alien abduction to Brunswick Street’s hipster critique and tales of his native Saddleworth – a sleepy parish to the north-east of Manchester. Fans of the wilful kitchen sink approach and histrionics of Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes or Sufjan Stevens can expect to find an instant affinity with Leonard – Bowler Hat Soup contains 22 instruments, ranging from the orthodox to the improvised, such as the hitting of a radiator to replicate a cowbell sound. It all points to a palette that started out skewed from the off and has only pooled into more beguiling shades at the touch of an artist who believes that it is not enough to simply collect styles, it’s how the styles are edited and pulled together that’s important. Meeting Leonard at Nexus in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, the teenager admits he skipped out on the developmental phase of getting into music. “I had an older brother who did all that for me,” he says. “Then he started getting into things like The Locust and The Mars Volta and that’s where I started, I suppose.” Leonard was born into a music-loving household as the fourth of five siblings; his dad was a professional guitarist in the 70s and 80s and as such he grew up in a house filled with instruments and recording equipment – something he only started taking full advantage of a few years ago. “I actually started making electronic records, and did about a dozen albums between 2008 and 2010,” he says; “but I wasn’t even using hardware, it was just Ableton software straight on to the laptop – with a greater understanding of recording equipment came more instrumentally-led music.” Some of those early recordings remain, on a compilation called A Seed is a Sovereign, although the rest he has since deleted for “not being good enough.” Shorn of a physical music community to interact with in rural Saddleworth, Leonard took to music social networking sites like Last.fm to “look for other 13-year-olds who were into The Mars Volta.” Among several online friendships he formed was one with a drone artist going under the name of Jane Barbe. This led to a split release on a small Canadian cassette label, Prairie Fire, with Leonard going under the name Akrotiri Poacher and providing a side of abrasive noise collage. A project he’s revisited since, with a 2012 release on the same label as well as a selfreleased split alongside local improv rock troupe Locean, such truly outré explorations haven’t as yet found their way into his self-monikered music over the last couple of years – although he derives plenty from the avant-garde when finding the sounds that make up his schizophrenic pop mini-operas. “When I first heard Water Walk by John Cage it really provided a focus and an inspiration for me – using instruments that aren’t meant to be instruments,” he says. “But a lot of

MUSIC

my improvisations are just because I’m lacking the actual instrument I need – for instance I didn’t have a cabasa; so I had to wrap some sandpaper around a wooden block and scrub it with a brush. Pulling songs together does come quite quickly.” Leonard took control of every part of Bowler Hat Soup, the genesis of which can be traced back to a recording found on his Bandcamp, The Big Fish. The in-and-out piano-pounding histrionics of Dear Lincoln was also written around the same time – at just 14 years of age – the other tracks following more or less in order. “I wrote that whole album chronologically,” he reveals. “I kind of write records as records and then only if there’s sometimes a gap I’ll write a song to fill it, in order to make the cohesiveness and the chronology of it work. But the stuff I write that I don’t like, I simply don’t record – it’s not like there are any outtakes from Bowler Hat Soup.” Dear Lincoln’s only hints at the youth of its writer are thanks to the mispronunciation of the name Nietzsche in its verse – everything else is impossibly perfect; short, punchy, with a hook as memorable as the one on the first 7" you owned, but somehow containing a depth that suggests you could dig deep beneath its saccharine sweet pop for an eternity without finding its crystalline sugared base.

“When I first heard Water Walk by John Cage it really provided a focus and an inspiration for me — using instruments that aren’t meant to be instruments” Kiran Leonard

To talk to Leonard now about an album that was originally self-released at the beginning of 2012, before being snapped up for an official launch by Mary Epworth’s Hand of Glory label last year, is to find an artist already dismissive of its contents – not out of self-deprecation, more an eagerness to progress and a desire to move on from songs that he’s been playing for the best part of four years. “There was a musical narrative but a lot of the words were gibberish,” he says. “I wrote them as I was recording. I’ve started taking lyric writing more seriously – particularly with the new record; but I never used to, I found them a bit tedious.” Not that Bowler Hat Soup is a record without lyrical content. Take Brunswick Street for instance: “It’s this street in Australia in Melbourne that’s full of hipsters,” he explains, fully aware that we’re sitting in a café in an area of Manchester that shares plenty of Brunswick Street’s traits. “And I remember walking around it and thinking it was full of fucking arseholes… but now I’m one of them!” However Leonard is still relatively new to Manchester as a city; his live experiences were largely confined to playing DIY all-dayers in the basements of its suburbs and the bar room floors of the Northern Quarter, until he was suddenly plucked to play at the BBC’s two-day event alongside the likes of Bugg, The National, Damon Albarn and Wild Beasts among many others. “It was quite stressful,” he says of jumping up to play in front of hundreds of people. I wouldn’t say it was unpleasant, but it was surreal.” It’s something you suspect Leonard can expect more of, as he continues to make the most of the choices on offer. Playing Edinburgh Electric Circus on 31 Jul kiranleonard.bandcamp.com

THE SKINNY

July 2014

barford A1:BARFORD A1

27/5/14

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Barnaby Barford Create a bright future in Art and Design

Barnaby Barford Mary Had a Little Lamb, 2007 Bone china, porcelain, metal, enamel paint Private Collection, London Photograph by Theo Cook

Centre for Creative Industries

13 June – 19 July Dovecot Studios Edinburgh

Apply now for Art and Design courses starting in August. Attend our Recruitment Day at Granton Campus on Wed 13th August 10am-3pm Please bring your portfolio to be interviewed on the day. edinburghcollege.ac.uk/design 0131 660 1010

Dovecot Studios 10 Infirmary Street Edinburgh EH1 1LT www.dovecotstudios.com info@dovecotstudios.com 0131 550 3660 Exhibition open: Mon – Sat 10.30am – 5.30pm

Art and Design courses include: First Diploma Art and Design NC Art & Design: Creative Media BTEC National Diploma Art and Design Foundation Diploma in Art and Design HND Computer Arts and Design HND Visual Communication: Illustration HND Visual Communication: Interactive Design

THE SKINNY

Flock Together

Process is everything for Julius Steinhoff, co-founder of Hamburg’s Smallville record label. He calls from his studio to discuss vintage synths, the delight of collaboration, and first LP Flocking Behaviour

Photo: Elena Panouli

Interview: Thomas Short

ince its birth back in 2006, Hamburg’s Smallville imprint has quietly gone from strength to strength. Establishing itself with a number of highly respected releases from artists such as Move D, STL and Christopher Rau, the label-slash-store is renowned for an effortless, distinctive sound, combining a certain naïvety in its approach towards creating and curating with a masterful knowledge of what constitutes great house music. This aesthetic is visually represented by Stefan Marx’s gorgeous, childlike line drawings, which adorn the label’s records and posters. It’s a perfect fit. Being concerned with the by-no-means trifling task of running a label, a record store and a series of legendary parties, Smallville’s co-founder Julius Steinhoff has had relatively few official releases to his name. Yet, after a compelling crop of singles and a well-received album – 2012’s Salty Days – produced with label co-founder and the other half of Smallpeople, Just von Ahlefeld, it’s finally Steinhoff’s turn to step to the front with his first solo LP Flocking Behaviour. Steinhoff calls from the confines of his tiny 1.5m-wide studio, crammed full of cherished analog instruments (Roland 808, 909, Juno-106 and the Korg MS2000 for the synthspotters!), which he used to produce the album. In keeping with his vision of his label as a way of producing music among a tight-knit circle of friends, there’s an unmistakable homely feel to Steinhoff’s work. Bathed in a warm array of pads, and underpinned by a number of rhythmically shifting but reassuringly familiar beats, tracks like Hey You! and Treehouse provide all the fuzzy satisfaction of a big hug. “As I am using vintage analog machines, it’s easy to sound nostalgic,” Steinhoff admits, reflecting on the recording process. “But that’s never been my intention. The patterns come from really deep inside me, and the machines are there for twisting knobs so I can physically experiment a little more. You get something that you might not expect if you just let it go. I wouldn’t say it’s about being nostalgic, or this whole nostalgic thing that’s going on; I’ve been collecting the machines for a while now, but they are merely tools that allow me to improvise and embrace my mistakes.” Rather than spending most of his childhood parked in front of a PlayStation, Steinhoff

July 2014

eschewed video games in favour of software interfaces, channeling his childish energy into making music from an early age. This approach still defines his philosophy towards making tracks: “There’s definitely a playful mood on the album, and I think making music is effectively like playing with a computer. Even using basic programs like Fruity Loops as a kid, it was nice to play around and to have a result that I could listen to.” Perhaps the charming, improvisatory quality of Steinhoff’s music is less a result of a particular attempt to recreate the sounds of classic deep house than his appreciation for the joyful experimentation that many of the artists of this era exhibited, before the scene became known for taking itself too seriously. The dour, moody tag associated with deep house of the German variety, in particular, is certainly one that he and his friends are wary of. “Dial Records [Smallville’s older sister, run by Steinhoff’s close friend and mentor Lawrence] always had that title of melancholic house music back in the day, and I think at some points they were a little annoyed by this,” Steinhoff says. “It’s like an etiquette that someone puts on your music to say that it’s melancholic, and that you are this specific kind of person. I’m definitely into minor chords and melodies but it’s not about trying to tell something with it, it’s more like a natural process.” Continually referring to his work using organic metaphors, it’s clear that Steinhoff does not fit the mould of the solitary producer steadily knocking out tracks from his bedroom. Instead, he prefers to produce music in a more openended fashion, through a non goal-orientated philosophy. He shares this perspective with co-conspirator von Ahlefeld, which is probably why their collaborations are so frequently fruitful. Future plans include further forays into instrumental territory with another Smallville artist, Hammouda, which may never be released, along with definite plans for another Smallpeople 12-inch. That some of these collaborations will come to nothing is beside the point, since Steinhoff finds the process itself so invaluable: “I really like doing something with other people because it’s always like a complete other way of sharing things. It’s easy to just go next door, turn on the machines and make a track. Smallpeople is just

more fun, it’s way more spontaneous. When you do get the chance to play with other people and get their input it takes you out of your comfort zone,” he enthuses. Steinhoff remains refreshingly humble about his own talents, and the considerable success that both himself and his label chums are now experiencing. Again, it’s an attitude that he puts down to his formative experiences on the Hamburg scene with Lawrence, aka Peter Kersten: “When I got introduced to Pete, we talked and talked and he eventually invited me to come to his place to get some Dial records. It made me realise we were the same, just musicians, and I was really happy about that.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s about being nostalgic; I’ve been collecting the machines for a while now, but they are merely tools” Julius Steinhoff

Their friendship is also intertwined with the legacy of house music in Hamburg, which becomes obvious as he patiently fills me in on his city’s not so humble musical history: “Hamburg had the Front club, which was the first club to play acid house. There’s some very famous DJs from Hamburg who brought the acid house movement to Germany: they had a very important movement called Container Records. After Container came to an end, and the Front closed down, there was a period of very bad house music in the 90s. Pete always went to the Front when he was really young, and he’s always talking about it. Pete took a lot of that feeling with him into Hamburg’s much-loved nightspot – the Golden Pudel. So, there’s a continuity there. As I’m much

CLUBS

younger, both Pete and the Pudel club were major influences when I was growing up.” The extent to which the city has moved on from the “bad 90s” is evident in the rude health that the triumvirate of Smallville, Dial and the Pudel are all currently enjoying. As the Smallville machine expands, with another store and wildly successful parties happening in Paris and (possibly) beyond, what does Steinhoff reckon is the most important thing behind their success? “It’s definitely about friends,” he considers. “We planned to launch the store and the label at the same time, but we also realised that you need to have great music to put out before you start a label. A very important point for us was the first album, Move D’s Songs From the Beehive. When that came out, we got so much feedback from all over the world. Move D was really not doing a lot at that point in time, then afterwards he got very big again and started putting out loads of releases afterwards. There was never a master plan, or anything behind it, we just released the music that we liked.” Steinhoff goes on to reveal that Smallville currently do not listen to demos, preferring to release material exclusively from within their gradually expanding circle of friends. While this recruitment method may strike some as somewhat insular, fortunately their decisions to book and stock white labels from unknown artists from around the globe often demonstrates remarkable willingness to gamble – a tactic that certainly pays off when that unknown artist is Omar S. Booking such a heavyweight at such an early stage in his career is undoubtedly part of the reason why Smallville are so well respected as tastemakers, but it is particularly welcome to hear Steinhoff talk about comparatively unknown Detroit producer Keith Worthy, his current favourite DJ, in the same breath. So, with a beautifully crafted album about to drop, and a label whose reputation is only growing year-on-year, it’s not improbable that Steinhoff will soon be talked about in similarly awed tones; it’s a shame he probably won’t notice, though. Flocking Behaviour is out via Smallville on 30 Jun smallville-records.com

Feature

A R TISTS IMAGINE THE COMMONS 01 A U G U S T 19 O C T O B E R CITY ART CENTRE 2 M A RK E T S T, E D I N B U RG H E H1 1D E M O N – S AT: 10A M – 5 P M

S U N: 12 – 5 P M

A N D SI T E S AC R OSS THE CI T Y FREE ADMISSION

edinburghar tfestival.com STEVE CARR, BURN OUT, 2009, 16 MM FILM TRANSFERRED TO VIDEO, VIDEO STILL

Nick Evans

Installation view, Neues Museum, Nuremberg ©Nick Evans; Mary Mary, Glasgow

Inspiring new ways

The White Whale until Sunday 31 August 2014

The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum Albert Square, Meadowside, Dundee, DD1 1DA Admission Free www.mcmanus.co.uk Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation No. SC042421

THE SKINNY

GSA Degree Show 2014 Words: Adam Benmakhlouf

he GSA School of Fine Art Showcase provides a welcome platform for work that may no longer exist or just might not otherwise be exhibited, following the recent devastating fire in the Mackintosh Building. In the exhibit, 102 students are represented, each with one single digital image of identical size. Matthew Bainbridge’s Rad but Sad opens the show with the same jolt of excessive exuberance as the five large scale paintings from Bainbridge’s planned degree show. In these rich and difficult works, emojis and pictograms radically unbalance one another, competing with harshly graphic grid patterns and abstract expressionist gestures. An interest in the graphic and pattern continues in Emma Zetterstrom’s photography. Seen from behind, a woman wears a garment laden with graphic floral print, within an almost matching backdrop. Emerging from a direct response to organic materials collected from nature, the work’s sinister allure corresponds to what Zetterstrom observes as the ambivalence of humans at once wishing to distance themselves from and become closer to nature. While Zetterstrom represents a larger installation work with one of its immersive photographs, a work-in-progress detail shot is given by Reggie MacDonald. His original installation consisted of six three-foot sculptures, inspired by the neo-classical sculpture in the Mackintosh building and made so that every trace left by his hand and tools would remain completely legible in the final work. Joe Hancock faces the question of using an image to represent three-dimensional work with

poeticism, presenting a photograph of a NATO station’s masts. Imbuing them with a surprising poignancy, he remains faithful to his ambiguously beautiful degree show work: an ambitious large scale sculpture of entwined stair lifts, programmed to run to rhythm with cicada breeding cycles. Also from sculpture, Richard Krantz’s print is simply a still from a video he planned to show. The original video shows a closeup of a humidifier (modified by Krantz) blowing cool steam onto a found photograph of a mountain. With a languid suspense, the steam only dusts itself against the paper, yet slowly destroys the more robust physical material. Krantz operates within an impressive economy of means, material and impact. Near Hancock’s image is Katy Hassall’s intriguing installation shot. The photo shows Hassall resting on clay while a 70kg bag of water rests on her body – suspended from the windowed ceiling, light pours through it. In the corner of the room a saxophonist plays the cosmic octave. Referencing the immediate impact of sound and touch as a means of bringing people together to heal, grow and repair one another, the work feels especially poignant and plaintive. Printmaker Alex Kuusik also exhibits a straight installation shot. He shows a bold black on raw canvas print facing a shirt made of the same material, all in an orange-walled room. Formal elements are culled variously from his childhood drawings and 16th century Hans Holbein woodcuts. Reduced simply to black on white and treated with the same reverence as a brand – reproduced across sculptural and wearable objects – he pushes printmaking to

Emma Zetterstrom

its intersection with sculpture, installation and painting. Painter Robert Hodge exhibits a work that is given a new significance in light of the devastating fire in the Mackintosh building. Barred off from a garden paradise, an indistinguishable figure looks forward longingly. Yet, the loss of this year’s degree show is tempered by the announcement of the provision of generous bursaries to

fund time for students to remake lost bodies of work, as well as further opportunities for students to present work collectively. The showcase is by no means a morbid show of what might have been. It must be enjoyed as a promising prophecy. gsa.ac.uk

Edinburgh College Words: Rosamund West

unning through May and June in venues across Edinburgh, the Let’s Glow festival celebrates the creative students of Edinburgh College (the colleges formerly known as Telford, Jewel & Esk and Stevenson) in disciplines ranging from contemporary art to 3D design. In Summerhall, the Hi Vis exhibition invades the venue’s basement gallery spaces to present a degree show-style display from a range of specialisms offered by the College. The students on show have all earned an HND-level qualification, providing them with either entry into 2nd or 3rd year of an honours degree at various respected art schools across Britain, or the professional training to head straight into running their own creative businesses. This is the first time so many of the departments have been brought together in Summerhall, which is a move calculated to offer a professional-level showcase to the departing graduates. Moving them out of the Granton campus environment offers a new practical challenge and, crucially, encourages figures from industry to attend and view the work, raising awareness and hopefully resulting in some job offers. It’s the ambition of these students that’s particularly striking. In 3D Design, Maja Markowiak stands out. A mature student who has worked her way from night classes at the college to this HND and, next, entry to third year at GSA studying interior design, her plans offer a utopian vision of a creative community. Influenced by Le Corbusier, she’s redesigned the Summerhall building into a studio system for graduates offering them a one year contract to support their

July 2014

start-up businesses. It’s a neat idea, providing the nascent designer-entrepreneurs with a supported space to develop and sell, and the customers a single-destination hub to go and procure cutting edge art and design. Someone should probably just build it. In Textiles, as is traditional, each student presents the original swatches and speculative garments formed from their designs, alongside a biographical note explaining where they’re off to next. It’s a nice touch, communicating a hopeful message of a bright future which is in marked contrast to the doubt-laden atmosphere of the BA degree shows. Claire Dow, off to study Textiles at Edinburgh College of Art, shows off some beautiful abstracted floral print designs. Aiyana Smiley’s fleshy forms and embroidered furry garments (shoes?) suspended within a metal cage structure reveal a flair for the dramatic. Fittingly, she’s off to study Performance Costume at ECA. The Contemporary Art Practice course has a fine art focus, offering students the environment to experiment, to investigate processes and challenge themselves. Says lecturer Alan Holligan, “We offer a very broad range of contemporary practices so people can specialise in sculpture, 2D practices, 3D practices or mixed practice. Usually they make decisions based on the courses they specifically want to go to, wherever that might be. They’re encouraged to work into areas that we as lecturers don’t necessarily have expertise in. I think in some courses they’re supposed to stay within the knowledge of their lecturer, which is why there’s often an

Jay Easton

emphasis on painting, an emphasis on sculpture, whereas we’re very clear that the students’ ambition shouldn’t be set by our skillset. They need to outreach that and often we have to keep up with them, which is good for everybody concerned.” This year’s class first exhibited in the working professional environment that is the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, before transferring a pared-down version of the show to Summerhall. They’re a mixed bunch, exploring a wide variety of disciplines with varying degrees of success. Still at an experimental stage in their practice, this is to be expected. However, some students display a striking level of ambition, notably Jay Easton, who delves into the realms of technology to present work which aims to pose challenging questions. In ESW, two iPhones communicate with one another, displaying the mundane chatter between a couple. With the human

ART

protagonists removed from the equation, the relationship is reduced to two screens interacting eerily. In Summerhall, Easton displays two QR codes, one on a slate (redolent of history, sculpture, early man) and one on a box afixed to the wall. A hasty download of a QR scanner (the technology seems a bit retro already, ironically) reveals the works to link to texts on his blog meditating on the dangers of an unconsidered embrace of technology, and the parallels of Pandora’s box, respectively. He’s now off to GSA to delve further into his research. Like many in the Let’s Glow showcase, Easton is at an interesting point in his development. The bright prospects each has before them suggests this will not be the last we hear of them. edinburghcollege.ac.uk

Review

July Film Events W

Boyhood

Finding Vivian Maier

Joe

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Director: John Maloof, Charlie Siskel Starring: Vivian Maier, John Maloof Released: 18 Jul

Director: David Gordon Green Starring: Nicholas Cage, Tye Sheridan, Gary Poulter Released: 25 Jul

In 2007, John Maloof, while researching a book on Chicago, happened upon a collection of 30,000 prints and negatives by one Vivian Maier. Googling her name, he found nothing. Over the next few years, he bought everything of hers he could find, uncovering more about her life as he went. It turned out that she was an eccentric and intensely private nanny who spent her time both on and off the job walking the streets surreptitiously taking thousands of photographs with a neck-hung Rolleiflex. She showed her life’s work to no one. “I find the mystery of it more interesting than her work itself,” says one of the many interviewees (consisting mainly of her employers, their children, or people who knew her only briefly), and this is unfortunately the documentary’s focus. The enigma’s all well and good, but it’s the work we really care about. If only Maloof and Siskel had focused less on gossipy psychological guesswork, and more on Maier’s art, this could’ve been a documentary worthy of its towering subject. [Kristian Doyle]

With Joe, director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Prince Avalanche) returns to his roots, examining the grim reality of society’s underclass with great sympathy and unflinching honesty and humanity. The result is his best film in years—post-screening, you can very nearly shake the grit from your shoes as you leave the cinema. As the titular grizzled antihero, a subdued, marble-mouthed Nicolas Cage fights his violence-prone nature as he attempts to lead a “respectable” existence (poisoning perfectly healthy trees so a developer can cut them down) until a homeless teenager (Mud’s Tye Sheridan) arrives on the scene with his abusive drunk of a father in tow. With its Southern Gothic milieu and moody, noir-ish tone of understated menace, at times Joe feels as pulpy as its poisoned trees. But Green brings a delicate, richly detailed touch to a story that could have felt pat. Instead, it’s potently ambivalent. Joe may be a rabid cur at heart, but at least he has heart enough to have a dog in the fight. [Michelle Devereaux]

Boyhood

Norte, the End of History

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Director: Richard Linklater Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke Released: 11 Jul Certificate: 15

Director: Lav Diaz Starring: Sid Lucero, Angeli Bayani, Archie Alemania, Soliman Cruz Released: 18 Jul Certificate: 18

In Boyhood, Richard Linklater follows the same actors over 12 years, as they age with their characters. Ellar Coltrane plays Mason Jr, a six-year-old boy growing up in the America of the 2000s: the nervous years of Middle Eastern war, digital advances and eventual economic depression. Against the backdrop of a changing society, we watch Mason’s parents (Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke) divorce, find new love, lose it and find it again. Meanwhile Mason grows up – he falls for a girl, tries to understand his wayward father, discovers art and goes to college. The film is at once of a piece with Linklater’s other pictures – as temporal as the Before/After series, as philosophical as Waking Life – and also more universal than anything else he’s done. The characters drift through life as we do: bemused, in turns sad and happy, wondrous at the mystery of time and how it passes. [Sam Lewis]

Filipino director Lav Diaz has been working consistently since the late 1990s but, with most of his films running for anything up to nine hours, the relatively accessible Norte, the End of History will act as an introduction to his work for most UK viewers. What they will find in this slow-burning fourhour drama is a filmmaker in total command of his art. The film unfolds in long, measured takes and every sequence is a masterclass in visual and aural composition. It is a film that gives us time for contemplation and ample space to fully immerse ourselves in his story. Whether or not that story entirely works is open to debate; what begins as a loose adaptation of Crime and Punishment takes some surprising and troubling turns, particularly in the climactic hour. But Norte, the End of History is a film worth grappling with. Patient and inquisitive viewers will surely find it a very rewarding experience, and one hopes it’s not the last Lav Diaz film to make its way to these shores. [Philip Concannon]

I Am Divine

How to Train Your Dragon 2

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Director: Jeffrey Schwarz Starring: John Waters, Divine, Ricki Lake, Tab Hunter, Mink Stole Released: 18 Jul Certificate: When Glenn Milstead died from a heart condition in 1988, he was just hours away from shooting his first episode of Married... with Children, the hit Fox sitcom on which he’d been offered a recurring role. After two decades spent eating dog shit for midnight movie audiences, chewing the scenery in queer theatre productions and touring an aggressive strain of gay discos around the world, the star was tired and in search of something approaching mainstream acceptance. It’s tragic that he fell just short of this dream, but admirers can console themselves with the knowledge that Divine left behind an undiluted body of work. This documentary mostly looks back on its subject’s career as a notorious drag act, with consistently amusing input from the likes of John Waters, Tab Hunter and psychedelic theatre troupe The Cockettes. It’s the involvement of Milstead’s recently deceased mother that proves most illuminating, however, offering insight into his private battles and lending pathos to an otherwise profane story. [Lewis Porteous]

Review

ith the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this month, the University of Glasgow is hosting the Commonwealth Film & Theatre Festival. This ten day festival (17-27 Jul) includes performances and screenings that aim to celebrate cultural diversity, with all events free. Collaborating with Africa in Motion, there’s a special preview screening (10 Jul) at the Andrew Stewart Cinema, Gilmorehill, where Bahamian film Rain and short film Beach Boy are showing. Check the website for details of the full programme. Africa in Motion has several other events across Scotland this month. Food lovers should head to House for an Art Lover in Glasgow on 9 Jul for a special Film and Food Marathon. Accompanying the three course meal are three short films, each from a different region of Africa, each designed to perfectly complement the entertainment – awaken your senses and experience the tastes and sights of Africa while surrounded by the quintessentially Glaswegian art-deco architecture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Director: Dean DeBlois Starring: Jay Baruchel, Kristen Wiig, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett Released: 11 Jul Certificate: U Following the smash success of How to Train Your Dragon, this sequel — part coming-of-age tale, part family drama, part aerial war movie — fast-forwards a few years. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is now a stubbly-faced young adult, and the dragons and humans now live in harmony together. Soon, however, this peaceful co-existence is threatened by villainous Drago (Djimon Hounsou), who plans to dominate with a dragon army, while Hiccup’s longlost mother (Cate Blanchett) reappears to further confuse matters. Despite largely irrelevant 3D, the visuals are impressive, particularly during the numerous flying sequences but, as before, the dragons are the film’s main draw. Toothless remains adorably feline – early scenes of mundane exposition and human drama are upstaged by the playful interactions of the characters’ dragon counterparts – but the plot is weak, with the film lacking clear focus and direction. Hiccup’s mum is quickly sidelined and even worse, towards the end, so is Toothless. Perfectly adequate as light entertainment, it nevertheless fails to excite or surprise the way its predecessor did. [Becky Bartlett]

FILM

Fans of good ol’ fashioned VHS and home movies should head to the Grosvenor in Glasgow (22 Jul) or the Filmhouse in Edinburgh (23 Jul) for the Found Footage Festival (Volume 7). Curated by Joe Pickett (The Onion) and Nick Prueher, the festival champions actual found footage – videos found in car boot sales, rubbish bins, and elsewhere. Volume 7 includes a Christmasthemed workout video and a tape entitled Butt Camp – following the festival’s previous success in Scotland, this promises to be a nostalgic, bizarre, and very fun night. The Filmhouse is hosting a season of Charlie Chaplin (5 Jul-6 Aug), bringing some of his best known films – and some lesser known ones – back to the big screen. As well as his silent outings as the iconic Tramp in The Kid (5-6 Jul), The Gold Rush (12-13 Jul) and City Lights (19-20 Jul), Chaplin’s mastery of comedy is never more visible than in his dual roles in The Great Dictator (26-27 Jul), a scathing and hilarious war satire with a heartfelt plea for tolerance at its core. See the Filmhouse website for the full schedule. Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’ heist/horror classic From Dusk till Dawn is showing at the DCA in Dundee (19 Jul). Starring George Clooney, Tarantino, Juliette Lewis and Salma Hayek in that bikini, doing that dance, with that snake, it’s a modern exploitation classic that has spawned two sequels and a television series – the original is still the best, so don’t miss the chance to revisit the Titty Twister on the big screen. [Becky Bartlett]

THE SKINNY

Harold and Maude

Labor Day

Rapture

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Director: Hal Ashby Starring: Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles Released: 14 Jul Certificate: 15 Wes Anderson fans who aren’t familiar with the quirk-fueled pleasures of Harold and Maude should remedy that post-haste, considering the filmmaker’s sensibilities owe as much to Hal Ashby’s 1971 cult classic as they do to any Truffaut film. Although the story – death-obsessed 20-year-old boy meets life-besotted 80-yearold girl – is as stripped down as, say, The Grand Budapest Hotel is convoluted, most everything else will seem familiar: the dark and deadpan humour, the studied compositions, the obsession with outsiders and societal corruption… and all that darn wistfulness. Ashby was arguably the most humane of the New Hollywood, and his ability to effortlessly marry barbed social satire with an earnest celebration of intimate connection shines through every rain-dappled frame. Wry, funny and gently weird, Harold and Maude also trades in a much rarer commodity: unashamed wonder at the beauty of life, in all of its absurdity. [Michelle Devereaux]

Director: Jason Reitman Starring: Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith, Clark Gregg Released: 4 Aug Certificate: 12A A change of pace for Jason Reitman, and a near-disastrous one, Labor Day is an earnest attempt to make an old-fashioned romance that can’t take flight under the weight of its leaden voiceover and disruptive flashbacks. Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet work hard to invest their characters – an escaped convict and a fragile single mother – with as much soulfulness as they can muster, but Reitman can’t generate any heat. His direction feels tepid and self-conscious; the work of a man patently unsuited to the kind of story he is trying to tell. It’s hard to believe in anything these characters do, and the key moments – notably the much-derided baking scene – come off as laughable. Labor Day is set in 1987 when Jason Reitman was ten years old, a little younger than the film’s narrator, and the close attention paid to evocative period detail is just about the only thing in this picture that rings true. [Philip Concannon]

Director: John Guillermin Starring: Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Gozzi, Dean Stockwell Released: 28 Jul Certificate: 12 This curio from 1965 features strong performances from screen greats Melvyn Douglas (Ninotchka) and Dean Stockwell (Paris, Texas), but is carried by 15-year-old Patricia Gozzi, who’s every bit as compelling as she was in her more celebrated debut Sundays and Cybele. It’s with a feral earthiness that she plays Agnes, the troubled child lost to isolation and fantasy, who becomes convinced that an escaped convict seeking refuge within her family home is the human manifestation of a scarecrow that once stood outside it. Events take a decidedly dark turn as Agnes and the fugitive embark on a doomed sexual relationship. A delirious, creepy sensuality pervades John Guillerman’s twisted fairytale. Unfortunately, the otherwise captivating Rapture is let down by some clunky exposition and a fatally rushed conclusion. [Lewis Porteous]

13 Sins

Boy Meets Girl

We Are the Best!

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Director: Daniel Stamm Starring: Mark Webber, Devon Graye Released: 30 Jun Certificate: 15 Hollywood’s cannibalistic cycle of consumption and regurgitation continues unabated, as yet another super Asian horror is chewed up, sucked of its creativity and spat out. Adapted from Thai horror comedy 13: Game of Death, 13 Sins centres on down-on-his luck Elliot (a highly emotive Mark Webber), an expectant father who loses his job and faces bankruptcy. Desperate, Elliot hastily acquiesces when he receives a strange phone call offering him a thousand dollars to swat a fly. Much like Stamm’s previous supernatural chiller The Last Exorcism, 13 Sins’ horror relies on a largely unexplained conspiracy, only instead of satanic cults, there’s a secret game show that has a dark history stretching back to medieval Rome. Flimsy plot withstanding, 13 Sins is an enjoyable watch thrilling, shocking, forgettable. [Rachel Bowles]

Happy are the Happy

By Yasmina Reza

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Yasmina Reza is well acquainted with the torments of the petit-bourgeoisie; just watch her stage masterwork The God of Carnage for proof. So it’s no surprise when she adopts a similar yet fiercer approach to them in Happy are the Happy, a series of vignettes from 18 loosely connected members of the French chattering classes. She builds a bonfire for their vanities, remaining complicit by allowing each to self immolate. We are shown the vulgar and the selfimportant – trapped in lives they despise, bound by conformity while perching at the peak of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – whose most acute life challenge is cheese; shrieking publically and embarrassingly, “Who likes bloody Morbier?!” Reza’s prose is natural, true and steeped in each character, yet it is the space between these words – as in Browning’s My Last Duchess – that reveal all during each separate short diatribe. Condescension drips from politician Odile Toscano like the champagne off her socialism, while her unhappy mother Jeannette Blot laments a life stifled by the etiquette of her class. "What does it mean to have a man in one’s life? Look at me, with one on paper but none in my life." Thankfully there is dark laughter to fish from this pool of melancholy, where fear, age and ill health loom large: most often characterised by the spectre of cancer, an obvious but relevant metaphor for a society in decay. [Alan Bett]

Director: Leos Carax Starring: Denis Lavant, Mireille Perrier, Carroll Brooks Released: Out now Certificate: 15 At long last, Leos Carax’s debut film, Boy Meets Girl, comes to Bluray. Originally premiered in International Critic’s Week in Cannes 1984, when the enfant terrible was just 24, it’s a reflexive meditation on doomed love and suicide, all shot in beautiful monochrome by the much-missed Jean-Yves Escoffier (who went on to shoot Harmony Korine’s Gummo and Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting among others). It stars Denis Lavant as Alex, an aspiring filmmaker, who wanders the moonlit streets of Paris attempting to get over a lost love and stumbles upon a suicidal young woman (played by Mireille Perrier) suffering a similar malaise. Look out for the famous sequence – recently paid homage to in Frances Ha – where Lavant runs/dances to Bowie’s Modern Love. A poetic, little-seen gem that should not be missed. [D W Mault]

The Matiushin Case

Director: Lukas Moodysson Starring: Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin Released: 28 Jul Certificate: 15 It’s suburban Sweden, 1982, and punk is dead. Two 13-year-old outsiders, Bobo (Barkhammar) and Klara (Grosin), are feeling the loss more than most. Undaunted by a lack of musical ability, the girls form a pint-sized punk trio with a demure, God-fearing goodgirl (LeMoyne), who also happens to be a kickass axe-smith. The targets of their rage include embarrassing parents and PE. This is Moodysson back to the freewheeling verve of his early, funny features (Show Me Love, Together). Shot in a raggedy, handheld style, it’s an exquisite portrait of friendship and the frustrations of youth. Like all great bands, jealousies and egos – Bobo and Klara fight over a boy and the bass – threaten equilibrium, but self-expression wins out. It may not be very punk, but these girls just want to have fun. And, crucially, Moodysson is having a good time too; there’s joy in every frame. [Jamie Dunn]

The Glasgow Coma Scale

By Oleg Pavlov

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By Neil D. A. Stewart

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‘Matiushin thought it was hilarious, everything suddenly seemed funny to him; the more hopelessly dark and confused it became, the funnier it was.’ Beginning with an unwanted baby born to a wailing mother in the middle of graveyard, Oleg Pavlov’s The Matiushin Case is a long, grey night that never really brightens. Charting Matiushin’s journey from a loveless home to the brutal life of a soldier in a Soviet labour camp, Pavlov’s novel quickly numbs the reader to the constant horrors that constitute his life. Written in a bare, stilted style, it never plays for the high drama its Hardy-esque opening scene might suggest, choosing instead to beat steadily on from one absurdity to the next, coolly piling horror on top of horror. Moving relentlessly forward with such weary inevitability, the entire tale soon begins to blur, drifting between the truly horrible and the simply miserable in a dreamlike haze. Seen through a lens softened by exhaustion and cheap vodka, Pavlov’s dark picture of existence becomes wryly amusing and often almost whimsical in its black humour. In the tradition of Russian novels, The Matiushin Case makes a fine read out of the essential awfulness of life. [Ross McIndoe]

The novel takes its title from the system used to judge consciousness in the comatose, applying it implicitly to its characters as they first numb out and then come round to the reality of their lives. Lynne, locked into a job at a call centre that she hates, has an urge to give everything away. She fantasises that she could give first her money and then her belongings to the homeless, and ‘after that, she might twist her fingers and pop off each joint, distribute these too, a controlled disintegration.’ It turns out one of the homeless people on Sauchiehall Street is her former art teacher – the one she had a crush on before she dropped out and slid into the monotony of life, job, mortgage. She takes him home, half out of kindness and half hoping he’ll fall in love with her. He doesn’t do that, but in his own disintegrated state he disrupts and challenges the cycle of victimhood that she’s made for herself. It’s an intriguing debut, capturing the psyches of two very different people as they look sidelong at the reasons their lives haven’t gone quite as well as they’d hoped. [Galen O’Hanlon] Out 17 Jul, published by Corsair, RRP £14.99

Out 8 Jul, published by And Other Stories Publishing, RRP £10

First Time Solo By Iain Maloney

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April 1943. Eighteen-year-old Jack Devine is bound south to London to start RAF training. He dreams of playing jazz, turning girls’ heads and flying Spitfires. In the coming months his life will change irrevocably. Iain Maloney’s First Time Solo is a compelling coming-of-age narrative and an accomplished debut. First Time Solo perfectly evokes the transience and fractured normality of wartime life. RAF training soon supersedes the reality of home, and Jack finds friendships and distractions with his fellow aircraftmen – the illicit thrills of jazz, sex and liquor. Throughout, there is a sense that the characters are living on borrowed time, a feeling exacerbated by the fates of their brothers and in the servicemen’s talk of life ‘after the war’. It comes as a shock when the brutalities of war infringe upon their lives – yet one we have long anticipated. The story of ingenuous young Jack Devine is not a new one, but an old story told well. Maloney does not rely on unnecessary plot convolutions or sentimentality to carry the novel. Instead, he has created characters and relationships who feel genuine – normal people reacting to extraordinary situations. Maloney’s debut is navigated with compassion, humour and grace. Let’s hope that his First Time Solo is not his last. [Ceris Aston] Out now, published by Freight Books, RRP £8.99

Out 3 Jul, published by Harvill Secker, RRP £14.99

July 2014

FILM / BOOKS

Review

Home Nations Festival

Nederlands Dans Theater 2

Nederlands Dans Theater 2 Edinburgh Festival Theatre

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Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) bring their junior division to Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre. As the NDT’s young talent division that allows them to prepare talent for the main company, NDT 2 are not a lesser company by any means. Presenting four pieces from their repertoire, it is inevitable to remark on the versatility of the company as a whole, since each piece is radically different from the others. In Shutters Shut, choreographed by Sol Leon and Paul Lightfoot, Imre Van Opstal and Fernando Troya fit their movement to If I Told Him: A Completed Portrait of Picasso (1923), a poem by Gertrude Stein. While comical at first, the four minute piece is overpowering and hypnotising particularly due to its rhythm.

Tron As the Commonwealth Games draw ever nearer, the Tron theatre kicks off celebrations with its very own Home Nations Festival. This involves various events, including performances, workshops and masterclasses, with each nation represented by a poet or writer. It all starts on July 17 with Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood, directed by Gareth Nicholls. Originally a radio drama (1954) which then became a stage play, Under Milk Wood follows a day in the life of fictional seaside town Llareggub. “At first glance it might seem that Under Milk Wood is culturally very specific to Wales – the people, the place, the language – yet it quickly becomes clear that the ideas it deals with – life, death, love and lust – are universal, striking at the heart of what it means to be human,” Nicholls states. A week after the launch of Thomas’ play comes Liz Lochhead’s Edwin Morgan’s Dreams

and other nightmares. Directed by Andy Arnold, the play plunges into Morgan’s darkest nightmares, deepest fears and desires at the age of 87. It was originally commissioned by Glasgay! and performed at the Tron in 2011 to showcase his lifestyle as a gay man. Lochhead, the current Makar of Scotland, is also the star of an evening of performance poetry. The programme then leaps from nightmares to monsters, as the Tron tackles Seamus Heaney’s adaptation of Beowulf as a dramatic reading, directed by Lynne Parker of Rough Magic Theatre. Beowulf is the fearless hero who tackles monster Grendel and Grendel’s mother, and survives. But what are the consequences of surviving such a violent encounter? Preceded by the colonisation theme of this year’s Mayfesto, the Tron literally brings the subject matter closer to home with its Culture 2014 programming. What’s more there’s a closing party, with live music in the Vic bar until the early hours. [Eric Karoulla]

Meanwhile, Sara, choreographed by Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, is tailored specifically to the NDT 2 company and is one of their newest. Although the dancers’ movements are smooth and in unison, and should logically offer a strong contrast to the industrial, Matrix-like soundtrack, the music and lighting design interact with the dancing to turn it into something surreal. However, the piece that frames their skills perfectly seems to be the one left for last – I New Then, by Johan Inger. Perhaps it’s the feel-good influence of the Van Morrison songs, but this is the piece that brings out fascination, sadness and laughter in just under half an hour. The NDT 2 are definitely a dance company worth seeing, as they obviously have a very high standard and a clear vision of what dance today is and should be. [Eric Karoulla] Run ended

Scottish Opera: Madama Butterfly Edinburgh Festival Theatre

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Scottish Opera revive Sir David McVicar’s production of Madama Butterfly and kick off their Scottish tour at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh. The jubilance and power this particular performance lends to Puccini’s heart-wrenching score comes as no surprise, rather reinforcing the timeless beauty of this work of art. The audience is left with little to be disappointed in, given the beautifully designed set, powerful voices and the abiding beauty of the work itself. Korean soprano Hye-Youn Lee’s performance of Butterfly comes across as positively revolutionary, given that Butterfly is most often portrayed as the painfully retiring martyr to Pinkerton’s selfish, galumphing dolt. In this performance, the character that, in many ways, created a trope for female characters that would pervade performance for the next century is torn from her own tradition. Hye-Youn

Preview

Lee’s Butterfly is hardly a shy and accepting victim of fate, and her fiery heart seems to explode from her chest throughout the second and third acts, communicating its harsh desires through the medium of Lee’s astounding voice. Pinkerton is also played soulfully and delicately by Jose Ferrero, whose tender sadness upon his return to Japan in the third act lends a subtle edge of despair to the tragedy of Butterfly’s final act of suicide. However, the noticeable lack of chemistry between Butterfly and Pinkerton seems to undermine the production as they dance gently towards their first night together at the end of the first act. Both Hye-Youn Lee and Jose Ferrero are impressive in their own right, but in the one scene where their teamwork matters most, their performances fall somewhat short. Even so, this production of Madama Butterfly is nonetheless a triumph, one that is worthy of the fame that Madama Butterfly commands as a revered piece of opera. [Dale Neuringer] Scottish Opera, Madama Butterfly, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 29 & 31 Jul 7.15pm, 3 Aug 4pm

(i)land

Glasgow Culture 2014 Marc Brew’s latest piece (i)land examines isolation and what it means to be cut off from society. When three people are forced together on a desert island – in this case, six tonnes of sand in Glasgow city centre – they have to consider how to get off it, as well as their relationships with each other. The work itself rides the line between physical theatre and dance, while Brew uses his and other disabled artists’ way of moving to inform his dancing. While it’s easy to succumb to the universe of (i)land, it most likely will raise questions about disability, and perhaps poke at the conscience a little, to enquire whether or not we isolate people with a disability. Claire Cunningham’s work taps into this quite readily, as her latest

THEATRE

piece Guide Gods (****) explores various religions’ take on disability, from Islam to Hinduism to Christianity and whether it is viewed as a curse or a blessing. She also considers atheism and various explanations of evolution as part of a human belief system. Meanwhile, Robert Softley’s Tell Me What Giving Up Looks Like removes the ‘superhuman athlete’ or the ‘inspiring victims of cancer’ labels and looks at disability without the embellishments offered up in ableist media stereotypes. Overall, Brew’s work ties in well with Cunningham’s and Softley’s for wanting to understand what it means to be human, and it seems a piece worth seeing. [Eric Karoulla] South Brunswick Street, 24 & 25 Jul, 1-1.30pm, free glasgow2014.com/culture/event/iland marcbrew.com

THE SKINNY

Photo: Eoin Carey

Madama Butterfly

Emperors of Discretion Multiple … arson attacks in city centre of … implicated the Nostril crime family … vengeance against … documented by Fringe show … comedy group Casual Violence … One man … two men seen fleeing the scene

Photo: James Roberts

Interview: Jenni Ajderian

itmen, it would appear, do not favour indie cafes and trendy bars as interview locations. The underpass walls are covered in hastilyscrawled graffiti in vicious green and crusty red, most of it swearing allegiance to, or vengeance against, the deadly Nostril family: the most villainous bloodline in human history. By the time twins Bartleby and Luther slide round the corner, I’ve studied every pledge. “We were here the whole time,” insists Luther, slightly taller than his brother, and twice as menacing. “Incognito. That’s the first thing you gotta know about the trade: you gotta blend in. We’re masters of disguise. Kings of subtlety. Emperors of discretion.” I was expecting something more, well – subtle. The twins are anything but. Two arms, two legs, two heads. Twins: joined at the hip, reminiscent of a bad Jekyll and Hyde drawing. Luther’s eyes swivel with a caged bloodlust, Bartleby stares down in ecstasy at a chocolate éclair grasped between his fingers, insisting they can use their stature to their advantage – “You know the phrase: two’s company, three’s a crowd? We’re literally two thirds of a crowd.” Luther nods, “One minute, we’re the two blokes in the phone booth. Next minute, we’re the two blokes driving a bus.” “The two blokes baking a cake.” “The two blokes serving you cocktails.” “The two blokes putting candles on the cake and making it look... perfect.” Luther knocks the pastry out of his brother’s hands. “The two blokes stamping on the cake and setting the target alight with the candles.” Bartleby sighs at the mess of chocolate and

July 2014

cream on the ground. “The two blokes having a terrible birthday –” “Point is –” Luther interrupts his brother with a glare – “We blend in. Next minute: BAM! We dead ‘em.” My gaze drops to the rejected éclair, oozing into paving stone cracks, mixing with what I know isn’t red paint. “A glamorous life, is it, being a hitman?” Luther beams; his brother looks morose. “It’s all perks, isn’t it Bartleby? Travelling across the globe...” “The food’s not as good abroad.” Bartleby’s face brightens, his soft voice picking up pace. “Oh – apart from France. God, we found the most incredible baguette boutique –” “Oh yeah! I remember those baguettes! The ones we used to batter that nightclub owner to death.” Luther, quite unnecessarily, mimes it, wrenching his brother from his reverie. “I wanted to use poison; the ground almonds really mask the taste of –” “Course, killing’s been a real life-long ambition, right B?” Bartleby nods, wiping the remaining chocolate smears onto his side of their poorly-fitting suit. “He’s always wanted to do it.” “It’s like all the best jobs, really.” The violence now gone, the invisible drum-kit apparently packed away for the moment, Luther takes on the air of an oft-ignored intellectual. “When you’re at school, people don’t tell you you can make a career out of it. But I’ve always said you’ve got to do what brings you joy, haven’t I B?” Bartleby shrugs. Which is difficult, considering. “We’ve been doing what brings him joy for

about nine years now...” Luther nods with pride, “We’re the biggest hitmen in the country, technically.” Bartleby snorts, “Only ‘cause there’s two of us.” Rage blossoming, Luther turns on his brother, while Bartleby steps to move away, swiveling them in circles. “Who asked you?!” “She did!” Bartleby screeches in reply, and each waves an arm in protest as they turn angrily on the spot. Once a kind of truce has been called, Luther continues: “In our business, it pays to be discreet. But we’re well-known in the right circles.” “Google Plus circles, maybe.” “That’s what’s so great about Google Plus. Nobody uses it, which means it’s perfect for low profile networking.” As it transpires, both the Nostril family and the now-notorious Make-A-Wish Foundation have made their way onto the same social networking site. The twins didn’t hesitate to take full advantage of the charity’s new dark turn, and Bartleby nods with glee as he talks about their arrangement: “We’re on a job for them tonight, as it happens. And if we get it right, we get to make a wish of our own!” “Shut it! We’re not supposed to talk about it.” Luther attempts to be mysterious. “All I will say... is that the man we may or may not be looking after tonight rhymes with –” He leans in with a rancid stage-whisper: “‘head of the Dostril family’.” As the only two-man-one-man-killingmachine on the circuit, the twins are at least 50% sure they want to sell their story of

COMEDY

globe-trotting, knife-wielding and patisseriesampling. They’ve recently partnered with multi-award-winning comedy group Casual Violence – partially for the name, of which Luther whole-heartedly approves, and partially for their touching brand of tragicomedy storytelling, which Bartleby finds “just delightful”. Initially, their Behind the Killing exposé was intended for posthumous release. “About that...” Luther grins with frantic excitement “I was thinking of maybe doing an early release. Maybe for the Fringe.” “We’ll get thrown in jail!” “Not if they blur our faces!” Luther soothes, placing his huge hand on his brother’s face. “Anyway, I come up with great one-liners all the time, don’t I? They’re comedians, they’ll appreciate it.” He shrugs dramatically “I’m just naturally very witty.” Bartleby coughs. “One time we pushed someone off a train, and he said ‘Come back when you’ve had more training’.” “That’s not what I said! I said ‘Looks like you’ve been trained badly, which is why I was able to push you off this train.’” Bartleby’s eyes fill with grief, Luther’s with pride. “See. Don’t know where I picked it up.” “I don’t think he heard you.” “You did.” A sigh, and Bartleby looks down one last time at the crushed éclair. “Yeah.” Casual Violence: The Great Fire of Nostril, 4.45pm 1-25 Aug, Pleasance Courtyard, £8.50/£8

Preview

Win Book Festival tickets!

rom the voices in our head to the disappearing art of letter writing, this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival will explore many forms of dialogue and communication. From 9-25 August over 900 participants from across the world – including literary stars, debut novelists, musicians, politicians, thinkers and poets – will take part in captivating interviews, rousing debates, enlightening workshops, incredible spoken word performances and more. And you could be there. Simply head along to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and answer the following question for your chance to win two tickets to an event of your choice (subject to availability).

COMPETITIONS

Where does the Edinburgh International Book Festival take place? a. George Square b. Charlotte Square c. St Andrew Square Competition closes midnight Sunday 27 July 2014. 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 Winners will need to collect their tickets from the Box Office in Charlotte Square Gardens no later than 1 hour before the start of the event. edbookfest.co.uk

THE SKINNY

BLUE HONEY (THE APPARELLS + DE MELLO)

Glasgow Music

The Paisley-based rock’n’roll quartet celebrate the release of their debut EP, Plastic Dreams.

Tue 01 Jul

QUIDS IN (ATTIC LIGHTS + THE BUTTON MEN + JACK BUTLER)

Sat 12 Jul

BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00, £1

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £12

THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART (FEAR OF MEN) MONO, 19:30–22:00, £12.50

Reassuringly textbook indie-pop from NYC, of late brighter, bolder and evidencing sharpened songwriting skills. BETH ORTON

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £25

A shining beacon of studied, innovative songwriting, Ms Orton celebrates the re-issue of Central Reservation in bumped-up bonus material format, performing the LP live and in its glorious entirety with full band backing. TEAM EFFORT

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £5

Over five summer nights (30 Jun-4 Jul), Team Effort curate a series of events exploring the human condition and delving into our minds with discussion, live music, film and performance. OVER AND OUT (BLIND SPIDERS)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

More infectious indie-rock from the tune-laden locals.

Wed 02 Jul HAMELL ON TRIAL

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £13.50

Punk rock-influenced acoustic tunes from the one-man-band that is New York’s Ed Hamell. LEO AND ANTO

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £12

With the Saw Doctors on a year long sabbatical, band members Leo Moran and Anthony Thistlethwaite take to the road as an acoustic duo covering different takes on wellknown Saw Doctors songs. REPEATER (DEATHCATS + MANUSCRIPTS)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Post-hardcore DIY gig/club effort, with a selection of live acts dropping by. AMATRART

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 19:30–22:00, £3

Glasgow-based foursome (pronounced Amateur Art) playing a mix of electronic and alternative tuneage, currently celebrating the release of their first single. TEAM EFFORT

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, FREE

Over five summer nights (30 Jun-4 Jul), Team Effort curate a series of events exploring the human condition and delving into our minds with discussion, live music, film and performance.

Thu 03 Jul STRUGGLE

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Monthly punk and post-hardcore selection of bands from DIY collective Struggletown. RICHIE SAMBORA

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

Lead guitarist and Jon Bon Jovi’s lyrical partner in crime, out on the road celebrating his 30+ year career.

MANTA (PLEASE + HEAVY SMOKE + STEWART TRAQUAIR)

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

Glasgow-based blues rockers who layer their sound with big grooves, soulful melodies and appropriate amounts of swagger. TEAM EFFORT

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, FREE

Over five summer nights (30 Jun-4 Jul), Team Effort curate a series of events exploring the human condition and delving into our minds with discussion, live music, film and performance.

Fri 04 Jul

KID CANAVERAL (PREHISTORIC FRIENDS)

BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00, £8.00

The affable indie-pop chaps and chapesses take to Broadcast for an intimate show giving their 2013 SAY Award-shortlisted LP, Now That You Are A Dancer, a final dalliance in the live spotlight. SOUTHPAW

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

Glasgow-based punk rockers led by vocalist Dave Shedden.

July 2014

PUNK WEEKENDER (THE MOB + OI POLLOI + BATTERY HUMANS + SUBVISION + HOOLIGAN + DOWN TO KILL + DAPITZ) CLASSIC GRAND, 18:00–23:00, £15 DAY (£25 WEEKEND)

Weekend of punk-styled sounds, taking in the likes of The Mob, Oi Polloi, Steve Ignorant (with Paranoid Visions) and Rubella Ballet over the course of the weekend. VIOLET DRIVE (BROTHERS + WHO STARES AT SATELLITES + ACES ‘N’ EIGHTS)

O2 ABC, 18:30–22:00, £6

Four piece indie-pop-rock outfit from Glasgow, presenting a marriage of upbeat sounds with a true rock aura. And a ukulele. MEDICINE MEN (THE MOON KIDS)

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

The alternative Glasgow unit warm-up for T in the Park with a King Tut’s outing. TEAM EFFORT

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, FREE

The esteemed sound artist and legendary mastering engineer makes his Scottish debut, fresh from releasing his debut LP on PAN Records.

Sat 05 Jul

FAT GOTH (APE MAN ALIEN + BETWEEN MOCKINGBIRDS)

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

Hard hittin’ Dundee trio known for their heavy approach and sharp changes in direction, out and touring their third LP, One Hundred Percent Suave. SEDITIONARIES

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

The Flowers In The Dustbin lot present their regular showcase night

PUNK WEEKENDER (STEVE IGNORANT (WITH PARANOID VISIONS) + RUBELLA BALLET + ANDY T + MOLLY BLOOM + POTENTIAL VICTIMS + AOIFE AND THE RUINATIONS + BLACK LIGHT MUTANTS + SHATTERED HAND + CONSTANT FEAR + THE CUNDEEZ) CLASSIC GRAND, 12:00–23:00, £15 DAY (£25 WEEKEND)

Weekend of punk-styled sounds, taking in the likes of The Mob, Oi Polloi, Steve Ignorant (with Paranoid Visions) and Rubella Ballet over the course of the weekend. BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

Anton Newcombe and his band dispatch the tunes with their usual relentless purpose, touring in support of their new LP release, Revelation. EXTREME (LEOGUN)

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £28.50

The veteran rockers play their critically acclaimed Pornograffitti LP live and in its entirety, alongside some of their biggest hits outside of the record. ANDY ROBERTSON (SINNY)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–23:00, £5

Live showcase of local talent, this time taking in Attic Lights, The Button Men and Jack Butler.

Mon 07 Jul BLOCHESTRA

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Live set from the multi-limbed pop orchestra and resident Bloc+ mainstays. THE JOHNNY CASH ROADSHOW

THE KING’S THEATRE, 19:30–22:00, FROM £21.90

Johnny Cash tribute act.

CODEINE CLUB SHOWCASE

BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Regular showcase evening featuring a selection of handpicked talent. And all for gratis. THE SISTERS OF MERCY

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £25

Leeds-born post-punk gothic rockers who’ve been a veritable groove machine since 1977. BAM MARGERA’S FUCKFACE UNSTOPPABLE

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

That jackass from, err, Jackass turns his attention to making music, reppin’ the first release on their new label home, Artery Recordings.

Tue 08 Jul NICE PETER

BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

Comedian and musician, aka Peter Shukoff, known for co-creating Epic Rap Battles of History. POLAR BEARS IN PURGATORY

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Fledgling Ayr trio of the melodic and upbeat pop-punk variety. KACEY MUSGRAVES

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £18.50

Young American country music songstress, recently nominated for myriad Country Music Association awards. DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £35

American musical duo – better known as Hall and Oates – on the go now for an impressive 40+ years.

Wed 09 Jul THE ELO EXPERIENCE

THE KING’S THEATRE, 19:30–22:00, FROM £23.90

ELO tribute act. TARIBOWEST

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

A selection of super-heavy sounds curated by Vasa’s J Niblock and Detour’s Ally McCrae. MYRON & E

BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £7

Los Angeles-residing soul duo – currently signed to Stones Throw Records – regularly to be found jamming with members of The Soul Investigators. MAVIS STAPLES

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £23

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer takes her full house of talent out on’t tour.

Thu 10 Jul

DEER LEADER (MICHAEL TIMMONS AND THE MUSICIANS OF BREMEN)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

West Lothian acoustic singer/ songwriter incorporating different guitar sounds and techniques into his mix.

The Glasgow indie locals head up a night of guitar-based shenanigans.

Sun 06 Jul

The Glasgow alternative rock trio play a hometown set.

BOB WAYNE (HOMESICK ALDO + THE TRUE GENTS)

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £7

TAKE TODAY (THE HEATHEN CLUB + LUNGS LIKE GALLOWS)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £6

Fri 11 Jul

The head of the Outlaw Carnies does his solo thing.

THE PSYCHEDELIC WARLORDS (LEMON PARTY + PURPLE VALENTINO)

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–23:00, £8

THE GARAGE, 19:00–22:00, £8

SURGYN (THE .INVALID)

Dundee-based electronic duo who’ve been twisting the genre into dark and interesting places since 2009. LALAH HATHAWAY (DJ YOGI HAUGHTON)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £20

Contemporary r’n’b-meets-jazz soulstress, also known as the sprog of late American singer/songwriter Donny Hathaway.

Ipswich-based psychedelic rockers formed by vocalist Alan Davey in 2012 in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Hawkwind’s Space Ritual. BELTUR

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

Glasgow-based rock ensemble formed from the ashes of various other bands.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–23:00, £5

THE JIMI HENDRIX RE-EXPERIENCE

Jini Hendrix tribute act.

METHOD MAN + REDMAN (PROFISEE + TOY CONTROL + MIXKINGS DJS + BIGG TAJ)

Thu 17 Jul

ONSLAUGHT (ARTILLERY + HATRIOT)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Long-time thrash metal veterans from Bristol, bringing their war machine out on’t road for what will mark the biggest UK dates of their career.

KING TUT’S SUMMER NIGHTS: THE CALM FIASCO + SEASIDE SONS + THE SENSES + REVOLVING DOORS

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

American rap duo consisting of yer men Method Man (of Wu-Tang Clan) and Redman (of Def Squad), collaborating as a unit since 1994.

The veritable musical marathon that is King Tut’s Summer Nights kicks off its 2014 run with a headline set from Glasgow-based indie-rock lot The Calm Fiasco, plus supports.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £26.50

U2-2 (HEAVY LOAD)

U2 tribute act.

EL HOMBRE TRAJEADO (ELA ORLEANS + WOLF)

PLATFORM, 19:00–22:00, £12

The Glasgow post-rock insurgents – who previously counted RM Hubbert as one of their number – play an East End Social special, joined by cult chanteuse Ela Orleans and Zoey Van Goey’s Kim Moore in her new Wolf guise. EAGLEOWL (WOODPIGEON)

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 20:00–23:00, £6

The Edinburgh slowcore sextet celebrate the full release of their LP this silent year, taking to a gig setting with the similarly birdy Woodpigeon in tow – for which there’ll be a limited-edition split cassette EP available on’t night. FREELANCE LIARS (KEEPING DIRT CLEAN + FRANKLIN)

BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £8

Fledgling Glasgow-based indie quartet, playing what will be their first show, like, ever. SWAPS

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

Shake Appeal’s TigerMask McGarvey welcomes fresh young rock pups, Swaps, for a live set. STRANGE COAST (FROTH)

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £5

Glasgow-based, DIY-styled outfit dabbling in noise, punk and grunge sounds.

Sun 13 Jul WILLIWAW

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 20:00–22:00, FREE

Expect a good bit o’ ukulele mayhem as Williwaw brings his merry cavalcade of melodious din to a live setting.

TREMBLING BELLS (WOVEN TENTS + FAREWELL SINGAPORE)

BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

The kings and queens of modern folk do their ever-lovely thing, out on the road for their The Circle is Unbroken tour.

Mon 14 Jul

SLOW CLUB (THE BLAS COLLECTIVE)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Relaxed music night soundtracked by a selection of live guests from the local scene, completed by mood lighting, candles and cake. Could it be any bloody lovelier? CODEINE CLUB SHOWCASE

BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Regular showcase evening featuring a selection of handpicked talent. And all for gratis.

Tue 15 Jul GHOSTFACE KILLAH

THE ARCHES, 19:00–22:00, £16

Wu-Tang banger Ghostface Killah does his solo thing, with his inimitable stream-of-consciousness style rap narratives blasted out a top high-energy machine gun-like basslines. LOST LIMBS (FATALISTS)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

More sharp-angled circular guitar saw with malicious intent, or summat.

Wed 16 Jul

LOWER THAN ATLANTIS (DECADE + SCULLY + YEARBOOK)

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £10

Hard-rockin’ foursome hailing from Hertfordshire. THEO PARISH

THE ART SCHOOL, 19:00–22:00, £18

The Sound Signature boss plays a special live band set, organically built around a composition of live instruments, singers and loops. OWLS IN ANTARCTICA

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

The homegown outfit bring the expansive post-metallic brilliance, as per their merry way.

JUFFAGE

The Teenage Riot lot host their now regular gig showcase, headed up by multi-instrumental solo musical visionary Juffage, plus guests.

Fri 18 Jul THE COSMIC DEAD

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

The Glaswegian space rockers play the last date on their current tour, taking to their favourited lair of Bloc+. OWEN PALLETT

CCA, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Canadian baroque pop multiinstrumentalist and composer, known for his lush orchestral arrangements for the likes of REM and Arcade Fire. THE AFGHAN WHIGS

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £20

From their rough-hewn beginnings with their Big Top Halloween LP, to the enduring elegance of 1965, Greg Dulli et al blow the dust off 16 years with their long-time-coming new LP, Do to the Beast – a swaggering barroom rocker of a thing. TALL SHIPS (UNITED FRUIT)

THE BOWLERS BAR, 20:00–22:30, £8

The Falmouth-born and Brightonbased math-rockers play the intimate surrounds of Bowlers Bar as part of East End Social festival, built on honed indie-art-rock compositions with explorative arrangements and understated production. KING TUT’S SUMMER NIGHTS: LEMONHAZE + FEET OF CLAY + SERGIO SERGIO

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s Summer Nights schedule continues with a headline set from Paisley indie-pop four-piece Lemonhaze, crafting sounds of the neo-psych variety.

THE VERY MOST + YAKURI CABLE (DUGLAS T. STEWART) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £TBC

The first date on The Very Most and Yakuri Cable’s joint UK tour, with stellar support from BMX Bandits tunesmith Duglas T. Stewart. THE BLUEFIELDS

STEREO, 19:30–22:00, £TBC

Nashville rock’n’rollers comprised of an ensemble cast of rock veterans.

Sat 19 Jul PHOSPHORESCENT

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–22:30, £14

Matthew Houck, aka yer man Phosphorescent, delivers his usual experimental alternative indie-meets-folk soundscapes, all saturated with reverb and those distinct vocals.

CASH FOR KIDS FUNDRAISER (ADMIRAL FALLOW + BE A FAMILIAR + LIGHTGUIDES + THE LONELY TOGETHER) ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £10

Charity fundraiser raising pennies for Cash For Kids, with Louis Abbott and his merry six-piece (aka Admiral Fallow) on headlining duties. THE TELESCOPES (ST. DELUXE + SKULLWIZARD)

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

The psych-styled English space rockers bring the dreamy pop soundscapes as only they know how. TYCI (THEE AHS + NATASHA RADICAL)

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

The all-female collective, blog and fanzine bring together a selection of live acts and DJs for their monthly party night.

NEU! REEKIE!: THE SUMMER SIZZLER (THE PASTELS + BROKEN RECORDS + JOCK SCOT + JACKIE KAY + RACHEL MACLEAN) PLATFORM, 19:00–22:00, £12.50 ADV. (£15 DOOR)

The Edinburgh spoken word merrymakers make the trip along the M8 for an East End Social special, joined by a bumper cast in the form of The Pastels, Broken Records, Jock Scot, Jackie Kay and Rachel Maclean.

KING TUT’S SUMMER NIGHTS: MADISON + DILECTRICS + WE WERE KINGS + TUMFY AND THE DEECERS KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s Summer Nights programme continues, handing over the reins to Cumbernauld alternative piano rockers Madison, joined by a stack of supports. SCOKENDIA ENSEMBLE

THE GLAD CAFE, 18:00–20:00, FREE

The old school rap trio bring the ‘Rapper’s Delight’, playing a set full of hits and favourites.

Collaboration of young musicians from Scotland, Kenya and India, this time teaming up with Travelling Birds – a Hear My Music project – giving young people with complex needs a platform to develop and perform new music.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £7

Fri 25 Jul

THE SUGARHILL GANG

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £20

EXILE ON MAIN STREET

Tribute night dedicated to The Rolling Stones.

Sun 20 Jul MIKE DIGNAM

BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00, £9

Singer/songwriter from Preston, often drawing comparisons to Jason Mraz and James Morrison, quite possibly for his sins. PENMAN’S JAZZMEN

THE BOWLERS BAR, 14:00–16:00, £5

Traditional Scottish jazz band peddling a tried-and-tested brand of vintage New Orleans jazz, playing a duo of dates as part of East End Social festival (20 and 25 July)

CORRUPT MORAL ALTAR (BLACK COP)

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

Brooklyn-based project of Kristina ‘Teeny’ Lieberson, intent on exploring the minutiae of drone via primitive drums, varying melodies and shrill keyboards. SLOW CLUB (SPLIT SECOND)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Relaxed music night soundtracked by a selection of live guests from the local scene, completed by mood lighting, candles and cake. Could it be any bloody lovelier? CODEINE CLUB SHOWCASE

KING TUT’S SUMMER NIGHTS: GERRY CINNAMON + JAMIE COLEMAN + PAUL JOHN MACLVER + AARON FYFE

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

DANIEL PADDEN + WOUNDED KNEE

Preview of a new work by Daniel Padden and Wounded Knee, commissioned by The Glad Cafe for the Made In Scotland showcase during the Edinburgh Fringe – showcasing a new song cycle celebrating the seasons, inspired by Edinburgh and the Pentland Hills. KEVIN DRUMM (EX-SERVICEMEN)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £7.50 ADV. (£9 DOOR)

The avant-garde tabletop guitarist does his inspired thing, seamlessly melding the worlds of acoustic and electronic sound, whilst occasionally teetering on the edge of silence.

Sat 26 Jul

THREE DIMENSIONAL TANX (THE BRUTES + GNOME)

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Psych-rock drone from the Lancaster-based five-piece.

CONOR OBERST (DAWES)

The former This Mortal Coil vocalist performs tracks from her haunting first solo LP, Diary of a Lost Girl.

Regular showcase evening featuring a selection of handpicked talent. And all for gratis. O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £20

Tue 22 Jul SARAH JAROSZ

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £15

The Grammy-nominated multiinstrumental blugrass songstress does her thing.

Wed 23 Jul OWL JOHN

COTTIERS THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £14

Frightened Rabbit mainman Scott Hutchison unveils his new solo project, Owl John – a self-titled LP that began life on the Isle of Mull (and birthed into an album many miles away in LA) – playing a special four date mini tour. SLEEPING LESSONS (TOY MOUNTAINS)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

The alternative unit drop a session of their energetic and volatile emo rock. EXISTS IMMORTAL

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

London-based experimental quintet fusing catchy melodies, big vocals and technical riffing into one metallic-rock whole.

Thu 24 Jul UNKLE BOB

BROADCAST, 19:30–23:00, £7

The uplifting indie-rock Glasgow outfit return to the stage with a brand new LP and some fresh band faces in tow.

THE BOWLERS BAR, 13:00–22:00, £10

Glasgow folk-pop melody merchants Randolph’s Leap get in on the East End Social action, hosting an all-dayer they’re calling I Can Dance To This Music – featuring sets from State Broadcasters, Skinny Dipper, Meursault and BMX Bandits.

King Tut’s Summer Nights schedule draws to a close with a headline set from Glasgow alternative rock trio The Travels, bringing the earth prog-based madness as per.

PENMAN’S JAZZMEN

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £7

TEEN

RANDOLPH’S LEAP: I CAN DANCE TO THIS MUSIC (STATE BROADCASTERS + SKINNY DIPPER + MEURSAULT + BMX BANDITS + VIC GALLOWAY DJ)

THE BOWLERS BAR, 19:00–21:00, £5

Traditional Scottish jazz band peddling a tried-and-tested brand of vintage New Orleans jazz, playing a duo of dates as part of East End Social festival (20 and 25 July)

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £9

DEAN WAREHAM

BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £13

The Galaxie 500 frontman goes it solo, serving up tracks from his mini-album, Emancipated Hearts.

KING TUT’S SUMMER NIGHTS: THE TRAVELS + THE NEAR + TRIBAL HIGH + THE TREND

King Tut’s Summer Nights schedule welcomes Weegie loop pedal muso Gerry Cinnamon for a headline set.

Mon 21 Jul

Glasgow rock quartet led by frontman Jackson Harvey on lead vocals and rhythm guitar.

Malevolent Liverpudlians riding along on Chris Reese’s vocal assault barks, shrieks and shreds.

KING TUT’S SUMMER NIGHTS: SCHNARFFSCHNARFF + ALGERNON DOLL + START STATIC + SCARLET SHIFT

King Tut’s Summer Nights schedule continues with a headline set from Inverness chappies Schnarff Schnarff, doing their own line in staccatto-grunge pop.

THE MODESTS TRON THEATRE, 20:30–23:00, £5

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

THE DODGY CHARACTERS

Glasgow-based racket-makers led by chief dodgy character Cliff Hewett. SON AL SON

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £12

Glasgow-based salsa band made up of a cast of Cuban musicians, with DJ support from Academia de Salsa. TORCH CLUB

OLD FRUITMARKET, 20:00–01:00, £25

Vintage session transporting you back to the 1930s dance hall, with The Bratislava Hot Serenaders period orchestra and dance teaching from the Fly Right Dance Co. Part of The Vintage Festival.

Mon 28 Jul

CODEINE CLUB SHOWCASE

BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Regular showcase evening featuring a selection of handpicked talent. And all for gratis. STEPHANIE FRASER

KING TUT’S, 19:00–23:00, FREE

Young Blackpool songstress discovered by the same Island Records A&R who unearthed Mumford and Sons.

LOUISE RUTKOWSKI

CCA, 19:30–22:00, £12

KING TUT’S SUMMER NIGHTS: MANKY SAVAGE + THE BAWLERS + CASINO CIRCUS + IRRATIONAL FEVER KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

The penultimate night of King Tut’s Summer Nights schedule finds Weegie blues rockers Manky Savage taking control of the stage, plus a selection of supports. THE JONNIE COMMONWEALTH GAMES (PADDY STEER + JOE HOWE + MC ALMOND MILK VS DJ NIGHTMARES)

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £TBC

Special curated music session from the Save As Collective and The Glad Cafe, headed up by Manchester one-man world of sound, Paddy Steer. TERROR BIRD

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £TBC

Alternative Vancouver-based songwriter, performer and musician (aka Nikki Nevver and her merry band of pals). LET IT ROCK!

WILD CABARET, 15:00–00:00, £15

50s rock’n’roll jive session, with live music from the likes of Miss Mary, The Mr Rights and the FretTones. Part of The Vintage Festival. JAMES YORKSTON

KELVINGROVE PARK, 19:45–20:45, FREE

The Fife dweller and sometime Fence Collective dabbler plays as part of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games shenanigans, taking to Kelvingrove Bandstand with collaborators Emma Smith (on violin), Jon Thorne (on double bass) and Luke Flowers (on drums).

Sun 27 Jul ARNOCORPS

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–23:00, £10

San Franciscan hardcore noise outfit big on the rockin’ and rollin’.

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Edinburgh Music

FROM THE CREATORS OF DAVID GREIG’S ‘THE EVENTS’ FRINGE FIRST AND THE GUARDIAN BEST THEATRE 2013

Wed 02 Jul

ACTORS TOURING COMPANY

CODY SIMPSON

BLIND HAMLET

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–22:30, £17.50

Young Australian pop singer/ songwriter who was discovered on YouTube at the tender age of 13. DUNE

BY NASSIM SOLEIMANPOUR

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

The local doom metal outfit play tracks offa their new LP. IMAGE: REZA ABEDINI

DIRECTED BY RAMIN GRAY @ATCLONDON #BLINDHAMLET

31 July - 25 August 2.50pm £10-£15

Thu 03 Jul BLUEFLINT

THE VILLAGE, 20:30–22:30, FREE

The Edinburgh outfit layer their crisp, vaporous vocals in understated two-part harmonies, playing a special series of weekly free gigs previewing new songs in the lead-up to recording their new LP. ALGERNON DOLL (OVER AND OUT)

OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £5

Rising troubadour Algernon Doll – aka the off-kilter folk project of Glasgow’s Ewan Grant – gives sophomore LP, Citalo-pop, an airing with full band entourage in tow to replicate the LP’s delightfully chaotic sound. PLAYTIME

THE OUTHOUSE, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£5)

A showcase of jazz performers experiment by playing some brand new music.

THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC AND SOUND SHOWCASE

OPIUM, 19:00–22:30, £6

The Edinburgh-based metal outfit do their noise-heavy thing.

Sun 06 Jul

WE, THE DEFINED (AN EMPIRE WILL FALL + SAPIEN + KOSMOKRATOR)

OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £5

Post-hardcore Leeds quintet who do a good line in big choruses and chunky riffs.

Mon 07 Jul

VAIN (RED’S COOL + THE KING LOT)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £14

The glam rock unit sign out with a farewell tour, dropping by Bannermans as they quite literally go. DIVIDED WE FALL (OATH OF KINGS)

OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £TBC

High energy hardcore metal scamps hailing from Wisbech.

Thu 10 Jul BLUEFLINT

THE VILLAGE, 20:30–22:30, FREE

USHER HALL, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

Pretty much what it says on the tin: a showcase evening from The Academy of Music and Sound.

Mighty American indie-rock outfit made up of singer Matt Berninger, twin brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and regular brothers Scott and Bryan Devendorf.

BANNERMANS, 22:00–00:30, £5

THE OUTHOUSE, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£5)

WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5

MEET MR CALLAGHAN (RJ FEATHERS)

Edinburgh-based blues outfit infused with a little soul and rock’n’roll for good measure. ROSARY (THE LITIGATORS)

PLAYTIME

A showcase of jazz performers experiment by playing some brand new music.

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, FREE

HARRY BIRD AND THE RUBBER WELLIES

Fri 04 Jul

Travelling folksters known for their intimate cabaret of joyful sing-a-long choruses and general participatory fun.

Bass-heavy newcomers consisting of drums, vocal and plenty of low end. THE JACARANDAS (MONSTERS IN MOVIE POSTERS)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

Rock’n’roll-styled Edinburgh quartet led by Jamie Kerr on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. BLACK SWAMP VILLANS (SOUL REMOVER)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Glasgow-based dark rock foursome who describe their thing as ‘post-apocalypse space grunge’, as you do. FRIDAY’S COVERED: BANDAOKE

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, FREE

The hook-laden alternative rock newcomers celebrate the launch of their second EP. GHOST OF THE ROBOTS

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £21

EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE, 19:30–22:00, FROM £27.90

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, FREE

CITRUS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £6

Big Fat Panda head up a ska and reggae-styled fundraiser night in aid of the Specialized music project (for Teenage Cancer Trust). Fancy dress encouraged. WARHEAD (SUSCEPTION)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

All-out metal racket with a twist of prog at its wild beating heart.

FRIDAY’S COVERED

Weekend-welcoming live band karaoke session. MAGIC EIGHT BALL

BANNERMANS, 19:30–23:00, £6

The English rockers play their Scottish debut, with the eagle-eyed amongst you maybe recognising their frontman from touring solo with Enuff Z’nuff. PRISCILLAS (BONES OF THE CARNIVAL)

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

The alternative electro-pop unit bring the fun and energy to Henry’s basement.

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5

CUTTY’S GYM (SHAMBLES IN A HUSK + KAPIL SESHASAYEE+ THE GOTHENBURG ADDRESS+ SHUDDER)

CALLUM BEATTIE AND THE SALAMANDER STREET BAND

Rising Weegie guitar’n’drums duo currently honing their sound on the live circuit.

TINNITUS TRANSFER

The punk rock’n’roll specialists play a selection of old and new tunes. ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:30–22:00, £10

Young Edinburgh singer/songwriter with a kit-bag of acoustic indie-pop gems to his name, playing a full band set.

LATITUDE FIFTY FIVE (MAD TANGO + THE COLOUR TRAP + THE DAY)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

Edinburgh quartet of the alternative indie-rock persuasion.

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £11

Ipswich-based psychedelic rockers formed by vocalist Alan Davey in 2012 in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Hawkwind’s Space Ritual. DIVIDED HEAVEN (MARK MCCABE + TURTLE LAMONE + DAVEY NOLAN)

THE BANSHEE LABYRINTH, 19:30–22:00, £5

Acoustic indie-punk project of East Coast native Jeff Berman. THE SEX PISTOLS SWINDLE + THE CLASH LIVI ROCKERS

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5 ADV. (£7 DOOR)

Double dose of tribute acts, taking in The Sex Pistols and The Clash.

Sun 13 Jul

EAGLEOWL (WOODPIGEON)

LEITH DOCKER’S CLUB, 15:00–18:00, £6

Mon 14 Jul

PHILIPPA HANNA + THE GENTLEMAN

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–23:00, £8 ADV. (£10 DOOR)

Singer Philippa Hanna and electropop outfit The Gentleman join forces for a dual tour.

Tue 15 Jul SAM BROOKES

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £8

Seasoned folk singer/songwriter who’s been slowly evolving since his days as a young chorister.

Wed 16 Jul JAMMIN’ AT VOODOO

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 21:00–23:00, FREE

EMPIRE BY DAY

Fri 11 Jul

BIG FAT PANDA + THE SNIPES + SEA BASS KID + DJ MIGGY

THE PSYCHEDELIC WARLORDS

More catchy rock riffage from the Kerrang featured Sheffld outfit.

Sat 05 Jul American doo-wop vocal group, currently in their 60th year of making music.

Leith-residing band of ‘burgh punk-rockers, who met in the 70s but only formed a band in 2011.

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–23:00, £7

The young acoustic folk Edinburgh singer/songwriter plays a special gig raising funds for his gap year.

Weekend-welcoming live band karaoke session. THE DRIFTERS

DAPITZ (NINE BULLETS + CONSTANT FEAR) CITRUS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £4

Monthly live jam session with a selection of Scottish musicians playing lounge grooves from myriad genres.

AARON KING (ANGUS BUCHAN + KATHRYN M. RUSSELL)

Californian rock outfit fronted by James Marsters (aka cult antihero Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer).

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, FREE

ISLASORNA (SAVE THE RECKLESS + OATH OF KINGS + ALETHA + INHERIT THE EMPIRE)

OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £TBC

Sat 12 Jul

THE BARRY VAN DYKES

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £5

The indie and alternative rock quintet play their Electric Circus debut. ELECTROBUDDHA

THE PEAR TREE, 18:00–21:00, FREE

The up-and-coming Glasgow ensemble play a full-band acoustic session, and all for gratis.

PERFECT CRIMES

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Thu 17 Jul

THE SUNSHINE DELAY (COLDSVILLE)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

Edinburgh mainstays blending elements of country, roots and powerpop in one happy whole. PLAYTIME

THE OUTHOUSE, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£5)

A showcase of jazz performers experiment by playing some brand new music. BRITNEY

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, FREE

Loud and aggressive Scottish combo signed to Beef Wellington Enterprises.

TERMINAL GODS (DRESSMAKER + SACRE NOIR + THE OMEGA CORRIDOR) BANNERMANS, 19:30–23:00, £10

FRIDAY’S COVERED ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £6

Weekend-welcoming live band karaoke session. THE BIG CHRIS BARBER BAND

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:30–22:30, £22.50

The 80-odd year-old jazz master plays a selection of the best tunes from New Orleans and traditional jazz hits. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.

MANDELA DAY CONCERT (ABDULLAH IBRAHIM + FRESHLYGROUND + MAHOTELLA QUEENS)

FESTIVAL THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, FROM £22.50

Special Nelson Mandela tribute concert, taking in a set from legendary South African musicians Abdullah Ibrahim, amongst others. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. MC CHECK

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–23:00, £5

Scots-focused hip-hop night, taking in sets from Oddacity, Weed, James OneOz, True Factz, DJ U-Turn, Sean El, Shirley Mcpherson, Prophetic Justice, ZeBaDee and Number 13. MASSIVE WAGONS (ENGINES OF VENGEANCE + PAPER BEATS ROCK)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £6

Hard rock outfit hailing from the Northwest of England.

Sat 19 Jul IAIN HUNTER

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:30–22:30, £15

The jazz singer plays his first ever Queen’s Hall show, backed by a top orchestra led by Eliott Murray. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. DEFINITELY OASIS

CITRUS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £7

Oasis tribute act. BENNY MONTEUX

WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5

Folk-tinged pop Edinburgh songsmith, playing a hometown show to welcome his new EP into the world. BE LIKE PABLO (GOLDEN ARM + WONDER VILLAINS)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £5

Powerpop outfit who specialise in catchy pop songs with girl/boy harmonies, Moog synthesizers and noisy guitars.

DARKFALL (BREATHE THE OCEAN + FUCK YEAH! MOLECULES + THE LADYBIRD KILLERS) OPIUM, 19:00–22:30, £TBC

Edinburgh-based quintet of the noisy metal variety. INNER SPACE SCOTLAND

JAZZ BAR, 20:30–22:30, £10

Three young musicians from the burgeoning underground Prague jazz scene combine with Scottish drummer John Lowrie and bassist Mario Caribe in a union heavily influenced by the ECM and Scandinavian sound. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.

Sun 20 Jul

MIKE STERN/BILL EVANS BAND

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:30, £20

Messieurs Stern and Evans re-join, having played together in the Miles Davis 1980s band, carrying the jazz/blues/rock fusion concept into the 21st century. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. THEE AHHS (LITTLE LOVE AND THE FRIENDLY VIBES)

WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5

The drum machine-fueled rock’n’rollers take to the road, doom-laden vocals and ferocious guitars at the ready.

Vancouver-based dark pop lot, currently out and touring their third LP, Corey’s Coathangers.

OPIUM, 19:00–22:30, £TBC

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:30, £17.50

THE LINDEN METHOD (HOLD UP THERE’S HOPE)

Mon 21 Jul OTIS TAYLOR

Alternative-styled Chicagoans pulling from the various elements of punk, pop-punk and hardcore to create their own aggressive joy of a sound.

American blues guitarist and vocalist, known for his unique and electric version of Delta-inspired country blues. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.

Fri 18 Jul

Tue 22 Jul

THE RICH

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00–22:00, £TBC

Edinburgh-based young pups brought together by a love of The Clash, The Foo Fighters and guitar music in general. IKARIE XB-1 (OF SPIRE AND THRONE)

OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £TBC

New heavy Glasgow project comprised of members of Vakunoht, Macrocosmica and Soulfinger.

KAISER BILL INVENTED JAZZ

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 22:00–23:30, £12.50

Marking the 100th anniversary of WWI, a collection of musicians travel through jazz – from its beginnings in the USA seedbed, and its progress around the globe – told via songs and contemporary stories. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.

THE SKINNY

VAN MORRISON FESTIVAL THEATRE, 20:00–22:30, FROM £44.50

The OBE-furnished Irish singer/ songwriter plays a set cherrypicked from his back catalogue. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. HOLLIE SMITH

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £7

Fri 25 Jul UNKLE BOB

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £8

The uplifting indie-rock Glasgow outfit return to the stage with a brand new LP and some fresh band faces in tow. FRIDAY’S COVERED

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, FREE

Glasgow Clubs

Talented New Zealand songstress who has supported the likes of Bob Dylan, Coldplay and Simply Red.

Weekend-welcoming live band karaoke session.

THE CAVES, 19:00–22:00, £14

Three jazz guitar giants – Martin Taylor, Christian Escoudé and Ulf Wakenius – perform solo, in duos and as a trio. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.

The Killer Kitsch residents take charge – eight years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic.

CITRUS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £7

Weekly party with Jimmy 11, complete with a hot tub and giant inflatables, because that’s obvs a normal Tuesday night oot.

OWL JOHN

BANNERMANS, 15:00–23:00, £11

LA-based hard rockers who infuse their sound with a world beatmeets-middle eastern flavour.

Wed 23 Jul

KEN MATHIESON CLASSIC JAZZ ORCHESTRA

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:30, £15

MARTIN TAYLOR: GREAT GUITARS

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:30–22:30, £20

CLASH LIVI ROCKERS

The Clash tribute act.

PHANTOM RIFFAGE (STONEDEATH)

OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £5

Energetic grunge-rock unit birthed back in 2002, and currently enjoying a new injection of life since their reformation in 2013.

London-based pop-punk trio who’ve honed their sound on the live circuit.

Thu 24 Jul

CLICK CLACK CLUB (STEELE PLAYS ZAPPA + DOMINIC WAXING LYRICAL + SNIBBO)

STEADY STATE REGIME

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

THE VALKARYS

CITRUS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £TBC

Edinburgh-formed psychedelic garage band, who relocated to London for some years, but are now firmly returned to their homeland. EKRAM

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Madrid-based quintet built on a diet of grunge and rock. LAINIE AND THE CROWS (MATT NORRIS AND THE MOON + URVANOVIC)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, FREE

Monthly experimental music club bringing the good times with their Beefheart-inspired funk.

Rootsy modern-retro outfit laced with country-tinged harmonies, rockabilly twangs, sweet Appalachian blues and the occasional laid back heartbreaker.

THE VILLAGE, 20:30–22:30, FREE

Sun 27 Jul

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:30–23:00, £6 (£4)

BLUEFLINT

The Edinburgh outfit layer their crisp, vaporous vocals in understated two-part harmonies, playing a special series of weekly free gigs previewing new songs in the lead up to recording their new LP. RON POPE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £16.50

Ron Pope-led American outfit whose current sound steers his former country-folk leanings into irresistibly hooky pop-anthem territory. BLUES N TROUBLE

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:30, £16

The iconic Edinburgh blues band celebrate 30 years of rocking the jams, welcoming a host of exmembers for the occasion. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. LOUISE RUTKOWSKI

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £12

The former This Mortal Coil vocalist performs tracks from her haunting first solo LP, Diary of a Lost Girl. PLAYTIME

THE OUTHOUSE, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£5)

A showcase of jazz performers experiment by playing some brand new music.

SOUND (CULANN + THE MARTELLOS + THE RISING SOULS + DAVE LLOYD)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £7 ADV. (£9 DOOR)

Quarterly music fundraiser of local sounds presented by James Morrow, this edition featuring Culann, The Martellos, The Rising Souls and Discopolis’ Dave Lloyd. IN ABSENCE

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, FREE

Progressive rock quintet built on a diet of lush harmonies and a smattering of doom, launching their new single on the night. EMPTY AVENUE

OPIUM, 20:00–22:30, £5

Glasgow-based alternative rock unit all set to release their debut single, with a fresh injection of life care of new bassist/songwriter Cami Ramsay.

July 2014

THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)

I AM VS HEX

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Wed 02 Jul

Glasgow and Edinburgh-straddling psychedelic indie rockers, with synth, rhythm guitar, bass and drums in their mighty mix.

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

#TAG

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:30–22:30, £20

THE BAD PLUS

FESTIVAL THEATRE, 20:15–22:30, £10

EASTROAD

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Sat 26 Jul The 21st century jazz outfit offer a preview of material to be found on their forthcoming release. Part of Manchester Jazz Festival.

Scottish guitarist Haftor Medboe plays with his live band of Espen Eriksen (piano), Dave Kane (bass) and Benita Haastrup (drums), bringing the unmissable transcendent epic new jazz to a live setting. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.

KILLER KITSCH

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa (of i AM) team up with local Hex crew for a live versus special.

Special concert marking the 10th anniversary of the Scottish jazz institution that is Ken Mathieson and co. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. HAFTOR MEDBOE GROUP

Tue 01 Jul

CHRISTIAN SCOTT QUINTET + FEYA FAKU QUINTET

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:30, £15

Iconic jazz trumpeter Christian Scott shares the stage with South African trumpeter Feya Faku, with both their live bands in tow. Part of Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. BIG FRINGE PARTY (TRICKY FINGERS + FRASER JOHN LINDSAY’S BLUES INCENTIVE + LIVE AND DANGEROUS) THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £10.50

A selection of acts join forces to get pure dead excited about the arrival of the Edinburgh Fringe, including Rolling Stones sound-alikes Tricky Fingers. THE GRUBBY MITTS (PET + THE RHUBABA CHOIR)

PILRIG ST PAUL’S CHURCH, 19:00–23:00, £3 (OR £7 WITH LP PRE-ORDER)

Artist Andy Holden and his live band, The Grubby Mitts, take to the ‘burgh as part of their tour of artist-run spaces – performing a body of work they’ve been writing and recording for the last seven years. HOLD UP THERE’S HOPE (ANAVAE + DIVIDES)

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. 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 sessions and popcorn stalls, just, y’know, cos. BEAST WEDNESDAYS

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

The midweek residents serve up their usual rammy of pop-punk and hardcore, whilst the bar doles out lethally alcoholic slushies. Slurp. SUB ROSA (VICIOUS CREATURES)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm, joined by a guest or two – this time in the form of Vicious Creatures.

Thu 03 Jul 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

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer. OUTBURST

SHED, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£3 (£2) AFTER 11)

Student-friendly night with DJs Redmond McDonald and Callum Clarke playing a mix of dance, pop, rock and r’n’b.

OPIUM, 19:00–22:30, £TBC

Fri 04 Jul

Mon 28 Jul

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £7

CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £6

Edinburgh-based unit of the poppunk variety. ONELINEDRAWING

With Massachusetts-born singer/ songwriter and guitarist Jonah Matranga’s old band, Far, welland-truly on hiatus, he returns to Scottish soil under his emotive lo-fi solo guise, onelinedrawing.

OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

DAMNATION

Two floors of the best in rock, metal and industrial tunes picked out by DJ Barry and DJ Tailz. CRASH

SHED, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

FANTASTIC MAN BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

Messy Saturday night uber-disco featuring a rotating schedule of live talent. 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, £3

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 and Blondie et al alongside new kids like Django Djanjo and Grimes. 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.

ASTRAL BLACK (DARQ E FREAKER)

THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 12)

Burgeoning label Astral Black kick off their new residency with a special guest in the form of London’s Grime poster-boy, Darq E Freaker. HOUSE OF MASK

SECRET LOCATION, 21:00–03:00, FREE

The interactive House of Mask party comes to a secret west end location in Glasgow (marked out only by a neon skull), taking in music, theatrical performance and live street art inspired by the colourful nightlife of El Vedado. BOOGALOO (MARTIN ROTH)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 EARLYBIRD (£7-£10 THEREAFTER)

Berlin-based DJ and producer Martin Roth joins the Boogallo residents for a guest slot. XXL

THE ARCHES, 22:00–03:00, £10

The Mark Ames-founded London gay night makes the trip Glasgowway for a one-off special. RINSE FM (SURGEON)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £12

The latest in Rinse FM’s ongoing series of takeovers at Subbie finds ‘em welcoming techno innovator Surgeon for a special guest slot.

Sat 05 Jul 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, £3

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)

Rock, indie and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney. VOODOO

CATHOUSE, 16:00–21:00, £2 (£1)

Under 18s rock night playing anything and everything rock. LOVE MUSIC

Andy Robertson spins chart and party classics, with his musical accomplice DJ Del playing r’n’b and hip-hop in The Loft space.

Saturday night disco manned by Gerry Lyons and guests.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

PROPAGANDA

Student-oriented night playing the best in new and classic indie music. CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

I HEART GARAGE SATURDAYS

Student superclub cramming in everything from hip-hop to dance, and funk to chart.

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)

Residents night of rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels.

Listings

SUPERMAX

BEAST WEDNESDAYS

ARGONAUT SOUNDS

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00, £5

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

SWG3, 22:00–03:00, £TBC

A taste of the decadent sound systems of NYC’s disco era with yer main man Billy Woods. THE SHED SATURDAYS

SHED, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

The Shed’s mainman Andy Robertson spins ‘charty poppy party classics’ for all yer Saturday night dancing needs. TOO DARN HOT

BLACKFRIARS BASEMENT, 22:00–03:00, £5

Lou Hickey and Tony Poprock (of Club Noir) present their monthly mix of vintage pop, big band, rockabilly and electro swing, opening with a special gig session from Lou and her live band. GIMME SHELTER

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The midweek residents serve up their usual rammy of pop-punk and hardcore, whilst the bar doles out lethally alcoholic slushies. Slurp.

Roots reggae, dancehall and rocksteady in original soundsystem stylee.

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

NU SKOOL

SUB ROSA (SOUL TRAIN)

Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm, joined by a guest or two – this time in the form of Soul Train.

Thu 10 Jul RUBIX

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

The bass music special returns for another instalment, shaking up yer Thursday eve. NEVERLAND

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Sat 12 Jul 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. SUBCULTURE

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

Long-running house night with regulars Harri & Domenic manning the decks.

Varied night moving from the 50s to present day, via selections of rock’n’roll, soul, garage, psych and r’n’b.

Themed night with a live Twitter feed and a bouncy castle for added LOLs.

AD LIB, 23:00–03:00, FREE

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

THE ROCK SHOP

HIP HOP THURSDAYS

Rock, indie and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney.

DOWNTOWN SOUL

R.U.IN THURSDAYS

DJ Flore De Hoog joins Felonious Munk for an all-vinyl night of soul, motown and 60s r’n’b.

Rock, metal and emo mix up, plus guest DJs mixing it up in the Jager Bar.

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£7 AFTER 11)

Early weekend party starter, with Euan Neilson playing the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

LET’S GO BACK... WAY BACK! (DJ DRIBBLER)

DJ Dribbler returns from his exile overseas to grace the Let’s Go Back 1210’s for the first time since the infamous all-day parties in McChuill’s. DEATHKILL 4000 (UBRE BLANCA)

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

Industro-rock noise party with live players and bespoke visuals to boot, this time soundtracked by experimental Glasgow duo Ubre Blanca – the collaborative force of ex-Divorce Andy Brown and ex-Shitdisco Joel Stone. SUBCULTURE (TUFF CITY KIDS)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

The long-running house night welcome Running Back boss Gerd Janson and fellow German Phillip Lauer (aka Tuff City Kids) for a lesson in house.

Sun 06 Jul 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. HAIR OF THE CAT (DJ JAMIE)

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Sabbath-bothering mix of rock, metal and punk, with rotating DJs and punter requests accepted all night long.

Mon 07 Jul BURN

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/FREE WITH WAGE SLIP)

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer. GOOD GRIEF’S GOOP SHOP

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

The DIY label and zine collective present their monthly club outing and fresh zine launch combined.

KILLER KITSCH

The Killer Kitsch residents take charge – eight years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic. 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. #TAG

THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)

Student-friendly night with DJs Redmond McDonald and Callum Clarke playing a mix of dance, pop, rock and r’n’b.

Fri 11 Jul 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. KINO FIST

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

Genre-spanning mix of 60s psych, leftfield pop and Krautrock with resident Charlotte (of Muscles of Joy). CRASH

SHED, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Andy Robertson spins chart and party classics, with his musical accomplice DJ Del playing r’n’b and hip-hop in The Loft space. PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

Residents night of rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels. WILD COMBINATION

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00, £5

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some disco, Afro, drunk funk and late night party jams under a strobelight moon. 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

Weekly party with Jimmy 11, complete with a hot tub and giant inflatables, because that’s obvs a normal Tuesday night oot.

Split up night of chart classics in the main hall and underground hip-hop in the wee room.

Wed 09 Jul

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

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 sessions and popcorn stalls, just, y’know, cos.

Listings

CATHOUSE, 16:00–21:00, £2 (£1)

Under 18s rock night playing anything and everything rock. 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)

SHED, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

VOODOO

OUTBURST

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)

Tue 08 Jul

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)

SHED, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£3 (£2) AFTER 11)

Student-oriented night playing the best in new and classic indie music.

Andy R plays chart hits and requests past and present, while DJ David Lo Pan holes up in The Attic playing retro classics.

Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet.

Student superclub cramming in everything from hip-hop to dance, and funk to chart.

Long-running trade night with Normski, Zeus and Mash spinning disco beats. SPACE INVADER

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

WE ARE NOT ROBOTS

Bloc+ hand over the decks for the evening to French electro DJ, We Are Not Robots. RETURN TO MONO: SLAM TENT AFTER-PARTY

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

Monthly night from Soma Records taking in popular techno offerings of all hues, this time hosting the official Slam Tent after-bash for T in the Park-weary bodies.

THE SHED SATURDAYS

The Shed’s mainman Andy Robertson spins ‘charty poppy party classics’ for all yer Saturday night dancing needs. WRONG ISLAND

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

The legendary Teamy and Dirty Larry spin some fresh electronics for your aural pleasure.

VICE: IN THE HOUSE (KYLE WEBSTER + BEN LINELY + LOUI CLEGHORN + EUAN CRAWFORD) SWG3, 22:00–03:00, £5

Local promoters, Vice, take up residence in SWG3 for the evening, joined by Kyle Webster, Ben Linely, Loui Cleghorn and Euan Crawford.

Sun 13 Jul SUNDAY ROASTER

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

Wed 16 Jul NOT MOVING

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

South African house, grime, jungle, R’n’B and hauntology – a tropical mix, ayes. 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 sessions and popcorn stalls, just, y’know, cos. BEAST WEDNESDAYS

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

The midweek residents serve up their usual rammy of pop-punk and hardcore, whilst the bar dole out lethally alcoholic slushies. Slurp. SUB ROSA (GROOVEMENT)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm, joined by a guest or two – this time in the form of Groovement.

Thu 17 Jul 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. OUTBURST

SHED, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£3 (£2) AFTER 11)

Student-friendly night with DJs Redmond McDonald and Callum Clarke playing a mix of dance, pop, rock and r’n’b.

Fri 18 Jul 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. CRASH

SHED, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Residents Garry and Andrew incite more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath, taking in chart anthems, mash-ups and requests.

Andy Robertson spins chart and party classics, with his musical accomplice DJ Del playing r’n’b and hip-hop in The Loft space.

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Student-oriented night playing the best in new and classic indie music.

HAIR OF THE CAT (DJ KELMOSH)

Sabbath-bothering mix of rock, metal and punk, with rotating DJs and punter requests accepted all night long.

Mon 14 Jul 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)

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)

Residents night of rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels. WILD COMBINATION

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00, £5

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some disco, Afro, drunk funk and late night party jams under a strobelight moon. NUMBERS

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00

Andy R plays chart hits and requests past and present, while DJ David Lo Pan holes up in The Attic playing retro classics.

The Numbers crew stage their regular takeover, special guests being kept under wraps for now.

Tue 15 Jul

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5/£3 STUDENT AFTER 12)

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. #TAG

THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)

Weekly party with Jimmy 11, complete with a hot tub and giant inflatables, because that’s obvs a normal Tuesday night oot. I AM (INKKE + MILKTRAY + GREENMAN)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Resident i AM young guns Beta & Kappa host a hip-hop and grime special, in honour of the Ghostface Killah gig at The Arches the same night. Free entry with ticket stub.

JAMMING FRIDAYS

Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to the 00s, with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez.

MANDELA DAY (AUNTIE FLO + ESA + FANTASMA) THE ARCHES, 22:00–03:00, £5

The Arches celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela with a special club event featuring the globe-trotting sounds of Auntie Flo and Esa, plus a special appearance from South African producer Fantasma (aka rapper and beat-maker Spoek Mathambo).

Sat 19 Jul 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

Sun 20 Jul SUNDAY ROASTER

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Residents Garry and Andrew incite more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath, taking in chart anthems, mash-ups and requests. HAIR OF THE CAT (DJ JAMIE)

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Sabbath-bothering mix of rock, metal and punk, with rotating DJs and punter requests accepted all night long.

Mon 21 Jul BURN

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/FREE WITH WAGE SLIP)

Alternative weekend blowout, taking in metal, industrial, pop-punk, rock, emo and ska soundscapes over two floors.

Long-running trade night with Normski, Zeus and Mash spinning disco beats.

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

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. VOODOO

CATHOUSE, 16:00–21:00, £2 (£1)

Under 18s rock night playing anything and everything rock. 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 cramming in everything from hip-hop to dance, and funk to chart. SINGLES NIGHT

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Andy Divine and Chris Geddes’ gem of a night dedicated to 7-inch singles from every genre imaginable. CRIMES OF THE FUTURE

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00, £5

Scott Fraser and Timothy J. Fairplay host their favourited music club playing a decidedly left-field selection of Krautrock, electronic, dub and everything inbetween. STRANGE PARADISE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

Party night from floral-shirted Wild Combination man David Barbarossa, specializing in leftfield disco, post-punk and far-out pop. THE SHED SATURDAYS

SHED, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

The Shed’s mainman Andy Robertson spins ‘charty poppy party classics’ for all yer Saturday night dancing needs. SUBCULTURE (JASPER JAMES)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic joined by bright young Glasgow house music talent Jasper James, marking his return set to the club. TYCI (THEE AHS + NATASHA RADICAL)

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

The all-female collective, blog and fanzine bring together a selection of live acts and DJs for their monthly party night.

BIRDCAGE: ALTERNATIVE PRIDE PARTY PART II (REBECCA VASMANT + MADAME S + MILKY + PEARL NECKLACE + HEAVYFLO + LUYD DJS) SAINT JUDES, 21:00–03:00, £7 ADV. (£10 DOOR)

The long-running Glasgow alternative gay night returns to host a Pride Party special – manned by a selection of local DJ talent, including Rebecca Vasmant and Madame S. CLYDESIDE SOUL

SPACE INVADER

Andy R plays chart hits and requests past and present, while DJ David Lo Pan holes up in The Attic playing retro classics.

Tue 22 Jul 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 (BRACKLES)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 12)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa welcome Rinse FM stalwart Brackles for a return set, in honour of Beta’s birthday. #TAG

THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)

Weekly party with Jimmy 11, complete with a hot tub and giant inflatables, because that’s obvs a normal Tuesday night oot.

Wed 23 Jul SO WEIT SO GUT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

The party sounds of Ean, Smiddy and Kenny White on decks. 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 sessions and popcorn stalls, just, y’know, cos. BEAST WEDNESDAYS

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

The midweek residents serve up their usual rammy of pop-punk and hardcore, whilst the bar doles out lethally alcoholic slushies. Slurp. SUB ROSA (MOXIE)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm, joined by a guest or two – this time in the form of Moxie.

Thu 24 Jul 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 (TRIO BPM)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

DJs Francis Murphy and Flore De Hoog host an all-vinyl night of soul, motown and 60s-styled r’n’b.

Jazz-influenced sound sauna, moving through mathcore to postrock, with a few live acts thrown in for good measure.

FRESH BEATS

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 ADV. (£6 DOOR)

SHED, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£3 (£2) AFTER 11)

KILL YR IDOLS

DIY disco with a punk attitude, where psychedelic voodoo grooves meet souped-up turbo-tech. THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£8)

Split up night of chart classics in the main hall and underground hip-hop in the wee room.

THE LUCKY BREAK, 21:00–02:00, FREE

CODE (FLUG)

The underground techno specialists take over their regular home of La Cheetah, with Argentinian techno specialist DJ Flug their guest from afar.

OUTBURST

Student-friendly night with DJs Redmond McDonald and Callum Clarke playing a mix of dance, pop, rock and r’n’b. BEAT SURFING

STEREO, 21:30–01:00, FREE

Frizzo fae Frogbeats plays selections of electro swing, nu jazz and Balkan upstairs in the Stereo Cafe Bar.

MOON HOP

SUBCULTURE

SWG3, 19:30–01:00, £2

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

Musical club night featuring live performances from hot musical talent – this time taking a jaunt across to Glasgow with special guests being kept firmly under wraps for now. Dirty teases.

Fri 25 Jul 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, £3

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.

Long-running house night with regulars Harri & Domenic manning the decks. 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. VOODOO

CATHOUSE, 16:00–21:00, £2 (£1)

Under 18s rock night playing anything and everything rock. 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)

SHED, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Student superclub cramming in everything from hip-hop to dance, and funk to chart.

PROPAGANDA

Resident DJs Jer Reid, Martin Law and guests play music from, and inspired by, 70s and early 80s NYC.

CRASH

Andy Robertson spins chart and party classics, with his musical accomplice DJ Del playing r’n’b and hip-hop in The Loft space. O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Student-oriented night playing the best in new and classic indie music. 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)

HOUNDIN’ THE STREETS

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

THE SHED SATURDAYS

SHED, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

The Shed’s mainman Andy Robertson spins ‘charty poppy party classics’ for all yer Saturday night dancing needs. TEENAGE RIOT

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to the 00s, with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez.

Members of Glasgow’s posthardcore noise-masters, United Fruit, curate their lively event of big-beat alternative indie.

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

SHAKE APPEAL

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. BUCKY SKANK

THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£8/£6 STUDENTS AFTER 12)

Annual night celebrating Jamaican music in all its forms, with yer man JD Twitch delving into his collection to play his favourite dub, dancehall, ska, roots, sleng teng, rocksteady records, joined by Optimo partner in crime JG Wilkes on samples duty. NOCEUR (MIA DORA + CRAIG MULLEN)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

All-new party night for La Cheetah, with Glasgow duo Mia Dora locking horns with #notsosilent’s Craig Mullen, alongside a batch of residents. DAVID RODIGAN (MUNGO’S HI-FI)

THE ARCHES, 22:00–03:00, £12

The legendary reggae selector plays a special extended set, as vital as ever now in his 63rd year. SENSU BOAT PARTY: PART 1 (THE MARTINEZ BROTHERS)

RIVERSIDE MUSEUM, 19:00–23:00, £28

Sensu set sail for a voyage down the Clyde, with guests The Martinez Brothers on board to man the decks. Pick up from Riverside Museum Pontoon (7pm, sharp), with after-party action at Sub Club (11pm-3am). SENSU BOAT PARTY: AFTER-BASH

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £12

Official after-bash for Sensu’s boat party action, with The Martinez Brothers also joining them ‘pon land for a club set.

HAUS DIMENSION

All-new night taking in a bit of disco, house, techno and acid, plus all manner of other wavy beats. #NOTSOSILENT (HUNEE)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 ADV. (£8 DOOR)

The #notsosilent party starters welcome Berlin based DJ and producer Hunee to their lair, schooling punters in a cultured cross section of essentials from house and disco, to Afro and techno. SOUL CASINO

OLD FRUITMARKET, 21:00–03:00, £20.00

Funky dancefloor session of jazzfunk, boogie and rare grooves. Part of The Vintage Festival.

Sun 27 Jul 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. HAIR OF THE CAT (DJ NICOLA)

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Sabbath-bothering mix of rock, metal and punk, with rotating DJs and punter requests accepted all night long. THE DEVIL’S MUSIC

WILD CABARET, 19:00–02:00, £10

DJs Martin Compston, Kris Funk Keb Darge and Mark Linton take punters on a journey through 60s80s rock, soul, r’n’b, disco, surf and garage. Part of The Vintage Festival.

Mon 28 Jul 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.

Sat 26 Jul 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.

THE SKINNY

Edinburgh Clubs Tue 01 Jul 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. BAD KIDS

THE OUTHOUSE, 20:30–01:00, FREE

DJ Jasmine plays the best in indie, electro, noise and surf rock.

Wed 02 Jul 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 Blackwax and Faultlines. CHAMPION SOUND

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £1 (£3 AFTER 12)

Midweek celebration of all things dub, jungle, reggae and dancehall. TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5

Weekly selection of dance bangers, played out by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson. THE GETTUP

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 21:00–03:00, FREE

Midweek party night with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours.

Thu 03 Jul 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 their 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, edged up by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban selections in the back room.

IN DEEP (LORCA) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)

PROPAGANDA

STEPBACK

WEE RED BAR, 23:00–03:00, £5

Mixed bag of electronic bass from DJs Wolfjazz and Keyte, moving from Baltimore to dubstep. DOMINO CLUB

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 18:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly institution with DJ P-Stylz at the helm spinning the best in hip-hop, r’n’b and soul. FLY (STU TODD)

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 from further afield (aka London). ROAD TRIP

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

All-new night intended to act as an audiovisual vacation around the globe, with the best mixtapes to match.

July 2014

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team. THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

FIFTY/FIFTY (TERRY FRANCIS + GARETH WHITEHEAD)

New club of two halves: house, techno and electro in the main room with guests Terry Francis and Gareth Whitehead, plus hip-hop, soul, funk and disco upstairs with Mark B and Babes.

Sat 05 Jul BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard. SOULSVILLE

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

SOUL JAM HOT

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

I LOVE HIP HOP

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. BAD KIDS

THE OUTHOUSE, 20:30–01:00, FREE

DJ Jasmine plays the best in indie, electro, noise and surf rock.

Swinging soul spanning a whole century, with DJs Tsatsu and Fryer.

Wed 09 Jul

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Midweek student rundown of chart, club and electro hits.

GASOLINE DANCE MACHINE

More classic Italo and straight-up boogie allied with contemporary house and disco, as Edinburgh’s GDM crew do their thing. 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. EDINBURGH FESTIVAL CARNIVAL PARTY (JUNKANOO COMMANDOS + BACKYARD RHYTHM ORCHESTRA + ANANSI) SUMMERHALL, 21:00–01:00, £10

Ahead of the official Edinburgh Carnival on 20 July, for the first time ever they host a warm-up bash – taking in live bands, circus performers, DJs and exotic costumes. SOUL JAM SATURDAY

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team, magically transported to a one-off weekend slot. Yaldi! KARNIVAL: RESIDENTS PARTY

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£7 AFTER 11.30)

The Karnival crew host a special residents and pals summer shindig.

Sun 06 Jul 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. 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

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5

IN DEEP (YVES + CHEERS + KRIS WASABI)

Sneaky’s new Friday nighter welcomes a triple dose of guest talent, with ‘im from Witness (aka Yves), ‘im from Teesh (aka Cheers) and ‘im from Wasabi Disco (aka Kris Wasabi).

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Student-oriented night playing the best in new and classic indie music.

All-new night intended to act as an audiovisual vacation around the globe, with the best mixtapes to match.

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

Fri 04 Jul Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

HIVE TUESDAYS

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

SOUL JAM HOT SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

The In Deep champs welcome Brighton resident Lorca for a guest set, marking the first of four Sneaky’s shows he’ll play this year.

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.

MISFITS

Tue 08 Jul

ROAD TRIP ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

RAPTURE

Sound sauna of eclectic hip-hop, funk and soul with yer DJ experts Cunnie & Beef. TASTE: 20TH ANNIVERSARY

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:00–03:00, £10

DJs Fisher & Price, Miss Chris, Martin Valentine and Steven Wanless unite for a special 20th anniversary edition of the favourited night, with a proportion of each ticket sold going to Victim Support Scotland.

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

WITNESS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines. CHAMPION SOUND

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£3 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

Midweek celebration of all things dub, jungle, reggae and dancehall. TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5

Weekly selection of dance bangers, played out by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson.

NU FIRE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

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. REWIND

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3)

Journey back through the ages, with the residents digging out anthemic gems from the last 40 years. BEEP BEEP, YEAH!

Wed 16 Jul 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 Blackwax and Faultlines. TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5

Weekly selection of dance bangers, played out by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson. THE GETTUP

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 21:00–03:00, FREE

Midweek party night with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours.

Thu 17 Jul 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)

Retro pop stylings from the 50s to the 70s, via a disco tune or ten.

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing their usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)

THINK TWICE

HI-SOCIETY

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

Fri 18 Jul

Thu 10 Jul 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 their 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, edged up by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban selections in the back room.

SNEAKY PETE’S 6TH BIRTHDAY (LONE) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Sneaky Pete’s celebrates six glorious years with a special guest slot from Lone – who’ll be channeling jackin’ house through all kinds of funky weirdness, like the champ he is.

Fri 11 Jul MISFITS

TEESH

MESSENGER SOUND SYSTEM (EARL SIXTEEN)

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£7 AFTER 12)

Conscious roots and dub reggae rockin’ from the usual beefty soundsystem, this time with Jamaican legend Earl Sixteen in town for a rare guest slot.

Sun 13 Jul 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. 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. RAPTURE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4

Sound sauna of eclectic hip-hop, funk and soul with yer DJ experts Cunnie & Beef.

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Mon 14 Jul

PROPAGANDA

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms. THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5

Student-oriented night playing the best in new and classic indie music. DOMINO CLUB

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 18:00–03:00, FREE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

DR NO’S

DJ Jasmine plays the best in indie, electro, noise and surf rock.

DJ Cheers – frequent flyer at many a Sneaky’s night – finally gets his own show on the road, playing a varied selection of tuneage.

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard.

BAD KIDS

THE OUTHOUSE, 20:30–01:00, FREE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 21:00–03:00, FREE

Midweek party night with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours.

TEASE AGE

MIXED UP

Sat 12 Jul

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.

Student-friendly chart anthems, edged up by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban selections in the back room.

Mon 07 Jul

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Known for mixing up cutting edge and classic electronic music from across the spectrum, the Substance crew rather excitedly welcome a guest slot from Detroit rising star, MGUN (aka Manual Gonzales).

HECTOR’S HOUSE

Dance-inducing party night, oft with a live guest in tow.

THE GETTUP

Weekly institution with DJ P-Stylz at the helm spinning the best in hip-hop, r’n’b and soul.

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the classic and modern spectrums.

SUBSTANCE (MGUN)

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.

FLY (BATTLE OF THE ZOO)

A powerhouse of local residents take over Cab Vol, joined by a selection of guest talent both local and from further afield (aka London). 4X4

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)

Two-fold night of house and techno manned by the regular 4x4 crew and this month’s special guest, L.G.I.C.

TEASE AGE

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the classic and modern spectrums. 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 15 Jul HIVE TUESDAYS

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

MISFITS

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms. PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5

Student-oriented night playing the best in new and classic indie music. DOMINO CLUB

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 18:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly institution with DJ P-Stylz at the helm spinning the best in hip-hop, r’n’b and soul. 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 from further afield (aka London).

THUNDER DISCO CLUB CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Thu 24 Jul

WASABI DISCO

Pumped Thursday nighter playing a mighty mix of everything from Hud Mo to Fly Mo.

The Thunder Disco Club residents churn out the 90s house, techno and disco hits. 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. POP ROCKS!

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)

Pop and rock gems, taking in motown, 80s classics and plenty danceable fare (well, the Beep Beep, Yeah! crew are on decks after all).

JACKHAMMER (TECHNASIA + HANS BOUFFMYHRE + NEIL LANDSTRUMM + WOLFJAZZ & KEYTE) THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:00–05:00, £10

The Jackhammer crew up our dose of all things techno with seven-whole-bladdy-hours of the stuff from guests Technasia, Hans Bouffmyhre, Neil Landstrumm and Wolfjazz & Keyte. All hail the 5am licence!

Sun 20 Jul 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. 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. RAPTURE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4

Sound sauna of eclectic hip-hop, funk and soul with yer DJ experts Cunnie & Beef.

WEE RED BAR, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£5 AFTER 12)

BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard. SATURDAY NIGHT BEAVER

THE ANNEXE, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 11.30)

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 20:00–01:00, FREE

HI-SOCIETY

Student-friendly chart anthems, edged up by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban selections in the back room.

Fri 25 Jul MISFITS

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms. PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5

Student-oriented night playing the best in new and classic indie music. DOMINO CLUB

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 18:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly institution with DJ P-Stylz at the helm spinning the best in hip-hop, r’n’b and soul. FLY (NOLAN & HERD)

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 from further afield (aka London). #NOTSOSILENT

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, FROM £8

DIVE: 1ST BIRTHDAY

Queer party night flaunting its eclectic wares across a packed programme of music, drag, live art and performance, this edition celebrating turning the grand old age of one with a free-entry celebratory special.

Mon 28 Jul 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. 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.

Belch and crew bring the best in underground house with special guests being kept under wraps for now.

Dundee Music

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

Wed 02 Jul

ROAD TRIP

YASHIN

Thu 03 Jul

House, tech-house and techno from resident DJs Peter Annand and Jack Swift.

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Sat 26 Jul

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 22 Jul HIVE TUESDAYS

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

SOUL JAM HOT

The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

Art School institution with DJs Chris and Jake playing the finest in indie, garage, soul and punk – now taking up a monthly Saturday slot, in what is their 20th year.

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the classic and modern spectrums.

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

THE EGG

Sound sauna of eclectic hip-hop, funk and soul with yer DJ experts Cunnie & Beef.

CREATURES OF HABIT

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.

Sat 19 Jul

RAPTURE

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing their usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 11.30PM)

TEASE AGE

Pumped night of acid, techno and electro soundscapes with the Disorder residents.

Sneaky’s new Friday nighter welcomes rising star Jasper James and yer man Huggy (from Burger Queen and Beat 106) for a guest takeover.

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

IN DEEP (JASPER JAMES + HUGGY)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

THE CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Scottish post-hardcore sextet who enjoy screaming, ear-splitting riffs and guitar arpeggios. Don’t we all.

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)

I AM: EDINBURGH

Mon 21 Jul

DISORDER

All-new night intended to act as an audiovisual vacation around the globe, with the best mixtapes to match.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

COALITION SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly cross-genre of bass from a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

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.

ROAD TRIP

JUICE

HECTOR’S HOUSE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)

BAD KIDS

THE OUTHOUSE, 20:30–01:00, FREE

DJ Jasmine plays the best in indie, electro, noise and surf rock.

Wed 23 Jul 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 Blackwax and Faultlines.

BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard. MAGIC NOSTALGIC

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£8 AFTER 12)

A hodgepodge of quality tracks chosen by JP’s spinning wheel – expect anything from 90s rave to power ballads, amidst a whole lotta one-hit wonders. RIDE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

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. BETAMAX

STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 12)

Monthly offering of new wave, disco, post-punk and a bit o’ synthtastic 80s with your hosts Chris and Big Gus. DR NO’S

ROCK THE TAY (THE APPLESEED CAST + AVAST! + CARSON WELLS)

NON-ZERO’S, 17:30–22:00, £10

Weekend-long music festival takeover at Non-Zero’s, taking in the likes of The Appleseed Cast, RM Hubbert, Vukovi and Tall Ships over the course of the weekend.

Sat 19 Jul

ROCK THE TAY (TALL SHIPS + VUKOVI + COPPER LUNGS)

NON-ZERO’S, 14:30–22:00, £8

Weekend-long music festival takeover at Non-Zero’s, taking in the likes of The Appleseed Cast, RM Hubbert, Vukovi and Tall Ships over the course of the weekend.

SKEEMFEST 2 (GBH + THE CUNDEEZ + OVERDOSE + BALSALL HEATHENS + BUZZBOMB + THE MCGONAGALLS + JIM THREAT AND THE VULTURES + HAPPY SPASTICS + THE JACKHAMMERS + SUBVISION) BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 20:00–23:00, £10

Eclectic mini festival outing, featuring the folk-rock soundscapes of The Cundeez and Edinburgh’s DIY-styled hardcore punk hellraisers Happy Spastics, amongst others.

Sun 20 Jul

Weekend-long music festival takeover at Non-Zero’s, taking in the likes of The Appleseed Cast, RM Hubbert, Vukovi and Tall Ships over the course of the weekend.

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Sun 27 Jul

Midweek party night with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours.

Fri 18 Jul

POCKET ACES: I AM TAKEOVER

Danceable mix of the best in 60s ska, rocksteady, bluebeat and early reggae.

THE GETTUP

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 21:00–03:00, FREE

AC/DC tribute act.

ROCK THE TAY (THE COSMIC DEAD + ALPHA MALE TEA PARTY + THE SHITHAWKS + THE SPARROWHAWK ORKESTREL + WILDHOUSE )

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5

TRIBE

HELL’S BELLS

FAT SAM’S, 19:30–22:00, £TBC

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£5 AFTER 12)

Dance-inducing party with an anything goes attitude and rotating guest DJs, with i AM residents Beta and Kappa showing their versatility with a monthly appearance.

Weekly selection of dance bangers, played out by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson.

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 19:30–22:00, £10

NON-ZERO’S, 15:00–22:00, £6

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.

Lesbian and bi-friendly featuring a rotating schedule of female DJ talent.

Listings

Dundee Clubs

Sat 19 Jul

Thu 03 Jul

MASK

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.

Fri 04 Jul

WRONGTOM (MISS DLOVE)

READING ROOMS, 22:30–03:30, £5 (£7 AFTER 12)

The DJ supremo returns to Dundee (after his debut set before and after the Resonators show back in late 2013), with local support from Miss Dlove. 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.

Sat 05 Jul AUTODISCO

READING ROOMS, 22:30–03:30, £5 (£7 AFTER 12)

Electro-funk, house and disco with your regular hosts Dave Autodisco and Dicky Trisco. 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.

Thu 10 Jul

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.

Fri 11 Jul

LOCARNO

READING ROOMS, 22:30–03:30, £TBC

Rockabilly, doo-wop, soul and all things golden age and danceable with the Locarno regulars. 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.

Thu 24 Jul

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.

Fri 25 Jul MISS DLOVE

READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC

Reading Room’s rude girl resident spins a selection of Afrobeat, funk, hip-hop, reggae, Latin, reggae and tropical beats over a four-hour set. FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)

Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests. SUBMERSION ROUND VII

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 22:30–02:30, £2 (£4 AFTER 10.30)

Saturday night party playing drum’n’bass selections all night long.

Sat 26 Jul BOOK CLUB

READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC

The Good Stuff DJs spin all genres of disco house and techno, alongside 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. ASYLUM

KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

Saturday best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes.

KEN SWIFT + CORRELATE

READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £5

A duo of Dundee DJ stalwarts share the decks, playing house playlists all night through. FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)

Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests.

Glasgow Citizens Theatre ON COMMON GROUND

25–31 JUL, NOT 27, 28, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FREE (BUT TICKETED)

Sat 12 Jul

Off-site community project performed by 150+ locals, exploring what happens when a tribe who have been traveling for 18,000 years meet Glaswegians on common ground. Leaves from Citizens for Gorbals Rose Garden (where the performance takes place).

READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC

Oran Mor

CASSETTE

KAGE, 23:00–02:30, £4

Handpicked-style night inviting a guest DJ to play tracks from artists and albums that would make their definitive mixtape. BEAT CLUB

Diverse selections of hip-hop, funky stuff, fat beats and breaks with the regular beatmasters. 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.

Thu 17 Jul

SEQUENCE: PART II OF THE UNKNOWN TRILOGY

9 JUL, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12 (£10)

Tom Moriarty-penned piece about three troubled souls who find themselves bound by destiny and cursed by love, each dealing with their own inner turmoils – told using complex set, effects and multimedia.

The Arches 44 STORIES

2–5 JUL, 9:00PM – 10:00PM, £12 (£10)

Fri 18 Jul

Drag artist and theatre maker Drew Taylor presents his poignant new dance theatre piece – a kaleidoscopic journey around the globe, taking in the 44 countries (of the Commonwealth’s 70 competing countries) in which homosexuality is still illegal.

READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC

2–5 JUL, 6:30PM – 8:00PM, £12 (£10)

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. CONTOUR

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. 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.

Listings

BLOOD LINES

New theatre project written, directed and performed by Lou Prendergast, drawing upon Scots-Caribbean experience to raise questions about Scotland’s entanglement in the slave trade.

Theatre

Art

BUY THIS!

NEWSBOY

18 JUL, 8:00PM – 8:45PM, FREE

27 MAR, 25 JUL, 9:15PM – 11:15PM, £5

Glasgow

Fusing her background in gymnastics, contemporary dance and theatre, Melanie Forbes-Broomes presents highlights of her Arches residency – a work in progress performance exposing the absurdities of commodified products. NEWS JUST IN

22 JUL – 2 AUG, NOT 23 JUL, 27 JUL, 9:00PM – 11:00PM, £12 (£10)

Nightly round-up of all things Commonwealth Games, with a brand new story each night from a cast of six Scottish comedy actors (aka anything could – and probably will – happen). ENDURANCE

24–27 JUL, TIMES VARY, £7 (£5)

Timely new theatre production from A Moment’s Peace, imagining and recreating the historical and personal stories of Commonwealth sportswomen from across the world – created and performed by over 20 women living in Glasgow.

The Briggait

BARROWLAND BALLET: THE RIVER

20–21 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE (BUT TICKETED)

Al fresco work telling a story of flow, migration, memory and multiculturalism through music and dance, beginning at The Briggait and travelling along the footpath of the River Clyde and beyond, before returning to The Briggait for the finale.

The King’s Theatre

ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 30 JUN AND 5 JUL, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

Farcical comedy based on Carlo Goldoni’s The Servent Of Two Masters, with Gavin Spokes taking the central role of loveable chancer Francis Henshall. RHYTHM OF THE DANCE

8 JUL, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £20.90

Celebration of Irish dance, featuring thirty dancers, a traditional full Irish band and the dashing Young Irish Tenors.

Theatre Royal

SCOTTISH OPERA: AMANCHARA – SONGS OF FRIENDSHIP

25–27 JUL, TIMES VARY, FROM £6

Alexander McCall Smith-penned opera on the theme of friendship and the ties that bind people together, performed by a cast of over 100 multi-nationality performers.

Tramway GUDIRR GUDIRR

2–3 JUL, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £15 (£10)

Intimate solo dance and video work by Dalisa Pigram (in collaboration with choreographer Koen Augustijnen and visual artist Vernon Ah Kee), drawing on a physicality born of her Asian–Indigenous identity. COMMONWEALTH YOUTH DANCE FESTIVAL

10–12 JUL, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £8 (£6)

36 youth dance companies from across the Commonwealth descend on Glasgow for a three-day mini fest, taking in myriad fresh-faced dancing pups from across the globe. JUMP INTO THE UNKNOWN

12 JUL, 5:30PM – 7:30PM, £4 (£2)

Matthew Knights and Rosanna Hall’s take on how news circulates in our society and the ideas of fact and fiction it feeds in us, presented in script-in-hand format. UNDER MILK WOOD

17–20 JUL, TIMES VARY, £12 (£8)

Reworking of Dylan Thomas’s timeless masterpiece, capturing 24 hours of life in a small town. BEOWULF

24 JUL – 2 AUG, NOT 27 JUL, 28 JUL, TIMES VARY, £12 (£8)

Seamus Heaney adapted reading of the Anglo-Saxon poem, translated faithfully, and telling the story of a hero of great strength and his toil in defeating the monstrous. GRIMM TALES

27 JUL – 1 AUG, NOT 28 JUL, 2:30PM – 4:30PM, FROM £8

Family-friendly tales adapted by the formidable wit of Carol Ann Duffy, moving from Ashputtel (the original Cinderella story) to Hansel and Gretel. THE LAMPLIGHTER

27 JUL, 5:00PM – 7:00PM, £7

Rehearsed reading directed by the ever-excellent Alison Peebles, taking the audience on a dark journey into the world of slavery. Post-performance Q&A, plus free copies of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Poetry Anthology for all ticket holders.

Edinburgh Edinburgh Playhouse MEGAMIX

25–26 JUL, TIMES VARY, FROM £19.40

120 talented youngsters present a celebration of the best-loved musicals and their hallmark hits, with giant choruses par for the course.

Festival Theatre

CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA/PAGLIACCI

17 JUL, 8:30PM – 11:00PM, £17.50

Live recording of a duo of operas playing at Festival Euro Mediterraneo, being performed in the second largest ancient Greek theatre in Italy – Teatro Antico Taormina. Sung in Italian.

Scottish Storytelling Centre PARLEY FOR POWER

23 JUL, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £8 (£6)

A sell-out at last year’s EAF, Parley for Power pops up for another outing – taking in a short play written by Michael Pedersen and Alan Bissett, with music from TeenCanteen’s Carla Easton and The Vaselines’ Eugene Kelly, plus individual performances.

Dundee Dundee Rep IN MY FATHER’S WORDS

19 JUN – 12 JUL, NOT 22 JUN, 23 JUN, 29 JUN, 30 JUN, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Showcase selection of new dance works created by young choreographers involved in the Hothouse Choreographic Residency Project – run in partnership with Scottish Ballet – as part of the Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival.

Tender play about identity – national and personal – and language, and the utter indivisibility between the two, told from the perspective of a son and his dementia-battling father.

Tron Theatre

THE HUMAN SCALE

EDWIN MORGAN’S DREAMS AND OTHER NIGHTMARES

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 9 JUL AND 2 AUG, TIMES VARY, £12 (£8)

Powerful and reflective piece penned by Liz Lochhead, recounting poet Edwin Morgan’s years in a Glasgow old-folks home, watched on by his friend and biographer James.

Marryat Hall 4–5 JUL, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £15 (£12/£5 STUDENT)

New collaboration between visionary choreographer Fleur Darkin and Linbury prize-winning designer Alexander Ruth, featuring a 10-strong cast of dancers and original live music by Glasgow quartet The One Ensemble (the brainchild of Daniel Padden).

CCA

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. JOEY VILLEMONT: STUDIES FOR A COLLECTION

25 JUL – 8 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

New body of work following Joey Villemont's ongoing study of fashion shows and contemporary art displays of the early 20th century, playing with the ideas and look of a fashion showroom.

Compass Gallery FIRST OF THE SUMMER WINE

7 JUN – 31 JUL, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

Annual collective summer exhibition selection of 19th-21st century British drawings, paintings and sculpture, including works by Joan Eardley, Scottish Colourists and St Ives School.

Gallery of Modern Art

NATHAN COLEY: THE LAMP OF SACRIFICE

15 MAY – 1 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Interested in how people relate to architecture and what they choose to believe, Nathan Coley presents an installation featuring models of 286 ‘places of worship’ that he found in the 2004 edition of the Edinburgh Yellow Pages. MOYNA FLANNIGAN: STARE

29 MAY – 2 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Edinburgh-based artist presents a new body of work drawing on the story of Adam and Eve, in particular the figure of Eve as an original model of Woman, to reflect an underlying conflict between individualism and conformity.

DOUGLAS GORDON: PRETTY MUCH EVERY FILM AND VIDEO WORK FROM ABOUT 1992 UNTIL NOW

27 JUN – 28 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

Dividing his time between Glasgow and Berlin, Douglas Gordon presents an encyclopaedia-style installation of his output to date – shown on over 100 old televisions. SARA BARKER: FOR MYSELF & STRANGERS

27 JUN – 5 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Interested in what she terms ‘biological space’, Manchesterborn, Glasgow-based artist Sara Barker showcases a new series of sculptures that include brazed, welded and cast metals, sometimes divided by glass structures that frame and contain the work.

Glasgow Print Studio

MICHAEL FULLERTON: MEANING, INC.

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 28 JUN AND 15 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Working in painting, printmaking, sculpture and film, Michael Fullerton takes to Glasgow Print Studio to display a new series of portraits of figures related to issues of technology, communication and justice.

Glasgow Sculpture Studios

MOOD IS MADE/TEMPERATURE IS TAKEN

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 JUL AND 6 SEP, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Collective exhibition considering the dual strategies of craft and appropriation among a current generation of artists working at Glasgow Sculpture Studios.

The Good Spirits Various venues ASSEMBLE: AN INTERNATIONAL Co. PRINT WORKSHOP JENNIFER KILGOUR

2 JUL – 9 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Kendall Koppe EASY COME, EASY GO

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 6 JUN AND 18 JUL, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Second solo exhibition to be held in Kendall Koppe by artist Grier Edmundson, using the iconic design of a Monopoly board to present an exploration of commodities and how objects, property and ultimately paintings acquire value.

Mary Mary INSIDE ARRANGEMENT

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 7 JUN AND 2 AUG, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Group exhibition taking in a selection of work by John Finneran, Jonathan Gardner, John McAllister, Gerda Scheepers and Sam Windett.

Platform

MARY REDMOND: CROSS BLOCK SPLIT

27 JUN – 31 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Artist Mary Redmond exhibits her new large-scale, site-specific sculptural installation. Informed by the urban spaces of the local area, it features hundreds of crafted ‘tumbleweed’ sculptures punctuated by suspended barriers made from corrugated PVC.

First solo exhibition by painter and illustrator Jennifer Kilgour, presenting a selection of her figurative, portraiture and illustrative work encompassing observational pieces as well as imagery from her imagination.

The Lighthouse Annual exhibition of modern jewellery design incorporating the works of final year jewellery students and staff from colleges across Scotland, highlighting the use of modern technologies in the jewellery industry. GREEN2014

11 APR – 24 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Special exhibition charting the environmental legacy of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, bringing punters up close with the people involved via portraits (photos and audio) of real people using the myriad sporting venues.

ROSIE CUNNINGHAM: THE GLASGOW ALPHABET MAP

18 JUL – 24 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Queen’s Park

19 JUL, 9:00PM – 11:00PM, FREE (BUT REGISTERED)

The Modern Institute

One-off screening of artist Phil Collins' new film – conjuring a distinctive vision of Glasgow from the perspective of various institutions he visited over 12 months – presented as an installation of multiple LED screens in Queen's Park's old rose garden.

South Block

MOMENTUM: MOVEMENT BEYOND LIMITS

5 JUL, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, FREE

One-off performance using contemporary dance to explore movement and the interaction between garment and the female form - for which Analys will use images taken during the piece to inform a new collection - shown alongside mixed media works on the walls.

Street Level Photoworks

WENDY MCMURDO: DIGITAL PLAY

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 28 JUN AND 17 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Major solo exhibition of collected works from 1995-2012 by photographer and filmmaker Wendy McMurdo, known for focusing on the relationship between technology and identity expressed through the images and ideas of childhood.

The Arches

LOU PRENDERGAST: UNTOUCHABLE

1–31 JUL, 11:00AM – 11:00PM, FREE

New body of solo work by Lou Prendergast, created in response to Indian art project Eyecaste: the Vision to See Past Caste.

The Briggait

YDANCE FESTIVAL PHOTOGRAPHY

30 JUN – 13 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase selection of photos taken by Paul Watt in celebration of the Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival - which runs at Tramway from 10-12 July - featuring a series of iconic Glasgow locations.

The Common Guild HAYLEY TOMPKINS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 21 JUN AND 2 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

First of a trio of solo exhibition as part of the GENERATION project, presenting three consecutive solo exhibitions by Hayley Tompkins, Corin Sworn and Duncan Campbell, the artists presented by The Common Guild for the exhibition Scotland + Venice 2013.

Participatory project led by artist Rachel Barron, taking place across Wasps Studios (14 Jul-2 Aug) and Govanhill Baths (21 Jul-9 Aug) consisting of an interactive print workshop at Wasps, followed by an evolving installation at Govanhill Baths.

HANDMADE BY MACHINES

20 JUN – 13 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

New fruits of illustrator Rosemary Cunningham’s alphabet project – that began life in 2012 – which revisits the alphabet to create a hand-drawn map of the city incorporating all 26 letters.

PHIL COLLINS: TOMORROW IS ALWAYS TOO LONG

14 JUL – 9 AUG, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

SCOTT MYLES: MUMMIES

28 JUN – 30 AUG, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

New work encompassing a range of formats – sculpture, juxtapositions of cast and readymade objects, printmaking, painting, text, photography and performance – considering how personal and social meanings are embedded in objects, images and structures.

The Modern Institute @ Airds Lane RICHARD WRIGHT

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 26 JUN AND 6 SEP, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

New body of works by the Glasgow-based artist and 2009 Turner Prize winner, known for his modern frescoes that transform interior spaces by literally opening up new perspectives.

Tramway CATHY WILKES

28 JUN – 5 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Glasgow-based artist known for her imaginary environments that variously resemble interiors, uninhabited worlds and spaces of loss, engaging with the fabric and industrial history of the Tramway gallery space to further explore these themes. JOANNE TATHAM AND TOM O’SULLIVAN

28 JUN – 27 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Working collaboratively to create drawings, performances and large scale sculptures, Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan re-visit their seminal 2001 exhibition, Heroin Kills, to present a new commission for Tramway’s front gallery space. MICK PETER: ALMOST CUT MY HAIR

15 MAY – 5 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

iota @ Unlimited Studios 80 DAYS!

1 JUL – 16 SEP, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

Iota host a timely 80-day long exhibition in the run up to the indy referendum, inviting punters to submit their opinions in words or pictures (in person or online) to be shown as an evolving display in the iota windows.

Edinburgh Adam House

POSTER ART OF MODERN CHINA

6 JUN – 12 JUL, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Rare exhibition of Chinese art showcasing more than 130 original posters, being displayed in the UK for the first time, offering a unique insight into the history and art of China between 1913 and 1997.

Bourne Fine Art JOHN BYRNE: DEAD END

4 JUL – 30 AUG, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

Complementing his current showcase at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Bourne host a collection of works from Paisleyborn artist John Byrne - including a ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ of objet trouvé style objects. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Cameo Cinema

EDDSCAPE ON THE SILVER SCREEN

12 JUN – 27 JUL, 11:00AM – 11:00PM, FREE

Artist Edd Wellesley-Davies returns to the Cameo Cinema to display a new collection of his bespoke film posters.

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

ROSS SINCLAIR: 20 YEARS OF REAL LIFE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 28 JUN AND 31 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Marking the 20th anniversary of his Real Life projects, Ross Sinclair aims to establish new bands whose members have been born in the last 20 years - with Collective/ Sinclair giving away instruments to teens. Part of GENERATION/ Edinburgh Art Festival. MARIE-MICHELLE DESCHAMPS

26 JUL – 7 SEP, NOT 28 JUL, 1 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

Specifically developed to facilitate artists at a pivotal point in their career, Collective’s Satellite programme continues with a showcase of work from Marie-Michelle Deschamps. Part of Generation/ Edinburgh Art Festival.

Danish Cultural Institute TABLEAU NOIR

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 7 JUL AND 24 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Collaboration between Danish artist Eva Rødbro, Swedish artist Charlott Markus and Scottish Harris Tweed, with the outcome a tweed sculptured space, with theatrical lighting and Film Noirinspired music. Part of Edinburgh International Fashion Festival.

THE SKINNY

Dovecot

BARNABY BARFORD

13 JUN – 19 JUL, NOT SUNDAYS, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Direct from MOCA The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Dovecot host a selection of works from ceramic sculptor Barnaby Barford – with his kitsch figurines exploring all aspects of society in a sinister and sardonic, but invariably humorous, way. CURRENT EXCHANGES: DOVECOT AND THE AUSTRALIAN TAPESTRY WORKSHOP

5 JUL – 27 SEP, NOT SUNDAYS, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Celebrating the continuing connections between the Australian Tapestry Workshop (in Melbourne) and Dovecot Studios (in Edinburgh), Dovecot bring together a selection of recent work from both institutions. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival. CRAIGIE AITCHISON

5 JUL – 27 SEP, NOT SUNDAYS, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Retrospective showcase of paintings and etchings from the estate of Craigie Aitchsion (1926-2009), shown alongside a series of tapestries created by Dovecot Studios in collaboration with the artist.

Edinburgh Printmakers

CAROL RHODES + LOUISE HOPKINS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 JUN AND 19 JUL, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Printmakers Carol Rhodes and Louise Hopkins respond to ‘Below Another Sky’, an international residency programme designed to support research and the development of new work in print by artists from Scotland, Australia, Canada, India and Pakistan.

Jupiter Artland

KATIE PATERSON: EARTH-MOONEARTH (MOONLIGHT SONATA REFLECTED FROM THE SURFACE OF THE MOON)

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 17 JUL AND 28 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

New exhibition capturing a transmission of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata reflected from the moon, converted into Morse code and played on a self-playing grand piano, with live performances scheduled throughout. Part of GENERATION/Edinburgh Art Festival. SILVY WEATHERALL: A BODY OF PARTS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 MAY AND 20 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8.50 (£4.50)

Painter, sculptor, photographer and deconstructed taxidermist Silvy Weatherall exhibits a new project taking inspiration from her fear of waste – using by-products of her husband’s meat and game business and transforming them into objects of desire. ANYA GALLACCIO: STROKE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 MAY AND 13 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8.50 (£4.50)

Anya Gallaccio returns to Jupiter Artland with a sensory-assaulting installation for which the entire room is covered in thick dark chocolate – to become, as so often is her practice, putrid and decayed over time. TESSA LYNCH: RAISING

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 17 JUL AND 28 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8.50 (£4.50)

Tessa Lynch and a team of volunteers present new work concerned with the current restrictions on home planning, construction and development, with the piece deconstructed and rebuilt throughout the exhibition duration. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Embassy Gallery Kalopsia RIBOFUNK VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 20 JUN AND 6 JUL, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Collective exhibition running as part of this year’s Embassy Annuale, featuring work by Rapidshare, Laura Yuile, Naomia Davies, Thomas Aithchison, Katie Cercone, Joey Holder and Ilona Sagar.

Ingleby Gallery KATIE PATERSON: IDEAS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 27 JUN AND 27 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Glasgow artist continues her emphasis on cosmology, with the exhibition including the culmination of Second Moon – a year-long project for which a fragment of the moon has been circling the earth via airfreight courier. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Interview Room 11 WILLEM VENTER

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 20 JUN AND 5 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

As part of their contribution to Annuale 2014, Interview Room 11 present new work by South African artist Willem Venter – bringing together a group of recent large scale drawings, united with a fine thread between desire and expulsion. JANIE NICOLL: ROUGH EDIT

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 23 JUL AND 9 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

New installation work for which Janie Nicoll will use text as the foundation for a cross-platform exploration carried out in collaboration with other contemporary artists – who will contribute digital images and text works. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Inverleith House ISA GENZKEN: BOTANICAL GARDEN

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 19 JUL AND 28 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:30PM, FREE

First UK exhibition outside of London by German-born artist Isa Genzken, featuring recent work which of late has focused on the urban – combining aspects of photography, collage and cheap readymade objects. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

July 2014

THE SCARF CREATION

5–31 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Committed to exhibiting refreshing takes on contemporary textiles, Kalopsia - a pop-up gallery housed within Ocean Terminal - display a collection of unique scarfs designed by a variety of artists, to be auctioned off for Cancer Research.

National Museum of Scotland

MING: THE GOLDEN EMPIRE

27 JUN – 19 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £10 (£8/£6.50 CHILDREN)

Collection of original artefacts from the Nanjing Museum, taking in key aspects of the Ming dynasty focusing on the remarkable cultural, technological and economic achievements of the period. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Ocean Terminal TO THE NTH DEGREE

11 JUL – 3 AUG, 10:00AM – 8:00PM, FREE

Taking over a two-story shop space in Ocean Terminal for the summer, the fledgling Pop Up! Edinburgh lot host an exhibition showcase encompassing a selection of this year’s graduate degree show work from art schools and universities across the UK.

Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) OPEN DIALOGUES

28 JUN – 31 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Special showcase inviting one artist from each of the RSA New Contemporaries (2009-2014) to make and display a new body of work, selected on merit of their impact upon contemporary practice and their proven track record since RSA New Contemporaries.

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.

GENERATION @ SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY 28 JUN – 2 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Celebrating some of the best art to come out of Scotland in the last 25 years, the Scottish National Gallery’s GENERATION exhibition includes installations from Steven Campbell and Martin Boyce, plus new work from Karla Black and David Shrigley. THE ART OF GOLF: THE STORY OF SCOTLAND’S NATIONAL SPORT

12 JUL – 26 OCT, TIMES VARY, £8 (£6)

Story of the birth and evolution of golf, bringing together works of art, rare memorabilia and significant museum pieces from the game’s history - beginning in the early 17th century with paintings of the playing of ‘kolf'. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

GENERATION @ SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART

28 JUN – 25 JAN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Celebrating some of the best art to come out of Scotland in the last 25 years, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s GENERATION exhibition includes installations by Ross Sinclair, Graham Fagen and Simon Starling. AMERICAN IMPRESSIONISM: A NEW VISION

19 JUL – 19 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8 (£6)

Showcase tracing the discovery of Impressionism by American artists in the late 19th-century, divided into four groups and including John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase and the American group known as 'The Ten'. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery MAKING HISTORY

12 OCT – 28 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

ANDREW GILBERT: THE GLORIOUS RETURN OF EMPEROR 7 JUN – 11 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

For his first Scottish solo exhibition, Andrew Gilbert has built his Imperial Palace in Summerhall – featuring drawings depicting moments from European Colonialism, and the reign of Emperor Andrew, interspersed with trophy heads and fetish sculptures. SEBASTIAN ERRAZURIZ: 12 SHOES FOR 12 LOVERS

7 JUN – 11 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Artist and designer Sebastian Errazuriz shows a series of 3D printed shoes inspired by his former flames, with each shoe representing how he remembers its counterpart: either by a nickname, a personal attribute or sexual behaviour.

SALLY HACKETT: FUN JUST WANTS TO HAVE GIRLS

7 JUN – 11 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Known for her contemporary ceramics documenting social rituals associated with current youth, Sally Hackett presents new work exploring notions of selfobsession, self-objectification, the monotony of celebrity and the absurdity of certain viral phrases.

Celebrating art made in Scotland in the last 25 years, the Portrait Gallery's GENERATION exhibition forms a three-headed showcase alongside the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Scottish National Gallery. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival. JOHN RUSKIN: ARTIST AND OBSERVER

4 JUL – 28 SEP, TIMES VARY, £8 (£6)

Retrospective exhibition illustrating the range and quality of John Ruskin's drawn and painted work - from Gothic palaces in Venice to minutely defined coloured birds and plants. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

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

MICHELE MARCOUX: HAG-RIDDEN

7 JUN – 11 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Ohio-born, Scotland-based artist Michele Marcoux displays a new body of work exploring the idea of personal identity – specifically female identity – as a form of haunting.

Cooper Gallery

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.

Nomas* Projects

20 JUN – 31 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Having recently relocated to Edinburgh from London, artists Jim McCutcheon and Linda Downie host their first Scottish exhibition in over a decade.

Whitespace

ROSE STRANG: EIGG ISLAND

18–23 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Solo showcase of the fruits of artist Rose Strang’s month-long residency on Eigg island back in April, taking in a series of new landscape paintings on canvas/ wood completed as part of her painting-a-day project. OPAL

4–9 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Kate McAllan and Martyn Mckenzie present a selection of new drawings and paintings engaging with the poetic sensibilities of the Scottish landscape.

STUDIO JAMMING: ARTISTS’ COLLABORATIONS IN SCOTLAND

28 JUN – 2 AUG, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

Taking its cue from the improvised excitement of musical jamming, Cooper Gallery present the first discursive survey to foreground the grassroots character of artists’ collaboration that’s contributed to the achievements of contemporary art in Scotland.

Trio of solo exhibitions – taking in work by Rob Churm, Raydale Dower and Tony Swain – built around a core installation, featuring events, concerts and interventions reflecting their symbiotic approach to art and music. SKISSER FRÅN PLATSER JAG INTE BESÖKT, ÄN

12 JUN – 14 AUG, 9:00AM – 9:00PM, FREE

Stockholm-based artist Samuel Sander explores themes of wandering, escapism, the natural environment, and their interplay in art and imagination - taking in small-scale paintings of the imagined Scottish landscape, shown alongside explorer’s equipment.

The McManus A SILVERED LIGHT

6 DEC – 30 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

NICK EVANS: THE WHITE WHALE

Immersive new sculptural installation by Nick Evans – known for his organically-shaped white plaster sculptures – inspired by the Gothic architecture of The McManus and the museum collections held within.

CLAIRE ANDERSON + HANNA DÍS WHITEHEAD: WEAVING DNA

7 JUN – 11 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Collaboration between Icelandic product designer Hanna Dís Whitehead and Scottish textile designer Claire Anderson – reappropriating traditional Nordic and Scottish textiles to examine the ways they represent and shape aspects of national identity. HIGH VIS.

Talbot Rice Gallery

28 JUN – 2 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

5 JUN – 3 JUL, NOT SUNDAYS, 9:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 28 JUN AND 24 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

CONTINUE WITHOUT LOSING CONSCIOUSNESS

Creating narratives inspired by the painting process, Georgia Rose Murray displays a collection of her surreal landscapes – desiring to understand the role of the conscious and subconscious within our awareness of experience.

14 JUN – 19 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

GENERATION @ SCOTTISH NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

DCA

7 JUN – 11 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

4 JUN – 5 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Showcase of works from the Paisley-born artist, celebrating his innovative and richly varied portraiture across an exhibition of 60 drawings, paintings and multimedia works from throughout his career.

Dundee

JIM MCCUTCHEON + LINDA DOWNIE: REALLY

GEORGIA ROSE MURRAY: SNAKEWISE

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. JOHN BYRNE

Union Gallery

This year’s Edinburgh College Creative Arts HNDs Illustration, Textiles and Interior Design final year students mark their biggest showcase to date, running as part of the Let’s Glow showcase from all areas of Creative Industries at Edinburgh College.

JASON LEE: PURSUIT OF A SHADOW

31 MAY – 5 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

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 JIM LAMBIE

28 JUN – 19 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Solo showcase of the renowned Scottish artist, bringing together early sculptures and recent work – including a new version of ‘Shaved Ice’ that will fill the ground floor with floor-to-ceiling mirrored ladders. Part of GENERATION/ Edinburgh Art Festival.

The Queen’s Gallery

IN FINE STYLE: THE ART OF TUDOR AND STUART FASHION

14 MAR – 20 JUL, 9:30AM – 4:30PM, £6.50 (£5.90)

Exhibition exploration of Tudor and Stuart period style, tracing changing tastes in fashionable attire using paintings, drawings and miniatures from the Royal Collection, and a number of rare surviving examples of clothing and accessories.

Listings

Comedy Glasgow

Tue 08 Jul

Tue 01 Jul

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

RED RAW

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

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 02 Jul NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes – new material! COMEDIAN RAP BATTLE

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£4)

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.

Thu 03 Jul

THE THURSDAY SHOW (MICK FERRY + FRANKIE BOYLE + KATIE MULGREW + EDDIE CASSIDY + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH)

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.

WEST BREWERY COMEDY CLUB (MARK NELSON + VIV GEE + OGIE + MC JAMIE DALGLEISH) WEST, 20:00–22:30, £7

Scottish Comedian of the Year 2011, Jamie Dalgleish, hosts a night of live stand-up, headlined by Mark Nelson, with support from Viv Gee and Obie. VESPBAR VIRGINS

VESPBAR, 21:00–22:30, £3

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Fri 04 Jul

THE FRIDAY SHOW (MICK FERRY + KATIE MULGREW + ANDREW LEARMONTH + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH) 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.

Sat 05 Jul

THE SATURDAY SHOW (MICK FERRY + KATIE MULGREW + ANDREW LEARMONTH + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH) 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 06 Jul

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (KATIE MULGREW)

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and guests. GLASGOW KIDS COMEDY CLUB

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £4

Comedy session suitable for little ears (i.e. no sweary words), for children aged 8-12 years-old.

Mon 07 Jul IMROV WARS

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6

More improvised comedy games and sketches, with an unpredictable anything-goes attitude – as it should be.

Listings

Wed 09 Jul NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes – new material! BBC COMEDY PRESENTS...

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £4

BBC-selected sketch comedy showcase where handpicked new acts get their chance to shine – with each performer allowed only a quickfire 5-10 minutes on stage.

Thu 10 Jul

THE THURSDAY SHOW (GAVIN WEBSTER + FELICITY WARD + KEIRON NICHOLSON + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)

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. VESPBAR VIRGINS

VESPBAR, 21:00–22:30, £3

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Fri 11 Jul

THE FRIDAY SHOW (GAVIN WEBSTER + FELICITY WARD + KEIRON NICHOLSON + 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. 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 12 Jul

THE SATURDAY SHOW (GAVIN WEBSTER + FELICITY WARD + KEIRON NICHOLSON + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)

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

QUARRIERS BENEFIT (GARY LITTLE + SCOTT AGNEW + ASHLEY STORRIE + MC RAYMOND MEARNS) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7)

Live comedy fundraiser in aid of Quarriers, with Raymond Mearns the brave MC keeping a selection of stand-up acts in check.

Thu 17 Jul

THE THURSDAY SHOW (BRUCE MORTON + ANDREW BIRD + MAT EWINS + MC RAYMOND MEARNS)

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. VESPBAR VIRGINS

VESPBAR, 21:00–22:30, £3

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Fri 18 Jul

THE FRIDAY SHOW (BRUCE MORTON + ANDREW BIRD + MAT EWINS + MC RAYMOND MEARNS) 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.

Sat 19 Jul

THE SATURDAY SHOW (BRUCE MORTON + ANDREW BIRD + MAT EWINS + MC RAYMOND MEARNS)

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

CASH FOR KIDS FUNDRAISER (ADMIRAL FALLOW + BE A FAMILIAR + LIGHTGUIDES + THE LONELY TOGETHER) ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £10

Charity fundraiser raising pennies for Cash For Kids, with Louis Abbott and his merry six-piece (aka Admiral Fallow) on headlining duties. Your weekend host Viv Gee introduces a mixed bag of new talent, topped off with a bigger name headline act.

Sun 20 Jul

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and guests.

Mon 21 Jul

Sun 13 Jul

A sideways, satirical look at the big choice facing Scotland in 2014 – with MC Keir McAllister looking at some of the bigger issues, as well the smaller ones, joined by a selection of guest comics.

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and guests.

Mon 14 Jul 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-style mentalism, FYI.

Tue 15 Jul 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 16 Jul NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes – new material!

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £10

Writer, director and performer Gary McNair presents his wideeyed wander into the world of comedy, for which he watched 103 stand-ups to prepare for taking on the genre himself. Be gentle with him. VESPBAR VIRGINS

VESPBAR, 21:00–22:30, £3

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Fri 25 Jul

THE FRIDAY SHOW (NICK REVELL + JOE HEENAN)

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.

Sat 26 Jul

THE SATURDAY SHOW (NICK REVELL + JOE HEENAN) 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

AYE RIGHT? HOW NO’?: THE COMEDY COUNTDOWN TO THE REFERENDUM

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

Tue 22 Jul 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 23 Jul NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes – new material! 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 24 Jul

THE THURSDAY SHOW (NICK REVELL + JOE HEENAN) 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.

Sat 05 Jul

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 06 Jul

THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN (DANNY ANGELO + NEIL PUMMELL + NICK DAVIES) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-towork blues. STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

THE STAND, 13:30–15:30, FREE

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from off-the-cuff audience suggestions.

Mon 07 Jul RED RAW

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Tue 08 Jul ELECTRIC TALES

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£4)

Your weekend host Viv Gee introduces a mixed bag of new talent, topped off with a bigger name headline act.

More in the way of stand-up comedy crossed with live storytelling, with the tease of a promise of robot badges for all (as in, we’re there).

Sun 27 Jul

Wed 09 Jul

VESPBAR, 22:00–23:45, £10

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and guests.

THE MELTING POT

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4 STUDENTS/£2.50 MEMBERS)

Series of comedy sketches picked by the audience and performed by a varying troupe of actors and musicians.

Thu 10 Jul

Edinburgh

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. MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE

GARY MCNAIR: DONALD ROBERTSON IS NOT A STAND UP COMEDIAN

Tue 01 Jul G-SPOT

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5

MC Jojo Sutherland leads an all-new camp-styled evening of comedy and cabaret.

Wed 02 Jul

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 03 Jul

THE THURSDAY SHOW (RUDI LICKWOOD + JOJO SMITH + PHIL DIFFER + MC SCOTT AGNEW)

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.

Fri 04 Jul

THE FRIDAY SHOW (RUDI LICKWOOD + JOJO SMITH + PHIL DIFFER + MC SCOTT AGNEW) THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)

THE THURSDAY SHOW (STU & GARRY + RO CAMPBELL)

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. MEN WITH COCONUTS

CANON’S GAIT, 20:30–22:00, £5 (£4)

Fringe favourites Improv FX – made up of West End actors, physical comedians and musicians – stage their fast-paced sketch show, inspired wholly by audience suggestions.

Fri 11 Jul

THE FRIDAY SHOW (STU & GARRY + RO CAMPBELL) 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. NEW COMEDY

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £3

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

A bumper batch of up to six Edinburgh comics roadtest a selection of new material for a wallet-friendly three quid.

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Sat 12 Jul

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. NEW COMEDY

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £3

A bumper batch of up to six Edinburgh comics roadtest a selection of new material for a wallet-friendly three quid.

THE SATURDAY SHOW (STU & GARRY + RO CAMPBELL)

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend. 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 13 Jul

THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN (MC RAY BRADSHAW)

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-to-work blues.

FRANKIE BOYLE: WORK IN PROGRESS

THE STAND, 17:00–19:00, £7

The inimitable – and cantankerous – Mr Boyle presents a series of work in progress snippets, for what will undoubtedly be another sell-out show. STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

THE STAND, 13:30–15:30, FREE

FRANKIE BOYLE: WORK IN PROGRESS THE STAND, 17:00–19:00, £7

The inimitable – and cantankerous – Mr Boyle presents a series of work in progress snippets, for what will undoubtedly be another sell-out show.

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

THE STAND, 13:30–15:30, FREE

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from off-the-cuff audience suggestions.

Mon 14 Jul

Thu 24 Jul

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Tue 15 Jul

DES CLARKE + KAI HUMPHRIES + SUSIE MCCABE + KEIR MCALLISTER + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH: WORK IN PROGRESS THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £7

A bumper batch of comics take to Edinburgh’s The Stand for a special work in progress performance, with all likelihood being that you’ll then see a fair few of ‘em popping up at the Edinburgh Festival come August.

Wed 16 Jul WORK IN PROGRESS

SUMMERHALL, 19:30–21:30, £3

Comics from the Work in Progress crew (made up of Daniel Sloss, Kai Humphries and special guests) try out a selection of all-new material. Be gentle on ‘em.

Thu 17 Jul

THE THURSDAY SHOW (STEWART FRANCIS + FOIL, ARMS & HOGG + DAVEY CONNOR + MC JOJO SUTHERLAND) 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.

Fri 18 Jul

THE FRIDAY SHOW (STEWART FRANCIS + FOIL, ARMS & HOGG + DAVEY CONNOR + MC JOJO SUTHERLAND) 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-andcoming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups. NEW COMEDY

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £3

A bumper batch of up to six Edinburgh comics roadtest a selection of new material for a wallet-friendly three quid.

Sat 19 Jul

THE SATURDAY SHOW (STEWART FRANCIS + FOIL, ARMS & HOGG + DAVEY CONNOR + MC JOJO SUTHERLAND) THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend. THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

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 20 Jul

The fidgity, sweaty funnyman plays a special work in progress set, roadtesting new material on a willing audience.

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

THE THURSDAY SHOW (DAN NIGHTINGALE + SILKY + MC BRUCE DEVLIN)

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. MEN WITH COCONUTS

CANON’S GAIT, 20:30–22:00, £5 (£4)

Fringe favourites Improv FX – made up of West End actors, physical comedians and musicians – stage their fast-paced sketch show, inspired wholly by audience suggestions.

Fri 25 Jul

THE FRIDAY SHOW (DAN NIGHTINGALE + SILKY + MC BRUCE DEVLIN)

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 upand-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups. NEW COMEDY

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £3

A bumper batch of up to six Edinburgh comics roadtest a selection of new material for a wallet-friendly three quid.

Sat 26 Jul

THE SATURDAY SHOW (DAN NIGHTINGALE + SILKY + MC BRUCE DEVLIN)

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend. THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of upand-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.

Sun 27 Jul

THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN (SILKY) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-towork blues. FRANKIE BOYLE: WORK IN PROGRESS

THE STAND, 17:00–19:00, £7

The inimitable – and cantankerous – Mr Boyle presents a series of work in progress snippets, for what will undoubtedly be another sell-out show.

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

THE STAND, 13:30–15:30, FREE

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from off-the-cuff audience suggestions.

THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN (NICK REVELL)

Mon 28 Jul

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-to-work blues.

LEE EVANS: WORK IN PROGRESS

CAIRD HALL, 20:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

RED RAW

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

Sat 26 Jul

Mon 21 Jul

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from offthe-cuff audience suggestions. RED RAW

Dundee

RED RAW

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

THE SKINNY

Ask Fred: Environment This month our agony uncle turns green – whether that’s going hippy or full Hulk remains to be seen...

ear Fred, I am the President of a country that believes in pretend-drowning terrorists more than indisputable scientific facts about how much we’re killing our planet. I genuinely care about this country and the safe, healthy future of our children, and as such I’ve made a bold move to try and steer us off the road of coal power production. I’ve devised a plan to tax power companies based on carbon emissions, in the hope that I can promote good behavior and penalise the bad. I’m doing this for all the right reasons, and my reasons are backed up by experts in finance AND science, but everyone seems angry. Help? B.O.

board. It creates mercury contamination, carbon dioxide pollution and fucks fish harder than Tom Hanks (*It’s not libellous, there isn’t a court in the land that hasn’t seen Splash.) Deciding to put pressure on these assholes to pay for their impossible horror-gas and fish corpse business makes good, conscientious sense, but you may be going at it the wrong way. You can talk about trust and science all day, but you’re preaching the good word to the stupid and greedy, and neither of those guys like bar-graphs about lung cancer. The Republicans are still trying to wrap their heads around how it’s legal for a black man to be the president and the coal industry is trying to figure out why children don’t just learn to breath arsenic. I don’t think science hanks for your question, Mr President. I’m or sanity is going to help much. sorry there’s been a backlash to your good inSure, America could learn to wean itself off tentions, but are you really that surprised? You’ve fossil-fuel dependency, but where’s the shortterm gain? You say “Cleaner environment, more decided to tackle a multi-million dollar business prosperous future,” and all your opponents that cares more about money than it does about hear is “LESS MONEY, JOB LOSSES AND HIGHER accidentally creating weather that can RaidersOf-The-Lost-Ark the fuck out of a child’s face. The ELECTRICITY BILLS.” But environmental responsicoal industry, which is based on using black rocks bility is a bit like Monopoly: a long game in which everyone playing gets enraged, but the moment to slowly terraform our planet into something suitable for the Mer-People of Venus, is not going it’s done, you get to pack the whole damn thing to take kindly to you suggesting that they pay tax up and never play it again. And fuck them and their job losses. It’s only on all that spare poison they’re giving us. a steady job inlet because it kills so many miners. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fucking sensible idea. Coal is a supremely inefficient power source There’d be more than enough jobs in hairdressand pollutes more things than it powers. YouTube ing if we just asphyixiated or crushed 30 of them a year. Remember, you’re talking to people who ‘clips of coal being burnt down to sludge,’ and you’ll see it produces a thick green smoke usually complained that your gun laws prevent them from purchasing silver-plated Bazooka rounds reserved for Dracula attacks and/or exciting acrobatic ninja escapes. It’s an antiquated fuel that because your health policy won’t cover giantism and lycanthropy. They’re a lost cause; the planet only really took off because rocks are easier to ISN’T. Stay the course, do it for a better tomorcatch than whales. The process involved in conrow. Years from now, when we’re all gone, our verting it into electricity has so many hazardous future clean-air breathing space-children will side effects, it’s comparable to trying to build a thank you. set of shelves using napalm, herpes and a Ouija

July 2014

Words: Fred Fletch Illustrator: Paul Law

ear Fred, I’m a polar bear. I’m worried because my home is shrinking and no one seems to care. Not the people, not the businesses, not the children. When my home goes, so does yours. Why don’t you care?

hanks polar bear. It’s hard to get anyone, let alone soulless corporations, to give a shit about the environment. It’s kind of like One Direction; it’s goddamn everywhere, but if part of it gets fucked in the face by a bulldozer, it’s probably easier just to sit back and watch. Saving our planet is an arduous, complicated and expensive task, and these are three adjectives that don’t sit well with a culture that values Pot Noodles over not-diarrhoea. We are tiny creatures on a giant rock, in an infinite galaxy. We’ve just worked twelve hours in a shitty job and what little money we have left after squandering it on luxuries like food and warmth is about to be spent on repairing our leaking boiler, our TV license and Tesco Value vodka. You think we have any fucks left to give that in less than ten years, a polar bear might be a little grumpy? SCREW YOU AND THE ENVIRONMENT. Right now, Earth has what zoologists classify as “seven billion lazy, self-destructive shitlords” on it. Now consider the fact that we’re adding an additional 70 million more of those every year; is it any wonder the planet just put itself on suicide watch? A delicate biosphere of environmental harmony can only take so much abuse, which should be evident to anyone who’s ever shat in a bowl of sea-monkeys. You can only clumsily finger-bang Mother Nature for so long before she either dries up completely or starts creating Godzillas. Like any relationship, ‘giving something back’ is the key to happiness, but as flower sales and divorce figures prove, it’s a pain in the ass

and you have to be 100% committed. Early attempts at getting our apathetic asses behind environmentalism resulted in an ill-advised 90s cartoon about a whispy, bachelor superhero who magically appeared when a bunch of 12-year-olds mashed their rings together. Positive environmentalism is simple in theory, but complicated in practice. Captain Planet took an already clouded issue and dropped it in a bucket of insane. According to the show, environmentalism was accessible to anyone with a ghost, laser-jewellery and a half-naked, overly friendly Adonis. (Why the fuck would a sumptuously muscled, blue, shirtless man bring 5 preteens to fight a radioactive monster? I’ll tell you this: if Captain Planet wasn’t a paedophile, he had a lot of explaining to do.) The show hoped to inspire an entire generation to become environmentally responsible and fight for a cleaner, fruitier future. It couldn’t have failed harder had they just punched a hippy and recorded him whining for twenty-five minutes. We don’t care, because caring is hard and time consuming. The here and now is what matters because that’s all we’re taught. The news, the media, the movies, the food. It’s instant and short term. Problems of the future are problems for future-us, and by then, we’ll be so futurey, we’ll be able to solve it all with ray guns or robots. Movies have taught us that every disaster is easily survivable via a series of car chases and being John Cusack. We’re pretty much numb to the reality: WE’RE EXACTLY FUCKED. I don’t really have an answer for you, polar bear: other than to suck it up and hope we as a species wake the hell up before it’s too late. Take a leaf out of the President’s book. Reward the good, reject the bad. Insist that those in power make the changes. THE POWER IS YOURS.

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