The Skinny Scotland May 2016

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CULT U R A L

J O U R N A L I S M

May 2016 Scotland Issue 128

“East Ends all over the world need festivals”

RESTLESS NATIVES take over Glasgow's East End Featuring Law Holt, Ghostface Killah, Fuzzkill, Struggletown & many more

MUSIC | FILM | CLUBS | THEATRE | TECH | ART | BOOKS | COMEDY | FASHION | TRAVEL | FOOD | DEVIANCE | LISTINGS

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May 2016 I N DEPEN DENT

CULTU R AL

JOU R NALI S M

Issue 128, May 2016 Š Radge Media Ltd. Get in touch: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk T: 0131 467 4630 P: The Skinny, 1.9 1st Floor Tower, Techcube, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall Pl, Edinburgh, EH9 1PL 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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Printed by Mortons Print Limited, Horncastle ABC verified Jan – Dec 2015: 30,875

Editorial Editor-in-Chief Music & Deputy Editor Editorial Assistant Art Editor Books Editor Clubs Editor Comedy Editor Deviance Editor Events Editor Fashion Editor Film & DVD Editor Food Editor Theatre Editor Travel Editor

Rosamund West Dave Kerr Will Fitzpatrick Adam Benmakhlouf Alan Bett Claire Francis Ben Venables Kate Pasola Kate Pasola Alexandra Fiddes Jamie Dunn Peter Simpson Emma Ainley-Walker Paul Mitchell

Production Production Manager Lead Designer

Sarah Donley Sigrid Schmeisser

Sales Sales Executives

George Sully

General Manager Publisher

Kyla Hall Sophie Kyle

printed on 100% recycled paper

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Contents

THE SKINNY

Credit: Bethany Grace

Illustration by Elena Boils

P.71 Puscifer

Credit: Robin Laananen

P.32 Marrakech

P.30 ECA Fashion Degree Show 2016

Credit: Ulrich Strasser

P.16 Green Room

Contents Chat & Opinion: Welcome to this here 06 magazine. Read last minute news! Have

32 Travel: This month we visit Marrakech,

Mystic Mark tell your horoscope in Crystal Baws! And check out what other bits and bobs you can read online at theskinny.co.uk!

41 Deviance: Might the mighty ‘zine offer

Heads Up: A cultural tour of the month 08 ahead culminating in the spring bank hol.

FEATURES new festival launches this month in 10 Athe East End of Glasgow. We speak to

Restless Natives’ organisers and cover star Law Holt to find out more about their alternative approach to a locallyengaged programme.

12 Divisive comic Jim Jefferies talks sex, guns and Donald Trump.

15 Minor Victories don’t want to be known

as a supergroup, so we won’t call them that. The new collaborative project by members of Mogwai, Editors and Slowdive introduce their debut ahead of their Glasgow date.

16 J eremy Saulnier follows up revenge thriller Blue Ruin with equally nail-biting siege movie Green Room. He talks punk rock, genre and casting Captain Picard as a Nazi.

“a medieval Cirque de Soleil that has somehow slipped into the present.”

an escape for feminist writers with internet-fatigue? Plus, one writer argues we should never mock healthy explorations of sexual pleasure, no matter how strange the kink.

43 Food and Drink: A short bluffer’s guide to whisky, in anticipation of World Whisky Day. Then Phagomania tries some weird ice cream.

XPONORTH 2016 An 8-page guide to the programme of 33 Scotland’s premiere creative industries symposium, taking place in Inverness over 8-9 June.

REVIEW

47 Music: We speak to Gold Panda, New

Blood WOMPS and Deftones; review new records from Beth Orton, White Lung, Eagulls and more; plus we look back at our favourites of last month’s gigs and our picks for live music in May.

18 Malcolm Middleton invites our team

55 Clubs: A guide to the best nights hap-

Get a taste of new writing anthology 19 Addiction with these abridged extracts

56 Art: May exhibitions guide plus reviews

into an underground bunker to discuss his new solo release Summer of '13.

from one of its stories, which plots the points on the life of a rock'n'roll poet crashing into the cliffs.

21 Bestselling US author Joe Hill introduces The Fireman and studiously avoids mentioning the fact that his dad is Stephen King.

22 Edinburgh’s sculpture park Jupiter

Artland is about to open for the summer – director Nicky Wilson guides us through this year’s programme.

25 Artist and musician Duncan Marquiss elaborates on his practice and returning to Dundee ahead of his DCA solo show.

A new exhibition examines the notion of the Scottish Endarkenment, a post-1945 preoccupation with bleak themes in our nation’s art.

26 Oliver Emanuel talks his upcoming

World War One trilogy before the 306:Dawn takes the stage this month.

LIFESTYLE

28 Showcase: Josee Aubin Ouellette presents Body Blocks, her Glasgow International exhibition at Govanhill Baths.

30 Fashion: It must be ‘summer’ cos

the degree shows are kicking off. We snuck into ECA to grab a shoot with the Fashion department’s class of 2016.

May 2016

pening across Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee this month. of a couple of Glasgow International highlights.

58 Film: Richard Linklater serves

up Everybody Wants Some!!, a ‘spiritual sequel’ to Dazed and Confused while Christian Bale stumbles dazed and confused through Terrence Malick’s latest, Knight of Cups.

59 Books: Thoughts on Zero K, the 17th

novel from literary giant Don DeLillo and a look at this month’s poetry highlights.

60 Theatre: Auntie Trash offers some

consolation to a reader struggling with Prince’s passing.

DVD: Much-loved US home entertainment imprint Criterion arrives in the UK with Howard Hawks’ Only Angels Have Wings, and Akira Kurosawa's Ran gets a Blu-ray upgrade.

61 Comedy: Victoria Wood – a tribute.

62 Competitions: Your chance to win

tickets to Beyond Highlands or T in the Park!!!

63 Listings: A guide to everything worth

seeing in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee this month, and it doesn’t even require a Wi-Fi connection.

71 The Last Word: Maynard James Keenan

previews Puscifer's European debut and contemplates an America with Trump calling the shots.

Contents

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Editorial

t’s the apocalypse,” mutters our events editor as we stare out the window at the sudden blizzard falling incongruously through sunlight from a bright blue sky. “I know that’s an inconvenient truth.”

Here we are in May, on the cusp of another Scottish ‘summer’ once again heralded by a slew of optimistic festivals offering exciting line-ups and advice to dress appropriately for heat wave, blizzard and flood, all of which may occur in the course of a single day.

In this late spring a city festival seems very inviting, which is why we are most excited about Restless Natives, a new locally-focussed programme happening over the course of a week in Glasgow’s East End. On our cover you will see Law Holt , Edinburgh singer and long time Skinny team favourite, who makes her live return to the Restless Natives stage in support of Ghostface Killah. Her album’s finally out in June too, so we took this opportunity to ask her a bit about what the audience can expect over in the East End. The festival takes in music, film, food… it’s a wide-ranging and eclectic line-up that aims to engage with the community around it and prices itself accordingly. Also on the bill is a screening of Couple in a Hole, soundtracked by Bristolian krautrockers BEAK >. We speak to both the film’s director, Tom Geens, and the musicians to find out more about the Pyrenees-set drama.

In the centre of this here magazine you will find a very special supplement. Located in Inverness and happening but once a year, XpoNorth is a two-day creative industry showcase and networking event which offers musicians, designers, writers, filmmakers (and much more besides) from the Highlands and Islands the chance to meet leading international delegates and promote their cutting edge work on the global stage. We’ve drawn together some highlights from this year’s programme to explain exactly why you should take the trip up north this June to partake of some live music, inspiring talks and the opportunity to meet an array of creatives who’ve chosen to forgo the urban orthodoxy.

In Music this month, we meet a new ‘supergroup’ who don’t particularly want to be known as a supergroup. Comprising Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite, Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell, Editors’ Justin Lockey and his brother James (of Hand Held Cine Club), Minor Victories talk us through their

organic formation and long distance collaborative process, ahead of their Glasgow live debut. We also have some words with Malcolm Middleton, who invited our team to his nuclear bunker to learn about his new album, Summer of ‘13. Gold Panda tells us about suburban life in Chelmsford and mundane recordings of Japan for new release Good Luck and Do Your Best; Glasgow duo WOMPS talk recording with Steve Albini as they wait for their debut to drop; and Chino Moreno reflects on 28 years of Deftones and ponders why they’ve never been invited to Coachella.

Books talks to bestselling genre author Joe Hill, strenuously avoiding mentioning the fact that his dad’s Stephen King. They’ve got the same face though, so the picture’s a bit of a giveaway. We also have an extract from a new book on addiction, Blackout by poet Sheri-D Wilson. Comedy meets Jim Jefferies to hear about how much sex he’s had in Edinburgh, and also Donald Trump. Art looks forward to that alleged summer that’s supposedly just round the corner, by taking a closer look at Scottish sculpture park Jupiter Artland’s 2016 programme. We also speak to Duncan Marquiss about his impending DCA solo show, and meet the curators of The Scottish Endarkenment, a new exhibition in Dovecot which proposes that the art made in this country post-1945 represents an examination of distrubing themes which can be read in counterpoint to the Enlightenment.

Finally, Art fans should keep an eye out in May for our two degree show supplements, one for Edinburgh and one for Glasgow. We’ve roped in some students to write about what’s going on in their departments so we can deliver an expansive guide on what to expect at ECA and GSA respectively. You’ll find a wee taste of what’s in there with our Fashion spread this month – as has become traditional, we have a shoot with a few of the Edinburgh College of Art final year students ahead of their runway presentation this month.

[Rosamund West] MAY'S COVER ARTIST Kat Gollock has been working within the Photography industry since 2007, working across platforms of portrait, commercial and event photography. As well as her freelance work she teaches photography and is involved in several community outreach projects. Kat also works regularly for Edinburgh International Film Festival and Neu Reekie!

ECA Degree Show 2016: Wanshu Li, Go With The Glow

Photo: Allan Pollok-Morris

“I

Jupiter Artland, Charles Jencks, Life Mounds, 2005

Jupiter Artland up for Museum of the Year Congratulations to Jupiter Artland! The sculpture park near Edinburgh has been nominated for the Art Fund’s Prize for Museum of the Year; it’s the first Scottish nominee for the £100,000 prize since 2013. Jupiter Artland re-opens for 2016 this month, and we caught up with director Nicky Wilson to talk through this year’s programme; read our interview on page 22. The winner of Museum of the Year will be announced on 6 July.

EIFF unveils first films for 2016 The Edinburgh International Film Festival have revealed details of the opening and closing films for their 70th edition. EIFF will kick off with golfing drama Tommy’s Honour starring Peter Mullan, while the all-star remake of booze-snatching classic Whisky Galore will close this year’s festival.

GSA Degree Show 2016: Clara Hastrup, Hortus Steriles

Also announced for this year are retrospectives on the Cinéma du look movement and early comic book adaptations, as well as a series of 70mm screenings to celebrate the festival’s first seven decades. EIFF 2016 runs from 15-26 June – keep an eye on theskinny.co.uk/film for more news.

The Skinny Degree Show Specials We’re very excited to be working with Edinburgh College of Art and Glasgow School of Art this year to produce a pair of bespoke supplements accompanying each of their degree shows. Keep an eye out around the respective cities from midMay to find your insider’s guide to what’s happening in each of the end of year exhibitions. And you will find all that programme info and insight replicated on our website at theskinny.co.uk/art.

Online Only theskinny.co.uk/clubs We round up some of the best UK dance music festivals taking place across the country this summer. theskinny.co.uk/comedy Take your laughs on tour with our guide to the UK’s best comedy festivals, and look back on seminal sitcom Nathan Barley with Charlie Condou, who played ridiculous magazine editor Jonatton Yeah?

theskinny.co.uk/deviance Our deviance editor tackles the silent, daily burden of street harassment and catcalling. theskinny.co.uk/travel Our ongoing series on living abroad continues, with guides to life in Sydney, Santiago and Seoul, as well as Portland for those who don’t fancy moving somewhere that starts with the letter ‘S’.

Portland

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Chat

THE SKINNY

Crystal Baws With Mystic Mark

RIES A Every time you touch your penis it swells up. Makes you think you might have an allergy. Talking to the doctor about possible causes, you tell them you’ve narrowed down the possible allergens to hands, vaginas, bumholes, kitchen worktops and dogs' tongues.

TAURUS Schrödinger is perhaps best known for the double hole experiment he perfor- med in bed with his wife. Perplexingly, Schrödinger’s wife discovered that when she was looking, it would only go in one hole, but at the moment she ceased observing it would go in both holes at the same time.

GEMINI Out of respect you’ve started burping God’s name after a good meal to say thanks.

CANCER our bad habits have now expanded to Y include picking your nose and hiding it up your bum so you can eat it later.

LEO Stop putting your toenails in the recy- cling. That’s not why they grow back.

You’ve got completely the wrong idea of how all of absolutely everything works.

VIRGO Think back. If you were on your own without a tracksuit to wrap yourself in at the dawn of time, do you think you would have discovered fire? The answer is no.

LIBRA This month you finally sit down with your popcorn to watch the BBC 6 O’Clock News, a nightmarish dystopian sci-fi set somewhere in the near past.

Spot the Difference

SCORPIO It’s impolite to listen to podcasts while having sex; at the very least split the earphones so you can both listen roman- TWO RIPLEYS tically together.

In space, no one can hear you scream, as the crew of the Nostromo found out the hard way in Ridley SAGITTARIUS Scott’s Alien. Still, the delighted screams of xeno- Save time in the morning by masturmorph-obsessed Skinny readers will be perfectly bating as you cycle to work. audible down here on earth, or something – just look at these two identical pictures of the iconic CAPRICORN movie’s righteous hero, Lieutenant Ellen Ripley!

For God so loved the world, He tortured BUT WAIT! Paws for a second, because some- His only Son to death for no discernible thing’s not right. The two images aren’t quite as reason.

Competition closes at midnight on Sun 29 May. 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. Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

AQUARIUS Your head is attached to a bum.

PISCES The first time you make use of the new Henry the Hoover Fleshlight attachment his smile turns upside down.

June Issue Out 31 May

twitter.com/themysticmark facebook.com/themysticmark

We kick off our coverage of the 2016 degree shows with a look at what the Dundee graduates had to offer. Music has some words with Parquet Courts, while Books talks to Jürgen Todenhöfer about his trip behind the lines of ISIS. Comedy is lining up a chat with Eddie Izzard to hear what the confirmed European has to say in the lead-up to the UK's EU referendum.

Parquet

jockmooney.co.uk

Credit: Stuart Molding (flickr)

Shot Of The Month Primal Scream, O2 ABC Glasgow, 30 March by Ryan Johnston

purrfectly identical as we first thought; albeit merely a whisker away from being completely indistinguishable. If you think you can cat-ch the oh-so-subtle detail that differentiates them, head to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and let us know.

The best or funniest answer wins a copy of The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Millar, courtesy of the everlovin’ gang at Canongate.

May 2016

Opinion

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Even those with a passing interest in the odd Marvel number will appreciate the Hunterian’s Comic Invention. Not least because it hosts the world’s first ever comic (well, sort of – it’s complicated), but also because of its staggering collection of works throughout the ages, from 18th Century satire to blockbuster stuff.

Until 17 July, Hunterian, £3-5

A slightly heavier recommendation, but what Claire Cunningham’s Give Me A Reason To Live lacks in springtime frivolity, it makes up for with integrity and roaring honesty.

The 2015 Fringe sell-out physical theatre work is, in her words a ‘memorial to the disabled victims of the Nazi euthanasia program and the current disabled victims of the present UK government's so-called welfare reform.'

Go. Dundee Rep, Dundee, 8pm, £9-14

It’s never fun being reminded that we’re all irresponsible, bag-for-lifeforgetting pricks when it comes to looking after our poorly planet. But that’s no reason not to get involved with UK Green Film Festival from 1-8 May – especially when places like GFT are screening beauties like The Messenger, award winning filmmaker Su Rynard’s documentary about the demise of the songbird. Glasgow Film Theatre, 8pm, £7-8.50

Sha Nazir, Two Hipsters in the Car, 2015

Give Me A Reason To Live

The Messenger

Tue 10 May

Wed 11 May

You probably think you hate musicals, don’t you?

Well, that’s probably because you haven’t seen Avenue Q, which tells the tale of life in downtown NYC through theatre, puppetry and songs like ‘The Internet Is For Porn’. We challenge you go and not laugh your diaphragm out. Kings Theatre, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £15.40-34.65

What’s that? A week-long, multi-platform festival called Restless Natives is headed Glasgow’s way?

With showcases programmed by Fuzzkill, Nice’N’Sleazy and GFT? And the organisers have priced tickets reasonably, widening access beyond solely rich hipsters? And they’re investing profits in local communities?! SIGN. US. UP. Various venues in Glasgow’s East End, 9-15 May, times and prices vary

The FreakEasy Showcase returns, hosting six acts from Scotland’s stand-up, poetry, music and theatre scenes.

Look forward to positively artisan sketch comedy from Planet Caramel, stand-up from Des O’Gorman and the lyrical waxings of Suky GoodFellow, along with a special preview of a play written and directed by Ash Pryce. Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £2

Rolo Tomassi

Avenue Q

Credit: George Heaton

Mon 9 May

Planet Caramel

Mon 16 May

Tue 17 May

In a new thematic exhibition entitled The Scottish Endarkenment: Art and Unreason - 1945 to the Present, the works of major Scottish artists like David Shrigley, Joyce Cairns and Steven Campbell unite and explore a wide range of provocative topics itching the minds of Scotland’s artist community, from international conflict to social inequality and unrest, gender identity to sexual prejudice. 13 May-29 Aug at Dovecot, Edinburgh, free

Orchestral pop-soul artist Laura Mvula’s been nominated for just short of a trillion awards since 2013, including a Mercury, a BRIT and an Ivor Novella.

She’s taken home a couple of MOBOs and Urban Music awards in that time too, but following a collaboration with Nile Rodgers and in anticipation of her 2016 record, we’ve got our seat belts on for more from Mvula. Òran Mór, Glasgow, 7pm, £17.25

Between 13-29 May, Southside Fringe, Glasgow’s annual fringe festival fills out fifty venues with all manner of events and activity, from theatre to DJ sets, poetry to meditation classes. Get your serving of the latter with a tasterof Transcendental Medi-tation, a practice which believes we can achieve world peace if we all just chilled the fuck out.

Fair enough. Loks Bar & Kitchen, 7pm, free

Ken Currie, Red Funnel, 2012

Credit: Flowers Gallery London and New York

Sun 15 May

Transcendental Meditation

Laura Mvula

Sat 21 May

Sun 22 May

All that cultural engagement is thirsty work, isn’t it?

Take a break, fine friend, at FestivAle³. Taking place over the course of the weekend, the event will bring hours ‘pon hours of bevvie based fun to Newington, including distillery tours, tastings and lashings of liquid treats from the Rum Surgery, Pickings Gin, Barney’s and Williams Bros.

Peckish? There’ll be street food snackeroonies too.

Summerhall, Edinburgh, 20 & 21 May, £5 (per session)

They Had Four Years returns to Generator Projects for its 2016 edition, showcasing new works by four recent graduates from various Scottish art colleges. This year’s selected artists are Rachel Turner, Alice Chandler, Eleanor Paul and Tanith Marron.

The showcase is part of Ignite Festival, a monthlong Dundonian festival of creativity, beginning in early May. Until 26 May, Generator Projects, Dundee, 12-5pm daily

FestivAle

Rachel Turner, Cabinet Balance, 2015

Fri 27 May

Sat 28 May

After dropping a mini EP in March entitled Steps, Malcolm Middleton embarks on a springtime tour of Scotland and beyond, including dates at Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree, Glasgow’s Art School and Edinburgh’s Electric Circus. The ex-Arab Strappian is taking The Pictish Trail under his gentle wee wing for the tour, so this is your prime opportunity to get a doublewhammy earful of Scottish musical smarts. Beat Generator, Dundee, 8pm, £10

Mono/Poly, AKA Chris Barkerfield specialises in syncopated, jittery hiphop instrumentals. His most recent LP, Golden Skies was met with both acclaim and confusion when he dropped it in 2014 via Flying Lotus’ label Brainfeeder, mostly due to its eclectic and unpredictable nature – but they’re always the best kinds of records, right?

Make up your own mind at his live date this May. Electric Circus, Edinburgh, 7pm, £11

Whether you’re a whisky buff or secretly wonder whether the stuff is actually supposed to feel like it’s melting your oesophagus, The Whisky Stramash is an event for you. A ticket entitles you to try lots of lovely liquor, and you can throw a few extra coins at the night to get some pie, too. Winner, winner, whisky and dinner.

Surgeon’s Hall, Edinburgh, 25 & 26 May, times vary, £29.15

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Chat

Malcolm Middleton

Credit: KatGollock

Thu 26 May

Mono/Poly



The Whisky Stramash

THE SKINNY

Credit: Illustration by Emily Nash

Some would claim we’ve got a ‘veritable Smörgåsbord’ of events ahead of us this month. Others, ‘a heaving table of Spanish tapas’. One might even compare May’s cultural offerings to a towering stand of cream cakes.

Whichever gastro-metaphor you prefer, Scotland's bursting with things to keep your boredom at bay.

Thu 5 May

Credit: Hugo Glendinn

Compiled by: Kate Pasola

Wed 4 May

Credit: The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2015.

Heads Up

Tue 3 May

Sun 8 May

Edinburgh’s Botanic Gardens are promising a gander into what our lives might be like in years to come with their adults only evening event, Botanics Late: The Future Is Now. Take part in silent discos and science ceilidhs, make your own upcycled jewellery, join in with a Barney’s Beer experiment and get an eyeful of some groovy new contemporary visual art and performance too.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, 7pm, £14

Our bonny isle bathing in late spring sunrays begs the question: how the hell we expected to usher in taps aff season without any new taps to take aff?

And that’s where Lou Lou’s Vintage Fair comes in.

The extravaganza swings

by Dundee this month, bringing along tonnes of pre-loved goodies, a vintage beauty parlour, oldtimey homewear and a tea party. Caird Hall, Dundee, 10am-4pm, £2.

Roll up, roll up, for The Hug and Pint's first ever mini-festival. The First Big Weekend boasts a sexy line-up of electronic artists and DJs including Bamboo, Joe Howe, Babe, Clip Art and Apostille, all for your delectation.

Speaking of delicacies, there'll be a vegan spread on offer from the venue's pan-Asian kitchen, too.

Schwiiiing. Hug and Pint, Glasgow. 7 & 8 May, £9-15

Botanics Late: The Future Is Now

Vintage Fair

Credit: John Graham

Sat 7 May

Credit: Eoin Carey

Fri 6 May

Apostille

With their Exam Show double bill, Bedlam resident lol-manufacturers The Improverts continue a tradition of bringing relief to stressed student citizens of Edinburgh through the medium of slick improv tomfoolery this month. The event’s not just for student funny-bones though, and this clan are well worth trying out if you’re in the dark about their comedic smarts. Bedlam, Edinburgh, 11 & 12 May, 9pm, £4-5

Yet more late night museum mania with The National Museum of Scotland’s Lates: Celts event. Not only can you revel in the opportunity to wander round the museum and participate in object-handling at bedtime, but you’ll also catch a programme of live music hosted by Vic Galloway, including a set from altrockers Idlewild. Don’t worry, there’ll be loadsa liquor, too. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, 7pm, £10-12

After garnering quite the cult-like following over the last few months, Bossy Love are now throttling Scotland with their outlandish dance-pop sound. Catch the duo at Sleazy’s this May. Probably your last chance before everyone twigs and they’re playing sold out shows for a million pounds a ticket. Nice ‘N’ Sleazy, Glasgow. 7.30pm, £6

Idlewild

Thu 19 May

Fri 20 May

Another pin in the programme for Dundee’s monthlong Ignite Festival comes from Duncan Marquiss as he presents his latest exhibition, Copying Errors.

From 14 May, the former student of DJCAD and recipient of the 2015 Margaret Tait award will showcase his largest exhibition yet, comprising a pretty handsome selection of paintings, drawings and videos.

Until 3 July, DCA, Dundee, times vary, free"

Scripted entirely from the pages of interviews with recovering alcoholics, Blackout is a searingly honest and brutal play written by Mark Jeary and performed by New Room Theatre. It became a five star encrusted production during its time in London, and went on to sell out its Glasgow run last month at The Tron. Book soon or you’ll most likely miss it. Until 19 May, 8pm, £8.50-16.50

Inspired by Mark Cousins’ I am Belfast, Neu! Reekie! get in on the city-effusing action with We Are Edinburgh. They’ve put their heads together with A Kind of Seeing (Shona Thomson) to create a "threeact city symphony" which celebrates the city’s alternative history, to be screened with accompanying performances.

Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 8pm, £15

Duncan Marquiss, Distressed Inventory 3, 2011

Blackout

Credit: Mihaela Bodlovic

Wed 18 May

Bossy Love

Neu! Reekie!

Mon 23 May

Tue 24 May

Wed 25 May

...And, in case you still haven’t had your fill of Dundee’s art exhibitions of the month, make it a hattrick with the DJCAD Degree Show 2016! You’ll have the opportunity to see showcases from the latest generation of artists, designers and architects graduating from courses at the institution, giving you a glimpse into the future of Scottish art as we know it. Perhaps. DJCAD, Dundee, 21-29 May, times vary, free

Imagine replying to every single spammer, scammer and ‘wealthy heir’ residing in Kenya who tried to rip you off via the medium of email. It’d be knackering, wouldn’t it? Luckily, James Veitch beat you to it, spending a year in correspondence with every conperson who tried to scam him via email. The result is his thoughtful and tickling stand-up show, Dot Con. The Stand, Edinburgh, 8.30pm, £10-12

Interested in refining your wontons? Got a hankering for vermicelli spring rolls? Get yourself over to Project Cafe’s Chinese Vegetarian Pot Luck and partake in the joy of sharing food with other humans without the intense fear of accidentally swallowing a forkful of pork.

Or, alternatively, snark all night about how the food would be infinitely better with the inclusion of meat.

Your call! Project Cafe, Glasgow, 6pm, free

Hazel Holloway

James Veitch

Mon 29 May

Tue 31 May

Hey, look – yet another bank holiday! What are we, continental Europe?

We wish. Well, might as well celebrate with a festival – luckily, Electric Frog and Pressure’s Riverside Festival, featuring Fatboy Slim, Gary Beck, Julio Bashmore, Sven Väth and Jackmaster (among many, many more) can accommodate for that. If dollar’s tight this month, check out SWG3’s afterparties both nights for a tenner.

The Riverside Museum, Glasgow, 2.30pm, £40-80

After its 27 May blastoff, Hidden Door continues to pack its King’s Stables Road home to the renovated rafters with spoken word, visual art, theatre, cinema, music, food, and a whole lotta bunting. This year’s theme is Electric City, so prepare yourself for some pretty delightful aesthetics and innovation. Check out hiddendoorblog.org for lineups. King’s Stables Road Courtyard, Edinburgh, 27 May-4 June, £13-15 per day

Round off your month on good art-pondering form with ECA’s 2016 Degree Show. From 28 May through ‘til 5 Jun, the school will showcase the fruits of more than 500 budding graduating artists, filmmakers, designers and architects over an e'er eclectic programme. Until 5 Jun, 11am5pm (except on 1 & 2 Jun when the showcase will open from 11am-8pm), at various sites across the ECA campus, free

May 2016

Julio Bashmore

Credit: Elle Sheriff

Sun 29 May

Jessica Ramm



Credit: Kat Gollock

The Improverts

Credit: Emily Wylde

Sat 14 May

Credit: Gavin Bain

Fri 13 May

Credit: Michaela Bodlovic

Thu 12 May

Blindtext

Lucy Archer

Chat

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S RE AT U FE

Photo: John Graham

Blanck Mass

Minor Threat and Fugazi legend Ian Mackaye will take part in an exclusive live Q&A session via Skype on 12 May, following a screening of Jem Cohen’s Fugazi documentary Instrument at the African and Caribbean Centre. The Restless Natives film lineup also features screenings of Couple in a Hole – followed by a Q&A with BEAK> duo Geoff Barrow and Billy Fuller – documentary The Ambiguity Of David Thomas Broughton; cult classic The Room; plus Blood, Sweat and Vinyl: DIY in the 21st Century, featuring contributions from Neurosis, ISIS and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

If that wasn’t enough, a pre-recorded Q&A with UK comedy luminary Armando Iannucci, with fans having sent questions via Twitter, will be shown following a special screening of In The Loop at Drygate on 14 May.

“ It's a coalition of independent artists and bookers”

Ghostface

Eastern Promise Keen to redress the cultural balance in Glasgow, an ambitious week-long multidisciplinary festival opens its doors at seven venues and studios in and around the East End from 9-15 May. We talk to some of the players behind Restless Natives

A

s the home of the famous Barrowland Ballroom, a relic of the 1960s dancehall era that later reinvented itself as a leading gig venue, it’s easy to presume that the East End of Glasgow has long been a hub of live entertainment.

In reality, crowds leaving shows at the Barras walk quickly in the direction of the city centre without looking back. Old attitudes die hard. The late 20th century was tough on East End districts like Calton. Depopulation, slum clearance and headline-grabbing life expectancy rates gave the impression that this was a region best avoided, and certainly not a nightime destination. Yet the East End has turned a corner. New housing, improved transport links and added investment from the 2014 Commonwealth Games have breathed new life into the area. A spate of studios, bars and workspace openings have followed. And now the East End has its very own cross-platform, multivenue cultural festival, Restless Natives.

From 9-15 May, the event aims to bring people together in and around the East End, generate income for the local community, as well as promote ethnic diversity and gender equality throughout the programme. Its organisers, a group of independent promoters from across the city, boldly claim the festival aims “to be reflective of a truly modern DIY ethic, mirroring the diverse talent the creative scene has to offer.”

Chris Cusack, one of the co-organisers, insists the festival is far removed from an exercise in gentrification. Each show is individually costed, with the aim of ensuring no one is priced out. “A big concern for the festival is that we want to invest

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in the place, but we don’t want to exclude local residents in the process,” he explains to The Skinny.

“We don’t want to bring in £3 cappuccinos or alienate people. I don’t think the East End would ever end up like Byres Road. It has a proud cultural history of its own. It would be naÏve to say the area didn’t have its problems, but a lot of it can be attributed to massive underinvestment going back decades. The lens shifts around the city. You see Finnieston becoming quite gentrified, where it was pretty rough until a few years ago.”

The opening of new venues convinced the Restless Natives team that a multi-platform festival could feasibly be staged in the East End. Saint Luke’s, an impressive converted former church near the Barras, was a clincher. “We wanted to help put it on the map to promoters by having a big event like this,” says Cusack. Established venues, such as The 13th Note and Mono, will also play an important part by hosting several gigs, while the Drygate brewery will screen films and host Q&A sessions.

Equally as important to the festival is showcasing the traditional attractions of the East End to a new audience. “The Barras market itself is struggling with footfall,” Cusack continues. “There’s a whole generation of students in the city who are not even aware of it. It started to make itself apparent that we needed one big event to promote the whole East End. We want to show off the venues down here to fans, promoters and music movers and shakers, and help put them on the map.”

Among the stand-out shows is a headline performance from Ghostface Killah, who brings

Interview: Chris McCall

the blast of a hype verse to Saint Luke’s on Friday 13 May. The legendary MC from Staten Island will perform choice cuts from his fearsome solo career, as well as treating fans to some of the Wu-Tang verses that made him famous. But this being Restless Natives, equally as exciting is the presence of Law Holt as main support act. The Edinburgh-based vocalist, first seen in these pages in 2013, recently completed work on her eagerly awaited debut album and promises to deliver a headline-stealing show. “East Ends all over the world need festivals,” she says. “In Edinburgh, for instance, the festival hardly breaks out of the city centre and where the ‘real’ people live is totally unaffected, it’s like the festivals aren't for the solid citizens, just the tartan tourists, the whisky seekers.˝ “I went to see Ghostface at Rock City in Nottingham about 10 years ago, so to be opening for him now is a great thing. I look forward to his performance and to see if he can out-bass me!

On these shows I’ll be joined on stage by the Soho Sisters, twins Jacqui and Pauline, so, attitude times three. It will be all new because I’ve been deep sea fishing for the last year, out of sight, catching golden flashes of tunes and beats.”

Cardiff ’s agit rock underdogs Future of the Left play Saint Luke’s the following night, joined

by Sheffield mathcore champions Rolo Tomassi.

BlanckMass, whose landmark 2015 LP Dumb Flesh remains a favourite of The Skinny, plays the same venue with Vancouver’s own electronic prodigy Tim Hecker on Sunday.

The film programme looks equally promising.

MUSIC

Photo: Ross Gilmore

Rolo Tomassi

Photo: Claire Taylor

Chris Cusack

Some of Scotland’s finest independent record labels, including Fuzzkill and Song, By Toad, will also curate their own nights. “You can expect guitars of the jangly, and glittertrash variety,” explains Ross Keppie of Fuzzkill, ahead of his label’s night at the 13th Note on Friday, 13 May. “We have Breakfast MUFF, Spinning Coin, Bin Men, The Pooches and Odd Law all performing live – five of Glasgow’s very best!”

The core group of Restless Natives’ organisers include Cusack, fellow Glasgow promoter Bob Steele, plus Halina Rifai and John Burns of Bar Bloc, a leading live music pub in Glasgow city centre.

Richard Warden, organiser of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, has overseen the film bookings.

“It’s a coalition of independent bookers and artists,˝ says Cusack. “We’ve noticed how the DIY scene in Europe is really vibrant, with a nice sense of community. People go to see things because they are on, as opposed to having to persuade people to take a chance on new acts. Part of that is there’s a sense of cooperation. They do a nice line in boutique festivals which are good for their scenes. Interesting things happen as a result.”

The booking policy of Restless Natives takes some inspiration from the much-missed Triptych festival, which brought a truly eclectic mix of performers to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh each spring, as well as Dundee’s Book Yer Ane Fest. Cusack also cites Montpellier’s respected DIY festival as his primary influence. “For a long weekend, shops and clubs hang extension leads from windows and bands are invited to set up in the streets, so you end up with a town full of bands.

People come from all over France and further afield to be part of it. It attracts a lot of cultural tourism which is good for the local economy.

“Myself and John from Bloc had been chewing the fat about this about 18 months ago, and in separate conversations with Bob, there was a real need to bring people together to unionise, to present a viable alternative festival. John has a matter-of-fact attitude, and said we should just do it. We want audiences to be exposed to a range of shows, from music to film. There’s a hope there will be a cross-pollination.˝ Short-term politics may have let the area down in the past, but there's clearly a collective out there thinking about the East End's future.

Restless Natives takes place across Glasgow’s East End from 9-15 May For full line-up and ticket details, visit restlessnativesfestival.org

THE SKINNY

Deep Down Bristolian krautrock disciples BEAK> provided evocative score for the Couple in a Hole. Ahead of its screening at Restless Natives, Geoff Barrow and Billy Fuller tell us how they handled the task Interview: Graeme Campbell What was your initial take on the script?

BF: Well, the film’s more about the human condition, isn’t it? It strikes a chord in that way. It seemed unusual and simple, which is a bit like our music.

You could read the script and imagine how it was going to go down.

There are times during the film where the forest can appear really quite beautiful, then there are other points where it’s a far more foreboding landscape. Your music certainly helped evoke those moods...

GB: We thought of their dehydration and malnourishment, and tried to capture that sort of woozy state. Being out in the woods alone, not knowing your future would send you crazy. We didn’t want to make beautiful music in a traditional sense.

Geoff, this isn’t the first soundtrack you’ve worked on having scored Alex Garland’s Ex Machina last year – a blockbuster in comparison. How much did working on this differ from that experience?

GB: When we sat down with this we were only ever going to sound like BEAK>. With a commercial film, on the other hand, it’s very difficult because people expect you to be able to do anything from kodo drums, to dulcimers and electronic; they come to you expecting a certain kind of score, even if you aren’t that type of band. With this we were just like ‘You’re getting BEAK> whether you like it or not!’ The process was just a lot freer.

Like that score, this is predominantly nonorchestral. Can you picture yourselves ever embracing that more traditional approach?

BF: The end of Couple in a Hole featured the one track where we’d done some overdubs and built up double bass and synths to give it more of an orchestral feel. The beauty of BEAK> has always been that it’s a three-piece trying to make a lot out of a little.

Soundtracks in general seem to have become particularly resonant as an underground art form again. Why do you think this is?

GB: You look at some of the films that are out now and there seems to be a movement towards this new wave of British psychedelic cinema. It’s really interesting and there’s music with it as well; whether it be Blanck Mass or Mogwai. I think people are genuinely interested in it. I think it’s just a matter of time before someone puts the whole film/ music thing together as a more complete live experience. You can already see that starting to happen.

Join Geoff and Billy for BEAK>’s screening of Couple in a Hole at the Winter Gardens’ Glasshouse, Glasgow on 13 May (to be seated for 7.30pm) restlessnativesfestival.org

May 2016

Going Native Tom Geens tells us about the tightrope he had to walk getting his moving film debut Couple in a Hole to the screen

T

he plot of the debut feature from Belgian filmmaker Tom Geens doesn’t need a whole lot of explanation. Like Robert Bresson’s A Man Escapes or, if you prefer a more disreputable example, Snakes on a Plane, all you need to know is in the title. It’s about a couple. And they’re in a hole – literally and figuratively.

“It started in my notebook with just one paragraph describing this image of a middle-class couple stuck in a hole,” explains Geens as we sit down to discuss the film ahead of its Scottish premiere at Glasgow Film Festival. It was the contrast of the image that intrigued him most. “I like that mix of chaos and order, civilisation and nature.

However civilised, ordered and polite we are to each other, there’s still a wild animal lurking inside all of us.”

Despite the simplicity of its premise, it’s taken Geens over five years to get his film to the screen.

But as he describes his path towards filmmaking, it’s clear he’s not one for taking the most straightforward routes in life. Initially he studied economics (actually, he studied it twice: once in French, once in Flemish). He then inched towards the arts with a postgrad in cultural studies, which turned out to be a pretty hardcore course in experimental theatre. “The theatre scene in Belgium was amazing at the time,” he says, “and still is.”

This gave him a taste for acting, and he set his sights on the stage. His parents soon vetoed that idea, however. “When they said, ‘No, we’re not going to help you become an actor,’ I thought to myself, ‘OK, what is the other career that’s creative but also involves commerce?’”

The answer he came up with was that grubby collision of movie-making and money-making: advertising. That’s how he ended up moving to London, in 1993, but this only fueled his ardour fortheatre.“Londonwasanamazingopeningofeverything for me,” he says. “Whatever you wanted to do you could do it at a reasonable cost.” How times have changed. “There were all these part-time drama courses,” he explains, “which is how I got involved with writing.”

He was happy, for a time, writing ad copy and plugging away in London’s theatre scene, but then, in 1998, Geens saw one film that changed everything: Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen. “I ran out

of the cinema thinking, ‘I’ve got to get a fucking camera,’” he recalls. “And I just started doing stuff myself. That film created such a lot of buzz among a lot of people to just go and do stuff. I was totally blown away by the whole Dogme 95 movement.”

Several commercials and award-winning short films later and we have Couple in a Hole, but the film doesn’t look a whole lot like a Dogme 95 film: its images are crisp and sharply composed, while the set-up is strange, bordering on absurd. A Scottish couple, played by a bearded Paul Higgins and a whippet-thin Kate Dickie, have gone feral.

He’s running around a wood in France snaring rabbits and digging up worms for tea, while she seems to be in hibernation mode, refusing to leave the den they’re living in. “It does start in quite a surreal, crazy, Samuel Beckett-type place,” admits Geens, “but by writing it became more and more real ultimately, and I wanted to make it totally believable.”

“ When you have too much power, it kills creativity” Tom Greens

What the film does have in common with Dogme 95 is that it was created around countless constraints, in this case due to the myriad obstructions a low-budget indie filmmaker has to manoeuvre around rather than any self-imposed manifesto.

“You are at the mercy of so many decisions outwith your control – especially with something like this where you have to spend five years convincing people to get behind you. The production really throws stuff at you and you just have to deal with it.”

For example, financing dictated Couple in a Hole should star Scottish actors and be set in France. “At first I was really antagonistic towards the idea of France because I wanted it to be really wild, like one of those huge Eastern European forests.” But he soon mellowed to the idea of a tamer, on-your-doorstep kind of wilderness. “It’s like going to an Ikea car park and finding a middleaged couple living in the bin or something.” He

MUSIC / FILM

Interview: Jamie Dunn

eventually embraced the restrictions: “When you have too much power, it kills creativity in many ways. When people keep throwing you obstacles it makes you think more about the story, and it often turns the story on its head, by which it becomes a lot more interesting.”

Slowly the mystery of why the eponymous couple are living in their hole becomes clear, by which point the film has taken on several different guises. “What became very interesting about the whole structure is that it gave me the opportunity to wrongfoot people all the time” says Geens.

“It goes through a whole mix of genres, it never really sits with one thing. In the beginning I think a lot of people think, ‘Is this some sort of apocalyptic horror film? Or is this like a 19th century survival story?’” It soon becomes clear that it’s neither, and instead a deeply moving study of grief.

The score, by British band BEAK>, is similarly wrongfooting. “The music is jarring,” explains Geens. “You probably would expect some kind of lovely, classical music – a beautiful Bach piece with gravitas or something. But when I heard this lo-fi electronica, almost krautrock, I thought, ‘Wow, this will really add another dimension to the film.’”

He reckons this type of music allows the viewing experience to become much more subjective. ‘“When you have music that complements the images, it’s more about what you see,” he explains, “whereas with this it’s like you’re inside someone’s head. I think it became very much a soundtrack for [Paul Higgins’ character] John’s state of mind.”

The whole film feels like a tightrope walk, and Geens and his cast’s go-for-broke commitment to the material is what makes the film so powerful.

The director was apprehensive as to whether he could pull it off. “There was a real worry all the way through the writing that audiences would find the set-up almost stupid, because if you don’t get people with you from the start the whole film falls flat on its face.” The experience was also thrilling, however. “I kind of like the fact that you are treading that fine line between it totally bombing or getting away with it.”

Couple in a Hole screens at Restless Natives on 13 May with a live score by BEAK>

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Sex, Guns and Donald Trump With a new Netflix special in the bag, we chat with Jim Jefferies ahead of his upcoming UK tour dates, including his first solo show in Edinburgh outside of the Fringe Interview: Ben Venables

“E

dinburgh has a soft spot in my heart,” says Jim Jefferies, leading us on a trip down memory lane. “I think I’ve had sex with more women in Edinburgh then I have in any other city in the world – normally with someone who was flyering for me. Edinburgh was about being in my 20s and chasing pussy. Now I’m in my 30s – in a relationship and with a kid – those days are long gone.

It reminds me of a simpler time.”

Despite the power-dose of testosterone that seems to drip from the phone line, it’d be churlish to suggest Jefferies doesn’t say all this with a knowing warmth of tone. What’s more, he has every reason to be in good spirits. His new Netflix special, Freedumb, has been announced hours before our conversation. And on the Australian leg of his tour he’s enjoying the kind of success he’s used to in the UK and America, but which remained stubbornly harder to come by in his home country. This is partially helpful when it comes to convincing his mother he is actually making something of his life.

“I just did 10,000 seats in Perth,” he says, “and I’m about to do 15,000 seats in Melbourne.

But I’m still not on television, and my mother would like me to be on Australian TV. No-one is knocking down my door for me to do that though. As I live in America it’d be hard to anyway. There are no billboards of me around town or anything like that...

Maybe I should put some money into advertising so Mum can see it... But yes, I do get a little more respect from my family than I used to.”

Yet had Jefferies established his career in Australia first, it may have been in a different performance art to stand-up. That stop in Perth meant a return to his university city, and while it’d be easy to conjure an image of Jefferies as the ultimate jock on campus, he actually studied musical theatre before his ambitions were thwarted. “I’m better at stand-up comedy than I am at singing,” he says, “but actually what happened is I got nodules on my vocal chords. I used to be able to sing very well but I can’t even hold a tune now. It’s over. But I wish I could still sing, I miss it.”

While Jefferies’ mother may have to wait a little longer for him to be on Australian television, he is a familiar face on screen in America. His sitcom Legit ran for two seasons before changes at the FXX network forced its cancellation: “I really liked Legit, I think it was a really good show and I think we got fucked in the arse a bit there. It should’ve run for two more seasons. We tried … but it’s gotten too late now to continue and all the other actors are off doing other jobs now. We did write a movie to wrap everything up, but other work got in the way. I wouldn’t mind making that movie and putting it on Netflix… but I have a TV deal in the works with another network, and then another for a news-based show which I can’t say much about yet.”

Then, of course, there’s the success of his first Netflix special Bare, which contains the gun con-

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trol routine Jefferies is now best known for and which expanded his material into a more outward dimension of political commentary. That initially surprised him but, he explains, also helped him develop as a comedian.

“Maybe it is just the pressure I put on myself but I know people want me to do a little bit of a show on sex and something on religion – they always used to want me to do those two things – and then a story from my childhood. Now there is a fourth thing, and that is the fuck-the-establishment stuff.”

“ Piers Morgan still sucks the sweat off Donald Trump's balls whenever he gets the chance” Jim Jefferies

This expectation for certain topics can become tricky, especially as Jefferies has always been a comedian to underline the importance of writing new material rather than stick to the safe ground of familiar routines.

“It gets harder every year but then things come along when you least expect it. I remember after I wrote about my friend with muscular dystrophy [which also inspired the first episode of Legit] I thought I’d never have a better routine that was more popular or as good as that ever again. But I think now I’m measured by the gun control routine. That came to me on stage, I just started talking about it during a gig and within about a week or so it was fully formed.

“I used to think that nobody wanted to hear me talk about politics, and it helped to build my confidence up because now I feel maybe people do want to hear my opinion – even if they don’t agree.

So now I do talk about politics whereas if you saw me, say, three years ago, I didn’t.”

Politics, of course, means Jefferies has opened himself up more to people who don’t share his point of view, something rather easy to avoid when we surround ourselves with our own friends on social media.

“People see what you are clicking on and feed off the same stuff,” he says. “You’re not actually getting anything new. So I start to think everyone is a fucking lefty and we are all very liberal, that people should be allowed to do A, B, C and D and

help people out, that immigrants should be allowed to come in, blah blah blah blah. But then with gun control... The hate-mail that I received from people! ‘This country was founded on freedom, and you don’t understand freedom.’ I first thought, ‘these fucking people are insane,’ but then you look on their page and they have hundreds and thousands of friends who are exactly like them.

Quintessentially, all my friends are guys or girls like me, who have the same sort of belief systems as me, who all have dirty senses of humour.

What happens with Twitter and Facebook is it confirms your beliefs.”

Jefferies is keen to stress, however, that indiscriminately being friends with people you disagree with isn’t necessarily the solution to the social media echo chamber: “I had an argument with Piers Morgan the other day on Twitter. He’s always ‘no guns this’ and ‘the American government is that.’

Yet he still sucks the sweat off Donald Trump’s balls whenever he gets the chance.

‘Oh Mr Trump, Mr Trump’ – fuck off.

“I said to him, ‘Are you still friends with Donald Trump?’ And he said something like, ‘I don’t agree with his policies but we are good and loyal friends and have been for over a decade.’ I said, ‘I’m sure

COMEDY

Hitler wasn’t a bad guy to have a beer with if you just didn’t bring up politics.’

“How can you be friends with somebody when you fundamentally don’t agree with any of their beliefs?”

Jefferies doesn’t believe the media frenzy around Trump reflects the majority’s opinion because – with the exception of Piers Morgan – Trump specialises in alienating people: “He’s only in the mainstream in the sense that the people who like him are loudmouth idiots. They reckon he needs 70% of the white vote to win. But 50% of white people are women – so he can’t win. Mexicans and black people won’t vote for him, Muslims definitely won’t vote for him. He can’t win.

“With Trump it is all belief: ‘These people are rapists, Muslims should be on a register, build a wall and keep these people out.’ He doesn’t have policies.

“How does Piers Morgan not get into an argument with him over dinner?”

Jim Jefferies plays O2 Academy Glasgow, 8 Jul, 8pm, £28; EICC, Edinburgh, 10 Jul, 8pm, £27 His first Netflix special, Bare, is available now and Freedumb premieres on 1 July jimjefferies.com/events

THE SKINNY

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THE SKINNY

Higher Hopes Famous names, familiar faces; welcome to the world of Minor Victories. Just don’t drop the s-bomb in their company…

W

hen it comes to the language of rock and pop there can be few expressions as tedious as supergroup. It suggests stadium shows, bloated egos, rock’n’roll cliché writ large.

“It gives you images of us all coming in on our private jets, or something,” says Stuart Braithwaite, of Mogwai and Minor Victories.

“I’m not entirely comfortable with the term supergroup, personally. It kind of made me cringe the first time that I read it,” adds Rachel Goswell, of Slowdive and Minor Victories.

“Although I’d rather they said we were a super group rather than a shit one,” Braithwaite wisecracks, and everyone laughs. In fact the quartet around the table – Braithwaite, Goswell, Justin Lockey (of Editors, and Minor Victories), and brother James (of Hand Held Cine Club… and Minor Victories) – laugh frequently, naturally, the sense of kinship strong despite not necessarily knowing each other all that well.

Welcome to the strange world of Minor Victories. A supergroup that's definitely not a super­group (and let’s banish that term for the ­duration). In fact they’re not even a band in the conventional sense – at least not initially. And while the protagonists may be familiar, that doesn’t mean the music has to be; with their ­debut, self-titled record about to drop, this is far from a rehash of day job musicality. In fact, the way the band tell it, the album’s f­ ormation was more an exercise in remote-distance ­bricolage; a lost and found record, focused upon grace, nuance, flight.

The origins of the project began with Justin, whose loose ideas around abrasion and texture curled around a soothing, female vocal led to Rachel. “I’d spoken to you before,” Justin ­confirms with Ms Goswell. “We met at Latitude for like 30 seconds, and we were talking about sending some stuff backwards and forwards.” Not that the two could physically work together – geography and respective schedules a barrier. Instead, ideas were pinged across the ether, and it’s this long-distance collaboration that becomes a recurring theme.

“I was just about to start another Editors record, Slowdive were out touring, and I sent one track – Out to Sea – and then I went and made an Editors record, which Rach also sings on…”

Rachel: “It was all so incestuous, really…”

J: “And we had a few drinks, and she’s like: ‘Why don’t we fackin’ finish that fackin’ stuff?’” Cue more laughter at Justin’s comedy impersonation.

“And I was like, ‘Alright! Yeah, let’s do it. We’ll do an EP.’ And then we didn’t do anything for a while, then Rachel was rehearsing with Slowdive and she texts me about midnight. She said ‘Shall we do this?’ Alright, let’s do it; let’s find a guitarist. And I was like, ‘Who do you want to get?’ And she said ‘I’ve bumped into Stuart a few times at festivals.’”

Stuart: "He has a guitar." More laughter.

J: “The way Out to Sea sounded, there was only one person we could really get. Stuart got back and said he was up for it, but he was in the middle of a soundtrack – you were in the middle of doing Atomic, or something.”

S: “It may have been Les Revenants, but I was quite busy.”

J: “And that was cool; everyone was doing their own thing, and James was going to do some bass on Out to Sea, but he ended up having four or five tracks that he’d already written that ended up being on the record, so then we started working on James’ tracks and then we started working on Stuart’s tracks, then we started working on Rachel’s tracks and it ended up being, ‘Well, this is a band, now.’”

S: "Let’s make a record."

May 2016

Interview: Duncan Harman Photography: Ryan Johnston

J: "And then that was that, really.”

Yet by this stage the quartet had spent the grand total of zero hours together. Instead, with Justin co-ordinating exchanges of ideas, the themes underpinning Minor Victories began to coalesce in a different fashion.

“Everyone had sent parts in, and I’d put it together and send it back out,” he recalls. “And we all had input; we kept refining and ­editing, then James went up to Glasgow to record Stuart...”

S: “That was the first time I met James.

I knew Rachel and I’d met Justin at a gig.”

J: “In a pub, in Newcastle. A pint at the Tanners Arms. And then he was like, ‘What shall we do? Just crack on?’”

“It kind of just fell in between what e­ veryone else was doing,” he continues. “No-one was forced to do anything. We weren’t waiting on anybody, it happened at its own pace. And then, when the record was mixed, it sounded ­incredible when it came back from where it was to where it landed in the end; it’s quite a big jump. Everyone carried on in-between doing their own stuff, and then it naturally formed into an actual, proper band. I think that side projects usually scream of a throwaway nature or an ­experiment that can go horribly wrong...”

S: “Or a situation where you’re not willing to put yourself in front of people. Even though we’d never all played literally together, it definitely felt like a solid band with a solid album, and we’re going to do everything we can this year to get it all out there.”

All this cohesion, but the foursome still hadn’t physically had a full band meeting yet.

J: “The first time we were in the same room together was March this year. The record was finished mixing and we’d already started doing stuff by that point.”

R: “We were all on email every single bloody day.

Every day – certainly for the last six months, the last year, there were multiple emails going round.”

S: “It’s like these people that fall in love with people in prison.”

R: “I’m still waiting to find out what the convictions are.”

J: “We didn’t have any time pressure to worry about, though. It was just literally all of us working at our own pace.”

S: “But if it hadn’t been good enough we’d

“I’d rather they said we were a 'super' group rather than a shit one” Stuart Braithwaite

either have stopped or waited until it was.”

J: “It was very fun. Not that other bands aren’t fun, but it’s different working with people in other bands and how they deal with stuff.”

R: “And you are a workhorse. You really are a workhorse.”

“The way that we’ve been in the limelight is different to other bands,” Justin adds. “Mogwai occupy their own genre, their own space, and Slowdive are mythical.”

Rachel issues a comedy snort at this, which doesn’t put him off.

“Editors are probably the most ­conventional thing to come from to come in to this, so the pressure of a conventional large band is such that you’re always under the spotlight. But in some ways it’s kind of similar; with the last Editors record, we just went into the middle of Scotland and spent four months making a record. It wasn’t very conventional, and it wasn’t a studio; it was just in a room.

And in some ways this record was made in a room.

My back room.

MUSIC

“I was especially nervous when it came to the first rehearsal in March. Having sat in front of all the parts for so many months putting it together, I asked myself how we were going to do it live.

But it just sounded great.”

Ah, yes – live; Minor Victories can’t be accused of taking the easy route. A hectic summer of gigs lined up, including festivals and a jaunt around the US, there’s the additional challenge provided by the fact that Editors, Mogwai and Slowdive are all on the road at the same time. Cue shared itineraries and logistical headaches.

S: “Right at the start there was a chance of there being a Minor Victories gig in the afternoon and a Mogwai gig at night, two hours away. And I’d have done it, but I knew that my head was going to be absolute mince.”

R: “There’s some of the diary stuff where it’s literally quite hard. We have a Google diary…”

J: “That magically gets updated…”

R: “By other people.”

“I always know where Stuart is,” Justin admits.

“It’s like having a Where’s Stuart Braithwaite? app.” A true sign of being in a band.

“Once the record’s out there it has its own life, people will make of it what they will,” Justin continues. “Some people will take it to their hearts, and some people will fucking hate it – it’s up to them. We can only do what we can; to make the best record that we can.”

“I think that hopefully people will just judge the record on its own merits rather than comparing to our separate bands.” Rachel adds. “There’s obviously going to be a bit of that ­comparison anyway, but I would kind of hope that the people who write about it have a bit more ­intelligence about it and don’t go down the supergroup route so much.”

We’re taking notes.

Playing Glasgow Art School on 6 May. Their debut is released on 3 Jun via PIAS minor-victories.com

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I was aware of the similarities, but I didn’t want to borrow too much, so it was a treat when I finished writing the first draft and finally watched it. That movie was great because it was such a simple movie, and a good old-fashioned exploitation film. So it became an influence after the fact.”

A quality shared by Carpenter’s film and Green Room is their tightness and economic storytelling: so much is said visually through small details; every shot has a clear purpose. “It was hard designing the script, but everything we shot was for a reason,” explains Saulnier. “The biggest thing in editing is where you emphasise things. We had so much coverage because of the nature of the shoot – between four and eight people in a room, the coverage is just so intense. And it’s all this physical action back and forth, so editorial was key, doing several passes to make it all seem as if it were spontaneous and immediate. It was shot over the course of 32 days and it’s supposed to be one crazy night. It’s funny how we shot on soundstages and really built it from scratch, but it seems like we went somewhere and shot it really fast; all that production value is wasted.”

“ People have called it a haunted house film, a horror film, a crime thriller.

And they’re all true” Jeremy Saulnier

Nazi Punks Fuck Off Jeremy Saulnier follows up revenge thriller Blue Ruin with Green Room, a nail-biting punks v Nazis siege movie. He muses on punk rock, genre labels and casting Patrick Stewart as a white supremacist

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he Skinny is chatting with American director Jeremy Saulnier in a crowded dining area of London’s Mayfair Hotel. His newest film, Green Room, is having its UK premiere later that night as part of the London Film Festival. It’s his followup to 2013’s critically acclaimed thriller Blue Ruin and the comparatively underseen Murder Party, from 2007. The three films share actor Macon Blair (Blue Ruin’s hangdog protagonist) and acts of violence instigating considerable turmoil, but Green Room sees some more recognisable stars join Saulnier’s talisman on the cast list.

The leads include Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots and Alia Shawkat, as well as rising Brit stars Joe Cole and Callum Turner. The most well-known player, however, is Patrick Stewart as Green Room’s antagonistic authority figure, the owner of a farright club in a secluded part of the Pacific Northwest. Most of those younger actors play the members of a punk band hired to play the venue, only to become witnesses to a crime that subsequently sees them holed up in the club’s green room at the mercy of figures who want to eliminate all loose ends.

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Interview: Josh Slater-Williams Illustration: Elena Boils

“I think it was certainly a nice shift for him to show a different side to his craft,” Saulnier says of Stewart. “I consider [his character] Darcy to be very practical. He’s never sinister in his intentions, he’s just brutally indifferent when it comes to his own interests. He suddenly loses his cool once in awhile, but it’s through language or little tics. It’s not through a big monologue, but I think it’s more powerful. And Patrick definitely remarked on set that this is the quietest he’s ever worked in his life.

So that was fun.”

The content of Green Room has an element of personal resonance for Saulnier, though it’s thankfully due to the film’s music elements rather than any experience with neo-Nazis terrorising him.

“I was making movies ever since I was eight years old,” he says, “and I got introduced to punk rock around the same time. I was into the DC hardcore scene for a while – very much an observer, never really considered myself an OG member of the hardcore scene, but I was there. And all the while I was making movies with my friends. For school we’d convert any kind of book report or big project into some kind of film. And I always

thought I could meld the two worlds together. It took a long time for the opportunity to arise, but when it did I leapt at the chance.”

The soundtrack, therefore, contained some of these formative tracks. “A lot of the music in the movie is stuff I heard in the 90s when I was in the punk scene. Also, some of the music in the movie is from bands [involving] my high school friends. So they were written by my high school friends; bands that performed for me in the 90s.

The punk rock show in the basement of the Mexican restaurant – I played that show. It was very personal, in that respect.”

We inquire into any favourite punk movies Saulnier might have, and additionally any highlights when it comes to the siege genre: “Just cool vibe and aesthetic-wise, you have SubUrbia, Repo Man. I love Straw Dogs; as a reference, that was a big one.” One siege classic he hadn’t seen before embarking on Green Room was John Carpenter’s fat-free Assault on Precinct 13. “I knew that if I’m making a siege movie, I shouldn’t watch that until after I write it,” he says. “So I did finally watch that after I wrote the script, before I shot Green Room.

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At another point in our chat, Saulnier also references visual storytelling with regards to the way he tends to wrap up his films (no spoilers): “I like to bookend things with montage. It’s a way to visually sew things up. I really don’t like to do that in an expository way as far as characters stating their thesis, or having a Lord of the Rings moment where they all come into the bedroom.

I like to visually re-explore landscapes; that’s certainly a theme. I think it’s fun to visit characters where they should be natively and not force them into a proper wrap-up. We’ll travel to them. It’s a more emotional coda to bring it altogether.”

If this interview seems a little vague regarding specifics of Green Room’s narrative elements, there’s a good reason. The film thrives on its unpredictable nature, the uncertainty of its character and story directions. Things don’t always go the way you might be expecting based on what’s been set up. One suspects it’s been a hard film to market.

“In a perfect world,” Saulnier says, “the trailer would just have an abstract montage of imagery – just to get the tone across. The pure experience is watching this film thinking it’s one thing and then having it spiral very violently downward. You’re trapped in a room and you’re not getting out.

Ideally, the only bare naked exposition you could have in a trailer should be the first act, but then you’ve gotta throw in some one-liners and some cool action montage…”

One thing the director is keen to emphasise regarding how people come to the film is that he’s happy with whatever genre labels they choose to thrust upon it: “People have called it a haunted house film, or a horror film, called it a crime thriller. And they’re all true. I have no problem [with it].

“The reference as we shot it was: it’s a war movie. And that’s how I looked at it. It’s a war film where on one side of the door are professional soldiers, and on the other side of the door are clearly inept protagonists – it’s total amateur night inside that room. I like hybrid genres. I like when there’s a discussion about what it is. Because that means it’s not that easily placed in a genre.

So it’s a welcome discussion for me.”

Green Room is released 13 May by Altitude

THE SKINNY

May 2016

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Going Nuclear With Summer of ’13 – the first album under his own name in seven years – about to hit the streets, Malcolm Middleton tells us why he went away, why he came back, and why that isn’t the whole story Interview: Duncan Harman Photography: Kat Gollock

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pril Fool’s Day, a nuclear bunker tucked away in a remote corner of Fife. Just your average subterranean complex buried innocuously beneath a farmhouse, the rooms and corridors decorated with cold-war trinkets of a strangely kitsch variety – it’s not the first place you’d expect to bump into a pop star.

“Ah, I was also here last weekend,” confesses this particular pop star, his sheepishness subverted with a grin. Could it be that he appears somewhat at home amidst the exhibits?

Well, it’s not like he’s invited The Skinny to his neck of the woods as a joke. Nor to examine metaphors around an artist we haven’t heard from for quite a while (at least in his own guise); with the first Malcolm Middleton album in seven years ready for release, not once are clumsy allusions to emerging from bunkers referenced.

“It was deliberate at the time,” he explains of his sabbatical as we sit in the coffee shop, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird dribbling from the PA system.

“It was always something I knew I was going to come back to… but I wasn’t going to be ready for seven years, it seems.”

“I was writing songs all the time, but there was nothing that made me think: these are good, I should go and do another record. I was appreciating the space, because in the years after Arab Strap finished I was really busy – I did three solo albums, and tours and stuff, and the labels I was on before had me on a bit of a treadmill; they were saying, ‘When’s your next one due?’ So I just had to split up.”

Which isn’t quite the entire story; Middleton the brand may have been on hiatus, but he kept himself busy, releasing two albums of predominately instrumental lo-fi post-rock as Human Don’t Be Angry as well as providing the musical backdrop to David Shrigley’s misanthropic storybook Music and Words.

What this period does hint at, however, is a realignment of relationship with the music industry.

“It’s so much different from when I started,” he admits. “It’s harder now, but also easier. I think it’s a lot more honest, because you could probably make more money 20 years ago when there was still the old method of recording advances and publishing deals. Even for a band like Arab Strap you still got money, and that was money you didn’t necessarily have to pay back – or you couldn’t pay back, because you didn’t get the sales. Now, there’s not so much of that, but it’s more like a cottage industry, and you don’t expect money for nothing.”

Which brings us to Summer of ’13. It’s a warm, engaging record, the arcs of lyrical candour graceful and erudite (“Some words weren’t made for singing, just like some people weren’t made for songs,” he confesses on You & I).

Yet where the material does divert from back catalogue is via an unashamedly pop setting, guitars replaced by rippling keyboards and bouncy, lithe production from Miaoux Miaoux’s Julian Corrie.

It arrives a little unexpected, hinting at reinvention – not that Malc sees it that way.

“To me it’s natural because it’s the music I’ve always listened to. I remember when someone

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first heard the album, and they were like, ‘Oh my god, there’s no guitars, it’s too poppy.’ But this is what I was doing before, with the last few records.

It’s the way it’s been going.

“If anything I was conscious of trying to embrace the spirit of [second solo LP] Into The Woods, because when I did that record I didn’t think about it; it was just recording songs for fun, and with Summer of ’13 it was the same idea. And the fact that I was writing the words and making up the musical parts without thinking of the listener, it freed me up a little to do daft things. I like some R'n'B stuff, so I started doing bits of that, which a Scottish guy in his 40s shouldn’t be doing. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to hear it, so it frees things up – there was no pressure.”

It’s also a record influenced by location, Middleton having exchanged the big bad city for coastal Fife.

“We lived with nothing nearby, nothing to do, and I had a clock-tower room – a stable/quad/ courtyard thing with an old clock tower – which I had for writing and doodling in. It was good, but it was bit too isolated sometimes, and that probably made me write more than I usually would. I wrote lots of songs, but … the older you get – and I write more than I ever did – I say to myself that…”

Your quality threshold increases?

“Yeah. If I see a song repeating what I’ve done before, adopting the same sort of caricature of myself, I tend to bin it and move on. But the location was important, especially with having Gordon living next door. He moved in after I’d been there for about a year, and we got on really well, enjoying each other’s company and music – he’s quite a character.”

“ The labels I was on before had me on a bit of a treadmill; they were saying ‘when’s your next one due?’ So I just had to split up” Malcolm Middleton

Gordon being Gordon Anderson, a.k.a. Lone Pigeon, whose influence and attention to detail (however quirky that detail may be) is another important aspect of Summer of ‘13’s charm.

“There’s a couple of tracks that Gordon’s on.

With the first track – Steps – I had the song acoustically, and it came together quite quickly in the studio. But then Gordon heard it and started getting enthusiastic. So he grabbed it, wanting to

take the whole song into his studio to start doing things, and I just thought, ‘Fuck it, why not? Let’s see what he does.’

“It’s always better when I hear someone else on my songs. I don’t like listening to my songs, but I like the music I make. I like hearing other voices on it. One day I’d just like to make music and have other people… although I’ve been saying that for years.” And he smiles as we mentally fill in the blanks.

In fact, Malcolm smiles far too frequently for someone more often associated with miserabilism; an unfair label that has much to do with his lyrics as his quiet, thoughtful persona. How much of the real Malcolm Middleton does he put on display?

“There is a barrier. In the past it’s always been 100% me on stage, but as that’s evolved it’s almost like I step into myself, which I don’t really want to do as that’s becoming a caricature of myself. But there’s parts of me I wouldn’t put on stage.

If you look at my lyrics and the song titles, you’d think: what a miserable bastard, but day-to-day I’m pretty happy."

And is there an element of catharsis to his lyrics? He pauses. “Probably none. I’ve been asked this before and I always think – well, I never think about this stuff until I’m being interviewed. It’s a good question, but it’s more… I just want to answer it honestly…

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“Catharsis would make you think there’s some kind of finishing point at the end of the record, when it’s not that at all. When I go back to the old stuff it doesn’t feel like me that wrote it, but it seems very wise, when at the time it didn’t feel wise – I was just writing lyrics. This album’s been done over such a long time that it doesn’t feel like there’s some kind of fruition at the end of it. The lyrics are just me, spouting, expressing, seeing how I was feeling at the time. Sometimes, if you write something you’re thinking or feeling you don’t necessarily feel like that again, or every day, but then you’ve tied it into song. It’s kind of a postcard.”

And with that, it’s time to investigate the rest of the bunker – you never know when the fourminute warning will sound (plus there’s a tour to rehearse, Johnny Pictish Trail accompanying him on a jaunt across the UK). It’s a unique, fascinating place – just as Summer of ’13 is a unique and fascinating record.

“I know I’ve got history, but I would prefer this album not to be associated with indie, or alternative, or my music,” Malcolm admits. “I’d rather it went out as a bigger thing.” I think we might concur.

Summer of ‘13 is released on 27 May via Nude Records.

Playing Dundee Beat Generator Live on 26 May; Glasgow Art School on 27 May; Edinburgh Electric Circus on 28 May malcolmmiddleton.com

THE SKINNY

Writing on Addiction This collection of writing looks across the spectrum of addiction: highs and lows, revelry and regret. Acceptance, treatment and recovery. The Skinny introduces abridged extracts, plotting points on the life of a rock’n’roll poet crashing into the cliffs

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he editors of Addicted: Notes from the Belly of the Beast dedicate this collection of writing to ‘Our companions in recovery.’ From this you might imagine needles hanging from arms and bottles held to lips. Shooting and snorting and tipping back the glass. But an addict can just as easily be strung on the end of a cigarette, or the control pad of a games console. Perhaps looking into a full-length mirror at perceived curves they feel just do not belong to their body. Addiction can be to a substance or activity; habit enveloped in ceremony.

In Addicted, Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane have collected brutally honest and brave essays from writers who have struggled with dependencies on everything from gambling to gaming; on sex, food and pharmaceuticals.

And why writers specifically? There’s always been a myth around artists and mind-altering substances – that it’s fuel for creativity, it kicks open those doors of perception for boozy bards and the like. We feel we know and understand those hip bacchanalian artists like Bukowski or Burroughs, who drank or dug drugs. But the truth generally is that talent shines despite rather than due to dependency. This collection does much to debunk the dangerous romantic bullshit, showing the soaring highs – because to ignore them is deceitful – and then, of course, the crashing lows. The shame and embarrassment, burned out friendships amid pools of vomit, damaging memories and a terrifying lack thereof. Thankfully these pieces show that while the fight is long and hard, the war is winnable. Light pierces through, into the dark places that life can sometimes inhabit. We look below at one such story in an abridged extract from Blackout, poet Sheri-D Wilson’s contribution to Addicted.

I wasn’t going to be the goody-goody bunhead from Calgary, Alberta, who married, had kids, and dreamed of all the things she might have seen and done. Oh no. I was going to go out into the world and do something different. I would be the outspoken girl who said and did everything. I would be the one who smoked and drank and swore and did drugs and had wild sex and wrote poetry and

May 2016

made jazz till dawn like the women I had read about.

My behaviour would not be limited by my gender.

Somehow, I was going to reinvent myself from a sweet, starry-eyed, working-class small-town innocent into an irreverent, well-travelled, well-read, exotic, free-spirited jazz poet. I’d be the dame who’d outdo any man. Drink them under the table in a rally of hilarity, vulgarity and intellect of lightspeed and bullwhip slash. The only question was how. My transition from bunhead to bard began when a friend suggested I attend acting school.

Since I had no money, university entrance or other modus operandi, that is what I did. At acting school, the excitement of literature entered the skeleton of my being, making me vibrate with tintinnabulations of euphoric discovery. It was as if all the acting students were coming to life together, and the world stood before us like a big ripe Bing cherry. I would attend classes dressed as Mata Hari or Patti Smith or Virginia Woolf and deliver long diatribes of invented bravado. … One Saturday night I walked across the 10th Street bridge en route to Ten Foot Henry’s, the hip hot spot for Calgary’s late-70s alternative art crowd, with the elongated stride of my nineteen years. The Mistress of Wintriness snapped her subzero fingers and the river steamed in hoarer on the verge of shape-shifting into a stand-still.

My feet moved in sync with my impatience to party, almost percolating a permafreeze tap dance along the glass-glaze runner of the sidewalk. When the secret door to Henry’s opened, a blast of warm air and loud music came cascading out onto the street, sweet as a long swoon. I paid my cover, and I was off to the rampage. Postdisco inferno on a Dionysian night. Nothing could stop my strut. I drank shooters from my body flask for the feeling of contraband inebriation. Smoked Cheech and Chong spliff, and snorted lines as long as Molly Bloom’s soliloquy from oversized purse mirrors in toilet stalls. Bodies snaked sensual as a belly dancer’s undulation around the curves of beatitude, free love, passionate poetry and r'n'b loud enough to boom through my bones like a Goliath timpani. There were madcap projections

of art on the walls, couches downstairs for the greenroom-cool and me and the band. Everyone seemed to have a flair for the unacceptable. This was the scene. I was in it – and I was out of it.

Totally. I remember someone handing me a joint, and then there was… a Cat on a Hot Tin Roof click, and then there was… spinning, and then there was… nothing. I don’t remember the river that took me home that night, but somehow that’s where I ended up.

“ Smoked Cheech and Chong spliff, and snorted lines as long as Molly Bloom’s soliloquy” Sheri-D Wilson

The next afternoon I was in the bathtub dreaming of the South Seas, looking deeply into the postcard of the Cook Islands taped, with curling corners, beside the four-legged tub. Every hue of tropical blue was trying to distract me from a metalbending headache when my roommate knocked.

“There’s someone here for dinner.” “Okay, I’ll be right out,” I bellowed, before whooshing underwater. I didn’t have any idea who was coming for dinner. Blub, blub, blub. I hadn’t invited anyone.

But the doorbell kept ringing and ringing. When I finally dressed and entered the living room there it was, an octopus with a bottle in each arm – eight men and eight bottles of wine. Not bad for a girl who couldn’t get a date in high school. A scene from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, happening in my own living room. May the best sucker win, I remember thinking, may the best sucker win.

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Words: Alan Bett Illustration: Sarah Kirk

… I knew by now that my drinking was out of my air-traffic control, but I didn’t know how to put myself out of my misery. I knew I wanted the noise to stop, but I couldn’t locate the stereo. There had been a time when I had control over the alcohol, and then there was a turning point when alcohol took control over me, completely. Initially the blackouts had happened only when I was drinking. But I had started having gaps in consciousness even when I was sober. Everything had become muted and distorted, as if I were living underwater. One of my last full-on drinkathons occurred in Montreal.

All I remember of that trip is arriving with several thousand dollars and leaving with none. After I quit drinking I ran into several people who saw me at that time, but I have no recollection of them or of the events. One of those people, a poet friend, was still horrified when I bumped into him a year later. He said he’d had to leave the party during my binge-fest in Montreal because he couldn’t watch me any more. He told me he’d actually wept.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell me what he’d witnessed and, to tell the truth, I didn’t want to know.

When you’re playing blackout roulette, it’s difficult to remember how many clicks there’ve been.

How many blanks does the gun hold? … I knew I was in big trouble, and I felt ugly to the core. My life no longer seemed humorous or intriguing. I was utterly sick of being sick: sick of puking my guts out into a pail beside my bed every second night; sick of crawling up the front stairs of my building and sleeping on the landing ’cause I couldn’t make it to my door; sick of apologizing for things I couldn’t remember I’d said and done; sick of the massive phone bills for latenight drunk-o-logues; sick of the excuses and the accidents and the ambulances. But most of all, I felt sick of being someone I wasn’t. I was sick of the Sheri-D Show.

Addicted is out now, published by Greystone Books, RRP £12.99 Sheri-D Wilson has published six collections of poetry. Her most recent, Re:Zoom (Frontenac House), won the 2006 Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry. Sheri-D is the founder and artistic director of the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival. sheridwilson.com

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THE SKINNY

Inflammatory Language Joe Hill – aka Joseph Hillstrom King – has followed up his hit novels Horns and NOS 4R2 with the post-apocalyptic tale The Fireman.

Ahead of its publication and a visit to Scotland, he talks BBQ babies and end-of-the-world empathy. Oh, and Slade

Photo: Joe Hill

Interview: Ross McIndoe

“I

f there was a benevolent god, Slade would have been playing arenas in America.”

And with that, the fundamental question of the existence of a higher power is put to bed. Slade never made it big in America while Quiet Riot – “a bad photocopy of a bad photocopy of Slade” – stole their act and ran. God is dead and has been since at least 1983.

US genre author Joe Hill is a self-proclaimed nerd, out and proud. As a fellow geek, probably the best thing about sitting down to riff with him is the way conversation bounces all across the web of pop culture, riding synaptic flares from new novel The Fireman to his love of the 60s British Invasion. From the Cumberbacklash against Benedict’s new accent in the latest Doctor Strange trailer, via the potentially destructive effects of a group mentality, to the importance of making time in your life for Dwayne Johnson’s Tumblr photos.

All the better when those conversational wanderings stumble into definitive answers to major philosophical quandaries.

Talking via webcam from his home across the pond, Hill is burning brightly with the energy of a guy with lots to say, and just enough time to get most of it said before returning to the three million other things he’s got to do that day. He jumps up as we get started to adjust the lighting while admitting: “Normally when I’m videochatting with someone I’m not wearing anything except my horse mask, so this’ll be a new experience.”

He rocks from side to side like an excited Weebl when he gets the chance to gently troll his interviewer’s homeland.

“I know you guys love the idea of your independence but, you know, it’s the 21st century and I think it’s time to admit that you are pinned under the imperial boot,” he teases, visibly pleased with his mischief. “At the end of the day, you are in the clutches of the crown every bit as much as the Queen’s corgis.” Appearing magically on a monitor from across the globe to issue gleeful taunts, it’s suddenly no secret where this writer of things both sardonic and demonic gets his inspiration from.

Write what you know.

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Hill’s new novel The Fireman (an allusion to Ray Bradbury’s 1953 classic Fahrenheit 451, the front cover of which is emblazoned across Hill’s t-shirt while we talk) will be released this June and revolves around a plague of spores which swarms the globe, infecting those it touches with a condition called Dragonscale that causes them to burst into flames if they become overly stressed – kind of a catch-22, what with the inherent stressfulness of potential spontaneous combustion. A lot of what follows plays pretty close to the dystopian blueprint: society crumbles, militias arise, cults form and everyday life becomes a desperate scramble to survive. A genre writer by nature – Hill previously wrote the horror-fantasy Horns (filmed starring Daniel Radcliffe) and the out-andout horror NOS 4R2 – he happily works within the post-apocalyptic framework while also aiming to write back against some elements of it.

“One of the things that The Fireman, is is a reaction to a certain type of apocalyptic story which seems to insist that when society collapses people will stop caring about kindness. That somehow empathy and humanity, decency, a sense of humour, affection; somehow all these things are just luxuries, they’re just optional. And I think that’s a little bit reductive. I think that empathy is not optional; it’s how we’re wired. So I wanted to write a story where we had some of the familiar end-of-theworld tropes but people aren’t cooking babies over the campfire.”

Which is not to say that Hill’s picture of a world on fire is all hugs and drum circles with everyone sitting down to talk about their problems in a calm and rational manner. Some characters do that.

Some reach for a twelve-gauge, a mask and a megaphone. (For the latter, those whose response to adversity is to turn violently on the people around them, Hill admits that “I drew my inspiration from the Trump rallies”). When things go south in one of Hill’s novels, they usually do so in explosive, bone-crunching, blood-spurting fashion, with one hero in particular – like Iggy in Horns or the titular Fireman – pretty much getting the almighty shit kicked out of them for a handful of pages at a

time. I mention this and Hill picks up immediately on what he’s really being asked – “Oh right, am I a sadist?” – before moving on to talk about the vital role these ass-kickings play in his creative process.

“What I am is insecure. My fear is that there is so much to distract us now: there’s so much interesting stuff on Tumblr and YouTube, there’s so much binge-worthy TV, there’s a new Marvel movie out every weekend. It’s a real fight to get a reader to invest time in a book. And so I have faith in suspense. If you take a character that readers feel fond of, and you put them through the wringer page after page after page, people will stay with you. So if the characters have to absorb a lot of punishment, that’s just the price they have to pay to keep people interested. Sorry!”

“ ... the familiar end-of-the-world tropes but people aren’t cooking babies over the campfire” Joe Hill

And so Hill’s novels tear forward Mad Maxstyle, with firing-on-all-cylinders momentum, leaving a character hanging by their fingernails at the end of every other chapter and then watching them crawl to safety with just enough time to make another cheeky Stones reference before the ground falls out beneath them and they’re plunging towards the inferno once again. Whether it comes from insecurity or not, it takes real skill to sustain that kind of intensity for novels that roar past the 500-page mark, and it’s a quality which Hill has drawn from the types of story he

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himself enjoys: “So many of the stories I like are relentless. I love the very first Indiana Jones film, which sometimes seems like a single action sequence which lasts from the opening frames to the final frames. I mean, it just never slows down.”

The balance of light and dark that this all-action approach entails is also vital to Hill’s style, bringing to life characters with the heart and humour to make the reader root for them, then unleashing all manner of hell to tear them apart.

He does it with a devilish sense of humour that can spark in even the darkest, dankest places: the aforementioned baby-over-the-campfire scenario is a reference to a scene where exactly that happens in Cormac McCarthy’s acclaimed dystopian novel The Road, and which Hill describes as “either the most horrifying moment in any single post-apocalyptic novel, or the funniest. Maybe both at the same time, I’m not sure.”

The flipside to his tendency to revel wryly in the darkness is the indomitable decency his heroes display, even as the world around them catches fire. This is never more cheerfully embodied than by his latest heroine, Harper.

“I wanted to write a story where, in spite of everything, the lead character is basically optimistic and a hopeful person, and likes other people and wants to be helpful and loves to laugh and probably sings too loud in the shower. Part of what I think I found out writing The Fireman is that optimism is not so easily crushed.”

He writes characters with kindness at their core and usually leaves at least one of the good guys standing at the end, returning always to a heartfelt belief that at least not all the people all the time are monsters. It just so happens that the ones he likes to write about tend to have at least a little monster in them.

The Fireman is out on 17 May on Kindle, RRP £9.99 The Hardback is out on 7 Jun, published by Gollancz, RRP £20 Joe Hill is visiting Scotland on 9 Jun to launch The Fireman at Sauchiehall St Waterstones in Glasgow (1pm), and Blackwells Bookshop, Edinburgh (6.30pm)

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Garden of Earthly Delights

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, From Here to Ear, 2015

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ow in its eighth year, the reopening of Jupiter Artland in May is becoming as much a sign of summer (at least in the art calendar) as degree shows and the Transmission party. Founded by Robert and Nicky Wilson, the park houses their private art collection across 100 acres. Still a work in progress, Jupiter already comprises of 30 sitespecific permanent works from well-known artists like Andy Goldsworthy, Anya Gallaccio, Laura Ford and Anish Kapoor.

14 May sees the beginning of their spring programme, with newly installed works as well as the award-winning existing collection being opened to the public again. For one, there is Céleste BoursierMougenot’s Songbirds. “That work is a big deal,” says director Nicky Wilson. “Electrified guitars have been set up flat in a room with no ledges. Then 50 zebra finches are let loose and they start to learn it’s their habitat. The birds get used to perching on them. Each time they move, the amplifiers produce a little sound, so they’re not traumatised.

They slowly create sound and music with their perching and their movement. And it’s a rather lovely, eccentric room.”

The programme also features late Turner prize nominee Helen Chadwick. “I’m her number one fan,” Nicky explains. Made from casts of men and women pissing in the snow, Nicky “borrowed it from [Chadwick’s] foundation because it would be so

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perfect for Jupiter. … The Piss Flowers have this strong feminist narrative, but equally they are white flowers and are very deliberately childlike daisies.”

Thinking about the Piss Flowers in the context of day-trippers in the park and expanded art audience this encourages, is there any danger of offence being taken to Chadwick’s work? “The Piss Flowers are very quickly understood as a beautiful joyous action," Nicky explains. "They look just like wet sand dribbling between your hands, or pouring a drink into snow or a slush puppy. There’s something about the visceral and bodily fluid that we might think of as slightly yucky but is really fascinating.”

Along with Boursier-Mougenot and Chadwick, new work also comes from Scottish poet and artist Alec Finlay, who will install ladders around the community orchard. As a permanent work, it will encompass the native apple and plum trees in the grounds.

Later in the summer, from 30 July, the summer programme is unveiled. As well as works from Glasgow-based Hayley Tompkins in the Tin Roof gallery there are works from French artists Caroline Mesquita and Christian Boltanski. Mesquita will scatter figurines and fragments through the woods, and Boltanski presents his first permanent work in Britain. Along with two exhibitions in the galle-

Interview: Adam Benmakhlouf

ries, he will attach hundreds of Japanese bells to long stems planted in the ground. He describes the bells’ chiming as “music of the souls.”

Within the variety and diversity of the new works, Nicky remarks that “everything is very natural this year. We’ve got Alec Finlay picking apples, the birds in captivity, the flowers made out of piss in the snow and the woven willow objects [mammoth wicker baskets by Dutch artist Ditte Gantris].

Nature is being impersonated, they are quirky and music takes … poking a little bit at the celebrity of nature and its power. In each one of the pieces, the artists are talking about something serious throughout this childlike imaginative emulation of nature. There’s not a narrative between them, but there’s a thread that’s drawn.”

While Nicky thinks of the theme of nature as joining Finlay, Chadwick, Gantris and BoursierMougenot, “quite often you see that in the group shows that are created here. The artist has taken the opportunity to respond to something outside that then gets fragmented and reworked in terms of the discussion of nature.”

Any talk of thematic coherence might give the wrong impression of some kind of house style.

For Nicky, it’s important that Jupiter’s not “curated in the way that galleries with four walls are. We don’t have an over-message. Only work that Robert and I really like will show at Jupiter, so there’s more of a personal journey behind it. We’re not talking the direct curator’s roles in that sense. We show work that’s suitable to Jupiter and are finding out what that means.”

Just shy of its first decade, Nicky considers Jupiter as “very young. It’s very ambitious and it’s got a big heart.” Of special mention, “We really love the education programme, we do lots and lots of it. It’s become central to the whole output of the parkland.” All of the money raised by ticket and event proceeds goes directly into providing free access and resources to schools, universities and community groups from across the UK. Their ambition is for every child in Scotland to have the opportunity to come and see Artland.

Speaking of having her family home in the middle of an art park, for the Wilsons, the work “is a manifestation of our life. Every day I look at the Marc Quinn [Lovebomb, a 12-metre high orchid] come rain or shine. So I really live with the work. I suppose that new work comes in and refreshes our palette.” Nevertheless, when it comes to the permanent work, “You’re committed, it’s like a long term relationship. It’s not friends with benefits with these works, and we all know the difference…

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you start to go deeper [with the permanent works], and luxuriating.”

This personal experience comes to saturate all of the running and programme decisions they make. “It’s [Jupiter] run by a family, and the thing about family is it’s not about personalities. Instead of being run by public money or whatever, everything is very personal. You’ve got individuals working on it. I’m not saying all publicly run places are lacking that. It’s just that Jupiter is on a different pathway or trajectory, it’s got a bit more eccentricity to it.”

“ Electrified guitars have been set up flat in a room with no ledges. Then 50 zebra finches are let loose” Opening every year, and lending itself well to daylong trips and wandering, there’s a different texture of audience experience as well. “Anybody who goes around with their eyes open has a favourite thing. Then they might walk past and it changes. It might disappoint one day, and then it’s fabulous and charming the next day. It’s about that, it’s the same as in relationships with human beings.”

As well as the different relationship between the works and time within the park, Nicky also thinks of the site of the park as an important feature. “This was the powerhouse of industry at one point. The beautiful landscapes have been chopped up at one point by new housing schemes.”

There’s already a sense of interrupted nature, even without the large-scale sculpture park.

Overall, Nicky hopes “we’re a bit challenging, a bit brave, a bit difficult, lovely and generous, shocking sometimes. All those things I think are a benefit to our audience in a away. Lots of young families come and lots of teenagers. I think also we just have a magic quality to coming here, the whole day is an experience. People will come here for a long time, if they can.”

Jupiter Artland opens Saturday 14 May, adult ticket £8.50, student £4.50, concession £6

Helen Chadwick, Piss Flowers, 1991-1992, installation image Frieze Sculpture Park, 2013

THE SKINNY

Credit: FXP Photography

Credit: Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

What does it feel like living in Scotland’s only contemporary sculpture park and waking up to a Marc Quinn every day? Nicky Wilson tells all and gives some details about the upcoming spring and summer programmes before Jupiter Artland reopens this month

May 2016

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Exploring the AudioVisual With May’s interim degree show approaching, The Skinny talks to staff, alumni and students about The Glasgow School of Art’s Masters programme in Sound for the Moving Image Interview: Duncan Harman

“M

usic is the cup that holds the wine of silence. Sound is that cup, but empty.

Noise is that cup, but broken.”

It’s an old Robert Fripp quote, the King Crimson guitarist’s words hanging rather awkwardly against the fluid contexts of our aural environment. “I don’t know if he’s trying to elevate music above the overall sound experience, which may be natural for a musician to do,” laughs Ronan Breslin, Programme Leader for The Glasgow School of Art’s Master’s course in Sound for the Moving Image. “But I think sound encompasses the whole gamut, from music to field recordings, sound design to environmental sound, sound ecology, sound art.

“It’s a huge scope, and the interesting thing is that it’s become a much more serious area of academic study than it was around 20 years ago.”

Dynamic, holistic, propagating fertile relationships with the moving image; it’s this understanding of sound that helps to underpin the programme. Aimed at postgraduate students wishing to explore and develop creative practice through sound design, music composition and production, the MDes course provides an academic framework within which – as Ronan explains – technical knowledge serves as a platform for expression and creative experimentation, whether working with film, animation, television, theatre, electronic games or visual art.

“I don’t think there’s been a student who didn’t have a musical background,” he says. “But there’s more than music; it’s quite a broad church of interests, some students coming from the more traditional sound engineering background, others arriving via fine arts or music composition, which means that there are a wide variety of aspirations on the course. We also accept graduates with unrelated degrees who can demonstrate a serious commitment to sound or music or both.

“The focus is on sound, but students are encouraged to make their own visual material, whether narrative-based or more experimental, and explore the synergy between sound and visuals.”

A three-stage programme covering theory, research and independent critical reflection, it’s also designed not to be prescriptive, the set projects – such as re-engineering badly compromised sound from broadcast television – serving to empower rather than confine. “How does sound design take a fairly mundane documentary and turn it into something people want to watch?”

Ronan ponders. “Poor sound is poor sound, whether it’s on TV or in a gallery or in an installation, so we do focus on the technical side of sound.”

But as alumnus Kevin Murray – nominated for BAFTA Scotland’s New Talent award for 2016 for his film Paperclips, which was made as part of his coursework – notes: “I liked that whilst you obviously had certain criteria to meet to ensure

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a pass, there was a lot of freedom to explore avenues that interested you. I was able to tailor the course to suit me and what I wanted to study.”

“At the end of stage one, all students have to make a short film with sound as the main driver,” Ronan continues. “We get some fascinating pieces of work, some very much narrative-based, others that are experimental.

“We allow students room to manoeuvre and develop the ideas that they’re most interested in.

That’s especially pertinent at the final stage, where students actually develop their own Masters project. We get such a wide variety of work, ranging from the very technical, such as coding an ambisonic soundtrack for a computer game, to others who do fascinating audio-interactive things – films with a strong sound focus.”

It’s this virgin-canvas approach to the definition of sound that encourages such a diverse range of work. For instance, there’s Shannon Bolen, currently a music teacher in the US. “My thesis, titled Integrating Sound Literacy in Secondary Education, gave me an opportunity to explore a potential curriculum for teaching sound literacy; the ability to listen, create, and comprehend sounds within a broad range of contexts,” she says.

“Before studying the course I understood the relationship between music and moving image, but did not understand the relationship between moving image and sound. Learning how to create and plan a sound-driven film felt like inspiration had a new path to freely flow and explore. I’m less afraid to experiment and try new concepts, and I am more confident in my choices. With an extended vocabulary coming from several different perspectives of studying sound, I can usually keep track of what sounds I imagine.”

Meanwhile, Jessica Argo’s experience on the Sound for the Moving Image programme led to a PhD analysing reactions to sound within sensory rehabilitation, her final MDes project comprising eight compositions reflecting sound’s interaction with body and soul.

“I really wanted to get to grips with the musical rules of emotion; the keys – the tritone, the Devil’s chord – but also the psychoacoustics; what acoustic qualities would set people off, whether it's nails on a chalkboard or babies crying,” she explains.

Argo also expands on the student experience – surely the crux of any academic pathway. “You’re

exposed to so many different cultural influences,” she says. (The student profile is high on international intake.) “But also to people with different skill levels. I played cello and taught myself video, but I didn’t know what [digital audio workstation] Pro Tools was, so there were people with technical skills that I learned a great deal from. The point of this course is that you’d be equipped to go out into the real world.”

“ What’s very gratifying is that the course has developed a really good reputation amongst sound professionals” Ronan Breslin

Ah yes, the real world. Academia – and postgraduate research in particular – doesn’t always carry the sharpest relationship with the world beyond the studio, where creativity all too frequently falls subservient to societal ‘norms’.

Ronan Breslin again: “In this industry, freelance working skills are essential. We emphasise that and discuss, ‘How do you make contacts?’ It’s really quite pleasant when you’re sitting at home, watching a documentary on TV, and you suddenly see ‘sound recorded’ by one of the students, or ‘sound mixed’ by one of the ex-students who you haven’t seen for a couple of years. I do try to keep in touch with everyone and find out what they’re doing.

“What’s very gratifying is that the course has developed a really good reputation amongst sound professionals – we’ve got ex-students working in just about every single post-production facility in Glasgow, not to mention the wider world.

We also have a large number of students who go on to work in other disciplines, such as sound for computer games. But there are also people who’ve

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gone on and expanded their artistic practice, such as Raydale Dower, a previous winner of Creative Scotland’s Vital Spark award.”

Ronan talks enthusiastically and passionately about the programme, as does every student – past and present – The Skinny chats to; a fact that speaks for itself. Take Kevin Walls, winner of a 2015 BAFTA Scotland New Talent award for his film Identical: “The hands-on approach of learning was a big draw for me, as was the opportunity to use the professional-level facilities available at the Digital Design Studio. It seemed like the obvious first step in pursuing a career in sound for film.”

Or current student Aiste Veseckaite: “That the lecturers still work in the industry is a good factor. I think that this connection and understanding of industry, as well as newly gained skills, will be key in the development of my career.”

Based at the School’s Digital Design Studio, a pebble-throw from the BBC Scotland complex, the facilities are extensive, featuring 5.1 surround sound dubbing studios and an ambisonics laboratory, which enables students to experiment in immersive, three-dimensional sound techniques.

Not that the course celebrates hardware fetishism for its own sake; the final projects disprove any idea on that count. With the interim degree show in May, and the final degree show in September, we’ll all be able to see (and hear) that for ourselves.

Or to quote Taylor Buntain, another current student: “What I love about the MDes Sound is that the emphasis is on your practical work and justification of approach rather than very dry written work. Reports and essays have their place but I did plenty of them during my undergraduate degree and am much happier to be creating something every time and having it as another piece in my portfolio.”

The degree shows, then: if you happen to see him, do invite Robert Fripp.

Students from postgraduate programmes at the Digital Design Studio present their interim degree show on Thursday 19 May 2016 at The Art School, Scott Street from 7pm.

For information on the event visit gsa.ac.uk/ddsinterimshow2016 gsa.ac.uk/sound

THE SKINNY

The More Things Change Duncan Marquiss presents a solo show at DCA, with moving image, drawings and paintings. He discusses his take on radical evolutionary science and its relationship with American pop music charts

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his month, Duncan Marquiss formally returns to Dundee. After completing his undergraduate at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and continuing his practice in Glasgow, he’s now presenting a solo show in Dundee Contemporary Arts. At the centre of the exhibition of drawings and moving image works, there’s his Margaret Tait Award film. Titled Copy Errors, radical evolutionary biology overlaps with recent American pop music history and his own footage of fossils and vinyl records.

One of the interviewees, Armande Marie Leroi recently wrote a paper about the evolution of music, trying to apply the tools and ideas of biology to studying culture. Says Marquiss, “It’s a sort of number crunching look at the data, and a total step away from ethnomusicological study, which would be a much more meticulous approach of living and studying where people make music and what music means to those people.”

For Leroi, Marquiss suggests this kind of hands-on approach isn’t as interesting as looking at the numbers. “He would say a certain drum sound came in the 80s and a lot of people copied it… He talks about hip-hop… There’s a moment when it comes in and suddenly becomes the most influential music.” These findings come from Leroi’s analysis of the American music charts from the 60s to 2010.

Dividing music history between similar-sounding periods and short bursts of new developments, Leroi’s work applies the evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium. In the 70s, scientist Niles Eldredge radically (and controversially at the time) broke with the Darwinian idea of slow and gradual evolution, Eldredge studied fossils to find “change happens suddenly then you have millennia when species don’t change that much. There’s a kind of criticism of Darwin for being Victorian and English, and his theory of slow change reflecting a certain school of economics.”

In some ways, however, Eldredge is pitted against Leroi, the former voicing suspicion towards blending the humanities (studying music) and the sciences (his biological theories). Not setting out to identify any winners, Marquiss clarifies, “I suppose the film could arrive at many conclusions

but I find the broader subject really fascinating.

Maybe the film was an attempt to learn more about it and meet the scientists first hand… to ask them questions with my own kind of thoughts.”

Getting into a more personal genealogy, and perhaps tracing back some of his own research interests, Marquiss remembers his own undergraduate experience of Dundee when “music was a huge influence and the thing that brought a lot of people together.” More broadly, “loads of people came out of the college and they went on to make great work. That’s the thing I’ve taken from Dundee, a lot of really strong friendships with peers. People who I learned a lot from as artists, and seen their practice develop beyond Dundee.

It’s tricky for artists to stay in Dundee, with Glasgow and Edinburgh being so close.”

“ Change happens suddenly then you have millennia when species don’t change that much”

Joyce Cairns, Shoes from Madjdanek, 2002-3

Unenlightened Perspectives Bill Hare and Andrew Patrizio open their new curation and art historical project Scottish Endarkenment this month. Bill Hare talks here about his new take on post-war Scottish Art Interview: Adam Benmakhlouf

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Duncan Marquiss

Despite the reminiscing and discussion of the high level theorising in Copy Errors, the title’s a nod to the continuing “mistakes” and material experimentation that pushes at and makes up Marquiss’ practice. He doesn’t think of this errorchasing as distinctive to his own practice, or even the arts. It’s “playing about with the tools that makes the ideas work. Thinking beyond even any single species, for all organisms it’s mutations or variations that result from copying errors, these kinds of mistakes in the reproduction of information.” As a succinct summation of his work: “I’m trying to copy happy accidents.”

Duncan Marquiss, Copying Errors, Dundee Contemporary Arts, 14 May-3 Jul

rtists like Joan Eardley, Douglas Gordon, John Bellany and Ian Hamilton Finlay together might all make up something like a 20th century Scottish canon. Along with 36 odd other well-known historical and contemporary artists, they’re all part of Scottish Endarkenment: Art and Unreason 1945 to the Present in Dovecot Gallery.

Curated by art historians Bill Hare and Andrew Patrizio, this exhibition has a serious go at reframing Scottish art from 1945 to present day. This new project emerged from Hare and Patrizio’s mutual interest in “the kind of subject matter that these artists have been drawn to,” Hare explains. “If you think of people like John Bellany for example, they’re challenging, disturbing and provocative.”

For Hare, the turning point for this kind of artwork came after WWII. Not until then did the visual arts meet “the challenge of taking on these kinds of themes. After the war there’s a sudden outburst of artists that are much more courageous with the subjects and themes they deal with.”

Though coming after all the economic booms and dandyism of the Glasgow Boys, Mackintoshes and Scottish Colourists that saw in the 20th century, post-1945, Hare sees the strongest artistic forebears coming instead from Scottish literary figures. “If you take one of the big stars of recent Scottish art, Douglas Gordon, he makes clear reference to [darker-minded authors like] James Hogg and Robert Louis Stevenson.” Extending this line of influence, he also considers the importance of the work of novelist Muriel Spark to the post-war Endarkenment.

With its 40 artists, the emphasis shifts from singular personalities to thematic exploration and having space for subthemes. As one example, Hare describes “the military dangers that threaten our existence. That means we’ve got a couple of Eduardo Paolozzi works dealing with the nuclear threat and Ian Hamilton Finlay’s Et in Arcadia Ego.

Duncan Marquiss, Still from Evolutionary Jerks & Gradualist Creeps, 2016

May 2016

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There’s a tank that looks like a tomb or sarcophagus in a landscape – the notion is even in paradise you will find death and destruction.”

While ‘Scottish’ appears in the title, birthplace and residence aren’t much concern. “Most artists don’t make any claim to national unity.”

Though it might be uncontroversial to think Scottish art can go and come from anywhere, he admits that when it comes to setting some kind of solid boundaries, “that’s always an awkward question that’s asked about Scottish art.”

Specifically considering exhibitors who left to make it in London during this period of Endarkenment, “they didn’t go to England. No Scottish artists went to Scunthorpe to develop their career.

They went to London in the same way English and Welsh artists went to London. It’s the big metropolis that has contacts with the international art world.”

Also important to Scottish Endarkenment was fair representation of men and women artists.

Nevertheless, Hare mentions that while “there’s a strong female presence in this exhibition,” he goes on: “We didn’t do it consciously, we didn’t set a quota.”

Allowing for their Scottish Endarkenment thesis to extend beyond the visual arts, there will be a conference on the concept on Friday 17 June.

“Invited speakers are coming to present on subjects visual and non-visual, including literature and philosophy and thinking beyond the postwar period.”

With big ambitions for their idea of the counter-Enlightenment trend in Scotland after the war, the curators are looking to spark a shift in the perception of the period. Says Hare, “Hopefully it can start making links between a lot of disparate things like Scottish literature and scientific investigation… in the same way the Scottish Enlightenment is seen as a cultural phenomenon.”

Scottish Endarkenment: Art and Unreason 1945 to the Present in Dovecot Gallery, 13 May to 29 Aug

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Credit: Stuart Johnstone

Interview: Adam Benmakhlouf

Emanuel Labour Oliver Emanuel talks his upcoming World War One trilogy, finding a balance between opera and theatre, and Netflix before the 306:Dawn takes the stage this month Interview: Emma Ainley-Walker

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he centenary of the First World War began in 2014, sparking a slew of remembrance across the fields of art, film and politics. From May 2016 going through to 2018, Scottish theatre is joining up and honouring the men who fought in the war and the women connected with them. With a new trilogy of plays produced by the National Theatre of Scotland, playwright Oliver Emanuel looks at the story of the 306 men who were shot by our own side for cowardice, desertion and other military offences, and the 90-year-long campaign to pardon them. Taking a break from rehearsals to share coffee with The Skinny over at the Scottish Opera cafe, Emanuel talks about his reasons behind writing the play, the shape it would take, and the influence of Netflix on how and why we consume theatre.

“I feel quite strongly that the stories that we tell ourselves matter. Now that no one from the First World War is alive – the last person who fought in the first world war is dead – I think how we remember these things affects us today,” Emanuel says on the importance of honouring this centenary. “Every year there’s the poppies and every year there’s lots of talk about heroism and bravery of the men, and I think how we remember the First World War is how we think about the military today. We talk about heroes and we talk about bravery and sacrifice; I suppose what I was interested in exploring was a story that made people think about things in a different way.

“I’m suspicious of single narratives, and the single narrative of a just war where heroes fought…

I don’t know if I completely trust that. I’m interested in asking how do we remember and why do we remember certain bits of stories but not other bits? A lot of these men were almost amateur soldiers. They were stuck in trenches and

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they were bombarded day and night. How would we feel in that situation? In trying to imagine what it’s like to be in that situation, the notions of heroism and cowardice don’t really hold much water. I guess I’m asking the question, ‘Is there such a thing as a hero and is there such a thing as a coward?’”

Trying to ask that question within as authentic a setting as possible has led to many unique or stand-out features of the play, not least of which is a young cast. “You’ve got to remember that that’s what was so shocking about the First World War – how young everyone was. One of the main stories in the play is about a young Scottish guy called Joseph Byers who was 17 when he joined up and had only two weeks of training – from the time he joined up in Glasgow to the time he was executed in France, it was only three months. To have young performers playing that role, I think, is quite powerful. [It’s] really exciting that we get to represent someone on stage and tell their story in the most authentic way we can.”

However, what might be most atmospheric and most different about this play is the setting: a Perthshire barn. “It’s a very calm and tranquil place,” as the author describes it, which may seem to many the opposite of what a war story should be. To Emanuel, however, it is perfect.

“When we started researching it Gareth [Williams, composer] and I went to the Somme. All the cemeteries are at the edge of fields and these fields are being farmed, so you’re standing in a cemetery where hundreds of people died and there’s a tractor going past you. When we were looking for somewhere to do this we always felt we wanted somewhere outside, somewhere really agricultural, so we’re doing it in a barn on a real farm in Perthshire in that area.” He stresses that this

choice is far from a gimmick. “It’s not like it’s pornographic; we’re not trying to throw people back into the First World War. It’s not a theme park. It’s a poetic response.”

Along with location, music is also of huge significance to the piece, and Emanuel describes his working relationship with co-creator Williams as being born out of a desire to create “opera that theatre people liked and a piece of theatre that opera people liked.”

“ It’s not a theme park. It's a poetic response” Oliver Emanuel

“When we approached this,” he explains, “I wrote a play and then we tried to work out where moments of music and song could happen that felt organic, where it wouldn’t be strange for someone to sing. Obviously the strangest thing about opera or musicals is when someone just starts singing for no apparent reasons” – as Emanuel perfectly illustrates by partly singing his answers in the busy cafe – “so we’ve tried to find reasons why that would happen and hopefully we’ve done that. We’ve got Gareth’s knowledge of opera on one side and my theatre knowledge, and putting that together we’ve kind of created something that’s a bit of a hybrid form. It’s not a musical and it’s not an opera or a play; it’s somewhere in between.”

Music will be provided onstage (or in-barn) by the Edinburgh based Red Note Ensemble with

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a piano, a violin and a cello. “There’s singing, there’s movement, there’s acting, there’s drama. For me it’s really important that theatre has everything, especially if we’re going to drag people away from Netflix and iPlayer. You have to have something that’s really special and important and I hope that this show will,” Emanuel half-jokes.

The third trilogy in as many years to be created by the National Theatre of Scotland, it’s hard not to note the rising trend of what’s been dubbed ‘box set theatre’ by some. “I do think it’s the nature of how we watch things now,” Emanuel says.

“On Netflix we can just binge watch the whole of House of Cards – as audiences we’re now allowed to watch things that are big and massive and take time.” However, he doesn’t see this direct influence on his own work, even if it is trickling from our computer screens and onto the stage. “The fact that it’s a trilogy is kind of an accident from an artistic point of view. It felt like the play had to be big regardless of whether it was three parts or one. It’s really delightful to be able to do three plays, especially because I feel as a writer you’re always trying to do better, to work out what works and what doesn’t work. We’ll see part one and that will affect how part two happens.”

So if you can commit to four seasons of House of Cards, you can (and should) commit to three years of theatre. The 306:Dawn is set to be an exciting beginning to three important plays. From serious historical focus to the less serious Netflix comparisons, chatting with Emanuel seems much like the plays will be: passionate, insightful, funny and important – with some singing. These productions are not to be missed.

The 306:Dawn, Perth Concert Hall, 24 May - 11 Jun, times vary (arrive one hour before to bus to the venue) nationaltheatrescotland.com/content/default.

THE SKINNY

May 2016

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Josée Aubin Ouellette J

enter, but the music reverberating off the walls makes it seem a bit warmer. The space has a ceramic, wood and concrete palate of white, red and blue. The cool sunlight filters in through the cracked glass ceiling. You become conscious of preserving your own body heat. Please remove your shoes and try to get comfortable, says the singing voice. It’s a clear but imprecise instruction.

You obey, sitting down to remove your shoes poolside on a familiar skim-milk-coloured plastic bench. This position will be your intermission.

The architecture, too, is silently instructional.

I offer you a hot water bottle and some slippers, in case you get cold. You shuffle down the black theatre stairs onto the slick bleached tiles of the empty pool, assessing the work. An exercise

class? Mom and baby yoga? Mindfulness workshop? Erotic hospice?

The next track begins with a drone, then a heartbeat pulse comes from the speaker box.

Talk to me… let me hear your body talk...

You settle into a reclining position on a kidneyshaped piece of foam. Did you just get a text message? You can almost see your breath when you exhale. I bring you a blue moving blanket and say, in a semi-rehearsed tone that originally I wanted to use electric blankets but it wasn’t allowed for health and safety reasons. Even though the pool is empty, we couldn’t write it as a sentence in the risk assessment report.

Please consider your contact surfaces.

Remember… this is a material cuddle. The material is re-bonded high-density foam. Small bits of dif-

ferent colours are glued and pressed together in a giant mould. Its beauty is incidental. With articulate formal integrity, it is what it is – brute and seductive, malleable yet supportive, surface and substance. When you hold it, it holds back.

This stuff and your stuff… all thinking, feeling, and doing the same thing.

You adjust your position, reaching for a nearby U-shaped block and placing it behind your head.

The same reverberating drone sound returns, and you wonder about the music. This one is a lover’s lamentation. Baby please put your phone down…

I know you’re there next to me, your body is mine, but your mind is away… so please, bring them back to me, your body your mind, your mind and your body, cause your mind’s online baby.

Photo: Erik Osberg

osée Aubin Ouellette is a Canadian artist, from Edmonton, Alberta, living in Glasgow, where she graduated with an MFA from the GSA in 2012.

Upcoming projects: UK premiere screening of experimental collaborative film Prospecthills with Erik Osberg, at the CCA Cinema, Glasgow, 16 May, 7pm, free event.

Mineral Supplements, a performance, ceramics residency, and group show at SWG3 in October 2016 with Jennifer Bailey, Aideen Doran, Suzanne Déry, Lauren Hall, and Claire Shallcross.

Welcome to Body Blocks… greets you as you walk through the hall and into the vaulted space of the Govanhill Baths Ladies’ Pool. There’s a mortuary chill, a distinct temperature drop as you

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THE SKINNY

Photo: Erik Osberg

I was going to make a straight voice track based on mindfulness apps, but it turned into pop music. It’s 13 tracks, 50 minutes long.

I’m not sure if it’s an album, though I’ve called it Electric Blanket. I’ve never made music before.

Yes, it’s me singing.

Everybody’s Anxious… it’s a common condition, and we want our bodies back. Three people walk in and join you on the mats. You don’t have to say anything. You’ve merged with the blocks. Relaxed.

The pool’s social code of conduct is in place. You give each other space. The other anxious bodies become soothing scenery in this communal pool.

Oh, I’m a supine figure, oh I’m a deep consumer… in this age of self-devotion, I’m afraid to be a part of the material world. The most disturbing thought

May 2016

of them all is that maybe I’m not exceptional.

There’s a blend of passivity and resistance in the music and in the exercise of finding perfect shapes to hold your body relaxed. It’s a mix of sympathy and social critique.

Do you feel better now from looking at the pictures? Aspire. Aspire. Lifestyle celebrities.

Wellness pornography. Our bodies are better.

I see that your legs are not supported and come put the widest cylinder under your knees.

Better or worse, I ask. Better, you respond.

Touching…. interactive… surfaces. You are connected… like skin on skin…

The group of three are posing for photos, posting on Instagram, #bodyblocks.

Text massage, text massage, emotional

labour… what’s on your mind, what’s on your mind… feminised labour… scrolling through likes and loves.

Pigeons flap their wings loudly, and land high in the red concrete arches above you. You notice one of their poops on the ground next to your foot.

I just can’t concentrate. I just can’t focus on one thing at a time… oh. I want to make you feel better. I can’t concentrate either.

As you leave, you ask if I choose the location.

Yes. Was the work made for the space? It works with the space, connecting with the function of the pool, using its emptiness and coping with the cold.

Paying with our bodies, paying with our minds.

What’s the illness? Self-help, self-check-out. You hide it well, but you’re not okay.

SHOWCASE

It’s a community centre. Under one roof, there are several groups that meet for cooking classes, socialist choir, clothes up-cycling, theatre rehearsals, music video shoots, interactive children’s theatre. Today, when I go into the kitchen to refill hot water bottles, I listen avidly to a group of women meeting to talk about stigmas around breastfeeding.

I have spent seven hours a day here for eighteen days. I am singing along to my own music while typing this self-review on my smartphone because my laptop is busted.

Try again, it’s not your fault, it’s the system, just keep on trying. Go on and love yourself, it’s not taboo and we can help you. joseeaubinouellette.com

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Menzie Zhang

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Lifestyle

FASHION

THE SKINNY

The Art of Fashion Ahead of Edinburgh College of Art’s annual runway presentation, we pick a few highlights from SHOW 2016

Megan Mitchell

Shoot Credits Photography: Bethany Grace bethany-grace.co.uk Make up artist: Jak Morgan jakmorgan.com Hair: Sophie Laidlaw Model: Georgia @ Model Team modelteam.co.uk SHOW 2016 : Fashion / Costume / Textiles, Edinburgh College of Art, Sculpture Court, 74 Lauriston Place, 18-20 May, ÂŁ14 eca.ed.ac.uk/eca-home/news-events/show-2016-fashioncostume-textiles

Alice Firman

May 2016

FASHION

Lifestyle

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Where Medieval Gets Modern It’s a city that has seen the traditional tarnished by the excesses of Western-style consumerism, yet Marrakech remains an exhaustingly vivid cultural destination Words: Pete Ballantine

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he drivers of the Grand Taxis wait to whisk us into the centre of Marrakech. A knot of ancient, cream-coloured Mercedes Benz in various states of disrepair. Only the roar of a jet engine or the guttural singsong of heated Arabic argument punctuate the air-conditioned calm of the airport as the impatient cabbies create a pile-up of their saloon cars at the pick-up point.

The calm is fleeting. A six-lane highway, fringed by neat rows of olive and palm trees, arrows into the Centre Ville before suddenly merging traffic into a single chaotic lane at an unmarked junction.

Dust and horns and handcarts destroy order.

A lone, red-faced policeman futilely flags and blows his whistle in the midst of it all. Morocco in microcosm: a dichotomy of the traditional and modern, jarring against each other yet somehow still functioning. In Marrakech however, the authenticity has been tarnished by an ever-increasing wave of tourists. Thankfully, despite this influx, many vestiges of the city’s ancient architecture remain unscathed.

The Minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque soars above, a towering spear marking the centre of Marrakech. Now 900 years old, the Mosque remains the most prominent landmark in a city that now has its fair share of towering modern architecture.

We take a right, muscling through traffic, with liberal use of hand gestures and the constant blaring of horns. The gateway to the Vieille Ville: the Medina.

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Lifestyle

This is the ancient old city of Marrakech, a near-thousand-year-old Berber trading post that once put the great cities of Europe to shame. The rhettara, an ingenious underground irrigation system that pumps water from rivers thirty miles distant, turning the once-parched gardens of the city green, dates back to this time. The ramparts and walls that encircle the Medina have withstood nearly a millennium of wear and tear and conflict.

Architectural wonders, built while Europe was still mired in the depression of the Dark Ages.

The Medina, a manic headfuck, brings a concurrent assault on all of the senses. The smell of goat shit and spice and petrol intertwine. Narrow streets clogged with donkey carts as motorcycles and mopeds plough through the crowds belligerently. The fly encrusted shanks of meat, the butcher’s condemned grin and his blood-and-entrailsflecked djellaba. The February coolness of the shade in these sun-starved alleys as you inevitably lose yourself, bemusedly circling for hours.

Walking the souks exhilarates and exasperates in equal measure. We twist and turn through endless terracotta tunnels that ­culminate at Jmaa el Fna, the main square.

Jmaa el Fna, 'the assembly of trespassers': it’s evening and the air is filled with pine and juniper smoke as one hundred barbecues roast one thousand chickens in the small marquees dotted about the dusty square. It’s a riotous spectacle of entranced cobras, dancing monkeys and wild-eyed

out sound and sunlight. It is one of the great pleasures of Marrakech, stepping into these oftenbeautiful oases of tranquility. Sadly, during the 1960s hippification of Marrakech, many of these spaces were bought up and transformed into second homes for hash-smoking, new age types whose idea of embracing a culture was to hug it so tight that it could no longer breathe.

Some riads are still available as accommodation for those seeking the ‘authentic’ Marrakech experience at a not so authentic price.

Beyond the Medina lies the other Marrakech.

It’s shiny and modern and grid-shaped. Women stroll, sans headscarf, licking ice creams, and convertibles cruise past, pumping out the hits. In short, it’s Europe. It’s the Nouvelle Ville, a product of the French occupiers’ desire to create a home from home. The streets here are quiet and clean,

“ A r­ iotous s ­ pectacle of e­ntranced cobras, dancing monkeys and wildeyed ­acrobatic rascals” but stuffy and soulless. The only sign here of the poverty that pervades the souks is the army of Berber gardeners watering the dusty orange trees that line the wide boulevards.

But we ventured into this parallel world for a reason; to sample a beautiful piece of nouvelle Marrakech, a legacy of the artist Jacques Majorelle and designer Yves Saint-Laurent: the Majorelle Garden. Designed and built in the 1920s and 30s, the garden is a glorious kitschy hotchpotch of styles and plant life, all underlined with Majorelle’s own shade of electric blue and the ever-present terracotta. It’s on the coach tour radar, but still worth a wander.

After a day patrolling the souks, there really is no place like home. Home being a riad with a relaxing cushion-filled courtyard, endless cups of mint tea, and Wi-Fi for those looking to plan an escape from the fascinating yet infuriating grasp of a dissonant city.

Up a rickety wooden staircase, where you really don’t want to encounter a rotund American tourist on the prowl for breakfast coming in the opposite direction, the terrace opens out revealing the city skyline. From this rooftop retreat of pot plants, the clutter of roofs and spires sprawls to the green belt of palms that fringe the city. When the sun breaks through the morning shroud of clouds, the white wall of the Atlas twenty miles distant splits the horizon between city and sky.

The crackle of loudspeakers all around signals the incoming wail of the Muezzins, calling us to the sanctuary of the mountains beyond.

Credit: Mirren Daykin

Y ST FE Credit: Mirren Daykin

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Bahia Palace

acrobatic rascals. A medieval Cirque de Soleil that has somehow slipped into the present. Each stall offers a tenuously slight variation on the same tasty theme: tagines of chicken, goat or lamb, mountains of raisin and almond-flecked couscous, and Cockney wide-boy English accents from cheerful pushy peddlers. The heaving old square is one of the busiest plazas in Africa. It’s tiring, but magic.

And it’s all one mega-manifestation of hypercapitalism. Boundless stacked trinkets of wood, leather and silk, bound to gather dust on a forgotten shelf, are piled before tourists with eyes bigger than their luggage allowances on the flight home.

Wipe-clean menus in English and Japanese, and tours of the pigeon-shit-filled ammonia pits of the tanneries, gagging behind a handful of fresh mint as you are funneled into yet another leather emporium. There are few stalls catering for the needs of the locals, and those that do exist are hidden far from the tourist trails of the main arteries of the Medina. It’s hard to discern the genuine, commonplace friendliness from an attempt to relieve us of the contents of our wallets. The Medina is a cartoon image of Morocco forged by the supply and demand culture of the souks.

The history of Marrakech, the seasonal influx of Berbers from the Atlas and the Sahara to trade and to work, has been subverted to cater for the constant stream of visitors pouring into the souks.

Once it was ostentatious Moroccans that dominated the wealth of the Medina. But, it remains the raucous beating heart of Marrakech, and home to many of its poorest residents, those most in need of the tourist dollars that flood the city. The cash is spread thinly amongst a large number of workers, and the desperation of these people imbues the souks with an air of melancholy. The pursuit of happiness here seemingly tied to the pursuit of the buck. Traders denigrate each other’s wares as “fake” or “made in China”. Amidst the clamour, and the flood of produce, it is impossible to tell real craftsmanship from cheap imports.

To those willing and able to chuck cash at the market stalls, there is a joy to be found, but it is fleeting and synonymous with the quick fix of consumerism.

Thankfully there are numerous boltholes to provide a welcome escape from the harum-­scarum economy of the souks. Within the walls of the Medina, we tentatively re-enter the labyrinth to locate one of a number of palaces demonstrating a near forgotten era of Moroccan prosperity. The 19th century Bahia Palace in particular displays how life was for the 1% in times past. A network of calm, shady enclosures, interlinked by stucco doorways and zellij tiled passages. The racket of the streets replaced by the soft tinkle of water fountains and the rustle of orange trees in the light breeze that slips through the courtyards. The muffled beep of the traffic jam is all that reminds us that a city bustles by beyond the walls. Returning to the outside world is an ordeal after this sanctuary.

The antique mansions of the Medina, the riads, provide other handy quiet zones for those that can’t handle the pace of souk life. These buildings, modelled on Roman villas, consist of a small sheltered courtyard, surrounded by high walls to block

Majorelle Garden

TRAVEL

THE SKINNY

.CO.UK

INDEPENDENT

CULT U R A L

J O U R N A L I S M

inverness

8–9 / june / 2016

SCOTLAND'S LEADING CREATIVE INDUSTRIES FESTIVAL

Welcome

Scotland’s Leading Creative Industries Festival

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Contents

8–9 JUNE 2016 inverness

Music: Ahead of their XpoNorth 03 Showcase, Inverness four-piece

FREE ADMISSION

elcome to the wonderful world of XpoNorth!

I’m Amanda Millen and I’m the director of XpoNorth.

You may know all about us already but if you don’t, let me give you a brief run-down.

XpoNorth is a creative industries network. All year round, it supports people across the Highlands and Islands and beyond to achieve their chosen goals in the fields of screen, broadcast, gaming, writing, publishing, design, craft, fashion, textiles and music.

XpoNorth is also Scotland’s leading creative industries festival; a unique conference, networking and showcase event which takes place this year on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 June in Inverness.

If you want to work in film, television or the games industry, or be a writer, a jeweller or a rock star, then XpoNorth is THE place to be.

XpoNorth, which is funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Creative Scotland, is free and open to anyone who registers. You don’t have to live in the Highlands and Islands to take part.

Over two jam-packed days and nights, XpoNorth offers hands-on training and advice as well as a chance for musicians, filmmakers, designers and writers to get up close and personal with industry insiders.

This year, you can mingle with the makers of Holby City, EastEnders and Hollyoaks or meet the team behind tech innovations such as The Digital Garage from Google.

And believe me – that’s just for starters!

This year’s conference takes place at Eden Court, while music and films will showcase at venues around Inverness. We even have a Dragon’s Den-style panel in which new writers will pitch completed works to a panel of publishers and agents.

Inverness is always buzzing at XpoNorth time – both by day and by night. It pays to prepare – and that’s where this fantastic supplement from The Skinny comes in. In the following pages, you’ll find all the information to keep you right – and keep you on your toes.

Connections are made at XpoNorth. When I go about my job, people often come up to me and say: “I’m doing what I’m doing now because I met someone at XpoNorth a couple of years back.”

From personal experience, I know how important it is to make the most of training and networking opportunities in the creative industries.

This year, XpoNorth will be offering free twoweek training placements to anyone interested in working on our live XpoNorth TV station. In addition, we’re planning a host of workshops and hands-on training aimed at under-30s in digital media, animation, film producing, 3D printing, creating your own Virtual Reality content, lyric and song writing.

This will run alongside our 36 industry conference panels, film and music showcasing, receptions, parties and networking. AND we are introducing a brand new writing showcase segment to the programme.

XpoNorth is also a partner of the Scotlandwide Year of Architecture, Innovation and Design.

XpoNorth may be known to many as a two-day festival in June but the hard work continues throughout the year! Please come and say hello to me during the festival.

See you in Inverness!

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Introduction

Lional tell us how they swapped the Highlands for the California sunshine to play at LA's MUSEXPO.

04 Design: We find out more about the

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àilte dhan t-saoghal mìorbhaileach de XpoNorth! Is mise Amanda Millen agus is mise stiùiriche de XpoNorth.

‘S docha gu bheil sibh eòlach oirnn mu thràth ach mur nach eil, innse mi dhuibh beagan mu ar deidhinn.

‘Se lìonra de ghnìomhachasan cruthachail a th’ann an XpoNorth. Fad na bliadhna, bi sinn a’ toirt taic do dhaoine air feadh a’ Ghàidhealtachd ‘sna Eileanan agus nas fhaide mach na sin airson na gnìomhan aca a’ choileanadh ann am film, craoladh, geamaichean, sgrìobhadh, co-bhualadh, dealbhachadh, stuth cruthachail, fasan, clò agus ceòl.

Tha XpoNorth a-nis an fhèis as motha ann an Alba airson an gnìomhachasan cruthachail; colabhairt sònraichte, cothrom coinneachadh le luchd-eòlais agus cothrom a bhith a’ sealltainn ur tàlantan tron tachartas. Tha e a’ gabhail àite am bliadhna air Diciadain 8mh agus Diardaoin 9mh den t-Òg Mhìos ann an Inbhir Nis. Mu tha sibh airson obair fhaighinn ann am film neo telebhisean, an gnìomhachas gheamaichean, a bhith nad sgrìobhadair, neach- neo neach-ciùil ainmeil, bu choir dhut a bhith aig Xpo North!!

Tha XpoNorth a’ faighinn taic bho Iomairt na Gàidhealtachd ‘sna Eileanan, Taic Maoineachadh Leasachaidh Roinneil Eòrpach agus Alba Cruthachail, saor an asgaidh agus fosgailte do dhuine sam bith a chlàras. Chan fheum thu a bhith a’ fuireach air a’ Gàidhealtachd neo na h-Eileanan airson pàirt a ghabhail.

Thairis da latha is oidhche làn, tha XpoNorth a’ tabhann trèanadh agus comhairle a bharrachd air cothroman airson luchd-ciùil, luchd-dealbhachadh agus sgrìobhadairean faighinn faisg air luchd gnìomhachasan.

Am bliadhna, gheibh sibh cothrom bruidhinn ris na daoine a chruthaich Holby City, Eastenders agus Hollyoaks neo na daoine a tha air cùlaibh teicneòlas leithid Google Garage.

Agus ‘se sin toiseach tòiseachaidh! Mu 36 phanailean gnìomhachas, 106 filmichean agus 64 showcase ciùil, pàrtaidhean agus cothrom coinneachadh ri daoine, Dragon’s Den airson sgrìobhadai-rean agus trèanadh. Agus tha e uile saor an asgaidh.

Chlàr an seo mar neach-frithealaidh agus bi mi a’ coimhead air adhart ar fàilteachadh gu Inbhir Nis anns an t-Òg Mhìos. Thig agus can hallo!

‘Si stiùiriche XpoNorth a th’ann an Amanda Millen agus na XpoNorth Screen agus Lìonra Craoladh, ScreenHI.

Glasgow School of Art Institute for Design Innovation ahead of their programme of workshops, panel discussions and an inspiring keynote speech.

Skye-based jewellery designer 05 Heather McDermott, who has

been mentored by XpoNorth's Craft, Fashion and Textiles network, is participating in a panel on location being a maker’s USP. Here she discusses making landscape-inspired work and the possibilities for makers in the Highlands and Islands.

06 Film: Filmmakers Beatrix Wood

and Tom Duncan reveal the benefits of making commercial and creative work from their respective bases in South Uist and Elgin.

Plus, last year's Moray Game Jam victor Corrie Green tells us how he conquered the intensive game development marathon single-handed.

07 Books: Crime thriller author

Lorraine (L.G.) Thomson discusses the Highland creative community, and why she chose the self-publishing route.

08 Listings: Your guide to what's on where throughout XpoNorth.

Register as a delegate for free through Eventbrite to attend all events.

Just go to xponorth.co.uk and click on the countdown clock which will take you the to eventbrite sign in.

Venues directory Eden Court Bishops Rd, Inverness IV3 5SA

Ironworks 122B Academy St, Inverness IV1 1LX

Hootananny 67 Church St, Inverness IV1 1ES

Mad Hatters 67 Church St, Inverness IV1 1ES

Market Bar 32 Church St, Inverness IV1 1EH

Blackfriars 93-95 Academy St, Inverness IV1 1LU

Deeno’s 96 Academy Street, Inverness IV1 1LU

The Phoenix Alehouse Alehouse 110 Academy St, Inverness IV1 1LX

Penta Hotel 63 Academy St, Inverness IV1 1LU

Premier Inn 19-21 Huntly St, Inverness IV3 5PR

Mercure Hotel Cover Illustration: Christopher Ross

Amanda Millen is the Director of XpoNorth and the XpoNorth Screen and Broadcast Industry Network, ScreenHI

XPONORTH

Church Street, Inverness IV1 1DX

Scotch & Rye 21 Queensgate, Inverness IV1 1DF

The Buzz Project Bus – parked outside Eden Court

Getting there

Travel to Inverness from Edinburgh or Glasgow starts from £6 return.

xponorth.co.uk

   

#xponorth | @XpoNorth facebook.com/xponorth instagram.com/xponorth linkedin.com/company/xponorth

Hit the North Lional recently left the Highland capital to play shows in the Californian sunshine. But how did they manage it? By making their name at XpoNorth, of course Interview: Chris McCall

hen unsigned Scottish bands announce they have a gig on the west coast, they usually mean somewhere like Greenock. Lional are no exception. Until recently, the furthest this four-piece group from Inverness had travelled for a gig was Irvine. That was until they were invited to perform in Los Angeles.

Last month Lional swapped the Gold Coast of Ayrshire for California, performing at the MUSEXPO industry showcase. The 12th annual event, which is supported by the likes of Larry King and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, welcomes more than 100 artists from around the world for a three-day series of seminars and performances. The invitation to attend was quite an achievement for a band who were barely known outside of their home town until the release of their first single, Season of Salt, last November.

“The event is literally in Hollywood so it’s a bit of a dream come true for a band from the Highlands,” admits singer-songwriter Joshua Mackenzie, who takes a break from rehearsals to speak to The Skinny a few days before he’s due in LA. For the benefit of those yet to make their acquaintance, Lional write atmospheric indie-rock that calls to mind the likes of Interpol or Beetlebumera Blur. What sets them apart is Mackenzie’s rich voice and his methodical approach to songwriting, which has won fans like Jim Gellatly and Vic Galloway, as well as fellow Highlanders Neon Waltz.

The group are also unafraid to share some choice covers with their sizable online following, as recently demonstrated by a fine reworking of the Depeche Mode classic Enjoy the Silence.

Lional started life as a “thrashy three-piece” in 2011 but have since evolved into something much more satisfying, with Ross Haddow on bass, Gordon McKerrow playing keys and Russell Montgomery on drums. “The first incarnation of the band rehearsed on and off for a year or so before I had the courage to sing in front of an audience,” says Mackenzie. “In 2013 we got Russ on board, and at the beginning of 2014 Gordon, who has always been a close friend, finished his time at art school in Glasgow. After he returned to Inverness I felt we needed another layer – so he joined to play keys and add some harmonies.”

So how did this group get an invitation to LA? The answer lies in part with their long-running association with XpoNorth. Lional first played at one of the event’s showcases back when it was still known as goNORTH. It was through meeting Alex Smith, who heads up the XpoNorth Music network, that the band were able to jump across the pond.

“He has been helping us out and keeping an eye on our progress for a while now,” adds Mackenzie, “and decided after the success of our debut single, and our growth as a band in general, that it was worth putting our stuff over to his contacts at MUSEXPO. Thankfully they liked what they heard and decided to invite us over. We are all absolutely buzzing.

“XpoNorth has been priceless to ourselves and many other local bands over the years,” he continues. “There’s a disconnect with the music scene in Inverness and the rest of Scotland, but XpoNorth

May 2016

Credit: Paul Campbell

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bridges that gap for the few days it’s in town. Whether it be the seminars, that give up-to- date advice on how to promote yourself effectively, with all of today’s rapidly changing platforms, or the window of opportunity that’s granted to bands who will be seen by some of the industry’s most important people, it is absolutely vital to the music scene up here. It brings this town to life for a few days.”

Each Lional member calls Inverness home, but only Mackenzie has not lived elsewhere for university or college. The youngest in the band at 23, he purposefully chose not to begin the usual fouryear degree treadmill and instead devoted his energies to playing music and sharpening his songwriting skills. This persistent and single-minded approach gives Lional the look and sound of a band who long ago cracked the industry and are confidently thinking about album number three, instead of their second single.

“ I have no doubt that we are capable of making a great album” Joshua Mackenzie

The capital of the Highlands may be only 170 miles from Glasgow, but as anyone who has driven the torturous A9 road north will testify, it may as well be 500. This poses problems for Inverness bands who are booked to play Thursday night shows in places like Ayrshire. “You just have to lump it,” Mackenzie states, matter-of-factly. “We’re used to heading down to Edinburgh or Glasgow. But the one time we did have a wee reflection on what we were doing was when we were coming back from Irvine. We were a wee bit delayed, and in total it was a nine hour round-trip to play for 29 minutes for about 60 people.”

Even that journey is child’s play compared to the commute their friends Neon Waltz are forced to make. The six-piece all live in and around John O’Groats but still play regular shows across the UK on an almost weekly basis. This hard work has

paid off, landing them a deal with Atlantic Records, and a burgeoning reputation at home and further afield. It’s proof, if any were needed, that you don’t need to live in Glasgow and spend four nights a week in Sauchiehall Street dives to win attention for your music.

“We have a mutual friend with Neon Waltz who heard us randomly, and noised up Jim (Gellatly) about us, which got us some attention down south – as in the central belt, of course,” Mackenzie laughs. “They are well on their way, they’re a few notches above us. We see ourselves as being from a remote part of Scotland, but they’ve got it 10 times worse than us.”

That’s not to say that Inverness is some kind of musical backwater. Far from it. The upstairs live room of Hootananny’s, a pub in Church Street, is the beating heart of the city’s live scene, while the 1000-capacity Ironworks offers regular support slots to local bands when major touring acts arrive in town. “Bands up this way can be a bit naïve on how to promote themselves – and I only say that because at the beginning we were like that too,” Mackenzie explains. “Saying that, everyone, for the most part, has been incredibly supportive of us, and being a band from Inverness gave us the luxury of honing our sound and getting tight, before releasing a finished article.”

By the time you read this Lional will have returned from their Californian sojourn and will be looking forward to playing the event that provided their first stepping stone. One question they’re undoubtedly going to be asked more than once during XpoNorth is: when can we hear more music? “We are actively writing and recording at the moment and have a good bunch of songs ready to go, but it’s likely we will build steadily with an EP in the summer,” Mackenzie explains. “We have enough songs for two albums, but we have seen other bands over the years release albums prematurely – expecting everyone to suddenly take notice, and then they don’t, and there’s nowhere to go from there.

“I think we’ll build our following a bit more first, though I have no doubt that we are capable of making a great album when the time is right.

There’s no shortage of material so there would be no hint of filler.” With that kind of self-confidence, Lional were always sure to be a hit in California.

Playing Hootananny's Thu 9 Jun, 11pm

XPONORTH

Do Not Miss Words: Alan Morrison Meet The Music Supervisors Eden Court, Wed 8 Jun, 4.30pm

Scottish Album of the Year Award winner Kathryn Joseph brings her experience as a musician to this introductory panel on the role of modern music publishers and their working relationships with songwriters and composers. Also bringing their insight to how music publishing works are Steve Farris (who signed publishing deals with Snow Patrol and Belle & Sebastian) and Blair Macdonald (currently MD UK and Europe at Nettwerk Music Group).

The Art Of Making Records Eden Court, Thu 9 Jun, 3pm

John Leckie is a record industry legend, a producer and engineer who began his career at Abbey Road Studios at the very start of the 1970s where he found himself working with the likes of John Lennon and Pink Floyd, before putting his stamp on such classic releases as Magazine’s Real Life, The Stone Roses’ eponymous debut and Radiohead’s The Bends. He’ll be on a Music Producers Guild panel alongside Andrew Hunt, Cameron Blackwood, Dave Bascombe and Brett Cox to discuss how the making of an album is an artform in its own right.

Aftershow Party

Ironworks, Thu 9 Jun, 11pm Up-and-coming musical talent is spread over two nights of band showcases in eight city-centre venues, but the festival’s aftershow will feature a showcase gig from disco-ball party animals Colonel Mustard And The Dijon Five and a headline set from the reformed Astrid, featuring the soaring voice of Willie Campbell. Only those registered as an XpoNorth delegate can attend the closing bash… but registration is free and open to the public, so that’s no reason not to go.

Feature

3

InDI Rocks

Words: Adam Benmakhlouf

XpoNorth hosts a design programme, run by The Glasgow School of Art Institute for Design Innovation, with workshops, panel discussions and an inspiring keynote speech

KISD student Mary Michel with her group’s work during Winter School

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here will you find some of the most innovative design and research happening currently in Scotland? A set of designers and creatives up in the Highlands suggests that to get to the cutting edge, it can be best first to head away from the centre.

Keeping this in mind, consider the Institute of Design Innovation (InDI). While it might be run by the Glasgow School of Art, is located in the Highlands – as well as pushing GSA’s city limits, it also picks at most of the easy preconceptions of design disciplines.

Flying the flag proudly for the latest in design, they see beyond terms of objects or things, or headings of fashion, furniture and graphics. As a research and teaching facility, the GSA Forres campus houses lecturers, students and researchers.

Amongst their number is Design Director Don McIntyre. Explaining some of the Institute’s remit, he says: “GSA InDI is not simply about aesthetics, or making a product look or feel better; it’s about design being used from the start with clients.˝ Also based in Forres is InDI’s Senior Production Manager Kate Hooper. Expanding on the value of design processes in wider applications, she uses the example of prototyping, a process which allows stakeholders to come up with solutions, whether product, service or interactionbased. As she explains, it’s vital to these solutions that people “can relate to and respond” to them.

This is one example of the methods InDI uses to swivel design practice to face the most pressing issues and contemporary technologies.

At the moment, on their list of research areas they are looking at problems relating to neighbourhoods, work, online banking and even healthcare.

In terms of the latter, McIntyre is particularly concerned by such matters as the disproportionately high mortality rate for prostate cancer.

“It’s not discussed in the same way breast cancer is talked about,” he explains. The key to addressing these problems with design, he continues, lies in understanding “the societal condition that makes people struggle to communicate.”

As well as innovating through design, Hooper and McIntyre both explain that InDI is just as concerned with the innovation of design. Reconsidering the relationship of creative and client, McIntyre makes his feelings clear: “Everyone has inherent creative capabilities. It’s just that some people chose different routes at school for whatever reason.” Essentially, he wants the world of

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design to make a real culture of innovation possible – “to unlock the creativity of everyone, from management to shopfloor.”

Positioned at the vanguard of design research, InDI is currently in collaboration with some powerful and well-known organisations, whether that’s Hitachi, the Scottish Government or Royal Bank of Scotland.

With plenty to report back already, InDI will present its distinctive research direction at XpoNorth this year. They’ll invite international designers to discuss design on two panels, a workshop and a keynote presentation, as well as an opening ceremony showcasing design from different areas.

For the opening ceremony, Hooper’s excited to see the current GSA second year fashion students up in the Highlands. “They’ll work with Highlands and Islands models,” she says of their future plans, “and collaborate with the young people here.”

She also looks forward to an inspirational keynote from GSA’s head of design, Irene McAraMcWilliam, which promises to explore “the evolving nature of design, prioritising solutions that generate preferable futures.” McAra-McWilliam will also talk about her work across business and the public

sector, including partners like the Scottish Government and the Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

InDI’s Xpo workshop, meanwhile, will take the form of a ‘Digital Maker’s Café,’ with 3D printing technology to be made available for locals to have a go. This kind of try-me event comes from important questions like, ‘how can traditional craft use digital fabrication technology to their benefit?’ and ‘what is the role of technology in traditional craft?’ It’s a neat example of the possibilities of GSA’s presence in the Highlands, and she’s keen to stress the importance of getting to know designers from around the region and the creative framework they work from. “The worst thing,” she explains, “would be if we came in and just said, ‘This is how it’s to be done.’”

Just the same, the teaching process is measured against InDI’s commitment to continued improvement, and as McIntyre says, “the research directly informs the teaching of design here.” In this way, there’s no need for the dual researchers and teachers to change hats, as the question remains of how to cultivate the optimum experience for stakeholders – in this case, the students’ learning experience.

Also informing the learning experience in

Forres is the Design Network. The Design Network is part of the Creative Futures partnership a collaboration between GSA and the Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Supporting the Highlands and Islands’ already strong design community, the Design Network is another promotion of the importance of design to businesses and communities.

Already, the Design Network has a bundle of successful initiatives under its belt. These different events and workshops include an ambitious Winter School Event, where local businesses met with the Copenhagen-based Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, and Køln International School of Design.

Closer to home, in Inverness, the Design Network has also presented some of the InDI’s ideas on how designers can apply their skills to crossindustry strategic consulting.

While there may be miles between Glasgow and this particular facet of the Glasgow School of Art, the strong responsibility to the local area is secured by complete commitment to sociallyengaged and business-minded design innovation.

Up in the Highlands, they’re looking far ahead to well-designed futures.

BEYOND THE LOGO: DESIGN FOR TOWN, CITIES AND COMMUNITIES

MAKING YOUR LOCATION YOUR USP: SELLING TO A WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE ONLINE

Chaired by BBC arts presenter, Clare English, a panel of leading figures from the international design world examine the designer’s role in the reimagining and regeneration of towns, cities and communities. Clare will be joined by Professor McAra-McWilliam, Ingrid van der Wacht – who is Ambassador for Design For Europe and consultant International Projects Manager for Dutch Design Week – Alex Milton, Programme Director of Irish Design 2015 and Anne Guiney, Director of Research with the Van Alen Institute, New York.

Fair Isle-based Mati Ventrillon made global headlines last year when Chanel apologised for using her knitwear designs. In this session, XpoNorth’s craft, textile and fashion network, Emergents, is bringing major players in the field together to discuss running successful businesses from rural locations. Patricia van den Akker of The Design Trust chairs a panel which includes Ajeet Jugnauth of Etsy UK, Sally Bendelow of Not on the High Street, Natalie Melton of The New Craftsmen and Skye-based jeweller Heather McDermott.

Keynote: Professor Irene McAra-McWilliam, Wed 8 Jun Jim Love Studio, 4.30pm

Do Not Miss Words: Jan Patience

KEYNOTE: PROFESSOR IRENE MCARA-MCWILLIAM OBE 4.30pm, Wed 8 Jun, Eden Court

The Head of the School of Design at The Glasgow School of Art, who counts among her charges the new Forres-based Institute of Design Innovation, explores the evolving nature of design, proposing a new role for the discipline called Design Innovation: a way of creatively working with partners, across academic, business and civic sectors in order to address complex issues. She will give examples of this approach with business, public services, the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

12pm, Wed 8 Jun, Eden Court

XPONORTH

3pm ,Wed 8 Jun, Eden Court

THE SKINNY

Credit: Paul Campbell

Words: Adam Benmakhlouf

Jewel Personality Interview: Adeline Amar

Heather McDermott began selling her own jewellery at the tender age of 12 and hasn’t looked back.

Ahead of participating in a panel at XpoNorth on capitalising on rural location, we learn a little more about the influence of her Skye surroundings

“I

always knew I liked making and being creative,” Heather McDermott recalls. “It was always one of my dreams to go to art college.” Born, bred and now based on the Isle of Skye, she is one of Scotland’s leading contemporary jewellers.

The passion that infuses her work has been long-standing: McDermott was already making and selling her own beaded jewellery when she was 12, and attended various workshops and taster sessions growing up. Her creativity was encouraged by her parents (her father is also an artist), and at 16 she left Skye for Edinburgh to study silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art. Her college choice was partly informed by the opportunity to learn from Dorothy Hogg MBE, the then-course leader of Jewellery & Silversmithing at the school and a celebrated designer-maker who McDermott describes as a huge inspiration.

McDermott graduated with an MA in 2011 and moved back to Skye a year later; she now focuses on her jewellery full-time and her CV boasts an impressive list of awards and exhibitions, but she explains that making the move to a jewellery business has taken both hard work and dedication. It took two years of additional part-time jobs to boost her income to set up her business and buy the material she needed for her pieces – a time she describes as exciting but also trying. “Nobody really prepares you for leaving college; you’re taught to be as creative as possible but nobody actually says, ‘Is that going to sell? Is that wearable? Where does that sit within the market place?’ It’s really important to have another focus because you can feel overwhelmed by the amount that you need to learn, and it really took me a year to figure out what jewellery I wanted to make. I am still learning that, but I really feel that that first year after college was crucial in my development as a jeweller.”

After art college McDermott was introduced to Business Gateway (a Scottish Government

initiative that offers advice and guidance to both start-up companies and established companies across the country) and Hi-Arts (now Emergents, the XpoNorth network which supports craft, fashion and textiles across the Highlands and Islands); she did a six-month mentoring programme with them that, she says, was crucial in jump-starting her career. From there followed further mentoring programmes, a first show in Devon, then London, and eventually galleries.

" Yes – it is possible to be an artist or a maker” Heather McDermott

“So many people assume that I must be cut off from everything because I live on Skye,” she says, “but there’s an incredible amount of support for makers up here. There are all these mentoring programmes that have given me the confidence to go for it and make the best work that I can, because that’s what it’s about: making that really unique product and that’s different from everything else.” She recently went to NY NOW (a huge trade show in New York City) with Craft Scotland, and in the past has visited contemporary jewellery shows with Business Gateway in Amsterdam and Munich – experiences which she says have been invaluable to explore ideas and business ventures. She now operates from Aird of Sleat studio on the southern tip of Skye; the studio is open until October and visitors are always welcome to stop by.

Heather McDermott Jewellery currently comprises several collections, all inspired by the tideline of Skye. Each piece is unconventional in size and structure, and designed to create a statement while remaining easily wearable. The main collection, Tidal Surge, has been developed since 2013 and is based around recurring motifs stemming from fishing nets, boats and buoys. The delicate and elegant Fankle and Cascade necklaces, for instance, feature intricate triangle and diamond shapes, inspired by lobster creels and fishing nets.

The creels have also inspired an eponymous stack of triangular stainless steel bangles.

McDermott has been working with stainless steel since her MA, especially enjoying the contemporary and industrial quality of the material. “I like the fishing nets, the buoys you see on the shore line – they’re all slightly distressed because everything is slightly distressed up here,” she adds with a laugh. “The fishing boats are weathered, and the buoys are weathered because they’re sitting out on the sea all the time. It’s my kind of contemporary way of showing the shapes and the colours I see on a daily basis.”

The stunning Tidal Surge collection also features Buoy, a selection of brightly coloured, circular pendants and earrings that are noticeable for their unique distressed look, reminiscent of the weathered buoys of the Hebridean sea. Unsurprisingly the intense hues of green, orange, blue or yellow are directly inspired by McDermott’s surroundings: “It’s the colours I see every day in the harbour, when I go down to the beach; there’s always a fishing rope or brightly coloured plastic.

When I started thinking about colour I really wanted them to have a recognisable reference point.

The blue is taken from the fishing boats – it’s such a classic blue colour that the boats are painted up here. And if you’ve ever come up to Skye on a sunny day, the sea can look that really vibrant green.

“Even at art college my work was inspired by my home island, whether I was thinking about a really organic structure or the colours. It’s only the last couple of years I’ve recognised the shapes and colours for what they are and what they represent, but I’ve always subconsciously been pulling them into my work.”

Following a solo show at Edinburgh’s Scottish Gallery in May, McDermott’s pieces will be part of several shows over the next few months including Chichester’s West Dean Craft and Design Fair, and Goldsmiths’ Fair in London. She is keeping busy, already looking ahead at future projects, and mentions she has been thinking about developing a gold jewellery range suitable for luxury events and fairs, and perhaps an alternative wedding collection. She also recently collaborated with Skye Weavers, for which she specially created limited edition brooches, and says she would love to do more group projects.

“I love working with other people,” says McDermott. “Jewellery can be quite an isolating job, being in the studio by yourself all day. A collaboration is a chance to test some ideas, see what the other person is feeling and what they’re doing.

I have also been developing creative workshops and would love to work with schools. I didn’t have the best art experience when I was in high school and I feel that really hindered me. It was only because of my parents that I really pushed myself through it and put my portfolio together. I would like to use that experience to help kids and show them that yes – it is possible to be an artist or a maker.”

Panel discussion, 3pm, Wed 8 Jun, Eden Court (see p.4 for details) Short Fankle with mini buoys

Cufflinks

May 2016

XPONORTH

heathermcdermott.co.uk | emergents.co.uk

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Sole Man Application and software development student Corrie Green tells us how he conquered the Moray Game Jam single handed Interview: Jamie Dunn

Credit: Euan Robertson

D Tom Duncan

Far-Flung Filmmaking Beatrix Wood and Tom Duncan, two filmmakers with successful careers outside the UK’s traditional filmmaking hubs explain their approach and tell us how festivals like XpoNorth keep them connected Interview: Jamie Dunn

W

here are films made? The romantics out there might say, “In the imaginations of artists.” The more practical answer, however, is, “within massive film productions,” which rely on a conveyor belt of cinematographers, sound technicians, focus pullers, grips, and a truck-load of other teamsters. Even indie filmmaking looks like a shoe-string version of this unwieldy machine.

At least, it did until recently. The situation has altered radically since the dawn of the 21st century.

The internet, filmmaking software and the affordability of HD cameras have brought down many of these barriers, making filmmaking much more achievable on a smaller scale so that it seems closer than ever to that first, more romantic ideal.

Beatrix Wood is one of many filmmakers who’s taken advantage of this digital revolution. She began her career three decades ago as a runner at Granada television, on shows like Coronation Street and World in Action, before earning her stripes with an apprenticeship in feature filmmaking in London, working on everything from continuity to script editing. When she began making and producing her own films, however, she wanted a different approach. “I’m not a city person,” says the 51-year-old filmmaker down the phone from her home on a working croft in South Uist. “I have lived outside of a city for over 20 years, so I’ve had to design my work to fit in with that way of life.”

The old model meant production would be centered around a hub with a facilities base – say, London, Salford or Glasgow – around which wouldbe indie producers could set up their companies.

Wood, and many others in the Highlands and Islands, have inverted this model. “You have individuals like myself who, for various reasons, end up being based in a place outside a filmmaking hub, so you have to become your own hub and build your network around you,” she says. “There aren’t many filmmakers here, but there are enough

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people that you can find complementary skills to collaborate with you when you need it.”

Another filmmaker bringing the mountain to Mohammed is 33-year-old Tom Duncan. Initially believing it unrealistic to seek a film career in the Northeast, the Elgin-based director flirted with making indie features with tiny budgets in Edinburgh and London, but it wasn’t long before he realised the advantages of setting up his own production house back in his hometown. He’s carved out a niche filming locally, making promos for some of the Northeast’s most recognisable businesses.

“I’m perfectly placed to access the best of Scotland’s landscape,” says Duncan. “Moray has everything you want for a classic Scottish outdoor shoot and if you need an iconic mountain shot, we’re just over an hour from Cairngorm or Torridon.”

For the local market, having a professional production company in the area has been a breath of fresh air. “Moray is home to some incredibly well-established and progressive businesses who want great film content,” says Duncan, whose clients include luxury knitwear brand Johnstons of Elgin and malt whisky specialists Gordon & MacPhail. “They will seek out homegrown talent if it’s available.” On top of all that, he notes, the overheads are great: “We’re able to maintain a 2000-square-foot studio here for a fraction of the cost of the city.”

Wood’s films, too, are deeply connected to her surroundings: “Uist is both the subject matter and an inspirational place to live.” Shooting locally also makes her a more rigorous filmmaker, she reckons: “You are answerable to your subjects because they are your neighbours. You can’t pull a lot of the cheap tricks that you might do if you go somewhere else and point your camera.”

How would Duncan and Wood describe the film scene in the North of Scotland? “I suppose we’re few in number but committed and

passionate,” says Duncan. Wood’s sentiments are similar: “We are quite thinly spread.” Suffice to say, meeting future collaborators isn’t easy.

“When you’re in an area with a huge geographical spread, you don’t tend to bump into each other,” notes Wood.

That’s where a gathering like XpoNorth comes in. “It’s really great to know that once a year there’s an event where you’ll be able to catch up with certain people,” says Wood. “And it’s just inspiring to be reminded of the talent that’s in the North, to see them all in one place.”

The fact that the festival is cross-discipline also has its advantages. “Last year I needed a graphic designer,” recalls Wood, “and then suddenly through XpoNorth’s network I spoke to five people from five different companies in the Highlands and Islands who would understand the aesthetic I was talking about. It’s a place where I can meet people to work and collaborate with.”

Duncan is similarly enthusiastic about the festival. “XpoNorth is a magnet for talent and the best thing you can do is let yourself get completely drawn in,” he says. “It’s standard to finish both nights at the back of 5am and you’ll make genuine connections with great people doing great work.”

By being adaptable, Duncan and Wood are clearly thriving in their chosen field, but do they ever miss the buzz of the big city? Do they ever feel isolated from the wider film community? When we put this to Wood, she doesn’t miss a beat: “I think it’s a perception that normal is urban, but actually it’s only normal for those who live in a city. I’m very often working with people in other places that are perceived as remote, but if you live there it doesn’t feel at all remote.”

Tom Duncan: tomduncanfilm.squarespace.com Beatrix Wood: vimeo.com/user9802221

XPONORTH

o you always support the underdog? If so, you’re sure to warm to 19-year-old Corrie Green, the ultimate dark horse in video games design.

Let’s rewind 12 months to last year’s Moray Game Jam, an annual event where teams of game developers from across Scotland gather for an intensive 48 hours to create a working game prototype on a given theme, which for the 2015 Jam was ‘now you see me, now you don’t.’

Teams usually consist of up to five members with complementary skills. Motivated software development student Corrie Green thought that was overkill. “There’s usually five in a team, but you get people partnering up and they split the work 50:50 – an artist and a programmer is all you need really,” he says down the phone from Aberdeen.

This was Green’s plan for the 2015 Jam, but his partner backed out at the last minute leaving him the sole single player out of 14 teams. He wasn’t too worried, though. “I’d been making my own games for a while, so I was quite used to developing on my own. I was just looking forward to taking my mind off everything else to binge out a project on the weekend.”

48 hours later, fuelled by free pizza and very little sleep, Green had created Absorb, which he later renamed The Edge: Isometric Survival. “It’s exactly that, an isometric survival game where you’re a cuboid and you’ve got to go attack other cuboids that are coming towards you.”

The unlikely inspiration, he says, was the hundreds of hours he’s clocked up on Nazi Zombies, a game mode that first appeared in the Call of Duty franchise. The difference being that instead of fighting the living dead, you’re battling other geometric shapes. As well as being easier to design, the “minimalistic graphics allow the user to identify with the character in any way they want,” notes Green. The result was a clean-looking, sharp design.

Not only did Green managed to create a working prototype in 48 hours, he also impressed the judges. They loved his simple but slick game and declared it overall winner.

Part of the prize was the opportunity to develop the game with Elgin-based games studio Hunter Cow Studios, and four days before we spoke to Green, The Edge had been released to market.

“It’s been well received so far,” he says. “So well received, actually, that I need to hurry up and get it out on iOS in the next week or two.”

And how was the return to the Game Jam earlier this year as reigning champ? Were competitors looking over his shoulder? “None of that,” says Green. “It’s competitive, but in a fun way. It’s just a completely relaxed environment where you can be creative. As soon as you have an idea you’re more than happy to share it with other contestants.”

If you want to try out The Edge for yourself, head to Green’s website: corriejgreen.co.uk

THE SKINNY

Northern Noir Crime thriller author Lorraine (L.G.) Thomson will make time in her hectic schudule to be at XpoNorth this year. She tells us about the importance of creative communities in the Highlands and Islands, and why she went down the self-publishing route

L

orraine Thomson is a busy woman. “I’ve just got back from coastal rowing, and I’m heading out in a bit to do my local radio show,” she says, a little breathlessly, when we catch up with her.

Is this still a good time to talk? “Oh yes, of course.

I talk a lot.”

She’s an absolute powerhouse. She got tired of the years spent sending out her manuscripts to traditional publishers, only to get a rejection letter a few months down the line. “I was sick of almost getting there, but not,” she says. “You know, Pete at Emergents was my agent for a time, and he would send out the books to the publishers. They’d say things like, ‘We really liked it, but we didn’t love it,’ or, ‘Sorry, it’s a great book but we’ve already taken a Scottish writer this year.’ That’s when I decided to do something different.”

So Thomson went and did it herself. She set up a website in 2013 and published three books that year under the name L.G. Thomson. Her most successful title, Boyle’s Law, is a twisting crime thriller set in the Highlands. It’s full of dark humour and colourful language, as well as a diamond heist and an intense love triangle. Other books of hers deal with post-apocalyptic worlds and in addition she has published a psychological thriller set on a remote Scottish island.

Going indie has brought her remarkable success. The books sell well on Amazon, and you’ll find hard copies in bookshops in Ullapool, Nairn and Kylesku. But self-publishing wasn’t just a reaction to being overlooked by mainstream publishers.

“Something about being an indie author really appealed to me,” she says. “It’s a bit like the old punk rock days. Getting a band together in the garage. Doing it for yourself.”

And is it sustainable? Or is the trend for people to self-publish until they get enough attention, and then get sucked into a book deal? The whole publishing industry is transforming, she says: “I’d like to get to a point where it’s just writers and readers. And in reality, I don’t think that many people are going to get the book deal. The whole thing is changing. A few weekends ago I took my daughter to the Moray Game Jam, and it was brilliant. They were talking about the structure of games, the roles and scenarios and it was exactly what writers do in fiction. So now I want to write for games too. Technology is opening up whole new opportunities for writers and creative people.

Lots of people feel threatened by it, but I find it really exciting.”

Many writers spend much of their time on tasks that aren’t writing, whether they have a publisher or not. Thomson is no exception: she runs workshops, training sessions, talks, and events – as well as that radio show, and the rowing. Life is hectic, but that’s how it has to be. She’s careful to carve out time for writing, whatever else she’s doing. Mornings are best, straight after the girls have gone off to school. Then she’ll tail off in the afternoon, train with the 50-plus coastal rowing club, and maybe pick up again in the evening. Her schedule is always changing, and she has to be flexible, but she makes sure that she always sits down to write – even if only for half an hour, snatched between other engagements.

Speaking of other engagements, what about XpoNorth? “This year I’m just going to be there and enjoy it. Last year I got a call asking me to do a reading, and it turned out to be the opening of the whole thing. I was so nervous beforehand.

I’d chosen to read a bit from Boyle’s Law, which has lots of colourful language in it, and I didn’t know how the audience would take it. But I thought, ‘If I’m going to do a reading I have to just go for it,

May 2016

no holding back.’ I knew I’d enjoy it, even if nobody else would. I’d done low key readings before – for book clubs, small events – but XpoNorth was the first major thing I did.”

It was a resounding success – the room was packed out. Jan Patience, communications manager for the festival, had to sit on the windowsill because the seats had run out. That’s where the two met – and the connections that Thomson has made since XpoNorth have been immensely beneficial for her career. It’s events like these, she says, that give the Highlands a really strong sense of creative community.

We suggest that maybe creative people in the Highlands suffer for being spread out over such a huge area (rather than being concentrated in one of the big cities further south). Thomson, born in Glasgow, won’t have any of that. “There’s a brilliant network in the Highlands and Islands. I’ve just got back from a trip to Orkney with Emergents.

It was so good to meet all the craft makers and designers, and to come together in the same space.” Even though their creativity has different outputs, Thomson found the whole series of events incredibly stimulating. “I was telling a friend from the central belt about it, and they just wished they had something similar.”

Of course, the logistics of being part of a

creative community in the Highlands has its own challenges. “As with everything, you have to make a big effort to get anything done up here. You know, I went over to the Elgin the other day, which is a one hour 45 minute drive away, for an hour’s workshop. Yesterday I was in Inverness, but these things are so worth it.”

“ There’s a brilliant network in the Highlands and Islands” L.G. Thomson

Festivals like XpoNorth play a huge role in promoting the creative talent in the Highlands – but how does Thomson deal with the self-promotion side of self-publishing? “I’m terrible at it,” she says. “I started out on Twitter, saying ‘buy my book, buy my book’ and so on, but I hated it. So now I just tweet about things that I like.” I ask her about a picture she tweeted from Orkney recently.

XPONORTH

Interview: Galen O’Hanlon

It was a plaque outside a house in Stromness, commemorating ‘Mrs Humphreys House, temporary hospital 1835-1836, for scurvy-ridden whale men who had been trapped in the ice for months.’ She got hundreds of retweets and favourites. “It was mad,” she says, “I got retweeted by Dawn French and Denise Mina! I had to go to my bed after that, I just couldn’t handle it.”

But does that sell the books? Not really. The one thing that works, she says, is word of mouth.

And that’s why events like XpoNorth are so important for the Highlands community – and for Scotland’s creative industries as a whole. “Everyone at XpoNorth has been incredibly supportive, and it’s so exciting. And it’s for all of the creative industries – I tell everyone to get the newsletter, and get involved. There’s so much going on. And you meet so many new people.”

And with that, she has to go. There’s a local radio show to present, The Saturday Shout. “We cover the most local news we can find. Last week Lochinver’s sewers got cleaned for spring. This week, we’ve got a whole sport report on the latest results from the carpet bowls.” It’s no wonder she’s such a self-publishing success: she seems to run on an endless supply of quirky, creative energy. thrillerswithattitude.co.uk

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Events Schedule Conference & Panels All events at Eden Court and are subject to change, depending on availability of speakers.

WED 8 JUN

REMOTE CONTROL: LEAVE THE URBAN LIFE BEHIND

10.30AM ONE TOUCH THEATRE

Whether you run a record label or design studio, successful creative businesses no longer have to be based in urban locations: with a phone line, a good broadband connection and a laptop, you can work from anywhere, as this international panel knows from firsthand experience.

STATE OF THE ARTS

10.30AM JIM LOVE STUDIO

Who is currently writing about the arts in broadsheets, tabloids and online blogs? Can their opinions and editorial balance be trusted if you don’t have to pay for content?

An expert panel examines the future of arts coverage under the pressures of 21st-century media.

PICTUREHOOKS MASTERCLASS: HOW TO WRITE A PICTURE BOOK

10.30AM STUDIO 2

Vivian French, author of the Stargirl Academy series and co-founder of the PictureHooks mentoring scheme for new illustrators, describes the process of how to write a picture book for children.

THE DIGITAL GARAGE FROM GOOGLE

10.30AM, LA SCALA CINEMA

Take the next step and make your business more visible online so that new customers can find you. Understand the cornerstones of digital marketing, and learn how to use online marketing tools to reach prospective customers.

PUTTING A REGION ON THE MAP: THE SUCCESS OF THE HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS FESTIVAL SECTOR

12PM ONE TOUCH THEATRE

Belladrum, Howlin’ Fling, St Magnus Festival,… the festival sector is booming in the Highlands and Islands to the benefit of local audiences and talent, but is the region’s infrastructure improving at the same rate?

SHOWTALK: THE INSIDE TRACK ON OVERSEAS DESIGN SHOWS

12PM JIM LOVE STUDIO

One of the best ways to reach buyers is by exhibiting at the right trade show. But with hundreds on the international circuit, how do you decide which one is right for you?

Laurian Davies of UK Fashion & Textiles (UKFT) leads a session on how to get accepted into shows and promote yourself to buyers.

FEATURE FILM SELF-DISTRIBUTION: A CASE STUDY

12PM STUDIO 2

Ever wanted to see the full details of how films earn their income?

Writer and producer Stephen Follows presents an in-depth case study of the theatrical distribution, broadcast and VOD sales of a international feature film.

BEYOND THE LOGO: DESIGN FOR TOWN, CITIES AND COMMUNITIES

12PM LA SCALA CINEMA

Leading figures from the international design world examine the designer’s role in the reimagining and regeneration of towns, cities and communities.

A&R WORLDWIDE GLOBAL KEYNOTE

1.30PM, ONE TOUCH THEATRE

A major figure in the international music industry takes time out of an insanely busy schedule to share views and insights.

SERVICES FOR AUTHORS: A BUYERS’ GUIDE

1.30PM JIM LOVE STUDIO

From cover design to editing and proofreading, the growth of independent authorship and selfpublishing has sparked a major demand for services for authors.

Ricardo Fayet, co-founder of Reedsy, addresses these key issues.

8

Listings

SUPERCHARGE YOUR SMARTPHONE TO BROADCAST STANDARD 1.30PM STUDIO 2

Marc Settle from BBC News takes us through the tips and apps, gadgets and gizmos, lenses and microphones that can supercharge your smartphone – whether it’s to film the family or make a movie.

DESIGNING CONTENT AND STORYTELLING FOR 21ST-CENTURY AUDIENCES

1.30PM LA SCALA CINEMA

An inspirational ‘show and tell’ from very different perspectives, as Dr Daniel Livingstone (Glasgow School of Art’s Digital Design Studio), Paula Zuccotti (The Overworld) and others explore the latest thinking in transmedia content.

ARE TECH COMPANIES THE NEW POWERHOUSES OF THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES?

3PM ONE TOUCH STUDIO

Shazam, Spotify, Audiolock, Google, Amazon, Dropbox… What are the key trends, technologies and innovations set to impact consumers and the creative industries in 2016 and beyond?

MAKING YOUR LOCATION YOUR USP: SELLING TO A WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE ONLINE

3PM JIM LOVE STUDIO

Major players for online markets meet makers who run successful businesses based in rural locations, and debate the challenges – and opportunities – of making your location your unique selling point.

THE FUTURE OF RADIO AND MUSIC

3PM STUDIO 2

As the BBC faces charter renewal and changes to the licence fee, some of its leading lights in Scotland weigh up where music might fit on the radio dial in the future IN CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL CATON JONES

3PM LA SCALA CINEMA

Born in West Lothian, we hear from internationally renowned Director of such films as The Jackal, Rob Roy, This Boy’s Life, Memphis Belle and we get a sneak peak at his latest projects.

MEET THE MUSIC SUPERVISORS

4.30PM ONE TOUCH THEATRE

Interactive seminar on music placement, offering practical, end-to-end information on how music supervision works across TV, film, advertising and gaming.

With representatives from Sony, Warp Records, ThinkSync Music and others.

KEYNOTE: PROFESSOR IRENE MCARA-MCWILLIAM OBE

4.30PM JIM LOVE STUDIO

The Head of the School of Design at The Glasgow School of Art explores the evolving nature of design, proposing a new role for the discipline called Design Innovation: a way of creatively working with partners, across academic, business and civic sectors in order to address complex issues.

KEYNOTE: RE-PRESENTING CRAFT AND LUXURY WITH NATALIE MELTON

4.30PM STUDIO 2

The co-founder and Managing Director of The New Craftsmen tells the story of what has quickly become the go-to destination for exciting British craft: the journey thus far, what the future holds, and about the health of the UK craft sector.

THU 9 JUN KEYNOTE: FESTIVAL OF ARCHITECTURE 10.30AM JIM LOVE STUDIO

As part of the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, Scotland will host a country-wide celebration of buildings that take your breath away. Here, a leading architect discusses theories behind their career and work.

HIGHLANDS - THE MAKING OF LANDMARK WILDLIFE SERIES

10.30AM ONE TOUCH THEATRE

Celebrating the incredible wildlife, mercurial weather and spectacular

landscape of the Highlands, this second landmark wildlife series has been 3 years in the making and drew on the dedication and expertise of dozens of people across the whole region. Executive Producer Nigel Pope gives and inside view on how the series was made illustrated with a host of vivid clips and engaging anecdotes.

FROM CONCEPT TO CREATION: CHILDREN’S MEDIA IN SCOTLAND

10.30AM LA SCALA CINEMA

engage with – and make money from – the gaming world?

Gentle indie-pop with 1980s leanings from Copenhagen duo.

Part of EXCITE Showcase.

3 PM STUDIO 2

9PM THE PHOENIX

VIRTUAL REALITY: GOING BEYOND THE FRAME

MAKE CREATIVE EUROPE WORK FOR YOU

3PM LA SCALA CINEMA

Find out more about what makes a good project idea and explore the rewards and challenges of working on creative and cultural projects with European partners TRADING ZONE WITH THE TEXTILES FUTURE FORUM

Harry Potter, Peter Pan, The Gruffalo… All these started with a spark of an idea from someone living in Scotland. But is Scotland’s children’s media industry ready to rise to the level of its Irish counterpart?

4.30 PM STUDIO 2

12PM ONE TOUCH THEATRE

4.30PM ONE TOUCH THEATRE

INNOVATION AND SURVIVAL IN THE DIGITAL AGE WITH ERIC HUANG

The Development Director of digital publisher and agency Made In Me reveals how ripping up business plans and embracing the accidental is key to running a creative company in the modern age.

MUSIC PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION: THE ROLE OF A MODERN MUSIC PUBLISHER

12PM JIM LOVE STUDIO

Industry professionals including Blair Macdonald (Nettwerk), Steve Farris (Polar Patrol Publishing) and Kathryn Joseph (SAY Award- winning musician) discuss the current role of a modern music publisher with reference to deals and revenue streams.

INTERNATIONAL CO-PRODUCTION: A HOW-TO GUIDE

MICKEY 9S (GLASGOW)

As VR offers exciting new opportunities for creatives to break boundaries and connect with audiences, this session explores the present and future landscapes of immersive 360-degree interactive experiences.

An open space forum run by the Textiles Future Forum to help convert ideas into real, commercially viable opportunities. Overcome common business problems via the power of collaboration.

BAFTA SCOTLAND PRESENTS: THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE ONLINE

There are people out there who have turned their video content into successful income streams.

Here a panel of online success stories provide tips on to how make engaging to publish online.

FROM PUNKING PUTIN TO ISLAMIC STATE – LAUNCHING LIGHTFUL

4.30PM JIM LOVE STUDIO

While building a radio station for women behind Islamic State frontlines and training bloggers in the Crimea, Dr Charles Kriel explored issues facing the free press in conflict zones. The result, launched at XpoNorth, is Lightful – a news and fundraising platform powered

by Beyond Profit Organisations.

12PM STUDIO 2

In association with PACT, this hands-on session flags up the creative strengths and potential pitfalls of international co-production.

Music Showcase

12PM LA SCALA CINEMA

NB: details may change due to unforeseen circumstances

DESIGNING FOR THE MARKET: WORKING WITH TRENDS

Creative business consultant Fiona Chautard leads a discussion on accessing trends, current trend forecasts and the way delivery of trends is changing.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: THE GREAT KNOWN UNKNOWN

1.30PM ONE TOUCH THEATRE

A panel discussion on the nature – and protection – of one of the business world’s greatest ‘known unknowns’: intellectual property (IP), defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “intangible property that is the result of creativity.”

DATA MANAGEMENT FROM THE CAMERA ONWARDS

1.30PM JIM LOVE STUDIO

As technologies in the postproduction and broadcast industries have almost entirely moved to IT-based systems and dedicated super-powerful computer systems, the need for data management experts has never been greater.

SCOTTISH MAGAZINE PUBLISHING: A GLOBAL INDUSTRY

1.30PM STUDIO 2

As data and social media become key to all successful businesses, global opportunities have grown for Scotland’s magazine sector, as speakers from PPA Scotland, The Drum and White Light Media explain.

CRAFTING FICTION: BUILDING A CAREER IN LONG-RUNNING DRAMA

1.30PM LA SCALA CINEMA

Experienced producers and story editors guide newcomers through the dark arts of producing and writing a long-running or returning drama such as Holby City, Hollyoaks, The Musketeers and EastEnders.

THE MUSIC PRODUCERS GUILD: THE ART OF MAKING RECORDS

3PM ONE TOUCH THEATRE

A distinguished panel of producers, engineers and mixers, including John Leckie (The Stone Roses), Cameron Blackwood (George Ezra) and Dave Bascombe (Depeche Mode) champion the record as an art form.

EXPLOITING IP IN THE GAMING WORLD

3PM JIM LOVE STUDIO

You’re sitting on a terrific piece of creative intellectual property: So how do you go about expanding your IP’s horizons and making it

WED 8 JUN LOUIS WT BUICK / COUNT CLOCKWORK (H&I)

Experimental and emotional electronica garnished with oldschool hip hop influences.

THE CLARAMASSA (H&I/GLASGOW)

8PM BLACKFRIARS

Elements of ethereal synth-pop and post-rock from a sextet lineup featuring guitars, key-boards, bass and three female vocalists.

WENDELL BORTON (ABERDEEN)

8PM THE PHOENIX

Scuzzy yet melodic alt-pop songs with hard-to-forget choruses.

IMOGEN ISLAY HAY (H&I)

8.15PM PENTA HOTEL

Teenage singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose accompaniment of choice is the clarsach.

DOMICILES (FIFE)

Retro and futurist, psychedelic and shoegaze, inspired by East and West in equal measures.

SILVER COAST (H&I)

8.30PM DEENO’S

Four-piece alternative rock band bending echo-infused vocals, chiming guitars and a pounding backline.

KELVIN (EAST KILBRIDE/GLASGOW)

8.45PM MARKET BAR

Hard-hitting indie-rock driven by infectious hooks, big guitar melodies and anthemic choruses.

L’HOME BRUT (SPAIN)

9PM HOOTANANNY

Alternative rock quartet from Valencia, who released their debut album earlier this year. Part of EXCITE Showcase.

MARK MACKENZIE (H&I)

Live electronic music using a combination of digital and analogue instruments, underlined with a hint of Chicago House.

SHY SHY SHY (DENMARK)

Songwriter Johnny McFadzean’s haunting, soaring voice intertwines with looped harmonies and beats.

LGTL (BELGIUM)

9.30PM MAD HATTERS

Electronic beats, hip hop and future bass in an experimental mix, all the way from Hasselt. Part of EXCITE Showcase.

AMERICAN CLAY (GLASGOW)

Electroclash/dirtypop from rising star whose tunes and stage charisma are as big as her hair.

CRASH CLUB (GLASGOW/KILWINNING)

12AM HOOTANANNY

Dark dance beats mixed with dirty sleazy rock from the band voted Best Electronic Artist at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards 2015.

JAMES MACKENZIE (H&I)

12.15AM PENTA HOTEL

Acoustic, engaging, melodic and heartfelt songs from singer-songwriter who supported Runrig on a UK tour. Late Night Festival Club session with Delegate Pass only.

CATHOLIC ACTION

12.30AM MAD HATTERS

Catchy guitar-driven slacker-pop with a glam edge from a quartet with a nice line in sartorial style.

9.30PM DEENO’S

Guitar-shackled dissonant pop, thundering drums and distant yet hooky vocals.

DEVILS QUEEN (H&I)

9.45PM MARKET BAR

Highlands five-piece who play staring-down-the-barrel-of-aloaded-gun, high-octane, heavy, dirty rock.

MEGAN BLYTH (H&I)

9.45PM PENTA HOTEL

THU 9 JUN PICTISH TRAIL (H&I) 6PM IRONWORKS

A special SMIA Reception set from singer-songwriter Johnny Lynch, whose pure, plaintive voice brings an emotional heart to his psychedelic-tinged folk.

OTHER HUMANS (GLASGOW)

Imagine PJ Harvey and Janis Joplin discussing betrayal with Joni Mitchell softly strumming a guitar. in the background.

7.30PM MAD HATTERS

10PM HOOTANANNY

DEBUKAS (H&I)

SPRING BREAK (H&I)

Flamboyantly dressed, vaguely outrageous, psychedelic threepiece hip hop-folk-funk outfit.

Synth-pop that gives new wave romanticism with a modern indie edge.

9.45PM MARKET BAR

Five-piece who take US and UK indie-pop influences and add their own arena-sized anthems.

MEDICINE MEN (GLASGOW)

10PM HOOTANNAY

Fusion of psychedelic rock and dancefloor beats which have been compared to Tame Impala and LCD Soundsystem.

THE LITTLE KICKS (ABERDEEN)

Four-piece band with a reputation for heartfelt catchy upbeat indie-rock songs that you can dance to.

FOGGY CITY ORPHAN (GLASGOW)

10PM THE PHOENIX

Big melodies and ever-escalating choruses from indie-rock quartet namechecked as one of Tom Robinson's bands-to-watch in 2016.

LAURENCE MADE ME CRY (H&I/ GLASGOW)

10.15PM SCOTCH & RYE

Bristol-born multi-instrumentalist Jo Whitby combines folk and electronica to create unique musical landscapes.

MICHIEL TURNER (H&I)

10.15PM PENTA HOTEL

Jazz-inflected acoustic singer-songwriter with melodic, rhythmic finger-picking and a dynamic, evocative voice.

JOINTPOP (TRINIDAD & TOBAGO)

10.30PM MAD HATTERS

AMATRART (GLASGOW)

THE TWISTED MELONS (H&I)

11PM HOOTANANNY

8PM BLACKFRIARS

FOREVER (GLASGOW)

REBEL WESTERNS (EDINBURGH)

Genre-defying pop discomfort from self-confessed fans of Aphex Twin, Outkast, My Bloody Valentine and Justin Bieber.

Infectious, biting pop choruses with a wry sense of humour and a dark edge.

10PM THE PHOENIX

8.30PM MAD HATTERS

Indie-noir pop quartet who head through post-punk towards the sound of Interpol and Franz Ferdinand.

BROWNBEAR (GLASGOW)

ARMSTRONG (GLASGOW)

Electronica/alternative quintet whose intelligent and euphoric music has been described as Wild Beasts meets Radiohead.

This Campbeltown based band move between psychedelia, hard rock, pop, funk, fusion and electronica.

10.30PM MAD HATTERS

8.30PM DEENO’S

DANIEL DOCHERTY (GLASGOW)

Singer-songwriter whose powerful and emotive lyrics are matched by impressive guitar work.

FOREIGNFOX (DUNFERMLINE)

10.45PM MAD HATTERS

Melancholic, explosive indie post-rock with brutal honesty interwoven throughout every lyric.

FOXOS (GERMANY)

11PM BLACKFRIARS

CHRISSY BARNACLE (GLASGOW)

Storytelling singer who writes spiked and honest nylon-stringed folk songs about, among other things, hazelnuts, cannibal rats and the impossibility of love.

MT. DOUBT (EDINBURGH)

8.45PM MARKET BAR

Five-piece band whose dark lyrical musings are made catchy against a backdrop of atmospheric instrumentation.

THE YOUTH AND YOUNG (DUNFERMLINE/EDINBURGH) 9PM HOOTANANNY

9PM BLACKFRIARS

11PM BLACKFRIARS

Intelligent, catchy and witty songs about the human experience; sometimes political, always personal.

WE CAME FROM WOLVES (PERTH/ GLASGOW)

11PM THE PHOENIX

Jaggy, urgent and catchy pop-rock from the winners of the Scottish Alternative Music Awards’s Best Rock Award 2015.

MISS IRENIE ROSE (H&I)

11.15PM PENTA HOTEL

Old-fashioned and charming but also thoroughly modern singer-songwriter.

BLOODLINES (H&I)

11.30PM MAD HATTERS

Wild and raunchy yet delicate and intricate fusion of every subgenre of rock in one four-piece package.

ELLE EXXE (EDINBURGH)

XPONORTH

11PM SCOTCH & RYE

8.45PM SCOTCH & RYE

11PM SCOTCH & RYE

DECLAN WELSH (GLASGOW)

BELLA AND THE BEAR (AYR/ GLASGOW)

Male/female duo who fuse elements of folk music, storytelling and spoken word with tight vocal harmonies.

Seven-piece band who take the energy of Celtic rock and marry it to the exuberance of modern indie-folk.

Dark, menacing electronic music from a collective whose audiovisual shows use both laptops and live instruments.

LIONAL (H&I)

Female-fronted alternative rock band who specialise in catchy yet powerful songs with memorable melodies and meaningful lyrics.

Atmospheric alternative electro-pop duo from Hamburg.

Part of EXCITE Showcase.

11PM HOOTANANNY

Nine international shorts – from Spain, France, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland and the UK – including Best Man, shot on the Cowal peninsula, and BAFTA nominee Electric Faces.

BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE HIGHLAND FILM ACADEMY

1PM, EDEN COURT

Work onscreen and a glimpse behind the scenes, plus Q&A with filmmakers, revealing the activities of the BFI Highland Film Academy.

XPONORTH SUBMISSION FILMS 2

3PM, EDEN COURT

DED RABBIT (EDINBURGH)

Heartfelt music from a singer and songwriter with echoes of Elliott Smith, Paul McCartney and Graham Coxon.

10.30PM PENTA HOTEL

XPONORTH SUBMISSION FILMS 1

11.20AM, EDEN COURT

10.30PM DEENO’S

10.45PM MARKET BAR

Energetic, engaging, enthralling, solid rock riffage producing a head-banging, toe-tapping fireball of fuzz.

A selection curated by ANNY, the monthly animation and networking event held in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport.

PURE GRIEF (H&I)

Teenage musician from Lewis who’s already a songwriting veteran at the age of 18.

8PM THE PHOENIX

10.30PM DEENO’S

ANIMATION NIGHTS NEW YORK 10AM, EDEN COURT

8PM SCOTCH & RYE

10PM BLACKFRIARS

A musical collective fronted by songwriter Matt Hickman, drawing influence from pop, indie and soul.

WED 8 JUN

1.40PM, EDEN COURT

ELEANOR NICOLSON (H&I)

Three, hairy Highlanders creating big, hairy, Highland riffs with sweet, singalong, pop melodies.

NIGEL THOMAS (LONDON)

XpoNorth is also screening a further 36 short films, one at the start of each conference and panel session over both days of the festival.

Seminal Caribbean social-commentary rock’n’roll band formed in 1996 by lead singer/writer Gary Hector.

Underground electronics with a pop sensibility and a grounding in classic house and techno.

10PM SCOTCH & RYE

Film Programme

10PM BLACKFRIARS

Four-piece all-brother band whose indie-rock influences include The Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes and The Clash.

ROMAN NOSE (GLASGOW)

8.30PM MAD HATTERS

9PM BLACKFRIARS

THE WOODS (EDINBURGH)

9PM PENTA HOTEL

THE BROKEN RAVENS (H&I)

8PM SCOTCH & RYE

9PM SCOTCH & RYE

Energetic quartet defined by their driving bass rhythms, funky guitar licks, four-to-the-floor pounding beats and satirically potent lyrics.

11.30PM DEENO’S

INDIGO VELVET (EDINBURGH)

Indie-pop anthems with a tropical twist from a quartet favouring Caribbean guitar licks and percussion instrumentals.

WOMPS (GLASGOW)

9PM THE PHOENIX

Jaggy, angst-driven, post-punk indie-rock whose debut album was recorded by Steve Albini in Chicago.

TUSKANY (BELFAST)

9.30PM MAD HATTERS

Indie-pop trio using influences of funk, soul and pop to drive punchy riffs and melodic synth lines.

CHRIS KLÄFFORD (SWEDEN)

9.30PM SCOTCH & RYE

Singer-songwriter blessed with one of the most remarkable voices you’ll hear from Lindesberg or anywhere else. Live At Heart showcase.

THE SIDE (H&I)

9.30PM DEENO’S

Britpop-style band who bring a bit of guitar heft to strong pianodriven songs.

NOVEMBER LIGHTS (AYRSHIRE/ GLASGOW)

BREAKFAST MUFF (GLASGOW)

Instrument-swapping, threepiece, twee-trash-punk band with a setlist of short, sharp songs.

SCHNARFF SCHNARFF (H&I/ GLASGOW)

11PM THE PHOENIX

Fuzzy, hooky, alt-rock grunge quintet whose catchy tunes come under a staccato attack.

THE RAMISCO MAKI MAKI ROCKING HORSE (H&I)

11PM PENTA HOTEL

Alternative indie-folk artist brought up on bluegrass, country, blues and punk.

HALFRICAN (GLASGOW)

11.30PM MAD HATTERS

Six of the best international shorts selected from the 2537 films submitted to this year’s XpoNorth MEDIAWAVE, HUNGARY

A curated programme of seven Hungarian short films courtesy of Mediawave, which has been running annually in Komarom since 1994.

4PM, EDEN COURT

BAFTA SHORTS

Six films nominated at the EE British Academy Film Awards, including Best Short Animation winner Edmond and Best Short Film winner Operator, which stars Kate Dickie. Mining Poems or Odes forms part of the Scottish Documentary Institute on 9 June.

HAMISH

8PM, EDEN COURT

Robbie Fraser’s documentary about poet, songwriter, archivist and academic Hamish Henderson, followed by a Q&A with the director and crew.

THU 9 JUN SCOTTISH DOCUMENTARY INSTITUTE 10AM, EDEN COURT

Four short non-fiction films: Pouters (Paul Fegan), The Third Dad (Theresa Moerman Ib), Ottica Zero (Maja Borg) and Mining Poems Or Odes (Callum Rice, Bafta Scotland Best Short 2015).

LIVE AT HEART

11AM, EDEN COURT

Four films curated by Scandinavia’s largest cross-genre showcase festival, which takes place in Orebro, Sweden. Contains strong adult language.

XPONORTH SUBMISSION FILMS 3

A relentless onslaught of rhythm, reverb, fuzz and hooks wrapped up in a surf-punk package.

11.40AM, EDEN COURT

11.30PM DEENO’S

1PM, EDEN COURT

MIRACLE GLASS COMPANY (EDINBURGH)

Psychedelic rock lifted higher by pop melodies and soaring three-man harmonies.

THE VAN T’S (GLASGOW)

12AM HOOTANANNY

Three girl/one guy lo-fi surf-rock that’s like 1990s grunge spilling from a 1950s jukebox.

COLONEL MUSTARD & THE DIJON 5 (GLASGOW) 12.15AM IRONWORKS

Aftershow party showcase from shiny-disco-ball-hat-wearing, genre-hopping stage-machine that puts the emphasis on music, entertaining and laughter.

ASTRID (H&I)

1AM IRONWORKS

Aftershow headline gig by the reformed indie quartet from the Isle of Lewis, who released three gloriously melodic albums between 1999 and 2004, and have a new one up their sleeves for 2016.

Another selection of XpoNorth premieres, hailing from France, Iraq, Spain, Germany and the UK. XPONORTH SUBMISSION FILMS 4

Four international shorts, including Spoon, winner of Best Short Documentary at the Cinema Verite Festival in its native Iran.

XPONORTH SUBMISSION FILMS 5

2PM, EDEN COURT

The final programme of shorts includes Red Sky On The Black Isle by wildlife filmmaker Lisa Marley, The Romance Class by Glasgow’s Stuart Elliott and We Sit. We Drink.

No Guns. by Aberdeen’s Nicci Thompson.

SCREEN ACADEMY SCOTLAND

3.30PM, EDEN COURT

A half-hour curated programme featuring recent work from the Edinburgh-based film academy.

WORLD PREMIERE: HULA

4PM, EDEN COURT

The first public screening of the Best Drama winner at this year’s BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards: Hula directed by Robin Haig. A Q&A will be chaired by Richard Warden of the the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival.

THE SKINNY

The Hierarchy of Kink Why do we hide our kinks from others unless they’re straight out of an E. L. James book? Deviance investigates Words: Toby Sharpe Illustration: Fran Caballero

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pparently, Eva Longoria is a fan of using silk scarves as bondage apparatus. Ricky Martin loves urination in his bedroom antics. And Jack Black likes feet. A lot.

The kinks listed above were written in their arguable order of ‘acceptability’; bondage is basically passé in a world choked with E. L. James novels, while Martin and Black’s obsessions are thought of as icky and hilarious respectively. Why? It seems we’ve applied a hierarchy to our pleasure-seeking habits. The mainstream is increasingly comfortable with the idea of BDSM. We allow ourselves a chuckle at the person on the bus reading Fifty Shades, but it’s no longer shocking.

Year after year, thousands of dissertations are pumped out on the symbolism of the ripped bodice or the secret passions of Ron Weasley, but they fail to raise eyebrows in the academic world. Even when Oprah enthuses about submissive fantasies, the public barely giggles. Other kinds of fetish, however, are still derided or banished to conventions or online worlds, lingering on the outskirts of mainstream imagination.

Gay culture, or, at least, the gay culture straight people see on TV, happily fetishises roleplay and fantasies. It is not unusual to see hordes of puppies and their owners at Pride parades, where the ‘puppies’ are young, muscled men, not spaniels or terriers, and their owners are older guys with a penchant for shiny leather. Those in the parade don’t question this display of man’s best friend becoming man’s best boyfriend, but passersby on the street stare on agog. It is this kind of tension between niche cultures that leads to bursts of moral panic when the mainstream realises what LGBT have been up to: look at the deluge of thinkpieces that emerged surrounding chemsex (drugfuelled sexual parties) and poppers when journalists caught onto what gay people were up to.

Even within gay culture, though, there are still structures which enforce taboos and deride the sexual behaviours of others. Heterosexual porn sites list increasingly niche interests further down the page, with College porn at the top of the list, and Woman Laughs Alone With Salad porn hidden a few scrolls below. Sites aimed at gay men do the same, playing into our internalised cultural biases. This kind of tension contributes to what is called homonationalism, where gay communities thrive around regurgitating neoliberal ideas.

“ It’s easier to advertise leather corsets than it is to market stainrepellent shower curtains” In the mainstream gay community, what is seen as kinky and rebellious is acceptable as long as one looks a certain way; like a muscled, Aryan and frat-guy in leather and spandex. A schlubby guy or person of colour exploring their sexual fantasies is derided, just as straight people finally exploring their taboos are.

This is not surprising in a capitalistic and heteronormative patriarchal society. Much of what makes fetishes seem acceptable is how they play into existing structures and narratives of power, or how well they can be monetised. It’s

easier to advertise leather corsets than it is to market stain-repellent shower curtains. One can argue that bondage (or pup-play or age-play in gay culture, which explore similar taboos) feeds into games of consent and strength which may subvert patriarchal norms, but still rely on acknowledging them, and recognising that, post-coitus, one must slink back into the mainstream world.

We piss ourselves laughing at the idea of Ricky Martin awkwardly inviting his loved one into the bathroom, but we live in a world where he’s forced to awkwardly retract those claims in inter-

views, when he shouldn’t have to. We judge people for their expression, particularly when it can’t easily be stuck on a billboard.

I need to teach myself to not chuckle at the idea of Jack Black sniffing a foot. The arguments gay men like myself use to defend ourselves from homophobes can be re-tooled to deflect mockery away from people healthily exploring their sexual pleasure and romantic desire. Just because we haven’t found out if we have a fetish for something deemed strange yet – that doesn’t give us the right to snort at those who have.

You Ain’t Zine Nothing Yet Don’t think feminism has anything to gain from newsletters and zines? Maybe you’re missing the point

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don’t know what it was like to be a feminist before the internet. I accumulated most of my feminist ideas via pixels and digital arguments; forums, YouTube videos and the early days of online journalism. Sadly, I’ve never experienced that one cinematic moment of having a rally organiser hand me a cerise, sweary flier, giving me a sisterly nod.

The closest we come to this in 2016 is viciously liking one another’s feminist Ffacebook comments, commenting on articles, digitally inviting each other to events and using hashtags like #everydaysexism, #freethenipple and #blacklivesmatter.

It’s all online, and it’s for the taking. And that’s absolutely fine. We no longer have to justify our feminist thought by penning canon-friendly prose, po-faced from our window seats. It just doesn’t make sense when a tweet, Facebook status or blog post would have far greater reach and relatability to those with the time on their hands to enact change.

May 2016

However, as any blogger, journalist or ‘internet feminist’ (sigh) will know, these digital tools aren’t without their flaws. Authors of feminist thought often feel the strain of pandering to patriarchal sensitivities. Unless certain statements are carefully hedged, tiresomely justified and exhaustively explained, many readers feel alienated at best, and filled with the urge to ejaculate vitriolic hate speech and threats at worst.

But written feminism shouldn’t always have to angle towards and armour itself from its opposers. Sometimes we simply want to share thoughts and bug-check one another’s theories before they’re laid spread-eagled for the criticism, fury and upset of a world unready to hear them. And, when the authors are of colour, queer, less able or working class, this is even more likely to be true.

Safe space groups and the offline world facilitate this sort of conversation, but we truly need a bridge for the gulf between ephemeral feminist

chit-chat and the troll-magnet environment of feminist journalism.

And that’s where newsletters and zines come in. Last year, Lena Dunham teamed up with Jenni Konner to create Lenny Letter, a twice-weekly newsletter dropped straight into the inboxes of its subscribers. Though Dunham can hardly be credited with reviving this format of publication – people have been engaging in newsletter selfpublishing using TinyLetter, a sister company of MailChimp for yonks – there’s something to be said for the rebirth of the newsletter. The format provides a one-directional relationship where writers may write what they truly think, rather than an approximation of what they wish to say.

Another burgeoning form of feminist publication is the mighty zine (short for magazine or fanzine). These sorts of publications have played a role in fuelling and facilitating feminism for decades, but zines have a lot to offer feminists with

DEVIANCE

Words: Kate Pasola

internet-fatigue in 2016. The philosophy of zines, feminist or otherwise has never prioritised profit, and this is reflected in the bounty of originality, courage and anarchy to be found in these papery little packages of thought. Glasgow-based collective TYCI (Tuck Your Cunt In), founded by CHVRCHES frontwoman Lauren Mayberry publishes a quarterly zine which perfectly exemplifies this; and although TYCI is now published online, each issue is consumed as a whole; not interrupted, not treated as a sparring ground, just read.

Discussion, debate and feedback is a vital part of feminist development, but back-chat does not and should not overwhelm feminist writing, art and philosophy, and this is where newsletters and zines can help. Because sometimes, feminist writers, thinkers and speakers don’t want to talk to the enemy. Sometimes they simply want to talk to each other.

Lifestyle

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THE SKINNY

Whisky Business Ahead of World Whisky Day, we offer a layman’s guide to the national drink, from its numerous tastes to its big-budget, mud-chewing ad campaigns

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ike many things denoted ‘national’ status, whisky is a divisive beast. Some people think it’s a brilliant, varied and intriguing bit of culinary alchemy, a cottage industry that offers as many different tastes and experiences as it’s possible to imagine. Others believe that all of those tastes and experiences fall somewhere on the ‘nail polish’ scale, and that much of the bumph around the product needs to be thrown down a deep well along with its propagators. A third group believe that all whisky is basically the same ‘cos it all sez whisky on the bottle’, but those people are idiots, so we shan’t bother with them.

Whisky deserves a chance, but its imposing nature can leave it feeling difficult to navigate.

Hence this attempt to simplify things a little, and start you on the way to deciding that it’s fine, but you’re really more of a rum person. Anyway, in for a penny, in for a pound; charge your glasses, let’s get moving.

Right, that’s the linguistics done; now for some geography. Scotch whisky production is focused in five key areas – the Highlands, the Lowlands, the Islands, Speyside and Campbeltown – and each has its own unique characteristics.

Island malts are often quite smoky and peaty, Speysides can be sweeter than others, and Lowland whiskies tend to be light and floral, because that’s just the sort of thing we big city types would make, isn’t it?

This info can help you get off on the right foot, as the whisky world’s love for deductive leaps and casual overstatement can be a tad unhelpful, especially when two bottle blurbs are nearidentical but the liquids inside are completely different. Blends tend to be cheaper than malts, Highland whiskies are hugely varied so can be a good place to start, and for the love of God talk to a bartender if you’re unsure of what you’re doing. Just ask, they won’t bite. Presumably.

Whisky for beginners

Whisky events & tastings

If you’re going to give whisky a go, you’ll need to know what it is that you’re working with. Beware the gross over-simplification, but your basic whisky is made from water and malted barley, aged for at least three years in an oak barrel. If a bottle of whisky comes solely from one distillery, made with just malted barley, it’s called a ‘single malt’; if a bottle is made from a blend of single malts, it’s called a ‘blended malt’. If additional grain other than the malted barley is added, the bottle is either a ‘single grain’ or a ‘blended grain’, depending on the circumstances.

May 2016

Another way to get a handle on the world of whisky is to go to the source – a whole host of Scotland’s distilleries run regular tours and tastings – but often said source is miles away from anything, and rural travel and strong alcohol don’t mix.

If you can’t convince a friend to drive you for hours down winding country roads so you can get turnt up, the next best thing is a whisky tasting or event in the big city. Chief among these this month is the Whisky Stramash at Edinburgh’s Surgeons Hall, a now-annual mixture of molecular gastronomy, promenade theatre, helpful tasting

Words: Peter Simpson Illustration: Mike Hughes

tips and enough Scotch to float a small ship. It’s got everything a beginner could want – hundreds of whiskies to drink straight or in cocktails, a cracking location, and plenty to distract you if you change your mind about the whole ‘liking whisky’ thing (28 & 29 May, tickets £30). If that all sounds a bit full-on, World Whisky Day has prompted Edinburgh’s Scotch Whisky Experience to offer two-for-one masterclasses on the basics of the drink on 21 May, while over in Glasgow the Good Spirits Co host two whisky events this month – a ‘rare & old’ tasting on 14 May, and what is presumably a less-rare and less-old equivalent on 27 May.

“ Some people believe all whisky is the same... those people are idiots” Whisky on TV and film

It may have become apparent that the whisky industry is a rich man’s game, and as such the whole system is awash with cash and not exactly too subtle about it. This can be somewhat offputting if you’re a bit of a snob about these things (he said; nodding, winking and stroking his beard all at the same time), but the trick is to embrace

FOOD AND DRINK

the ‘cash money’ philosophy and enjoy some of its madder moments. Take for example the bizarre ‘promotional’ videos for Lagavulin and Oban whiskies presented by Parks and Recreation’s Nick Offerman, in which he eats peat, licks distillery workers, and locks himself in a cupboard to avoid the magic of Christmas. Yes, it’s an astonishing display of corporate largesse, but it beats the usual drinks advertising trick of showing a party you don’t want to go to, full of people not actually drinking.

In the world of film, whisky is often associated with roguishness and general gadaboutery.

Anchorman’s idiot newsreader Ron Burgundy drinks scotch like it’s going out of fashion, and Blade Runner’s Rick Deckard is partial to a dram or two when he isn’t tangled up with replicants or getting rained on next to Rutger Hauer. Bill Murray’s character getting paid millions to go to Japan to shoot whisky ads in Lost in Translation was closer to the truth than any of us may have really thought, and in Whisky Galore a group of rambunctious island types nick hundreds of bottles from a sinking ship, and they’re the good guys!

So whisky, then; it’s a complex drink with some interesting characteristics, a symbol for manly largesse, an expensive but entirely quaffable hobby, and a slightly confusing national drink, especially when there’s all this Irn-Bru lying around.

We suggest you grab a glass and give it a chance… just leave the mud-eating to the professionals. theskinny.co.uk/food World Whiskey, Day 21 May | worldwhiskeyday.com

Lifestyle

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Food News May’s food events guide features mountains of sugar, plenty of booze, and a whole heap of festivals Words: Peter Simpson

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e start this month with a chance to pick the brains of the folk behind Thistly Cross cider at a meet-the-brewer event at Innis and Gunn’s Beer Kitchen in Edinburgh. Make some new cider pals, find out a bit about the fine art of cidermaking, and do your best to discover how Thistly Cross turn regular apples into full-power party fuel (or so we’ve heard). 5 May, 6pm, 81 Lothian Rd; thebeerkitchen.co.uk Meanwhile in Glasgow, the CCA present two dramatically different – but equally intriguing – food events. The first, From the Andes with Love, celebrates the Andean origins of the spud with a potato-led three-course meal and a talk on migratory movements and cultural fusion.

7 May, 7pm; book via cca.org.uk Also at the CCA, Australian filmmaker Damon Gameau documents the effects of the white stuff (sugar that is, not cocaine) on the human body in That Sugar Film. Gameau tackles the prevalence of sugar in everyday food, and broaches the somewhat uncomfortable truth that even when we try to eat a healthy diet, we’re fighting an uphill battle. And the hill is made of sugar. 10 May, 6.30pm; free, ticketed.

The CCA also have a hand in Ricefield’s Chinese Dumpling Night at the Glad Cafe this month. As someone who loves all kinds of dumplings, but has the kitchen finesse of a goose with two cricket bats strapped to its wings, this author can wholeheartedly recommend this evening of storytelling, history and cooking. Learn about the traditions that go into your favourite recipes and give it all a try in the company of people who genuinely know what they’re doing.

12 May, 7.30pm; 1006A Pollokshaws Rd; £8, book via thegladcafe.co.uk

Later in the month, the inaugural Restless Natives festival in the East End sees the welcome return of Kiltr’s Street Feastival. Bringing together a collection of foodie pop-ups for the weekend alongside DJs and stallholders at one of the main hubs of Restless Natives, the Feastival should be the perfect place to grab some local grub between bands, or bemoan the fact that the man from Fugazi never got round to answering your question at his Q&A. 14-15 May, Collective Studios, East Campbell St; restlessnativesfestival.org/ Over in Edinburgh, Summerhall’s Beer Festival returns for its third summer outing.

Expect fest-only beers from Barney’s, Williams and Six Degrees North, a cocktail bar if you don’t fancy a beer, loads of great food from a selection of the city’s best pop-ups and food trucks, and even some live music thrown into the bargain.

20 May, 5.30pm-midnight, 21 May, noon-5pm & 6pm-midnight; 1 Summerhall Pl; £5, summerhall.co.uk Also returning this month is the Pint of Science festival, providing an opportunity to slink off to the pub and come back with a head full of exciting information. The UK-wide fest features events at a host of venues across Edinburgh and Glasgow, and we’re particularly taken with two events; Schrodinger’s Pint at Drygate in Glasgow, combining intellectual comedy, quantum physics and lovely beers with delightfully pithy label art; and Brain Plus Technology at Edinburgh’s City Cafe which features the chance to meet terrifying artificial intelligences and mind-controlled prosthetics, with a lovely pint to take the edge off your tech-horror. 23-25 May, full programme at pintofscience.co.uk

Phagomania: Ice, Ice Baby We put a brave face on a summer without vanilla, and take an international look at some exciting and terrifying ice cream flavours

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Words: Lewis MacDonald

ummer is under threat, and not just from the fact that there’s a hailstorm outside as we write this. The classic summer staple of vanilla ice cream could be in trouble, due to a global vanilla shortage via a poor crop of Madagascan beans. It looks like we will be forced to expand our thoughts on what flavour ice cream can be, regardless of whether the sun ever comes out again.

We’ll start with a straightforward change: crocodile egg ice cream. Hailing from Sweet Spot Artisan Ice Cream in Davo City, Philippines, the low-cholesterol, high-protein and ethicallysourced egg choice replaces traditional chicken eggs in the recipe. This reportedly gives a much richer result but feels unlikely to be snapped up with a name like ‘crocodile egg ice cream’, and it doesn’t really solve that whole vanilla problem.

We’ve come to expect big things from Japan over the history of this column, and their ice cream selection does not disappoint. Sweet potato? Yes. Cactus? Go on. Pretty much any

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type of seafood is available – crab, eel, shark fin, oyster and octopus are all on offer – and things get even weirder in the meat category. Tebasaki fried chicken wings? Snake? Horse meat? We don’t know which is the oddest, but if we had to eat something out of that lot, we’d pick the chicken wing.

Of course, you don’t have to settle for mass-produced, shop-bought flavours when you can make your own. Via his blog The Food In My Beard, Dan Whalen has honed his skills at pairing liquid nitrogen ice cream with mash-up cuisine.

Having already created such amalgamations as BLT ice cream – steeping bacon and rocket leaves in milk and topping with a sweet tomato jam – he had to recently raise his game when invited to a professional ice cream party.

Dan explains: “I knew these people had tried lots of ice cream flavors and had essentially ‘seen it all.’” His answer – malted squid ink ice cream with wasabi sprinkles. “The squid ink added more of a salty hint of ocean flavour, and

FOOD AND DRINK

paired with the creamy milk, and sweet flavour of the malt powder, this ice cream had a strong umami essence.” Dan is also well aware of the importance of how his creation looks, saying: “The wasabi sprinkles added that visual pop of the green on black that took the pictures to the next level.”

When it comes to variety, nobody is ever going to compete with Heladeria Coromoto in Venezuela, which holds a Guinness World Record for its 860 ice cream flavours. Where do we even start? Of course you have your regular selection, but things soon stray off course: sardines and brandy, mushrooms and wine, spaghetti and cheese. The menu then gets fantastically abstract, with flavours such as British Airways, Viagra Hope and World Cup ‘98. Your guess is as good as ours, but seeing as ice cream may never be the same again it could be time to try something new. Just don’t start with the horse flavour...

THE SKINNY

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equila! Starter of parties, scourge of the unsuspecting, and the favourite drink of overexuberant ‘slammers’ everywhere. However, tequila has as much range as any other spirit, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the vast and expansive world of the Margarita.

Dating back to the early 20th century, the classic mix of tequila, lime and triple sec orange liqueur makes up your standard margarita. But don’t stop there, as throwing in additional ingredients and swapping elements around can create dramatically different and vastly improved drinks.

One such option is The Tommy Cooper.

Based on Herradura Reposado agave tequila, The Tommy Cooper swaps out the triple sec for agave nectar in homage to the classic Californian twist on the Margarita. It’s topped off by a float of hoppy, citric Joker – Williams Brothers’ IPA brewed in the exotic climes of… Alloa.

If you fancy a spicier take on the Margarita, try out the Muy Picante. Switching out the tequila for mezcal, this twist on the classic also features a spiky hit of chilli syrup that adds an extra dimension to proceedings. Ultimately, the Margarita is a durable, dynamic cocktail with as many variations as you can imagine; just grab a bottle of Mexican spirit and a cocktail shaker, and the rest is up to you.

The Tommy Cooper

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INGREDIENTS: 50ml Herradura Reposado tequila 25ml Lime juice 12.5ml Agave nectar 50ml Joker IPA METHOD: Shake the tequila, lime juice and agave nectar. Strain into a half pint glass, and top with Joker IPA.

The Muy Picante INGREDIENTS: 50ml Ilegal Joven mezcal 25ml Lime juice 12.5ml Chilli syrup METHOD: Shake the mezcal, lime juice and chilli syrup.

Strain into a chilli salt-rimmed highball glass, over ice.

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May 2016

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RE V IE

Credit: Sol Nicol

Tindersticks

Gig Highlights With summer festival season setting up its boggin' two-man tent in a field near you in just a minute, May’s hit list offers respite in the great indoors

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eteran cinematic favourites don’t come much bigger than the evergreen Tindersticks, who continue to confound both genre and the very concept of shelf life as they enter the 25th year of their almost offensively consistent career. The Waiting Room is the Nottingham group’s landmark 10th studio album, and they’ll be bringing it in all its immaculate, brass-laden glory to the Usher Hall (3 May).

If that sounds a little too rich for your taste buds, then palindromic pop-punkers Tacocat are also in town that night at Electric Circus, where they’ll be unleashing a swift boot to the balls of the patriarchy by dint of snarling, earworm hooks and oddball, pop cultural quips. If you don’t already own a decent set of earplugs, then it might be time to loosen the purse strings, for the full-throttle theme spills into the following week when notorious eardrum-perforators The Joy Formidable (9 May) and United Fruit (15 May) hit the Liquid Room and Sneaky Pete’s respectively. Seriously though: tinnitus sucks.

‘The word “legend” is often overused, but’ is a sentence overused almost as much as the word itself. Nevertheless, the word ‘legend’ is often overused, but in the case of Brian Wilson, no other adjective feels applicable. He might have had another falling out with the boys, but this particular tour celebrates the 50th (!) anniversary of Pet Sounds and will be the last time Wilson performs his teenage opus in its entirety. Miss his Usher Hall show (26 May) at your peril (or see the encore at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall the following night).

Rounding up our month on the east coast, there’s a quickfire double from the City of Discovery. Malcolm Middleton has been busy operating as Human Don’t Be Angry for years, but this month seems him returning to his regular solo guise (but not as you know it) with his electronica-influenced (and Miaoux Miaoux produced) new LP, Summer of ‘13. See how it shapes up at Beat Generator on 26 May (or alternatively Glasgow Art School on 27 May and Edinburgh Electric Circus on 28 May).

Canadian metalcore titans Cancer Bats rock up at Buskers the following night (27 May), and that’s a show to wear your shit-kickers for.

May 2016

Words: Graeme Campbell

Glasgow’s calendar for the month is predictably fertile. Kicking things off we have A$AP Nast, who – after Yams (RIP), Rocky, Ferg and possibly Twelvyy – stands in line as another influential character from the A$AP Mob. All gratuitous sarcasm aside, what Ferg might currently lack in stature, Nast more than makes up for with bars; probably the most talented pound for pound rapper in the entire collective. Get trill when he plays The Garage (4 May).

Things ramp up from Thursday onwards, beginning with a show from the endlessly curious Minor Victories. The likes of FFS, Iggy Pop’s Post Pop Depression combo and of course McBusted are just some of the potent supergroup combinations to have emerged recently, but this internet borne outfit, featuring Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Justin Lockey (Editors), Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai) and filmmaker James Lockey are sounding just a wee bit special. They play their first ever Scottish show at the Art School (6 May); the same night

De Rosa head for Stereo in support of Weem – their long-awaited third record and first to drop on the aforementioned Braithwaite’s Rock Action label. Homecoming heroes Holy Esque (7 May) and Sad Boys chieftain Yung Lean (8 May) then round off an exceptional week of bookings at the Art School.

These bloody keep coming; this time it’s Bellshill’s favourite son, Duglas T Stewart, blowing out the birthday cake candles on 30 years of the BMX Bandits at CCA (14 May). Joining Duglas’s festivities would normally be a no-brainer, but Bossy Love – described within these very pages as one of Scotland’s most talked about new bands – headline Nice ‘n’ Sleazy on the same evening, presenting an utter bastard of a clash. Young bucks or the old guard, it’s your call.

The uncategorisable Anna Meredith – who dropped her debut album Varimants on Moshi Moshi last month – brings her avant-garde compositions to the cosy surrounding of the Hug and

Pint (17 May), just as Seattle noise-poppers Chastity Belt head for Broadcast. Yer Manic Street Preachers also make their speedy return north for – you guessed it – another anniversary tour; throwing a bash for Everything Must Go’s 20th at the Hydro (21 May).

Not all bands are blessed with such longevity, however, and Jan Burnett’s madcap project The Grand Gestures has decided it’s far better to burn out than fade away. They offer their Final Gesture at Tut’s that same night. Peter Sagar is a man who knows all about leaving, having played as a touring member of Mac Demarco’s band for years before deciding to spread his wings under the guise of Homeshake. He saddles up alongside pop punk prodigies cum surf rock kings SWMRS at Broadcast (22 May), before Welsh treasure Cate Le Bon rounds off our coverage at Stereo alongside Alex Dingley (24 May).

Do Not Miss Father John Misty O2 Academy, 12 May Transgressive folk bizarro John Tilman (aka, Father John Misty) is no stranger to the outlandish and could easily be considered the missing link between Andy Kaufman and Leonard Cohen. During April the arch satirist made headlines after scoring a writing credit on the new Beyoncé album (the song, Hold Up, is amazing, FYI). Regardless of eccentricities, Tilman remains one of the most singular and genuinely brilliant talents in today’s music sphere, and, like his previous two Glasgow shows, tickets for his show at the O2 Academy will be like proverbial gold dust.

[Graeme Campbell]

MUSIC

Credit: Derek Key

Credit: Stuart Moulding

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Yak

Preview

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Ought

Protomartyr

rrrrr

rrrrr

Broadcast, Glasgow, 22 Apr

Broadcast, Glasgow, 2 Apr This is not your typical rock’n’roll experience. The band barely acknowledge the audience. In between verses, the singer carries the air of a middle manager who’s just delivered a lengthy Powerpoint contribution to a notably tedious meeting. Later, he’ll bark one of their songs from underneath a towel. It’s a pretty typical show for Protomartyr, a Detroit band with all their home city’s high-energy looseness but a total inversion of rock’s normal relationship with tension and release, starting with the latter and putting the squeeze on every track until it bristles with nerves. It’s the chief reason why they’re utterly brilliant.

Almost an anti-frontman, replete with ill-fitting blazer and enormous St Andrew’s Cross belt buckle, even Joe Casey’s uncanny similarity to both 1980s Bob Mould and a down-at-heel David Cameron can’t prepare you for the gawk of the squawk; the facial contortions that accompany his gnarled proclamations seem perfectly pitched for these thoroughly unbeautiful pieces of rock’n’roll.

Latest album The Agent Intellect sees Protomartyr exploring mysterious Aristotelian concepts of conscious thought through fading religion, bleak humour and impoverished industrial landscapes – not immediately accessible stuff (at least thematically) but its visceral punch is undeniable, and that’s what comes to the fore in the live arena.

It’s especially evident during the white-knuckle ride of Pontiac ’87 and Scum, Rise!, while Why Does It Shake? is a twinkle-toed slugger of a song, with its blunt, yell-along coda landing heavy blows across a heaving Broadcast dance floor.

The bro-dudes try to start the mosh, as brodudes are wont to do, but it feels like a mis-reading of the situation. Music this unsettling isn’t for slamdancing or beery singalongs; it’s much more absorbing than that. Much better to watch ‘em burn white-hot, leaving us to smoulder in the afterglow.

[Will Fitzpatrick] protomartyrband.com

Photo: Derek Robertson

Although Broadcast’s low-lying stage has remained unaltered since Ought last played here two years ago, the Montreal art-punk quartet’s personal stock has been on an inexorable uphill rise. For proof of that, look no further than this Friday night show, which is positively rammed; so much so that opening proceedings are delayed by a few minutes to create more space for those near the back with a restricted view. It’s nights like this where the aforementioned platforms feel like a personal affront to the vertically challenged among us.

About 20 minutes into their performance, it dawns on us that Ought must be one of the most brilliant live acts on the planet right now. Tim Darcy has never skirted any accusations of pastiche in the past, but the intensity in which the rakish frontman performs marks him out as an intoxicatingly unique proposition.

Interspersing his frisky wisecracks with deft harmonics and razor sharp riffs, it’s almost like watching a young Morrissey born into the ’77 postpunk scene. During set centrepiece Beautiful Blue Sky, the room begins to resemble a sea of bobbing heads; each one focussed upon and drawing energy from Darcy as if he were some kind of jittering power generator, and by the time the band are back out for an encore with Sun Coming Down closer Never Better, there’s enough energy in the room to illuminate Sauchiehall Street. Even if you can’t see what’s going on up there, you can sure as hell feel it. [Graeme Campbell]

Photo: Jon Ellenor

cstrecords.com/ought

Clint Mansell

The Royal Concert Hall, 29 Mar Photo: Rita Azevedo

rrrrr

Explosions in the Sky

Souls, We Slept arrives in utter dissonance before falling transmogrified to subtlety and expression; Disintegration Anxiety, with its subjugation of rrrrr clanging chords and random keys, a celebration of Should they be responsible for some of the most the calibration of noise. soul-achingly beautiful music ever recorded – and At times this really is quite mesmerising… from a post-rock perspective at least there’s a and therein lies the issue. EitS make music to feel compelling argument in favour – then bearing wit- by – a stunning proposition on one basis, yet prompness from the floor of the Barrowland Ballroom ting disconnect on another, the lack of interaction, as Explosions in the Sky forge such sonic algebra intimacy, or collective live experience, alongside should be benediction, rather than counterintuitive. the band’s sheer professionalism (even a blown It’s not as if there’s a lack of enthusiasm, Munaf amp doesn’t derail the soundscape) representing Rayani bouncing to the mic expressing gratitude a barrier between stage and crowd that’s difficult that we’ve turned out in force. And as they launch to circumvent. A pristine recreation of sound crainto Tangle Formations – opening track of a set ving raw edges, perhaps; an hour and a quarter’s dominated by the recent, excellent The Wilderness worth of set, no encore, and we’re spat out into LP – it’s all there; the shifting contours that ride the night a little confused as to what we’ve just above the bass lines, each wave of guitar breaking experienced. [Duncan Harman] upon the shore. With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Glasgow Barrowlands, 19 Apr

explosionsinthesky.com

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Review

A world away from his bombastic Pop Will Eat Itself days, former lead singer Clint Mansell has returned to Scottish shores as a metamorphosed man, after a lengthy absence from these parts. Since his long-time collaborator, the celebrated film director Darren Aronofsky invited Mansell to score his debut film Pi, the acutely talented, self-taught English musician has reinvented himself as something of a composer enfant terrible – and tonight’s Royal Concert Hall performance is a moving, contemplative journey through this career’s second coming.

Following the rumbling, ominous compositions from Pi, Mansell and his orchestra work progressively through the rest of his sublimely emotive scores. Music from Duncan Jones’ Moon follows, steered by drummer Eric Gardner’s intensely hypnotic, primal percussive beats, and electrified by the malefic strings of the masterful Kronos quartet. Music from Aronofsky’s subsequent films follows, as Mansell and his precision-perfect fellow musicians move seamlessly through highlights from Requiem For A Dream and Black Swan – the latter’s searing strings proving as vehemently piercing as the film itself.

Music

If Mansell’s motivation was to prove himself as a composer, then by way of these sumptuously delivered pieces, he has done so without vacillation. A thoroughly endearing character on stage, he comes across humble, ever so slightly nervous, yet warm, and acutely aware of the great importance of human connection to his art. Yet the great man is not quite done with our heartstrings – the Fountain finale, Death Is The Road To Awe, is a crushing, febrile tour de force, made all the more poignant by the spectre of Heather, who Mansell refers to fondly and forlornly – his girlfriend who passed away 18 months prior.

The singular downfall of the evening is the perplexing inattention of large pockets of the audience, despite the spellbinding nature of the performance. Indeed, Mansell’s work demands a certain kind of fixed contemplation that perhaps challenges 21st century attention spans, yet this is essential, if uneasy listening. As Mansell himself attests, to much laughter from the audience, “when you’re a true punk rocker, you don’t give a fuck – you just do what you want.” And aren’t we grateful that he has? [Claire Francis] clintmansell.com

THE SKINNY

it. He spent much of the downtime in between 2013’s Koi No Yokan and this particular LP recording and touring with his (considerably more serene) side project, Crosses, and in a recent Rolling Stone interview, he spoke beautifully of his enduring love for music – of how waking up in the morning and delving into new music transports him back to being a 12-year-old. His tastes and influences are broad, but when he writes for Deftones, they’re largely secondary to the inspiration that his bandmates provide.

“There’s tons of things I love and listen to constantly, but the biggest thing that motivates me to do my part for the band, as the vocalist and lyricist, are the other guys, and the music that we’re all creating together. On an album like this – which we started making two years ago – it’s difficult to point to external influences anyway, because my tastes are always changing and evolving. Plus, the last time I did that, the last time I picked out a single name, was when we’d just started work on Gore. I was doing press and mentioned that I like Morrissey’s solo records, and suddenly everyone’s like, 'Oh, the new Deftones is going to sound like Morrissey!' I mean, come on. Obviously not – I don’t have that kind of talent!”

Credit: Frank Maddocks

“ We're prouder of this record purely because it didn't come easily” Chino Moreno

Blood and Guts

Tonally, Gore is often a lighter record than either of its predecessors, which perhaps explains Carpenter’s initial disenchantment with parts of Deftones’ Chino Moreno meditates on creative tension, artistic accessibility it; Diamond Eyes had a raw aggression that conand why eschewing populism has served the Sacramento survivors well Interview: Joe Goggins stantly threatened to burst through the studio polish (and often succeeded), while Koi No Yokan was a moody affair, thick with tension. Gore often tempers its heaviness with prettiness; twinkling guitars sit alongside belligerent rhythm on Prayers/ reposterously, Deftones have been recording The band made considerable changes to their Triangles, while Hearts/Wires quietly simmers phone line. “It took me a long time to get into his and playing together for 28 years. If you do to a slow burn of a chorus. Moreno acknowledges shit on this record, too, but that’s what I love about approach for Gore. Rather than hole themselves the maths – bearing in mind that the three remai- him; he questions everything, basically, and that’s up for as long as it took to get the album finished, that this doesn’t necessarily equate to an accesning original members, Chino Moreno, Stephen sible listen. “I think this is one of the harder records a good trait. It drives me fucking crazy, sometimes, writing and recording sessions were sporadic of ours to get into. It’s so complex – I’ve heard Carpenter and Abe Cunningham, are all in their out of necessity. “It’s harder for us to get together but it stops any of us from sliding towards comearly to mid-40's – you come to realise that the these songs thousands of times, and I’m still noplacency. It’s challenging, but it’s not what people these days,” Moreno says, “because it’s not like shapeshifting mavericks were teenagers when they ticing little subtleties here and there.” it used to be, where I could walk down the street have made it out to be.” first started out. Normally, you’d talk about a band Even so, that hasn’t put off sections of the The ingrained belief among listeners has long and step into the garage with those guys. At the like this purely in terms of staying power; you’d music press that, having given Deftones short shrift been that Carpenter, a hulking, hirsute figure with same time, it came from trying to find a balance talk about how remarkable it is that they’re still for years, finally seem to be paying attention again; an uncompromising approach to the volume dial, between making music and just living life. At this doing anything together, and marvel at the fact that is very much the ‘metal’ guy in the band, and that point, it’s not like we’re too stressed out; we don’t the likes of Pitchfork’s interest has presumably so long in the spotlight hasn’t eroded personal been piqued by the band’s latter-day critical success Moreno, a man with considerably broader musical need to put a record out because our career deand professional bonds. tastes and a style of delivery that can flip between pends on it. The more laid-back we were, the more elsewhere. In fact, it seems that a much broader The thing is, it’s not just that Deftones are sensual and savage in an instant, is the mellower, I found myself excited to get back together – they coalition of websites and publications are again were these great short bursts of energy. Get in, embracing the band. Not that Moreno’s bothered, still going; it’s that, nearly three decades in, they more melodic counterpoint to Carpenter’s appehave very much found yet another creative stride. tite for sonic brutality. Somewhere in between, as boom, get it down, and then get out again. We didn’t particularly. “Do people really go to somewhere wear ourselves out living in a hotel for months on like Pitchfork and think, ‘Oh, if they like it, it must How many other bands, this far in, can lay similar the story goes, the creative magic happens. This claim to being in the form of their lives? The Rolling might, The Skinny suggests, do a disservice to the end, and I think we’ve earned the right not to, the be good?’ I mean, I know that’s how they view themselves, but honestly, whether they or anyone else right to be able to work at our own pace.”

Stones might be past their half-century, but they rest of the group. chooses to review it, I don’t care. If anyone did Still, just because they could didn’t neceshaven’t made a truly indispensable album in more “Definitely,” says Moreno. “It’s nowhere near than four decades. With the release of Gore, as black and white as that yin and yang of ‘I like this, sarily mean that they should. Moreno himself is on say something great about it, my instinct would be to take it with a grain of salt and say it’s shit! record as suggesting that Deftones do their best though, Sacramento’s premier purveyors of atmos- he likes that.’ Everyone in this band brings their “That said, I do understand that mentality, work when they create quickly. “There was a little pheric metal have now cut three LPs since 2010, own ideas and opinions, and we all have different because we fucking hate a lot of shit too, you know? anxiety about taking our time with Gore, initially,” each of which you could present a compelling styles, and overall that makes this band the way it case for being the strongest they’ve ever produced. is. Sometimes we don’t see eye to eye in the studio he explains, “but honestly, there’s still a lot of spon- We try not to be too vocal about it, because if you haven’t got anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say taneity, because we were never together for too Out of turbulence (the band’s well-documen- – it’s not always easy – but at the end of the day, we’re not going to finish, let alone put out, even long and we were just trying to capture the energy anything at all, but when the five of us sit around ted fall-out around the sessions for 2006 album one song until we’re all into it. We’re all sitting here in the room. ‘Alright, we’re here for ten days, let’s together we’ll talk all kinds of shit about things Saturday Night Wrist, which they’ve long since smiling at what we’ve accomplished, and I think work our asses off and make some noise together.’ we’re not into. We were having a conversation the overcome) and tragedy (bassist Chi Cheng’s 2008 other day about the fact that we’ve never played It gave us the best of both worlds, because we’d car crash, long-term coma and subsequent death we’re prouder of this record purely because it didn’t necessarily come easily. There’s a big payoff go home and then revisit the material months later Coachella – we’ve never been asked. I’d love to play five years later), we find ourselves in the midst of there, but there must be somebody there who Deftones’ most potent run of records. Early omens in that. If you’re doing a fucking jigsaw puzzle with and we could reflect on it and refine it, but still feels like they’d lose cool points if they were to retain that initial energy that we caught last time for Gore, though, seemed ominous, after guitarist a group of people, everybody’s going to have different ways of approaching it; one guy might like around. It helped us to put our best foot forward.” align themselves with us in any way. But, you know, Carpenter suggested in the press that it wasn’t to do the corners first, and another might want Moreno’s own role in the band has subtly ex- what am I gonna do about it?” the kind of record that he wanted to make. to colour coordinate. That’s how we’ve always panded in recent years, and he plays more guitar “I was like, 'Motherfucker, those are some of Gore is available now via Warner Bros made music.” on Gore than on any other Deftones record before your songs!'" laughs Moreno over a transatlantic

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deftones.com

May 2016

Music

Review

49

Album of the Month Gold Panda

Good Luck and Do Your Best [City Slang, 27 May]

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When you look beyond life’s gauntlet of insufferable bullshit, sometimes we do live in a bright, wonderful world; Derwin Panda has decided it’s time to draw back the curtains and take a good look at it. Good Luck and Do Your Best is imbued with shiny-eyed, openhearted optimism, and built with all the sensitivity and care that we’ve come to expect from anything Gold Panda touches. Evocative of Derwin’s most recent travels through his beloved Japan, it’s also

Mutual Benefit

As We Make Our Way (Unknown Harbours) [The Flower Shop Recordings, 13 May]

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Slipping effortlessly between wispy, lo-fi gospel and warm trails of orchestration, the second album from Mutual Benefit (aka Jordan Lee) doesn’t want for scope, the prevailing mood coy, lithe and appealing. A little reminiscent of late-period Spiritualized or a mariachi-weaned Beirut, Lee weaves delicate patterns, minor keys reflecting off the major, Wayne Coyne-esque vocals floating gently on the tides of reminiscence.

Skip A Sinking Stone isn’t an immediate record, and neither is there anything particularly novel in its utilisation of imagery, but that’s picking holes for the sake of it; tracks such as Getting Gone and the titular Skipping Stones balance naturally, the harmonies gentle, the acoustic guitar, piano and strings positioned with grace (even Nocturne, the brief, mid-point instrumental – is beautifully phased and elegantly phrased).

“We can see stars from here; why would we go back anywhere?” sings Lee on Lost Dreamers. And like a starry night, the view from here is something to treasure. [Duncan Harman]

Robin Proper-Sheppard has always had a way with love. Of viewing it at odd angles, teasing out the strands of heartbreak almost before hearts have been broken. No more so than on As We Make Our Way (Unknown Harbours), his sixth studio album as Sophia; it may have been seven years since the last LP, but he’s lost none of that frisson. “I don’t know why we’re always resisting,” he sings on the sonic bruise of Resisting, guitars wailing wraith-like in the background.

A record full of patterns, playing restraint (The Drifter) against intensity (St Tropez/The Hustle) to create something deliciously slow-burning and tender. And while conforming to indie rock trope through its guitar-driven posture, there are enough strands of discordance and electronic noodles to make this an enticing listen musically as well as lyrically. The sound of being all grown-up yet still lost and confused; it’s a grand return.

[Duncan Harman]

mutualbenef.it

sophiamusic.net

Misha

Yoni & Geti

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In its original conception, Testarossa comprised the soundtrack to a script formulated by Why? mainman Yoni Wolf and fellow alt rapper Serengeti. Essentially, it concerned a young couple whose lives go into freefall: Davy jets off with his band while Maddy’s left at home to raise their kids, and the ­album itself presents us with snapshots of their relationship’s dying embers.

Serengeti in particular is darkly captivating when ­portraying the self-obsessed Davy; his fried, matter-of-fact mutterings ­alternate between outlandish tales of bedhopping across Europe and flashes of grim self-awareness. ‘I’m a poltergeist,’ he r­ egretfully exclaims in one of the record’s recurring themes, suddenly ­mindful of both his invisibility and his culpability.

Wolf ’s typically lush backdrop meanwhile takes in sun-blurred psychedelicism and Pinback indie groove, all cut to a deft hiphop pulse that’s both brightly hopeful and mournfully direct. Davy is very far from sympathetic, but there’s a raw tenderness here that keeps the tale under Yoni and Geti’s redoubtable spell.

[Will Fitzpatrick]

mishatheband.com

joyfulnoiserecordings.com

MEANS [Play It Again Sam, 20 May]

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2014’s sterling Deep Fantasy saw White Lung thrashing away under a mushroom cloud of eardrum-rattling guitar effects – a triumphant honing of everything they’d done before. This fourth album feels like a further refinement; the melodies bigger, the textures more cryptic. For instance, Below wrenches a soaring chorus from soft, reverb-drenched ­beginnings, while Hungry’s wracked, refracted riffs are somehow both woozy and full of purpose.

There’s certainly an air of transition – White Lung seem caught between their desire to rock noisily and at pace, and their fast-­developing melodic sensibilities – meaning that Paradise is a ­better pop record but less immediately fun than previous ­offerings. Still, with Mish Way’s storytelling abilities in finer fettle than ever, and the title track’s explosive, arms-aloft romanticism delivered as the kiss-off (“I’m all about you / You’re all about me too”), there’s more than enough to ensure their journey is still worth tagging along for. [Will Fitzpatrick] whitelung.tumblr.com

Kate Jackson

British Road Movies [Hoo Ha Records, 20 May]

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The equal – at least – of the two dazzling artworks she delivered with The Long Blondes, Jackson’s solo debut comes eight years after guitarist Dorian Cox’s unexpected stroke caused the Sheffield band to split. No fear: Jackson’s “big pop record” is worth the wait and then some. Produced by Bernard Butler, its ten tracks hum with greedy ambition.

From pulsing dance beats (six-minute opener The End of Reason), barrelling, breakneck funk (Metropolis, Stranded) or blissed-out guitar pop (Homeward Bound, where Butler’s Les Paul and Jackson’s rarely heard higher register combine to dizzying effect), British Road Movies showcases a clear-sighted and absorbing vision.

By the time the spoken word 16 Years unravels a memory haze, filmic in its detail (‘Your house was bright with dirty patterned carpets / I wish I’d said how much I’d wanted to be ordinary…like you’), all bets are off. Jackson’s return is a wonder of creative design and timeless, classic style. [Gary Kaill] katejackson.co.uk

Malcolm Middleton

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Congrats [Innovative Leisure, 27 May] Holy... shit. Chimes Broken, the opening track to the saintly, sweary Canadians’ surprise new album will smack you in the teeth, twice. Three times, even. Holy Fuck have crammed a fistful of heart-racing, adrenaline-pumping club bangers into a blender, and smashed the result through a sieve (with a hammer). If you’re still hanging on, white-knuckled, by the mid-track EDM build that evaporates into a full-frontal assault, then you know you’ve got the guts for the rest of the record; Congrats.

Holy Fuck are back, and they sound lean, mean and punk as... y’know, fuck. Congrats isn’t all hell for leather, though. Neon Dad transcends its surroundings to become a mirage of shimmering melody and angelic, choral voices. But the peace doesn’t last long; House of Glass is built on shards of funk, only to be ritually demolished by a sound which can only be described as lasers. From massive, bashy beginnings, Congrats opens out into an album of very real, rippedrule-book excitement; it’s exhausting and exhilarating and wonderful. Roll out the red carpet, Holy Fuck deserve it. [Katie Hawthorne]

fewsmusic.com

holyholyfuckfuck.tumblr.com

Review

Paradise [Domino, 6 May]

Holy Fuck

Swedish/American four-piece Fews finally let loose over ten full tracks, after teasing music bloggers last year with tracks The Zoo and Ill. On debut record Means, both songs emerge present and correct from the gloom, making good on their promises to cause deep-seated, shattering damage: Industrial echoes ring out from behind tense, terse lyrics pronouncing that ‘time is on my side,’ as sprawls of icy feedback open up and raze the earth.

Means is shadowed and dizzying, sour and fleeting. The album captures the essence of an indie sound that’s almost universally considered to be jaded, and proves that its framework is ripe for a renovation. So while there’s a touch of Bloc Party’s heyday in the jittering hedonism of single 100 Goosebumps, Fews leave no stone unturned. Careful details like the post-dub inflected fadeout to 10 Things and the chilling, swinging hand-clap in Drinking Games ensure that MEANS retains all of the mystery and enigma that made this record so anticipated. [Katie Hawthorne]

50

White Lung

Testarossa [Joyful Noise, 6 May]

Misha’s All We Will Become is apparently inspired by themes of “reincarnation and renewal”, and you can see why the idea of a fresh start might appeal. Following 2007 debut Teardrop Sweetheart, the New York-based duo went ominously quiet; since then, break-ups both personal and professional have cleaved the act in two, leaving multi-instrumentalist John Chao to mount a belated second act alone.

Well, almost alone: former foil Ashley Yao may have departed, but guest vocalists permit Chao to revisit the gentle boy-girl harmonies of calling card Summersend – a dynamic that’s particularly effective on billowy pop number Limelight and the sweeping dramatics of In Reverse.

The latter’s elegant strings contribute towards an impressively diverse sound, making Misha a one-man band with real depth and breadth – though also something of a confused identity, at times jumping between styles a little too readily. The next incarnation should set that right; hopefully we won’t have to wait another nine years to know for sure. [Chris Buckle]

FEWS

iamgoldpanda.com

Sophia

Skip A Sinking Stone [Transgressive, 20 May]

All We Will Become [Tomlab, 20 May]

an exploration of life’s little things. You can almost hear the dust on the vinyl he’s sampling from; as Gold Panda’s deceptively simple repetitions start to unfurl, you realise that his technical wizardry refuses to reveal its component parts.

Instead, Good Luck and Do Your Best is more easily deciphered through visuals and nostalgia, memories of making tea or of splashing in a puddle. Pink and Green journeys slowly, almost imperceptibly, from day into dusk; the dulcimer on Time Eater is quietly, woozily bizarre; closer Your Good Times Are Just Beginning gives you a big hug with loungey, warm brass. So pretty, so welcoming, so ridiculously clever. [Katie Hawthorne]

RECORDS

Summer of ‘13 [Nude Records, 27 May] Malcolm has never shied away from the innate joy of the great pop record, and by engaging the production services of Miaoux Miaoux (alongside input from Lone Pigeon, De Rosa’s Martin John Henry and Scott Simpson of First Aid Kit), Summer of ’13 would very much be Middelton’s Pet Shop Boys moment – were it not for his lyrical candour. It's unashamedly primarycoloured, flaunting its 80s influences, yet the juxtaposition of cathartic, downbeat lyrics and dance-inclined electronica doesn’t always work. The highlights – Steps, You & I, Like John Lennon Said - are led astray by synth-pop patterns ill-suited to his voice (the title track's a slowed down/sped-up vocal sits awkwardly in the narrative).

He’s to be commended for trying something beyond his comfort zone; the production is pristine, the nostalgic references both witty and elegant. But for any listener beholden to the folk-aligned contemplation behind much of the rest of Middleton’s canon, Summer of ’13 remains an anomalous curio. [Duncan Harman] Playing Dundee Beat Generator Live on 26 May; Glasgow Art School on 27 May; Edinburgh Electric Circus on 28 May | malcolmmiddleton.com

THE SKINNY

Ghold

Marissa Nadler

Summer Cannibals

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Pyr [Ritual Productions, 6 May]

Strangers [Bella Union, 20 May]

Full of It [Kill Rock Stars, 27 May]

OWCH. You know that feeling when someone repeatedly bashes your skull with a meat tenderiser until it caves and the bone splinters and the pain goes fuzzy at the edges and your brain begins to swell and gradually the sensation dawns on you that you’ve transcended existence and you can see through time and space and meanwhile the hammering just DOES NOT STOP? Pyr is a pretty good approximation of that, with its brutally heavy riffs played at a creeped-out crawl, and fleshed out at length by spacious blasts of tonal, teeth-shattering texture.

The opening three tracks feel pretty overpowering, but midpoint monolith Despert Thrang is where the album really does the business: 30 minutes of their remit writ large, making for one exhausting thrill ride. Admittedly, so much doom und drang gets exhausting – it’s certainly not for the faint-hearted – but Ghold will blow minds even while beating them into oblivion. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Seven albums in, Boston native Marissa Nadler reunites with producer Randall Dunn, who recorded 2014’s July, and continues in much the same vein. That clean mezzo-soprano (and it is, as ever, quite beautiful) is framed by a backing austere but full; processed guitars amid an ocean of reverb.

Atmosphere is everything in Nadler’s oeuvre. The dynamics of her songs and their careful arrangements are sketched with subtlety: there are few ‘big’ moments. With that in mind, it’s the beefier, fuller tunes that stand out. Katie I Know and Janie In Love are gripping full band realisations of Nadler’s delicate compositions.

Nothing Feels the Same has the same haunted, shadesdrawn languor of Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence, and there’s a clue to the problem. Both artists favour style style over substance, but Nadler’s work is ultimately less storied than Del Rey’s and too under-dramatised to really connect, to really hurt. [Gary Kaill]

The Portland band arrive on this, their third album. A ferocious – and ferociously cerebral – collection, these 11 songs rattle your sternum while messing with your mind. This time around, singer Jessica Boudreaux’s songs retain the garage tradition and filthy grooves of her band’s earlier work but amid the bombast – and Summer Cannibals are a genuinely threatening force – lies a thoughtful and intelligent lyrical profile.

If you’re the subject of the likes of Talk Over Me (‘It’s not just how you talk over me, it’s… everything’) or Go Home, which spits and snarls like prime Babes in Toyland, heaven help you. Every one of these songs is a rough-hewn diamond but the sweet-sour nugrunge of Fallen is a dizzying stand-out. No wonder Kill Rock Stars were so keen to land them: Summer Cannibals’ hard-rocking but politically astute manifesto was made for that most savvy of labels.

They deserve to be stars: let’s help them with that. [Gary Kaill]

ghold.bandcamp.com

marissanadler.com

summercannibals.com

Book Group

The Great Indoors [SportsfanRecords, 13 May]

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American college rock by way of Edinburgh’s backstreet dives shouldn’t work – and, inevitably, almost never does – but there’s a certain something to the capital’s Book Group.

The Great Indoors is the four-piece’s debut long player and robust, crackling guitars are scattered over its 11 tracks. The opening bars of Season of Screams will feel like a familiar cuddly pal to both Book Group’s first fans and, let’s be honest, anyone who listened to Guided By Voices or Sebadoh in the 90s.

Snarky lyrics are in abundance too. Not many acts could get away with singing about ‘cracking one off just to get to sleep’ (Kick Start) or lamenting the end of a condiment fetish in the aid of life improvement (Mayonnaise) but there’s enough charm to carry through such salty chat. A smart, assured record by a band that may be yet to peak. [Stu Lewis] Playing Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh on 6 May; The Hug and Pint, Glasgow on 12 May and Beat Generator, Dundee on 21 May | bookgroup.bandcamp.com

Methyl Ethel

Eagulls

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Oh Inhuman Spectacle [4AD, 20 May]

Ullages [Partisan Records , 13 May]

Australian multi-instrumentalist Jake Webb explores a fascination with texture, arrangement and mood on his debut album. 4AD’s patronage makes perfect sense: Webb’s songs straddle the line between electro-pop and screwy psychedelia, and he’d find a welcoming crowd, you ­suspect, at both Reading and Creamfields. Even though Rogues, with its clean guitar lines that recall 80s alt-pop, and Twilight Driving (a hint of NZCA Lines) are not identikit dance-pop, they benefit from a feel and a groove that’s smarter than your average indie kid tinkerer.

Hopefully, now that Webb has seen fit to expand Methyl Ethel into a touring three-piece, he’ll be able to retain the clean lines on display here because when he really sets his vison free, it’s hugely appealing: Depth Perception, in particular, is a woozy wonder.

Ulltimately, Oh Inhuman Spectacle relies on its construction and craft at the expense of killer tunes, but it’s never less than likeable.

[Gary Kaill]

So angry and vitriolic was Eagulls’ 2014 self-titled debut that there was a temptation to head for Leeds, make them a cup of tea and suggest maybe they take up a nicer hobby. A reputation for offstage antics and lurid ‘open letters’ only increased the perception that here were a group of lads who need to, well, calm down a bit.

In truth, while that debut did move at breakneck speed, it was driven by a sweetly melodic post-punk bent; a course Eagulls continue to steer in here. As a result there’s a beautiful shimmer that covers this record in a pleasingly shoegaze haze that recalls kindred spirits The Horrors on magnificently echoey opener Heads or Tails. Elsewhere the dark sonic palette of The Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen seems to have been adopted on the ­chiming Euphoria which could sit comfortably on either Pornography or Heaven Up Here. Both blissful and bloody-minded, Ullages is raincoat-clad gift from goth heaven. [Jamie Bowman]

methylethel.com

Playing Glasgow Stereo on 16 May | eagulls.co.uk

Beth Orton

Julianna Barwick

Arbor Labor Union

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Kidsticks [Anti, 27 May]

Will [Dead Oceans, 6 May]

More layers than your average onion, frenetic drumbeats, looped to high heaven, reverb-heavy and driven by flickering guitar and synths: Snow is a blistering introduction to what is a blistering return from Beth Orton. This is album number seven, and while the middle three were pleasant (there were moments of real beauty on 2012’s Sugaring Season), they didn’t excite the listener in the manner of Trailer Park or Central Reservation.

Now, teaming up with Fuck Button Andrew Hung, it’s easy to remember Orton as the enfant terrible who popped Es into William Orbit’s mouth and produced some of the finest records of the late 90s. Orton’s vocals are simple, often mantra-like, chopped and stratified to coalesce beautifully with the fine bed of electronica, and it works a treat. Lead single Moon cries out to be remixed, while 1973 – perhaps the straightest song here – is disco-tinged gold. This is an album swimming with inventiveness, quality and variety: it’s good to have her back. [Finbarr Bermingham]

The latest from the Brooklyn-based composer offers further fascination for those hypnotised by the ambient soundscapes of 2013’s breakthrough Nepenthe.

Barwick has spoken of her desire to flesh out her instrumentation this time around but the encroachment of synthesised sounds is a reassuringly underplayed tweak of her methodology. As such, the closing See, Know, crafted around a pulsing synth figure and building to a crashing euphoria, helps distinguish Will from Barwick’s earlier work. Its coda/comedown is a heady, exultant exit.

Diversions aside, Barwick’s compositions are largely built around her familiar choral loops and string backing. On Same, keys and cello soar in glorious uplift: an ersatz fanfare. St Appalonia is a glorious mini-symphony where her vocals rise and fall like lapping waves. Will is a deeply dramatic showcase throughout – Barwick’s vision might have its foundation in traditional forms but the way in which she deconstructs and rebuilds is a distinctly renegade act.

[Gary Kaill]

bethortonofficial.com

juliannabarwick.com

Outblinker

Randolph’s Leap

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The Remains of Water Peck [Stabbed In The Back Records, 7 May] A three-track sneak peek of the album due out later in the year, the latest EP from the Glasgow five-piece balances precariously between the ecumenical and the heretical, as if having spirited themselves away to Orkney, and a medieval church with evil Fuck Buttons/Blanck Mass mastermind Ben Power in the High Priest role, has tilted the mood towards M.R. James territory.There’s something intrinsically unsettling to The Remains of Water Peck; a triptych of slyly dramatic electropsych motifs pulled through a series of ever tighter apertures, track titles referencing Ghostbusters and Freddie Mercury’s birth name pepper proceedings with the slightest of pop cultural winks. Bulky chords drift inand out, the percussion subtle, Power’s production offering a neatcounterpoint to the momentum – by the time 11-minute closer Ernest Becker (named after the American anthropologist) expires, there’s a genuine sheen of perspiration in the listening; if only attending church was always this enlightening.

[Duncan Harman]

Cowardly Deeds [Olive Grove Records, 20 May] A change of label has done little to dull the copious appeal of Randolph’s Leap. Having hopped from Lost Map back to their original home on Olive Grove, the many-legged baroquepop outfit plough a familiar furrow with this latest collection. Brass and strings are liberally peppered over ten tracks, but with none of the po-faced seriousness that such classical instruments can often bring. The Leap’s approach is more akin to Glaswegian mariachis Woodenbox, with a focus on fun melodies and raucous live shows; the 150-second blast of Not Thinking will fit in seamlessly.

Regret and epic closer Saying Nothing do bring a more reflective tone and there’s a little progression here – Microcosm’s muscular (albeit stripped back) approach sounds more like the Pixies before it erupts into a big trumpet-laden sing-along. It’s a trick they often employ but it’s executed with such joyful abandon that only the hardest of hearts could complain. [Stu Lewis]

I Hear You [Sub Pop, 13 May] Grizzled riffs that – across nine sprawling tracks – deliberately shun any hint of sophistication, the debut from Georgia-based four-piece Arbor Labor Union is a curious beast (over and beyond the fact that they’ve previously released a long player under former name Pinecones).

As an exercise in grinding, guitar-driven repetition, I Hear You pootles along under its own steam, less concerned with melody as occupying the space, vocalist Bo Orr singing (or rather ‘­singing’) with a monotone burr suggesting he’s suffering from stomach cramps.

Yet however much interest the band either attempt to whip up or consciously ignore (and moments such as I Am You do foster a psychedelic undercurrent, just as Volume Peaks swims against fret-based interplay that’s never fully explored), as a whole the experience lacks the nuance and multiple textures required to make such guitar-centric endeavours a real delight. [Duncan Harman] subpop.com/artists/arbor_labor_union

The Top Five 1

Gold Panda

Good Luck and Do Your Best

2

3

Yoni & Geti Testarossa

Beth Orton

Kidsticks

4

FEWS MEANS 5

Sophia

As We Make Our Way (Unknown Harbours)

Playing St Luke’s, Glasgow on 20 May | randolphsleap.co.uk

facebook.com/outblinker | Playing Stereo Glasgow on 4 May

May 2016

RECORDS

Review

51

The Ever New Glasgow duo WOMPS look forward to dropping their debut in June, and reflect on their fertile collaboration, recording with Steve Albini, and shaking off labels Interview: Aidan Ryan Photography: Derek Robertson

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t’s a hot mid-March in Austin, Texas. Ewan Grant and Owen Wicksted of WOMPS, joined by touring bassist Scott McCall, are enjoying a well-earned craft brew on the deck of a bar called Cheer Up Charlie’s. This is the furthest west they’ve traveled – their usual North American haunts are Brooklyn bars where they found audiences that helped springboard them to Chicago and Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio, where the prolific engineer recorded their debut LP, Our Fertile Forever.

The album will drop on the 10th of June – the band will then tour the UK, appear at a few European festivals (starting with Brew at the Bog), then return for a trip through the US. Right now, after playing their first show at SxSW – a wake-up wail that got broad-backed Texan bikers and owlish audiophiles dancing and bobbing – they’re happy to be away from the Glaswegian supermarkets that (for now) keep them regrettably employed, and doing instead the things that led to the formation of WOMPS: hammering out loud, melodic rock and turning each other on to new music.

“We like to think we write great pop songs, but we’re not that good at it,” says Wicksted with a chuckle. His comment may be humble and just a bit deflective, but it lands near the truth. While songs like Dreams on Demand and Ritalin can be searing and screechy, the first track off the debut album, Plasticine, spills the secret to WOMPS’ success: by exactly the fifth note plucked on bass, you know that Grant and Wicksted are melodic craftsmen. Behind every splash, whine, and shouted chorus, a tuneful pop sensibility directs these songs down the ear canal to that part of the brain that says ‘hell yes’ and ‘thank you’.

The band’s viscera might echo classic Dead Kennedys, but they’ve been shaped by the crash and suck of successive breakers: new wave, grunge, new new wave, 2000s indie and screamo – but perhaps most evidently The Cure, The Smiths, or The Cribs. Unlike those bands, though, WOMPS boast that uniquely Scottish sense of melody. “It’s because of our accents, they go up and down,” Grant says. “I guess we just put that into our songs.”

WOMPS is quite far from the sound of Grant’s former introspective solo venture turned power trio, Algernon Doll; that outfit could be unabashedly grungy but more often trebly, atmospheric and ambient. Some of Algernon Doll’s harder moments (like Fellate) might have been ground up and tossed into what’s now become WOMPS’ wheelhouse, but this is undeniably a departure – a state these two seem very, very comfortable with.

Algernon Doll was “mainly a solo project,” Grant explains a week later, over Skype. He wrote and played all the parts himself, so the drums in particular could sound off. “With that stuff I knew what it was going to sound like before I recorded it,” he says, dissatisfaction on his tongue even now.

His collaboration with and respect for Wicksted opened up a new – yes, fertile – space.

Fueled by their collaboration and crosspollination, what most defines this new sound is their straightforward performance ethic, whether onstage or in the studio. “We did it all live,” Grant says – not so much because of the cost of recor-

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Review

ding at Electric Audio, which was “affordable,” but to “stay real.” They cite another Albini production – Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, also recorded live – as a model, and while you won’t hear too much fumbling or any studio banter on Our Fertile Forever, the live ethic is evident, especially on songs like the hard-hitting Another Cell and the peaky Ritalin.

Grant and Wicksted arrived in Chicago nervous to work with the prolific Albini, but he dispelled any anxiety with a straightforward, unobtrusive approach, and plenty of “fluffy coffees,” a studio staple. “He just gave us a pencil and some paper and told us to write down everything we wanted to do with our record,” says Grant. “You just have to tell him.” Preferring the label of recording engineer to producer, Albini positions mics and mixes – “in five minutes” – and keeps bands playing until he senses they’re tired out. WOMPS recorded Our Fertile Forever over five days – all live – and even recorded four or five tracks in one night, on a fluffy-fueled roll.

Seeking the “real” in the studio, they do the same onstage. “We don’t have any set guitar and drum parts,” Grant explains, “so sometimes it can go horribly wrong.” But this elasticity also allows the songs to change, and keep up with the band as they seek something else, something new.

Grant and Wicksted insist on freedom, and talk often, though never with the self-surety of a manifesto, of avoiding one style or another.

They’ve even steered clear of generic affiliations in their band art. It’s the artist’s balancing act – to love what’s been done, but to avoid repeating it. After all, once coined, labels can only limit. Grant and Wicksted respect DIY, for example, but the label and mentality can trap bands. “DIY’s great but if you can get help, why would you turn that down?” Wicksted remarks. The freedom of isolation is not the kind of freedom they’re after. “Just get drunk and give someone a cigarette when they need a cigarette,” Grant says. “That’s how we got everything.”

“ How the human brain copes with ‘forever’... it’s terrifying” Ewan Grant

They allude even to friends and fellow bands who questioned their decision to tour in the US and come to a festival like Sx. Some of this comes from public blowback for the dissolution of Algernon Doll – “people are still mad,” Grant says – but some comes from what they call a “Scottish mentality” – they cite Mark Renton’s infamous Trainspotting monologue. They speak of Glasgow bands that would “love to be really big in Glasgow,” but burn out playing the same venues and scrap-

ping with other local acts for fans. “We can still play in Glasgow for 20 people or something,” Wicksted says, but they seem to earn fans more quickly in America – more diverse audiences, people ready to dance, to love you or cut you down, who come out with no expectation but to hear new music. That’s why WOMPS are here in Texas: they had to get out, get back on the road. “We had no other option.”

As the first artists signed to Brooklyn-based Displaced Records, WOMPS have no idea what to expect when their LP drops in June, but anticipate a slightly better reception in Europe and the US than at home in the UK. “Glasgow’s … strange.

Very strange,” is all Grant can manage to say. But they’re hopeful – looking to models of success like the Jarman brothers – that they could blast out a space preserving the lo-fi realness of DIY while avoiding its self-imposed restrictions, accessing the range and mobility of bands that have exploded out of Glasgow, but avoiding the opposite perils of hype and its concomitant expectations. “We’re just going to do what we’re going to do,” Grant says.

“We want to keep it something we could change.”

And change they will – they’re already changing, letting the road and their playlists shape them. They don’t have concrete plans for the next LP, but ideas percolate. Glasgow’s own Pastels and Morrissey’s old day job will likely have an influence. “We want to make a really pop album,

MUSIC

but we won’t. It’s us, so we won’t be able to,” Grant says.

His comment is typical in that it balances his acknowledgement of the inevitability of failure – in some form or another – with a leap into the possible. Their debut’s title indicates a spirit of possibility that counterbalances the often angsty lyrics.

“It’s glass half full, I guess,” says Grant. He also lets slip that there was a lot of material that didn’t make it onto this LP, most of it “punk stuff.” At one point, he and Wicksted had considered releasing it as a double-LP or separate album; the second, darker part called Our Futile Forever.

They decided against rendering their glasshalf-full mentality a most ephemeral optimism, hinted at when Grant drifts back to what provoked the album, including the cuts that didn’t make it: “How the human brain copes with ‘forever,’” he says, with an awed tremor audible over 5,300 kilometres and a Skype connection – “It’s terrifying.”

Melody, howls, womps, live audiences, and The Ever New – these are his answers to that terror, pressed into every track on Our Fertile Forever.

“It’s the only way you can do it,” he says. “We do it by passing our time making art and making records.”

WOMPS play Brew at the Bog, Inverness on 3 Jun. Debut album Our Fertile Forever is released on 10 Jun via Displaced Records wearewomps.com

THE SKINNY

As Luck Would Have It Modest maestro Gold Panda tells The Skinny about his "unremarkable" talents and how his new album explores suburbia, from Chiba to Chelmsford

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previous releases, though, is that it was never intended to become an album at all.

Good Luck and Do Your Best offers no bombastic grandstanding, no explosions or fireworks.

Instead, you’ll find a through-the-keyhole perspective on suburban normalities, from the Japanese prefecture of Chiba to Derwin’s home in Chelmsford. With a background in Oriental and African studies, and a penchant for globe-wandering, Gold Panda’s music has always been infused with memories of new streets explored, and a lightness of touch that celebrates small acts and simple rituals. When Derwin set out on a fact-finding mission to re-explore his beloved Japan, he had all those same objectives in mind – but with the intent of creating a book.

Together with photographer friend Laura Lewis, Derwin decided to collect the sights and sounds of average life, supplemented by field recordings. “The idea was just to have another ­excuse to go back to Japan,” he laughs. “‘Why don’t we go to Japan, and just film loads of stuff, take loads of photos, and I’ll do some r­ ecordings?’

You know, just some recordings of the world.˝ “And why not?” Derwin continues. “I mean, there doesn’t really have to be any justification for art, I don’t think. You just do it. A lot of success in art, unfortunately, is based on luck, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Maybe people will like it and buy it, maybe they won’t. I’m very aware that that could be the case with me; that next year, no-one will give a fuck. And I’m cool with that.”

Having decided to pursue the project with the straightforward goal of art for art’s sake, Laura and Derwin explored places that were “not mindblowingly beautiful,” looking for a ­different kind of beauty in the details. They found it: Laura’s imagery shows a simple, satisfying pleasure in urban hed-

gerows and bustling metro carriages. “We thought, ‘What’s boring to a Japanese person? What’s the equivalent of Chelmsford?’ We went to Kyoto and stayed right out of the centre, in a place where regular people live. And it was still amazing, because it’s Japan, but those were the things that we enjoyed – the regular things. Things that have beauty in their normality, and in being mundane. Laura’s definitely captured the way I see stuff, as well.”

“It took me a while to be comfortable with thinking, you know, it’s alright to be positive” Gold Panda

On returning to Essex, Derwin found that not only had they made a book, but he had the shape of an album in mind. “We’d had such a good time, just really positive, and this taxi ­driver said, ‘Good luck and do your best.’ Then I had a title! I was really embarrassed about writing a positive, happy record because it’s not very cool, you know?” He teases, “Not like, one that says the world’s shit or something. I mean, which is how I feel… but, it would be nice to do something happy. It took me a while to be ­comfortable with thinking, you know, it’s alright to be positive.”

In the past, Gold Panda has offered very honest, upfront opinions on the music industry, and the potential impact of the tour/release cycle

Credit: Laura Levis

t’s all a matter of luck, argues Derwin – the supremely modest man behind the Gold Panda moniker. Over the course of our half-hour chat, the Essex-based electronic producer self-deprecatingly describes other artists as “real” musicians and insists that his creative process is “pretty unremarkable.”

As a case in point, he claims that “there’s no skill” in playing his latest single Time Eater, the newest cut from upcoming third album Good Luck and Do Your Best. The track is carved from dizzying beats and a certain otherworldliness, rooted in the sounds of a hammered dulcimer (a stringed instrument related to the zither, to save you a trip to Wikipedia), which he found, ­weather-worn and damaged, while visiting Totnes.

Excited by its idiosyncrasies, he took it home: “It was really cheap! And I guess the good thing about it is that it won’t sound like any other dulcimer, so I bought it, and then I got home and made a tune. The notes were already on there, I just put them in an order and hooked up a ­terrible microphone hanging off the back of a chair, recorded it into a sampler… then I got some old records and found some piano sounds and stuff, and then I put a drum machine over the top. And that’s how you make a tune.”

Sure, he makes it sound straightforward enough… in theory. But in practice, Time Eater – and Good Luck and Do Your Best in its ­entirety – betrays Gold Panda’s modesty by ringing with all the hallmarks of careful attention and passionate, wholly remarkable expertise. A combination of market stall serendipity and Derwin’s innovative, nostalgic compositions, the record bears all the trademarks of his first two LPs, Lucky Shiner and Half of Where You Live, which earned international acclaim for his imaginative, cinematic attention to detail. What differentiates this record from his

Interview: Katie Hawthorne

on an artist’s mental health. When he describes the making of this book-turned-album, with all of those pressures removed, it sounds as if he’s found a new kind of optimism in the remarkableyet-unremarkable shade of mint green used in the uniform of Japanese electricians, and in the comfort of realising that simple, little things deserve their own appreciation.

Good Luck and Do Your Best gathers these details and fuses them into a homely, warm picture of average lives, presented with complexity and packed full of love. But rather than using the field recordings he gathered in Japan – which will still accompany his and Laura’s book, to be released later this year – Derwin used the memories and aesthetics of their trip as catalysts for his songwriting. This knack for translating ­experience into sound is rooted in his fascination with turning ordinary samples into something stranger: you’ll be hard pushed to identify the root of any one of the samples Derwin’s worked with, or even to identify the moments he uses his own voice on the record.

“I guess when you’re into making electronic music, you’re always trying to find sounds that are not familiar, or sounds that are familiar, but they have something that takes them out of context.

I’m mainly stealing sounds from records, and then treating them as I guess someone would a keyboard sound, playing them in a melody. And that really throws people! They don’t know what it is, and it sounds completely different to what it was like originally… but that’s just the way I learned to make music.”

He then admits that one field-trip ­recording did make it onto the record: “It’s on the first track, and it’s the recording of the flight headphone jack – you know, when you watch a film? If you turn it up really loud, it’s like it’s hissing. And that very first sound that you hear, that sounds quite glitchy?

That’s just chopped up bits of a British Airways announcement.” Undeniable proof, if you still needed it, that Gold Panda is able to spin straw into gold.

Derwin mixed the record in Norfolk with producer and musician Luke Abbott – “­because he’s professional ears… and also he’s a friend” – fuelled by plentiful servings of Abbott’s mum’s banana bread. After that, with the album ­finished, Gold Panda just needed some videos to accompany his new tracks. For single In My Car, we see him explore his Chelmsford ‘burb with his Indian grandmother Lakhi – or Lucky, as she’s known locally – in tow.

In a series of almost-freezeframes the two make tea, leave each other Post-It notes, hang out in a museum and tend to a family grave – after grabbing some fast food. Judged on its component parts alone, it has the potential to be the world’s dullest music video… but the result is a comforting, dusky montage of affectionate, every-day normality.

“Maybe it’s boring where I live, but when you actually see it, and you spend a day with your grandmother, it’s actually really nice. I’m really lucky to be able to hang out, and then go home and make music.” And what does Lucky make of ­ oing, Good Luck? “ Well, she understands what I’m d and she says it’s great and good… but I’m just her grandson. She’ll just say, ‘Did you have a good time?’ I’ll say, ‘Yeah, it was alright.’ Then we’ll watch Take Me Out and eat curry. She’s brilliant. Come over! Come and have curry. She invites everyone.”

Good Luck and Do Your Best is released on 27 May via City Slang. Gold Panda plays Field Day Festival on 11 Jun iamgoldpanda.com

May 2016

MUSIC

Feature

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Clubbing Highlights Tapes'n'techno in Glasgow? Disco-drenched French house in the capital? Whichever nightlife-based frolics take your fancy, here's a sample of the many clubbing highlights in Scotland this month

EDINBURGH It’s disco oot its nut in the capital this month as Dimitri From Paris takes the reins at La Belle Angele on 7 May. The French producer boasts over a decade’s worth of experience in the industry, having introduced the first house music radio shows to his home nation in the 1980s, inspired by his affinity with the emergent funk and disco sounds of the 70s. The man delivers a shimmering arsenal of classic disco remixes infused with electro and hip-hop beats, sure to fill any dance floor with moving bodies (and he’s hotly in demand around these parts, as his upcoming top Riverside Festival billing later this month attests). Supported by Londoner Pete Herbert, who’s previously stumped up exciting nu-disco sets for both Fabric and Ministry of Sound, this is a glitter bomb set to go off in spectacular fashion (£20).

One of Scotland’s most exciting prospects continues his recent run of varied, energetic sets with a resident spot at Cabaret Voltaire as part of FLY’s Sulta Sheik Down on Friday 13 May. Denis Sulta, aka Hector Barbour, mans the decks all night long and if his impressive back catalogue of Dixon Avenue Basement Jams productions are anything to go by, alongside last year’s breakout Numbers release It’s Only Real, the young Glaswegian is an up-and-comer you should certainly have on your radar (£10).

Back over at La Belle on 21 May, don’t miss Montreal producer Jacques Greene bringing his progressive house aesthetic and renowned analog showmanship to these shores. A handful of EPs released on the LuckyMe label in the last couple of years have shown off the young Greene’s flair for melding fluid, emotive synth and clanging percussion with unique vision; mark this as an excellent time to catch the lad in action ahead of a debut full-length release.

Greene will be joined on the night by Glasgowbased act Koreless, who proves himself an excellent counterpart to Greene’s youth and innovation. Koreless, real name Lewis Roberts, has solidified his nascent career with a handful of ambient, elegant singles – including a collab with Greene himself, the rather excellent nine-minute soul-searcher Arrow (£11).

GLASGOW Over in Glasgow, there’s an interesting experience to be had when the Numbers crew get Funkineven and Awesome Tapes From Africa together for a night of techno, acid boogie jams and, erm, cassette tapes. West London born Steven Julien references his Grenadian roots via a colourful blend of house, hip-hop, soul and boogie jams; while Brian Shimkovitz, the man behind Awesome Tapes From Africa, uses his experience of studying abroad on a Fullbright scholarship in Ghana to transport the West African cassette culture to the rest of the world, setting up a night of music the likes of which you’ve literally never heard before (Sub Club, 6 May, £10).

Dance fever continues when Glasgow’s King of Disco, DJ Billy Woods, celebrates four years of iconic Supermax shenanigans at the Berkeley Suite on 7 May. These cult status events consistently offer up lashings of NYC’s retro finest, transplanting a bacchanalian Studio 54 vibe to good ol’ Glasgow via a thumping, forwardthinking sensibility. Beefed up by the venue’s impressive Bozak Balmain sound system, the

May 2016

Words: Claire Francis Illustration: Nick Cocozza

Supermax nights are the place to be for top shelf disco tunes served up with a solid side of house groove. It’s hot, it’s dark, it’s smoky, and as the team themselves warn: the club fills up quick, so get down early to ensure DISCO (£5).

At La Cheetah, CODE welcome back Luis Flores, who will be performing a special extended live set showcasing his urgent, industrial-inclined and idiosyncratic sound. Currently based in Berlin, Flores has released music on labels Silent Steps, Blank Code and CLR, and has also collaborated with Material Object under the moniker Impact Unit. The release of the Damage EP in 2009 established Flores as an international artist and, in addition to being credited with transforming his home city of Guadalajara into an emerging destination for electronic music, he’s also garnered acclaim for his trippy, improvised and immersive live sets (21 May, £6 early bird, £10 standard).

Finally, with sunshine finally making a welcome appearance in our skies, May can only mean one thing – it’s nautical time. The annual I AM boat party extravaganza is back for a fifth year, and will be sailing down the Clyde for the first excursion of 2016 on 24 May with electronic duo Beta & Kappa at the wheel (£15). If you can’t make the boat, you can always join the afterparty back at Subbie, where local outfit Mia Dora will be transforming your average Tuesday night into an all night long thing of dance-infected beauty (£5 before midnight, £6 after – included in cost of boat ticket).

DUNDEE Warming up for Kerri Chandler in 2016 is a pretty good indicator of some serious talent at play; this endorsement is just one reason why our Dundee pick should be on your acts-to-see list. 27 May sees Main Ingredient put on a three-hour set at Reading Rooms – the M.i.collective, who got together via illegal warehouse parties on the fringes of Edinburgh and are united through a common love of Chicago and Detroit house, are renowned for vibrant sets, heavy on synths and captivating accompanying visuals (£5 before 11.30pm, £7 after).

Do Not Miss Nightmares On Wax, The Berkeley Suite, Saturday 14 May Sunshine is on its way (fingers crossed) and there’s no better way to celebrate than to revel in the sunsoaked, blissed out dub soul of perennial favourite Nightmares On Wax. Since George Evelyn released his debut record, the techno-scented, hip-hop-tempoed A Word Of Science: The First And Final Chapter together with DJ Kevin Harper way back in 1991, Nightmares On Wax have grown into a distinctive and enduring UK trip-hop hybrid export.

Evelyn’s childhood diet of classic soul and Motown infiltrates and exemplifies the Nightmares On Wax sound, with solid lashings of reggae guitars and a recline-into-your beanbag sentiment. Evelyn has copped criticism for recent year releases that perhaps suffer from a lack of continued innovation, but that aside, credit where it’s due to an enduring act that almost single-handedly cemented the future of the iconic Warp record label. Flip ya lid, indeed.

CLUBS

Review

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CCA Highlights Bored in Glasgow this Spring? Impossible – not when there’s so much great film, art and music going on at the CCA. Allow us to be your guide Words: George Sully

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he next couple of months are going to be a doozy. Voting on this, voting on that, wondering whether, in a crushing loss for democracy, Boaty McBoatface will get boringly renamed Her Majesty’s Science Dinghy or something similarly less endearing; it’s all a bit glum, isn’t it? Fortunately, Sauchiehall Street’s own oasis of the soul, the Centre for Contemporary Arts, has a programme fit to burst with diverting, entertaining joys for your perusal. Spring’s in full fling, are you?

Often a platform for activism, the CCA plays host this month to a screening of This Changes Everything (Sat 7 May), the companion film (by Canuck documentary filmmaker Avi Lewis) to the environmentalism rally-cry book of the same name

by Naomi Klein. Keen to bring climate crisis conversations to the fore, Global Justice Glasgow – a Scottish chapter of the UK-wide democratic project Global Justice Now – have organised this event in coordination with the Glasgow University Climate Action Society, and invite attendees to a post-screening discussion on the subject.

In April, trailblazing community-led multi-arts

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festival Buzzcut returned to Glasgow for its fifth edition, bringing its usual unpredictable fireworks of visual, sonic and live art in a week-long programme of unticketed, pay-what-you-can events.

In much the same spirit, you can hit up the CCA for Buzzcut: Double Thrills! (Wed 11 May & Wed 22 Jun), part of an ongoing calendar of monthly double bills showcasing work “from wild and provocative artists from Scotland and beyond”.

Noted Glasgow-based (and Toronto-raised) artist Corin Sworn, whose rap sheet includes winning the biennial Max Mara Art Prize for Women in 2013 and exhibiting at the Venice Biennale, has collaborated with Toronto-born filmmaker Tony Romano on La Giubba (Fri 20 May), screening at the CCA in association with GRAMNet (Glasgow Refugee, Asylum and Migration Network) and followed by a Q&A with the two artists. The film (whose title literally means ‘the coat’ but is also an Italian expression for ‘the show must go on’) charts the colliding paths of five characters in southern Italy, very loosely based on Aristophanes’ classic comedy The Birds.

La Giubba

It’s not unusual for musicians to branch out into other media (Morrissey writes ‘books’, Patti Smith paints, Brian Cox chats about science), though few have made anything quite as batshit as erstwhile Moldy Peach and kooky soloist Adam Green’s take on Aladdin. Adam Green’s Aladdin (Fri 27 May) – described by Rolling Stone as ‘Fellini on ketamine’ – is a hallucinogenic, Saturdaymorning-cartoon-on-acid adventure through space, time, sex, drugs and a 3D-printing genie, starring many of Green’s celebrity pals (such as Macauley Culkin, Devendra Banhart and Zoe Kravitz). And

ART

what’s more, the New York weirdster’s doing a gig straight after, as the film is accompanied by an album release and tour.

If you’re after some tunes without the madcap filmic counterpart, dream-pop troupe Wild Nothing (Wed 15 Jun) glimmer into Glasgow this spring to tour third LP Life of Pause. Helmed by Virginian Jack Tatum, Wild Nothing have been known to convert their woozy, shoegaze voyages into jangly indie-pop in a live setting; perfect for those encroaching summer vibes.

THE SKINNY

Art News May sees some leftovers from last month’s spectacular Glasgow International, as well as new exhibitions on the dark Scottish consciousness, a new edition of the Satellites programme from Collective, events from Transmission and more...

Credit: Sarah Donley

Words: Adam Benmakhlouf

War

E(i)lshem(i)us

42 Carlton Place, Glasgow

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There’s a yellowed look of outside art surrounding this exhibition of Louis Michel E(i)lshem(i)us (1864-1941) – the poster’s parentheses indicate the artist’s varied spellings of his name.

Amongst the landscapes and forest scenes, you can occasionally spot figures with short arms and necks, and wide frames. They appear as bathing nymphs or, in the case of 1917’s War, even as a just-shot soldier in mid-fall from a hill.

All the painted works are in oils, though the paint nevertheless looks as though it’s been dragged drily over the surface. With Eilshemius believed, according to legend, to spend only 15 minutes on his paintings, maybe this was a cumulative figure of concentrated 1-minute sittings between dries; the paintings look as layered as they do quick.

Set deep in the exhibition is a small watercolour of a clearing amongst tall trees, with dappled light and fuzzy-edged foliage. Looking as

though it’s been completed en plein air, there’s not the same sense of a potential punchline hovering overhead. Although the artist gave up painting altogether in later life to curate his own persona, there’s a sense that the surviving works are meant with some sincerity.

Later work comes as ink sketches on headed paper. They’re as fast-paced as the paintings, with the same hills and squat bodies, but with ornate, drawn-in frames, and odd captions like ‘Utter Solitude’ and ‘On the Top’.

There’s an interesting shape to the exhibition, characteristic of 42 Carlton Place – there’s an entire life’s work of obvious interest, but being introduced to the majority of the audience for the very first time. Though obviously removed from mainstream success, there’s a sense of the knowing outsider with the ambiguous romanticism of the work (as well as Elshemius’ rigorous academic training) displacing that fond zaniness reserved for unknowns and autodidacts. [Adam Benmakhlouf] E(i)lshem(i)us, 42 Carlton Place, until 15 May, by appointment Sol Calero, Desde el jardín, Installation View, 2016

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Installation View

Raoul Reynolds

Scotland Street School, Glasgow

rrrrr

Attributed to a mysterious unknown artist named as Raoul Reynolds, this so-called retrospective at the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed Scotland Street School museum consists mainly of sculptures, with the addition of prints, drawings and video. In truth, it was created by 12 artists signed under a mystical signature of RR. The fiction of Raoul Reynolds takes aim at academic art historical conventions, and the concept of the retrospective itself. More specifically, there are themes of staging, theatricality, ornament, mythology and imitation, embodying different styles and approaches (outsider art, furniture design, naïve drawings).

On a stage built in the corner, we’re confronted with a selection of props. Alluding to circus aesthetics, three bold sculptures take the form of geometric shapes (triangular, circular, rectangular), and decorated with a harlequin-print

May 2016

diamond pattern – steps on the non-patterned side might be for practical use in some kind of performance. Another composition consists of ready-made and found objects, as well as fur and shiny fabric, also placed on a pedestal and suggestive of props for performance.

Staging and theatricality’s associations with decorativeness are also explored in the work of Helen de Main and James McLardy. With the ubiquitous Mackintosh font on one side, an elegant folding screen is obviously reminiscent of the designs of Mackintosh – whom Reynolds apparently met in his early Glasgow days.

More house décor elements in Alys Owen’s sculpture. Resin leaves are suspended with chains in a wooden frame, feeling like a strange chandelier or a vast item of costume jewellery for the home.

Though including fairly interesting individual touches on décor and performativity, Raoul Reynolds’ exhibition’s at times eccentric premise obscures what could be an interesting challenge to the idea of a retrospective. [Kristina Žalyt ] Run ended

t the start of the month, Collective Gallery in Edinburgh continues its satellite programme of exhibitions by recent art graduates. This time it’s the turn of artist and dancer Mark Bleakley, with his work A Nude Descends into a Lump: a piece of experimental choreography, with a sound piece directing listeners to look out of the window of the gallery and imagine movement in the distinctive Calton Hill landscape. Four live performances will take place during the exhibition, so keep an eye on the weekly online round-up of art events on theskinny.co.uk/art. From 7 May (preview 6-8pm) to 19 June.

Throughout May, Glasgow’s Transmission Gallery hosts a programme of events for the current exhibition No Right Way 2 Cum, by Sidsel Meineche Hansen. Saturday 7 May brings Dr Charlotte Cooper (author of the book Fat Activism: A Radical Social Movement) to give a talk at 3pm, with a zine photocopy party and performance by writer and multimedia artist Hannah Black. The next day, Meineche Hansen will give an artist’s talk, followed by Entertainment for the Adventerous Lesbian by Radclyffe Hall - “a concomitant group of artists and writers dedicated to exploring culture, aesthetics and learning through the lens of contemporary feminism.” After another zine photocopy bash on 18 May, the closing party takes place on 21 May from 11pm ’til late. All events are free, no booking necessary.

May also sees the beginning of the year’s degree shows, with Dundee starting the ball rolling from 21-29 May and Edinburgh keeping it going from 28 May with their own presentation. As always, there will be an eye-overloading amount of work from the brand new artists and designers across the country – keep a look out for the custom editions of The Skinny in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and reviews coming up on the site.

Elsewhere in this issue you can read our interview with Duncan Marquiss, whose

ART

exhibition Copying Errors opens in Dundee Contemporary Arts from 15 May. He presents his recent Margaret Tait Award film, along with drawings and paintings – find out in the feature why he thinks of his work as a series of “mistakes” and “happy accidents”.

Also featured this month are Nicky Wilson, co-founder of Jupiter Artland, and Bill Hare, curator of Scottish Endarkenment. Along with co-curator Andrew Patrizio, Hare presents a thematically dark take on post-war Scottish art until the present day, open between 13 May-29 August. Wilson discusses the opening of Jupiter Artland on 14 May, with new works from Scottish and international artists being displayed across the 100-acre sculpture park.

From 20 May in Glasgow, artist Jacqueline Donachie presents a new exhibition in the Gallery of Modern Art. In one of the main spaces, Donachie presents sculpture, film, drawings and prints developed from a long period of research into myotonic dystrophy, a genetically-inherited disease which causes muscles to remain clenched beyond control, and to degenerate over time. A public programme of talks and workshops is intended to open discussion around biomedical research ethics.

The last word this month goes to the continuing Glasgow International exhibitions, all coming and going too soon. Throughout May you can enjoy a catch-up with the Director’s Programme in the Gallery of Modern Art or Tramway; with painter Nicolas Party’s surreal uncanny lives, portraits and landscapes in Glasgow Print Studio; photographer and archivist Akram Zaatari in The Common Guild; and Sol Calero’s tropical-garden-cum-telenovela set at David Dale Gallery (until 21 May).

Find weekly Art News updates at Theskinny.co.uk/art

Review

57

Film Event Highlights A retrospective of cinema’s great visual poet, Andrei Tarkovsky, plus the best of Ibero-American documentary and the return of the Film Folk Gathering

Evolution

Words: Jamie Dunn

Everybody Wants Some!!

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hich filmmaker’s special effects leave you most in awe? You might be tempted to suggest one of the great blockbuster specialists, say Steven Spielberg or James Cameron, but neither can hold a candle to Andrei Tarkovsky.

The Russian visionary’s command of his images seems closer to magic than filmmaking: nature seems to bend to his will and real world locations look like photorealistic CGI vistas, made decades before such technology was available. This month, full retrospectives of his seven feature films, from debut Ivan’s Childhood to swan song The Sacrifice, begin screening at Glasgow Film Theatre (from 22 May) and Edinburgh’s Filmhouse (from 23 May).

Don’t miss this chance to see these shimmering masterpieces on the big screen.

Stalker

The Ibero-American Documentary Festival (or IberoDocs) returns to Filmhouse between 4-8 May, promoting “a message of freedom and rebellion.” The festival is bookended by docs focusing on men who went from humble beginnings to figures loved by millions (namely, Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez and Uruguayan president Pepe Mujica). In between you’ll find All of Me (6 May), an insight into the women who help feed migrants travelling through central America on their way to the US, and short docs from the Ibero-American nations.

Talking of shorts, the Scottish Queer International Film Festival (SQIFF) team are screening programme Queers in the City on 13 May at GMAC Film. Made up of contemporary British shorts – including Erskine by Glasgow-based Nicola O’Reilly (who will be around for a Q&A on the night), Flabzilla by Layleigh O’Keefe, and The Very Last Plea From My Heart by Olivia Sparrow – these films recognise the unique place of LGBTQ people within the city space.

We’re excited to see new monthly film night Braw Cinema Club pop up in Edinburgh this month at The Banshee Labyrinth on 12 May. Their admirable aim is to unearth forgotten gems from yesteryear, and they're kicking off with a cracker: Nagisa Oshima’s 1986 oddity Max mon amour. Written

by Jean-Claude Carrière, this bone-dry comedy concerns an affair between an English diplomat’s wife (Charlotte Rampling) and a chimpanzee.

As opening gambits go, it’s a bold one.

Finally, the Film Folk Gathering continues at Filmhouse, exploring the ways in which world cinema engages with folk culture – “as living tradition, as people’s history, and as working class culture and experience.” Highlights include Jean Rouch’s landmark doc The Lion Hunters (5 May), the Taviani brothers’ earthy Palme d’Or winner Padre Padrone (6 May) and Song of the Sea, animator Tom Moore’s ravishing Irish folklore fantasy (7 May).

If you’ve a film event you’d like us to know about, send details to jamie@theskinny.co.uk

58

Review

Director: Richard Linklater Starring: Blake Jenner, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin, Wyatt Russell, Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell Released: 13 May Certificate: 15

Mustang

Mustang

Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven Starring: Güneş Nezihe Şensoy, Doğa Zeynep Doğuşlu, Elit İşcan Released: 13 May Certificate: 15

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At his best, Richard Linklater’s films feel so casual and effortless, it’s only later that you realise how deep they go. Everybody Wants Some!! is a lively ensemble comedy following a group of college baseball players as they pursue their dreams and (more pressingly) girls. Linklater’s typically fluid, relaxed direction makes it a pleasure to spend time in the company of these characters.

It might seem aimless at times, and nothing more than a good time at the movies, but, in reaching into his own past to make this film, Linklater is also trying to capture the mixed emotions of a key transition point in his life, and the film feels considerably weightier as it drifts towards its climax with the focus shifting to a burgeoning relationship between Jake (Jenner) and Beverly (Deutch), promising broadening horizons and new possibilities.

It’s a shame that Beverly is the only female character of note, though, and (along with the clunky title) Linklater’s thin and surprisingly crass depiction of women throughout the film is his only real misstep.

[Philip Concannon]

There’s an image in Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s self-assured first feature that could have been plucked from Sofia Coppola’s own auspicious debut, The Virgin Suicides: five sisters, abruptly shut off from the outside world due to overbearing guardians, luxuriate on the floor of their bedroom, draped across one another as if posing for a pre-Raphaelite portrait. Unlike Coppola’s languorous film, however, there is little resignation here; the girls brim with youthful verve and joyful defiance.

Set in a gorgeous Turkish landscape, Mustang follows the girls through their imprisonment, training for wifely duties (including 'virginity checks'), and subsequent marrying off one by one. Through it all, their spirits remain largely unbroken (aside from an abrupt, somewhat ill-advised plot twist).

The Ankara-born, France-raised Ergüven plants anti-Turkish government Easter eggs throughout the film, but it’s also a raised middle finger to conservative ideas of female propriety in a more universal sense. The girls eventually manage to turn the very system of oppression against itself, striking a note of fantasy wish-fulfilment that feels as earned as it does invigorating.

[Michelle Devereaux]

Evolution

Green Room

Director: Lucile Hadžihalilović Starring: Roxane Duran, Julie-Marie Parmentier, Max Brebant Released: 6 May Certificate: 15

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Ever since writer-director Lucile Hadžihalilovi teased that she was working on an original feature over a decade ago, fans of unsettling Gallic cinema have been waiting with baited breath. The resulting Évolution makes for a fittingly uneasy diptych with her debut, Innocence (2004). Where that earlier film brought the uncertainty of postmodern cinematography and storytelling to a traditional gothic, female-centred tale, Évolution is a queer science fiction body horror in the vein of Lovecraft and Cronenberg.

Nic (Max Brebant), a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, lives a simplistic, littoral life in a mysterious, austere village populated by other uniform mother-son pairings. Haunted by the visceral sight of a dead boy’s decomposing body that Nic discovers while diving, his mother tries to comfort him. “The sea makes you think horrible things,” she says. This consolation is prophetic: as Nic’s mère and la mer blur, a most disturbing vision of conception, birth and child-rearing unfurls. [Rachel Bowles]

Director: Jeremy Saulnier Starring: Anton Yelchin, Patrick Stewart, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Macon Blair, Joe Cole, Callum Turner, Mark Webber, Released: 13 May Certificate: 18

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Green Room, Jeremy Saulnier’s follow-up to Blue Ruin, trades the latter’s revenge thriller territory for the mode of siege movie – albeit one with a twist along the lines of Blue Ruin’s architect of revenge being an inept, hangdog vagrant. Here the besieged party is a young punk band trapped in the green room of a backwoods club they’ve begrudgingly agreed to play. The party keeping them from leaving? The club’s very far-right staff, including proprietor Darcy (Stewart, in a wonderful piece of stunt casting), after the band witnesses a crime the neo-Nazi group’s extremely keen to cover up.

The specifics of Green Room are best left unspoiled beyond that basic set-up, for Saulnier has crafted a nerve-shredding exercise in tension, and occasional outright horror, with a mean streak that never comes across like shallow excess. It may not aim for profundity regarding violence in the way Blue Ruin does, but with its tight, economic storytelling ( Assault on Precinct 13 is a worthy comparison), it’s arguably better for keeping things simple and scary. [Josh Slater-Williams]

Knight of Cups

Love & Friendship

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Director: Terrence Malick Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Brian Dennehy, Antonio Banderas, Wes Bentley, Isabel Lucas, Released: 6 May Certificate: 15 ‘You don’t want love, you want a love experience,’ proclaims Delia (Potts) while talking to Rick (Bale), the tormented screenwriter at the centre of Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups. It’s as if she’s addressing the audience directly, yet those familiar with Malick’s distinct blend of poetic visuals and philosophical ideas have come to expect nothing less than euphoria.

With Knight of Cups, Malick completes a triptych (which includes The Tree of Life and To the Wonder) of personal studies into the purpose of existence, the majesty of nature and the shortcomings of man. Part auteurconfessional, part industry critique, we follow Rick as he navigates, almost comatose, through a succession of Hollywood parties, strip clubs and minimalist apartments in an apathetic assault on apathy.

The film’s title refers to a tarot card and each scene is presented like a pictogram for the viewer to assign their own meaning. Occasionally this leads to profound moments of personal enlightenment, yet more often than not Malick’s pursuit of beauty feels like self-parody, culminating in a frustrating experience where meaning is as elusive as plot. [Patrick Gamble]

FILM

Director: Whit Stillman Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel, Emma Greenwell, Justin Edwards, Tom Bennett, Morfydd Clark, Released: 27 May Certificate: U In a perfect marriage of artists, Love & Friendship sees Jane Austen’s early novella Lady Susan adapted by writer-director Whit Stillman. The result is his most commercially accessible work to date, but fans will be pleased to hear he’s not lost any of the preciseness or punch of his previously divisive, ironic-romantic comedies (Metropolitan, Barcelona, Damsels in Distress).

Alongside a uniformly strong international ensemble, Stillman reunites Beckinsale and Sevigny, his leading ladies from 1998’s The Last Days of Disco.

The former astonishes, delivering her best performance since that film as a Machiavellian matchmaker. Both subtly and unsubtly wreaking havoc among various groups across 1790s England, her character is blissfully unaware of her self-absorption and its ludicrousness (“facts are horrid things”).

Speaking of the blissfully unaware, while the more pointed social satire delights, a consistent scene-stealer is Tom Bennett as a doltish suitor, who’s slow catching on to basically everything. He provides some of the most riotous scenes of any recent film. Indeed, with its immaculate balancing of wit both broad and droll, this is one of the funniest comedies of manners since the heyday of Ernst Lubitsch. [Josh Slater-Williams]

THE SKINNY

Bard is a Four-Letter Word

Everyone who’s anyone has contributed to Neu! Reekie!’s #UntitledTwo, while Jenni Fagan publishes her complete collection The Dead Queen of Bohemia. We also lament the loss of a strong and truthful voice

I

t’s been a busy couple of months for the printed page, and a good thing too. For once, instead of my usual flirt with it on crowded buses during traffic jams, I’ve had a chunk of holiday space to really get down and dirty with it in the sun over a glass of wine, and boy, was it needed. The only downside is that I now have panda eyes from overuse of sunspecs. Oh well.

The tail-end of last month brought us the much-anticipated #UntitledTwo from the gang at Neu! Reekie!; a brand spanking new collection of some of the most exciting contemporary poetry going. It was launched at what Michael Pedersen informs me is a never-before-used venue – the delightful Leith St Andrews church. I was a big fan of the first instalment, and had to wonder how the next would follow. With any amount of buildup, there is always the risk of the end product falling a little flat, but happily no such disappointment here – it’s a corker, plain and simple. The sheer length of the credits in itself is astounding, and reads a bit like a poetry buff ’s fantasy dinner guest list.

The Scottish contingent, as you’d hope, is rock solid. As well as Pedersen himself, current and previous Makars Jackie Kay and Liz Lochhead are present, as are Kathleen Jamie, Alan Gillis and Ross Sutherland. I was really pleased to see that Sandie Craigie made a posthumous appearance, being such a key note in the history of Scottish spoken word. The two brains behind duo Rally &

Lunatics, Lovers and Poets: Twelve Stories After Cervantes and Shakespeare

Broad, Rachel McCrum and Jenny Lindsay, are also contributors, as you’d expect, along with Hollie McNish, Ryan Van Winkle, Ciaran Carson and Gerry Cambridge of The Dark Horse. We also find those wonderful performers from The Skinny’s 10th birthday bash, Iona Lee and Janette Ayachi.

Add a pinch of more southern-based names like Patience Agbabi, Helen Mort and Caroline Bird to that bunch, and you have one hell of a mixture. What’s more, that’s not even half the people involved. The music list is equally impressive, including the likes of Admiral Fallow, Free School Sound, Bang Dirty, The Pastels, Ross Sinclair, Boots For Dancing, I Am Pluto, Cambridge & Napier and Withered Hand, to name but a few. It’s easy to tell that some seriously dedicated art-ing, sweating and structuring have gone into all this, and the results are well worth it. Kudos, Neu! Reekie! – hats off all round.

Also in the beach bag: Jenni Fagan’s The Dead Queen of Bohemia (New and Collected Poems).

Its style somehow manages to be comforting and disturbing at the same time – the poetic version of what a strong hash brownie might do to your brain, mixing elements of everyday life and memories as a mortal with the far-out and trippy. It’s the first time I’ve seen a long poem form an epilogue. Many stayed with me, but I especially love Unrequited, a run-down of things you don’t fear when you’re in despair over love; What Happened?, a list of things which formed a now-dead

relationship; and Pretty Girls Dig Graves, which brings back the whiff of Jobcentre Plus carpet all over again.

Smatterings of motherhood are thrown in as well, in poems like I Wanna Be Your Dog. What I like about these is that they don’t fill the picture, as is the case with some poets who write about their children. Fagan writes not just as a mother, but as someone who also happens to be one on top of everything else.

“ The poetic version of what a strong hash brownie might do to your brain” A decided polymath, Fagan has done extremely well in throwing her voice over different literary mediums, as reactions to her latest novel The Sunlight Pilgrims will testify, but it’s easy to tell that she hasn’t always had a smooth time in finding this multi-faceted niche. The afterword of the collection addresses ‘the supposed keepers

Words: Clare Mulley

of the realm (of poetry)’, many of whom apparently judged what Fagan wrote not to be poetry, and whom she urges to ‘reascertain ideas of ownership and truth across the board.’ Though perhaps a little bitter, it’s a stark reminder of the fact that few writers can ever really fit the ever-fluctuating guidelines imposed on them by the powers that be, and that, unlike Fagan, many never get the chance to be appreciated simply for being honest.

On the subject of honesty, that reminds me that we recently lost another very frank voice – that of Leith-born punk poet Jock Scot. Scot got his first break in the music industry hanging out with Ian Dury and the Blockheads, and went on to write his hard-hitting poems whilst working alongside a huge range of household names. An advocate of the speedier recording over the written word, Scot was a colourful and intriguing figure in many ways. He famously refused chemotherapy when he contracted cancer, and, while many would question some of his life’s philosophies he admitted to shopping for well-heeled girlfriends who would support him in his earlier days) there is no doubt his contributions to the spoken word arena will be much missed. #UntitledTwo is out now, published by Neu! Reekie!

Publishing and Polygon, RRP £12.99 The Dead Queen of Bohemia is out now, published by Polygon, RRP £9.99 neureekie.bigcartel.com

The Bones of Grace

Zero K

Tram 83

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By Tahmima Anam

by Don DeLillo

By Fiston Mwanza Mujila

By Daniel Hahn and Margarita Valencia (editors)

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This collection gracefully exhibits 12 previously unpublished pieces inspired by two literary giants: Cervantes and Shakespeare. With six English language authors (including Deborah Levy) writing with inspiration from the former, and six Spanish language authors (including Yuri Herrera) writing with a similar nod to the latter, this collection is a celebration of literary ancestry, a family tree on an international level.

The voices of Shakespeare and Cervantes, fittingly claimed as the ‘two fathers of modern literature’ by Salman Rushdie in the introduction, can be heard echoing through their modern day children. Even if you aren’t an enthusiast of either, the short stories captured in the collection provide a broad range of style and energy, building an artistic bridge that brings new life to their legacies while celebrating the 400th anniversary of their deaths.

A strikingly crafted requiem, this anthology stylishly weaves together past and present, Spanish and English, the living and the dead. As the narrator of Ben Okri’s meta-modern, Don Quixote-inspired story comments, “When a person is touched by greatness might it not be because they are resonating with this subtle energy that runs through spider’s webs and the intricate motion of the stars?”

This too can perhaps be said for Shakespeare and Cervantes, whose artistic resonance is beautifully repositioned within a modern and multilingual context in Lunatics, Lovers and Poets.

[Rosie Barron]

Tahmima Anam first declared herself with the award-winning 2007 novel A Golden Age, soon followed by its equally acclaimed sequel The Good Muslim. These books explore the birth of Bangladesh, first through the eyes of Rehana Haque, then those of her daughter, Maya. Now returning with The Bones of Grace, Anam completes her trilogy with a story related by Maya’s daughter, Zubaida.

Splitting herself between her comfortable if mundane university life in the States and her comfortable if mundane fiancée in Dhaka, time for Zubaida seems almost to have stood still – until she meets Elijah, just days before leaving for a palaeontological dig in Pakistan. This brief encounter impels Zubaida to begin piecing together the fragments of her past.

Though superficially the least political of the triptych, the story poses the question of how individuals create meaning for themselves in a world where systemic exploitation is globalised and national borders increasingly hypothetical. To articulate this very modern problem, Anam utilises that very old form of the epistolary novel. Writing to Elijah, Zubaida explains that people fall in love by ‘narrating themselves into the sort of connection that they will later refer to as fated,’ and it’s through narrating the buried traces into connection that she attempts to make a cogent whole of herself. In contrast to the protagonist’s anxieties, this complex and elegant end to the trilogy easily lives up to its forbears. [Rory Edgington]

“What’s the point of living if we don’t die at the end if it?” observes a nameless monk in Don DeLillo’s seventeenth novel. It’s a question we find ourselves posing repeatedly in the first half: Jeffrey, our guide, arrives at a mysterious compound where his father’s ailing wife Artis is preparing for cryogenic freezing, until a future time where improved medical science can give her new life.

Relationships are strained and disconnected – particularly between Jeffrey and father Ross – and occasionally that transmits from the page to the reader, making for an uncomfortable experience in the opening stages.

Things settle down before the second act, however, and gradually the novel reveals itself to be more than a simple exercise in speculative, lightly philosophical what-iffery. It explores notions of control; how we flail at even the slightest sense of purpose or authority when they seem to be slipping from our grasp. How we seek to establish or relinquish them across relationships, identities and public personae. Most importantly, it’s an incredibly written work whose emotional punch sneaks up softly, DeLillo remaining an undisputed master of the stirring emotional précis.

That title, incidentally, refers to the unit of temperature known as absolute zero from which the compound takes its name, although “the temperature employed in cryostorage does not actually approach zero K.” Despite its chilly beginnings, the novel never quite loses its warmth either. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Out now, published by & Other Stories, RRP £10

Out 19 May, published by Canongate, RRP £14.99

Out 19 May, published by Picador, RRP £16.99

May 2016

BOOKS

You can forget about the empty savannah, the deep jungle and the native peoples mystically in touch with nature and a purer, simpler past. This is a book about Africa – about Congo – and it’s full of people sweating and mining and drinking and fucking and fighting and dodgy dealing and dreaming and getting by, just. They’re all packed into the one bar in the City State, Tram 83. So you’ve got the miners, the students, the for-profit tourists, the baby-chicks and the jazz musicians. And in the middle of it all is Lucien, the writer trying to get a play published.

It was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize, and you can see why. Even in translation from the French, the voice is captivating, abrupt, expansive. It’s a down-and-out in DRC, and it moves with all the energy of a sweaty night out: it goes everywhere and nowhere, and it keeps washing up in the same place. It’s bewildering.

Nothing is explained, there’s no grand narrative, yet everything’s here.

The style is uncontainable. There are finelywrought set pieces, then pages of truncated dialogue. Then there are bits that read like a play, and there are many stories within stories. There are repeated phrases and rules and refrains – a whole cacophony of life. It’s gripping, immersive, real. [Galen O’Hanlon] Out now, published by Jacaranda Books, RRP £8.99

Review

59

Ask Auntie Trash: Goodnight Sweet Prince Everyone’s favourite Auntie is back to answer more of your problems. This month, what to do with grief in the face of celebrity death? We know, we’ve had a word with 2016 too, but this advice might just be worth holding on to

Dear Trash, I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but the recent death of Prince has really upset me. I grew up listening to his music and it got me through the good times, the bad times and everything in between.

The thing is, I didn’t expect to be so moved by his death; I only liked his music, I never met him, I never even saw him live. I normally pride myself on not buying into our celebrity obsessed culture, but I just can’t shake this grief, or the feeling that I’m being a bit daft for feeling so sad.

Please help.

Yours, Violet the Organ Grinder Hi Violet (TOG), Grief’s a funny thing, isn’t it? And by funny, I mean, it’s like someone kicking you in the chest so hard that you fall backwards into a giant pit, only for them to kick you in the stomach once you clamber out of the earth, soiled, spluttering and spent.

But here’s the thing: we all grieve, we just don’t know how to deal with it. This is because grief is complicated: it’s messy, it’s long; it’s tedious and it hurts. Bereavement is made even more difficult when you factor in the social conditioning

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant

Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Starring: Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, Katrin Schaake Released: Out now Certificate: 15

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Words: Amy Taylor

of our Western society. We don’t like to talk about death, we don’t like to grieve openly, it’s unbecoming, it’s ugly, it’s just not cricket, old bean.

And that’s just when you’ve actually known the person that you’ve lost. Mention you feel a bit sad about a celebrity passing and you get a bunch of weird looks, maybe a bit of laughter and a couple of comments about you not knowing that person.

However, you need to know that your grief is no less important because you never met His Royal Badness and here’s why: As you said, you listened to his music growing up, you reached for his work when nothing else would do. Whenever you needed reassurance, comfort, or just wanted to get down with your bad self, boom, all you had to do was grab one of his many, many albums and push play. He had your back, he was there.

What you’re experiencing right now is totally natural; the person that created the music that shaped your youth, the songs that made you, the lyrics that stitched your shattered heart back together when it was broken, has died. You might feel shocked, maybe a little lost, or perhaps bewildered, but this is OK, and you will be OK. You are not just mourning the loss of Prince the person, you are grieving because during those

Ran

Director: Akira Kurosawa Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Mieko Harada, Daisuke Ryu Released: 2 May Certificate: 12A

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When you consider that Rainer Werner Fassbinder is known primarily for producing films at a ridiculous rate, most of which were fuelled by copious amounts of drugs, one of the most revelatory aspects of his work is how formally accomplished and beautifully composed it constantly is. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant is a masterclass in mise-en-scène. Fassbinder and his cinematographer Michael Ballhaus utilise the single location in which the drama unfolds with astounding ingenuity, maximising the space available to them and arranging the actors in a way that speaks volumes about their characters and their relationships.

Material that could easily have felt stuffy and stagebound in the hands of a lesser filmmaker is crafted into something thrillingly cinematic here, and Fassbinder’s acute understanding of human desire and pain ensures the film sustains a strange, haunting tension throughout. Like Sirk and Losey, Fassbinder had a way of establishing a sense of distance and artifice in his work while simultaneously drawing emotionally rich performances from his actors, and the work done by Margit Carstensen and Hanna Schygulla – two very different actresses engaged in a slow dance of lust, manipulation and obsession that can only end in despair – is wondrous.

Akira Kurosawa’s visually stunning take on Shakespeare’s King Lear comes to Blu-ray to mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death A battle rages and the screen is filled with flying arrows, flames and bloodied corpses. Everything here is familiar but in any given moment there’s a glimpse of unplaceable beauty. It’s only when the action slows right down and there’s time to sweep the screen slowly and take in every piece independently that you really see how perfectly Kurosawa has composed each scene. The placement of everything, the pace of everything, the crimson of each splash of blood and the mist that rolls across the mountains – everything has been arranged exactly so.

Ran was the historical epic that crowned Kurosawa’s illustrious career, a dazzling, boldly coloured return to form following a period of personal distress and professional inertia. Rereleased

by StudioCanal to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary, his breathtaking adaptation of King Lear proves, so far at least, to be as immune to the effects of time as the original. They might have been divided by centuries and continents but through pure mastery of their craft, Sensei and the Bard now occupy the same position of total reverence within their medium.

DVD Extras: In Life Stories: A Conversation with R.W. Fassbinder, we find the dishevilled, chain-smoking director in contemplative mood as he discusses his life and career up to that point in 1978.

One subject discussed is his relationship with his actresses, a theme picked up in the 1992 documentary Role Play: Women on R. W. Fassbinder, wherein Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, Irm Hermann and Rosel Zech recall their often difficult experiences working with Fassbinder. It’s nice to have a female perspective on the commentary track too, with Diane Charleson offering a thoughtful exploration of the film’s themes. [Philip Concannon]

DVD Extras: The second disc of the new edition offers interviews with various members of the cast and crew, all of whom shed a little light from another angle on to the mythos of Kurosawa. Taken in tandem with the naturalistic documentary AK, the extras provide not only anecdotes and factoids to supplement the film, but actually offer a deeper appreciation of the meditative methods by which it was made, a sense of which is imbued in every frame of the finished film. For example: in one moonlit scene in which the grass glistens gold against the black of the night, the moon wasn’t sitting where Kurosawa wanted it to be. So he drew his own and hung it in the sky.

[Ross McIndoe]

60

Review

THEATRE / DVD

dark times, and during the good times when you just wanted to dance to Kiss, or my personal favourite track Hot Thing, you developed a connection with the music, and in some way to His Purple Majesty. He is gone, but your connection remains here, on Earth, with his music.

So, don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed about how you feel; be true to yourself. If you feel sad, accept it, and grab the Parade album. If you feel angry, then go somewhere quiet and scream and find some of his sexiest tunes and just dance.

And if someone makes fun of you, then that is their problem; it doesn’t make your grief any less real, it means that they’re not a nice person.

Just remember that you are not alone – look at all the headlines, all the stories, remember all the buildings around the world that suddenly turned purple, and stood tall, and glorious and ohso-fucking extravagant when he passed. You are not daft, and will get past this. You will get the funk up once again.

Yours in purple, Trash Do you have a theatrical problem you’d like help solving?

Email trash@theskinny.co.uk

Only Angels Have Wings

Director: Howard Hawks Starring: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess, Thomas Mitchell, Released: Out now Certificate: U

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Hollywood giant Howard Hawks’ Only Angels Have Wings charts a week in the lives of a bunch of American pilots running a dangerous airmail service out of the fictional South American port town of Barranca. Jean Arthur stars as a lively performer who arrives in time to witness a fatal air crash and fall for chief-flyer Geoff (Cary Grant).

Despite some intricate plotting, Hawks keeps things loose as he explores love, life and professionalism in the wake of trauma.

The ensemble, which includes an early role for a knockout Rita Hayworth alongside Grant, Arthur and a terrific Thomas Mitchell (who won an Oscar later that same year for John Ford’s Stagecoach), fire on all cylinders. Hawks films them in wide shots, often including three or more characters in the frame at once, as he expertly allows the onscreen relationships to develop as much through the interplay of loaded glances and physical gesture as through the zippy dialogue.

Only Angels Have Wings deftly expresses its director’s pragmatic existentialism with a tale of wit, adventure and tragic melodrama. As he did with the New York newsroom in His Girl Friday and the Caribbean hotel in To Have and Have Not, Hawks conjures a rich, fully functioning world and fits it into just a few sets. It’s a film thick with fog, bourbon and cigarette smoke that will leave you with a lump in your throat, a smile on your face, and the roar of aircraft ringing in your ears.

DVD Extras: American home video titan Criterion thunders into the UK market with a handsome 4k restoration of one of the great Hollywood movies. Extras include a short but insightful interview with critic David Thompson and an enthralling audio interview in which critic and filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich coaxes a gruff Howard Hawks into discussing style and technique. [Tom Grieve]

For more DVD reviews, go to theskinny.co.uk/film/dvd-reviews

THE SKINNY

Credit: Freemantle Media

A Tribute to Victoria Wood Comedian Victoria Wood has died at the age of 62.

Her career started before the modern comedy era – we explain why she leaves an important legacy Words: Amy Taylor

T

he thing about Victoria Wood is that she was always there; I never expected her to die, so I never thought that I would have to write these words. Growing up, she was the lady behind the grand piano, the one who always made my mum laugh, the one with a perfect blonde helmet of hair stuck to her bobbing head. It was only as I got older that I recognised her brilliance; the sheer perfection of her songs, how they reflected the kind of characters seldom seen on television, but often talked about.

She was a trailblazer in comedy. Not only was she one of the first female comedians on an all male dominated scene, supporting Jasper Carrot on tour a few years before the 1980s alternative comedy boom, she gleefully kicked the door off its hinges for a new generation to follow. One of many paying tribute to Wood was Susan Calman, writing: ‘She was the reason I got into comedy.’

Wood was unapologetically northern, and happy to create wonderfully subversive characters to mock the status quo. Susie Blake, her snooty TV announcer character, once announced, “We’d like to apologise to our viewers in the North.

It must be awful for you.”

Born and raised in Bury, she decided at the age of four that she wanted to be famous. She loved to watch comedy shows on TV (so much so, that one day her father wrapped the family TV in a mackintosh in an attempt to make her stop) and she also taught herself how to play the piano.

After school, she studied drama at the University of Birmingham, singing songs in folk clubs before auditioning for the TV talent show New Faces in 1974. Although she won the first round, she was eliminated in the second, narrowly missing out on the final.

However, New Faces led to several high profile

May 2016

gigs, and the 70s and 80s marked a hugely productive and popular period for her as she wrote and appeared in shows like Wood and Walters, As Seen on TV (which spawned the cult hit Acorn Antiques, a pastiche of the popular and ropey soap opera Crossroads) and An Audience With Victoria Wood.

The 90s and beyond saw Wood turn her hand to comedy drama, writing her first sitcom, Dinnerladies, before delving into full on drama with the Bafta-winning WWII TV movie Housewife 49, for which she won a Bafta for Best Actress and Best Single Drama.

“She was the reason I got into comedy” Susan Calman

It’s a very human thing, to assume that the people that you grew up watching on TV will always be there, because in some ways they always have.

You hear their songs in your head, and you can quote entire sketches without thinking. And you lose track of time, of their work, of them.

So, when they die, you dig out that old DVD, you spend an hour or more on YouTube watching badly edited clips of their best moments, and you just relive it all. This is where I found myself this morning, laughing at her tales of pregnancy and childbirth and looking, one last time, for the lady behind the grand piano to tell me what to do with my copy of Women’s Weekly.

COMEDY

Review

61

Win tickets plus Win tickets to see Tiny travel to T in the Park! Ruins in Edinburgh!

F

T

in the Park is 20+ years of musical history.

It’s making memories the entire weekend, with an atmosphere like no other. It’s the feeling of being part of something bigger amidst the 80,000 strong crowd. It’s the inherently magical T in the Park campsite roar. It’s feeling perfectly connected to your fellow festival-goers as you sing your hearts out in unison to The Stone Roses, Calvin Harris, Red Hot Chili Peppers and more.

It’s making friends for life, and memories to last a lifetime. It’s the best fans in the world. It’s the best weekend of the summer. It’s T in the Park.

The festival takes place over 8-10 July 2016, and you can get your tickets now from tinthepark. com – in the meantime, we've teamed up with festival organisers DF Concerts and founding partner Tennent’s Lager to offer you the chance to win a pair of weekend camping tickets, plus Be Chilled vouchers and return travel to the festival, courtesy of official coach partners Citylink and

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ormed in Auckland, New Zealand back in 2009, Tiny Ruins was initially conceived by songwriter Hollie Fullbrook, before swiftly going on to play and tour with the likes of Fleet Foxes and Calexico. Following the release of debut album Some Were Meant For Sea, Cass Basil (bass) and Alexander Freer (drums) joined to flesh out the line-up, as follow-up Brightly Painted One was showered with acclaim and awards.

Taking influence from various strands of folk and blues, the Tiny Ruins sound also draws on ethereal, sometimes grungy soundscapes.

Sometimes likened to Nick Drake, Mazzy Star or Nico, Fullbrook’s voice and guitar work evades cliché, making use of alternate tunings by way of her own self-styled fingerpicking. Lyrically one of a kind, her stories are laced with a dark humour that is at times disarmingly confessional, at others cryptic and philosophical.

We've got a pair of tickets to give away to Tiny Ruins' show at The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh on 15 May! To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is summon all your tightly-honed powers of memory and answer over at theskinny.co.uk/competitions: the following question.

Big Green Coaches! To win, head to theskinny/ co.uk/competitions with the correct answer to the following question: Which American rock band will headline T in the Park on Sunday night? a) Foo Fighters b) The Killers c) Red Hot Chili Peppers Competition closes at midnight on Sun 22 May. Entrants must be aged 18+. 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.

Our Ts&Cs can be found attheskinny.co.uk/about/terms For more information and regular updates from The T Lady visit tinthepark.com For the facts about alcohol drinkaware.co.uk For more information on travel visit citylink.co.uk or biggreencoach.co.uk

What’s the name of the band playing at The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh on 15 May? Competition closes at midnight on Sunday 8 May. Entrants must be aged 18+. 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. Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/ terms

COMPETITIONS

a) Broken Ruins b) Tiny Ruins c) Crumbled Ruins

THE SKINNY

Glasgow Music Tue 03 May DIXIE CHICKS

THE SSE HYDRO, 18:30, £32.50 - £37.50

The country trio perform their hits.

BOY JUMPS SHIP

STEREO, 19:00, £6.50

Newcastle punk-rock quartet big on the thundering choruses.

MEILYR JONES

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £7

Whimsical and dreamy chamber pop from Welsh artist Meilyr Jones.

COURIER’S CLUB (THE GREAT ALBATROSS)

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £5

Indie folk, rock and all that from a Glasgow four piece who’re ready to take on the local music scene after a warm reception to their latest releases, Upriver and Downriver.

JOSEPHINE FOSTER (ATSUKO KAMURA )

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £10

A modern American folk singersongwriter and musician from Colorado who released her first solo studio, Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You in 2005.

PLUG 1: OPENING CONCERT

ROYAL CONSERVATOIRE OF SCOTLAND, 19:30, £5 - £10

A multi-faceted opening to Plug@10, featuring the combined forces of Red Note and MusicLab.

Wed 04 May

AMMONIUM (AKROBAT + CAULDER)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00, £3

A fundraiser in aid of charity Quarriers, featuring upcoming Scottish alt-rock bands.

RECREATIONS

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £8

Remember Get Cape. Wear Cape.

Fly.? Wherever did that guy go?

Well, it turns out he’s going to H&P, under a brand new moniker. He’s ditched twiddly acoustics in favour of synth and drum-machine, but his chatty lyrics and vocals remain centre stage.

ALAN KELLY GANG

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:30, £14

One of Ireland’s leading contemporary trad acts, featuring piano maestro Alan Kelly and his pals, including singer and flautist Steph Geremia, guitarist Ian Carr and double bassist Kevin McGuire.

OUTBLINKER (BLOODBLOOD)

STEREO, 19:00, £5

Members of Young Philadelphia, Hey Enemy, Dead or American and Kabobo unite for forays into electro krautrock.

TACOCAT (BREAKFAST MUFF + YOUNGSTRR JOEY)

BROADCAST, 19:00, £7 - £8

Surf-pop quartet from Seattle made up of four best friends.

Hanging out with Tacocat and listening to Tacocat are remarkably similar experiences – like the best party you’ll ever be invited to.

A$AP NAST

THE GARAGE, GLASGOW, 19:00, £15

A$AP Nast headlines his first show in Scotland at The Garage.

Thu 05 May BRYAN ADAMS

THE SSE HYDRO, 18:30, £35 - £42.50

Bryan Adams embarks on his Get Up Tour ahead of the release of his new LP, Get Up.

ANDY COOPER (UGLY DUCKLING) THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £8.50

Californian crooner Andy Cooper of hip-hop trio Ugly Duckling brings his solo debut Room To Breathe to The Hug and Pint.

DANIEL KEMISH

STEREO, 19:00, £5

American outlaw country at its best.

THE COMMON WEAL (FUTUROLOGY + THE JOSEPHINE SILLARS BAND)

MONO, 20:00, FREE

Join Common Weal on election night as they host a night of live music, interactive art and conversation.

VANESSA CARLTON

SWG3 GLASGOW, 19:00, £16

Once claimed she’d walk a thousand miles just to see someone for a night. We’re dubious.

LAYAWAY

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £6.50

Big, melodic rock sounds from four veterans of the field.

Fri 06 May ANASTACIA

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:00, £32.50 - £37.50

American singer-songwriter with a mighty pair of lungs on ‘er.

TRAVIS

O2 ABC, 19:00, £25

The Glasgow-formed 90s mainstays make their live return, marking the release of their new release, Everything At Once.

MAN OF MOON

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £7.50

Fledgling Edinburgh duo made up of Chris Bainbridge and Mikey Reid.

THE NEW CANDYS (THE MUSHROOM CLUB + THE CRAWLSNAKE CULT)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30, £7

The New Candys pour some lo-fi psychedelia and rock’n’roll onto your Friday evening.

DANIEL BACHMAN (JIM GHEDI)

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £6

Daniel Bachman is a 6-string and lap steel guitar player from Virginia currently living in North Carolina.

THE URBAN VOODOO MACHINE

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00, £12

‘Shadowy ne’er do wells’ hailing from London, led by Norwegian born songwriter and frontman Paul-Ronney Angel.

TEAM PLAYER

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:30, £5

Indie synth-poppers Team Player launch a long awaited EP at Classic Grand.

DE ROSA

STEREO, 19:00, £9

Lanarkshire trio made up of songwriter Martin John Henry, plus James Woodside on bass and Neil Woodside on drums.

THE STEVIE NIMMO TRIO + BEN POOLE

ORAN MOR, 19:00, £12.50

A double bill of bluesy goodness.

AMOR

PLATFORM, 19:30, £5 - £7.50

A musical collaboration between Luke Fowler, Richard Youngs, Paul Thomson and Michael Duch, playing Platform this May. MINOR VICTORIES

THE ART SCHOOL, GLASGOW, 19:00, £15

The alt-rockers treat The Art School ahead of the release of their new album, due out on 3 June.

LETHAL BIZZLE

Sat 07 May

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00, £16.50

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00, £12.50

Rapper and forerunner of the British grime scene, who first rose to prominence with 2004’s Pow (Forward).

BRANTLEY GILBERT

ORAN MOR, 19:00, £16

Bringing raw, emotive country and southern rock, all the way from Jefferson, Georgia.

PAROLA SANDS + THE THREE GENTLEMEN

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00, £5

Husky hard rock and blues from five-piece Parola Sands and rocky electro-swing from The Three Gentlemen.

May 2016

NINA NESBITT

Half-Swedish, half-Scottish singer/songwriter in possession of a fine technical agility and emotive style.

ACTIVE MINDS (SURGE + SICK OF TALK + BOAK + KINGPIN + ANXIETY + RAPID TAN + BRATAKUS + BRIAN CURRAN) NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 16:30, £5 - £7

Get ragey about the state of the world with animal rights / environmental welfare campaigners DIY punk legends Active Minds.

The support line-up is pretty killer, too.

THE FIRST BIG WEEKEND (JOE HOWE + BAMBOO + BABE + TOBY WEBSTER LTD + LUAR MATRIX + BROTHER MICHELLE + DJ HANNAN + MURRAY BRB) THE HUG AND PINT, 18:00, £9 - £15

The Hug and Pint’s first ever minifestival, presenting a sexy line-up of electronic artists, performers and DJs for your delectation.

Speaking of delicacies, there’ll be a vegan spread on offer from the venue’s pan-Asian kitchen, too.

Schwiiiing.

THE DYNAGLIDES

ORAN MOR, 19:00, £10

A sing-along eve of hits from a nine-piece Glasgwegian band.

BIRDCAGE + EL PARKS

BROADCAST, 19:00, FREE

May’s birdcage edition, showcasing local artist and DJ El Parks behind the decks, with Mia for four hours of party ditties.

SKY SANGHA (THE CORE + MIAMI MONROE + LUCIENSGHOST + RHINOPLAST + MAGIC TRIK + CALUM BRAWLEY + OWEN COSMO FYFE + JAMIE ROBERT ROSS + DARYL SPERRY) O2 ABC, 18:00, £10

New rockers on the block play a set at the O2 with a staggering list of support acts.

FRONTEERS (THE MONDIALS + MOONLIGHT ZOO)

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £7

Four piece indie-rockers who sound a bit like The Libertines after a stint sunbathing at the beach.

Sun 08 May NOVEMBER LIGHTS

KING TUT’S, 20:00, £8

Talented Glasgow five-piece led by singer songwriter James Hopkins who harness bold, pop ambition with songcraft that belies their age. Served with a side of deliciously grungey pop from Star Rover following the release of their EP Selfs.

WILLIWAW

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 18:00–20:00, FREE

Expect ukulele mayhem as Williwaw brings his merry cavalcade of melodious din to a live setting once more.

CENTRILIA (CO-EXIST + BURNING THE DREAM + BLOODTHREAD)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30, £5

‘Wan for the dugs’ fundraiser in aid of Dogs Trust. Line-up jam-packed with the heavy stuff.

THE FIRST BIG WEEKEND (APOSTILLE + CLIP ART + STERN LECTURE + RAZA + ARM WATCHES FINGERS + CRU SERVERS + KRK DJ LISA LIFE) THE HUG AND PINT, 18:00, £9 - £15

The Hug and Pint’s first ever minifestival, presenting a sexy line-up of electronic artists, performers and DJs for your delectation.

Speaking of delicacies, there’ll be a vegan spread on offer from the venue’s pan-Asian kitchen, too.

Schwiiiing.

LAURA CANTRELL

O2 ABC, 19:00, £17

New York City-residing country singer/songwriter, crafting a sound awash with her Nashville roots.

Mon 09 May TOURIST

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £9

London-based electronic chappie with a passion for field recordings and analog wizardry.

FUNERAL DOOM SPIRITUAL: FOR MALE SOPRANO, AND PIANO

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £7

A multimedia goth opera by M Lamar which mourns for what Antony Paul Farley calls ‘the motionless movement of death through slavery, segregation, and neo-segregation’.

LIFE MODEL (TWO WHITE CRANES + TRY THE PIE)

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £5

Beautiful dream pop from locals Life Model, along with San Jose’s Try the Pie and Bristol’s Two White Cranes.

GUS STIRRAT BAND + QUARKS

ANDY BLACK

GERRY LYONS

LAURA MVULA

ROSEANNE REID

MONO, 20:00, £5

O2 ABC, 19:00, £18

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £4

ORAN MOR, 19:00, £15

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00, TBC

Jazz fusion from the Gus Stirrat Band, along with rock tinged jazz from Quarks, all as part of Restless Natives festival.

The alter-ego of Black Veil Brides’ Andy Biersack, who hits the road in support of his debut solo album, The Shadow Side.

Tue 10 May

13TH NOTE, 20:00, £5

THE TREATMENT

STEREO, 19:00, £10

Classic rock sounds from the Cambridge quintet of young chaps.

HANNAH TRIGWELL

KING TUT’S, 20:00, £6

Acoustic pop Leeds songstress heading out on her very first UK headline tour.

ELECTRIC CLARINET

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £5 - £8

Electric Clarinet formed in 2014 and is a collaboration between clarinet player Joanna Nicholson and composer Matthew Whiteside.

They’ll play music for clarinet and electronics by composers such as Eddie McGuire, Montry Adkins and Matthew Whiteside.

WORLDSERVICE PROJECT (THUNKFISH) MONO, 21:00, £5

Noise, jazz-rock and experimental vibes from WorldService Project at Mono, following a tour which took them all over the world. Part of Restless Natives festival.

JOANA SERRAT

BROADCAST, 19:00, £6.50

Delivering a genre of music she describes as ‘foggy folk’, Joana Serrat’s having a busy old 2016 between playing Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona and being signed to their El Segell del Primavera record label.

LE THUG (DTHPDL + NUMBERS ARE FUTILE)

COLLECTIVE STUDIOS, 19:30, £5

A corker of a line-up featuring dreamscape noisers Le Thug, makers of cerebral ambient krautrock DTHPDL and purveyors of psychedelic electronica Numbers Are Futile.

Wed 11 May ANDY JORDAN

O2 ABC, 19:00, £11

The Made In Chelsea star embarks on his UK mini tour – we’ll do the hiding.

OREN AMBARCHI

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £10

Hesitant, tense and extended songs which straddle sundry schools and genres; electronica, minimalism, improvisation and rock.

FRANCES

ORAN MOR, 19:00, £9

Critics Choice Award nominee Frances brings her silky vocals to our way after a stint of songwriting with Disclosure in his garden studio.

F*CK YES (THE BEGBIES + RETRO VIDEO CLUB + THE TELERMEN)

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £5

Triple bill of local up-and-coming bands at Tut’s.

NIGHTWAVE (YUTANI + HQFU + WUH OH)

COLLECTIVE STUDIOS, 19:00, £5

Producer, DJ and vocalist also known as Maya Medvesek who specialises in dreamy, grooverammed electro.

Thu 12 May PATRICK WOLF

STEREO, 19:00, £17.50

Special outing from the experimental London singer/songwriter and his kit-bag of electro-pop gems, based around the usual gamut of piano, tenor guitar, harp, viola, kantale, Theremin and electronics.

FORT HOPE

KING TUT’S, 20:00, £6

New band rising from the ashes of former UK rock darlings My Passion.

BOOK GROUP (ADAM STAFFORD + ADAM ROSS)

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £7

Four man Scottish alt-rock band Book Group launch their debut album with the help of Adam Stafford and Randolph Leap's Adam Ross.

NEIL MICHAEL HAGERTY & THE HOWLING HEX

BROADCAST, 19:00, £10

American guitarist, songwriter and producer Neil Michael Hagerty is back on the Glasgow gig circuit after a ten year hiatus. Catch him with support at Broadcast.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

COMMISERATIONS (ANXIETY)

Three-piece post-punk band from Leeds, playing as part of Restless Natives.

FATHER JOHN MISTY

O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW, 19:00, £21

A former member of Fleet Foxes and The Lashes (and many other indie bands besides), and talented enough to grab a feature on Beyoncé's record Hold Up, Joshua Michael Tillman is a songwriting talent worth catching this month.

Fri 13 May BUSTED

THE SSE HYDRO, 18:30, £37.50 - £41.50

The pop-punk trio embark on a reunion tour, marking a decade after Charlie buggered off.

DESERT PLANES

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £7

Moody rock band hailing from London – a decent listen if you like fuzzy, raspy rock ballads and can get past the inexplicable American accents.

ROTTEN MIND (THE KIMBERLEY STEAKS + SICK OF TALK + JOYCE DELANEY)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30, £5

Ripping garage punk with a hint of the 70s from Rotten Mind following the release of LP I’m Alone Even With You. YVONNE LYON (AMY DUNCAN)

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £7

Acoustic folksmith Yvonne Lyon shares treasures from her back-catalogue of four LPs, with support from Amy Duncan and Union Chapel.

TRIO RED (TOM CAWLEY + PER ZANUSSI )

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £8

Three chaps hailing from some of the most vital jazz scenes in Europe, uniting at The Glad for your ears only. Well, and everyone else’s, too. But still – jazz!

BABY STRANGE

STEREO, 19:00, £10

Hyped Glasgow indie-punk crew with decidedly dark credentials, made up of brothers Connaire and Aidan McCann and singer Johnny Madden.

NELL BRYDEN

ORAN MOR, 19:30, £16

Singer-songwriter from Brooklyn, New York.

PETE DOHERTY

BARROWLANDS, 19:00, £23

Purveyor of shoop-de-lang-delangs and sulky faces comes to Barrowlands.

GHOSTFACE KILLAH (LAW HOLT + RANSOM FA)

SAINT LUKE’S, 19:00, £17.50

Wu-Tang banger Ghostface Killah does his solo thing, with his inimitable stream-of-consciousness style rap narratives blasted out atop high-energy machine gunlike basslines.

BREAKFAST MUFF (SPINNING COIN + THE POOCHES + THE BIN-MEN)

13TH NOTE, 19:30, £5

Pop-punk from local turf.

Sat 14 May BUSTED

THE SSE HYDRO, 18:30, £37.50 - £41.50

The pop-punk trio embark on a reunion tour, marking a decade after Charlie buggered off.

BMX BANDITS

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:30, £15

CCA celebrates the past, present and future of Glasgow indie legends BMX Bandits, fronted by Duglas T Stewart, ahead of their new vinyl single release and the recording of a new album.

BOSSY LOVE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30, £6

Experimental R&B duo formed of singer/mechanical scientist Amandah (of Operator Please) and ex-Dananananaykroyd chappie John Baillie Jnr. TINY RUINS

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £9

Tiny Ruins are a band based in Auckland, New Zealand. Conceived in 2009 by songwriter Hollie Fullbrook, the group now includes Cass Basil on bass, Alex Freer on drums and Tom Healy on electric guitar.

Gerry Lyons, host of the legendary Nice n Sleazy Acoustic Night, makes a rare jaunt south of the river to play a selection of original songs.

Former Mercury Award-nominated soul singer returning with a new studio album, The Dreaming Room.

Local singer-songwriter and BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award nominee Roseanne Reid stops by at Sleazy’s.

O2 ABC, 19:00, £8

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00, £9

Dublin noise-pop quintet formed back in 2011.

A modern funky solo, bringing a bluesy, eruption of harmonica and beatboxing to the central belt.

BEN OTTEWELL

Gomez singer and lead guitarist Ben Ottewell rides solo for a stint of Scotland sets.

SEPTEMBER GIRLS (TELEGRAM + TYCI DJ SET + FAIIDES )

ISAAC GRACIE

SWG3 GLASGOW, 19:00, £9

STEREO, 19:00, £7

After touring with Michael Kiwanuka last year, Isaac Gracie’s broken hearts with his soulful, lofi, scratchy love songs. Get yours broken too, this May at SWG3.

DECEMBER

Tue 17 May

OCEANS (THE BLACK DELTA MOVEMENT)

Local alt-rock band Oceans launch their new EP with a li’l help from The Black Delta Movement.

ORAN MOR, 19:00, £10

December, a band influenced by the likes of Springsteen and The Jesus and Mary Chain, launch their latest album at Oran Mor this mid-May. YUCK (SODA FABRIC + THE VAN T’S)

BROADCAST, 19:00, £10

London-based garage-pop outfit Yuck return with new album Stranger Things.

KING KING

O2 ABC, 18:30, £20

British bluesbreakers and multiaward winners at the British Blues Awards.

BROTHER STRUT (MOSA FUNK CLUB + RORY HOY ) O2 ABC, 19:00, £16.50

Funk and soul band, who’ve played with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and Amy Winehouse.

HOMEWARD JAMES (LAFLEUR + ORTHODOX)

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £6.50

Introspective grunge pop band who formed in Wishaw.

FUTURE OF THE LEFT (ROLO TOMASSI + UNITED FRUIT)

SAINT LUKE’S, 19:00, £13.50

The Welsh alternative rockers tour their new album.

HAPPY MEALS (THE MODERN INSTITUTE + PENTACOSTAL PARTY)

SG LEWIS

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £6.50

Electronic music producer based in Liverpool.

RCS TRADITIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 17:00, FREE

Over four days, students from the BMus Traditional Music and BA Scottish Music degrees perform a programme of solo and collaborative music, celebrating the culmination of their years of studying. Shows at both 13:00 and 17:00.

ANNA MEREDITH

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £9

Contemporary classical meets electronic and avant-pop styles with this composer and producer signed to Moshi Moshi.

VIKING MOSES (SAM GOODWILL )

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £6

Viking Moses, AKA Brendon Massei, achieves a special balance of warmth and command, with familiar melodies that draw in listeners and oblige them to stay. He teams up with Sam Goodwill this May for a double bill at The Glad.

CHASTITY BELT

BROADCAST, 19:00, £8 - £9

COLLECTIVE STUDIOS, 19:30, £4.50

Seattle rock’n’roll foursome made up of guitarists Julia Shapiro and Lydia Lund, bassist Annie Truscott and drummer Gretchen Grimm.

GLOWROGUES (FITZ-ROY)

Wed 18 May

The Glasgow synthpop duo play Restless Natives with support.

13TH NOTE, 20:00, £5

Seven part jazzy hip-hop fusions from new talent on the block Glowrogues.

Sun 15 May THE HEAVY

ORAN MOR, 19:00, £15

Alty punk-folk hailing from Bath.

THE SUMMER SET

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00, £13

Arizona-based five-piece making breezy pop rock – often seen touring with the likes of Yellowcard and Hey Monday, but heading out on their own for a UK-wide tour.

SHE MAKES WAR (BRYDE)

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £8

Gloomy pop music from Laura Kidd launching her third album, Direction of Travel.

REND COLLECTIVE

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 18:30, £18

The religious collective of musicians and artists tread the boards.

TIM HECKER (BLANCK MASS + DALHOUS)

SAINT LUKE’S, 19:00, £15

The Montreal-based ambient electronic musician and sound artist returns to our shores, focused on exploring the intersection of noise, dissonance and melody – fostering a physical and emotive approach to his songcraft.

TUFF LOVE (AMERICAN CLAY + KILLER BANGS)

COLLECTIVE STUDIOS, 19:30, £5

Female-fronted trio of the fuzzy lo-fi guitar pop variety, built on wispy soft vocals and loud instruments.

JUTLAND SONGS (GOOD GRIEF + JOYCE DELANEY)

13TH NOTE, 20:00, £5

Struggletown Records throws on a triple bill from local indie-pop creators Jutland Songs, Liverpool’s loveliest (probably) lofi punkmakers Good Grief and folk infused pop-rockers Joyce Delaney.

Mon 16 May EAGULLS

STEREO, 19:00, £11

Anarchic Leeds-based five-piece man the stage at Stereo.

LAURENCE FOX

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £12.50

Actor-turned-musician, bringing his emotive folk-pop ballads our way to celebrate new album, Holding Patterns.

RCS TRADITIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 13:00, FREE

Over four days, students from the BMus Traditional Music and BA Scottish Music degrees perform a programme of solo and collaborative music, celebrating the culmination of their years of studying. Shows at both 13:00 and 17:00.

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £10

Veteran folkster Malcolm Holcombe brings his soulful works and ‘heartfelt baritone’ to the H&P. DECLAN WELSH (UP THE DANCIN’)

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £5

Glaswegian songwriter and wordsmith Declan Welsh journeys to the southside, backed by his band and a catalogue of clever, clever songwriting.

SON OF DAVE

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £12.50

OGOYA NENGO & THE DODO WOMEN’S GROUP

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £12

Ogoya Nengo is a folk artist, born Anastasia Oluoch in 1943, near the Kenyan shores of Lake Victoria.

Hailing from a family of singers and orators, she joined the trade as messengers and commentators, commonly referred to by the locals as ‘Dodo singers’.

DAR WILLIAMS

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:30, £13

Dar Williams presents the fruit of nine whole studio albums, packed with clever, mature song-writing at Classic Grand.

UNOMA OKUDO

STEREO, 19:00, £7

Following the release of her debut EP Odyssey, Glasgow-based singer-songwriter Unoma Okudo brings a dose of soul to Stereo.

CHARLIE PUTH

O2 ABC, 19:00, £14

Young American singer, songwriter and producer who found fame on that there YouTube.

CHRIS LEONARD

O2 ABC, 19:00, £8 - £20

The ex-Stereo member nips into Glasgae while he discovers himself on his ‘Roots’ toor.

SHUFFL LIVE

SWG3 GLASGOW, 18:45, £8 - £12

Shuffl brings Knock Out Kaine , The King Lot , A Jokers Rage and The Toi to Glasgae.

Fri 20 May

RCS TRADITIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 13:00, FREE

Over four days, students from the BMus Traditional Music and BA Scottish Music degrees perform a programme of solo and collaborative music, celebrating the culmination of their years of studying. Shows at both 13:00 and 17:00.

THE HIGH FLIGHT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30, £5

Skimming the cream of Glasgae’s finest poetry, comedy and musical talent.

THE BURNING HELL

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £8.50

Canadian folk artist Mathias Kom returns to the UK with a full band in tow for this latest round of Burning Hell shows.

HAVE MERCY LAS VEGAS

STEREO, 19:00, £7

Energetic blues and folk hybrid, formed on the shores of Loch Lomond.

GARRET KLAHN (MANON MEURT)

BROADCAST, 19:00, £8

Garret Klahn continues the Texas Is The Reason legacy at Broadcast with his indie rock sound this May. CURAHO (VALVES + PASSENGER PEOPLE + ELECTRIC FUNK)

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £5

Thu 19 May

New College Lanarkshire showcases some of its shiny new talent at Tut’s.

THE SSE HYDRO, 18:30, £37.50 - £45

Sat 21 May

JAMES

Hometown show for the 80s/90s rockers, celebrating the release of their new album, Girl at the End of the World.

DOPE D.O.D.

KING TUT’S, 20:00, £10

Rap and dubstep from the Netherlands.

BAND OF FRIENDS

CATHOUSE, 19:00, £15

A selection of former band members and friends celebrate the musical output of Rory Gallagher.

Part of Celtic Connections.

RCS TRADITIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 13:00, FREE

Over four days, students from the BMus Traditional Music and BA Scottish Music degrees perform a programme of solo and collaborative music, celebrating the culmination of their years of studying. Shows at both 13:00 and 17:00.

THE GRAND GESTURES

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £7

Jan Burnett’s collaborative project with the likes of Sanjeev Kohli, Emma Pollock, Jill O’Sullivan, RM Hubbert and Calamity Horse, based around loops, vintage synths and vocals – making their only live appearance previewing new LP, Second.

MANIC STREET PREACHERS

THE SSE HYDRO, 18:30, £35 - £47.50

The veteran Welsh art-punk trio celebrate the 20th anniversary of their fourth album, Everything Must Go. TRANSVIOLET

STEREO, 19:00, £6.50

LA-via-NYC quartet, whose debut EP was released last year.

GLASGOW BLUES AND SOUL ALLIANCE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00, £5

Crafty blues, powerful soul and outrageous funk.

Listings

63

STEPHEN KELLOGG (ERIC HUTCHINSON) THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £8.50

Singer-songwriter hailing from Massachusetts, playing an uplifting mix of Americana meets country rock.

GRAEME QUINN

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £3 - £6

As part of the Southside Fringe Glasgow, talented Southside songwriter Graeme Quinn launches his debut EP backed by his band, the Graeme Quintet. Top marks for prime punning.

THE YUMMY FUR (THE BELLYBUTTONS + ANTIQUE PONY)

MONO, 20:00, £7

The first deadline show in five years from 90s art punk band The Yummy Fur. BARRALOADASOUL 2016

BARROWLANDS, 14:00, £20

Barrowlands hosts an all-dayer, stuffed full’a motown, mod and 60s R&B.

BY THE RIVERS (SKAYAMAN + DJ KENNY )

O2 ABC, 19:00, £8

Leicester six-piece fond of crafting ‘real music’ since their 2010 inception.

ESKIMO DANCE

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 21:00, £11 £12.50

The underground grime brand, originally started by Wiley, takes a trip to Glasgae.

Sun 22 May LARKIN POE

STEREO, 19:00, £7

Traditional bluegrass-styled offerings from sister duo Rebecca and Megan Lovell, with a selection of original songs and covers sung in the sweetest of vocal harmonies.

DIRTY FENCES (CODIST + WENDELL BORTON)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00, TBC

NYC Slingers of 70s punk rock’n’roll and power pop play a set at Sleazy’s.

SUDAKISTAN

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £7

DOOMSQUAD (W O L F )

DANIEL ROMANO

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £8

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:30, £13

DOOMSQUAD is a Toronto-based art project made up of siblings Trevor, Jaclyn, and Allie Blumas who released their latest album Pageantry Suite on Bella Union.

The trio create experimental dance music which is heavily indebted to trance and psychedelia.

CATE LE BON (ALEX DINGLEY)

STEREO, 19:00, £12.50

The Welsh singer-songwriter returns with her fourth album, Crab Day. JOSH GROBAN

THE SSE HYDRO, 20:00, £45.40 - £56.75

Josh Groban swings by the Hyrdo with his trove of musical theatre favourites.

DAUGHTRY

O2 ABC, 19:00, £22.50

KING TUT’S, 20:00, £10

Mon 23 May COLDRAIN

KING TUT’S, 20:00, £10

Japanese metalcore band formed in Nagoya back in 2007.

BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £10

Oh-so-toasty textural dream pop and rhythmic soundscapes from Mikey Maramag.

HOT 8 BRASS

ORAN MOR, 19:30, £15

Traditional New Orleans brass band music from a group who formed in high school.

GALLERY CIRCUS

BROADCAST, 19:00, FREE

Unique and abrasive rock from South Tyneside born twins Daniel and Graeme Ross.

Tue 24 May JOSH GROBAN

CLYDE AUDITORIUM, 20:00, £40 - £50

Josh Groban swings by the Hyrdo with his trove of musical theatre favourites.

JAGWAR MA

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £12.50

Often two-piece, occasional three-piece, hailing from Sydney and making alternative indie music that’s thoroughly danceable.

MOTHERS (GLOBELAMP)

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £7

TYCI and the H&P welcome Athensborn band Mothers to Glasgow for their Scottish debut.

After dropping a mini EP in March entitled Steps, Malcolm Middleton embarks on a springtime tour of Scotland and beyond, taking The Pictish Trail under his wing.

BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS PET SOUNDS

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, GLASGOW, 19:00, £42-62

BEN WATT BAND FT. BERNARD BUTLER

MAGNUM

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00, £22.50

The five piece rockers tour in support of their 18th (that’s right) studio album, Escape From the Shadow Garden.

MISS MAY I

KING TUT’S, 20:00, £14

VERY LOUD, VERY THRASHY METALCORE. Quite melodic, though.

All the way from Troy, Ohio.

WOVEN SKULL

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, TIMES TBC, £5 - £7

Three piece project from Northwestern Ireland who combine minimal drones with psychadelic distored riffs to create an atmospheric, haunting sound.

NO ZU

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £9

Eight-piece body-music extravaganza fresh from Melbourne’s underground scene, peddling no wave, boogie, dub, disco and salsa sounds.

DAUGHTRY

O2 ABC, 19:00, £22.50

SONNY MARVELLO

Pop punk from a four-piece who’ve just released a new album, Never Happy, Ever After.

MALCOLM MIDDLETON

THE ART SCHOOL, 19:00, £12.50

Wed 25 May

BROADCAST, 19:00, £7 - £8

AS IT IS (WITH CONFIDENCE + JULE VERA)

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and painter based in Boston.

A 50th Anniversary celebration and final performance in its entirety.

Unfortunately, also sold out.

American rockers formed and fronted by Chris Daughtry, a finalist on the fifth season of American Idol.

HOMESHAKE (SWMRS)

MARISSA NADLER (WREKMEISTER HARMONIES)

BROADCAST, 19:00, £8

American rockers formed and fronted by Chris Daughtry, a finalist on the fifth season of American Idol.

An almost maniacal blend of scintilating rhythms, chants, rustling percussion and psychedelic strings guaranteed to be exciting as hell IRL. Pseudonym of Edmonton-born, Montreal-based musician Peter Sagar.

The Juno-nominated Canadian crooner Daniel Romano brings his rich baritone and country vibes to Classic Grand this May.

Thu 26 May STEREO, 19:00, £7

Celebrating a whole decade spent playing music together, Sonny Marvello extend an invitiation for you to join them in the revelry at Stereo this May. THE TEMPER TRAP

THE ART SCHOOL, 19:00, £12.50

The Australian rockers return ahead of their new record entitled Thick As Thieves, due for release in June.

Fri 27 May ISSUES

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00, £15

American metalcore outfit from Atlanta.

HANDS LIKE HOUSES

CATHOUSE, 19:00, £10

Australian six-piece utilising an array of tecnhical effects, post-hardcore charm and lively stage antics.

PAUL NEWSOME (PROUD MARY)

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £7

The Proud Mary guitarist and songwriter rides solo for a gig at Tut’s, bringing his gold-selling records in tow.

ADAM GREEN

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00, £15

Adam Green is renowned around the globe as one of music’s most unique and prolific songwriting talents. As a solo artist, Green has recorded nine albums, many of which have become cult hits.

THE COMPUTERS (YOUNG AVIATORS)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30, £8

A band born in Exeter who knit together garage soul and ‘punk’n’roll’.

Inventive!

SEA PINKS (PHEROMOANS + CHUMP)

THE FLYING DUCK, 20:00, £5

Catchy fuzz-poppers Sea Pinks are joined by Pheromoans and Fuzzkill / Green Door dudes Chump for a night at The Duck.

Sat 28 May

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 20:00, £17

After sixteen years in duo Everything But The Girl and a further ten at the helm of his award-­winning electronic label Buzzin’ Fly, Ben Watt returns to his roots as a solo singer and songwriter.

KIKAGAKU MOYO (TAU + HELICON)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30, £8 - £10

Catch the Glasgow debut from Tokyo based unit Kikagaku Moyo. If you’re into your psychadelia, prog rock and antifolk, this one might just be be your new fave.

KID CANAVERAL

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £8

The affable indie-pop chaps and chapesses take to The Hug and Pint with their brand new single First We Take Dumbarton.

THE DEAD SETTLERS

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £6 - £8

The Dead Settlers are a new indie rock band based in Glasgow whose debut single Sophia is out now.

Support comes from Southside duo Odimino.

BROWNBEAR

STEREO, 19:00, £8.50

Ayrshire foursome of the alternative indie variety.

JULIEN BAKER (KATIE MALCO)

BROADCAST, 19:00, £8

Gut wrenching lyricism and rousing acoustic songwriting from Julien Baker, with support from Katie Malco.

LARAAJI

THE ART SCHOOL, 18:00, £7 - £10

Laraaji is a musician, mystic and laughter meditation practitioner based in New York City.

IN THIS MOMENT

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00, £15

LA-based metalcore ensemble formed by singer Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth back in 2005.

Sun 29 May BONNIE RAITT

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30, £33.50 - £38.50

American blues and singer/songwriter, returning to UK shores with her Dig in Deep.

ROBERT FORSTER

KING TUT’S, 20:00, £8

Tremendous soulful vocals from Londoner Samm Henshaw, fresh from the release of his Sound Experiment EP.

Tue 31 May BLAENAVON

KING TUT’S, 20:00, £6

Fledgling Hampshire trio built on soaring choruses and the manic energy of yoof.

LYNCHED

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30, £14

Shockingly not FWD playing heavy metal, as much as the moniker would have you believe. In fact, Lynched are a traditional folk group from Dublin, with ditties made of uilleann pipes, concertina, Russian accordion, fiddle and guitar.

SUNDARA KARMA

ORAN MOR, 19:00, £9

Sundara means ‘beautiful’ in Sanskrit, and this quartet live up to their blissful name with some epic and anthemic indie rock, gaining comparisons from Arcade Fire to Bruce Springsteen.

Edinburgh Music Tue 03 May

TACOCAT (TONGUE TRAP + GARDEN OF ELKS)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £7

Surf-pop quartet from Seattle made up of four best friends.

Hanging out with Tacocat and listening to Tacocat are remarkably similar experiences – like the best party you’ll ever be invited to.

TINDERSTICKS

USHER HALL, 20:00, £19.50

Tindersticks return to Edinburgh with their tenth studio album, The Waiting Room. Each song on the album will be accompanied by specially commissioned films by a range of international directors.

Wed 04 May

SAMOTHRACE (HEADLESS KROSS + CONJURER + MARES OF DIOMEDES)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:30, £7

Atmospheric, blues-based doom fresh(ish) from Seattle, Washintgton.

Thu 05 May

A RITUAL SPIRIT (GRIEVER + NA CRUITHNE)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:30, £5

The hard rockin’ Edinburgh ensemble play tracks off their debut LP, Carnival Carnivorous.

THE URBAN VOODOO MACHINE (ADAM ROSS) THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00, £13.25

‘Shadowy ne’er do wells’ hailing from London, led by Norwegian born songwriter and frontman Paul-Ronney Angel.

Fri 06 May HIDDEN ORCHESTRA

SUMMERHALL, 20:00, £14

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00, £22.50

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:30, £9

ESG

The New York funk pioneers who formed in the 1980s play a show at Glasgow’s CCA. KILLAH PRIEST & BRONZE NAZARETH (DEADSOUNDZ + TRADEMARK BLUD + DJ TRICKSTA)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30, TBC

Wu Tang Clan affiliate Killah Priest joins Bronze Nazareth for a double bill’a hip-hop.

URBAN LICK

CONTROL (LAST SEEN LAUGHING + PANIC ATTAK + BRASSKNUCKLE)

Control are ANGRY! At everything!

They don’t wish to be labelled, so we’ll spare them that. That said, they’ve quite helpfully come up with ‘hooligan rock’n’roll’ for the curious. So we’ll go with that.

FATALISTS (MAGNAPINNA + ABRAKADABRA + BLOKE MUSIC)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £6

A night of rock and indie from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Leeds.

CLASSIC GRAND, 17:00, £7.50

NOVEMBER LIGHTS (STAR ROVER)

RM HUBBERT (KATHRYN JOSEPH + KARINE POLWART + SARAH J STANLEY + MARTHA FFION + ANNEKE KAMPMAN + HELEN MARNIE + ABY VULLIAMY)

Talented Glasgow five piece led by singer-songwriter James Hopkins who harness bold, pop ambition with song craft that belies their age. Served with a side of deliciously grungey pop from Star Rover following the release of their EP Selfs.

Get your serving of all things urban at Classic courtesy of Urban Licks Entertainment.

Edinburgh Music YOSSARIAN (BRITTLE HEAD GIRL + CLOSER) WEE RED BAR, 19:00, £7

After a breakthrough 2012 when they drew comparisons to The National and Pink Floyd, Yossarian are poised to take another tour in its stride, bringing in tow their 2014 effort The Little We Know.

THE MEN FROM LEITH WITH DICK GAUGHAN (BLUE ROSE CODE + DEAN OWENS + THE WHISKY HEARTS)

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30, £16

The Queen’s Hall celebrates the songwriting and musical talents of three Men From Leith - top notch musicians all hailing from the same wee spot in Edinburgh.

STEPHAN BODZIN

THE CAVES, 23:00, £15.50

Kapital brings German producer, DJ and label boss Stephan Bodzin to the Caves, with support from Barry O’Connell and Brad Charters THE ANGLES (REBEL WESTERNS + THE NORTHERN)

THE CAVES, 19:00, £5

Aussie singer-songwriter who specialises in catchy hooks and tasty, understated ballads.

The Chemikal Underground instrumental guitar virtuoso plays an intimate set.

Listings

SAMM HENSHAW

Multi-instrumentalist composer and producer Joe Acheson brings his solo studio project, Hidden Orchestra to Summerhall.

KING TUT’S, 20:30, £15

THE ART SCHOOL, 19:00–23:00, £15

64

Mon 30 May

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £6

Bringers of alt and punk rock The Angles launch their record Black Rhino with support from The Rebel Westerns and The Northern.

RSNO THE RITE OF SPRING

USHER HALL, 19:30, £12 - £38

Stravinksy’s explosive ballet score (which, incidentally, once started a riot) is performed by the RSNO, under the conductor’s baton of Thomas Søndergård.

9BACH

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00, £14 - £16

The Welsh folk songstress brings a tour of her new album to The Belle for one night only.

BOOK GROUP (ADAM STAFFORD + JARGO)

THE BANSHEE LABYRINTH, 19:30, £7

Four man Scottish alt-rock band Book Group launch their debut album with the help of Adam Stafford and Jargo.

Sat 07 May

MARCO MENDOZA (BETH BLADE & THE DISASTER + MASON HILL)

BANNERMANS, 19:30–23:30, £12 - £15

The bass playing legend plays a mix of solo material and tunes by a selection of the bands of his musical life.

WUSSY (KEAVA + DRIVE BY HARNESS)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £9

Five-piece hailing from Cincinnati who bridge the gap between The Band and Sonic Youth.

SHAREHOLDER (LUNAR LANDING MODULE + KRANKENSCHWESTER)

WEE RED BAR, 19:00, £6

Alt-rock, post-rock and fuzzy rage from the entirely unGoogleable band Shareholder.

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: KIT ARMSTRONG PLAYS MOZART PIANO CONCERTO NO 20

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30, £11 - £31.50

Talented young British-Taiwanese pianist and Alfred Brendel protégé Kit Armstrong is the soloist in Mozart’s tempestuous D minor Piano Concerto, K466.

FINGER HALO (PARTY FEARS THREE + NANOBOATS + SHOCK AND AWE) CITRUS CLUB, 19:30, £7 - £10

Finger Halo, featuring Jo Callis, plays a set at Citrus as part of their debut single launch.

Sun 08 May

ELIZA NEALS AND THE NARCOTICS

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30, PRICE TBC

An award-winning blues-rock’n’roll artist, composer, publisher, and producer. Often compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin and Ricki Lee Jones.

SOL TOGETHER NOW (MIRACLE GLASS COMPANY + LEWIS GIBSON AND THE MIDAS TOUCH + THE JACKALS)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 14:00, 10

A fundraiser in aid of a young boy called Sol who is recovering from cancer. Acts include the above, along with Cera Impala & The New Prohibition, Black Cat Bone, Daniel McGeever, Bobby Nicholson, Golden Generators and NikNak.

ONRA (JAISU) SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £8

Globetrotting producer Onra has staked his claim as one of the most exciting beat-makers of the past few years. An intimate show from a man with a ma-hoosive following.

TRY THE PIE (TWO WHITE CRANES + KID CANAVERAL)

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00, £6

Try The Pie is the moniker chosen by self-taught solo artist of ten years Bean Kaloni Tupou. She combines ‘impromptu harmony, poetic imagery, soft guitar melodies, dissonance and noise’ to create her sound.

WHEATUS

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00, £14 - £16

The teenage dirtbags hit up La Belle for an intimate club show before joining Busted on the Pigs Can Fly arena tour.

Mon 09 May THE JOY FORMIDABLE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00, £15

Hardworking female-fronted Welsh trio and their atmospheric indie rock; heavy on melody but with plenty of driving, sinewy riffs.

YUCK (SODA FABRIC + THE VAN T’S) SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £11.50

London-based garage-pop outfit Yuck return with new album Stranger Things.

STEVE MCCRORIE

THE CAVES, 19:00, £14.25

Firefighter-turned-singer who did Scotland proud by winning BBC’s The Voice in 2015.

RSNO: COLE PORTER SONGBOOK ANNIVERSARY GALA

USHER HALL, 19:30, £12 - £38

A celebration of the works of Cole Porter, who conveniently shares his would-be 125th birthday with the RSNO. THE LURKERS

CITRUS CLUB, 19:30, £5

Bluegrass, folk and rebel punk, with free entry to Citrus’ Planet Club fer afters.

MUSEUM LATES: CELTS (IDLEWILD)

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND, 19:00, £10 - £20

Idlewild lead the celtic inspired jubilations at the National Museum of Scotland’s Lates event.

Sat 14 May

ECLECTIC DEVILS (YAGA SUNET + HEAVY PLANT MOVEMENT)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:30, £12 - £15

Tue 10 May

The psychedelic rockers return with new songs and old classics.

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £6

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £8.50

FORT HOPE (HAGANA +A MODERN MASQUERADE)

New band rising from the ashes of former UK rock darlings My Passion.

CAVES (PERSONAL BEST + DOE + SHIT PRESENT )

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:30, TBC

Infectious pop punk.

Wed 11 May FAHRAN

BANNERMANS, 19:30–23:30, £7

Scuzz TV favourites bring their five-man rock to Bannermans.

RUBY

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00, 12

Ruby (AKA Lesley Rankine) returns with a new sound and a new set, performed alongside arresting visuals from Berlin film-maker Ceven Knowles.

JOANA SERRAT

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £8

Delivering a genre of music she describes as ‘foggy folk’, Joana Serrat’s having a busy old 2016 between playing Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona and being signed to their El Segell del Primavera record label.

BELAKO

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £4

Post-punk and electronica mixed with pop beats and a distinctly grunge sound.

Thu 12 May

FAMILIA (NIÑOS MUTANTES)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30, 10

The iconic Spanish band make an Edinburgh debut in celebration of 20 years spent treading the boards.

DR SCHWAMP

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:30, 7

The lovechild of Tom Waits and Louis Armstrong brings his blistering live band and their blend of blues, funk, gypsy, ska and grass to The Voodoo Rooms.

ARILD ANDERSEN TRIO FEATURING TOMMY SMITH AND PAOLO VINACCIA

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00, £18.50

Widely regarded as some of the top players in the jazz scene, the Arild Andersen Trio are joined by Scottish saxophonist Tommy Smith and Italian drummer Paolo Vinaccia.

SCO BEETHOVEN’S EROICA

USHER HALL, 19:30, £11 - £31.50

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra season is closed by Emmanuel Krivine, with performances of Mussorgsky’s atmospheric Khovantchina Overture and Beethoven’s iconic ‘Eroica’ Symphony.

Fri 13 May

TRIAXIS (GRACE & LEGEND)

BANNERMANS, 19:30–23:30, £7

The Welsh rockers make a return to the ‘Borg, showing off their brand new line-up.

CHAD VALLEY ( LOCKAH)

Imogen Heap-esque vocal arrangements, dance hooks and tasty electronica from Chad Valley, AKA Hugo Manuel. Joining him is native production whizz Lockah, debuting his new live hardware show.

KRIS DREVER BAND

PLEASANCE THEATRE, 20:00, £14

Kris Drever brings his flavour of Scottish contemporary folk to the Pleasance.

THE KEVOCK CHOIR

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30, £6 - £14

The Kevock Choir are approaching their fiftieth anniversary, catch them in preparation for their celebratory season with a variety night of choral music at The Queen’s Hall.

THUS (LORDS OF BASTARD + FATALISTS)

OPIUM, 19:00, £5

Heavy noises from a band courteous enough to remind you to bring your earplugs.

Sun 15 May TUXEDOMOON

SUMMERHALL, 19:30, £20

BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA USHER HALL, 15:00, £12 - £28

Pianist Denis Kozhukhin plays Brahms’ youthful Piano Concerto No. 1, conducted by Thomas Dausgaard.

EUGENE RIPPER

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 20:00, TBC

After cutting his rock and roll teeth as a founding guitar slinger for Canada’s seminal surf punkabilly rockers Stark Naked & The Fleshtones, Ripper launched into a solo career showcasing his unique synthesis of punk, folk, rock and lyrical touch.

KULA SHAKER

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00, TBC

The Crispian Mills-fronted postBritpoppers make their comeback with a European tour.

Mon 16 May

CHASTITY BELT (WEST PRINCES)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £8

Seattle rock’n’roll foursome made up of guitarists Julia Shapiro and Lydia Lund, bassist Annie Truscott and drummer Gretchen Grimm.

Tue 17 May IMAM BAILDI

SUMMERHALL, 20:00, £15

Named after a delicious sounding Mediterranean aubergine recipe, Imam Baildi are a seven-piece band who blend Greek music from the 1940s through to the 1960s.

RURA

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00, £13

Scottish five-piece who won Live Act of the Year at the 2015 Scots Trad Music awards for their unique blend of fiddle, Highland pipes, whistle, flute, bodhran, guitar and voice.

Wed 18 May TONY WRIGHT (AC RID)

BANNERMANS, 19:30–23:30, £11 - £13

The Terrorvision frontman returns to Bannermans with a full band.

SON OF DAVE

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30, £12

A modern funky solo, bringing a bluesy, eruption of harmonica and beatboxing to the central belt.

MIKE PETERS: THE ALARM

THE CAVES, 19:00, £18.50

Expect electro-acoustic guitars and songs of love, hope and strength from Mike Peters as he presents his Declare Your Strength tour with The Alarm.

KRONOS QUARTET

USHER HALL, 19:30, £19.50 - £28.50

San Francisco’s Grammy Awardwinning Kronos Quartet return to Usher Hall.

MALL GRAB

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00, £7.50

A trio who produce semiinstrumental, semi-vocal music are joined by Luc van Lieshout and Bruce Geduldig to revisit their album Half-Mute, performing it live at Summerhall as part of their European tour.

Lo-fi house and techno from a rising star.

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:30, £6

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £14

BLACK DELTA MOVEMENT (LUNES + ANDY BOYLE)

Thu 19 May BLACK DIAMOND

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:30, £5

Rock band hailing from the North East of England.

THE RUMJACKS (THE CUNDEEZ)

Neo-psychedelia rock, with support from a five piece hailing from Kingston Upon Hull.

Australian punk rock / Celtic folk band drop by Sneaky’s as part of their European tour.

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:30, £6

VINCE RIPPER & THE RODENT SHOW (BROTHEL CORPSE TRIO)

BLACK DELTA MOVEMENT (LUNES + ANDY BOYLE)

Neo-psychedelia rock, with support from a five piece hailing from Kingston Upon Hull.

KARNATAKA

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:15, 14

Welsh progressive rock band Karnataka were formed in 1997 by members of Angel Heart, Dream Circle and The Big Pink. They return to The Voodoo Rooms this May on their 2016 Secrets of Angels Tour.

TINY RUINS

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00, £9

Tiny Ruins are a band based in Auckland, New Zealand. Conceived in 2009 by songwriter Hollie Fullbrook, the group now includes Cass Basil on bass, Alex Freer on drums and Tom Healy on electric guitar.

UNITED FRUIT (BRITNEY)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

United Fruit display serious trading in all that is heavy, epic and powerfully loud, on a mission to destroy your brain cells and leave you little more than a quivering wreck. See ‘em with support from Britney in Edinburgh this May.

Fri 20 May

BANNERMANS, 19:30–23:30, £7 - £9

The former Alien Sex Fiend member brings his horror twist on originals and Cramps tracks, bolstered by light shows and visual mash-ups from B-side movies.

FOREIGNFOX (HUXTABLE + POSABLE ACTION FIGURES)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £6

Foreignfox are a four-piece alternative indie folk post rock outfit from Dunfermline in Scotland, with sweeping guitars, close to the bone lyrics and huge choruses.

THE MINK STOLES

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00, TBC

The Mink Stoles launch their debut EP, Cosmink.

RSNO: OUNDJIAN CONDUCTS SHOSTAKOVICH EIGHT

USHER HALL, 19:30, £12 - £38

The original angst-maestro Prokofiev has his irreverent works reignited by pianist Nikolai Lugansky and conductor Peter Oundjian.

THE SKINNY

Sat 21 May

STEPHEN KELLOGG (ERIC HUTCHINSON)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:30, £5

Singer-songwriter hailing from Massachusetts, playing an uplifting mix of Americana meets country rock.

THE FILTH HOUNDS (DEVILS QUEEN)

Northern hard rockers making their Scottish debut.

EDINBURGH BLUES CLUB (RON SAYER JR + CHARLOTTE JOYCE + THE ANDY GUNN BAND)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:15, 13

Regular blues club taking in touring blues acts from the UK and beyond.

WECAMEFROMWOLVES

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £5

Alternative rock band from Perth, Scotland. In 2015 they released their debut album at a sold out release show at ABC2 and won a Scottish Alternative Music Award and toured the UK three times.

Busy chaps.

MAD DUG MOMENTS 1 (THE RICH + THE HOLY SMOKES + LYNDSEY ANN CRAIG + THE MEAN REDS + DJ MEAK)

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00, £5

Live music from a line-up of locals followed by a DJ set from DJ Meak.

EDINBURGH’S GOT SOUL: 100 DEGREES SOUL

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00, £12 - £15

Edinburgh’s Got Soul Choir promise an eve of infectious, rousing choral music, led by Maryam Ghaffari.

Sun 22 May NIGHT BEATS

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £10

The Night Beats are an American psychedelic, garage and soul group based in Seattle. The group consists of Lee Blackwell, James Traeger and Jakob Bowden. Night Beats incorporate sounds of early R&B, Texas psychedelic rock, UK blues, folk and soul.

JUANITO MAKANDÉ

THE BONGO CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £18 - £22

Spanish percussionist, guitarist and singer-songwriter Juanito Makandé sets fire to Bongo with a live show full’a modern flamenco vibes.

SUNDAY CLASSICS

USHER HALL, 15:00, £12 - £32

Moscow State Symphony Orchestra play their reperoire of Russian music, including a performance of Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto by John Lill.

Mon 23 May SONGS OF SEPARATION

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30, £8 - £16

Ten female folk musicians, including Eliza Carthy and Karine Polwart, unite for an evening of musical reflections on the parting of ways.

Tue 24 May

FRANCESCA BLANCHARD (THE DUKE OF NORFOLK)

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00, £6.95

Heartfelt melodies written for acoustic guitar from FrenchAmerican chanteuse Francesca Blanchard.

Wed 25 May

LILY OF THE VALLEY (ADORE/REPEL)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:30, £5

A Scotland debut from Icelandic folk-rock outfit Lily Of The Valley.

ANIMA MUNDI

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00, 15

A Cuban symphonic prog-rock band which came to life in the spring of 1996.

EDINBURGH QUARTET: NEW HORIZONS

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30, £12 - £15

Edinburgh Quartet showcases the works of Mozart, MacMillan and Dvorák at various points of departure in their lives.

JACK AND THE’ (SLOW GEAR)

STRAMASH, 22:00, FREE

Edinburgh bands Jack and the’ and Slow Gear join forces for an eclectic gig going from chamber pop to instrumental funk.

Thu 26 May

LOS FASTIDIOS (SPAT + MATATUNES + PANIC ATTAK) BANNERMANS, 19:30–23:30, £10

An Italian Oi! band, playing Edinburgh for the first time in years’n’years.

BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS PET SOUNDS

USHER HALL, EDINBURGH, 19:00, £41.25-60.50

A 50th Anniversary celebration and final performance in its entirety.

Unfortunately, also sold out.

May 2016

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00, £8.50

Fri 27 May DOOMSDAY OUTLAW

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:30, £5

Hard rock and metal from a band with a truly fitting moniker.

MONO/POLY

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £11

Los Angeles based music producer Charles Dickerson has managed to outstrip the logics of multi genre producing. Known for his distinct madness of face melting bass, paired with his dreamy astral soundscapes of glitch-based hip-hop.

TEDDY THOMPSON AND KELLY JONES (SUNNY OZELL)

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00, £20

Teddy and Kelly’s Celtic Connections gig in Glasgow proved so popular, they were forced to transfer from a small theatre to the Royal Concert Hall. Catch them on their first national tour together.

RSNO SEASON FINALE: ODE TO JOY

USHER HALL, 19:30, £12 - £38

Hear Beethoven’s ninth, Ode To Joy performed in the way the composer intended, by the capable hands of RSNO, conducted by Peter Ondjian.

YOU LOVE US

CITRUS CLUB, 19:30, £10

You love us present The Normans and The Gimme Gimme Gimmes for an eve of live tunes at Citrus.

ANDREW CREAM (PAPER RIFLES )

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:30, TBC

Heartfelt, uplifting acoustic-punk.

Sat 28 May

ONE LAST RUN (TIRADE)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:30, £6

A Manchester based unit making quite the impact on the rock circuit.

MALCOLM MIDDLETON

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

After dropping a mini EP in March entitled Steps, Malcolm Middleton embarks on a springtime tour of Scotland and beyond, taking The Pictish Trail under his wing.

DANCING ON TABLES (VIDA + LEMONHAZE + THE DIRTY MACS)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

A line-up of some of Edinburgh’s burgeoning indie bands.

THE EDINBURGH LIGHT ORCHESTRA

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00, £8 - £11.50

Easy-listening classical music from one of Edinburgh’s top concert orchestras, conducted by James Beyer. Look forward to an orchestral tribute to Frank Sinatra, along with tunes from The King and I, Guys and Dolls and more.

DIRTY MACS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00, £6

Dirty Macs have been idle for three years, but they’ve recently reformed and have picked up where the left off, creating dirty rock music and foot stomping tunes.

MURDER MURDER

STRAMASH, 22:00, FREE

Bloodgrass band hailing from the frozen forests of the Ontario Northland.

Sun 29 May

LISBON (INDIGO VELVET + REBEL WESTERNS)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £6

Straight outta the toon, Lisbon are an exciting North Eastern export.

Catch them at Sneaky’s before they’re swept up into the general public’s fancy.

Mon 30 May BEVERLEY KNIGHT

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00, £25

Contemporary soul singer returning with a brand new album set for a spring release this year.

Tue 31 May SEAFRET

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £9

Hailing from the small town of Bridlington, Jack Sedman and Harry Draper, AKA Seafret, have just released their debut album entitled Tell Me It’s Real. Acoustic soul-food that’s easy on the ears.

Dundee Music Sat 07 May THE MIRROR TRAP

BUSKERS, 20:00, £5

Rock’n’roll, pop and new wave from Dundonian band who just recorded their new album in the pastures new of, er, Thailand. It’s set for release in July 2016, but get a sneaky preview at Buskers this May.`

Sun 08 May

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY FUNDRAISER (THE GIMME GIMME GIMMES + THE DREGGS + CERTAIN + DEATH + OVERDOSE + MALFUNCTION ) BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 20:00, £8

An evening of punk rock in aid of Sleazy’s.

THE VAN TS

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 19:30, £5 - £7

Surf pop twin duo balancing rock swagger with sugary pop melodies.

Tue 10 May

THE BENNIES (THROWING STUFF + GET IT TOGETHER + SALEM STREET)

BUSKERS, 19:30, £5 - £6

Anarchic party punk from Australian band The Bennies.

Wed 11 May

CAIRD HALL ORGAN CONCERT 2016: ANDREW FORBES

CAIRD HALL, 19:00, £0 - £5

Get a serving of some prime organtinkering from Andrew Forbes at Caird Hall’s organ concert.

Sat 14 May ANDREW WASYLYK

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, 19:30, £11.50

Also known as Andrew Mitchell, this Idlewilder multi-instrumentalist returns to the Gardyne with an expanded line-up of guests for a one off performance of debut record Soroky.

Fri 20 May

ALY BAIN + PHIL CUNNINGHAM

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, 19:30, £19.75

Sat 28 May 100 DEGREES SOUL

MARRYAT HALL, 20:00, £10 - £12

Dundee’s Got Soul Choir promise an eve of infectious, rousing choral music, led by Maryam Ghaffari.

LEMURIA SESSIONS

BUSKERS, 19:00–02:30, £12

A mini festival split between Buskers and The Vestry, featuring live music, DJ acts, visuals, dance acts and contemporary art.

LAU (RICHARD J BIRKEN)

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, 19:30, £18.75

The musically adventurous folkelectronica trio stop by Dundee’s Gardyne Theatre with special guest Richard J Birken.

Glasgow Clubs Tue 03 May KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

Eclectic midweeker playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’.

Glasgow Clubs 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.

GK MACHINE

THE FLYING DUCK, 21:00, £3

Flying Duck’s monthly series of DJ showcases welcomes DJ and Producer GK Machine to spin the discs.

MISSING PERSONS CLUB (ROD)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £8

MPC return to La Cheetah, inviting former Trouw resident Benny Rodrigues to perform under his techno alias, ROD. DASH BERLIN

SWG3 GLASGOW, 21:00, £28.17

The Dutch trance DJ and producer brings his talents to SWG3.

NIGHT OF THE JAGUAR (DIE WILDE JAGD + MR TC)

THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00, £4

NOTJ celebrate two whole years of roclicking dance parties with a live set from Dusseldorfer Die Wilde Jagd and resident artist MR TC with his full live band.

WTF FRIDAYS

SHED, 22:30, £4 - £6

SUB CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £5

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue.

#TAG TUESDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £6

I AM (BETA + KAPPA)

Forward thinking electronic music for the masses.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence. Millennials, eh?

FRESH BEAT

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore.

JAMMIN’ FRIDAYS

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00, £3 - £5

Wed 25 May

CAIRD HALL ORGAN CONCERT 2016: STUART MUIR, BEDE WILLIAMS + VICKY BLAIR

CAIRD HALL, 19:00, £0 - £5

Dundee’s city organist Stuart Muir is joined by Bede Williams and Vicky Blair on trumpet, making for a rousing eve of veritable bangers in the setting of Dundee’s Caird Hall.

GREEN JELLY

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 20:00, £7

HIP HOP THURSDAYS

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic r’n’b and hip-hop.

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

PVC (SUNSHOWER & SUZANNE)

THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00, FREE

Thursday nighter at The Art School playing r’n’b, pop, hip-hop and more, plus live dance and performance.

UNHOLY

CATHOUSE, 23:00, £2 - £4

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.

CANCER BATS

BUSKERS, 19:00, TBC

Powerful hardcore featuring Mike Peters (not the dude from the alarm).

DJ Paddy promises he’ll rock your blues away. We’ll choose to believe him.

KILLER KITSCH

#TAG TUESDAYS

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence. Millennials, eh?

I AM (TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS)

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £5

Forward thinking electronic music for the masses.

THE ART SCHOOL, 20:00–03:00, TBC

Wed 11 May

HOT MESS

Midweek techno experiments inspired by Berlin and Detroit movements.

A LOVE FROM OUTER SPACE

Andrew Weatherall and Sean Johnston’s rather ace London night takes a trip to the west coast.

SWG3 GLASGOW, 22:00, £7

A gay disco party like no other, playing disco, house and acid on vinyl only.

I LOVE GARAGE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £5 - £7

TRANSIENT BODY

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £5

BEAST

CATHOUSE, 23:00, £4

Pop punk, metalcore, house and EDM. Oh, and beer pong too.

WRAP-IT WEDNESDAY

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

DJ Craig Guild takes the decks at Garage for some mid-week mania.

Residents’ night with an emphasis on ska, rocksteady and roots reggae.

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £6

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

JELLY BABY

WALK N SKANK (MUNGO’S HI FI + STALAWA )

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00, £3 - £5

PURPLE DISCO MACHINE (FORBES)

Vicious Creatures brings purveyor of deep funk Purple Disco Machine to Subbie, along with resident Forbes.

OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £6 - £7

NUMBERS (FUNKINEVEN + AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA)

SUB CLUB, GLASGOW, 23:00, £10

A night of techno, acid boogie jams and, erm, cassette tapes.

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30, £5 - £6

Screamy, shouty, post-hardcore madness to help you shake off the week’s stressors in true punk style.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

LOVE MUSIC: MAGIC NOSTALGIC

Saturday night disco manned by your man Gerry Lyons and guests.

LET’S GO BACK… WAY BACK: 80S SPECIAL (BOSCO + ROB MASON)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

LGB residents Bosco and Rob Mason treat everyone to a night of 80s screamers and party-starters.

BLACK TENT (ANALOG VS. DIGITAL KILLERS)

Thu 12 May HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic r’n’b and hip-hop.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

DARK PARTIALS PROJECT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Mixed bag of house and techno obscurities.

PVC (DANNY L HARLE)

THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Acid dance and pop anthems at Glasgow’s Sleazy’s.

Thursday nighter at The Art School playing r’n’b, pop, hip-hop and more, plus live dance and performance.

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £8

CATHOUSE, 23:00, £2 - £4

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

SUBCULTURE (HONEY DIJON)

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic manning the decks with special guests.

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30, £5 - £6

Screamy, shouty, post-hardcore madness to help you shake off the week’s stressors in true punk style.

RETURN TO MONO (SLAM & NORMAN NODGE)

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £12 - £14

Monthly night from Soma Records, tonight featuring Soma founders themselves, Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle.

WTF FRIDAYS

SHED, 22:30, £4 - £6

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue.

FRESH BEAT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £6

BURN MONDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

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

Garage by name, but not by musical nature. DJ Darren Donnelly carousels through chart, dance and classics, the Desperados bar is filled with funk, G2 keeps things urban and the Attic gets all indie on you.

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul for your jivin’ pleasure.

Fri 27 May

THE ROCK SHOP

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8 - £10

WRAP-IT WEDNESDAY

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

DJ Craig Guild takes the decks at Garage for some mid-week mania.

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £6 - £7

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul for your jivin’ pleasure.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £6 - £7

Fri 13 May

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore.

BARE MONDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30, £5 - £6

Thu 26 May

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 20:00, £10

Mon 09 May

Nick Peacock spins a Saturdayready selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

BEAST

Fri 06 May

After dropping a mini EP in March entitled Steps, Malcolm Middleton embarks on a springtime tour of Scotland and beyond, taking The Pictish Trail under his wing.

CATHOUSE, 23:00, TBC

Classic rock through the ages from DJ Nicola Walker.

CATHOUSE, 23:00, £4

The veteran group return, best known for their surprise top 40 hit Three Little Pigs in 1993.

MALCOLM MIDDLETON (THE PICTISH TRAIL)

SLIP IT OUT

Eclectic midweeker playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005.

NU SKOOL

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00, £3 - £5

The original angst-maestro Prokofiev has his irreverent works reignited by pianist Nikolai Lugansky and conductor Peter Oundjian.

Huntley & Palmers welcome Norwegian talent DJ Sotofett for an all-nighter.

Sat 07 May

Midweek techno experiments inspired by Berlin and Detroit movements.

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

CAIRD HALL, 15:00, £12.50 - £17

DJ SOTOFETT

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £5 - £10

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

Thu 05 May

RSNO: OUNDJIAN CONDUCTS SHOSTAKOVICH EIGHT

As scientific as a club filled with tipsy Sunday night partiers can get, really. LED lights, glow in the dark wands, ‘Science’ cocktails and cannons. Unlikely to instigate any eureka moments, but it’ll do.

Tue 10 May

TRANSIENT BODY

Sat 21 May

Sun 22 May

SUNDAY SCIENCE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £5

Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs.

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 20:00, £6

Sun 08 May

Rock’n’roll, soul, funk, jazz, indie rock, punk and more with DJ Lopez.

Pop punk, metalcore, house and EDM. Oh, and beer pong too.

Four man Scottish alt-rock band Book Group launch their debut album with the help of Adam Stafford and Hans Klammer.

STEREO, 23:00, £5

Stereo hosts a fundraiser dedicated to raising funds for Glasgow Autonomous Space, ‘a newly formed space designed to to host groups struggling against capitalism and other forms of oppression’.

Wed 04 May

Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham celebrate their thirtieth year of shared success as traditional folk musicians, bringing wit and musical mastery to the Gardyne.

BOOK GROUP (ADAM STAFFORD + HANS KLAMMER)

A FUNDRAISER FOR GAS (GENERAL LUDD B2B BAKE + LETITIA PLEIADES UNITY CENTRE DJS + TENEMENT YARD DJS)

UNHOLY

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.

WALK N SKANK (TRADESMAN + DANNY T )

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00, £3 - £5

LA CHEETAH CLUB (MIKE SERVITO)

Detroit born and New York based, Mike Servito is on hand at La Cheetah for appreciators of deep house and hard techno.

ISLE FERGUS CLARKE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

Outsider experimental house vibes at Sleazy’s.

SAMIYAM

STEREO, 23:00, £5

WE SHOULD HANG OUT MORE (KRAFTY KUTS) LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8 - £10

Renowned and respected worldwide for his highly technical turntablism, meticulously crafted DJ sets and party-punching productions, Krafty Kuts is in a league of his own. See him at La Cheets this May. I LOVE GARAGE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £5 - £7

Garage by name, but not by musical nature. DJ Darren Donnelly carousels through chart, dance and classics, the Desperados bar is filled with funk, G2 keeps things urban and the Attic gets all indie on you.

LOVE MUSIC: ULTIMATE POWER

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by your man Gerry Lyons and guests.

PARIDE SARACENI

SWG3 GLASGOW, 21:00, £10 - £12

ENTITY and Select bring 24 year old, London based producer Paride Saraceni to SWG3 for a night out house and techno.

Sun 15 May SUNDAY SCIENCE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

As scientific as a club filled with tipsy Sunday night partiers can get, really. LED lights, glow in the dark wands, ‘Science’ cocktails and cannons. Unlikely to instigate any eureka moments, but it’ll do.

CLIFFHANGER

CATHOUSE, 23:00, TBC

A hearty blend of emo, drive-thru, old school and new school pop punk, to see your Sunday though to the stars.

MOOD II SWING (JASPER JAMES)

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £8

Prolific disco duo Mood II are joined by local selector Jasper James for a big one at Sub Club.

Mon 16 May BARE MONDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

It all started at a Detroit strip club with a platter of deep-fried beef taquitos, where Sam Baker met a fan who told him to take his music work more seriously. He’s now a successful artist hip-hop producer who lives in L.A..

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers.

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00, £3 - £5

Tue 17 May

JAMIE JONES

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

JAMMIN’ FRIDAYS

Rock’n’roll, soul, funk, jazz, indie rock, punk and more with DJ Lopez.

SWG3 GLASGOW, 21:00, £20

Jack of all trades Jamie Jones has his own band, label and events series. Catch him while he’s got finger in the live performance pie at SWG3.

Sat 14 May NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £6 - £7

Nick Peacock spins a Saturdayready selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

SUBCULTURE (PRINS THOMAS) SUB CLUB, 23:00, £10

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic manning the decks with special guests.

NIGHTMARES ON WAX

THE BERKELEY SUITE, GLASGOW, 22:00, £8-12

Sun-soaked, blissed out dub soul from perennial favourites Nightmares On Wax. CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30, £5 - £6

Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs.

THE ROCK SHOP

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00, £3 - £5

DJ Paddy promises he’ll rock your blues away. We’ll choose to believe him.

SINGLES NIGHT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

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

BURN MONDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

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

KILLER KITSCH

Eclectic midweeker playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005.

I AM (BETA + KAPPA)

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £5

Forward thinking electronic music for the masses. #TAG TUESDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence. Millennials, eh?

Wed 18 May NOT MOVING

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

South African house, grime, jungle, r’n’b and hauntology – a tropical mix, ayes – from yer wumman Laurie Pitt.

TRANSIENT BODY

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £5

Midweek techno experiments inspired by Berlin and Detroit movements.

BEAST

CATHOUSE, 23:00, £4

Pop punk, metalcore, house and EDM. Oh, and beer pong too.

WRAP-IT WEDNESDAY

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

DJ Craig Guild takes the decks at Garage for some mid-week mania.

Thu 19 May HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic r’n’b and hip-hop.

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Residents’ night with an emphasis on ska, rocksteady and roots reggae.

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

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £5

Thursday session of the finest in northern soul and rock’n’roll.

SHOW

Show residnts Illyus + Theo Kotis take the booth at Subbie.

IN THE BASEMENT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Listings

65

STEREOTONE (WHEELMAN)

CODE (LUIS FLORES)

ELECTRIC SALSA (BAMBOUNOU)

CLUB NOIR: VIVA LAS ELVIS

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £10

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £7

CLASSIC GRAND, 21:00, £15.50

Wheelman plays Stereotone all night long. Expect the unexpected and take the Friday off work in advance.

Luis Flores plays and extended techno live set for Code.

GIMME SHELTER

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00, £5

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.

The Gimme Shelter crew move to a new mid-month slot, powering through all the rock’n’roll from Bo Diddley to Brian Jonestown.

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00, £3 - £5

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £5 - £7

UNHOLY

CATHOUSE, 23:00, £2 - £4

WALK N SKANK

Residents’ night with an emphasis on ska, rocksteady and roots reggae.

DON’T DROP 3RD BIRTHDAY (D’JULZ)

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £5

Don’t Drop celebrates three big ones with help from master of house and techo, D’julz.

Fri 20 May OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £6 - £7

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul for your jivin’ pleasure.

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30, £5 - £6

Screamy, shouty, post-hardcore madness to help you shake off the week’s stressors in true punk style.

OFFBEAT (F17)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

F17 runs a grime and booty techno show on Radar radio in London. This May he visits La Cheetah and and joins offbeat for more of the same.

BIGFOOT’S TEA PARTY (MATRIXXMAN & PALMS TRAX) SUB CLUB, 23:00, £12

The Nomadic techno and techhouse night makes its regular(ish) trip to Subbie’s basement, this time handing over the decks to Matrixxman & Palms Trax.

WTF FRIDAYS

SHED, 22:30, £4 - £6

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue.

SHEIKH

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

Sleazy’s very own disco party.

FRESH BEAT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £6

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore.

KAPOW! COSPLAY BURLESQUE

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00, £5

Kapow! returns with its Springtime cosplay extravaganza, with brand new burlesque acts, a cosplay dance-off and a super secret raffle prize. Not bad for a fiver.

JAMMIN’ FRIDAYS

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00, £3 - £5

I LOVE GARAGE

Garage by name, but not by musical nature. DJ Darren Donnelly carousels through chart, dance and classics, the Desperados bar is filled with funk, G2 keeps things urban and the Attic gets all indie on you.

LOVE MUSIC:

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by your man Gerry Lyons and guests.

SUBCULTURE (FORT ROMEAU)

SUB CLUB, 23:00, TBC

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic manning the decks with special guests.

SONGS YA BASS XI

BUFF CLUB, 19:00–23:00, FREE

SWG3 GLASGOW, 22:00, £6 - £8

FROGBEATS (HANDPICKED)

SUNDAY SCIENCE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

As scientific as a club filled with tipsy Sunday night partiers can get, really. LED lights, glow in the dark wands, ‘Science’ cocktails and cannons. Unlikely to instigate any eureka moments, but it’ll do.

SUB CLUB (KÖLSCH)

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £8

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30, £5 - £6

Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs.

THE ROCK SHOP

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00, £3 - £5

DJ Paddy promises he’ll rock your blues away. We’ll choose to believe him.

SYMBIOSIS

AUDIO, 23:00, FREE

The final Symbiosis drum and bass party before the summer, with special guest Anikonik.

66

Listings

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30, £5 - £6

Screamy, shouty, post-hardcore madness to help you shake off the week’s stressors in true punk style.

OSMIUM

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

SKREAM

Oliver Dene Jones AKA Skream is a British electronic artist hailing from Croydon. See him at Sub Club this May. EZUP (SERGE)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £8

EZUP invite Clone records boss Serge for a three-hour session.

WTF FRIDAYS

SHED, 22:30, £4 - £6

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore.

BARE MONDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers.

BURN MONDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

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

Tue 24 May KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

Eclectic midweeker playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’. #TAG TUESDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence. Millennials, eh?

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £25

Wed 25 May TRANSIENT BODY

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £5

CATHOUSE, 23:00, £4

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £6 - £7

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul for your jivin’ pleasure.

Mon 23 May

Sat 21 May Nick Peacock spins a Saturdayready selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £6 - £7

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue.

Midweek techno experiments inspired by Berlin and Detroit movements.

NU SKOOL

Fri 27 May

The Denmark-based producer of house and techno who’s known for lacing his tracks with a tasty bit of sax makes his way to Sub Club.

A hip-hop and jungle Art School takeover.

THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00, £4 - £6

Stockholm minimalist house beatmaker Baba Stiltz is joined by Hi & Saberhägen at Sub Club.

SUB CLUB, 23:00, TBC

The fifth annual i AM boat party welcomes Mia Dora aboard for an afternoon of party vibes and/or seasickness, depending on whether you remembered your Sea-Legs.

Subcity Radio host their end of exam party. The steaks have never been higher.

SWG3 holds its arms outstretched to Riverside festival-goers, helping them to continue the party way into the night.

BABA STILTZ (HI & SABERHÄGEN)

Sun 22 May

SWG3 GLASGOW, 22:00, £5

100% BEEF

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £5 - £7

Italo, disco, synthpop and funk with the e’er capable Osmium residents.

I AM BOAT PARTY AND AFTERPARTY (MIA DORA)

A brand new club night by TWSTED, promising a night to remember.

Kinks, kicks and lip syncs, with a tonne of vintage tunes and a dress-up policy.

A ‘pre-request’ early club night where you choose the tunes.

Rock’n’roll, soul, funk, jazz, indie rock, punk and more with DJ Lopez.

WCKED

ES invite Bambounou for a threehour French love affair session with club tracks guaranteed to get you sweating.

BEAST

Pop punk, metalcore, house and EDM. Oh, and beer pong too.

WRAP-IT WEDNESDAY

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

DJ Craig Guild takes the decks at Garage for some mid-week mania.

Thu 26 May HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic r’n’b and hip-hop.

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

UNHOLY

CATHOUSE, 23:00, £2 - £4

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.

FRESH BEAT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £6

NITRIC 13: OLD SKOOL’S OUT (MARK ARCHER+ AGT RAVE CRU + EGEBAMYASI + WEE DANCER) THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00, £9 - £12

Pioneering old skool rave, straight outta the nineties.

JAMMIN’ FRIDAYS

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00, £3 - £5

Rock’n’roll, soul, funk, jazz, indie rock, punk and more with DJ Lopez.

Sat 28 May NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £6 - £7

Nick Peacock spins a Saturdayready selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

SUBCULTURE

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £8

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic manning the decks with special guests.

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30, £5 - £6

Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs.

THE ROCK SHOP

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00, £3 - £5

DJ Paddy promises he’ll rock your blues away. We’ll choose to believe him.

LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by your man Gerry Lyons and guests.

DIVINE

THE ADMIRAL, 23:00, £5 - £7

A vinyl mix of classic and rare 60s and 70s psych, soul, freakbeat, ska and funk dug deep from Andrew Divine’s vinyl archives.

PARTIAL (SUNIL SHARPE)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £7

Enthusiastic, technically blessed techno DJ Sunil Sharpe hits La Cheetah.

I LOVE GARAGE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £5 - £7

Garage by name, but not by musical nature. DJ Darren Donnelly carousels through chart, dance and classics, the Desperados bar is filled with funk, G2 keeps things urban and the Attic gets all indie on you.

PUSH IT! (PVC)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

Glasgow-based club night playing nothing but R&B, hip-hop and pop by female artists.

RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL AFTERPARTY

SWG3 GLASGOW, 22:30, £10

RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL 2016 (SVEN VATH + BEN KLOCK + LAURENT GARNIER + RØDHÅD + SLAM + GARY BECK + GAISER + ILARIO ALICANTE + VRIL + ANIMAL FARM)

RIVERSIDE MUSEUM, 14:30–23:00, £40 - £80

Electric Frog and Pressure bring Riverside Festival back to the Riverside Museum.

Sun 29 May SLIDE IT IN

CATHOUSE, 23:00, TBC

Classic rock through the ages from DJ Nicola Walker.

SUNDAY SCIENCE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

As scientific as a club filled with tipsy Sunday night partiers can get, really. LED lights, glow in the dark wands, ‘Science’ cocktails and cannons. Unlikely to instigate any eureka moments, but it’ll do.

PIE, MASH ‘N’ LIQUOR

THE FLYING DUCK, 16:00–03:00, FREE

A one-off dining and dancing extravaganza, featuring vinyl tunes, bevvies and vegan pies. Sounds bloody lovely, if you ask us.

RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL AFTERPARTY

SWG3 GLASGOW, 22:30, £10

SWG3 holds its arms outstretched to Riverside festival-goers, helping them to continue the party way into the night.

RIVERSIDE FESTIVAL 2016 (FATBOY SLIM + JACKMASTER + JULIO BASHMORE + KERRI CHANDLER + JORIS VOORN + DJ DEEON + DIMITRI FROM PARIS + DIXON AVENUE BASEMENT JAMS + HARRI& DOMENIC + MELTING POT + MASH) RIVERSIDE MUSEUM, 14:30–23:00, £45 - £80

Electric Frog and Pressure bring Riverside Festival back to the Riverside Museum.

Mon 30 May

Edinburgh Clubs Tue 03 May I LOVE HIP HOP

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Wed 04 May COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits.

WITNESS (ROSS BLACKWAX + FAULT LINES + SKILLIS + SQUELCHY)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

House, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines.

TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30, £3 - £6

A gathering of tribal, house and techno sounds and a visual show inspired by the raves of Carl Cox, Robert Hood, Seth Troxler and co.

Thu 05 May

JUICE (KA MI + DAN JUICE + DECLAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

Dan and Kami make weird waves through house and techno.

HULLABALOO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £3

Mash-up of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin.

HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Early weekend-welcoming (y’know, for students) chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

Fri 06 May PLANET EARTH

CITRUS CLUB, 23:30, £5

Distinctly retro selections from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Tue 31 May KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

Eclectic midweeker playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’. #TAG TUESDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunkeyed existence. Millennials, eh?

I AM (JG WILKES)

SUB CLUB, 23:00, £5

Forward thinking electronic music for the masses.

An eccentric new club night welcomes Dimitri from Paris, who’s set to play an unplanned, audiencereactionary set based on the mood of the crowd. Sounds wicked.

MILTON JACKSON

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £7

Hector welcomes the award winning old school deep house pioneer from Glasgow.

LIQUID NIGHTS (GAV MILLER + KHALID HUSSAIN + ALI ELLIS + CHRIS THOMAS)

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30, £0 - £5

The Liquid Room invites Gav Miller up to the decks in a night complete with live visuals and an outdoor heated garden.

Sun 08 May

COALITION (BELIEVE + GAV MILLER + STU + JORDAN COCHRANE + GED & SKANKY B) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly bass institution hosted by DJ Believe and friends.

THE CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

RETROCITY: WHEATUS AFTERPARTY

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00, FREE

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £0 - £5

STACKS

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, r’n’b and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

EVOL

BURN MONDAYS

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

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £20

Mon 09 May

PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30, £3 - £5

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5

BUFF CLUB, 23:00, £3 - £5

QUEENS (DIMITRI FROM PARIS + PETE HERBERT)

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

Edinburgh’s original rock ‘n’ roll party, mixing indie, pop, electro, hip-hop and alternative styles to make one hell of a party playlist.

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers.

A night of indie, pop and R&B from the Evol DJs. Everything from Madonna, Snoop Dogg and Rihanna through to Belle & Sebastian and The Smiths. If a tune’s sure to get you dancing, you bet your bottom dollar it’ll get a play.

From the golden age of Salt N Pepa, C&C Music Factory and Young MC to the millennial classics of Fatboy Slim and Groove Armada, it’s the tunes of the afterparty while you’re still on the dance floor.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00, £3 - £4

BARE MONDAYS

SPEAKER BITE ME ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 - £6

Deep funk and soul clubnight with live drums and sax FLY: HERD

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00, £5

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

COSMIC REBELLION (MASTER MARGARITA + FLOOTING GROOVES)

STUDIO 24, 21:00, £4 - £7

Cosmic is back on the decks, featuring psychedelic guru Master Margarita (BlueHour Sounds), Flooting Grooves (Peak Records) and resident DJs. There’ll also be psychedelic decorations and projections, as you eat with your eyes, after all.

HEADSET: WISDOM TEETH (FACTA + K-LONE + HI & SABERHÄGEN + SKILLIS) THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £6

Wisdom Teeth talents Facta and K-Lone headline Headset with support from Hi & Saberhägen and Skillis.

Sat 07 May THE GO-GO

STUDIO 24, 22:00, £0 - £5

Edinburgh’s longest running and most ‘boss’ 60s night is back! Soul, mod, garage, beat, rock’n’roll. DJs Tall Paul & Big Gus. TEASE AGE

CITRUS CLUB, TIMES TBC, £0 - £5

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the spectrum of classic and modern.

BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, £0 - £4

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

SOULSVILLE

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Raw, high energy r’n’b from DJs Francis Dosoo and Cameron Mason.

MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

NU FIRE (DJ FUSION + DJ BEEF)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Hip-hop and bass since 2008.

Tue 10 May I LOVE HIP HOP

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Wed 11 May COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits.

WITNESS (ROSS BLACKWAX + FAULT LINES + SKILLIS + SQUELCHY)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

House, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines.

TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30, £3 - £6

A gathering of tribal, house and techno sounds and a visual show inspired by the raves of Carl Cox, Robert Hood, Seth Troxler and co.

Thu 12 May

JUICE (KA MI + DAN JUICE + DECLAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

Dan and Kami make weird waves through house and techno.

HULLABALOO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £3

Mash-up of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin.

HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Early weekend-welcoming (y’know, for students) chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

Fri 13 May PLANET EARTH

CITRUS CLUB, 23:30, £5

Distinctly retro selections from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

AUDACIOUS (ARS DADA + NORWAY BABYSHAKER + GARETH CLARKE + HEX THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00, £5 - £6

For eight years Audacious has been bring experiment music acts to Edinburgh. This event will feature live jungle and breakcore and some very experimental IDM. DISORDER (DAVID MEISER)

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00, £5 - £8

Zaragozian artist David Meiser hits Disorder with his handsome discography of electronic dance.

FLIP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £3

Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable, and novelty-stuffed. Perrrfect.

REGGAE TAKEOVER (EDINBURGH ROOTS COLLECTIVE)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £2 - £4

Edinburgh Roots Collective was formed in early 2014. They serve up reggae numbers straight from vinyl alongside electric MC Angel Gabriel.

Expect roots, dub, ska, rocksteady, steppas and dancehall.

KARNIVAL + PULSE CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00, £8

Berlin based DJ and Enter resident Bella Sarris make her Edinburgh debut at CabVol. NO STRINGS ATTACHED: PHIL KIERAN (STEVE CASS + JUSTIN WILSON)

THE MASH HOUSE, 22:30, £11

underground-styled night, with the focus on quality house and techno.

Sun 15 May

COALITION (BELIEVE + GAV MILLER + STU + JORDAN COCHRANE + GED & SKANKY B) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly bass institution hosted by DJ Believe and friends.

THE CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

Mon 16 May MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, r’n’b and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

NU FIRE (DJ FUSION + DJ BEEF)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Hip-hop and bass since 2008.

FLY: DENIS SULTA’S SULTA SHEIKH DOWN

Tue 17 May

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00, £7 - £10

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

STUDIO’S TAKEOVER CHARITY FUNDRAISER (DR DISORDERLY + OCTOPHANT B2B HIJINK + KRIS BREAKS + DAVID MAGOWAN + PHONOGRAPH + MINDWARP + DISCOBAW + WHYTWO)

STUDIO 24, 23:00, £4 - £6

Anything Goes and Shake Your Shoulders team up for a charity takeover at Studio 24, with a hotbed of DJs bringing an evening of drum’n’bass, jungle, breaks and core. All proceeds will be donated to Re-Act, Refugee Scotland.

PULSE X JACKHAMMER

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00, £5

A night of residents from two of Edinburgh’s much loved techno crews.

SUBSTANCE X KILLEKILL: TIN MAN (NEIL LANDSTRUMM) THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, TBC

I LOVE HIP HOP

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Wed 18 May COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits.

WITNESS (ROSS BLACKWAX + FAULT LINES + SKILLIS + SQUELCHY)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

House, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines.

Thu 19 May

JUICE (KA MI + DAN JUICE + DECLAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

Dan and Kami make weird waves through house and techno.

HULLABALOO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £3

Mash-up of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin.

HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Berlin party-chuckers Killekill stomp into Edinburgh to team up with Substance, bringing in Tin Man’s acidic beats and Edinburgh’s very own Neil Landstrumm.

Early weekend-welcoming (y’know, for students) chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

Sat 14 May

STUDIO 24, 22:30, £4 - £5

TEASE AGE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30, £0 - £5

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the spectrum of classic and modern.

THE EGG

WEE RED BAR, 23:00, £3 - £5

A salad of genres: sixties garage and soul plus 70s punk and new wave, peppered with psych and indie for good measure.

BUBBLEGUM

TRANSMISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II

Transmission present Impossible II, blending a range of genres from house to afrobeat, and a dram o’ disco for good measure.

Fri 20 May PLANET EARTH

CITRUS CLUB, 23:30, £5

Distinctly retro selections from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

I AM (BETA + KAPPA + GREEN MAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, £0 - £4

Forward thinking electronic music for the masses.

BEEP BEEP, YEAH! (AT THE HOP + BE-BOP-A-TALLAH)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 - £6

50s rock’n’roll, disco, sleaze, dirty blues, soul, garage rock and live bands – all jam packed into your last Friday of the month. Aren’t you lucky?

MESSENGER SOUND SYSTEM

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £3

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

Expect only the best pop tunes from the 50s, 60s and 70s at this retro pop club night.

RUMBLE

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £0 - £5

FLIP

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £7

Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable, and novelty-stuffed. Perrrfect.

DR NO’S SKA CLUB

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00, £5

Conscious roots and dub reggae rockin’ from the usual beefy Messenger soundsystem.

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00, FREE

Baz and Dave spin out some belters under a strictly vinyl-only policy.

SAMIYAM (JON PHONICS)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £14

It all started at a Detroit strip club with a platter of deep-fried beef taquitos, where Sam Baker met a fan who told him to take his music work more seriously. He’s now a successful artist hip-hop producer who lives in L.A..

TEESH NO.36 (DJ CHEERS)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

The ‘all you can eat mind buffet’ returns to distribute their brand of boogie through cosmic disco & house with psychedelic visuals.

FLY: YOUNG TEAM HEIST

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

RITMOCLECTIC VOL2

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00, £3

Latin, Balkan, Caribbean, soul, electronic and swing club night with a ‘colours’ dress-up theme.

WINGIN’ IT: AGAIN (C3B + KELVIN 373 + WIT!? + DJ STRETCHMARK) STUDIO 24, 23:00, £5

Wingin’ It are back, and promising a line-up so good you’ll be left ‘sweating like the Prime Minister in a pig farm’ (their words). Best get down to Studio and see for yourself.

THE SKINNY

ELECTRIKAL: WALL OF BASS THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4 - £6

Wall Of Bass return to Electrikal, moving the DJ booth to the dancefloor to create a hot-bed of beats and bass. Expect house, bassline, grime and jungle.

Sat 21 May TEASE AGE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30, £0 - £5

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the spectrum of classic and modern.

MUMBO JUMBO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £7

Funk, soul, beats and mash-ups from the Mumbo Jumbo regulars and pals.

BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, £0 - £4

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

THE GREEN DOOR

STUDIO 24, 22:30, £2 - £5

Surf, blues and rockabilly from the 50s and early 60s, plus free cake.

Job done.

POP ROCKS (TALCOLM POWER)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 - £6

Crackin’ indie, pop and dance from the 80s and 90s. If you don’t hear Kelis or Wheatus at least once, sue us! (Don’t.)

REWIND

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30, TBC

Classics from the past four decades – From Abba to Gaga – mixed by The Liquid Room’s best selectors.

DECADE

STUDIO 24, 22:30, £2 - £5

Fresh playlists spanning metal, pop-punk and alternative soundscapes.

WASABI DISCO (KRIS WASABI)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

Edinburgh’s sleazy disco, house and techno overlord has many years of playing classic sets under his belt. Long may he continue. All hail Wasabi.

SNEAKY PETE’S AT LA BELLE ANGÈLE (JACQUES GREENE + KORELESS + HI & SABERHAGÄN)

LA BELLE ANGELE, 22:00–03:00, £10 - £12

The LuckyMe family member Jacques Greene is joined by Young Turks’ Koreless and duo Hi & Saberhägen at a special Sneaky’s club night taking place under the roof of La Belle.

THE ANNUAL SUMMER REVEL

WEE RED BAR, 22:00, TBC

The infamous Annual Summer Revel returns to the Wee Red – this time, infested with bugs! Not literally. Thematically. The theme is bugs.

Sun 22 May COALITION

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00, FREE

Weekly bass institution hosted by DJ Believe and friends.

THE CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

Mon 23 May MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, r’n’b and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

Thu 26 May HULLABALOO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £3

Mash-up of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin.

HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Wed 25 May COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits.

WITNESS (ROSS BLACKWAX + FAULT LINES + SKILLIS + SQUELCHY)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

House, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines.

ITCHY FEET

STUDIO 24, 23:00, £5

COALITION (BELIEVE + GAV MILLER + STU + JORDAN COCHRANE + GED & SKANKY B)

JUICE (PBR STREETGANG + KA MI + DAN JUICE + DECLAN)

Leeds duo PBR Streetgang are the residents bringing authentic soulful disco and house back to Space Ibiza at their We Love parties. See them at Sneaky’s Juice night in late May.

Fri 27 May FOUR CORNERS

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

DJs Simon Hodge, Astrojazz and Johnny Cashback bring tunes from all over the globe to your Edinburgh based eardums.

ASYLUM

STUDIO 24, 23:00, £3 - £4

Best of selection of techno, minimal and bass to get your Saturday night movin’.

ANIMAL HOSPITAL

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

The Animal Hospital troops continue to medicate Edinburgh with their unique blend of techno, house and minimal.

SURE SHOT

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £2 - £4

Golden age hip-hop and R&B night hosted by two bearded men with an equal love of food and music; The Skinny’s Food Editor Peter Simpson and one half of Edinburgh’s Kitchen Disco, Malcolm Storey.

HEY QT!

WEE RED BAR, 22:30, £3

Sweaty dance disco for queer folk and their pals.

DILF

Sun 29 May

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly bass institution hosted by DJ Believe and friends.

ROCK’N’ROLL PING PONG

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Bongo’s Sunday night social ft. ping pong games, delightful beers and an amateur tournament. Oh, and not forgetting the Rock ‘n’ Roll, of course...

THE CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

FLIP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £3

Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable, and novelty-stuffed. Perrrfect.

NOTSOSILENT: TELEPHONES (TELEPHONES + BELCH)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £7

Consistently amazing curators of wicked line-ups, notsosilent welcome Balearic beaut Telephones for their first party of the summer.

FLY: LA LA LAND

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00, £5

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

Sat 28 May TEASE AGE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30, £0 - £5

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the spectrum of classic and modern.

BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, £0 - £4

RIDE (LAUREN ILL + CHECK ME OOT)

Hip-hop and R&B Jams all night long (all night).

BIG ‘N’ BASHY

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4 - £6

Mighty mix of reggae, grime, dubstep and jungle played by inimitable residents Brother Most Righteous, Skillis, Era and Deburgh.

BETAMAX

STUDIO 24, 23:00, £2 - £5

New wave, synth, electro and the best of the 80s in the Studio 24 overpass.

VEGAS! (COW COW BOOGIE)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:30, 6

Fri 13 May WARPED

KAGE, 23:00, £4

Ska, screamo and pop-punk offerings now in a weekly Friday slot, moving from Alkaline Trio to Zebrahead as it goes.

Sat 14 May

MUNGO’S HI FI SOUND SYSTEM (DANNY T & TRADESMAN + STALAWA + MISS DLOVE + MC TOM SPIRALS) READING ROOMS, 22:00, £6

More heavyweight selections from Mungo’s Soundsystem, playing a full soundsystem set for your Saturday night pleasure.

ASYLUM

KAGE, 23:00, £4

Best of selection of techno, minimal and bass to get your Saturday night movin’.

Thu 19 May ROOMS THURSDAYS

READING ROOMS, 22:00, £3.50 - £5

Thursday nighter (as the name would suggest), with Dunc4an, Typewriter and guests playing anything and everything ‘good’.

SUCH A DRAG (GROUNDSKEEPER FANNY + FRIENDS)

Fri 20 May

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, FREE

KAGE, 23:00, £4

Queen, queer or just straight up crazy, it matters not to Such A Drag’s groundskeeper Fanny (nor to her friends). Leave your judgements and dignity at the door and get involved in the live acts and dancing.

Mon 30 May

NU FIRE (DJ FUSION + DJ BEEF)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Hip-hop and bass since 2008.

WARPED

Ska, screamo and pop-punk offerings now in a weekly Friday slot, moving from Alkaline Trio to Zebrahead as it goes.

Sat 21 May ASYLUM

KAGE, 23:00, £4

Best of selection of techno, minimal and bass to get your Saturday night movin’.

Thu 26 May ROOMS THURSDAYS

READING ROOMS, 22:00, £3.50 - £5

Dundee Clubs

Thursday nighter (as the name would suggest), with Dunc4an, Typewriter and guests playing anything and everything ‘good’.

Thu 05 May

READING ROOMS, 22:30, £5 - £7

STUDIO 24, 23:00, £8

Scotland’s newest club night tailored to gay men, brought to the Edinburghian public by Hudgie and Studio 24 resident DJ Eddy Murf.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £5

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

KEEP IT STEEL: THE VIKINGS ARE COMING!

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £5

Tue 24 May I LOVE HIP HOP

Clubbing-meets-bingo (finally, right?), with danceable beats and live bingo.

The Keep It Steel DJs play the best in heavy metal and hard rock. Dress theme is Vikings (obviously).

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Hip-hop and bass since 2008.

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £7 - £8

Early weekend-welcoming (y’know, for students) chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

NU FIRE (DJ FUSION + DJ BEEF)

THE POP BINGO DISCO (ANDY JUMANJI + THE MASSIVE HEID)

ROOMS THURSDAYS

READING ROOMS, 22:00, £3.50 - £5

Thursday nighter (as the name would suggest), with Dunc4an, Typewriter and guests playing anything and everything ‘good’.

Fri 06 May

THIS IS ENGLAND '90 VS FOOLS GOLD

BUSKERS, 21:00, £7

FG put its noggin together with multi award-winning series This Is England to bring a skinhead’s mecca to Dundee, with TIE visuals, references, music themes and even cast members. Best get your Docs out.

ALL GOOD: JASPER JAMES

READING ROOMS, 22:00, £8 - £14

The Optimo Trax talent brings his stellar DJ skills to All Good’s monthly at Reqading Rooms.

Support from residents Van D and Callum & Addy.

Fri 27 May

MAIN INGREDIENT (KEN SWIFT)

The M.I folk, naughty as they are, started life running illegal warehouse parties in Edinburgh’s outskirts. They now tour nationally, taking their drum machines, synths and interactive visuals countrywide with them.

WARPED

KAGE, 23:00, £4

Ska, screamo and pop-punk offerings now in a weekly Friday slot, moving from Alkaline Trio to Zebrahead as it goes.

Sat 28 May ASYLUM

KAGE, 23:00, £4

Best of selection of techno, minimal and bass to get your Saturday night movin’.

WARPED

KAGE, 23:00, £4

Ska, screamo and pop-punk offerings now in a weekly Friday slot, moving from Alkaline Trio to Zebrahead as it goes.

Sat 07 May ASYLUM

KAGE, 23:00, £4

Glasgow Tue 03 May RED RAW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £2

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

GLASGOW HAROLD NIGHT (IMPROV NINJAS + WOMAN UP)

AFRICAN DANCE PARTY

READING ROOMS, 22:30, £3.50 - £5

Reckless Kettle throw a banger of an African Dance Party in effort to raise funds for Medic To Medic, a charity which sponsors Malawian and Ugandan students through an education in medicine.

School’s out for summer! Well, almost. Spur on those dissertation blues and shake what your mamma (or dadda) gave you at Itchy Feet.

May 2016

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

Fri 13 May

Thu 05 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (NIGEL LAWRENCE + GUS LYMBURN + JAY LAFFERTY + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £7 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 06 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (MIKE WILMOT + NIGEL LAWRENCE + JAY LAFFERTY + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, 20:00–22:00, £10

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm? Manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

SARAH MILLICAN - OUTSIDER

CLYDE AUDITORIUM, 20:00, £25

The self-effacing comic touches on everything from building your own treadmill, to the practicalities of an orgy.

Sat 07 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (MIKE WILMOT + NIGEL LAWRENCE + JAY LAFFERTY + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, 20:00–22:00, £10

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm? Manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

SARAH MILLICAN: OUTSIDER

CLYDE AUDITORIUM, 20:00, £25

The self-effacing comic touches on everything from building your own treadmill, to the practicalities of an orgy.

Sun 08 May

SARAH MILLICAN: OUTSIDER

CLYDE AUDITORIUM, 20:00, £25

The self-effacing comic touches on everything from building your own treadmill, to the practicalities of an orgy.

Mon 09 May

JAMES MEEHAN AND HARRIET DYER FRINGE PREVIEW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £6 - £8

Get a sneak peek into the Fringe sets of James Meehan (one half of hit comedy show Funz and Gamez) and raconteur extraordinaire Harriet Dyer as part of The Stand’s Fringe Preview season.

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

READING ROOMS, 22:00, £3.50 - £5

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £7 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Long-form improv comedy on the first Tuesday of every month. One hour. Two teams. All unplanned.

Thu 12 May Thursday nighter (as the name would suggest), with Dunc4an, Typewriter and guests playing anything and everything ‘good’.

THE THURSDAY SHOW (DAVE FULTON + KAI HUMPHRIES + STUART MITCHELL + MANDY KNIGHT)

THE GRIFFIN, 20:00–22:00, FREE

Tue 10 May

ROOMS THURSDAYS

Thu 12 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (DAVE FULTON + KAI HUMPHRIES + STUART MITCHELL + MANDY KNIGHT)

Best of selection of techno, minimal and bass to get your Saturday night movin’.

An evening of cocktails and showgirls, swing and DJs, roulette and romance. Featured acts include Frankie Sumatra, Bugsy Seagull, Sam Jose, Nuno Endo and Nikki Nevada & The Vegas Showgirls.

STUDIO 24, 23:00, £7

Comedy

RED RAW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £2

Wed 11 May

SCRAM (MARC JENNINGS + CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR-BOYD + ALLY HOUSTON + STEPHEN BUCHANAN + ROSCO MCSKELETON + RACHEL GRAHAM) THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £2 - £3

A night of ensemble sketch and improv comedy from a gang of Scotland’s finest new comedians.

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00, £6 - £12

LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, 20:00–22:00, £10

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm? Manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

Sat 14 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (DAVE FULTON + KAI HUMPHRIES + STUART MITCHELL + MANDY KNIGHT)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, 20:00–22:00, £10

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm? Manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

Sun 15 May

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (KAI HUMPHRIES + JAMIE DALGLEISH + GARY FAULDS)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £1 - £6

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase manned by resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and his handpicked guests.

Mon 16 May

SCOTT GIBSON: LIFE AFTER DEATH

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £5 - £10

A debut solo show from Scott Gibson which tells tales of pain, love, laughter and Blackpool.

Tue 17 May RED RAW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £2

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

Wed 18 May

BENEFIT IN AID OF ERSKINE (GARY LITTLE + TONY SLOAN + ELAINE MILLER + CHRIS RUTTER + RAYMOND MEARNS)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £5

A night of comedy dedicated to raising funds for Erskine, a leading care organisation for exservicemen and women in Scotland.

Thu 19 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (RON VAUDRY + ANDREA HUBERT + LIAM WITHNAIL, MARC JENNINGS AND HOST RAYMOND MEARNS)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £7 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 20 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (RON VAUDRY + ANDREA HUBERT + LIAM WITHNAIL + MARC JENNINGS + RAYMOND MEARNS) THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, 20:00–22:00, £10

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm? Manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

Sat 21 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (RON VAUDRY + ANDREA HUBERT + LIAM WITHNAIL + MARC JENNINGS + RAYMOND MEARNS)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

LAUGHTER EIGHT YESBAR, 20:00–22:00, £10

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm? Manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

Sun 22 May

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (ANDREA HUBERT + MARC JENNINGS + CHRIS RILEY)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £1 - £6

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase manned by resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and his handpicked guests.

Mon 23 May

Mon 30 May

STUART MITCHELL & FRED MACAULAY FRINGE PREVIEW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £4 - £5

Beat Edinburgh’s August-time crowds and get a taster of Stuart Mitchell and Fred MacAulay’s Fringe sets at The Stand.

Tue 31 May RED RAW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £2

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

SO... THAT WAS MAY?

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £5 - £7

Messers McTavish, Nelson and McAllister return with another show offering stand-up, satire and answers to the nation’s big Q’s.

Tue 24 May RED RAW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £2

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

Edinburgh Comedy Wed 04 May VIVA LA SHAMBLES

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £4 - £5

Wed 25 May

The Stand hosts a monthly evening of total joke-pandemonium as Edinburgh’s top comics join forces.

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £10 - £12

Thu 05 May

JAMES VEITCH: DOT CON

Ultimate troll James Veitch spent an entire year replying to scam and con emails, culminating in Dot Con, in which he investigates the nature of scamming and examines its role in our ever-connected world.

Quirky, clever and worthy of your chuckles.

WRITE IT!: NEWSREVIEW ELECTION SPECIAL

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £4 - £5

The Write It! team take a look at the fallout from the Scottish elections and look ahead to the EU Referendum posing a few key questions along the way, such as ‘if we exit the EU will I still be able to get a pie from Greggs?’...

Thu 26 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (GARY LITTLE + JO ENRIGHT + JOHN GAVIN + CHRIS RUTTER + MARTIN MOR) THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £7 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

WRITE IT!: NEWSREVIEW ELECTION SPECIAL

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30, £4 - £5

The Write It! team take a look at the fallout from the Scottish elections and look ahead to the EU Referendum posing a few key questions along the way, such as ‘if we exit the EU will I still be able to get a pie from Greggs?’...

Fri 27 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (GARY LITTLE + JO ENRIGHT + JOHN GAVIN + CHRIS RUTTER + MARTIN MOR)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, 20:00–22:00, £10

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm? Manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

SHAZIA MIRZA

ORAN MOR, 19:00, £14 - £16

Award winning stand-up comedy from Birmingham born one-liner spitter Shazia Mirza.

Sat 28 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (GARY LITTLE + JO ENRIGHT + JOHN GAVIN + CHRIS RUTTER + MARTIN MOR) THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, 20:00–22:00, £10

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm? Manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

Sun 29 May BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30, £9 - £10

Celebrate your bank holiday like the best of ‘em – having a chuckle at some delightful comedy.

THE THURSDAY SHOW (RON VAUDRY + JONNY PELHAM + NICOLA MANTALIOS-LOVETT + STU MURPHY)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00, £7 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 06 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (RON VAUDRY + JONNY PELHAM + NICOLA MANTALIOS-LOVETT + STU MURPHY) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY FRIDAY SHOW

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30, £10

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sat 07 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (RON VAUDRY + JONNY PELHAM + NICOLA MANTALIOS-LOVETT + STU MURPHY)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY SATURDAY SHOW

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30, £10

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sun 08 May

THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN (JONNY PELHAM + DAISY EARL + WILL HUTCHBY + SCOTT LAIRD + FIONA HERBERT) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £1 - £6

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-towork blues.

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 13:30, FREE

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from offthe-cuff audience suggestions.

Mon 09 May RED RAW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £2

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

Tue 10 May JOE HEEHAN’S LIP SYNC

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £5

In The Stand’s answer to American telly’s lip sync battles, see a clan of comedians unleash their inner divas.

Listings

67

Wed 11 May

TOM STADE: YOU’RE WELCOME!

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £14 - £16

Candid Canadian comic Tom Stade continues on a successful jaunt round the international comedy scene.

THE IMPROVERTS EXAM SHOWS (JODIE MITCHELL + PEDRO LEANDRO + JAMES STRAHAN + WILL HUGHES + LORNA TREEN + BEN HORNER + CAROLINE ELMS + JONATHAN OLDFIELD) BEDLAM THEATRE, 21:00–22:00, £4 - £5

Edinburgh’s resident improvised comedy troupe drag you out of the depths of exam despair with their ridiculous tomfoolery, talented technicians and a line-up of talented, fresh new faces.

Thu 12 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (MIKE WILMOT + PHIL WANG + PHIL DIFFER + ANDREW LEARMONTH + SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00, £7 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

THE IMPROVERTS EXAM SHOWS (JODIE MITCHELL + PEDRO LEANDRO + JAMES STRAHAN + WILL HUGHES + LORNA TREEN + BEN HORNER + CAROLINE ELMS + JONATHAN OLDFIELD) BEDLAM THEATRE, 21:00–22:00, £4 - £5

Edinburgh’s resident improvised comedy troupe drag you out of the depths of exam despair with their ridiculous tomfoolery, talented technicians and a line-up of talented, fresh new faces.

Fri 13 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (MIKE WILMOT + PHIL WANG + PHIL DIFFER + ANDREW LEARMONTH + SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY FRIDAY SHOW

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30, £10

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sat 14 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (MIKE WILMOT + PHIL WANG + PHIL DIFFER + ANDREW LEARMONTH + SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY SATURDAY SHOW

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30, £10

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sun 15 May

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 13:30, FREE

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from offthe-cuff audience suggestions.

AL MURRAY THE PUB LANDLORD: LET’S GO BACKWARDS TOGETHER

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £15

More philosophising and opinion sharing from the mainstream comedy scene’s favourite pub landlord.

Mon 16 May RED RAW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £2

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

Tue 17 May

BENEFIT IN AID OF ABUSED MEN IN SCOTLAND

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £5 - £7

A charity show dedicated to raising funds for MDASS, a national charity which supports men experiencing domestic abuse.

Wed 18 May WORK IN PROGRESS

SUMMERHALL, 19:30–21:30, £3

Headline comedians treat us to brand spanking new material. Not for the cupboard-lover comedy fan, this night showcases material which is most definitely a work in progress.

SO... THAT WAS MAY?

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £5 - £7

Messers McTavish, Nelson and McAllister return with another show offering stand-up, satire and answers to the nation’s big Q’s.

Thu 19 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (MICHAEL FABBRI + CHRIS FORBES + ALLYSON JUNE SMITH + RICHARD BROWN + BRUCE DEVLIN)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00, £7 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 20 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (MICHAEL FABBRI + CHRIS FORBES + ALLYSON JUNE SMITH + RICHARD BROWN + BRUCE DEVLIN) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY FRIDAY SHOW

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30, £10

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sat 21 May

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY SATURDAY SHOW

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30, £10

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sun 22 May

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 13:30, FREE

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from offthe-cuff audience suggestions.

PATRICK MOHANAN: THE DISCO YEARS

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £10 - £12

Family friendly funnyman pops into The Stand while embarking on a UK tour of his brand new comedy show The Disco Years.

Fri 27 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (CAREY MARX + JOHN SCOTT + CHRIS CONROY + STEPHEN BUCHANAN + SUSIE MCCABE) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY FRIDAY SHOW

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30, £10

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sat 28 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (CAREY MARX + JOHN SCOTT + CHRIS CONROY + STEPHEN BUCHANAN + SUSIE MCCABE) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY SATURDAY SHOW

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30, £10

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sun 29 May

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 13:30, FREE

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from offthe-cuff audience suggestions.

Mon 30 May RED RAW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £2

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

Tue 31 May

BENEFIT IN AID OF PUBLIC & COMMERCIAL SERVICES UNION

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £6

A Public and Commercial Services Union fundraiser in support of National Museum of Scotland members taking strike action.

Dundee Comedy

Mon 23 May

Sat 28 May

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £2

DUNDEE REP, 19:30, £13 - £16

RED RAW

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

SHAZIA MIRZA

Award winning stand-up comedy from Birmingham born one-liner spitter Shazia Mirza.

Theatre Glasgow CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art BUZZCUT: DOUBLE THRILLS

11 MAY, 7:00PM, £6 - £8

Buzzcut’s double bill of live performance from provocative local and visiting artists.

Citizens Theatre THIS RESTLESS HOUSE: PART 1

30 APR-14 MAY, TIMES VARY, £0.50 £22.50

The first instalment of Zinnie Harris’ trilogy, an adaptation of the Greek tragedy The Oresteia. Full trilogy tickets are also available for £30.

THIS RESTLESS HOUSE: PARTS 2 & 3

30 APR-14 MAY, 7:00PM, £0.50 - £22.50

The penultimate and final instalments of Zinnie Harris’ trilogy, an adaptation of the Greek tragedy The Oresteia. Full trilogy tickets are also available for £30.

DANCE OF DEATH

30 APR-7 MAY, 7:30PM, £9.50 - £14

A vivid re-imagination of August Strindberg’s The Dance of Death.

Think Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, except ten times darker...

THE BIRDS

11-14 MAY, 7:30PM, £2 - £10

A comic companion piece to This Restless House. Based on an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, Stephen Greenhorn’s newest work The Birds is raunchy and stuffed to the rafters with innuendo and song. Matinees available.

OBSERVE THE SONS OF ULSTER

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £5 - £6

A brand new night which welcomes a stellar line-up of Scotland’s comics to perform material specially written for the theme of the night.

Tonight’s theme? ‘First times’.

Thu 26 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (CAREY MARX + JOHN SCOTT + CHRIS CONROY + STEPHEN BUCHANAN + SUSIE MCCABE ) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00, £7 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

10-13 MAY, 7:30PM, £11 - £13.50

The Olivier Award-winning rock spectacular returns, performed by the RCS. SONNY FODERA

7 MAY, 10:00PM, TBC

Groove-driven, emotive dance from Australian artist Sonny Fodera.

Saint Luke’s READ

19 MAY, 8PM, £10

A new Scottish theatre show toying with a dystopian future in which all redheads are forced underground.

COUSCOUS ON THE 29

A poignant, funny and irreverent commentary on how the art of chat is now a hoody, headphones and headset. Matinees available. Part of Southside Fringe.

TO SERVE IS TO RESIST

COMPANY CHORDELIA: NIJINSKY’S LAST JUMP

6 MAY, 7:30PM, £8 - £12

A new live performance by Scotland based artists White & Givan in which choreography is used to engage with the ideas of shared histories, remnants and dust.

VOID

13-14 MAY, 7:30PM, £7 - £10

Featuring gymnastic choreography and self-generating ‘video landscapes’, V/DA’s VOID is a dance and audio-visual collaboration based on JG Ballard’s Concrete Island.

FAGIN’S TWIST

20-27 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

The Dickensian classic is given a hip-hop renovation. Matinee performance aso available.

Tron Theatre CONNOLLY

6-7 MAY, 7:45PM, £12 - £16

NORTHERN STAR

Based on true events, join Belfastborn United Irishman Henry Joy McCracken on the eve of his arrest and subsequent execution as he spends the night recalling the seven ages of his life, each presented in the style of a great Irish writer.

A PRESENT STATE

12-14 MAY, 8:00PM, £7.50 - £10

Tron Studio’s new devised work which uses the Easter Rising of 1916 as starting point for a piece about power, liberty, divisions and the struggles between ‘them’ and ‘us.’

SHALL ROGER CASEMENT HANG?

20-24 MAY, 7:45PM, PRICES VARY

Peter Arnott’s new play about the arrest and execution of Roger Casement, a Knight of the Realm, an Irish Protestant, a British Colonial diplomat and the man who exposed and reported evidence of genocide and slavery in the rubber trade.

4-7 MAY, 7:30PM, £11

Joe McElderry dons the dreamcoat and takes on the role of Joseph.

How fitting. Matinees available.

Theatre Royal THE 39 STEPS

BALLETBOYZ: LIFE

22-24 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

A powerful exploration of life and death, performed by ten talented ballet dancers to an original score.

HENRY V

5-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, £17.50

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S

Truman Capote’s classic story of Holly Golightly’s fantastical existence in 1940s NYC, swapping The Inbetweeners’ Emily Atack into the role made famous by Audrey Hepburn.

Royal Lyceum Theatre THE ILIAD

30 APR-14 MAY, 7:30PM, £10 - £29.50

MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS

Ron Hutchinson’s play about the writer’s block suffered by semiindependent movie mogul David O. Selznick during his attempt to write (and then re-write) an adaptation of Gone With The Wind.

IMAGINATE FESTIVAL: POGGLE

31 MAY-5 JUN, TIMES VARY, £8 - £12

A pick for the wee ones – high energy dance theatre with live music and rhythms for clapping.

GODS ARE FALLEN AND ALL SAFETY GONE 4-6 MAY, 8:00PM, £8.50 - £16.50

Selma Dimitrijevic’s investigation into the moment when we realise, earlier than expected, that our parents are mere, flawed mortals and that one day they will disappear from our lives entirely.

RIGHT NOW

30 APR-7 MAY, 7:30PM, £8 - £18

Written by award-winning Quebecois playwright Catherine-Anne Toupin and directed by former RSC Artistic Director Sir Michael Boyd, Right Now is the tale of neighbourly spirit gone awry, passionate encounters and unsettling revelations.

IMAGINATE FESTIVAL

28 MAY-5 JUN, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, PRICES VARY

Imaginate fest hits The Trav, bringing a nine day extravaganza of performance, live music and drop-in activities designed for 0-12 year olds. Times and prices vary according to individual show – check out the Trav’s website for more details.

TWO MINUTE MANIFESTO: ELECTION SPECIAL

5 MAY, 1:00PM, £6.50 - £8.50

An event celebrating the culmination of Two Minute Manifesto: a show that has spent the year asking some of Scotland’s leading writers, artists and thinkers to pitch ideas that could make Scotland a better place. Music, poetry, conversation and analysis.

TALES OF A GRANDSON

30 MAY-5 JUN, TIMES VARY, £8 - £12

Award winning Scottish playwright Chris Hannan’s sparkling new adaptation of The Iliad; a tale of gods, heroes, love, jealousy and sweet, tasty revenge.

One man’s re-telling of Scotland’s history, told by Andy Cannon (formerly of Wee Stories). A family show full of legends, myths and battles galore.

20 MAY-11 JUN, 7:30PM, £10 - £29.50

Assembly Roxy

THON MAN MOLIÈRE

Wildly in debt, in bother with church and state and besotted with the wrong wife, Thon Man Molière’s desperate circumstances lead him to write brilliant comedies.

Only problem, the autobiographical nature of his work could land him dead.

The Edinburgh Playhouse ANNIE

16-21 MAY, 7:30PM, PRICES VARY

A musical set in 1930s New York, Annie tells the story of a flamehaired orphan in pursuit of her real parents, and whose fate takes a U-turn when she’s chosen to spend Christmas with a billionaire.

Matinees available.

TELL ME ON A SUNDAY

9-23 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

An Andrew Lloyd Webber number which charts the romantic woes of an English woman in 1980s New York.

HORRIBLE HISTORIES: GROOVY GREEKS

4-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, £12.75 - £19.65

Take the alliterative route back through the ages, allowing Horrible Histories to enlighten you on all things Groovily Greek, from savage Sparta to angry Athens. A world premiere.

HORRIBLE HISTORIES: INCREDIBLE INVADERS

4-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, £14.65 - £19.65

31 MAY-4 JUN, TIMES VARY, £15 - £42.90

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

Exciting new Shakespeare company Merely Theatre bring a ‘stripped back’ version of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream to King’s, with gender-blind casting and paired down aesthetics.

2 MAY-4 JUN, 7:30PM, PRICES VARY

WHITE & GIVAN: BREATHE

Festival Theatre

10-14 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

5-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, £17.50

12 MAY, 7:30PM, £8 - £12

The King’s Theatre In an age where almost anything is prime fodder for musical-making, Green Day are in on the action with American Idiot. Cast includes Newton Faulkner and Amelia Lily off of the X Factor.

Triple Tony Award-winning musical which tells the tales of life on a downtown New York Street through the medium of puppetry, musical theatre and a particularly cheeky libretto.

A portrayal of legendary dancer Nikinsky’s life through dance and theatre.

Edinburgh Theatre

AMERICAN IDIOT

AVENUE Q

3-14 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Merely Theatre’s second offering this Spring at King’s Theatre, stripping the Bard’s Henry V back to basics with gender-blind casting.

A story of the life of Jane Haining who lived in Pollokshields and was a Missionary in Hungary. She was one of ten Scots who died in Auschwitz in 1944.

Alfred Hitchcock’s spy thriller hit, recreated for the stage.

Listings

Peter McMaster and co-performer Nick Anderson explore the thought of becoming 27 years old, sketching scenes pain, grief, elation and mortality through physical theatre.

20-21 MAY, 7:30PM, £10

16-21 MAY, 7:30PM, £10 - £100

68

7 MAY, 7:30PM, £7 - £10

11-14 MAY, 7:45PM, £10 - £16

RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET

13-14 MAY, 7:30PM, £10

BONA FIDE

27

SWG3 Glasgow

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30, £10 - £12

Wed 25 May

Tramway

A one-man play exploring James Connolly’s life as a revolutionary, an international socialist, a feminist, a British soldier and deserter, a feminist, a journalist, an Irish freedom fighter and a martyr.

Shed

Ultimate troll James Veitch spent an entire year replying to scam and con emails, culminating in Dot Con, in which he investigates the nature of scamming and examines its role in our ever-connected world.

Quirky, clever and worthy of your chuckles.

Truman Capote’s classic story of Holly Golightly’s fantastical existence in 1940s NYC, swapping The Inbetweeners’ Emily Atack into the role made famous by Audrey Hepburn.

An iconic war play by Frank McGuinness which traverses powerful themes like mortality, love and loss. Matinees available.

20 MAY-4 JUN, 7:30PM, £9.50

Tue 24 May JAMES VEITCH: DOT CON

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S 2 MAY-4 JUN, 7:30PM, PRICES VARY

King’s Theatre Edinburgh

The ever alliterating folk at Horrible Histories bring Incredible Invaders to the Playhouse for a world premier, using a troupe of actors and 3D special effects to bring alive the histories of the Celts, the Romans, the Vikings and the Saxons.

Traverse Theatre

READ

17 MAY, 8PM, £10

A new Scottish theatre show toying with a dystopian future in which all redheads are forced underground.

Dundee Theatre Bonar Hall

1 Royal Terrace TAKE THE STAGE

1-15 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Glasgow-based visual artist Philippe Murphy brings a work encompassing live performance, sculpture and video to 1 Royal Terrace.

42 Carlton Place E (I) L S H E M (I) U S

UNTIL MAY 15,12:00AM - 6:00PM, FREE

42 Carlton Place presents the work of little-known 20th century painter Louis Michel Eilshemius, offering a new take on the outsider artist

CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art PILVI TAKALA

1-15 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Pivi Takala gives an overview of her last ten years of artistic practice.

Takala’s work involves infiltrating regular environments such as offices, theme parks or even streets and through participation exposing the systems of each – and the cracks within.

BORROWED TIME

28 MAY-10 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Two moving-image works by artists Karen Kramer and Alice May Williams, developed with funds from the Jerwood Charitable Foundation and FVU. The works engage with the theme of borrowed time and the unsustainability of deferring costs to the future.

TALKSEEPHOTOGRAPHY: GENEVA SILLS

9 MAY, 7:00PM – 12:00AM, FREE

3 MAY-31 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

GIVE ME A REASON TO LIVE

4-10 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Performer Claire Cunningham uses dance to delve into the work of medieval painter Hieronymous Bosch, exploring religion, religious art and the judgement of souls and bodies.

BALLETBOYZ: LIFE

22-24 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

A powerful exploration of life and death, performed by ten talented ballet dancers to an original score.

CONNECTIONS 500

6-8 MAY, 7:00PM, £3 - £5

The 21st anniversary for Connections, a project which commissions new plays by leading playwrights for young theatre companies to perform. 500 theatre companies and 10,000 young people will perform 12 plays at the Dundee Rep. JUNGLE BOOK

10-14 MAY, 7:00PM, £9 - £15

26-27 MAY, 7:30PM, £9 - £21

BREATHE

Glasgow Art

Dundee Rep

20-21 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

A new live performance by Scotland based artists White & Givan in which choreography is used to engage with the ideas of shared histories, remnants and dust.

An all singing, all dancing journey back in time to an age of bow-ties and Dean Martin. There’s also chat of a couple of Michael Bublé and Robbie Williams numbers, so you’re pretty much guaranteed a mad one.

The National Theatre of Scotland presents The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, David Greig and Wils Wilson's folk theatre fable.

Following a five star run in London, this brutally honest play based on interviews with recovering alcoholics makes its way to the Trav.

18-19 MAY, 8:00PM, £8.50 - £16.50

KINGS OF SWING

21 MAY, 7:30PM, £13 - £16

Geneva Sills explores the questionable nature of autobiography through aestheticised, carefully staged images. She will present her work in CCA’s Cinema, before opening up the floor for dialogue about the exhibition.

THE STRANGE UNDOING OF PRUDENCIA HART

27 MAY, 7:30PM, £10 - £12

Rudyard Kipling’s classic story is thoroughly renovated by Metta Theatre company, throwing street dance, graffiti, beatboxing, spoken word and circus into the mix. Matinees and accessible performances available.

BLACKOUT

Whitehall Theatre

PUCKOON

A ‘goonish blend of theatrical anarchy, musical wit and impossible plot’, Spike Milligan’s ridiculous story of a town split in two by the Ulter Boundary Commission is brought to the stage of the Dundee Rep,

VOICING THE ARCHIVE

MAP presents a series of audio recordings of past MAP contributions, voiced by their authors and installed at a listening station in the CCA foyer and Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.

Cass Art

A BOTANICAL SPRING FLING

1-6 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Cass Art hosts an exhibition of botanical art by members of the Scottish Society of Botanical Art. All of the paintings on show will be for sale, and every day an artist in attendance will be at hand to answer queries and carry out technical demos.

Cyril Gerber Fine Art SCOTTISH HORIZONS

2-14 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

A new exhibition of watercolours and drawings of Scotland by well known artist Tom H. Shanks.

David Dale Gallery and Studios DESDE EL JARDÍN

5-21 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Sol Calero’s latest work, which takes its title from the Spanish translation of the film Being There.

Desde el Jardín takes cues from a tropical garden or patio to create an immersive, transformative installation.

THE SKINNY

Art Glasgow Print Studio MEZZOTINT

1-29 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Nicolas Party’s work is concerned with taking familiar objects and exaggerating their presence. In Mezzotint he has created ‘little conversations’ between depicted objects and subjects, inviting the viewer to engage with this interaction.

Glasgow Sculpture Studios

YOU BE FRANK, AND I’LL BE EARNEST

4 MAY-4 JUN, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Soviet-born, New York-based artist Alisa Baremboym and Canadian artist Liz Magor present their first institutional exhibitions in Scotland and the UK. Their works share a dialogue about the human body and the interaction of the organic and the inorganic.

GoMA

WOLFGANG TILLMANS PICTURES FROM NEW WORLD

1 MAY-7 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Turner Prize-winning Wolfgang Tillmans brings an exhibition of photographs from his series Neue Welt (New World) to the GoMA. After ten years spent abstracting and conceptualising, Tillmans exhibits a re-enchantment with seeing the world for what it is.

WHO’S EXPLOITING WHO IN THE DEEP SEA?

1 MAY-7 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Cosima Von Bonin analogises the human condition via a series of works from 2006 onwards, all relating to a theme of ‘under the sea’.

From textile to music, sculpture to performance, video and painting, the exhibition is a charmingly multi-platform affair.

PAINTER’S TABLE

1 MAY-25 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Tessa Lynch’s GI exhibition which combines sculpture and script in order to examine and narrate the her own daily commute through the city of Glasgow; emphasising the mundane and ultimately creating a self portrait of sorts.

Hunterian Art Gallery NEW METEORITES

1 MAY-26 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Hunterian continues to exhibit an extensive collection of meteorites dating back to the beginning of the 19th century.

WILLIAM HUNTER TO DAMIEN HIRST: THE DEAD TEACH THE LIVING

1 MAY-1 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition curated by students on GSA / University of Glasgow’s students of Curatorial Practice, featuring objects and art which explore moments of synergy between the fields of art and science.

COMIC INVENTION

1 MAY-17 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

A showcase of comic works spanning genres and centuries, featuring modern collections, works by Lichtenstein, Warhol, Picasso and Rembrandt, and manuscripts from throughout the ages. Also includes unseen work for Batman, New X-Men and All Star Superman.

Mary Mary HONEST ESPIONAGE

3-28 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Mae Smith presents new paintings which employ a personalised iconography which engages with notions of sexual politics, gender, humour, the artist and studio.

SWG3 Glasgow TIME REGAINED

1-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

The first solo exhibition of Don Levy’s work in the UK; Time Regained combines rarely seen film and video with archive material, giving an insight into the understated works of an innovative filmmaker.

May 2016

LET’S LIMBO 26 MAY, 6:00PM – 12:00AM, TBC

A multidisciniplary arts exhibition hosted by GSA students, with free food and drink. Always a plus.

Street Level Photoworks POLITICAL LETTERS

1-29 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Widely exhibited German artist Catrine Val premiers her staged photo-works in a solo exhibition which questions the relative absence of female, global voices in philosophy, pointing out that existential questions are common to all of mankind.

SET & SETTING

1-29 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Mari Hokkane presents a collection of self-portraits featuring elaborate sets and installations which invite viewers to interpret the provocative and humorous situations narrated within.

The Common Guild THE END OF TIME

1 MAY-18 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Drawing, photography and film

by Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari as part of his first exhibition in Scotland. The works reflect Zaatari’s interest documentarymaking as an art form and its role in shaping both personal and collective history.

The Lighthouse WEAVING DNA

1-22 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

A collaboration borne of Icelandic product designer Hanna Dís Whitehead and Scottish textile designer Claire Anderson which re-appropriates Nordic / Scottish textiles to create a speculative fusion ‘tribe’, featuring a ‘Normcore Tribesman’ as protagonist.

Tramway TROLLEY

1-22 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition by Alexandra Bircken and commissioned by Glasgow International. Bircken’s sculptures engage with the history of the Tramway space and reflect the tragic aspects of the now defunct tram line.

SHEILA HICKS

1-22 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

A Glasgow International exhibition which features large scale, hand woven and twisted sculptures informed by artist Sheila Hicks’ research and experience while travelling South America.

QE3

1-22 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Lawrence Lek’s collection of virtual reality videos, architectural models and ‘glossy renderings’ which tell the fictional tale of a transatlantic ocean liner making its global journey before returning and becoming a home for GSA.

Transmission Gallery NO RIGHT WAY 2 CUM

1-20 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Sidsel Meineche Hansen presents a new body of work exploring the relationship between feminism, 3D genders and post-human sex. The show will feature an installation of animations which fall both into the genres of porn and horror.

RESTRICTED CODE

7-21 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Three artists working with nonfigurative language to explore themes from the urban and natural landscape

13 MAY-30 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

1-8 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Modern Institute MONIKA SOSNOWSKA

5-21 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

A GI supported exhibition in The Modern Institute which showcases Monika Sosnowska’s ‘ambitious architectonic structures’ and installations which both embrace and resist the spaces occupied.

A PETITION FOR AN ENQUIRY INTO A CONDITION OF ANXIETY

2-21 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan present a show which negotiates the conditions and contexts through which contemporary art circulates.

The Old Hairdressers CREATE. CURATE. RELATE.

3 MAY, 7:00PM – 12:00AM, FREE

A small-scale, DIY exhibition of the works created by voluntary arts project Create Curate Relate.

The Telfer Gallery

THE HORIZONTAL WINDOW

1-8 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Part of Gl, The Horizontal Window is Sam Smith’s multi-faceted work comprising a large-scale installation which will act as a site for new video work and performance.

The work explores the role of the window as a framing device in Modernist architecture.

A showcase of over forty diverse works which range from the satirical to the dark, aiming to give insight into the range of provocative topics capturing the minds of Scotland’s artists. Features exhibits from David Shrigley and Steven Campbell.

Edinburgh College of Art ECA DEGREE SHOW 2016

28 MAY-4 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Edinburgh College of Art present their annual graduate student round-up, showcasing the fruits of more than 500 budding graduating artists, filmmakers, designers and architects over an e’er eclectic programme.

Edinburgh Printmakers SPECIES OF SPACE

3 MAY-16 JUL, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Robert Powell’s meditation on the notion of the city as a physical artefact, taking the form of a cardboard sculpture of a city, clad in screen-printed laser-cut wood veneers.

Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop presents an exhibition of artist and filmmaker Holly Antrum’s film work, Catalogue made with artist Jennifer Pike.

Ingleby Gallery KEVIN HARMAN: NO MAN’S LAND

Edinburgh Art

A touring showcase of Vorarlberg architecture, made up of more than 230 projects and approximately 700 photographic illustrations.

13 MAY-29 AUG, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

4-21 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Seeking to challenge the notion that ‘people make places’, Stallan-Brand present a selection of paintings, installations, found objects and collages, all of which are inspired by, are a response to or have been affected by climate.

GETTING THINGS DONE

THE SCOTTISH ENDARKENMENT: ART AND UNREASON - 1945 TO THE PRESENT

Edinburgh Sculpture iota @ Unlimited Workshop CATALOGUE Studios 2-12 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

WEATHER FORMS

1 MAY-26 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Dovecot Studios

City Art Centre THE ARTIST AND THE SEA

Themed exhibition by a range of different artists capturing the character of the sea, taking in painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and sculpture, and including works by John Bellany, William McTaggart, Joan Eardley and Elizabeth Ogilvie.

MAKING IT: SCULPTIRE IN BRITAIN 1977-1986 7 MAY-3 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition examining an interlude of ingenuity in the history of design. Making It illustrates how the design practices of 1977-1986 were influenced by conceptual and performance art from earlier generations and by sculptural inspiration from overseas.

STEPHEN COLLINGBOURNE: DON’T BE AFRAID OF PINK

7 MAY-3 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Stephen Collingbourne, previously a lecturer of sculpture for over two decades at ECA has now diverted his practices towards oil painting.

The title of this exhibition refers to advice he received as a student – to work with the colour he most disliked.

Collective Gallery

MARK BLEAKLEY: A NUDE DESCENDS INTO A LAMP

7 MAY-19 JUN, 10:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

Mark Bleakley exhibits his latest project, comprising a simple score, cyclical choreography and gestures performed by four dancers and an audio-work which invites patrons to imagine performances taking place in the nearby park.

Harman presents a series of large double glazing units whose layers he split apart and doused with paint, producing imposing, colourful sculptures. Also exhibiting is a public gallery window smashed by Harman, and the resultant court correspondence.

Inverleith House

BRITISH ART SHOW 8 @ INVERLEITH HOUSE

1-8 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Touring show spread across a trio of Edinburgh galleries – Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Inverleith House and Talbot Rice – offering an overview of 42 artists deemed to have made a significant contribution to UK art in the past five years.

King's Stables Road HIDDEN DOOR FESTIVAL

27 MAY - 4 JUNE, TIMES AND PRICES VARY

Hidden Door returns to pack its King’s Stables Road home to the renovated rafters with spoken word, visual art, theatre, cinema, music, food, and a whole lotta bunting.

Napier University Merchiston Campus

MORE THAN A DEGREE SHOW

20-29 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Edinburgh Napier showcases the talents of emerging designers, artists, filmmakers, performers, photographers and journalists from the School of Arts and Creative Industries and School of Computing.

Royal Scottish Academy RSA UN:REALISED

1 MAY-13 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

RSA showcases the architectural plans, sketches and competition entries detailing plans for buildings that never came to be. Have a wander and wonder ‘what if?’.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

Listings

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RSA ANNUAL EXHIBITION 1-25 MAY, TIMES VARY, TBC

Now in its 190th year, the RSA Annual Exhibition occupies RSA between mid-April and late May, showcasing artworks from Acamedicians Scotland-wide. This year’s curated element will explore the notion of ‘HOME’.

Scottish National Gallery ROCKS AND RIVERS: THE LUNDE COLLECTION

1 MAY-30 APR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Long-term loan from one of the finest private collections of 19thCentury Norwegian and Swiss landscape paintings, American collector Asbjörn Lunde, taking in 13 works by artists including Johan Christian Dahl, Alexandre Calame and Thomas Fearnley.

VISIONARY PALACES

1 MAY-12 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition featuring the designs of Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841) for two palaces, one on the Acropolis in Athens and the other at Orianda on the Crimean coast, neither of which were realised.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

MODERN SCOTTISH WOMEN: PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS 1885-1965

1 MAY-26 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £9 (£7)

Showcase exhibition of work by Scottish women artists, concentrating on painters and sculptors, covering the period from 1885 to 1965.

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Listings

BRITISH ART SHOW 8 @ SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART 1-8 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Touring show spread across a trio of Edinburgh galleries – Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Inverleith House and Talbot Rice – offering an overview of 42 artists deemed to have made a significant contribution to UK art in the past five years.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery THE UNTITLED: BAD ENTERTAINMENT

1-8 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Throughout 2015, the National Galleries’ Outreach Team invited ‘the next generation’ to make the kind of art they would want to see, inspired by the work of contemporary artists – here young people from Alloa, Irvine and Edinburgh showcase the fruits.

THE TWEEDDALES: POWER, POLITICS AND PORTRAITS

1 MAY-28 MAY 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

St Margaret’s House THIRD TRY-MESTER

1-8 MAY, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of work by third year students from Edinburgh College of Art, running across all three galleries.

BRIDGING BETWEEN

14-28 MAY, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Exhibition of new work exploring ‘bridges’ between places and people.

OUTSKIRTS

14-28 MAY, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Group exhibition of abstract painting, an exploration of the peripheral - the margins of space we tread infrequently.

NO WOMAN IS AN ISLAND

14-28 MAY, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

An exhibition showcasing a wide range of new work by female artists inspired by aspects of nature.

Stills

LEWIS BALTZ WITH WORKS BY CARL ANDRE AND CHARLOTTE POSENENSKE

Artwork featuring and commissioned by the Tweeddale family, a highly influential dynasty at the heart of Scottish society in the latter half of the seventeenth century, who were known best for contributions to politics and the military.

1 MAY-9 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

1 MAY-5 MAR 19, TIMES VARY, FREE

Summerhall

SCOTS IN ITALY

A showcase of the Scottish experience of eighteenth century Italy, a time when artistic, entrepreneurial and aristocratic fascination with the country was reaching boiling point.

Stills presents an exhibition of photographs by Lewis Baltz (19452014) alongside artworks by Carl Andre and Charlotte Posenenske, curated to reflect the affinity that Baltz showed between his photography and the work of his Minimalist peers.

THE HUMAN’S PLANET EARTH

1-13 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

A video installation by Dennis & Debbie Club, Fiona Anderson, Lewis Den Hertog and KCURR which employs green screen techniques, 3D rendering and live-action filming to explore the ideas of utopia, dystopia, alienation and the future of mankind.

MENAGERIE OF MICROBES

UNDERGROUND

1-13 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

15 MAY-5 JUN, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Menagerie of Microbes combines the work of artists, designers and scientists who share a passion for simple yet complex forms of life.

Each observe and interact with microbes to explore their histories, applications, mechanisms and future possibilities.

DIE AND BECOME

1-13 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Heather Dewey-Hagborg creates portrait sculptures from analyses of genetic material collected in public places, calling attention to the developing technology of forensic DNA phenotyping and the potential for a culture of biological surveillance.

ATOPIC ART: EXPRESSIONS OF ECZEMA

1-13 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

A partnership project between ASCUS Art & Science, Dr Sarah Brown and Eczema Outreach, describing the emotional and scientific impact of eczema on sufferers, following participatory workshops with families affected by the disorder in Scotland.

THERE WILL BE LIGHT

1-13 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Ade Adesina’s visual commentary which combines images from his African roots and from Western culture, using printmaking techniques to describe the damage humankind inflicts on the planet.

4 SURE?

1-6 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of fantastical, topsy-turvy objects, structures and non-artefacts. The challenging contrasts in texture, shape, sound and lighting aim to create a soothing yet playfully vivid experience; a sensory dreaming room.

A multi-artform exhibition which includes performance responses to specific locations both rural and urban, sound, and text, and are presented variously as installation, single monitor works and screen projections. Brought together by artist Su Grierson.

Talbot Rice Gallery

BRITISH ART SHOW 8 @ TALBOT RICE

2-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Touring show spread across a trio of Edinburgh galleries – Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Inverleith House and Talbot Rice – offering an overview of 42 artists deemed to have made a significant contribution to UK art in the past five years.

The Fruitmarket Gallery CHANGE-THE-SETTING

1 MAY-5 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

In an exhibition tailored to the Fruitmarket Gallery’s own exhibition spaces, Sara Barker combines painting, drawing and sculpture in order to engage with the notion of space and the ways in which it can be imagined.

Dundee Art Centrespace

WHEN THE FUTURE WAS ABOUT FRACKING

1-18 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Parisian art collective HeHe bring an indoor fracking installation which involves ‘the sounds, tremors and flames you would get from a fracking operation’ to DJCAD, inviting patrons to engage with the issue of fracking and develop their perspectives.

DCA: Dundee Contemporary Arts DUNCAN MARQUISS: COPYING ERRORS

Annual exhibition featuring new works by recent graduates selected from across Scotland, this year featuring Alice Chandler, Tanith Marron, Eleanor Paul and Rachel Turner.

The McManus

DRAW THE LINE: OLD MASTERS TO THE BEANO

UNTIL 23 OCT 16, FREE

A celebration of 'one of the most basic and enduring of human activities', The McManus showcases a selection of figure studies and portraiture, illustration, preparatory sketches, landscape and topography by historic and contemporary artists.

Former student of DJCAD and recipient of the 2015 Margaret Tait award Duncan Marquiss presents his largest exhibition yet, comprising a selection of paintings, drawings and videos.

Bongo

28 MAY-5 JUN, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

20-29 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Sean Lee presents a new series of 22 works. The paintings, a single figure against a dark background, are the product of what the artist calls ‘closed-circuit drawing’, whereby a painting is redrafted many times to achieve a final result.

THEY HAD FOUR YEARS 2016

22 MAY-26 JUN, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

14 MAY-3 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design

CONSTELLATIONS

Generator Projects

DJCAD DEGREE SHOW 2016

Duncan of Jordanstone School of Art and Design’s annual degree show, showcasing work from the latest generation of artists, designers and architects graduating from courses at the institution.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

THE SKINNY

On The Money As Puscifer set sail for their European debut, founder Maynard James Keenan meditates on the influence of surrealist British comedy and America's Trumpian dystopia

Interview: Dave Kerr

There’s a lot of attack and a few very literal lyrical blows on Money $hot [‘You speak like someone who has never been knocked the fuck onout’ – The Remedy]. Are you striving more to make direct contact with the listener on this occasion, rather than simply keep them entertained?

That’s an hour conversation we could be having right here. In general, I live in a much quieter space now than when I did when I lived in Los Angeles, so I feel like a lot more of the music has less to do with being angry about driving in traffic than it does to just look into the future. Y’know, you have to have the rub. Part of good literature is that there has to be some kind of rub and then some kind of hope for a resolve, right? I think this album has that.

“ Idiocracy is no longer a comedy, it’s a documentary” Maynard James Keenan

T

he rock pages have firmly established one guaranteed way to draw Maynard James Keenan’s ire over the last decade: ask about every other group he’s in besides the one at hand. It’s at a point where you could picture the man struggling to navigate the Aldi toiletry aisle without some joker derailing his quest for bog roll by enquiring as to the whereabouts of the next Tool record.

The writing and recording of the Los Angeles’ post-metallers’ long-anticipated sixth LP is a subject perhaps best left exclusively to its authors until it’s ready; Keenan’s current focus is Puscifer, a shape-shifting multimedia project that started life as a sketch in David Cross and Bob Odenkirk’s mid-90s comedy serial Mr Show.

An inside joke, first pitched as “a premiere improvisational hardcore band”, that morphed into a clothing range and a series of surrealist collages torn from the Terry Gilliam playbook, Puscifer was finally made flesh by 2007 album V is For Vagina. Latest (and third) release Money $hot has lent the project a more serious status, acutely aware of the very present threats of climate change, rampant egomania and a Trumpled America. Still, let’s keep a sense of humour.

Puscifer has been around in one form or ­another for two decades now. This is your first European excursion – what held you up? We started messing around with it in ‘96. But as far as an actual full-length album being released,

May 2016

Every project you do and every challenge you accept, that’s part of the contract; you’re trying to figure out how to make that work. Every time you do it again, you’re hoping to do it better. Sometimes you take risks – take a right or a left turn – to experiment in some way. I don’t ever think that those experiments are failures, they’re all a learning experience where you build. You’re correct in assuming that there’s a little bit more of a focused vision on this compared to the earlier records; we’re always finding our way. that didn’t come until 2007, after ten years ­going.

So yeah, Europe – finally! It’s an independent project, travelling overseas. We knew we’d lose money coming over there, especially because people don’t really buy albums anymore. So we had to wait for the audience to convince the promoters to bring us over. We’ve always had an audience over there but until you can get the promoter to foot the bill, we couldn’t risk losing our ass. I’d probably just come for a lovely vacation, honestly.

One of your recent gigs in Vegas was described as ‘comedy cabaret show meets guerilla theatre.’

Is that a fair summary of what we can expect over here?

We change it up quite a bit, but as far as this particular tour goes, we’re probably going to stick with what we’ve been doing in the States r­ ecently.

We’re on a roll with it, there’s no r­ eason to change it up right now, but I can guarantee that if we circle back to the UK again it’ll be a ­different thing.

That’s just the nature of Puscifer; it’s a show, not just a band regurgitating its songs at you.

There’s definitely adjustments we make night to night – like any band, I’d hope – but when you have the vision of what we have in mind, it’s almost like a play in a way. There’s a lot of things that can’t change because every moment hinges on the one before. I don’t want to call it choreographed, but we’re definitely conscious of what we have to do and where we have to be because of the show.

You’re dealing with lofty themes but a sense of humour has been one of Puscifer’s defining characteristics from the start. Is it a fine line to walk without becoming the guy shaking his fist at the sky?

My favourite films and TV shows are always the ones that have a little bit of a message or there’s a little bit of tearjerk in there somewhere, but it’s basically comedy. The social commentary made by projects like League of Gentlemen, Little Britain, Monty Python, there’s always some kind of poking fun at humanity in general, but in a way they can be constructive in that they’re ­shining a light on our idiocy. I think it’s an important ­balance to have the humour in there too.

Social responsibility has been a recurrent theme throughout the lyrics of both Puscifer and Tool over the years. What fed your muse for this particular album?

I just think – I don’t know if you agree – but there’s a sense of entitlement that’s a­ ctually amplified by social media and the access ­people have to expressing their shit, uninformed opinions on everything. Then they’re leaning on those opinions as if their opinions have foundation. Like, ‘I won that debate because my opinion is there.’ Well no, that’s not a debate. Anyone who has ever been involved in any kind of a ­debating class or course will tell you that you’re not a­ llowed to be up on that

stage unless you actually have an educated or informed foundation. Your opinion alone does not cut it.

Puscifer has involved a rotating cast of terrific musicians over the years that must be hard to keep hold of – whether it’s Danny Lohner, Alain Johannes, or Gil Sharone. Is it fair to say you’ve found a permanence with the current band?

Yeah, I think we’ve all somehow found our rhythm between working on other projects and the availability to work on this. If Jeff Friedl, the ­drummer, were to call me in six months and say, ‘I’m going to be working with this band for the next 18 months; I won’t be available,’ he’s totally OK with me and Matt having somebody else come in and play drums in his place because he understands that’s the flexibility we’re a­ ffording him as an indepen-dent musician. We’ve s­ettled into a particular core group of people that work well.

We can have guests come on for the ­recordings rather than necessarily become a part of the live group.

Paul Barker [Industrial metal don, formerly of Ministry] has recently joined for this tour.

I imagine you must have a lot of shared history; how’s that working out?

He’s great – he’s kind of like the Godfather. He’s the new guy and yet he’s the old guy. It’s fun to have him out here with us because his personality’s awesome – he doesn’t take any shit. I mean, you wouldn’t – the dude was in Ministry! So we love having him.

What do you get out of Puscifer that you perhaps haven’t from your other outlets?

I think in general, once you’ve established yourself in what used to be the record industry, you’re kind of locked in to what people’s perceptions are of you in those projects. I’m a big fan of AC/ DC, and you know what to expect from AC/DC. If they suddenly came out with a jazz record, you’d probably fuckin’ shoot yourself. With Puscifer, there’s a lot more flexibility, We’re not just a band, we’re a multimedia project. We could take a right turn completely into animation, and nothing you see from us is anything but a show on Adult Swim. We have that flexibility.

Finally, what’s your prediction for the US Presidential race?

Here’s the thing, I’m Italian and I’m Irish. The Italian side of me is the wine and food making family man; the Irish side is the shit-talking, ‘comedy first, always’ side. So I’m very divided.

Because all the fuckin’ awesome jokes that are gonna come out if Trump leads the US – the ­humour, the tragedy and the awful stuff that’s gonna happen – is gonna be fodder for comedians for decades. And the end of the United States. Of course, the practical side of me thinks, ‘I’ve seen this before; I think it’s called ‘Germany, 1931 to 1938.’ Idiocracy is no longer a comedy, it’s a documentary. Idiocracy is where we are.

Puscifer play Manchester Bridgewater Hall on 30 May. Money $hot is out now puscifer.com

Outback

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THE SKINNY