The Skinny October 2021

January 2020

Books

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THE SKINNY

Art January 2020

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In honour of the SAY award, The Skinny's favourite Scottish song The Associates — Party Fears Two Cocteau Twins – Cherry-coloured Funk Annie Lennox — Why Texas — Inner Smile The Proclaimers — Sunshine on Leith Aztec Camera — Somewhere In My Heart Boards of Canada — Peacock Tail The Beta Band — Dry the Rain Errors — Pump Jonnie Common — Shark Mogwai — Remurdered Simple Minds — Don't You (Forget About Me) Skye Scrambles — Moors of Sutherland Paolo Nutini — Caledonia (Live at The Garage) CHVRCHES — Lungs Neil Landstrumm — Leaving Edinburgh Humour Orange Juice — Blue Boy

Listen to this playlist on Spotify — search for 'The Skinny Office Playlist' or scan the below code

Issue 189, October 2021 © Radge Media Ltd.

October 2021

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Championing creativity in Scotland

Meet the team We asked – What is your favourite thing you've ever seen on screen?

Editorial

Rosamund West Editor-in-Chief "A video of my son being outraged by a lime."

Peter Simpson Digital Editor, Food & Drink Editor "Limmy's Vines: That Accent."

Anahit Behrooz Events Editor "That scene in New Girl where Jake Johnson kisses Zooey Deschanel. You know the one. Cinéma!!!"

Jamie Dunn Film Editor, Online Journalist "Watching Homer bunk off church in The Simpsons episode Homer the Heretic for the first time and laughing harder than I've ever laughed before or since."

Tallah Brash Music Editor "Keanu Reeves."

Nadia Younes Clubs Editor "Simon Amstell vs Donny Tourette on Never Mind the Buzzcocks."

Polly Glynn Comedy Editor "On the big screen, I'd say a remastered version of the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors, complete with original ending. It's just absolutely perfect: the cast, the songs, the jokes, the big fuck-off plant. It's directed by Fozzie Bear too. INSANE."

Katie Goh Intersections Editor "BTS's seven faces."

Eliza Gearty Theatre Editor "The old man in the toilet scene in La Haine. "

Heather McDaid Books Editor "Legally Blonde, forever."

Sales & Business

Production

Rachael Hood Art Director, Production Manager "Nothing, I only care about print."

Adam Benmakhlouf Art Editor "Early 2021, my obliging bubblemates miming backstroke on their floor to help me make my lockdown project, an animation of some swimmers – which obviously never happened."

Phoebe Willison Designer "My own face when I was in the news once bigging up Jeremy Corbyn lol."

Sandy Park Commercial Director "Michael K. Williams as Omar Little in The Wire."

Tom McCarthy Creative Projects Manager "My loved ones during lockdown video calls."

George Sully Sales and Brand Strategist "Nightcrawler taking on The White House singlehandedly in X2."

Laurie Presswood General Manager "B*Witched Rollercoaster (UK Video)."

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Editorial Words: Rosamund West

O

ctober has long been a time for film festivals to arrive on Scottish screens, and this year, after last year’s onlineonly presentations, we’re even more delighted to see them than usual. To mark the moment, we take a deep dive into the Scottish screen industries. We meet some of the country’s emerging animators to hear how their early careers have been affected by the switch to remote working and the accompanying opportunities and challenges. Scottish documentary has been thriving, and we explore some of the reasons behind this, from dedicated funding support to broadcast platforms.

TV drama is also in rude health with the 2019 launch of the BBC Scotland channel and its dedicated commissioning – we meet Neil Forsyth, the writer behind one of its standout series, Guilt. Of course, we also look forward to the film festivals themselves, and talk to the programmers behind Scottish Queer International Film Festival, Africa in Motion and Scotland Loves Anime to find out what’s in store. Looking outside of Scotland, ahead of the arrival of Dune on the big screen, we examine Denis Villeneuve’s blockbuster back catalogue to see if he’s got what it takes to deliver the epic sci-fi on the big screen.

Sticking with the film theme, the second dispatch from our new writing programme in partnership with LUX Scotland and Alchemy Film & Arts offers an in-depth survey of the Scottish artists, filmmakers and programmers whose working lives have been profoundly reshaped by the pandemic. Art meets Sharon Hayes, whose series of art films entitled Ricerche arrives in the Common Guild this month. The works involve interviews with large groups of people, a seemingly simple premise which creates complex films revealing profound insights into sex and sexuality. We also talk to recent graduate duo Cat and Éiméar McClay whose practice explores the influence of the Church on

life in Ireland. They’re currently developing new work through the Market Gallery residency programme.

Music meets Self Esteem’s Rebecca Lucy Taylor, here to talk about her second album under this moniker Prioritise Pleasure, running exercise sessions in the pandemic, and escaping the indie scene. We also talk to Parquet Courts’ Sean Yeaton about dancedriven, pandemic-delayed new record Sympathy for Life, catch Norwich post-punk electro-funk duo Sink Ya Teeth ahead of their two Scottish dates and find out more about the intricate loop machine Lomond Campbell built to create new album LŪP. Clubs meets Lwazi Asanda Gwala, aka DJ Lag, self-styled king of South African genre gqom, a sound described by Hyperdub founder Kode9 as like “being suspended over the gravitational field of a black hole.” Theatre talks to playwright Kieran Hurley and director Finn den Hertog about their very timely-feeling adaptation of Ibsen’s The Enemy of the People, about the power dynamics of a poorly-handled health crisis. Books meets Harry Josephine Giles, whose new sci-fi Deep Wheel Orcadia is the first full-length adult fiction book in the Orkney dialect to be published in over 50 years.

Intersections talks to some radical mushroom farmers whose pandemic cultivation project seeks to empower their community through food, and use funghi as a metaphor for how to resist capitalism. A new programme from the Scottish International Storytelling Festival asks us to reimagine what a statue should be, who should be celebrated and how. As The Beatles’ Let It Be receives a Disney+ / Peter Jackson revamp, we take a look at the comedy that made the band so memorable. Finally, we close the magazine with The Skinny on… AiiTee aka Emma Aikamhenze, whose debut record Love Don’t Fall has just been longlisted for the 2021 SAY Award. She wants to have Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg and Beyoncé at her dinner party, FYI.

October 2021 — Chat

Cover Artist Rachael Hood is an Edinburgh-based illustrator and art director, whose art practice ebbs and flows between disciplines. She uses character-focused storytelling to bring to life observations of human behaviour, identity and interaction. Rachael also runs a jewellery brand, Odd Company, which playfully celebrates irregularities so that no two pieces of jewellery are identical. etsy.com/uk/shop/OddCompanyJewellery i: @ rachaelhoodprints @odd__company

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Love Bites

Love Bites: Radio Polyamory During a period of exceptionally limited options, here’s how I accidentally fell in love with former BBC 6 Music host Shaun Keaveny Words: Adam Benmakhlouf

“G

October 2021 — Chat

od / Another bloody breakup / I’m gutted! / Will rly miss my husband” – the one-line shock texts I sent back back when my pal sent the news. BBC 6 Music host Shaun Keaveny had been axed. A beautiful nationwide polyamorous romance with this glass of tall, semi-attractive Northern English water was over. And so the dream of love was dead.

Shaun came into my life as I was gearing up to spend lockdown as a lowkey divorcée. Freshly single, this was as new to me as it was uncomfortable. I was off the back of six years of the LTR lifestyle.

Broadly from the same chunk of Northern England I’d imported my last romances from, Shaun was my nicotine patch against another bout of romantic cathexis.

Or maybe he was my Rochester. Me: a simple Jane battling through life’s struggles. Him: gruff, a bit witty, aloof.

It was the logical conclusion of finding unavailability attractive. I’d text him and nothing. Whether or not I showed up, he didn’t really mind. I’ve always been a good listener in relationships, anyway.

I fancied him for his love of music, food and pranks … “HA!” he’d abrasively laugh-cough after a few seconds of dead air after a track. How annoying and loveable, what a raffish eejit. It’s true what they say, you never see it coming when it comes to Stockholm Syndrome.

About a third of his show was just reading out the best lunches people had that day. Which was why in the last week, he finally read out my third-last text to him about bolognese and marmalade. I was carrying my food waste up the street, him in my ear, just like we’d always walk around. It ended: “Thanks for helping me laugh through the last year!! No small feat. You’re the best and most beautiful broadcaster in the land xx” He left out the last bit because he’s humble like that.

Crossword Solutions Across 1. LAST NIGHT IN SOHO 9. GAP 10. VARDA 11. END UP 12. TWANG 13. ALLUSIONS 14. ROOT BEER 15. HASN'T 17. OSCAR 19. FIDELITY 23.

JOE PUBLIC 25. ORBIT 26. RUPEE 27. IMBUE 28. ERM 29. DENIS VILLENEUVE Down 1. LIGHTS 2. SOPRANO 3. NAVIGATOR 4. GERMANE 5. TRAILER 6. NEEDS 7. OLD BOYS’ 8. OPPOSITE 15. HALLOWEEN 16. CONJURED 18.

CHEAPEN 19. FELLINI 20. DECIBEL 21. TABLEAU 22. STYMIE 24. USERS

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THE SKINNY

Autumn arrives in Scotland with a bang: choose from film festivals galore, big names in live music and even (gasp!) the return of clubs.

Heads Up

Compiled by Anahit Behrooz Scotland Loves Anime

Africa in Motion Online, 15-31 Oct

The 11th edition of Scotland Loves Anime, the annual film festival celebrating all things anime, is back on big and small screens. Kicking off with a long weekend at Glasgow Film Theatre before heading to Edinburgh Filmhouse for a full week later in the month, this year’s festival includes such gems as science fantasy Belle, which made huge waves at Cannes earlier this year.

Belle

King's Theatre, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, 28 Sep-2 Oct

Groan Ups

Seeking Aline

Photo: Susan Molloy

The Enemy

Jenny Sturgeon

Image: courtesy of artist and Glasgow International

Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic

From the chaotic stage company that pioneered The Play That Goes Wrong comes a new chapter in anarchic theatre-making. A brand new comedy about the absurdity of coming-of-age, Groan Ups follows a group of friends from their unruly days as primary school children through to the lessons of adulthood, with plenty of the company’s signature clever set design and hilarious comic timing along the way.

Image: courtesy of Africa in Motion

Groan Ups

A stunning programme of over 90 films from the African continent and Black diaspora – including 65 premieres – this year’s edition of Africa in Motion features a strand on Women in Focus, including tender coming-of-age film Honey Cigar by Algerian director Kamir Aïnouz that closes the festival, a rich short film competition, and specially commissioned poetry responding to the climate crisis and embodied experiences of Blackness.

Photo: Pamela Raith Photography

Heads Up

Various venues, Glasgow + Edinburgh, 1-3 + 11-17 Oct

Club Sylkie: LCY Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 28 Oct, 11pm

Born To Protest, JosephToonga Image: courtesy of artist and Sneaky Pete's

The launch of Club Sylkie, a new queer club night all about creating fun, energetic spaces for queer women, non-binary folk and their friends, sees innovative producer and DJ LCY take to Sneaky Pete’s small but prodigious stage, bringing fast, bass-driven beats and unique sound design for her Edinburgh debut.

The Enemy

October 2021 — Chat

Dundee Rep, Dundee, 12-16 Oct Henrik Ibsen’s iconic play The Enemy of the People, which explores corruption during a public health crisis, is given piercing new relevance in this contemporary Scottish reimagining by acclaimed writer Kieran Hurley, the playwright and subsequent screenwriter of 2019’s invigorating Beats. Staged by National Theatre Scotland and with a haunting soundtrack by Kathryn Joseph, this adaptation tours throughout Scotland after its stint in Dundee Rep.

SAY Award Ceremony

LCY

Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 23 Oct, 8:30pm For the first time ever, The SAY Award ceremony is open to the public in celebration of their 10th anniversary. Hosted by BBC Radio Scotland’s Vic Galloway and Nicola Meighan, the ceremony will feature live performances and the exclusive announcement of this year’s winner. The shortlist has yet to be announced but the longlist includes such gems as TAAHLIAH, The Snuts and Jenny Sturgeon.

Leith Comedy Festival presents… Christopher Macarthur-Boyd, Amy Matthews and Billy Kirkwood The Biscuit Factory, Edinburgh, 14 Oct, 7:30pm

Amy Matthews

Scottish International Storytelling Festival Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, 15-31 Oct Image: courtesy of SISF

Online, 21-31 Oct

Glasgow’s biennial festival of dance and physical performance returns with a mesmerising programme of performance, installation and film taking place all over the city – from galleries and art spaces to streets and moving vehicles. Highlights include Joseph Toonga’s dynamic interrogation of the Black body in public space and Jian Yi’s trancelike exploration of queer sensuality and love at Tramway.

Image: Courtesy of Leith Comedy Festival

Edinburgh Green Film Festival

Various venues, Glasgow, 1-23 Oct

Photo: Neelam Khan Vela

Image: courtesy of Edinburgh Green Film Festival Amazon Uncovered

Dance International Glasgow

The Ninth Wave

The Ninth Wave Church, Dundee, 20 Oct, 7pm

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Scottish International Storytelling Festival

THE SKINNY

Image: courtesy of artist

beabadoobee The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 3 Oct, 7pm Following the acclaimed release of her debut album Fake It Flowers late last year, dreamy folk-pop singersongwriter beabadoobee brings her unique breathy vocals and perceptive, yearning lyrics to the stage on her UK-wide tour, hitting up Glasgow as well after her Edinburgh show. Sweet bedroom pop vibes and a determinedly DIY aesthetic make for a heartfelt, intimate live show.

beabadoobee

Scottish Queer International Film Festival CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow, 6-10 Oct Scotland’s annual celebration of LGBTQIA+ cinema returns to the CCA and online, with all tickets priced at a pay-what-you-can sliding scale. From loving depictions of global queer culture with the Queer Brazil and Queer Asia strands to explorations of the funny, erotic, and out there in Spill Your Kinky (kink), this year’s edition of Scottish Queer International Film Festival is – as always – unabashedly radical and proud.

Summerhall, Edinburgh, 15-17 Oct A brand new poetry festival – and only the second in Scotland – Push the Boat Out takes inspiration from the country’s vibrant spoken word and hip-hop scene to platform the boundary-pushing ways poetry is evolving across the literature scene. Highlights include Blood Salt Spring, a new commission by playwright Hannah Lavery (Lament for Sheku Bayoh), and a bookbinding workshop with Scotland’s new Makar Kathleen Jamie.

Heads Up

Image: courtesy of SQIFF

Photo: Tiu Makkonen

The Uninhabitable Ones

Push the Boat Out

Photo: Jassy Earl

Photo: Hazel Mirsepasi

Ivor MacAskill

Neurostages CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art Glasgow, 15-16 Oct Hannah Lavery

Image: courtesy of artist and SWG3

This hybrid festival presented in collaboration with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, National Theatre of Scotland and the National Autistic Society explores ways of crafting solidarity and creative potential through neurodivergent pathways. Offering a programme of performances, film, workshops and discussions both in-person and online, Neurostages interrogates the path forward for disability and the performing arts.

IAMDDB

Studio tests, Mina Heydari-Waite

Mina Heydari-Waite: In sleep it made itself present to them

SWG3, Glasgow, 15 Oct, 7pm

Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, 2 Oct-21 Nov

IAMDDB

British-Iranian artist Mina Heydari-Waite explores Iranian diasporic identity through her immersive sculptures and sound installations, creating a dreamscape that interrogates ideas surrounding ritual sites, moments of rupture and social dreaming. Recreating the famed ancient city of Persepolis through a CNC-machined, flatpack kit, Heydari-Waite explores the relationship of the contemporary Iranian diaspora with their collective, mythologised past.

All details were correct at the time of writing, but are subject to change. Please check organisers’ websites for up to date information.

Paul Towndrow

Holding the Line, Alberta Whittle

Life Support: Forms of Care in Art and Activism Glasgow Women's Library, Glasgow, Until 16 Oct

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Taiwan Film Festival Summerhall + Glasgow Film Theatre, Edinburgh + Glasgow, 25-31 Oct Image: courtesy of Taiwan Film Festival

The Tempest Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 29 Oct-13 Nov

Image: Courtesy of artist and Glasgow Women's Library

Various venues, Aberdeen, 30 Sep-10 Oct Image: Courtesy of Aberdeen Jazz Festival

Image: Joe Connolly and Jamhot The Tempest

Aberdeen Jazz Festival

Splendid Float

October 2021 — Chat

Manchester-based rapper and singer IAMDDB is known for her innovative play with jazz, hip-hop and soul, creating a multi-genre sound that is as addictive as it is unique. With influences as diverse as Erykah Badu and Missy Elliott, IAMDDB’s songwriting and performing speaks to her Mancunian, urban roots, promising a live performance that is wonderfully high-energy.

September 2021 — Events Guide

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THE SKINNY

Photo: Alexandra Waespi Joesef

Helena Hauff

October 2021 — Events Guide

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beabadoobee

Photo: Katja Ruge

Photo: Daniel Adhami Bradley Zero

Clubs Start your month off in good stead with an absolute stonker at Sneaky Pete’s. Miss World invites India Jordan – hot off the heels of their latest release on Ninja Tune, Watch Out! – to grace the booth on 1 October for what’s sure to be a euphoric, rave-inflected set. And if you’ve got enough stamina, do the doubler and head over to The Biscuit Factory the following night where Berlin-based DJ and producer Cinthie goes B2B with Edinburgh native Telfort for the debut party from Cookie Club.

There are two big ones for the techno heads to choose from – or bounce between – in Glasgow on 8 October, as Hamburg heroine Helena Hauff returns to La Cheetah Club and Slam’s Return to Mono series welcomes Tresor affiliate Manni Dee and Blasha & Allatt (founders of Manchester night Meat Free) to Sub Club.

For a less heavy affair, head to The Mash House in Edinburgh on 9 October for a three-hour, globetrotting set from Rhythm Section founder Bradley Zero and some excellent local support.

Born out of a lockdown project, young UKG prodigy Conducta will be taking his Conducta’s Crib shows out of his living room and into venues across the UK, where he’ll be playing all night long in various venues up and down the country. He stops by Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s on 14 October on the only Scottish date of the tour and, if you cross your fingers really tightly, he might just play Ladbroke Grove.

Closing out the month with a Halloween special at Edinburgh’s Royal Highland Centre is Terminal V. Following several postponements due to ongoing lockdowns, the electronic music festival finally makes its return on 30 and 31 October with an absolutely stacked line-up, featuring household names old and new, from Marcel Dettman and Robert Hood to Eris Drew and Octo Octa.[Nadia Younes]

Wet Leg

Photo: Callum Harrison

Photo: Maddy Anderson Walt Disco

Music It’s a big month for Scottish music, as on 23 October we find out who’s crowned this year’s winner of the Scottish Album of the Year Award. A few of the artists on this year’s longlist have shows this month, so be sure to check them out if you can.

Lizzie Reid brings her gorgeous longlisted debut, Cubicle, to Glasgow’s King Tut’s (8 Oct), while the soulful bops from Joesef’s Does It Make You Feel Good? will be making an appearance at Edinburgh’s La Belle Angele (10 Oct) as well as Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom (20 Oct).

Nominated for her bubblegum pop album WEIRDO, you can catch Carla J. Easton at Summerhall in Edinburgh (21 Oct), where she’ll be performing as part of the songwriters circle All Work Together, alongside Withered Hand and Jamie Sutherland (Broken Records). Earlier in the month Easton will also be playing her debut headline show from her new band Poster Paints, alongside Frightened Rabbit’s Simon Liddell, at The Poetry Club in Glasgow (7 Oct). And catch West Lothian’s The Snuts, nominated for their debut album W.L., at Aberdeen’s Music Hall (27 Oct) and the brand new O2 Academy Edinburgh, fka The Corn Exchange (28 Oct).

The SAY Award aside, you’ll find master of floaty 90s-indebted pop beabadoobee in Edinburgh and Glasgow at the start of the month as she brings her 2020 album Fake It Flowers, and brand new EP Our Extended Play, to The Liquid Room (3 Oct) and SWG3’s Galvanizers (4 Oct). The inimitable Billy Nomates stops by Glasgow’s Mono on 6 October, while the incredible pipes of Marc Riley favourite Anna B Savage can be found the following night at The Hug & Pint.

At both ends of the M8 you’ll find a band consisting of two Johns called, well, JOHN. They bring their meaty new album, Nocturnal Manoeuvres, to Stereo (10 Oct) and Sneaky Pete’s (11 Oct). Dublin’s Orla Gartland brings her debut Woman on the Internet to Glasgow’s The Garage on 12 October, while a few nights later, Adam Stafford celebrates Trophic Asynchrony at The Glad Cafe (15 Oct). You’ll also find him this month at The Wine Library, Falkirk (21 Oct) and at The Happiness Hotel, Edinburgh (23 Oct).

And nearing the end of the month, fresh from a huge support slot with Duran Duran in September, Walt Disco headline The Caves in Edinburgh on 20 October, while on the same night in Glasgow you’ll find London post-punk tree aficionados Snapped Ankles at St Luke’s. Staying in Glasgow, Isle of Wight art-rock duo Wet Leg offer to ‘assign someone to butter your muffin’ at McChuills (24 Oct), while on 28 October OK Pal Records bring Dog Daisies, Hailey Beavis, Good Dog and Ardeer to The Glad Cafe. [Tallah Brash]

Photo: Hollie Fernando

What's On

THE SKINNY

The Hive

The Tron Theatre

Theatre The weather may be getting colder, but theatres in Scotland are just warming up.

After such long closures, it’s great to see venues opening their doors and touring productions hitting the road again. Read on to discover our top theatrical picks of the month.

After an 18-month hiatus, Glasgow’s Tron Theatre is finally reopening – and what a comeback! A brand new version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest will be taking place in the Tron’s main auditorium from 29 October to 13 November, during the COP26 summit. Directed by Tron Theatre’s Artistic Director Andy Arnold, and devised with a cast of eleven Scottish-based, female identifying actors, the production aims to draw on the play’s themes of ‘male power, greed and the colonisation of other lands and their indigenous inhabitants’. Timely.

The Tron have also teamed up with the Citizens Theatre, currently without a building, to stage a double bill of Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett and a specially commissioned companion piece, Go On, by Linda McLean. Fans of absurdist legend Beckett might be intrigued by McLean’s parallel play, which explores a woman’s consideration of how an AI replacement might allow her to exist in the future. With Niall Buggy playing Krapp and Maureen Beattie playing Jane in Go On, this double bill is an opportunity to see two first-class actors come into their own with some fantastic writing to play with (30 Sep-9 Oct).

The National Theatre of Scotland will be touring Kieran Hurley’s adaption of The Enemy, based on Henrik Ibsen’s play of the same name, across Scotland from 15 October and into early November. Set in a ‘once great Scottish town’ where a massive redevelopment project threatens to rock the community’s foundations, it sounds provocative and compelling: check out our interview with Hurley and director Finn den Hertog on p46. In Dundee, the Scottish Dance Theatre will be returning to the Dundee Rep stage with a double bill of Amethyst and TuTuMucky (29 & 30 Oct).

DanceLive festival returns to Aberdeen this month (14-17 Oct) – highlights include Born to Protest, a hip-hop piece that showcases Black excellence from Just Us Dance Theatre, and Burnt Out, Penny Chivas’ solo piece exploring the impacts of the climate crisis. In Edinburgh, October will see Sound Stage – the Lyceum’s six-month season of audio plays – draw to a close, and they’re finishing things off with a world premiere by Timberlake Wertenbaker (29-31 Oct). The show, which will look at our relationship to nature and the environment, is still untitled – but with a name like Wertenbaker’s attached, that only adds to the intrigue. [Eliza Gearty] — 12 —

Petite Mama

Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic

Photo: Ben Collins

October 2021 — Events Guide

Whale Island

Film The leaves are starting to turn, and that signals it’s about to get pretty fucking bleak outside. But never fear, there’ll be plenty of heat coming off our cinemas and laptop screens this autumn thanks to the surfeit of film festivals that arrive on the scene around this time. We discuss three of them – SQIFF, Africa in Motion and Scotland Loves Anime – in more detail on pages 28 and 29, but that trio is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival ushers in its eighth edition, a hybrid affair consisting of in-person (1-10 Oct, Filmhouse & the French Institute) and online screenings (14-17 Oct) of 21 feature films and eight shorts. Proceedings kick off with The Hive (1 Oct, Filmhouse), in which a group of childhood friends reunite at a country house for a hen do, but quickly realise time has recalibrated their friendships. If you’re in the mood for a classic, the festival will also be marking the centenary of great Spanish filmmaker Luis García Berlanga with a screening of his blistering black comedy The Executioner from 1963 (7 Oct, Filmhouse). View the full programme at edinburghspanishfilmfestival.com Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh also returns as a hybrid. The festival screens two environmental docs at GFT to mark the runup to COP26 – Ke Chin-Yuan’s Sacred Forest (25 Oct) and Huang Jia Jun’s Whale Island (30 Oct). Online there’s the chance to catch some Taiwanese classics, including two masterpieces of the New Taiwanese Cinema wave of the 1980s: Edward Yang’s Taipei Story and Hou HsiaoHsien’s Dust in the Wind. View the full programme at online.taiwanfilmfestival.org.uk And if that wasn’t enough, the London Film Festival comes north of the border with an embarrassment of riches to be screened at GFT and Filmhouse, including the new films from Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Memoria) and Céline Sciamma (Petite Maman). LFF is also bringing with it inflated London ticket prices – to Glasgow, at least – so beware to not waste your money on some screenings that are glorified previews of films out in October anyway (see Last Night in Soho and The French Dispatch). Head to the GFT and Filmhouse websites for details.

We’re also excited to welcome a new cinema space to Edinburgh. Well, it’s not really new. Summerhall has decked out its Red Lecture Theatre with a fresh sound and vision kit and rebranded it Summerhall Cinema, which will have a regular cinema programme mixing new releases with specially curated films and regular events. Coming up in October, you’ve got the chance to see second runs of some of the finest films of the summer, including First Cow, Our Ladies, Limbo, Annette and The Sparks Brothers. We can’t wait for this great space to become a lively cinema hub for Edinburgh southsiders. Full details at summerhall.co.uk/venue/cinema [Jamie Dunn]

The Enemy

THE SKINNY

Art Opening October, Collective Gallery’s artist mentorship program Satellites continues with an exhibition by Mina Heydari-Waite (2 Oct-27 Nov). The artist produces sculptures translated from the architectural embellishments of Persepolis, an ancient city in modern Iran. They’re transposed into flat-packed digital versions, and set in a soundwork on ‘social dreaming’, exploring the possibility of dreams to “uncover wider collective meanings”.

At Embassy Gallery, there’s a new film installation by artist India Sky until 17 Oct, which “maps the cycles of souls, spirit, space and nature, through Birth, Maturity, Death and the Ancestral World.” Inspiration is taken from the permutations of the BaKongo Cosmogram, a cruciform shape used to signify the connections between the physical and spiritual worlds. Sky’s exhibition considers the Cosmogram “within Afro-Diasporic music and dance traditions, particularly underground disco, house, and ballroom culture, The Life Cycle of Rainbows weaves a universe of sound, sculpture, elaborate costumery, dance, and storytelling.”

Back at full pelt, The Ignorant Art School is an exhibition and series of events

by Ruth Ewan and Dundee’s Cooper Gallery about radical politics and education. We profiled the project earlier in the year, and it’s running all this month in Dundee. It’s a wide ranging programme, around differently themed “classes” on singing, design, performance, writing all coming in through the following weeks. Head to the Cooper Gallery website for all the info on dates and booking.

This month, The Common Guild hosts two new projects. First is one of this month’s feature interviewees, Sharon Hayes, whose exhibition Ricerche is in the former school at 5 Florence Street in Glasgow from 9 October to 7 November. In the same spot, there’s a roundtable discussion event on 28 October with Glasgow artists Ashanti Harris, Winnie Herbstein and Mathew Wayne Parkin.

Marking the international climate conference COP26, Gustav Metzger’s 1970 work Mobbile will appear around Glasgow. It’s a modified car that collects and stores its own carbon emissions to show the harmful effects of pollution. On 3 November, there will be a discussion event on art and climate activism at University of Glasgow – details TBC. It’s also the last chance to see Jupiter Artland’s programme before it closes for the season. This includes RESET by Alberta Whittle, in which she works with an impressive set of “accomplices” to produce a group show and a film in which she responds to the Black Lives Matter movement, the global pandemic and climate emergency, “skilfully connect[ing] emergent fears of contagion, moral panic and xenophobia with a call to action – a demand – to face and heal injuries and cultivate hope”. [Adam Benmakhlouf] Image credits, top left: Studio tests, August 2021, Mina Heydari-Waite. Photo by Jassy Earl. Bottom left: Ricerche production still, Dallas, Texas, February 2020, Sharon Hayes Right: Clocks, Governments, People, Letterpress print, 2012, Ruth Ewan. Photo by Matthew Arthur Williams.

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Path Through Wood, Sam Buchan-Watts

October 2021 — Events Guide

Photo: Sally Jubb Dr Claire Askew

Poetry Right in time for that autumnal air encouraging us to stay home, surrounded by books and blankets, October is proving to be an incredible month for poetry publications.

Edinburgh-based independent publisher Blue Diode has already had a strong year of new collections, including the ever-satirical and innovative nicky melville with his 232 pages of poetry in Decade of Cu ts. In October, Blue Diode will be publishing not one, but two collections: Georgi Gill’s Limbo and Allie Kerper’s Pale Hairs Reach Between Us. Both poets have been firm favourites with Scottish poetry audiences over the years, both on page and on the stage, and these collections are set to reaffirm the poets’ popularity.

Prototype – a fairly new publisher, and certainly one to keep an eye on – is launching Sam Buchan-Watts’ debut collection, Path Through Wood, on 12 Oct. Buchan-Watts is the author of Faber New Poets 15, and was given the Northern Writers’ Award for Poetry in 2019 – and that’s barely the tip of his writerly CV. Dostoyevsky Wannabe is publishing Maria Sledmere’s debut collection, The Luna Erratum. For anyone that’s come across Sledmere’s work – either as a poet, performer, or editor – knows this is a book to be anticipated with a celestial shiver.

Her work has been published far and wide; anthologised and published in dozens of magazines, and her poem, Ariosos for Lavish Matter was highly commended in the 2020 Forward Prize. The Luna Erratum is a nourishing, melancholic must-read.

Ledbury critic Sarala Estruch is releasing her collection, Say, via flipped eye on 21 Oct. From the publisher who first published poets including Malika Booker and Miriam Nash, Say is an exploration of language and loss across the generations, delving into themes of mixed-race identity, colonialism, and its aftermath.

Bloodaxe has just announced the exciting second collection from Dr Claire Askew, How to burn a woman. Through poems of witches and outsiders, of women who lived on the fringes of ordinary, Askew dives into an exploration of love with her incisive language, poetic tenderness and electric rage.

Carolyn Jess-Cooke is releasing her third collection, We Have To Leave The Earth, with Seren Books (18 Oct). Featuring a three-part collection of poems, the reader is drawn through Jess-Cooke’s curious poetic mind and folds in themes from across the personal, political, historic and environmental. We Have To Leave The Earth is the perfect collection to begin your autumnal reading list. [Beth Cochrane]

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5 Meet the Team — 6 Editorial — 7 Love Bites — 8 Heads Up 11 What’s On — 16 Crossword — 33 Intersections — 50 Albums 52 Film & TV — 53 Food & Drink — 55 Comedy — 56 Books 57 Listings — 62 The Skinny On… AiiTee

Features 19 Our autumn Screen Special celebrates the Scottish film industry. We look at Scotland’s burgeoning documentary scene, meet the young animators working through the pandemic, talk to some small screen stars and welcome back a host of annual film festivals.

35 With Talking Statues, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival invites us to reimagine who or what should be publicly memorialised.

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36 We chat to Rebecca Lucy Taylor about Prioritise Pleasure, her second album as Self Esteem.

38 Norwich post-punk electro-funk duo Sink Ya Teeth discuss touring their pre-pandemic album.

39 Parquet Courts introduce their new, delayed dance-driven album Sympathy for Life.

40 Lomond Campbell on new album LŪP, produced with his intricate homemade tape looping machine.

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42 We talk to artist Sharon Hayes about her film series Ricerche, arriving in Common Guild this month.

43 Recent graduate artist duo Cat and Éiméar McClay on their Market Gallery residency project.

44 Gqom poster boy DJ Lag tells us about the roots of the genre.

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46 Playwright Kieran Hurley and director Finn den Hertog on their pandemic-delayed contemporary retelling of Ibsen’s Enemy of the People.

47 We take a look at the comedy that made The Beatles so memorable.

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46 Image Credits: (Left to right, top to bottom) de Productie and Faction North; courtesy of Scottish International Storytelling Festival; Olivia Richardson; Andi Sapey; Pooneh Ghana; Lomond Campbell; courtesy of Sharon Hayes; courtesy of Cat McClay and Éiméar McClay; Travys Owen; Rich Dyson; courtesy of The Enemy; Disney

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On the website...

Gig reviews (TRNSMT, Nick Cave and others), film reviews from Venice (Benedict Cumberbatch!

Olivia Colman! Kristen Stewart!), and a food events round-up we couldn’t quite fit onto the previous three pages...

October 2021 — Contents

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45 Harry Josephine Giles introduces her new Orcadian sci-fi adventure Deep Wheel Orcadia.

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Shot of the month Baby Queen at TRNSMT, by Allan Lewis

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Across 1. Edgar Wright's new joint (4,5,2,4) 9. Lacuna (3)

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3. Guide (9)

12. Accent feature – guitar noise (5)

5. Preview (7)

13. References (9)

6. Requirements (5)

14. American soft drink made from sassafras bark (4,4)

7. ___ ___ club, e.g. Etonians (3,4) 8. Inverse (8)

17. Academy Award (5)

15. ___ Kills, the latest instalment in the Michael Myers horror franchise (9)

19. Faithfulness (8)

16. Summoned (8)

23. Figurative representative of the masses (3,6)

18. Depreciate (7)

26. Currency in India (and The Legend of Zelda) (5) 27. Pervade – inspire (5)

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2. Tony ___, character in the eponymous mafia TV series (7)

4. Relevant (7)

25. Circuit – brand of gum (5) 26

1. ___, camera, action! (6)

11. Reach – result in (3,2)

15. Shan't (anag) (5) 18

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28. Ehh, umm, etc (3) 29. Director (b.1967) of the new Dune adaptation (5,10)

Compiled by George Sully

19. Director (d.1993) of La Dolce Vita and 8½ (7) 20. Unit of loudness (7) 21. Scene – à la tube (anag) (7) 22. Hinder (6) 24. Operators – addicts (5)

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October 2021

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Screen Culture R

emember those 18 months when the only way we could engage with culture, society and our loved ones was through screens? That dystopian nightmare is hopefully behind us, but that doesn’t mean screen culture has gone anywhere.

Over the next few pages we take the pulse of screen culture here in Scotland by exploring the health of the Scottish documentary, animation,

television and artists’ moving image scenes. We also celebrate film festivals returning to brick and mortar venues again, and get excited for the future of blockbuster filmmaking by looking at the career of talented Quebecois director Denis Villeneuve ahead of the release of his sci-fi epic Dune.

Ready your peepers and get comfortable, we’re about to add a whole mess of titles to your watchlist.

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Film

What’s Up Doc? Scottish documentary appears in rude health. We speak to some of the emerging voices in this nurturing doc scene to get a flavour of what makes it so vibrant and discover what’s been enabling this success Interview: Rohan Crickmar

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Institutional support and internationalism Alastair Cole’s Iorram and Cindy Jansen’s Prince of Muck are among this year’s most vital Scottish docs. The former – the first entirely Gaelic-language documentary feature – is an innovative look at the Hebridean fishing communities and their relationship to the sea, and blends contemporary filmed footage by Cole and his small team with carefully selected use of an oral archive going back to the 1930s. New Zealand-born Cole has been working in Scotland since 2008 and straddles the line between academia and filmmaking, a route that makes it possible for many creative documentarians to make a living while working the lengthy periods necessary to complete such films. For Cole, the support of Adam Dawtrey at Bofa Productions, based in Stirling, was crucial, as too was backing from Screen Scotland, the body that allocates screen funding within Creative Scotland.

Prince of Muck, meanwhile, tells the story of Lawrence MacEwen and his stewardship of the titular small island off

Black, Black Oil

Image: courtesy of de Productie and Faction North, 2021

or a small nation with an increasingly distinct cultural space within the British film industry, Scotland has had peaks and troughs of production. But in terms of documentary, the volume, diversity and reach of its output has steadily grown over the last two decades. Production companies like Hopscotch (John Archer), Lansdowne (Nick Higgins) and Aconite (Aimara Reques) have had award-winning success with titles like The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011), A Massacre Foretold (2007) and Aquarela (2018). The documentary scene in Scotland has also received international recognition, with established figures like Amy Hardie (The Edge of Dreaming), Sue Bourne (Jig) and Mark Cousins (I Am Belfast) regulars on the international festival circuit. So what has been enabling this growth? And who are some of the new generation of doc makers who have made Scotland their home?

Cow with Calf on Beach , Prince of Muck

Scotland’s west coast. It’s typical of the internationalism of Scotland’s documentary scene: director Jansen is Dutch, and it’s co-produced by René Goossens of Dutch production house De Productie and Grant Keir from Edinburgh-based Faction North. A real hallmark of Faction North’s production work is their ability to find the right creative partnerships for the projects they work with, maintaining strong links with London and increasingly looking further afield for possible co-production opportunities. For example, Keir is currently producing Off the Rails, a coming-of-age doc directed by English filmmaker Rob Alexander (Gary Numan: Android in La La Land).

This outward-looking nature of the contemporary Scottish documentary scene has undoubtedly been shaped by the expertise, training and support offered to filmmakers by the Scottish Documentary Institute (SDI). Founded by Noé Mendelle in 2004 to “nurture documentary filmmakers and audiences in Scotland and beyond”, the SDI has become a focal point for encouraging documentary making throughout Scotland. Yearround, the SDI offers training, masterclasses, networking opportunities and distribution support and has created a number of initiatives including Bridging the Gap, the Edinburgh Pitch, Right Here and, most recently, the New Voices development programme for women and non-binary filmmakers.

New talent and community For Flore Cosquer, the Head of Talent Development at SDI, offering greater accessibility to early career training and development is key. This ambition to open up and demystify the industry extends to New Voices and the 50/50+ Women — 20 —

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Black, Black Oil

Film October 2021 — Feature

Direct(ory), which directly address the imbalance between the number of men and women getting opportunities to direct their own documentary projects. Cosquer also wonders if we shouldn’t be having a more open conversation about the ways in which we support creative artists, looking toward emerging US models that are beginning to shift away from project-led support towards a greater investment in individuals developing and sustaining film careers.

A crucial first step on the doc making ladder has been facilitated by Bridging the Gap, which has been running for nearly two decades now. For Glasgow-based doc maker Hannah Currie the scheme literally “filled a gap” in her career, enabling her to complete a very personal short documentary, That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore, that went on to have a huge international festival release and walked away with the BAFTA Scotland award for Best Short Film.

Alongside this SDI-supported development opportunity, Currie also describes the launch of BBC Scotland in 2019 as “an absolute game-changer for establishing myself as a documentary filmmaker.” Her graduation project We’re All Here was picked up by the BBC Scotland New Talent Scheme and developed into a half-hour film that aired on the channel in May 2019.

Currie has continued this relationship with the channel and is currently in the process of editing an hour-long doc about a Glasgow talent agency and the various hopefuls it handles.

“Scotland is overflowing with characters and stories that need to be filmed,” Currie enthuses.

In the heart of Edinburgh’s northside, we can find Melt the Fly, a dynamic new documentary production company started by childhood friends Austen McCowan and Will Hewitt. Like Currie, they view the arrival of BBC Scotland as offering “opportunities to move things up in our careers.” Similarly, their short film Sink or Skim (2019) was commissioned by Louise Thornton as part of the New Talent Scheme that had developed Currie’s We’re All Here. In the space of three years, despite two of those being heavily interrupted by COVID, McCowan and Hewitt have managed to produce three high-quality short films and are about to launch their feature doc debut, Long Live My Happy Head.

McCowan and Hewitt suggest that compared to London, Edinburgh is a smaller pond to operate within as a creative. For them, there is a tighter sense of community in their little corner of Leith, with Freakworks (a post-production house), Bloc Collective (a filmmakers collective) and Studio Something (the production company behind A View from the Terrace and Scary Adult Things) all a few minutes walk from one another. “There is a sense that the first steps into filmmaking are a little easier in Scotland and there are more opportunities for independents like ourselves,” they say. That said, they still perceive a gap between the industry side of things and the distribution and exhibition side of things within Scotland: “films generally need more assistance getting out into the world,” they note.

Sonja Henrici is an Edinburgh-based producer, originally from Bavaria. She has worked in the film industry in Scotland since 1999, first at EIFF and then as a co-director of the SDI until 2020. Her slate currently includes BBC Scotlandsupported title Black, Black Oil, which explores Scotland’s complex relationship with North Sea oil, and a documentary from London-based German director Eva Weber about Angela Merkel. Henrici says she’s concerned that “there may be a gap emerging within documentary in Scotland between filmmakers like Felipe Bustos Sierra [Nae Pasaran (2018)], who have made a first feature, and those emerging talents who have yet to make that step up to feature level.”

Both Inma de Reyes and Lizzie Mackenzie are Scottishbased documentary makers in the process of completing their first feature-length films. Mackenzie, who is from Oban, was the recipient of one of the UK’s major documentary development awards The Whickers, which helped fund her debut doc feature The Hermit of Treig, which looks at an elderly hermit called Ken who has lived in self-imposed isolation in the Highlands for over four decades. The hotly-anticipated film is currently nearing the end of post-production and is due to air on BBC Scotland later in the year. As with many of the filmmakers discussed here, Mackenzie credits the close mentoring of Amy Hardie as crucial.

Having served an internship on Hardie’s forthcoming doc feature HorseMen, Mackenzie was accepted to the UK-wide ScreenSkills Rising Directors Scheme. For Mackenzie, a hallmark of the Scottish doc making scene is a sense of collaborative community, with Scottish doc makers tending to be generous with their contacts and with sharing knowledge.

De Reyes is a doc filmmaker from Spain, who came to Edinburgh in 2017 to do a Masters in Film Directing at Edinburgh College of Art. She mentions Noé Mendelle and Emma Davie as early, crucial mentors. But Bridging the Gap was, for De Reyes, a huge boost to her career. Her short film Vivir Bailando was developed through the scheme, which led to conversations with Aimara Reques, the producer of Aquarela and founder of Aconite Productions, who went on to produce De Reyes’ debut feature documentary, The Boy and the Suit of Lights, a coming-of-age story about a young toreador from her hometown near Valencia, due for release in 2022.

Scottish documentary-making has come a long way in a very short period of time. There are now a number of senior figures working in documentary within Scotland, offering their support and expertise to emerging new talents. There is also an environment that seems, on the whole, to be supportive and nurturing, and, as Sonja Henrici puts it, founded within an ethos of “compassionate filmmaking.” At its core, contemporary Scottish documentary seems to reflect the quietly international and outward-looking politics of post-devolution Scotland. Long may that continue.

Watch Iorram online at modernfilms.com/iorram

Making that first feature Underpinning so much of what is happening in documentary in Scotland at the moment is Screen Scotland’s continued support for documentary creation. Thanks to Screen Scotland “we are at a point in the development of documentary in Scotland where creative documentary is on everyone’s lips,” says Cosquer. But how do you build on the progress and successes of the last few years?

Iorram

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September 2021

Student Guide

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Small Screen Scotland Ahead of Edinburgh-set comic thriller Guilt returning for series two, we speak to writer Neil Forsyth about the show’s word-of-mouth success Interview: Jamie Dunn Film

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from a wedding and scramble to avoid retribution.

Over four twist-filled, hugely satisfying episodes, the brothers are put through the wringer as they attempt to keep the truth about the hit-and-run from ruining their lives.

Guilt was so good, in fact, it felt like a bit of a miracle that the underfunded BBC Scotland hit it out of the park on their first attempt. Speaking to Guilt’s writer, Neil Forsyth, on the phone ahead of the eagerly-anticipated Guilt 2, we get the sense that in some respects the channel’s budget limitations helped contribute to its sharp writing. “Guilt is quite a dramatically tight show,” he says. “There’s not a huge number of locations, there’s a lot of two-hander scenes. So it’s not an all bells and whistles, big action thriller or anything. So instead you have to trust the performances – and hopefully the script – to tell a great story without feeling you have to have these huge flourishes for the sake of it.” This isn’t to suggest the show looks threadbare in any way. It wouldn’t look out of place in the company of a slick US series like Fargo or Breaking Bad. Forsyth’s dialogue has the hard-boiled flavour of American crime fiction but it’s also extremely Scottish in its gallows humour and themes of duality (good and bad, rich and poor, saint and sinner), which fits snugly in the legacy of Caledonian antisyzygy that runs from Robert Louis Stevenson to Float Ian Rankin. It also makes vivid use of its Edinburgh setting.

“Edinburgh is a physically stunning place,” Forsyth says, “and I’m probably about the hundredth writer to talk about the light and shade between the New Town and Old Town.” Forsyth — 23 —

knows the Scottish capital well. He grew up in Dundee but began his writing career there while also tending bar at The Three Sisters pub to pay the bills. “I’m very fond of the city, and I wanted to get as much of it on-screen as possible?”

Guilt’s Scottishness hasn’t dampened its appeal abroad; the show is proving to be a similar word-of-mouth triumph over in the States. Forsyth puts some of this success down to Guilt’s specificity.

“You’re trying to thread a needle, where you’re trying to create something that was very of itself in terms of locality,” he explains. “The only place this show could be set is Edinburgh and Leith, and that has to feel very authentic. But you also want it to have a universality of storytelling and characters that could be understood and enjoyed all around the world.”

That’s easier said than done. But one of Forsyth’s shortcuts to compelling storytelling is having the audience in mind when he sits down to write. “I think about my viewer as someone who has knocked their pan in all day at a job, maybe one they don’t particularly enjoy, and they’re sat down at night with a drink. They’ve looked at the schedule, found this thing called Guilt, and they think, ‘well let’s give this ten minutes.’ And that’s the viewer I always think about. I try and give them a reason to keep watching after that first ten minutes and draw them in through storytelling and character. That’s certainly an ambition.”

We reckon Forsyth has succeeded in this endeavour. We defy anyone to watch the first ten minutes of Guilt and not be desperate to see it through to its gut-punching close.

Guilt is available to watch on iPlayer, with Guilt 2 due to air in October Vigil, The Scotts and Float are all available on iPlayer

October 2021 — Feature

cottish telly is pretty hot right now. BBC One’s drama à la mode is the daftly enjoyable Vigil, a submarine-set whodunit starring Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie as Glasgow detectives investigating some shady happenings onboard the UK’s nuclear deterrent. It’s going great guns on Sunday nights, debuting with over ten million viewers, making it easily the biggest new UK drama of the year.

Another Scottish hit with a briny flavour is Annika, which stars Nicola Walker as a fourth-wall-breaking Maritime Homicide DI. The logline may sound like something found on Alan Partridge’s old dictaphone, but this skew-whiff crime drama is breaking viewing records on its channel Alibi.

Meanwhile Robert Florence and Iain Connell, the duo behind absurdist sketch show Burniston, look to have another cult comedy on their hands with The Scotts, a demented sitcom shot in the style of a glossy reality TV soap. And smaller in scale, but no less impressive, is the tender micro drama Float. Written by award-winning playwright Stef Smith, it tells, over six delicate ten-minute episodes, the compassionate love story that blossoms between two young women who find themselves stuck working as lifeguards at a smalltown pool.

The jewel of this recent glut of Scottish small-screen success though is Guilt, which aired on BBC Scotland and BBC Two in 2019. The first major drama from BBC Scotland, it’s a darkly hilarious moral satire that explores the unravelling of two Edinburgh brothers (played by Mark Bonnar and Jamie Sives) after they accidentally kill a man while driving home drunk

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Win, Lose or Draw?

While most of the film industry ground to a halt during the pandemic lockdowns, animators continued to work industriously in isolation. We speak to three recent graduates from Edinburgh College of Art to hear what their future holds

Film

Interview: Nathaniel Ashley

The Night Library, dir. Catherine Shaw

An Taigh Solais , dir. Alina Brust

October 2021 — Feature

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he pandemic was an unmitigated disaster for most industries, causing profits to plummet and forcing workplaces to drastically change the way they function. Yet, talking to young animators in Edinburgh, there’s a sense that lockdown has been more of a blessing than a curse in their field.

“The animation industry is one of the few sectors that I think has been doing pretty well during the pandemic,” says 22-year-old animator Alina Brust, who recently graduated from Edinburgh College of Art. “It’s easier for animators to work from home than actual film stars so I think that’s been getting more popular.” The shift towards working from home has also made it less difficult for animators living outside of London to build a career; Brust recently applied for a three-month internship with a studio based in London, which she would not have been able to afford if it was in-person.

Not that in-studio work is likely to die out completely. James Crang (22), one of Brust’s fellow graduates, welcomes the growing flexibility but thinks that the siren call of creativity and collaboration will ensure most animators will want to keep coming into the studio. “It’s much nicer to be able to do work with your co-workers, your friends, and actually being involved in it rather than doing it all externally, but I think there’s going to be a lot more leeway on what a studio is doing remote and in-studio.”

However, that increasing accessibility is a double-edged sword. While Brust and Crang’s coursemate Catherine Shaw (22) is glad that the industry is beginning to open up to more people, she’s also aware that the resulting competition will make her life harder. “I think there are a lot more jobs than there were before but also there are so many people wanting to become animators,” she suggests. “It’s so easy to find them all online that it’s harder to stand out amongst all of that.”

All three remain largely optimistic about the path the industry is following. Shaw is keen to emphasise that, although there is undoubtedly still room for improvement, animation is becoming far less homogenous than it once was. “There still aren’t enough women in the highest positions, and there’s still not enough access for minorities,” she says. “But that’s

The Magentalman And The Gentlemint, dir. James Crang

improving a huge amount. People who are hiring now are way more likely to be inclusive employers.”

Meanwhile, Crang notes that studios are becoming more willing to take risks. He points to the success of Sony’s animated 2018 superhero film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as an example of major studios experimenting with unique animation, rather than mimicking Disney’s house style. However, he believes there is still a way to go before the industry can fulfil its potential. “What I’d like to see happening is animation being treated more like a medium, rather than a genre,” he says. “It’s very rare to have adult animation, especially for films, and that really needs to change because animation is such an impactful storytelling medium.”

For now, though, they are focusing on getting their films in front of audiences. All three are entering films into festivals, a process that can take months. Crang has had his final project, a queer romance titled The Magentalman and the Gentlemint, accepted by a number of festivals, including Last Frame Queer Fest. Meanwhile, Brust’s short film An Taigh Solais, which follows an elderly shepherd, premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival in August and will be entered into the Celtic Media Festival and MG Alba’s short film competition, FilmG. Likewise, Shaw is planning to apply to FilmG when she promotes her short film The Night Library, a story about rejecting apathy and embracing curiosity.

In the meantime, they are aiming to work more traditional jobs to help pay the bills. Both Shaw and Crang are searching for part-time work while they build their portfolio. And Brust is currently employed at a renewable energy company, where she creates short videos explaining more about the services they offer. Although she would like to work on a major film at some point, she’s enjoying the current gig. “I’m actually doing animation work, which is crazy.”

Though they may be facing an increasingly competitive industry, all are optimistic that animation is changing for the better. With accessibility, diversity and individuality on the rise, a new golden age of animation could be on the horizon.

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Think Big Ahead of Dune arriving in cinemas, we look back at Denis Villeneuve’s recent run of blockbusters to gauge if he has what it takes to bring Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel to the screen Words: Rory Doherty

Director Denis Villeneuve and Javier Bardem on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure Dune, a Warner Bros. Pictures release

ultimately saves her soul as others wade deeper into moral degradation.

Villeneuve’s follow-up, Arrival, sees a character undergo a similar journey – albeit a much more humanist one. Louise (Amy Adams) is an accomplished linguist who’s brought in by the military to decipher the language of aliens who have just touched down at random points across the planet.

What sets her apart from her military colleagues is how willing she is to adapt to her surroundings – soon, it’s the authorities that are catching up with Louise, rather than her lagging behind.

The scope of Arrival’s story encompasses the whole planet, but even as the geopolitical stakes are raised, Louise always remains the focal point of the narrative. By learning the aliens’ language, the way she thinks will literally change. In less deft hands, this would be a difficult concept to express to an audience, but with an emotional foundation to Louise’s character – and a nifty bit of misdirection – the seismic, brain-altering impact these aliens will have on humanity is beautifully realised.

It’s Louise’s continual adapting to her new surroundings, even at the risk of her being completely overwhelmed, that makes her story as impressive as it is affecting.

In Blade Runner 2049, Villeneuve’s first franchise outing, a distorted mirror is held up to Arrival’s narrative. Following an android detective known as ‘K’, we see again the centring of the protagonist in an enormous, planet-changing discovery, but here it’s played differently. In a world where the android population is made to feel like they don’t belong, K learns that one of his kind was biologically born, — 27 —

and starts to wonder if he is that special child.

Thinking that this would prove his humanity, he’s devastated to learn that he isn’t the ‘chosen one’, and almost abandons his mission to help bring salvation to his fellow androids. But just because he’s not the most important person on the planet doesn’t mean he is any less deserving of humanity, something he learns is not found in being biologically born, but rather finding a cause and sharing empathy for those like you. Villeneuve’s Blade Runner film argues that the most meaningful discovery you can have in an overwhelming world is learning you have a place in it.

Villeneuve’s worlds are often imposing and inhospitable, but the scariest thing about them is how they make people deconstruct a core part of what makes them human. His characters are always stronger for this confrontation, and it’s a crucial process in coming to terms with an environment that makes you feel insignificant. Dune is a story about a young man, Paul (Timothée Chalamet), forced to shoulder a multifaceted, tortuous legacy on a harsh, unstable planet; it’s through this singular journey that we acclimatise ourselves with the blinding alien planet of Arrakis.

It’s a big, imposing world, but there’s no doubt it’s safe in Villeneuve’s hands.

Dune is released 22 Oct by Warner Bros Sicario and Blade Runner 2049 are streaming on Prime Video Arrival is streaming on Netflix

October 2021 — Feature

In the drug thriller Sicario, federal agent Kate (Emily Blunt) is brought on to an unorthodox taskforce to hunt down key figures in a Mexican cartel. The brutal and unflinching way her superiors deal out justice has Kate tearing herself apart over her ethics in the field. Throughout the film, Villeneuve fosters a feeling of disorientation; you get the sense that, like Kate, the important information is being kept out of your reach. Of these three films’ protagonists, Kate certainly has the least agency, but she always fights to make the moral choice down to her final submission that, in the hellish war she’s neck-deep in, such efforts are pointless. The fact that she can’t shake her preconceived notions of how justice should work means she’s forever out of place, something that

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“We don’t simply gawk at the blockbuster thrills in a Villeneuve joint: we experience them ourselves”

Photo: Chiabella James, copyright © 2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved

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oo often in genre filmmaking, the human component is forgotten. When watching big, bombastic films, we’re used to underdeveloped characters crumbling and slipping away entirely under the blockbuster spectacle. This is never a problem with the Hollywood movies of Canadian director Denis Villeneuve.

Before helming the monstrous Dune, Villeneuve’s projects had been getting progressively bigger in scale and scope. But in each, a crucial narrative rule was inscribed. The vast, expansive nature of the story was always rooted in a lone protagonist’s point of view, so the audience feels the weight of confronting a new world along with the character. In other words, we don’t simply gawk at the blockbuster thrills in a Villeneuve joint: we experience them ourselves.

In the triple-punch of Sicario (2015), Arrival (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), we follow skilled and experienced protagonists as they’re forced to recalibrate their understanding of the world by facing something previously unimaginable. These characters – an FBI agent, a linguist and a (robot) detective – have rigid expectations of how to act when faced with a crisis, but as they step into the unknown, they question how much good their training will do them. The films ask: Can facing a towering new world force us to change and grow?

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Queer We Go Scottish Queer International Film Festival’s new programmers Nat Lall and Jamie Rea tell us what they're bringing to this always lively and inclusive celebration of LGBTQ+ filmmaking

The Skinny: Were there any new elements you were keen to bring to the festival this year?

Jamie Rea: Well, as a deaf curator, that is a new and exciting element that the festival will have this year. It means I have been able to privilege deaf creativity in screenings and in the programming of the festival. I’ve brought deaf filmmakers to the festival as well as deaf guest speakers. And, for the first time ever, we’ll have creative conversations in sign language – my first language – and that’s a very new thing for the festival.

Can you tell me a bit more about that programme featuring work by deaf filmmakers?

JR: This year we tried to really honour deaf filmmakers in the programme. Each of these films offers a piece of dynamic and creative filmmaking. Some films are from the US and some from the UK but they’re all about deaf people finding love and making connections. They are films about people, really – but we see deaf creativity, how difficult communication barriers can be in relationships and the power of sign language.

SQIFF has been one of the most forward-thinking festivals in Scotland in terms of accessibility and inclusion – for example, with its sliding-scale pricing policy. Why do you think SQIFF, in particular, has been at the forefront of making these inclusive policies more widespread in Scottish film exhibition culture?

Nat Lall: Well, for one it isn’t run by a white, cis, straight, nondisabled man lol. That makes a BIG difference. The team is diverse, like actually, not like performatively. I don’t feel like a token. Especially in terms of disabilities. I think disability can

often get left out of ‘intersectional’ queer discourse. Yes, sexuality matters, race matters, class matters... and so does disability.

There’s also a focus, this year, on gaming culture, which is most associated – in the mainstream imagination at least – with straight cis men. Can you tell me why you wanted to include that strand?

NL: Honestly, I’m so far removed from that idea as I game lots but rarely with straight cis men. But, you’re right in terms of mainstream associations. Gaming can be a great way to take on another body in an alternative realm. Or even to ‘test-drive’ a different body before modifying your own in the physical realm.

It’s a way to experiment with gender for sure.

I’ve done a lot of personal research into gender and gaming. A lot of games actually have a high percentage of women players, especially over the last decade. It is just that the games women tend to play are not seriously considered as games. For example, would your nan who plays Candy Crush all day consider herself a gamer? There’s plenty more to say but I’ll leave that for the GA(Y)MERS screening Q&A. What makes a film festival like SQIFF so important to the LGBTQ+ community?

JR: Celebration. In the same way that Pride celebrates the LGBTQ+ community, so does SQIFF. It’s a place to share our stories, express ourselves and honour our creativity.

SQIFF is a blank canvas. It allows LGBTQ+ artists to come together and create and share the work we do.

It’s a gateway to that beautiful place where we meet, make new connections and enjoy the films that the LGBTQ+ community have offered us.

SQIFF takes place 6-10 Oct, CCA Glasgow, with some events and screenings available online. For the full programme and tickets, head to sqiff.org

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“SQIFF is a blank canvas. It allows LGBTQ+ artists to come together and create and share the work we do” Jamie Rea Photo: Tiu Makkonenn

October 2021 — Feature

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t’s all change at the upcoming Scottish Queer International Film Festival. The seventh edition sees Nat Lall and Jamie Rea take the reins as co-programmers and they’ll be delivering the festival’s first hybrid edition, with events taking place 6 to 10 October in-person at the festival’s usual hub in CCA Glasgow, with some available online. But elsewhere, this is the same old SQIFF, with a fierce commitment to marginalised queer stories that aren’t given space at other LGBTQ+ festivals, never mind mainstream cinemas.

New Scottish queer filmmaking talent gets a typically good showing this year, with a brace of programmes featuring LGBTQ+ shorts made locally. There’s a showcase of films from deaf filmmakers called A New Chapter Begins. Also look out for shorts programmes exploring kink (Spill your Kinky), gender and gaming (GA(Y)MERS), and queer science fiction (Sci-fi Happening). Among the features, meanwhile, are Adam, a sweet comedy about a cis boy who’s confused for a trans boy by the girl he likes, and cult lesbian action-comedy D.E.B.S. We speak to SQIFF’s new programming team to find out more.

Photo: Tiu Makkonenn

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Interview: Jamie Dunn

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Talk of the Toon Scotland Loves Anime returns with the very best of Japanese animation, new and old. We pick out some of the highlights, from a cyber-fairytale riffing on Beauty and the Beast to a goofy espionage caper Words: Jamie Dunn

The End of Evangelion

Belle Mamoru Hosoda might be the most exciting voice in Japanese animation right now. With films like Wolf Children and Mirai, he’s certainly proven himself one of the form’s most inventive and emotionally sensitive directors. Hosoda’s eagerlyawaited new film is Belle, a curious cyber-fairytale riffing on Beauty and the Beast, which follows a grieving teen girl who channels her emotions into a glittering virtual universe where her avatar is a music idol. 16 Oct, Filmhouse The Deer King Some ex-Studio Ghibli talent is involved in The Deer King, namely ​​co-directors Masashi Ando and Masayuki Miyaji, who’ve conjured up a visually

The End of Evangelion This rare chance to see the final chapter of the Neon Genesis Evangelion saga on the big screen should be jumped at. As in that groundbreaking 90s anime series, expect jaw-dropping battles between giant organic robots controlled by troubled adolescents and beautiful, terrifying, god-like creatures called ‘Angels’, combined with avantgarde sequences taking us inside the dark recesses of its characters’ minds. 17 Oct, Filmhouse

way of Ocean’s Eleven”, which is recommendation enough for us. 1 Oct, GFT; 11 Oct, Filmhouse On-Gaku: Our Sound A trio of high-school ne’er-do-wells decide to start a band, despite having no musical talent, in this charmingly loosey-goosey comedy. The animation, made on a shoestring over seven years by firsttime director Kenji Iwaisawa, is similarly freewheeling, blending rotoscope animation, handdrawn characters, and painted backgrounds. It’s a skew-whiff delight. 12 Oct, Filmhouse

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sumptuous epic worthy of their mentor, Hayao Miyazaki. This might be a lush fantasy film set in a mystical kingdom, but there are plenty of realworld parallels too, from The Deer King’s environmental themes to its plot concerned with a deadly pandemic sweeping through the countryside. 3 Oct, GFT; 17 Oct, Filmhouse

Scotland Loves Anime takes place 1-3 Oct at Glasgow Film Theatre and 11-17 Oct at Filmhouse in Edinburgh. View the full programme at lovesanimation.com

Lupin III: The First Lupin, the legendary gentleman thief, is having a bit of a moment. The French, live-action Lupin series starring Omar Sy proved immensely popular when it debuted on Netflix earlier this year, and now Takashi Yamazaki brings us a 3D animation featuring this dashing daredevil. One reviewer described this new adventure as “Looney Tunes by On-Gaku: Our Sound

Africa on Screen Africa in Motion goes online-only this year with a huge programme of over 90 films and events shining a light on the brilliance and diversity of African cinema Words: Jamie Dunn

Honey Cigar

filmmakers in the wider Black diasporas to celebrate their talent and heritage,” Chege says.

The festival kicks off with music documentary Elder’s Corner, in which musician and filmmaker Siji Awoyinka tracks down some of the Nigerian pioneers of Jùjú and Afrobeat. It’ll make for a fine taster for the music-themed films to come in AiM’s Setting Pace strand, which features docs on Afro-Cuban music (Soy Cubana) and jazz (Brenda Fassie, Not A Bad Girl), and online performances from rising stars Balimaya Project and Jas Kayser.

Other strands include Family Matters, which delves into films centred on familial relationships; Great Expectations, which concerns films about dreamers and the shifting perspectives on ideas of legacy; and Queer Africa, which puts a spotlight on the shifting landscape of African queerness.

There’s also a Women in Focus strand, which gives the festival its closing film, Honey Cigar, a tender coming-of-age tale set in 1993.

The annual AiM shorts competition is also back, and look (and listen) out too for a new initiative in partnership with the Scottish Poetry Library and Obsidian Foundation that sees AiM — 29 —

Elder’s Corner

commission work by three Black female poets – Tjawangwa Dema, Clementine Ewokolo Burnley and Zakia Carpenter-Hall. Responding to the COP26 climate change conference, the poets have been asked to compose a piece each on the theme of the natural environment, which will be turned into a performance short film and will have its world premiere at AiM. Africa in Motion takes place online 15-30 Oct africa-in-motion.org.uk

October 2021 — Feature

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his month Africa in Motion (AiM) celebrates its sweet 16th edition, which means we’ve the annual opportunity to dig into the wealth of inventive filmmaking from across the African continent that rarely catches the eyes of UK distributors. Sadly, this year’s edition will be restricted to the small screen as it’s online-only, but the upside is that its 90-odd films, along with a plethora of poetry events, music, talks and workshops, will be available to film fans all over the UK. For AiM festival director Liz Chege, the purpose of the festival remains the same as ever: to empower and awaken imagination through the power of film. “I’m delighted that even during these extraordinary circumstances, our festival has continued to support African artists and

Film

Image: courtesy of the artist

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Still from Dear Prudence re-imagined, Anne Colvin, 2021

The Great Virtual Scottish Comeback We meet some of the Scottish filmmakers and programmers whose working lives have been profoundly reshaped by the pandemic

October 2021 — Feature

Interview: Derek McArthur

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n March 2020, the creative sector rushed to furlough workers and panicked together paths to operate online. New infrastructures sprung up to replace the shuttered doors of cinemas, theatres and museums. Regardless of how secure their situation, artists and curators faced challenges in the upset. Concerns of transitioning online, translating work to the virtual landscape and issues that already plagued the Scottish creative sector compounded as a result.

However, a word that came up frequently in my conversations with those in the creative sector was the word ‘adaptable’. Creatives are adaptable.

They may not be able to charge inflated digital rental prices on Disney+ to shore up lost incomes but, like roaches rearing their antennae after an apocalypse, an artist will adjust to whatever situation they find themselves in.

As the crisis got ugly, the art world pushed through to see the speckles of beauty. This is an insight into the Scottish arts during this period, the trials and tribulations, and the lessons learned.

An isolated triumph The transition to a fully online space was unfamiliar territory for a lot of artists. Anne Colvin, an Edinburgh-based artist who works across moving image, poetry and ephemeral intervention, came across the dilemma of transitioning online as her project Dear Prudence re-imagined revolved around collaboration in a designated space.

“We were in lockdown and had to work entirely remotely from our respective bases in Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Lagos,” she explains. The scrambling to get back to families and loved ones had made the project an international affair. Objects for the installation were finished in Colvin’s home studio while costuming was done in collaborator Katie Shannon’s London studio. When the project was re-contextualised into its new form, vocalists Nichola Scrutton, Louise McVey and Bumi Thomas sent recordings from a home studio in Glasgow and a brewery in Lagos, respectively.

This change in circumstances shook artists — 30 —

out of their comfort zone. Ultimately this turned out to be a positive thing, allowing artists to rethink the relationship to their work and overcome the unfamiliar challenges that make success all the more triumphant.

“It was born out of adversity but was transformational, both existentially and psychologically,” says Colvin. “I don’t normally work collaboratively and this approach brought its own rewards and challenges, but I feel that the success of the project and the work made under such difficult circumstances represents an amazing achievement, a state of mind even. Moving forward I will carry this with me.”

Although circumstances were less than ideal, artists like Colvin are used to operating on the fringes. Coming to terms with the new world revealed a will and strength that might have never been realised otherwise.

The virtual world It was not just artists navigating the swamps of the

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The Road Ahead It has been nearly a year and a half since the creative sector went through major upheaval.

Although fears about its future are justified, hope still remains. New ideas will blossom and new voices will emerge as night follows day. It is human nature to create, yet we live in a world where that has not always been respected. These impulses find a way regardless.

The passion and resilience of Scotland’s art world will secure its future. While the road ahead will no doubt be a long and frustrating one, now is not the time to let our identities be less heard.

Earlier this year Alchemy Film & Arts, LUX Scotland and The Skinny worked together to offer an open-call programme of writing workshops for early-career writers, addressing artists’ moving image and experimental film. This text is the second in a new series of commissioned writing that result from this partnership programme

Still from Getting By, Jonas Hämmerle, 2020

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October 2021 — Feature

“Like roaches rearing their antennae after an apocalypse, an artist will adjust to whatever situation they find themselves in”

Emerging fortunes While established artists and curators struggled with an abrupt transition, emerging artists were not so dampened by expectations. The online world presented a blank slate for new artists, unhindered by the chaos and turmoil experienced by institutions and organisations.

Jonas Hämmerle,

a recent graduate of the University of Glasgow, co-founded his own production company Air It Out Films in 2019 with the intention of independently releasing his directorial debut Getting By. Hämmerle was in post-production when the pandemic took hold and had to reassess its release. “A viewing in cinemas was obviously off the table for an unknown amount of time, which is why we decided to organise an online premiere and release of the film.”

The film was initially released on Amazon Prime Video, but a policy change towards short films led to many smaller creators being wiped from the platform. Getting By was a victim of this change, running at just over half an hour. “It is unfortunate for smaller companies and emerging filmmakers like ourselves because we lose a huge opportunity for our films to be seen,” he explains.

Squeezed out by an arbitrary rule change, the film landed on YouTube, where Hämmerle noted the directness of the platform. With YouTube being user-based and easily disseminated, it at least provided a small way to deliver community to his online audience.

The attention to an online audience naturally paid off. Getting By received the Audience Award at the GlasgowON Film Festival. Without any prior expectations, emerging artists could mould and alter their situation amid the chaos of ongoing circumstances.

Image: courtesy of the artist

The Big Gloom The future of Scottish arts and culture cannot be sugar coated. The prevailing sense is that the sector will be in for a rude awakening once government spending drives cease to have effect.

“The imminent decrease in government funding probably won’t really hit for a while, but I’m pretty certain that it’s coming,” director of LUX

Scotland, Kitty Anderson surmises.

Cuts to the arts have been government orthodoxy for an extended time and neither the UK nor devolved government is innocent. A year before the pandemic, Creative Scotland CEO Iain Munro remarked that the sector was at a ‘tipping point’.

Failure to support creative institutions meant that the potential growth of the sector was undermined.

Despite increases to production in Scotland, this responsibility did not align with funding needs. The neglect has created problems within the workforce, predicating an industry built on freelance and temporary work, and creating a situation where increasing production without proper support has led to a skills gap issue. It is inevitable that these problems will increase post-pandemic without significant overhaul and review of government policy.

Glasgow-based artist Jennifer Wicks, who works across film, sculpture and music, reflects on the sort of crisis arts and culture is in, particularly at the education level. “Art education has been in a seemingly permanent state of crisis, particularly within smaller further education colleges which have always been looked down upon, perhaps because they’re more working-class. But now the Tories have cut funding even more with a focus on STEM. This ultimately means they are trying to harvest a generation of workers.

“The access to art and the impact it has on mental health and wellbeing especially by lower socio-economic groups, vulnerable groups and children often isn’t regarded,” Wicks continues.

This drive to look at the arts as not a business but something that is imperative to the wellbeing of a country and its citizens should be reflected in funding structures and how funding is allocated, suggests Michael Pattison. “If funding continues to be distributed by means of assessments and panel reviews, the arts will likely continue towards professionalisation in line with the bureaucratisation of funding infrastructures and the emergent top-down managerialism that overlooks the creative sector.”

As Hollywood invades the streets of Edinburgh and Glasgow to film next summer’s big blockbuster, the Scottish government promises ‘year-round engagement’ with the US film industry.

It’s a lofty ambition but questions about how sustainable, practical and culturally fruitful this will be remain. Once the circus leaves town, what are the locals to do?

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new world. Festival curation took on a remarkably different approach, exchanging the communal nature of the festival audience for lonely laptop screens.

Michael Pattison, the co-director of Alchemy Film & Arts, including its annual film festival, felt the rug being pulled when the work from home order was issued. The complex infrastructure involved in festival organising meant that the workflow of such an intricate operation was significantly altered.

“Once physical workplaces close and internal communications become digital, these workflows are stripped of spontaneity, creativity, rest and the social context required of empathy, effective management and proper care,” he opines.

Transitioning to an online platform made many in the art world cognisant of the virtual spaces they now had to work with. Online festivals, exhibitions, concerts and film premieres were common occurrences throughout lockdown. The vast majority of these were built independently from the abundance of mainstream platforms that occupied the time and attention of many during this period. Michael notes the influence of corporations such as Netflix and Amazon.

“These platforms have monopolised audience expectations when it comes to consumption. More audiences want everything available all of the time – a kind of libertarian chaos that renders curation redundant, stretches worker capacity, and possibly limits artists from getting remunerated for their work and from showing their work and engaging audiences in meaningful settings.”

Independence from these platforms helps to facilitate a presentation closer to what the artist intends, as delivery orients around how to effectively communicate ideas through an online space.

The rigid structures of more mainstream platforms discourage this sort of freedom. Restrictions on physical spaces seem to have cheered on outside networks elsewhere. The victory of artists making tangential dents in the cybersphere is celebrated

by Pattison. “Artists have possibly shared their work more than ever, have possibly spent more time speaking about their work than ever, and have possibly connected with audiences more than ever since March 2020,” he asserts.

October 2021

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Rhyze Up We speak to Rhyze about growing fungi, empowering their community through food and the radical potential of the humble mushroom Interview: Katie Goh

“By being a bit more like mushrooms, we have a better chance of undoing a lot of the crises that we’re currently facing”

Visit rhyzemushrooms.scot to find out more about Rhyze and to sign up to their newsletter

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October 2021 — Feature

Photo: Lauren Waterman

runs workshops to teach people how to grow mushrooms at home. “People can grow mushrooms in their households just by using household waste, like old coffee grounds or cardboard,” says Marco. “So it’s also accessible to people who might have mobility issues as constant bending over and gardening can be a big challenge. That’s one of the things we’re also interested in: finding ways to grow food that are accessible to everyone, not just people who are mobile and have access to green space.”

Rhyze is still in early development – they incorporated as a non-profit in December 2020 – and are slowly recruiting volunteers for specific roles. The collective aims to be non-hierarchical, a flat structure in which everyone’s voice will be heard. “We want everything to be accessible and open sourced,” adds Mim. “We’re not aiming for endless growth, [rather] we want to work in cooperative and nonhierarchical ways. We want communities to come to us for the blueprint but then do what they want with it.”

In Rhyze’s near future are free mushroom growing workshops, a big opening party when the team finishes work on their shipping container farm Mim Black and recruiting new members as part of the government’s Kickstart Scheme (so, if you’re under 25, on universal credit and excited about mushrooms, watch this space). Being a radical food collective is hard work – physically and emotionally – but one that bears bountiful returns. “It’s constant labour but what you get in return is just incredible,” says Marco. “The crucial role that fungus plays in our ecosystems has only really come to light recently. Rhyze is a cool way to motivate people and start conversations in communities and households about ecology, how everything’s connected and how we humans need to care for our ecosystems – or they’ll stop caring for us.”

Intersections

Photo: Lauren Waterman

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ushrooms are having a bit of a moment. Recent books like Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life and Netflix’s documentary Fantastic Fungi, as well as many, many TikTok videos, are exposing people to the fascinating world of fungi, from how they connect the forest floor through underground mycelium networks, to their incredible ability to grow from and on just about anything. It’s this latter, adaptable quality in particular that attracted a group of mushroom fans to band together as Rhyze, a radical, mushroom growing collective based in Edinburgh.

“A group of us got together during the pandemic, keen to start a project around food and community education, something that would empower people to lead more sustainable lives and feed themselves and their communities,” explains Marco Tenconi, Rhyze’s Cultivation Coordinator. “We wanted a project that would work around our urban lives and the physical constraints of being in the city, and mushroom farming is just perfect for that. You can grow a lot of mushrooms in a small space, they don’t need much light and can grow on all kinds of waste streams that are a big problem in our towns and cities.”

“And mushrooms are just cool!” adds Mim Black, who joined Rhyze in October 2020, as the project really got going.

“They create life because they break down matter and turn it into soil and themselves. They can grow on things like oil, breaking it down and turning it into themselves, and then when you test the mushrooms they don’t have any of the toxicity from the object they grew from. A lot of people know about how mycelium connects a forest’s trees and spreads nutrients between them. In a way, mushrooms are an amazing metaphor for how we can resist capitalism because by building community and sharing and by being a bit more like mushrooms, we have a better chance of undoing a lot of the crises that we’re currently facing.”

Rhyze describe themselves as an anti-capitalist food collective, more interested in giving people the tools to grow their own produce, than making a profit from the fruit of their labour.

As Marco says: “One of the things we’re interested in doing is trying to rebuild some kind of food commons and to empower people to be able to feed themselves and their communities, and not have to always depend on monetary exchange and the world’s food supply chain which we see as inherently exploitative.”

Mim reckons that lockdown has given people a greater appreciation for the natural world and growing things themselves. “It’s a vital part of being a human being, especially being in nature collectively, like volunteering at gardens and allotments,” she explains. “That’s definitely something we want Rhyze to be a part of and we’re already working with a couple of gardens around Edinburgh to set up farming that mixes with mycology because there are various mushrooms that have really good symbiotic relationships with plants.”

As well as growing mushrooms themselves in a big, yellow shipping container, Rhyze also

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Kaleidoscopes of Gender

Interview: Rosie Priest Illustration: Beatrice Simpkiss

October 2021 — Feature

Intersections

Gender is always in flux and so are pronouns we use to describe our gender identity. One writer explores their/her pronouns and speaks to others about their relationships to using multiple pronouns

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ociety often thinks of gender as a spectrum with two binaries on either side – women, who use the pronouns she/her, and men, who use the pronouns he/him – and in between the two, lies a grey area of non-binary people who typically use the pronouns they/them. But what this limited spectrum doesn’t accurately convey is how gender, like sexuality, is an incredible kaleidoscope: agender, pangender, gender fluid, genderqueer, cisgender, gender outlaw (sounds awesome), non-binary, bi-gender, omnigender…

The list goes on and on. With many different gender identities, it makes sense that sticking to one set of pronouns (i.e. she/her, they/them or he/ him) wouldn’t be a comfortable fit for everyone.

Daisy (they/she) relates to this feeling of not being quite at home with the gender binary spectrum. “I think I actively don’t relate to the version of ‘woman’ that is in media and celebrated as the norm. I feel androgynous, sometimes elements of feminine or masculine energies are stronger but I mostly feel a bit wibbly wobbly in the middle.”

Harry (they/she) feels similarly: “She/her don’t hold my identity for a number of reasons; it doesn’t fit my relationship with my soul or body. It’s like wearing the shoe of someone who’s the same size but has a different weight and gait so it feels off.

My soul and body don’t fit with conventional, patriarchal expectations of cis female persons.”

Drew (he/they) reiterates this estrangement: “I believe my pronouns say that I am a male, but a ‘weird’ one, one that doesn’t typically ascribe to everything that is male. I grew up believing I was going to be female; I was taunted as such, socialised as such and I fully did not want anything to do with what was ‘for boys.’ As an adult, I’ve always been incredibly ‘femme’, again bullied as such.”

Tammy (he/she)’s case is a little different as she is intersex, meaning that she was born with both female and male reproductive organs. His ongoing understanding of his gender has gone hand in hand with recognising his biology. “People struggle,” Tammy says. “They don’t get that I have never been

“I don’t have a fully formed answer for my gender, but I know that it’s somewhere in that spiralling, emerging, disappearing, colourful chaos”

able to be a girl or a boy, I’ve always been both but was forced to be a girl. I’m in my 40s now and only realising that I was never meant to be one gender – I’m both. I spent so many years confused, lost, scared.” I ask Tammy if he’s had any moments of people using her multiple pronouns properly. “To be honest, people always look at me like – are you a man or a woman – and end up using “they” and so for a long time I identified as non-binary and would roll with that. It wasn’t until I started saying, ‘No, it’s she or he,’ that things started to click for me.”

Just like Tammy, Harry, Drew and Daisy, the gender I am often assigned by people doesn’t seem to fit my full story. For me (I use they/she pronouns), woman-ness has often felt like a strain. I felt like a lot of what defined me as a ‘woman’ was linked to trauma, typically sexual, psychological or physical.

Daisy reiterates this feeling: “I was spiked when I was 18. Only recently have I understood that part of my mechanism to deal with that was to tell myself that my only role in life was to be the ‘woman’ having sex happen to me, rather than the reality that I am a person in the world who can give and receive sex with respect and compassion.”

I recognise playing that part. I understand ‘woman’ as a part of me but not my definition.

A woman+ or, perhaps, a non-binary person with a woman-esque part. Just as it’s a kaleidoscope, our relationship with gender is constantly shifting and — 34 —

changing. I don’t have a fully formed answer for my gender, but I know that it’s somewhere in that spiralling, emerging, disappearing, colourful chaos.

And if I never manage to see it or iterate it exactly, I’m a lot more comfortable within that chaos than anywhere else.

Care and kindness is often as important as getting pronouns right. As Harry says, “I feel lucky to not have a binary gender, so am happy with any pronoun so long as it’s spoken with compassion and respect.” Expressing confusion or frustration does not create a safe space. I still ruminate on a friend responding with an “ergh, gross” when discovering I was queer and it has meant I am hesitant in spaces to share pronouns, even with my nearest and dearest. This also means that it isn’t always safe for the person you’re asking to express their pronouns if prompted. Be mindful. For example, when discovering someone uses multiple pronouns, I often consciously lean into using the one I imagine they experience the least – a small but often detectable signal of allyship. As Drew so perfectly puts it: “My gender feels flexible, and my pronouns express that, and sometimes it feels like the language that surrounds this is the most liberating part of it… My pronouns now feel like a reclamation of me.” We should all be supporting that liberation through exploring, playing and caring for the language we use.

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Statue Still The Scottish International Storytelling Festival returns with a hybrid programme including a strand, Talking Statues, which asks us to reimagine who we choose to publicly memorialise Interview: Rosamund West

explains Morris. “To understand why they are there, even if there are uncomfortable narratives attached to them.” This feels particularly relevant in Edinburgh, whose streets are littered with classical bronzes of old men of forgotten provenance.

Many were shocked to discover that the figure towering over the city in St Andrews Square was the man who had delayed the abolition of slavery by well over a decade. Bringing this into the mainstream discourse has led to a broader re-examination of the city’s design, and the discovery that fixtures from street names to public buildings have been named after figures whose values we do not necessarily want to celebrate in the 21st century.

Talking Statues aims to continue this conversation and, says Morris, to “reclaim those stories and reclaim narratives that have not yet been told.

Speaking about statues that currently exist also opens dialogues about those that don’t exist but should. It’s a great time to reimagine who should be on a plinth and tell their story.” To do this, the Storytelling Festival are inviting audiences to imagine who should be celebrated and memorialised, from family members to forgotten historical figures. “Stories give those from society that are perhaps voiceless or overlooked a chance to share their tales and contributions. Often from people who have been left out of the history books – women, LGBTQ+, ethnic minority groups and working-class narratives.”

The hope is that Talking Statues will lead to

“It’s a great time to re-imagine who should be on a plinth” Miriam Morris, Scottish International Storytelling Festival

Part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, 15-31 OCT Book tickets, join the conversation and find out more about walking tours at sisf.org.uk/get-creative-talking-statues/

October 2021 — Feature

Image: courtesy of Scottish International Storytelling Festival

people engaging with history, exploring archives, recording family histories that may otherwise have been forgotten. A free event on 27 October, the Talking Statues Story Exchange, invites the public to register and come along to a virtual story sharing session. Says Morris: “You don’t have to be a skilled storyteller. Simply acknowledging a person’s name and why you’re crediting them is enough. This is a platform to reclaim stories and to spotlight unheard ones.”

Beyond this, they want to prompt people to pay attention to their local statuary, to explore the figures who are being celebrated in their community.

The process has led Morris to discover a new favourite in Prestonpans, close to where she lives, Statue to Alleged Witches Executed in Prestonpans

by Andy Scott of Kelpies fame. “It’s a memorial to 81 women and men tortured and executed for allegedly being witches in that area,” Morris says. “It’s a whole part of Scotland’s history that I didn’t know much about and it’s right on my doorstep. From a quick Google of the statue, I’ve discovered a fascinating (albeit tragic) part of Scotland’s history that, quite frankly, I was ignorant to.”

To help this process of discovery, the Storytelling Festival have commissioned walking tours of Edinburgh in partnership with Mercat Tours so you can hear the tales of statues in Scotland and learn about the gaps missing in the city’s skyline.

Next year is Scotland’s Year of Stories, and Morris hopes Talking Statues will feed into that.

“This is only the beginning of the conversation.

I hope for this project to continue well beyond this year’s festival. It’s a springboard to get sharing stories about Scotland’s history and connections and for people across Scotland to look at who is on show around them and why. Wouldn’t it be great if these conversations become a catalyst to erect an actual statue? Watch this space, I guess.”

Talking Statues Story Exchange, 27 Oct, 7-9pm, free

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Art

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ost folk will walk past statues without knowing who is being held in esteem,” suggests Miriam Morris, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival’s national development officer. “It’s important to know their stories and why they are there. Why do we look up to them, should we look up to them, who is missing from the skylines in our cities?

Whose narrative deserves to be told, celebrated, and spotlit but their plinth is currently empty?”

These are some of the questions the Storytelling Festival’s Talking Statues strand hopes to address.

The conversation around public statuary has never been more prominent; 2020’s submersion of the Colston statue created a tabloid-stoked binary narrative between erasure and permanent display that doesn’t reflect the nuance around how we choose to celebrate and record history. Morris says: “Statues celebrate, remember, and tell the stories of culturally or historically significant people. Often, statues are on a plinth that enables them to tower at a height above passers-by – we quite literally look up to them. They’re also, in some cases, public art.”

The public celebration of achievement can take many forms. In recent years, public art has diversified, moving away from casting big bronze figures to look at different ways to serve and engage the communities they are commissioned for. Are statues fit for purpose in 2021?

“I think they’re relevant but it is time to get talking about them and share their stories,”

Music October 2021 – Feature

Just Listen We chat to Rebecca Lucy Taylor about Prioritise Pleasure, her second album as Self Esteem, and discuss the importance of being listened to as a woman in music Interview: Tallah Brash — 36 —

Photo: Olivia Richardson

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“I

can’t be arsed to tidy this room,” Rebecca Lucy Taylor laughs over Zoom from her messy bedroom in her Margate flat, and it’s like catching up with an old friend. Chat quickly turns to trying to convince her parents to use her flat as a holiday home – because she knows “they won’t be able to resist cleaning it” – and constantly returning to dead plants due to her now very busy schedule: “I’m slowly killing them off with my success,” she notes with a wry grin.

Rebecca Lucy Taylor

Self Esteem plays The Bongo Club, Edinburgh, 6 Nov; Audio, Glasgow, 7 Nov; St Lukes, Glasgow, 1 Mar 2022 selfesteem.love

“I just wanted out, I wanted to be not a fucking indie artist for the rest of my life” Rebecca Lucy Taylor October 2021 – Feature

— 37 —

Prioritise Pleasure is released on 22 Oct via Fiction Records

Photo: Olivia Richardson

The “success” Taylor is referring to is legit. As Self Esteem she premiered I Do This All the Time in April on Steve Lamacq’s BBC 6 Music radio show, which he played twice in the same slot. An honest and relatable spoken word exploration of how complicated life can be, it resonated with a lot of people and things have since snowballed, with a knockout performance on Later… with Jools Holland, a live session for Lamacq, and an emotional performance at Green Man festival to her biggest crowd to date. In the lead up to her forthcoming new album, cover shoots for the likes of DIY and NME have also ensued, the latter of which is an homage to Britney Spears’ iconic 1999 Rolling Stone cover, only instead of a Teletubby, Taylor’s bedmate is Kermit the Frog. #Relatable But before Taylor made her musical return this year, during the pandemic she was running regular workout sessions – Steam with Self Esteem – from her flat over Instagram, and we admit to being one of her ‘Steamers’. “The idea that you can workout with me for a year, and then come and see me live and we’re in the same room together... I think what I get off on is true honesty about myself and I think it’s quite intimate, we exercise every day, and you doing it with me, there’s something really beautiful about it to me.”

Taylor tells us how lockdown allowed her to re-evaluate what was important to her, and how stopping for a year really helped her mental health.

Crucially, she’s realised she doesn’t have to revert to how things were in the before times. “I have, for the most part, definitely been saying no, going home when I want to and things like that. Not going to people’s things, just because they want me to, is the biggest shift for me – that’s prioritising pleasure as far as I’m concerned.”

Prioritise Pleasure is the title of Taylor’s new record as Self Esteem. Due on 22 October via Fiction Records, it’s bigger in every aspect than its predecessor, from its supercharged instrumentation to the depth of emotion found in its lyricism and

as the music being massive and unlike anything being released right now, so too is the Self Esteem live show, and it’s all down to Taylor’s vision being given the space to breathe and develop.

But her incredible all-singing, all-dancing live band, and the support that in turn comes from them is also worth celebrating. “It’s unreal, I could cry even thinking about it,” Taylor says. “There’s an extra layer I didn’t realise was going to be there which is their personal gain from performing it, and what that does on the stage, there’s some sort of fucking mad chemistry that goes on where it feels bigger than playing it live. I want Self Esteem to be this multi-layered experience, not just an artist who you like the songs of and you go and see live, and there’s something about, like, what a fucking evangelical moment we’re having together that feeds into an audience.

“For many years I was like ‘why am I even fucking doing this with my life? I’m skint, it’s shit, I can’t keep up with any relationships I’ve got, I’m the worst friend everyone’s got because I’ll never be at your wedding, I’ll never be at your christening.’

There’s so many negatives, and the only positive was to create what I wanna make... there was always this negative self-talk of, ‘What’s so important that you’ve got to say.’ And that’s all dissipated now I’ve got this gang, that it’s for them and then therefore it’s for audiences and it does feel important to be doing it, which is what I always needed to feel.”

Music

“It feels like I’m extremely realised and it’s all well thought out and unbelievably worked on, but it’s just like the overflow carpark’s been opened”

vocal layering. “I thought I would get loads more budget for the second album, and I did not,” she admits with a chuckle, “so it was like, ‘Okay, so how do we turn everything up to 11 with exactly the same amount of money we had the first time around?’ All the songs were just very there and clear to me, and Johan [Karlberg, producer] and I have now got a synergy that we didn’t have on the first record so, weirdly, the only thing that was difficult was figuring out how to make an orchestra out of my mate Galps [Sophie Galpin] in Manchester on one violin,” she laughs.

“It’s kind of fun in a way because the album is so big sounding and bombastic and widescreen and cinematic, which is what I wanted to do, but I still did it with fuck all… I’m so glad I haven’t achieved what I want to achieve quite yet, because imagine if I had access to an orchestra or a full choir. That’s what excites me about album three.”

Before getting ahead of herself, she adds: “I said what I needed to with Compliments Please, but only just… and Compliments Please was 14 tracks but it could’ve been 20. I was like, let’s just keep going, and the same’s happened [on Prioritise Pleasure]. But I think it’s because I’ve been a musician since I was 16/17, full-time doing it, and I had so many ideas I couldn’t do. So many things I wanted to do, I’ve just parked, and I think I thought they were gone, but they weren’t. So it feels like I’m extremely realised and it’s all well thought out and unbelievably worked on, but it’s just like the overflow car park’s been opened.

“All it’s been really, Self Esteem, is my manager has just listened to me and gone, ‘Okay.’

No pushback, barely any pushback ever. Even my label don’t. And that’s what happens when you just fucking listen to a woman and let her make what she wants to make.”

For Taylor, who as one half of Slow Club found it hard to have a lot of her ideas taken on board as it wasn’t only her project, this hits hard.

But since turning her focus to Self Esteem she’s been able to implement a lot of the ideas she’d been previously sitting on. “I know if you’re looking close enough you can see it’s all coming from me, but that’s actually not easy to execute,” she says frankly. “To be at the level I’m at, and people trust me to do it all, it’s why this is as good as it is.

“And I was up for being diluted at the start. I was like, find me a co-writer to make a pop hit with, because I just wanted out, I wanted to be not a fucking indie artist for the rest of my life, I wanted to not be skint every month, and I was like ‘How do we do this?’ And so I was complicit at the start in doing what they probably do with a lot of artists – put it in a shiny wrapper and give it over to an audience in a really controlled way – but pretty quickly I realised I can’t do that either. And my manager, I actually advocate for her being so brave to just go with me on it.” Taylor continues: “But I don’t think I’m doing anything that mad, I think I’m just doing something very true to me and it makes me wonder how many other artists could make something a bit more intriguing or layered.”

Every single released so far from Prioritise Pleasure has been affecting in some way, from the toxic relationship explored over rollicking drums on How Can I Help You to the powerful journey for self-love found on the title track as Taylor sings, ‘Shave my pussy (that’s just for me) / Unfollow him (that’s just for me) / Keeping busy (that’s just for me) / And sleeping in (that’s just for me)’. As well

THE SKINNY

Give and Take Norwich post-punk electro-funk duo Sink Ya Teeth are finally getting to share their prepandemic album with the world – we catch up with them ahead of two Scottish dates Interview: Max Pilley

Music

Photo: Andi Sapey

“We live in a society that really reveres output... You’ve always got to be doing something. But everything should be give and take” Maria Uzor, Sink Ya Teeth

October 2021 — Feature

L

eft to their own devices, Sink Ya Teeth might never have taken a rest. Since 2017, the Norwich duo had worked non-stop, entirely self-recording and self-releasing their two albums of addictive post-punk electro-funk and then booking their own tours to support them. The second album, Two, which snuck out just under the COVID wire with its February 2020 release date, was denied its on-stage life by the pandemic, but after what turned out to be a much-needed period of respite, the record is finally set for its moment in the spotlight with an upcoming run of October live shows.

The enforced break offered vocalist Maria Uzor and bassist Gemma Cullingford a rare moment to pause for breath. “We live in a society that really reveres output,” reflects Uzor. “You’ve always got to be doing something. But everything should be give and take. Even breathing is just inhalation and exhalation, but our society doesn’t focus on the inhalation. So it was nice to have that time to just be and catch up with yourself and just exhale.”

As well as a return to Glasgow’s Broadcast (7 Oct), the tour will include the duo’s debut Edinburgh show at Sneaky Pete’s (8 Oct), and, according to Cullingford, Sink Ya Teeth are “fully energised” by the prospect of bringing the songs back to life.

Where their self-titled 2018 debut album’s sassy, wiry machine funk had a detached coolness at its heart, Two – which uncannily has tracks

titled The Vaccine and The Rapture – leans more heavily on the duo’s interest in classic strains of house and no wave disco, while retaining their distinctively sparse, no-clutter approach to composition. “There is quite a lot of space,” says Cullingford about Sink Ya Teeth’s tendency not to over-stuff their songs’ arrangements. “I personally like that when I listen to other music. I like space as much as I like the notes. Silence is better than notes sometimes.”

Few acts at Sink Ya Teeth’s level operate as truly independently as they do. Releasing everything through Uzor’s own Hey Buffalo label, they cover all the administrative demands of being in a band themselves, while also maintaining day jobs (Uzor works in a school, while Cullingford teaches ukulele). While the workload is undeniably demanding, it allows them complete artistic control over their careers, something they cannot put a price on. “I think it would be really difficult for us to give any of that independence away, really,” says Cullingford. “If you’ve got an idea, you just want to get it out and work on it without having to go through too much red tape. That can kill creativity a little bit.”

If lockdown offered the opportunity for a total break from such strains, then it is no surprise that their drive and thirst for creativity found an outlet of a different form in 2020. Both Uzor and Cullingford began work on what would turn out to — 38 —

be respective solo releases: Uzor recently released her debut EP, Innocence and Worldliness, just a few months after Cullingford released a full album, Let Me Speak, under her own name.

Both releases find the musicians flexing their experimental muscles a little more liberally than on Sink Ya Teeth’s records, with Uzor especially tapping into a seam of freeform, nocturnal frenzy that reveals a love for vintage techno. “I wrote those songs as an exercise,” she says, “and as an exorcism as well. When you are in a band there is an element of compromise, because you’re working together, so you have to take aspects from both to make one. But when you’re writing something independently, there is no compromise.”

Evidently, Cullingford too felt the sense of freedom from flying solo. “I realised that everything I was writing, I was almost censoring myself, thinking, ‘what would Maria say to this?’ So you end up holding yourself back. For this, it became, ‘what can I do without anyone else’s opinion mattering, who am I, what is my voice?’” Let Me Speak is highlighted by a chilly, spoken word rendition of Bobbie Gentry’s 1967 hit Ode to Billie Joe that revels in the latent nihilism in the song’s subject matter. “I didn’t realise it was such a big song,” Cullingford says now with a smile. “I genuinely had never heard it before.”

Anyone who hears her rendition will never hear it the same way again either.

With individual artistic explorations now under their belt, their imminent return to playing together on stage again is an exciting one for them both, and after agreeing to take a break next year – a real one, not the uncertainty of an enforced one – they fully intend to be back in Sink Ya Teeth mode after that for a third album. For this duo, every reward they get they have worked hard to earn, and the celebrations at their October comeback shows are sure to be a prize that was worth waiting for.

Sink Ya Teeth play Broadcast, Glasgow, 7 Oct; Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, 8 Oct sinkyateeth.com

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Party People A year later than scheduled, Parquet Courts’ dance-driven new album is the post-pandemic club record we need Interview: Joe Goggins

— 39 —

Sympathy for Life is released on 22 Oct via Rough Trade parquet-courts.com

October 2021 — Feature

Sean Yeaton, Parquet Courts

we’ve got, because we’re kind of in the shadow of something that’s bigger and more chaotic than all of us.”

As the gradual return of live music continues, Yeaton, an eternal optimist, is hopeful that the new normal will involve a more progressive touring model for bands – and that we’ll all get back to real, in-person interaction. “I’m much more suited to that,” he explains. “I suck at talking on the phone; to me, it’s a terrifying, Pavlovian torture device.

“It felt like some Twilight Zone shit to me that people took so readily to living behind their screens, even before the pandemic, and it’s a little bit sad that a lot of people are still going to have one foot in that digital world moving forward. I do have a lot of optimism that we can work things out in the music industry moving forward in a way that we as people can be proud of – but, for now, I’ll settle for just being able to delete fucking Zoom!”

Music

“We have a responsibility to appreciate the good things in the world [...] because we’re in the shadow of something that’s bigger and more chaotic than all of us”

“So much of the record is rooted in us going out to parties at places like The Loft and dancing to so many songs that we were hearing for the first time,” explains Yeaton.

“Just amazing stuff from the 70s and early 80s, white labels and extended mixes I didn’t know existed, and the one thing that they all had in common was just this feeling of real, true positivity. We were having so much fun together, and we wanted to make something not that necessarily sounded like the music we were hearing, but that conjured the feeling of those parties.”

That involved a shift in approach, with long jams that would run on in excess of 20 minutes leading to sprawling, groove-driven behemoths like Plant Life, as well as the irresistibly funky lead single Walking at a Downtown Pace. Yeaton would take his cues from his heroes and from the sampling culture of the club scene, learning classic basslines from artists as diverse as Fela Kuti, Herbie Flowers, Paul McCartney and Gladys Knight, chopping them up and then splicing them together to create something new. “I didn’t even really know what I was doing,” he laughs. “We were just having fun screwing around, and I feel like that’s kind of why the sessions worked so well.”

Reflecting on the extra weight that Sympathy for Life now carries, Yeaton admits that he sees new meaning in the songs as they’re presented in a post-pandemic context. “I mean, we could do that all day long – ‘whoa, man, you said ‘mask’ on that song!’” But I think, thematically, we were dealing with ideas of the world being crazy and that we have to pull together to get through what’s happening around us – that was born out of the positivity of those amazing parties. I think the title says a lot; you know, that we have a responsibility to appreciate the good things in the world, and to work with one another and make the best of what

Photo: Pooneh Ghana

O

n 9 March last year, Parquet Courts were headed into the eye of a gathering storm. Having just finished recording on their seventh full-length album at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Wiltshire, where they’d been working with both John Parish and Edinburgh’s own Rodaidh McDonald on production duties, they flew back to their hometown of New York City, unaware that within weeks it would be the epicentre of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

There was a particularly perverse irony to this; the record they’d just finished up, Sympathy for Life, plays like a paean to the vibrancy of the city, and particularly to its club scene. They found themselves putting the finishing touches to it at a time where the streets were eerily deserted, when the most prevalent sound on the streets was of ambulance sirens, and when the venues that had so inspired the group were shuttered indefinitely.

“For us, especially, we’ve never been the kind of band where one guy brings in a song and the rest of us flesh it out,” says bassist Sean Yeaton on a Zoom call (an irony in itself, as we’ll discover later).

“We work everything out between the four of us – everything’s written together. And suddenly, we’re going through this super intense period of isolation.”

Given that the band continue to eschew social media, they found themselves cut off from the world – and, especially, their fanbase – at a time when, ordinarily, they’d be gearing up to go out on tour. It means there’s something particularly cathartic about their emergence, now, with the album they sewed up just days before then-President Trump banned flights to the US from Europe.

It remains precisely how they cut it back then; this is their grooviest, most danceable album to date, turning away from the taut post-punk of 2018’s Wide Awake! in favour of a record that fizzes with the irrepressible positivity of the again-thriving nightlife of their hometown.

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Music

Colouring Sound With his LŪP album picked up by One Little Independent Records for a physical release, we learn more about Lomond Campbell’s intricate tape looping machine Interview: Tony Inglis

October 2021 – Feature

Photo: Lomond Campbell Lomond Campbell

“I

’ve not only got machines for pals!”

Lomond Campbell says this laughing, surrounded by gear and equipment, and after an hour of expounding on his latest experiment-turned-minor musical hit where his only “bandmate” is a machine he invented.

This is the point where you read the ‘[insert title plus genres working in]’ section of a musical profile, but Campbell is virtually impossible to pigeonhole. On his Bandcamp page, he’s described as an ‘artificer’, a handy term to sum up the multifaceted nature of his work, which encompasses sound, recording, avant garde art, installation, engineering, mechanics, science, study, lecture, crafts, a bit of DIY and a whole lot of innovation.

Campbell is based in his own studio in the Highlands called The Lengths where he hammers away at projects, makes his own music using the very tools and machines he creates, and records and produces others. On paper, his set up and output says hermitic mad scientist in his lab; in — 40 —

person, he is a deeply knowledgeable and driven artist, uncomfortable with sitting still and enthusiastic to explain the intricacies of his work, even if it would make the brain cogs of a layperson short circuit.

His latest record, LŪP, has become perhaps his most noticed after catching the ear of Mary Anne Hobbs and being featured on her BBC 6Music show. The album is a collection of disparate electronic compositions. What binds them is their common origin: a machine called LŪP, inspired by a brief given to Campbell by friend King Creosote.

“He asked me to build some kind of unique instrument that played tape loops,” Campbell says.

“When the pandemic came along, that offered the time to work on it, and because it was a vague and wide open idea, I started by thinking about what such an instrument could do.”

Campbell was influenced by the major figures whose work made tape looping and phase experimentation well known: William Basinski and Steve Reich respectively. “I went to the obvious starting points and looked at their core concepts,” he explains. “The big hitters with their big ideas – I took that, and just tried to imbue it into a machine.”

At this point, Campbell exits the frame and returns with LŪP itself: a board containing gears and straps, and an empty cassette casing that allows tape – taken from old songs, demos, any recorded material really – to be cut and fed and looped and changed for 601 millimetres, or ten seconds of audio at standard rate. Neodymium magnets disintegrate the tape as it processes.

That degradation “gives it an element of disruption and grubbies up the sound to colour it.” At the same time, the sound being captured slowly

THE SKINNY

Photo: Lomond Campbell

Music

“[LŪP] took quite a long time to build, but the basic idea was really obvious to me: take those massive concepts, and just make one thing that can do it all” Lomond Campbell

LŪP Machine

Photo: Lomond Campbell LŪP Machine

see other unique projects come to fruition. He will build a run of LŪP machines for other artists to use, allowing him to play around with the scope of what the equipment could achieve. “I’m kind of excited about it because I don’t really know what’s going to happen,” he says.

The act of creativity is often difficult to describe. By comparison, the scientific way in which Campbell outlines LŪP is methodical, grounded as it is in physics, and yet somehow remains instilled with that intangible quality of the unknown. Let’s call it magic.

LŪP is released on 22 Oct via One Little Independent Records lomondcampbell.bandcamp.com — 41 —

October 2021 – Feature

phases, or moves out of sync, “and you get interesting musical textures that almost sound like the work, but not quite. It’s not chaos, it’s not totally random, it’s just drifting in and out, and you can sort of make sense of it for a second, and then you lose your way and become disoriented.”

Complicated, right? “It was kind of a simple idea in theory. It took quite a long time to build, but the basic idea was really obvious to me: take those massive concepts, and just make one thing that can do it all,” says Campbell.

The music that makes up LŪP came about spontaneously, mainly due to seeing if it even worked. “I was thinking product. That’s all it was, product design,” he says. “But obviously I had to test it, calibrate it, play with it, see what it felt like, if it’s useable. I hooked it up to a portable sampler and was trying things out. It became addictive. I liked what I was hearing. I thought, let’s document this to see how it’s evolving.”

Campbell works mainly alone, by usual musical standards. But the centring of the LŪP machine, almost an entity unto itself, makes this, Campbell says, a collaboration. “This machine has different quirks, and this one over here [pointing behind him], and each of these little modules, they’ve all got their own behaviours, the same way a person does, and you will respond to that, you will interact differently. If I set certain equipment up a certain way, I know I’m going to compose, write, respond totally differently. With LŪP, because of idiosyncrasies built into it, it’s as much the machine as it is me, if not more so.”

Off the back of a limited cassette run, LŪP is now receiving a wider release. Campbell has also signed a multi-project deal with label One Little Independent which will allow him the freedom to

THE SKINNY

Impossible Interview Sharon Hayes’ series of art films Ricerche see her interviewing large groups of people all at once. The simple premise belies the complexity of the work that emerges, and its sharp insights on sex and sexuality

October 2021 — Feature

I

t’s an impossible set-up for an interview. Artist Sharon Hayes admits this when speaking about her series of works, titled Ricerche. In the first of these film works from 2013, Hayes holds a microphone, acting as interviewer of a group of 35 students in Ricerche: three. It takes place in a US women’s college, Mount Holyoke. Hayes asks frank questions about sex, and what emerges is a complex and tense multiplicity of experiences around being transgender, the limits of strident liberal multiculturalism, and the misogynies that are folded into dogmatic ideas of sexual freedom.

Hayes takes her cue in these films from a 1964 Italian film Comizi d’amore (Love Meetings) by renowned director Pier Paolo Pasolini. In it, he’s experimenting with cinéma vérité – truthful cinema, using non-professional actors, not scripting all the dialogue, filming on location rather than on a set.

“Pasolini comes to it as an imposter, he’s not really a director of cinema vérité, he’s a director of allegorical narrative... Rather than seeking out a truth in cinema in the beginning conventions of the genre, which is the interview with the single body, he goes straight to his interest, I think, in more a relational, complicated and messy sense of ‘public’... he’s asking very personal questions in group formation, and so the demand is to be both their social selves and their singular selves which is sort of an impossible proposition. You see them and hear them navigate and negotiate that in the film all the time.”

Already in the first test interview, Hayes realised her interest not “in replicating [Pasolini’s] film but expanding or drawing certain sections of

“What emerges is a complex and tense multiplicity of experiences around being transgender, the limits of strident liberal multiculturalism, and the misogynies that are folded into dogmatic ideas of sexual freedom”

Image: Courtesy of artist

Art

Interview: Adam Benmakhlouf

Ricerche production still, 2020, Sharon Hayes

it out. Like constructing an impossible scene of interview, you cannot interview 35 people at one time. It’s not what you’re supposed to do. It’s not reasonable because you can’t really have a conversation because you can’t get the mic to all of them at one time, and that became interesting to me.”

The time gaps between the different references and parts of the project have, over the years, become more complicated. First, there’s the gap between Pasolini in 1964, then the first Ricerche: one title in 2013. Now there are two further works, dated 2019 and 2020. Then there’s further complexity, Hayes reveals, in that the 2019 work was filmed in 2015, after which there was a gap until it was edited and completed in 2019.

In Ricerche 1 (the second chronologically of the series, filmed in 2015), the year is significant as the Supreme Court in the US legalised gay marriage.

“So for that population of kids of LGBTQ+ parents [the interviewees in Ricerche: one (2019)], that year becomes symbolically resonant, with me trying to understand the gap between the two generations, the five to eight year olds then the 17 [to early 30s].”

When installed, there are two screens back to back.

Two sets of separate footage run simultaneously as Hayes interviews each of the groups.

“In some ways they feel a part of a shared community or that they have these crossovers and affinities and intersections, but they’re actually in very different socially constitutive moments. That’s why I sat on the footage for so long. I was in a way troubled by that gap, or I didn’t know what to make of that gap, though I felt that both generations were really important. When I went back to it, I — 42 —

decided to hold them in this place of touching but not speaking to each other directly. Because the installation is actually back to back. If you’re watching the young people you’re not watching the [older group and vice versa]. That became important for thinking through, as fundamental as I could call generation or inheritance.” Hayes describes this as an “obsession” of Pasolini’s, too, who is always asking questions about “a previous generation” or in 1963 he asks about “the past with a nod to the future.”

Hayes mentions a few times the way that interviewees undercut her, playfully laugh at her, or touch and fidget with each other’s hair (as in Ricerche: three). This is one reason why the groups are essential in the structure Hayes sets up. “It’s really important to me that in some ways they take authority. They don’t take authorship, you [as audience] know they’re not responsible for the editing [for example]. They know more about everything than I do. They have a sociality that is present that I’m not a part of. I may provoke them, then they play or tease me back by sometimes physical things they have with each other or laughing at me or prodding me, playing with me back.” Out of the semi-anarchy Hayes brings the possibilitiy of nuance, subversion of prejudgments and flashes of poignant insight. And maybe that’s one of the most satisfying reveals. Just because Hayes might hold the mic throughout the Ricerche films, she’s not interested in control.

Ricerche, by Sharon Hayes, hosted by The Common Guild, 5 Florence Street, Glasgow, 9 Oct-7 Nov

THE SKINNY

Hell or High Water Cat and Éiméar McClay are recent graduates who are crafting a singular body of work surrounding religious oppression and queer ways of being, through a heady combination of experimental writing and cutting-edge digital media technologies Interview: Adam Benmakhlouf Art

C

— 43 —

patchy tech elements of their earlier work, even if these aren’t visible in the films themselves.

Nevertheless, after painstakingly crafting every object and surface in their animations, there’s just one comment to avoid when chatting to the powerhouse duo about their work. “We do get insulted when people ask us if we buy those packs of .objs [readymade digital renderings]! No! We make everything!” @catandeimarmcclay on Instagram, where they are sharing works in progress, including what they’re making in their Market Gallery residency

“The state ... continues to try and occlude information and in that way is still disrespecting human rights” Cat and Éiméar McClay

October 2021 — Feature

do many young people in Ireland. We want to disseminate that information.”

It’s responding to this line of enquiry that for Cat and Éiméar McClay makes collaboration an essential way of forming the discourse within their work. “When we’re doing a political project, it’s easier to develop the ideas in dialogue. Not that we always have to agree, or form a common or homogenous perspective. [We’re not working with] individualist topics or concerns, so working together allows for more of a nuanced perspective.” But also, for them, it’s just a lot more fun than working alone.

As they describe how they work together, it sounds like they’ve given up drawing borders around each of their own contributions, ideas and interests. “We develop texts collaboratively writing into a Google Doc, and edit each other’s words. We don’t have hard boundaries around what we’re doing. We’re not that precious about what each does individually, we don’t think about it, it’s been a mutual thing for so long. Even when we [each] develop our own projects, we’re still informed by what we did together already.”

Right now they’re on residency in Market Gallery, where they’re working together on figuring out video game software, as well as making new videos and writing. “We’re hoping to make some kind of game, as a way of conveying text.” They compare their project to online hypertext games, that see players making decisions and clicking through to decide the course of a story, often in fantasy roleplaying situations. What they’re planning is “akin to a hypertext but in 3D, where you navigate a three-dimensional space and find different pieces of text.”

For now, this means writing the texts they want to include and teaching themselves the coding skills they need.

The work they’re making is ambitious and impressive, but they’re still inclined to be a bit self-critical on some of the behind-the-scenes

Image: Cat McClay and Éiméar McClay

at and Éiméar McClay’s recent films take place in digital renderings of unpeopled rooms, decorated with Jesus and Mary branded candles. Floods come often, rising up and throwing the composition into disarray, all subtitled by the duo’s sensuously written stories. The narratives make allusions to wounds, injuries, juxtaposed at times with fragmented accounts of the miracle of queer sex.

Speaking about their virtual props and sets, for the artists, these are a way of pointing towards “how the Catholic Church and the state interact in Ireland,” where the twin sister collaborators are from. In turn, they set out to counter the crosses and rosary beads with “magical symbolism, using knives close to skin, and abject bodily imagery alongside Catholic iconography as a way of talking about different forms of resistance,” in particular “witchcraft” and “heretics.”

Currently, they’re in Glasgow, where they live now, having arrived via four years at Edinburgh College of Art. Speaking about the move to Edinburgh from Ireland, this was the moment they came to fully understand “Ireland is still quite repressive compared to the UK. We moved to the UK as adults, but when we were teenagers, that’s when the gay marriage and abortion referendums happened. When we still lived there, it wasn’t so liberal, and in recent years Ireland is trying to improve its image in that sense.” They’re careful also to delineate the difference between the politics as being more progressive in Dublin than elsewhere.

Reflecting on the pervasiveness of the Church in Ireland, they started to track the shaping of people’s social and political perspectives in Ireland, even when not always “explicitly tethered to religion. People don’t necessarily practice Catholicism, but the attitudes are internalised. I found it really useful to look back and see how the Catholic Church had the social influence historically, when it was more obvious and violent. Those things linger in contemporary society and those people who are affected by that violence are still alive, and there are so many issues with how the [Irish] state interacts with that and continues to try and occlude information. In that way it is still disrespecting human rights of people, which were impinged within [violently repressive Catholic] institutions.”

This forms one of the motivations for the work they make. “We’re interested in that, in how [this history of religious repression] exists now and people’s relationship to identity and the state as Irish people, and people’s awareness generally to what happened. There’s so much occlusion! Even here people don’t know that much about it, neither

THE SKINNY

It’s Gqoming Home Ahead of the release of his debut album, Meeting With The King, gqom poster boy DJ Lag tells us about the roots of the genre, his rise to stardom, and finding new creative energy in lockdown

Clubs

Interview: Michael Lawson

A

dark, hypnotic brand of dance music, gqom emerged from South Africa in the mid2010s and quickly became a global phenomenon. Affectionately described as sounding like “being suspended over the gravitational field of a black hole,” by Hyperdub founder Kode9, gqom tracks have since racked up millions of YouTube streams and made their way into many DJ sets across the world.

At the forefront of this meteoric rise is Lwazi Asanda Gwala, the self-styled ‘gqom king’ better known as DJ Lag. An artist responsible for both the formation of gqom and arguably its finest track, Ice Drop, Gwala is the foremost global ambassador of the movement, regularly performing at notable clubs and festivals and even producing a track for Beyoncé. We caught up with him ahead of the

release of his debut album and largest body of work to date, Meeting With The King.

October 2021 — Feature

Photo: Travys Owen

The Skinny: You started releasing music as recently as 2016. What came before that? What was your gateway into music?

DJ Lag: I started in hip-hop. I was a dancer long before I started producing. Then when my mum got me a computer, that was when I started teaching myself how to produce. The first software I had was Fruity Loops. My cousin was a rapper, so I began producing hip-hop beats for him. There also used to be dance crews in Durban who wanted new music to dance to, and basically the first track I made that was kind of broken beat ended up starting gqom.

The track was Ithoyizi by Naked Boyz. It was uploaded to [file sharing site] kasimp3 and people downloaded it for free. It became a banger; a huge, huge track.

It must’ve been crazy seeing this music you were making receiving love from all over the world and being booked to play at so many clubs and festivals?

Yeah it was crazy.

Moleskin from Goon Club made me believe in being an international artist. I remember I was still in high school and he would send me messages on Facebook telling me he wanted to release my music. I wasn’t trusting him at first, as I thought maybe he’s a Facebook scammer. It took me like two years to believe him and send him some music, and that’s when Ice Drop got released properly. A lot of people don’t know that Ice Drop is an old track – like 2013 I think.

Is it still the case that gqom is better appreciated overseas or are the South African people now beginning to support the scene as well?

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Now it’s coming back. I remember when I was playing a lot of shows in Europe, but it was hard for me to get shows back home. Now gqom is starting to come back again and I’m getting like three shows a night [in South Africa].

It also seemed like the South African people had your back with the whole will.i.am plagiarism thing? [will.i.am paid a settlement to Lag last year after sampling Ice Drop without his permission] Yeah, I was shocked to see that as I’d always thought that South African people didn’t know who I was. But when that happened I realised that people in my home country really supported me. I just couldn’t see it before.

Has that situation been fixed now?

Yeah, we fixed it last year. It was a crazy situation.

People started sending me links to the music video, and when I saw it I was like ‘yo, what is this now?’

Your new album features what you describe as gqom 2.0. What is gqom 2.0?

It’s something people in South Africa say a lot.

Like if something is the best, they add ‘2.0’ at the end. I’ve loved amapiano [a South African house sub-genre] since its rise in 2018 so I wanted to include that sound on the album.

The album is also characterised by lots of collaborations with fellow South African artists. It almost seems like a celebration of the country’s music scene.

Yeah, I wanted to include some South African flavour but there are also international influences.

I wanted a mix of both on the album.

The pandemic gave you lots more time to make music. Would you say the album is a product of the pandemic?

Yeah. Prior to the pandemic I had like four years of regular travelling, so this was the first time I got to sit down in the studio and just make music without getting distracted by anything else. I needed that. I also got to spend time with my family and spend time with my son, who barely knew who I was.

You’re known as the ‘gqom king’. What’s next for the scene and the movement? How do you see it developing over the next few years?

Let’s just wait and see, man. I don’t know what the other gqom guys are planning but I’m sure we’re gonna push it further and release more projects.

Meeting With The King is released on 5 Nov via Black Major

THE SKINNY

Scots in Space Taking readers to outer space in her new Orcadian sci-fi adventure, we speak to Harry Josephine Giles about the playfulness of language, and the renaissance of Scots Interview: Michael Lee Richardson

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Deep Wheel Orcadia publishes on 14 Oct via Picador panmacmillan.com harryjosephine.com

October 2021 — Feature

speculative fiction more broadly. I think a lot of my earliest loves were in that field. For me, sci-fi is a mode that you can shift into and have some fun with.

I was like, ‘I want to go into space – so let’s go!’”

Though rich with themes of place and belonging, work and economy, generational and gender politics that will be familiar to anyone who knows Harry Josephine Giles’ work, at the heart of Deep Wheel Orcadia is a love story, a tender romance between Astrid, returning home from art school on Mars, and Darling, an incomer fleeing a life that never fit.

“I was getting so carried away with my ideas and my concepts and my philosophies and the fun of the setting and all that, I was like, ‘oh wait I need a story!’ I needed an emotional story that mattered.

“Having a romance allowed me to express some themes of duality, and some themes of duality in myself. I’m somebody who’s from what, in Orkney, is called an incomer family. My family is from England, but I grew up in Orkney, I moved there when I was two, that’s the language and the world I grew up in. So, I’m always somebody from Orkney and somebody not from Orkney. Having these two

central characters and having them be in a relationship was a way of looking at different aspects of myself and my relationship to place, bringing them together and bringing them in conflict.”

Written in the Orkney language, the novel comes with a playful English translation. “I wanted people to work to read the Orkney. I wanted people to think about the relationship between these two languages. What I wanted to do was minoritise the English and not let the English be transparent, not let it be easy, not let it be fluid. So it’s in prose, it’s in a smaller font, and then I use these compound words, which is a technique I borrowed from the Gaelic poet Rody Gorman. They provide little stumbling blocks that are also ways of actually thinking about a word and studying a word, and they slow down the reading, they continually draw people’s attention towards the Orkney. The technique was there in order to centre the Orkney and slow down the English, and once it was there I wanted to have fun with it.”

Deep Wheel Orcadia is made possible by the writers and educators who have fostered the thriving Scots scene we see today – supported by the likes of the Scots Language Publishing grants – that continue to centre the various Scots dialects in this way.

“We’re in a renaissance, it’s great!” she says. “This is one of the strongest flourishings of Scots literature since the early 20th Century. I think that’s coming partly from the very hard work of people putting Scots in the education system that’s now coming to fruition. After a couple of centuries of very firm suppression of Scots in the education system, since the early 90s there’s actually been some support for it.

“The reason I’m writing in Scots is because my teacher was Simon Hall, who was interested in Orkney language and Orkney literature, and had done specific work in that and had taught Scots in the English classroom. When I was at school, that was only just coming in. Then, when I was a teenager, I went on a creative writing course in Moniack Mhor led by Matthew Fitt, who was one of the leading proponents of Scots in education. I had these encounters through the education system and, now I’m in my 30s, this is a book that I can write.”

And Deep Wheel Orcadia suggests a lasting legacy for the language, set in the far flung future, all the way in outer space. A renaissance indeed.

Books

Photo: Rich Dyson

“O

rkney has got one of the strongest speaking populations, but one of the smallest literatures of Scotland, compared to the literature in Doric or in Shetland, which are the other very strong speaking areas, or in Glaswegian, for that matter,” begins Harry Josephine Giles on the language of Deep Wheel Orcadia, the first full-length adult fiction book in the Orkney dialect to be published in over 50 years. “What there is tends to be preoccupied with things passing, with language struggling, with culture changing, and I was kind of dissatisfied with that as a theme. Not that that work isn’t good, but I wanted to push the language somewhere where it hadn’t been before.”

And she pushes it all the way into outer space.

The Deep Wheel Orcadia is a distant space station orbiting around a gas giant, struggling for survival as the pace of change threatens to leave the community behind. “I’m not the first person to do that,” she notes. “There’s a couple of other Scots science fiction novels. Matthew Fitt’s ButnBen A-Go-Go is the most well-known.

“I’ve always read science fiction and fantasy,

“ I’ve always read science fiction and fantasy, speculative fiction more broadly.

For me, sci-fi is a mode that you can shift into and have some fun with.

I was like, ‘I want to go into space – so let’s go!’”

H arry Josephine Giles

THE SKINNY

Ibsen Reimagined Kieran Hurley’s adaption of Ibsen’s play, about the power dynamics of a poorlyhandled health crisis, was put on hold during the pandemic. We chat to Hurley and director Finn den Hertog about why touring it now is more timely than ever

T

he National Theatre of Scotland is returning to live stages once again. The company’s first national tour since before the pandemic is The Enemy, a contemporary Scottish reimagining of Ibsen’s The Enemy of the People, created by the award-winning dream team of writer Kieran Hurley and director Finn den Hertog. The production was already in the works when COVID-19 hit, halting the process. Now Hurley, den Hertog and members of the original cast have returned to the rehearsal room, finding that The Enemy – with its focus on power and a conflict of interest thrown up by a public health crisis – has a number of the same themes that have dominated our lives for the past 18 months.

The story’s enduring relevance may be a reflection of the timelessness of Ibsen’s classic, written in 1882. Hurley’s script stays true to the original, with its themes of “civic hell, truth and political corruption”, but relocates the action to the post-industrial parameters of a once-thriving Scottish town. A major top-down regeneration project is in full swing, desperately attempting to bring life – and a much-needed economic boost – to a forgotten population. But decisions must be made when the water supply of its flagship project, a brand new leisure resort, is found to contain poison. The short-term health of residents is pitted against the long-term stability of the economy and a crucial question is posited: which outcome will benefit the town more – and who is the enemy of the people?

Initial discussions about this adaption began in 2016, when den Hertog approached Hurley with the origins of the idea. Hurley is quick to emphasise that this is a fairly standard time-frame for this scale of production, despite the unintended hiatus. Even so, it’s fascinating to think about how the ever-changing political landscape of five particularly tumultous years might have affected the creative process. In the time since The Enemy was conceived, the UK has seen three Prime Ministers, COVID-19, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, a General Election and Brexit (not to mention Trump). Considering the play is about power, corruption, the media and accountability, was there a relationship between the events of the outside world and the production’s journey?

“At one point, [The Enemy] looked like it was going to happen in 2019,” responds Hurley, “but stuff gets nudged out, because other stuff feels more appropriate. And so I do remember feeling an anxiety of ‘maybe this play is not going to feel as current and appropriate as it did when we first started writing’. But this play has been around for 130-odd years. It’s been reimagined and rewritten and readapted and recontextualised. This play is always relevant.” den Hertog agrees. “The first half of Jaws is The Enemy of the People,” he says excitedly. “The

whole thing about the Mayor refusing to close the beaches – that’s such a similar relationship to the antagonist [in the play]... the Mayor [who] refuses to close the economy of the town.” He outlines numerous historical adaptions of Ibsen’s classic that have all reflected the political contexts of their time, from Arthur Miller’s version during the McCarthy era to the play’s popularity in Nazi Germany. “Whatever’s going on in the world will be read into it by the audience,” he explains. “It’s not so much about how we are responding to [world events] – it’s more like ‘how will the audience see this figure, this character, this line, in the context of 2019 versus 2020 versus 2021?” “Themes that are inherent in the original felt quite topical to the way the world is now,” adds Hurley. “They’re not necessarily changing with the electoral wind.”

“This play has been around for 130-odd years. It’s been reimagined and rewritten and readapted and recontextualised.

This play is always relevant” Kieran Hurley Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic

October 2021 — Feature

Theatre

Interview: Matthew Sedman But though the universality of Ibsen’s text stands as a testament to his craft, this production proudly brands itself as a uniquely Scottish and “increasingly relevant” adaptation. Though Hurley reiterates that The Enemy is not a political commentary, it’s perhaps no coincidence that at the time of the project’s creation a populist and dichotomous rhetoric was beginning to take up space in the media.

In late 2016, tensions around Brexit were running high. The Daily Mail published the infamous ‘Enemies of the People’ headline alongside images of the three judges who had ruled that the UK Government required parliamentary consent to give notice of Brexit. Some months later, in a similar vein, the same publication covered Theresa May’s snap General Election with the tagline ‘Crush the Saboteurs!’, borrowing a radical phrase from the Russian Revolution to refer to Brexit dissenters in Parliament.

In America, Donald Trump was elected President after a campaign based on fake news tirades. For Hurley, it was important that the play captured the chaotic stream of public opinion in a contemporary, post-truth world. Notably, his playscript modernizes the townspeople through the introduction of social media.

“Kieran and I had the conversation about the fact that you cannot do a version of this play in the 21st Century without the internet and without social media,” says den Hertog. “The town exists in this much more online, digital space.”

COVID-19 has had the most sizable impact on the course of the production, not least because of its forced cancellation in 2020. Thematically, returning to the stage with a fictional public health crisis could hardly be more prescient. How did den Hertog approach rehearsals the second time around – did he feel a need to adapt his creative vision in response to the last year? “That’s the sliding doors analogy,” he responds. “There have been no substantial rebates, and there’s been no change to the ending, right? But the script has continued to evolve. As soon as you get actors wrapping themselves around it, you’re going to find out new things about the play.” It’s impossible to know, however, how differently the production might have turned out if it weren’t for the pandemic. “A piece of new writing would evolve in the same way, but how this would have happened under a completely different set of social conditions an imaginary year and a half ago?” he muses. “I don’t know”.

What we do know is that recent events have rendered this production even more pertinent. The Enemy isn’t a play about COVID, and it isn’t a play about the government’s actions. But in 2021, in a world dominated by our own public health crisis and infused by the discourse around it, could it be about anything else?

The Enemy tours Greenock, Dundee, Edinburgh, Inverness and Perth, 9 Oct-6 Nov nationaltheatrescotland.com/events/the-enemy Hannah Donaldson and Gabriel Quigley in The Enemy

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THE SKINNY

Let It Be Funny As Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson releases an all-new version of The Beatles’ worst film, we take a look at the comedy that made the band so memorable Words: Ben Venables

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The Beatles: Get Back is released on 25–27 Nov via Disney +

October 2021 — Features

hands, and the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewellery.” In America, their quick and caustic wit on arriving at JFK airport in 1964 ensured a heroes’ welcome. They made millions of new fans parrying subtly-loaded questions (“Do you like Beethoven?”, “He’s great, especially his poems,” answers Ringo).

Paul McCartney grew up in a family steeped in the Music Hall tradition, comedy which passed into his songwriting. The Beatles’ albums often veer from the proto-punk and heavy-metal sounds of Lennon’s tracks to a jolly old knees-ups from McCartney. But listen to When I’m Sixty-Four, Your Mother Should Know and the much reviled Maxwell’s Silver Hammer with your ears open to a sense of humour, and much of The Beatles’ appeal and radical influence falls into place.

Nonsense was an integral ingredient to The Beatles, even unlocking their creative jams. When McCartney woke from a dream with the tune for Yesterday formed in his head he had no idea about the lyrics. ‘Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away,’ started as ‘Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs.’ John Lennon was a master of nonsense. A fan of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear’s literary humour as a boy, he channelled their wordplay into his writing, most obviously in I Am the Walrus: ‘I am the egg-man, they are the egg-men, I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob.’

The Beatles weren’t only funny themselves, but actively supported comedy. When Monty Python’s funding went south before filming The Life of Brian, George Harrison stepped in and bankrolled the whole thing. He mortgaged his house to do so and created Handmade Films – a film company that went on to back another classic of British comedy, Withnail and I. And yet, there is one piece of The Beatles’ back catalogue where humour is absent – the dreary documentary Let It Be (1970). The film is mostly remembered for one bickering argument between McCartney and Harrison. It was released as the band were breaking up, and seemed to capture a group of friends bored at the sight of each other.

The Beatles seem to have done everything they can to fire the film from their canon of work; even their famous rooftop gig can’t save something so tedious. It has never made it to DVD. Only a completist would want to hunt it down on shady internet backchannels.

There is one strange comedic legacy from Let It Be, albeit accidental. It inspired ‘mockumentaries’ that take the piss out of bumptious bands falling into ‘musical differences’. It is hard to imagine This is Spinal Tap existing without Let It Be, or The Simpsons’ barbershop quartet episode, which brilliantly parodies the rooftop performance.

It is a surprise then that for its 50th anniversary (though delayed by the pandemic), Let It Be is now rebooted as The Beatles: Get Back. Using hours of footage, Peter Jackson has remade and restored the film with the same techniques he used with the WWI documentary They Shall Not Grow Old. The question among Beatles fans, of course, is whether Jackson can do anything but roll this turd in glitter. Judging by the teaser alone, Jackson has not only made the film look pretty, he’s captured everything left out of the original.

Ringo is juggling drumsticks, John is dicking around and they’re all making each other laugh. In other words, it includes all the levity and humour that made The Beatles such a success.

Comedy

Image: Courtesy of Disney

W

ith one exception, every film The Beatles made is a comedy.

A Hard Day’s Night (1964) is a parody of the band’s lives during Beatlemania. Help!

(1965) is a spoof-and-slapstick thriller, recalling the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup. Magical Mystery Tour (1967) is a hallucinogenic hot mess, like a rough draft of Monty Python. Yellow Submarine (1968) is a remarkable triumph in animation. All are tongue-incheek and charming: the comedic qualities that lodged The Beatles in the public mind, driving their fame as much as their music.

Comedy is central to The Beatles’ story, the true ‘fifth Beatle’. When The Beatles travelled to London to audition for EMI, they met producer George Martin. Martin had worked with The Goon Show, Beyond the Fringe and Peter Sellers. His reputation as a comedy producer could have alerted other bands they weren’t being taken too seriously. Yet, for The Beatles it meant they’d found the very producer who spoke their language. When George Harrison took the piss out of Martin’s tie, it reassured them all they could work together.

Their music started the craze known as Beatlemania, but it was the quip at the 1963 Royal Variety Show that meant The Beatles never looked back. John Lennon addressed the Royal Box: “Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your

“Nonsense was an integral ingredient to The Beatles, even unlocking their creative jams”

October 2021

THE SKINNY

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THE SKINNY

Music Now

October is another stacked month for new Scottish music, with releases continuing to arrive at a rate that's hard to keep up with, but we’ll do what we can. Here goes Words: Tallah Brash

Music

Photo: Btth Chalmers

F

Blush Club

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Japan Review

October 2021 — Review

Let’s move from noise-pop to ambient neo-folk. Following their inclusion as one of this year’s Wide Days showcase acts, Constant Follower release their debut album, Neither is, nor ever was via Shimmy-Disc and Joyful Noise Recordings on 1 October. Shimmy-Disc label founder Kramer takes up co-production duties alongside Constant Follower frontman Stephen McAll. Neither is, nor ever was is a gorgeous and spacious exploration of the inevitable passing of time, captured beautifully in this heart wrenching moment found on Spirits in the Roof Tree: ‘You know I’ll never leave you / What’s my life without you / I know we’ll always be’. Each of the tracks on Neither is, nor ever was will also be accompanied by its own short film by a different artist, with each being the artist’s own response, offering a truly unique way to experience this record.

Following on from the success of last year’s debut EP, When You’re Around, Becca Shearing, aka SHEARS, has been taking the time to work on her skills as an artist and producer. With three exquisite pop singles – Pick Me Up, Afterthought and Face – under her belt already this year, it seems all the hard work is paying off.

Add two more songs into the mix – The Fault and Say It To Me – and you have her brand new EP, Mind In Decline. Set for release on 27 October, it’s surely one of the most perfect pure pop releases of the year. Our only gripe is that it’s not twice as long.

Another release we’re really enjoying this month comes from relative newcomers, Glasgow’s Blush Club, whose debut EP – A Hill to Die On (29 Oct) – is a jangly, jaunty, indie-pop joy. Also, expect more new music this month from Karine Polwart & Dave Milligan, The Joshua Hotel, Loup, Yoko Pwno & Acolyte, Midnight Ambulance and loads more – plenty to get your teeth into.

Image: courtesy of Japan Review

Photo: Stephanie Gibson

ollowing a longlist nomination for the 2021 Scottish Album of the Year Award for Landform, his album with Marta Salogni, Erland Cooper is back this month with Never Pass Into Nothingness. It’s a collaborative project with photographer and filmmaker Alex Kozobolis and singer-songwriter Kathryn Joseph that arrives on 15 October via Mercury KX. Also on the SAY longlist this year for their eighth studio album A Celebration of Endings, Kilmarnock three-piece Biffy Clyro release a surprise ninth album – The Myth of the Happily Ever After – on 22 October via Warner Music.

On the same day, Lomond Campbell’s LŪP gets a physical release via One Little Independent Records. Taking its title from the tape looping device Campbell built and consequently used to make the record, it’s a fascinating story that you can learn all about in our full feature on p40. In September’s magazine we spoke to Honeyblood’s Stina Tweeddale about her new solo project under the name Stina Marie Claire. Her debut EP, A Souvenir for a Terrible Year, is released on 1 Oct via ICEBLINK LUCK – turn the page for our full review which likens the release to Kathleen Hanna’s Julie Ruin record.

Formerly of alt-pop band Kid Canaveral, David MacGregor is back this month with album two as Broken Chanter. Set for release on 29 October via Olive Grove and Last Night from Glasgow, Catastrophe Hits very much starts where Broken Chanter left off, but everything feels brighter, with crisp percussive and electronic elements that really make the songs pop. And after learning of MacGregor’s desire to learn Gaelic around the time of the last release, it’s thrilling to hear him singing in the language on Ith Làn Do Bhìth, not to mention super soothing too.

Despite being recorded during the pandemic, and the album being called Catastrophe Hits, MacGregor is aware that music is meant to be an escape. “I didn’t want to have an album that spent it’s entire running time reflecting on the past year and a half,” he says. “Folk Broken Chanter need a lift. They don’t need to relive the pandemic, and the associated trauma, right now.” And it really doesn’t feel like an album born out of a global pandemic, but the chorus of ‘Hold onto your friends, hold onto your friends’ found on Extinction Event Souvenir T-Shirt hits hard – it’s euphoric and cathartic and we’ll be singing it for some time to come.

Due for release on the same day via Reckless Yes is Kvetch Sounds, the debut album from Glasgow noise-pop duo Japan Review. Following on from the release of their Juno EP in 2019, Kvetch Sounds is sonically more experimental, exploring shoegaze, lo-fi electronica, post-rock and more. While the genres might not be massively consistent across this record, the soundscape and world created by the pair is; piercing synths, fuzzy electronics and programmed drum beats keep the whole thing in check.

Albums

THE SKINNY

Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure Fiction Records, 22 Oct

rrrrr

October 2021 — Review

isten to: I Do This All the Time, L Moody

Parquet Courts Sympathy for Life Rough Trade, 22 Oct rrrrr isten To: Walking at a Downtown L Pace, Plant Life, Homo Sapien

Ever since Rebecca Lucy Taylor – formerly one half of Slow Club – put her indie days behind her, she quickly established herself as a fully-fledged pop star with her solo project, Self Esteem. Her 2019 debut, Compliments Please, was easily one of the most exciting releases that year, and Prioritise Pleasure follows suit. On it, Taylor’s vocals are bigger and bolder, and the subject matter more expansive. Voicing the frustrations of fed-up women everywhere, Taylor is simultaneously angry and jubilant, criticising a society that puts women down while celebrating the things that build us up.

‘There’s nothing that terrifies a man more than a woman who appears completely deranged,’ says an unknown speaker at the end of opening track I’m Fine. The clip is taken from conversations Taylor had with female-identifying creatives when devising a play on consent for The National Youth Theatre in 2019.

There are pure pop bangers in Fucking Wizardry and Moody, and cinematic epics in I Do This All the Time and Still Reigning.

Taylor might not have been coming for the crown of pop star of the year, but with Prioritise Pleasure she’s certainly taken it. [Nadia Younes]

Across the past decade, there has been hardly anyone as consistently beguiling and exhilarating as Brooklyn post-punks Parquet Courts. Since their breakout record Light Up Gold, the quartet have put together a mighty back catalogue of brilliance, with 2018’s Wide Awake! seeing them reach new levels of exposure and popularity.

While that album saw the band explore more dance-rock oriented grooves, their latest, Sympathy for Life, shows Parquet Courts doubling down.

PC’s seventh full-length record was, reportedly, built out of long jam sessions, which the group boiled down to palatable chunks which make up the majority of the songs here. While album opener and lead single Walking at a Downtown Pace is classic Parquet Courts at their finest, the album shortly takes on a hypnotic quality from thereon.

The influence from the likes of Talking Heads and Primal Scream is palpable on tracks such as Plant Life, which makes similar use of production trickery to the latter’s Screamadelica.

Meanwhile, Application Apparatus owes its legacy to the mighty Kraftwerk and fellow practitioners of kosmische Musik. While some may miss the band’s more direct approach of previous records, tracks like Homo Sapien show Parquet Courts can still rock out. [Adam Turner-Heffer]

Hand Habits Fun House Saddle Creek, 22 Oct

rrrrr

isten to: More Than Love, L Aquamarine, Clean Air

Tirzah Colourgrade Domino, 1 Oct rrrrr isten to: Beating, Sink In, L Send Me

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Meg Duffy is first and foremost a collaborator. The LA-based musician, also known as Hand Habits, is a stalwart of the indie music scene, having toured and recorded with the likes of Kevin Morby, Sylvan Esso and The War On Drugs.

It make sense then that Duffy would bring that collaborative spirit into their own work. Their dazzling third LP, Fun House, was fleshed out alongside producer Sasami Ashworth (SASAMI) and musician Kyle Thomas – Duffy’s housemates during the pandemic – and also features a duet with Perfume Genius. Easily Duffy’s most adventurous collection of songs yet, the record explodes into being with two outstanding opening tracks. More Than Love is a foot-tapping, Springsteen-referencing instant obsession, followed up by the tightly-wound and beautifully layered Aquamarine.

But Fun House’s intrigue lies in its continually shifting emotions and energies. From the surety of Aquamarine to the simple vulnerability of Graves, Duffy strikes an irresistible balance between sorrow and joy, once again displaying their knack for dressing stark trauma in infectious beats and major chords.

Whether a coping mechanism or an inside joke, the result is truly exciting music that is also uniquely heartbreaking. [Katie Cutforth] Tirzah’s stark and minimal songs have an uncanny ability to conjure a world lurking just behind the curtain.

What first sounds slight and standoffish becomes warm and overwhelming after a few spins; that ability made her 2018 album Devotion an instant classic.

Colourgrade is even more oblique, taking longer to reveal the heart at the centre. Taking cues from her early mixtapes, its songs function as sketches that reinforce each other to create a heavy and rewarding listen.

Made after the birth of her first child, and recorded before the arrival of her second, Colourgrade portrays early motherhood as weary, surreal, isolating and beautiful. ‘You got me, I’ve got you / We made life, it’s beating’ she sings on Beating, backed by a simple drum beat and skin-tickling static, while the futuristic blues of Sleeping captures the late-night delirium that comes with having a young child.

It would be reductive to view the album solely through this lens of motherhood. The mood may be consistent and songs may be skeletal, but the emotions are varied and often indescribable. On Colourgrade, Tirzah is intent to make you feel vivid, ineffable things you haven’t before.

[Skye Butchard]

THE SKINNY

isten to: Pale Interior, The way her L hair falls, Kelso (Blue sky)

isten to: Boy, Storm Dancer, My L Invisible

isten to: The Human Condition, L Souvenir

Lotic Water Houndstooth Records, 29 Oct rrrrr Listen to: Emergency, Always You

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On 2018’s Power, Lotic used throbbing club sounds, celestial operatic elements and raw electronics to convey the instability and personal upheaval happening within her life.

The constant fight between authoritarian power structures and Black trans lives was cleverly represented within conflicting sounds and shots of noise.

Three years later, Water elegantly combines many of the same influences to tell a weightier story of intergenerational pain, and how this often lines up with personal grief.

J’Kerian Morgan connects the dots with her voice. Her sharp falsetto is more present in the mix than ever before, and that emergence mirrors the growing distinctiveness she has as an artist. Her voice is at times limited, with melodies in the second half of the record becoming indistinct. But when it works, Lotic is at the height of her powers.

Emergency is brash and beautiful in a way that’s rare, its searing synth lines and clattering percussion leaving space for her gasping and pensive vocal. Even on the alarming double time of Always You, there’s room for gentle harp passages and whisper-quiet melodies. The fluidity and confidence of the record makes it feel like the arrival of Lotic in her true form. [Skye Butchard]

October 2021 — Review

Kedr Livanskiy Liminal Soul 2MR, 1 Oct rrrrr

Following the giddy rush into the light of 2019’s Your Need, it was something of a mystery where Kedr Livanskiy would go next. What you get on Liminal Soul is something of a moulding together of all her records up to this point. The lo-fi textures of her early work are gone, but the vaporous washes of sound remain, while the recent move towards crystalline synths and classic 808 rhythms continues.

The tumbling drums and plonking synths of Boy are gorgeous and her voice is at its craning emotive best, while My Invisible – which at points sounds like an early grime instrumental and a piece of 90s breakbeat pop having a wrestle – fizzes with spiky energy. Storm Dancer is the only one that feels set apart from the rest. It looms out at the end of the record, grander and more menacing than its counterparts.

With its screeches of synth and operatic vocals it’s a strong final blast, but points towards a record of more tonal variety. As it is, the other songs in its final third, which work perfectly well when listened to in and of themselves, can’t help but feel like re-treading ground covered better earlier in the record. [Joe Creely]

Stina Marie Claire A Souvenir of a Terrible Year ICEBLINK LUCK, 1 Oct rrrrr

With a fourth Honeyblood album forced onto the back burner, Stina Tweeddale has instead turned her attention to carving out a solo channel distinct from the band. In and of itself, this begs the question of what that distinction actually is, given that Honeyblood has essentially been a solo vehicle since 2018. A Souvenir of a Terrible Year offers up a couple of potential answers to that question. One of them is tied up in the closing cover of The Sundays’ Here’s Where the Story Ends; where the original is all breezy pop, Tweeddale’s take is much rawer, full of exposed-nerve emotion.

Elsewhere, the newer compositions also serve to draw a dividing line between the band and the solo project. Honeyblood, at their heart, have always been a rock band, regardless of which prism that’s been refracted through. Here, though, Tweeddale pivots between punchy pop and quietly stormy reflection. It’s a dichotomy that brings to mind Kathleen Hanna’s Julie Ruin record – expertly crafted, emotionally engaged bedroom pop.

If there’s a silver lining to be taken, it’s that A Souvenir of a Terrible Year appears to have cracked open an entirely new part of Tweeddale creatively. [Joe Goggins]

Albums

Grouper Shade Kranky, 22 Oct rrrrr

When Liz Harris releases music, it’s difficult not to relate to it with darkness. Not necessarily a foreboding, ominous darkness, but the kind where life is still and what’s coming next suggests an artist finding a way to edge tentatively into light, though still wanting a place to stay hidden. But with some of these recordings stretching back as many as 15 years, these are merely the parts that Harris is allowing us to see at this moment.

Shade contains some of Harris’s most and least accessible work. Ode to the blue is simple and beautiful; a line like ‘I’ve been thinking about the way the light gets lost in your hair’ conjures entire lifetimes in that simplicity.

Disordered Minds is a swirling rave-up of tantric chanting and lo-fi noise. The rudimentary beat is somewhere between Moe Tucker and techno.

Grouper songs fit so nicely into that depressive spiral where the only art you can engage with is that which will match your feelings. So, when we reach the country-tinged final track, Kelso (Blue sky), and Harris sings sunnily ‘Blue sky over Kelso and I’m feeling fine’, it’s hard not to gasp. [Tony Inglis]

THE SKINNY

Film The French Dispatch Director: Wes Anderson Starring: Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand

Film

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A pastiche of sophisticated literary magazines like The New Yorker, The French Dispatch sees Bill Murray star as the editor of a weekly supplement reporting from the fictitious French town of Ennui-Sur-Blasé. We join him and his team of writers as they assemble the magazine’s final edition, which includes a travel guide, three feature articles and an obituary. Taking the form of an anthology film, Wes Anderson’s latest recreates the simple pleasure of losing yourself in a long read. From a profile about a convicted murderer who finds redemption through art to a culinary crime caper recounted by Jeffrey Wright doing his

best James Baldwin impression, each story speaks to the power of ideas and the allure of inspiration.

Anderson currently resides in Paris, and this ardent Francophile takes much influence here from directors like Jaques Tati, Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Demy. But he also draws inspiration from the sartorial aloofness of 20th-century Parisian fashion, yé-yé pop music, and the ligne claire aesthetic of Hergé’s The Adventures of Tintin. The result feels like stepping into a fanciful time machine and arriving in a version of post-war Europe that has only ever existed on the Big Screen.

Anyone who finds Anderson’s films too mannered or whimsical are unlikely to be won over, but for those who share his fondness for long-form essays and continental culture, The French Dispatch is a rich and absorbing delight. [Patrick Gamble] Released 22 Oct by Disney; certificate 12A

Last Night in Soho Director: Edgar Wright Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin McKenzie, Jessie Mei Li, Matt Smith

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In a perfect world, all films would have an intimately lit scene of Anya Taylor-Joy dressed in a beautiful vintage gown while singing an a cappella version of Petula Clark’s soulful hit Downtown. Edgar Wright’s latest, Last Night in Soho, blesses the audience with such a scenario but woefully allows for the spellbinding quality of the moment to be drained as swiftly as rain going through clean gutters.

Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) is your good old small-town girl with big-town dreams. She moves to London from Cornwall to pursue her lifelong ambitions to become a fashion designer but struggles to fit in, haunted by ghosts of past and present. These feelings of displacement

fuel the psychological thriller’s first act, a cleverly constructed kaleidoscope built upon Eloise’s crumbling state of mind. Here, metaphorical parallels are made tangible by an inescapable parade of mirrors, Wright determined on dizzying the audience as he takes them through the sinuous corridors of glamourous Soho clubs.

As Last Night in Soho unravels, however, the sharp vision of its early chapter turns blurry as the narrative swiftly drops well-crafted allegories in lieu of overexposed twists and a deeply-felt farewell to its charming ambivalence. The final result is never dull – with laurels particularly placed on the immersive mix of the banging soundtrack and accomplished cinematography – but struggles to combat the bitter aftertaste left by the certainty that beneath its shiny surface there was a much better film.

[Rafaela Sales Ross] Released 29 Oct by Universal; certificate TBC

Image: Chiabella James; Warner Bros.

The French Dispatch

October 2021 – Review

Dune Director: Denis Villeneuve Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac, Dave Bautista

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It is hard to be fully immersed in Dune when its title card boldly states “Part 1” and its final scene sees a wistful Chani (Zendaya) soulfully declare “This is only the beginning”, while longingly staring at the horizon – perhaps looking for the magnanimous pot of gold required to fund a sequel. Yet, there is still much to chew on in Denis Villeneuve’s monumental epic sci-fi.

Dune lacks the spellbinding visuals of Villeneuve’s last foray into sci-fi, 2017’s neo-noir Blade Runner 2049, a sensory feast that commanded colours with the grace of a snake charmer. In this Roger Deakins-less venture – Greig Fraser (Zero Dark Thirty, Rogue One) is on cinematography duty

Dune

– colour is as rarely seen as the mighty worms that plague Arrakis, the desert world on which Frank Herbert’s story takes place. When both grace the screen, however, the crisp yellows of the sand crumbling to the power of the crawling creatures, it is as if Dune comes to life, leaning fully into what it could have been.

Out of the stellar ensemble cast led by the always charming Timothée Chalamet as Oedipean prophet Paul, the greatest surprise is Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, a salt of the earth swordmaster. With enough charisma to flood the arid lands of Arrakis, Momoa swiftly steals the coveted spotlight, split by a parade of big names that are granted very little time on screen. Unfortunately, nothing in Dune quite reaches the same level of pizzaz as Momoa, but – fear not – it is still a highly entertaining voyage. [Rafaela Sales Ross] Released 22 Oct by Warner Bros; certificate 12A

Last Night in Soho

Halloween Kills Director: David Gordon Green Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Anthony Michael Hall, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Thomas Mann

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Starting within seconds of the fiery denouement of David Gordon Green’s first Halloween sequel, Halloween Kills follows ever-stabby masked bogeyman Michael Myers on his rampage, occasionally flashing back to 1978 to remind us what a good horror movie once looked like. Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode spends much of the film holed up in a hospital bed, which increasingly looks like a savvy move as everyone else lumbers around spouting God-awful dialogue that attempts to make the film about something: the rise of populism, the nature of fear, or… whatever. Anthony Michael Hall leads a vigilante mob and Will Patton’s soulful sheriff recovers from having his throat slit in order to reminisce about not

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Halloween Kills

shooting Myers when he had the chance (accidentally shooting his partner to death instead – oops).

Halloween Kills is not funny enough to work as parody, yet not economic enough to work as chiller.

Every cut is a jumpscare; every ‘character’ a kill waiting to happen; every kill an over-elaborate lesson in gooey anatomy. As is referenced in the film, the original 1978 massacre saw three people die. Here, eleven get offed in just one scene: an object lesson in diminishing returns. Proving Chris Rock isn’t the only comedian who should stay away from horror, Danny McBride is once more on writing duty along with Green and Scott Teems. That said though, I genuinely can’t wait for the final chapter – Halloween Ends – due next year, if only in the hope it lives up to the promise of the title. [John Bleasdale] Released 15 Oct by Universal; certificate 18

THE SKINNY

GO SANGATSU @ SWG3, GLASGOW

Words: Peter Simpson

Five March’s Japanese-inspired pop-up at SWG3's Acid Bar presents some interesting dishes and large dollops of excellent mayonnaise Food

ig: @fivemarch_gosangatsu Thu and Fri 12-3pm and 5-10pm, Sat 12-10pm

A

Photo: Peter Simpson

fter past residencies from Ka Pao and Julie’s Kopitiam, it’s the turn of West End restaurant Five March to take on SWG3’s bar and restaurant, nestled between the train tracks and an all-night trance music festival that’s kicking off as we arrive. Their pitch – Go Sangatsu, a pop-up inspired by the cuisines and techniques of Japan, but with some inspirations from further afield and ingredients from closer to home.

First up, ramen eggs (£4)! We like an egg here in the food section, and these are great. They’re creamy, jammy, salty, and come topped with some excellent kewpie-style Japanese mayo. Throw

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bit dominant in the broth it’s still a very nice piece of fish.

If that soy was a little overwhelming, dessert – a black sesame purin, or custard pudding (£5) – is subtle to the point of underwhelming.

It’s refreshing and palate-cleansing, and makes an impressive jiggle when you nudge the table, but after a meal loaded with fairly assertive flavours it takes a while to get your head around.

All told, Go Sangatsu is pretty good, but we’re struggling a bit to work out who it’s for. There’s an impressive lack of clout-chasing on the menu, but there’s no killer dish that leaps off the page and demands to be eaten, or calls for an immediate return trip. The Acid Bar space, the staff, and the decor are lovely, but they’re all at the end of a long drawl away from a buzzing main road. Yet on its own terms and away from the vagaries of hyperlocal geography, Five March’s pop-up is a success, powered by some tasty dishes, high-quality cooking, and some of the best mayonnaise this side of the Pacific.

October 2021 – Review

Photo: Peter Simpson

on some tiny bits of impressively flavourful coriander and a bit of puffed rice to remind us to chew, and it’s a delightfully fatty start.

There’s more great mayonnaise up next, on the potatoes with miso aioli (£6). A transplant from the main Five March spot, these are brilliant.

Crispy, gnarly and surprisingly spiky potatoes covered in a spicy, umami seasoning and then thrown overboard into a sea of creamy, savoury aioli. The shiitake and eggplant mapo tofu (£8) is also excellent. It’s a bit light on the tofu (in that there’s hardly any tofu) but what you definitely will find are the fermented, spicy, rich flavours that you want from this kind of dish.

That tofu situation is one of a few times where Go Sangatsu’s proportions go a bit haywire. A pile of green beans in a tantanmen dressing (£5) are stacked up like kindling, but it’s enough kindling to start a pretty decent fire. Was this dish designed to pair up with something we didn’t order, or for a larger group to share?

Possibly. Would we have complained if it was half the size?

Absolutely not.

Away from the creamy end of the scale, our piece of skate (£9) with charred corn in a soy and ginger broth looks brilliant, and shows off a good balance of most of its key elements. It’s soft where you want it to be, crunchy when you need it, and while the soy is a

Photo: Peter Simpson

Go Sangatsu, SWG3, 100 Eastvale Pl, Glasgow, G3 8QG

August 2021 — Review

Books

THE SKINNY

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THE SKINNY

ICYMI Comedian, writer and podcaster Siân Docksey submerges herself in the pastel hues of the much-loved 80s sitcom, The Golden Girls Illustration: Julija Straižytė

Docksey hosts Pole the Other One!, a podcast about Pole Dancing available at https://rss.com/podcasts/poletheotherone/ Also if you happen to be in the Big Smoke in November, she’s performing her solo show, We Live in a Human Dream, at London’s Museum of Comedy

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October 2021 — Review

character who point blank refuses to be patronised and coddled like an old person. Except when it serves her to conveniently ‘forget’ it’s inappropriate at a buffet to make jokes about wee.

However, each episode has plenty of farce, flashes of dark humour and sweetness. You can’t help getting occasionally blindsided by the actors’ performances. Dorothy in particular, played by Bea Arthur, cycles effortlessly between delivering acidic one-liners, being a clown, and letting rip dramatic monologues packed with frustration and vulnerability. I feel like I’ve met this character and I want to be her friend. You feel the wry cynicism that comes with getting older clash against wanting to believe in romance and dreams; we watch her strident confidence occasionally crumble under self-doubt. She’s a big personality who holds the other two and her mother in check, taking Blanche’s wide-eyed pining and Rose’s stubborn idiocy with eye-rolling panache. The women take it in turns to lift each other out of their worries, social disasters, and self-inflicted hot messes, in a friendship group dynamic that’s instantly recognisable for any generation.

Every character is supported by a script that’s warm, silly, and never leaves a scene without a solid gag.

It’s very comforting to visit The Golden Girls’ world of ice teas by the pool, witty philosophising about marriage, friendship and family, and vivid power suits for every lunch. My actual flatmate caught me chortling quietly at jokes that have staying power beyond the mid 80s, and walking round singing ‘thank you for being a friend’ to tins of tomatoes, which I’m sure is exactly what the producers wanted.

Like the characters at its heart, The Golden Girls has aged stylishly and self-assuredly. You become fond of the gang immediately, and start wondering who in your friendship group you’d retire to Florida with. Depends on the rising sea levels. Whichever friend could fight an alligator, probably.

Comedy

I

’ll be honest: I got into The Golden Girls for real-life long-term planning. Sharing a house during your senior years with three older women in Miami? Sounds cracking, and strategically sound. The only missing detail from a millennial’s perspective is the absence of climate crisis. Between snarking about incontinence and hitting on priests, I see retirement as mostly insulating my house from complete atmospheric annihilation. Luckily, if The Golden Girls speaks truth, there’s always plenty of chiffon.

The sitcom follows divorcée Dorothy, her widowed friends Rose and Blanche, and Dorothy’s 80-something mother Sophia living in a chintzy, pastel-coloured Florida house.

Yes, it’s bad form to introduce female characters by their previous relationship to men, but that’s the premise of the show: finished with raising families and having outlived or outwitted their husbands, the three women join forces and make a home together. Dorothy’s mother turns up unannounced in episode one after her retirement home burned down, and her deadpan commentary makes the other three seem like scurrying, hapless twenty-somethings.

And between jokes about ageing and toupées, the show unfolds just like that. The girls worry about exes turning up at parties, about your landlordslash-housemate getting married and leaving you in the lurch, and oddball family members launching crackpot business ideas.

Dorothy’s teaching job is stressful and paints a cartoonish picture of the Florida landscape outside: a Mad Maxstyle wild west of crime, anarchy and queer punks that never crosses the threshold of the Golden Girls’ palm tree-shielded pink home. Sweet, daydreamy Rose fusses over her more worldly friends who tease her relentlessly for being dippy and naïve. Beautiful Blanche twirls coquettishly through a whirlwind of lovers, being unapologetically horny about the pool attendant in a wet shirt and anyone within a 60-year age span.

I’m not going to pretend it’s my new favourite show. The Golden Girls doesn’t hold back on open sentimentality, and the women saying loudly and clearly, over and over again, that in the end what matters is they’ll always have each other. A few episodes in I was drifting off during the hugging and hand-holding, and snapping back to attention when Sophia marched onscreen to be a mean old lady. She’s a brilliantly-written

THE SKINNY

Books

Book Reviews

Love in the Big City

Case Study

The Broken Pane

Weird Fucks

By Sang Young Park, translated by Anton Hur

By Graeme Macrae Burnet

By Charlie Roy

By Lynne Tillman

Urban love, lust and loneliness are the themes of South Korean writer Sang Young Park’s English-language debut, aptly titled Love in the Big City. Comprising what were originally four interconnected short stories, the novel follows a gay man, Young, from his student days into his thirties.

Each section focuses on a specific point in his life and a significant relationship: his best friend, the free-wheeling Jaehee; an older, angsty, anti-American boyfriend; his mother who is dying of cancer; and a man who may well be the love of Young’s life.

Left alone to care for his ailing mother – the same woman who sent Young, as a boy, to a gay conversion facility – Love in the Big City is a very modern portrait of an artist as the novel’s narrator contends with familial duties, Tinder dates, turbulent friendships and trying to make it as a writer. On this messy and moving journey, Park weaves in social and political commentary, from LGBTQ+ rights and abortion access, to class dynamics and gender roles in contemporary Seoul.

Anton Hur’s gorgeous translation captures the wit and bite of Park’s voice, which cuts through the novel’s romantic tenor like a blade. A runaway bestseller in South Korea, Love in the Big City is destined to be a global, queer cult classic. This is a bold, sparkling novel that encompasses what it feels like to be young and in love with life itself, surrounded by strangers and yet completely, wrenchingly alone.

[Katie Goh]

The thing about Graeme Macrae Burnet is you’re never quite sure what you’re going to read. Case Study seems a clear proposition: London, 1965, an unworldly young woman believes her sister was driven to suicide by charismatic psychotherapist Collins Braithwaite. She seeks the truth.

What instead unravels – told through journals, books and GMB’s own ‘research’ – is a tale that almost leaves the core mystery at the door.

Stepping into this new world as the bold Rebecca Smyth, the question of the self becomes less a facade for investigation, and more an existential crisis that bleeds from the pages.

Who are we? What are we looking for? What are we hiding behind? What is the truth? As the therapist provokes and cajoles the protagonist at their various meetings, it feels less about unpicking his own history but understanding a deeper malaise within ‘Rebecca’ herself, torn between her drive for answers, her own self, assumed self, and the truths confronted. Braithwaite’s own legacy unfurls in parallel, a lifetime interspersed by these few encounters.

Sanity is in question at every turn.

Inventive as ever, Case Study is a masterclass of diversion. Ever blurring the lines of fiction and reality in the form itself, readers come seeking one answer, but instead are drawn into the search for countless more. Serious and witty at once, reality becomes what we make of it. Reality, in this case, is an enthralling read. [Heather McDaid]

The Broken Pane is about the stories we tell ourselves, and others, to make sense of how our lives have turned out, and the roles we are assigned in family life. Narrator Tam has come to believe that the reason her mother left, and her father drank, is her fault by simply being born, and the guilt she carries is overwhelming.

The tragic fate of her beloved brother Nicky is the latest emotional trauma she has to face, and although she is not alone – her indomitable Nana especially being there to support – it feels like it. It’s a brave writer who reveals such a tragedy in the first chapter, but that propels the events that follow, and adds a pathos which makes Tam’s experiences all the more poignant. You really come to care about her and as the book moves towards a conclusion the tension becomes almost unbearable.

In some ways The Broken Pane leaves you wanting more. More about Nicky’s story, Nana and George’s relationship, and Tam’s adventures while travelling. But that’s testament to Charlie Roy’s ability to invest in her secondary characters an innate relatability, making them more than simply the supporting cast. It’s also a novel that examines familial loss and guilt with an honesty few others manage. Harrowing, tragic, yet ultimately uplifting, The Broken Pane breaks your heart then puts it back together before the end.

[Alistair Braidwood]

So much of Weird Fucks is throwaway. The sentences, the sex, the love.

The men who float, illusory, in and out of the protagonist’s life. The protagonist herself, a young woman fresh out of high school, fresh into college, freshly to Rome and Amsterdam and London. She has no sense of attachment to anything or anyone, including herself. “I was a slum goddess and in college,” she writes. Later, “I’m an inmate with a pass for the night.” Then, “I found myself falling in love again. It is safer to stay indoors.”

But while it does feel throwaway, Tillman’s writing – short, staccato, brutal – centres on a woman who, crucially, doesn’t put men above herself. We’re left aching for more details, but she often moves on before we’re ready because the details – ergo, the men – aren’t important.

And this in itself is important. A man she meets in Munich and lives with for a year in Amsterdam has an ephemeral send-off: “I rarely, if ever, thought of him again. This alone struck me as demeaning.” It is, which is the absolute charm of Weird Fucks.

It’s so transitory that it’s hard to know whether the lifestyle laid out in Weird Fucks is aspirational or desperately lonely – but it is addictive. One to swallow whole in a single sitting, revelling in each fragmented, fascinating fuck. [Kirstyn Smith]

Tilted Axis Press, 28 Oct, £9.99

Saraband, 7 Oct, £14.99

Leamington Books, 1 Oct, £16.99

Peninsula Press, 30 Sep, £8.99

tiltedaxispress.com

saraband.net

leamingtonbooks.com

peninsulapress.co.uk

October 2021 — Review

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THE SKINNY

Listings Looking for something to do? Well you’re in the right place! Here's a rundown of what's happening across Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee this month.

To find out how to submit listings, head to theskinny.co.uk/listings

Glasgow Music Tue 28 Sep SQUID

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £15

The hotly tipped post-punk, disco-funk phenomenon Squid is the brainchild of Ollie Judge, Louis Borlase, Arthur Leadbetter, Laurie Nankivell and Anton Pearson.

HORSEY

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £9.20

South London group whose jazz and blues-inspired indie rock are making waves across the British music scene.

ALL TIME LOW

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, £33

American pop punk band with catchy riffs and anthemic melodies.

L DEVINE

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £9

Unabashed, witty electropop makes for an electric live show.

RYAN MCMULLAN

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £14.50

Fresh new talent hailing from Northern Ireland whose emotionally resonant lyrics and distinct voice mark him from the crowd.

IZZIE WALSH

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8.50

Manchester musical artist blending Americana and folk to enchanting effect.

Wed 29 Sep RED RUM CLUB

KING TUT’S, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

Wild-western vibes and catchy lyrics from Liverpool.

THE PSYCHEDLIC FURS (PAULINE MURRAY)

1980s post-punk dance from music legends The Psychedelic Furs CENTRAL CEE

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, TBC

Hardcore rap from a star of the British rap scene.

BURD ELLEN (DOROTHY HALE)

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £7

Traditional music explores dark landscapes and strange stories.

Thu 30 Sep

KING NO-ONE (POLO + STOLEN YEARS) KING TUT’S, 19:00– 22:00, £12

Dynamic alt-pop rockers with blistering live shows.

THE STAVES

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £20

Known for their haunting, heart wrenching harmonies, sisters The Staves return to Scotland’s stage with their most recent album.

TEAM PICTURE

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £7.90

Leeds-based six-piece offering nostalgia-infused pop.

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £12

Multi-instrumentalist draws from folk, gospel and soul.

JILL JACKSON

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £18.50

Gorgeous musical energy with hints of Joni Mitchell.

Fri 01 Oct THE VAUNTS (KAMORA)

KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, £8.80

Fast-paced indie-rock from Falkirk.

COACH PARTY

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £9.50

OSCAR JEROME

DRYGATE BREWING CO., 19:30–22:00, £11

Vocalist, guitarist and composer returns from the thriving South London music scene.

HAVE MERCY LAS VEGAS (REELY JIGGERED + THE SINGLETONS)

ROOM 2, 19:00–22:00, £10

Celtic roots meets America.

SAM FISCHER (LUZ)

KING TUT’S, 19:00– 22:00, £12.50

MY DARLING CLEMENTINE

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 20:00–22:00, £15

Charming leftist vibes from a band who merge the political, platonic, and artistic struggle.

Paying tribute to the classic country duets of the 60s and 70s, this is pure Americana.

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £17.50

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £7

NINE BELOW ZERO

WAVERLEY. (PEPLO)

Blues band going since the late 1970s.

Fresh faces to Scotland’s indie rock scene.

ROBERT VINCENT (KING RIB)

Mon 04 Oct

One of the most acclaimed new voices on the Americana music scene.

KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, TBC

Sat 02 Oct

BEABADOOBEE

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £10

THE JOY HOTEL

KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, TBC

Seven-piece alti-rock band from the east end of Glasgow.

IGLOOGHOST

MONO, 19:00–22:00, £14

English electronic musician whose fourth album was released earlier this year.

REJJIE SNOW

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £20

Genre-bending rap from Dublin-based rapper.

ECHO MACHINE (OPUS KINK) BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £9

Synth-pop group from Dundee whose debut album came out last year.

SCUNNER + MISS THE OCCUPIER + GLASGOW GLAM BANGERS

THE FLYING DUCK, 19:00–22:00, £7

Local outsider musicians bring the unusual and unexpected for a fun show.

SEBASTIAN PLANO CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00–22:00, £12

Argentinian cellist, composer and producer whose albums combine strings and unsual electronica.

MONO, 19:30–22:00, £8

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:00–22:30, £9.90

Australian songwriter known for a soulful voice and heartfelt lyrics.

THE FLYING DUCK, 19:30–22:00, £8.50

BILLY NOMATES

Indie rock trio with a bittersweet rock’n’roll vibe.

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £11

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

MEATRAFFLE

Futuristic classic soul from Manchester.

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR

Sun 03 Oct

English electronic artist drawing on the likes of Aphex Twin and Orbital.

KING TUT’S, 20:00– 22:00, £14

Blunt and unflinching, Billy Nomates’ music is as darkly humorous as her pseudonym.

Indie pop from Isle of Wight with a curious experimental edge.

NATHAN FAKE

BLACK HONEY

CHILDREN OF ZEUS

TIM BURGESS (APOSTILLE)

Rock’n’roll swagger from Britpop legend.

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £14

Gorgeous, quirky indie vibes from a rising star.

LEIF COFFIELD

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:00–21:00, £7

Glasgow-based electro-pop artist Leif Coffield has a distinctively subversive sound, blending discordant touches with darkly immersive melodies. Part of The Hug and Pint’s Endless Summer.

Tue 05 Oct THEA GILMORE

ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £20

A stripped back show that gives well deserved space to Thea Gilmore’s haunting voice.

MANIC STREET PREACHERS

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

On their 14th studio album, acclaimed Welsh rock band show no signs of slowing down.

LIZ LAWRENCE

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00–22:00, £11

TALK SHOW (POST IRONIC STATE)

Stirring live spectacle from London four piece.

THE ESTEVANS

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £8

Smart, grungy rock inspired by the likes of The Arctic Monkeys.

INGLORIOUS

CATHOUSE, 19:00– 22:00, £17

GENESIS

THE SSE HYDRO, 20:00–22:00, £68.10 £181.60

Iconic rock band tour with their latest line-up.

ANNA B SAVAGE (RACHAEL LAVELLE) THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8

London singer-songwriter whose music asks big questions about sexuality, self-doubt, and identity.

MIMA MERROW (DIGNITY ROW + CEDE + TORTURE AND THE DESERT SPIDERS)

England-based hard rock band.

Alternative folk building on Mima Merrow’s Northern Irish roots.

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £12.50

Fri 08 Oct

MARLOWE

Collaborative alt-rap project from hip-hop producer L’Orange and rapper Solemn Brigham.

THE PINEAPPLE THIEF ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £22

THE UNDERTONES

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £30

Influential punk band take to the stage to celebrate their new best of album.

LIZZIE REID

Celebrating their 13th studio album, post-rockers hit the road.

CHLOE FOY

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8

Ethereal vocals from Gloustershire musician.

Thu 07 Oct

ELLIE GOULDING

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £28.90

Global superstar Ellie Goulding puts on a surprisingly intimate show.

FERRIS & SYLVESTER KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, £10

A clever combination of folk and rock that sits these songwriters between Jack White and First Aid Kit. THE REYTONS

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, TBC

South Yorkshire band with charming indie vibes.

KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, £10

One of Scotland’s most promising new talents taking on emotionally raw songwriting.

LAURAN HIBBERD

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £11

Indie-folk singer-songwriter influenced by Feist and Laura Marling.

JOSHUA GRANT

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £7

Recent number one single musician headlines his biggest show yet.

Duo made up of Frightened Rabbit’s Simon Liddell and Carla J Easton.

BEARS IN TREES

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £10

London uke-punk sweethearts head to Glasgow for their debut show in the city.

SINK YA TEETH

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £9

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £15

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

PEAT & DIESEL

Three-piece band from Stornoway.

STATIC + THE BALUGAS + DEMO

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £7

Three Falkirk artists come together in this line-up.

SEA GIRLS (BABY QUEEN)

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, £15

English indie rock band with a big sound.

BO NINGEN

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £15

Japanese four-piece alternative rock band.

SHE DREW THE GUN

DRYGATE BREWING CO., 19:00–22:00, £15

Political psych pop from winners of the Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent competition in 2016.

Sun 10 Oct MARTHAGUNN

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:30, £10 £11

Brighton via London fivepiece, with no members named Martha.

SKINDRED

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £23.50

Ragga heavy metal vibes in this high-energy pumped show.

THE GILHOOLY’S (ST MUNGO) BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £5

Big energy from Scottish indie rock band.

THE ATARIS

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £20

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, £17

Indie band whose recent concept album tackles big political ideas.

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £10

Formed in Fukuoka, Japan in 2012, BRIDEAR is one of Japan’s premier heavy metal bands.

Starting out as street performers, CoCo and the Butterfields have well honed their indie-pop sensibility beyond their humble origins.

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £14

Folk legend Laura Marling plays songs from her acclaimed back catalogue.

POSTER PAINTS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:30, £25 £55

American punk rock from the 90s.

FIELD MUSIC

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £25

BRIDEAR

COCO AND THE BUTTERFIELDS

LAURA MARLING

English post-punk duo with a catchy dance vibe.

Psych rock epic from Canadian sextet.

Brighton-based indie rock band known for their signature guitar sound.

ROOM 2, 19:00–22:00, £10

Intimate gig from muchloved multi-instrumentalist.

THE BESNARD LAKES

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £12

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £16.50

GENESIS

THE SSE HYDRO, 20:00–22:00, £68.10 £181.60

Iconic rock band tour with their latest line-up.

THE LATITUDE (THE VOLTS + EMBASSY)

ROOM 2, 19:00–22:00, £9

Indie rock band inspired by Catfish and the Bottlemen and The Strokes.

Sat 09 Oct

DO NOTHING (FOLLY GROUP + HUMOUR) KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, £10

Nottingham-based four piece with catchy, acerbic lyrics.

INHALER (WET LEG + DYLAN FRASER)

Dublin-based rock band with grungy hooks.

JOHN

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £10

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

Acclaimed indie rock band in the tradition of Foals MAXÏMO PARK

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

North Eastern indie lot Maximo Park continue to delight with their shouty indie music.

AJIMAL

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £10

Experimental musician making a name for himself with sensitive pop tunes.

Tue 12 Oct AMBER RUN

ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £15

Soulful indie vibes from childhood friends.

WILLIE J HEALEY

KING TUT’S, 20:00– 22:00, £10

Unconstrained by genre, this eclectic show marries garage-rock with nostalgic Americana.

CASEY LOWRY

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, TBC

Chill, wryly honest songs from indie musician.

ORLA GARTLAND

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £15.40

Irish folk-pop from YouTube sensation heavily influenced by Regina Spektor and Imogen Heap.

NEWTON FAULKNER SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £25

London-based singer/songwriter known for his guitar playing, which involves rhythmically tapping and hitting his guitar’s body.

THE SPECIALS

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £20

An intimate album launch of ska band’s new album Protest Songs.

SAM TOMPKINS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £12

Stone Foundation play tracks from their upcoming ninth studio album.

ELDER ISLAND

QUEEN MARGARET UNION, 19:00–22:00, £17

Ethereal vibes from popelectronica Bristol group Elder Island.

EVERGREY

CATHOUSE, 18:30– 22:00, £22.50

Progressive heavy metal band from the heart of metal in Sweden.

THE QUIREBOYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £22

Anniversary tour for The Quireboy’s album A Bit of What You Fancy WHITE FLOWERS

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £9

Incisive songwriting that finds beauty within bleakness.

THE LATHUMS

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, £18

Jangly, upbeat indie rock from Wigan-based band.

GRAHAM GOULDMAN ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £26.50

Member of 10cc takes to the stage.

MARTHA HILL (BOBBY KAKOURIS) THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £7.50

Fri 15 Oct

NOTHING BUT THIEVES (YONAKA + AIRWAYS)

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

Acclaimed indie rock band in the tradition of Foals TELEMAN

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £15

London indie pop band on their headline tour.

JULIA BARDO

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8.50

Wed 13 Oct

A guttingly authentic blend of blues, folk, and soul music.

ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £16.50

An addictive balance of yearning and dynamism.

Mon 11 Oct MONO, 19:30–22:00, £15

STONE FOUNDATION

Husky vocals and introspective storytelling from pop rising star.

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £9.20

Two piece band whose intense presence makes their live shows delightfully energetic.

SHAWN JAMES

Thu 14 Oct

WASUREMONO

Indie musician plays songs from her first album, exploring ideas of loneliness, separation, and unconditional love.

Dynamic, heartfelt indie pop.

— 57 —

NOTHING BUT THIEVES (YONAKA + AIRWAYS)

SCOTT MATTHEWS ORAN MOR, 19:30– 22:00, £17.50

Ivor Novello-winning artist drawing from the likes of Simon and Garfunkel.

KASABIAN

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, TBC

One for the noughties kids, this is moody indie rock at its best.

NIGHT FLIGHT

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £8

Four-piece alternative indie band with compelling melodies.

THUMPER

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8

Frenetic, ragged punk rock with an irresistible pop edge.

MARTIN STEPHENSON & THE DAINTEES ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £18.50

Folksy pop outfit celebrate the 30th anniversary of their classic album Salutation Road.

CLOTH

KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, £12.50

Sharp alt-rock with moody electronica undertones.

IAMDDB

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £13

Quick fire rapper-singer from Manchester.

SKIPINNISH

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, £31.50

A unique mix of traditional highland music and contemporary riffs.

RIVAL CONSOLES

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £15

British electronic musician with an experimental approach to synths.

THE SWEETHEART REVUE (PAUL MGEECHAN + CHRIS THOMSPON) CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:30–22:00, £10

A night of local music with an eclectic line-up.

KATHERINE ALY

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £7

Soulful lo-fi pop from Edinburgh.

October 2021 — Listings

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £28.50

PETER BRODERICK

Wed 06 Oct

THE SKINNY

Sat 16 Oct

Mon 18 Oct

KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, TBC

KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, £16.50

BEN MONTEITH

Vibey singer-songwriter from Glasgow.

GLASGOW (JASON SWEENEY) CATHOUSE, 19:00– 22:00, £12.50

A double-bill of Scottish hard-rock nostalgia.

COCK SPARRER

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:30–22:00, £22.50

English punk band who paved the way for the 80s punk scene.

JOCKSTRAP

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £9.20

Unexpected electro-pop from London.

FUN LOVIN’ CRIMINALS

BARROWLANDS, 19:30– 22:00, TBC

New York City band merging hip hop, rock, blues, jazz, R&B, punk, and funk.

TOM HINGLEY

THE FLYING DUCK, 19:00–22:00, £10

Former Inspiral Carpets vocalist Tom Hingley sets out on his own.

MEURSAULT (HAILEY BEAVIS + FAITH ELIOTT + DJANA GABRIELLE + HANK TREE + RAMBLER) THE HUG AND PINT, 18:00–22:00, £10

Eclectic layering and haunting vocalisations make Meursault one of the most dynamic live bands out there.

THE TWISTETTES (RUBBER ROSE + JOSHUA ZERO)

ROOM 2, 19:00–22:00, £10

Dirty, twisted bass sound, a hit of swinging flare and thumping driving drums.

Sun 17 Oct BARRIE JAMES

ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £15

Frontman of Kassidy launches his new album.

HRVY

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £26.10

After supporting the likes of The Vamps on tour, rising superstar HRVY is headlining his own tour.

PARLIAMO

KING TUT’S, 20:00– 22:00, £10

Witty lyrics and heady live presence make Parliamo one of Scotland’s most dynamic acts.

GOAN DOGS

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £7

October 2021 — Listings

Bristolian indie-pop band.

TURIN BRAKES

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, £25

Indie band part of the new acoustic movement of the late 90s.

CHERYM

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £7.50

Spiky pop bangers from Derry trio.

THE PROFESSIONALS

British punk from The Sex Pistols instrumentalists.

FRANCIS OF DELIRIUM (INDOOR FOXES +SWISS PORTRAIT)

MANIC STREET PREACHERS

USHER HALL, 19:00– 22:00, £38.50 £54.50

On their 14th studio album, acclaimed Welsh rock band show no signs of slowing down.

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

Mercury-prize nominated Irish post-punk outfit.

SNAPPED ANKLES

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £14

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £6.50

Gnarled, encompassing indie music inspired by ancient forest rhythms.

NOISY (MALADY)

THE SSE HYDRO, 18:30–22:00, £33.50 - £62.50

Big themes of grief and change captured in tightly constructed melodies.

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £8

Comprised of a singerrapper and two guitarists, NOISY is the culmination of several years of skate parkinduced friendship.

LINEA ASPERA

JLS

There’s no stopping them!

JLS are back on the road.

DEATHCRASH (ROBBIE & MONA + PEARLING) THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8

Rock band who have played with the likes of Black Country, New Road and Lost Under Heaven.

Fri 22 Oct

ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £12.50

Dark goth-pop from 2020 SAY Award nominees.

THE VAPORS

English new wave and power pop band from the early 80s.

REND COLLECTIVE

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 18:30–22:00, £23.20

Eclectic group of multiinstrumentalists from Ireland taking on the dreamy folk-pop genre.

GRIFF (DYLAN + HYYTS)

KING TUT’S, 20:00– 22:00, TBC

Thu 21 Oct

Tue 19 Oct

ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £12.50

CATHOUSE, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

PLASTIC MERMAIDS (MAJA LENA) MONO, 19:00–22:00, £10

Five-piece band hailing from the Isle of Wight whose self-produced, sonically adventurous debut album was released to great acclaim.

NILE MARR

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £8

Dark goth-pop from 2020 SAY Award nominees.

THE SKINTS

ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £19

A soul-stirring amalgamation of reggae, ska-punk, dub, and grime.

HAUNT THE WOODS KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, £8

NORMANDIE

Swedish alternative rock band compared to the likes of Thirty Seconds To Mars and Bring Me The Horizon.

GLASS CAVES

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £10

Honest, warm singingsongwriting from British music collective.

KING HANNAH

Son of musician Johnny Marr carves out his own path.

Four-piece alt rock band from Cornwall.

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £13.20

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £15

JOESEF

SAM WISE

THE MAGIC GANG

British rapper whose lyrics are as timely as they are poetic.

Hopelessly romantic indie vibes make for a charming, heartfelt show.

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £8

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £8

NEW PAGANS

ED THE DOG

Belfast band pushing the boundaries of punk and angst.

A hook filled, lo-fi exploration of adult life.

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

Emo-inspired hardcore rock.

FONTAINES D.C.

Mercury-prize nominated Irish post-punk outfit.

TUGBOAT CAPTAIN (THE JUST JOANS + CURDLE) THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8

One year on from their debut album, London multiinstrumentalists bring their lo-fi folk-inspired sound to Glasgow.

SAINT AGNES

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £8

NICKY MURRAY

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £10

Scottish singer-songwriter who has collaborated with the likes of Elephant Sessions and Kathryn Joseph.

JLS

THE SSE HYDRO, 18:30–22:00, £33.50 - £62.50

Wed 20 Oct

There’s no stopping them!

JLS are back on the road.

KING TUT’S, 20:00– 22:00, TBC

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £9

NEWFAMILIAR

Soulful vocals and finely pitched harmonies from this multi-genre band.

ELLA EYRE

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £20

British singer-songwriter known for her mesmerising vocals and high-profile collaborations.

FAR CASPIAN

Rich rhythms and complex harmonies from DIY multiinstrumentalist.

TOO RED (RED BANDIT + MAYA JANE)

ROOM 2, 19:00–22:00, £10

Two piece rock band from Glasgow.

Authentic, moody songwriting from compelling duo.

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

Soulful, emotionally honest singer-songwriter from Glasgow.

MARTIN HARLEY

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £18

Gritty blues and Americana-inspired rock.

HENGE (JOHN MCMUSTARD & THE DADDY BELLYS)

ROOM 2, 19:00–22:00, £12

Big futuristic rave vibes.

Sat 23 Oct

Irreverent four-piece from Glasgow combining elements of dance, punk, and disco.

Guitar-led melodies and socially engaged lyrics make for a dynamic show.

Chaotic energy from the lead singer of rap group N-Dubz.

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £12

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8

Five piece collectibe featuring members of New Order, Section 25 and Johnny Marr.

THE MUCKERS

THE FLYING DUCK, 19:30–22:00, £8

A vibrantly fresh band from the chaos of New York City.

LOLA IN SLACKS (ST DUKES + ANDRE SALVADOR) CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:30–22:00, £10

Three Glasgow-based acts take to the stage.

JW FRANCIS

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8

Live music celebrating JW Francis’ second concept album WANDERKID.

Sun 24 Oct ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £22.50

Gruff Rhys brings his encompassing vision to his latest album.

DAVID COOK & KRIS ALLEN KING TUT’S, 20:00– 22:00, £20

America rock singersongwriters in a unique collaboration.

BLOXX

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £11

Female fronted indie pop band fusing grungy undertones with classic indie melodies.

EIVØR

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £18

RAG’N’BONE MAN

Mon 25 Oct

KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, £10

A thoroughly surprising music act comprised of current British poet laureate Simon Armitage, musician Richard Walters and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Pearson.

ISLAND

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £11

Indie alternative four-piece.

TRASH BOAT

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, TBC

Extraordinary vocals from Rag’n’Bone Man’s second album Life By Misadventure.

LONELY THE BRAVE

KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, £13.50

Alt rock band whose expansive live presence belies their emotionally vulnerable songwriting.

BARS AND MELODY

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:30–22:00, £20

Popular R&B duo who made their name on Britain’s Got Talent.

Wed 29 Sep L DEVINE

THE CAVES, 19:00– 22:00, £10

Unabashed, witty electropop makes for an electric live show.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £11

Childcare’s smart, tightly produced tracks combines the drive of punk with the catchiness of the best of early noughties indie.

Thu 30 Sep COACH PARTY

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £10

Indie pop from Isle of Wight with a curious experimental edge.

Fri 01 Oct

SILVERBACKS

A chill, humourous take on NYC-indebted rock.

Tue 26 Oct PIP MILLETT

KING TUT’S, 20:00– 22:00, £13.50

Delicate, yearning indie pop.

SPORTS TEAM

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, £14.50

Fresh, vibrant live music from indie darling Sports Team.

DIGGA D

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, TBC

Edgy, quick witted rap from fluid rap/hip-hop artist Digga D. BEXEY

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £13.75

An anarchic mixture of rap and rock from London star.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £16.50

POP MUTATIONS PRESENTS: GARDEN CENTRE + THE TUBS + DINNER NIGHT THE FLYING DUCK, 19:00–22:00, £8

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £9.30

Another eclectic Pop Mutations line up from The Flying Duck.

CASSIA

DRYGATE BREWING CO., 19:00–22:00, £10

SPRINTS

Garage-noise four-piece from Dublin.

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £12.50

Calypso-flavoured indie pop.

SICK LOVE

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8

High-energy, no holds barred anthems fill the stage.

Thu 28 Oct MEGAN O’NEILL

KING TUT’S, 20:30– 22:00, £12.50

A warm country voice and irresistible hooks.

THE COURETTES

MONO, 19:30–22:00, £10

Ferocious rock with a bubbly pop edge.

SLAVES (US)

CATHOUSE, 19:00– 22:00, £15

American post-hardcore band formed in Sacramento, California.

MUSH

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £8

STEG G

Steg G and a diverse group of support acts give a glimpse of Scotland’s thriving hip hop scene.

PIZZA CRUNCH (DOSS + GHOSTBABY) THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £7.50

Four-piece alternative Glaswegian band whose name was decided by Instagram poll.

Sat 30 Oct JON GOMM

ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £17.50

As one of the pioneers of the modern fingerstyle sound, Jon Gomm’s turns his acoustic guitar into a veritable orchestra.

HANDS OF GRETEL

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:00–22:30, £6 - £10

Fierce, melodic style punk rock makes for a memorable live show.

THE WATERBOYS

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, £43.50

BLACK ORCHID EMPIRE (NORTH ATLAS)

Leeds post-punk band offering unflinching look at the world.

Huge, memorable rock music that combines heavy-hitting savagery with intense melodic beauty.

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £11

KING TUT’S, 20:00– 22:00, TBC

CLUB BEIRUT (VANSLEEP + KONNER)

PI’ERRE BOURNE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £10

SAM FENDER

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

Guitar-led melodies and socially engaged lyrics make for a dynamic show.

THE LAST INTERNATIONALE (CELLAR DOOR + MOON CROW)

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £10

American rock band known for their socially conscious songwriting.

LAETITIA SADIER

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:30–22:00, £12

Special solo performance from French musician and founding member of Stereolab.

BDRMM (MILDRED MAUDE)

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8

VUKOVI (PRESS TO MECO + DELAIRE THE LIAR)

Hardcore Scottish rock band from Ayrshire.

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £8

Club Beirut are making waves. For fans of Bastille, The 1975, Blossoms.

Fri 29 Oct

THE BLOW MONKEYS ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £20

New wave pop band from the 80s.

MIMI WEBB

SWG3, 19:00–22:00, TBC

An intimate, low-key vibe from rising star British singer-songwriter.

THE RAH’S

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

Big names in the Scottish rock scene retake the stage.

Local folk rock band from Edinburgh from the 80s.

Sun 31 Oct CONNOR FYFE

The wunderkind of the Scottish music scene plays from his debut album.

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £17.50

Polymath rapper, sound engineer and producer from South Carolina.

MAIREARAD GREEN + ANNA MASSIE (HECTOR MACINNES + IAIN HUTCHISON) THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £14

Two of the Highlands’ most acclaimed multi-instrumentalists come together in this unique show.

Mon 01 Nov SPINN

KING TUT’S, 20:00– 22:00, £12

Indie dream pop newcomers from Liverpool.

THE WYTCHES

Leeds-based five-piece looking at heavy themes with a cathartic post-punk sound.

THE WATERBOYS

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £13.50

Wed 27 Oct

Local folk rock band from Edinburgh from the 80s.

THE SHIRES

THE LUCID DREAM

MICHAEL SCHENKER

QUEEN MARGARET UNION, 19:00–22:00, £45

Legendary German-born guitarist and founder member of the Scorpions.

Indie-punk trio with an explosive politics.

CHILDCARE

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £12

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £10

SEA FEVER

Unsung heroes of the 60s British prog rock movement.

LYR

SALEM

Punk rockers fronted by Creeper frontman Will Gould play their debut Scottish show.

CARAVAN

ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £22.50

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

Experimental psychedlic folk from mesmerising band.

Faroese singer-songwriter.

British punk rock band formed in St Albans.

BROADCAST, 19:00– 22:00, £8

DAPPY

GRUFF RHYS

CATHOUSE, 19:00– 22:00, £15

GENDER ROLES

SAM FENDER

VANISHING TWIN

ORAN MOR, 19:00– 22:00, £17.50

Minimal synths and soulful vocals from London duo.

THE NINTH WAVE

MICKEY 9S

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 18:30–22:00, £12

THE NINTH WAVE

British pop singer brings emotionally raw, moody vocals to her performances.

THE HUG AND PINT, 19:30–22:00, £13

Edinburgh Music Tue 28 Sep

FONTAINES D.C.

BARROWLANDS, 19:00– 22:00, £43.50

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £10

Psychedelic rock band embracing electronic, dub and club influences.

Evocative lyrics and raucous melodies make for a frenetic live show.

ST LUKE’S, 19:00– 22:00, £29.50

Gentle, stirring acoustic folk.

BLANCMANGE (OBLONG)

THE STAVES

ROBYN HITCHCOCK

BEABADOOBEE

1970s folk legends celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Named one of the most underrated electronic acts of all time by Moby - take from that what you will.

Known for their haunting, heart wrenching harmonies, sisters The Staves return to Scotland’s stage with their most recent album.

One of England’s most enduring contemporary singer-songwriters.

Gorgeous, quirky indie vibes from a rising star.

THE JAZZ BAR, 21:15– 23:30, £8 - £10

Sat 02 Oct

STEELEYE SPAN

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:00, £26.50

RUN LOGAN RUN

Dynamic contemporary jazz group launch their new lockdown album.

THE SPITFIRES

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Indie band launch their new album Life Worth Living.

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £20

SPIZZ ENERGI (THE MEDIA WHORES + THE SHAN + THE DEPLOIED)

BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £12 - £15

Celebrating 40 years of independent hard rock.

— 58 —

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–22:00, £22

NINE BELOW ZERO

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

Blues band going since the late 1970s.

ROBERT VINCENT

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £12

One of the most acclaimed new voices on the Americana music scene.

SUMMERHALL, 17:30– 20:00, £20 - £23

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, TBC

ROBYN HITCHCOCK

Mon 04 Oct

One of England’s most enduring contemporary singer-songwriters.

BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £13 - £15

SUMMERHALL, 20:30– 23:00, £20 - £23

Sun 03 Oct

GEORGIA CÉCILE

THE JAZZ BAR, 21:15– 23:30, £8 - £10

Georgia Cécile and her quartet play homage to great jazz influences of the past.

EDGE OF PARADISE (HELLZ ABYSS + CONTROL THE STORM + ALIA TEMPORA)

American heavy metal band from California with moody industrial vibes.

PICTURE THIS

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £20

Irish pop rock band already on their third studio album.

THE SKINNY

Tue 05 Oct THE REYTONS

NORMAN WILLMORE QUARTET

THE CAVES, 19:00– 22:00, TBC

THE JAZZ BAR, 21:15– 23:30, £8 - £10

SCOUTING FOR GIRLS

DO NOTHING

Nostalgia abounds at this high energy, high noughties live show.

Nottingham-based four piece with catchy, acerbic lyrics.

Wed 06 Oct

Tue 12 Oct

USHER HALL, 19:30– 22:00, £49.50 £71.50

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £25

WALT DISCO

THE CAVES, 19:00– 22:00, £11

South Yorkshire band with charming indie vibes.

Jazz quartet with roots in the Shetlands.

Vibrant, flamboyant live show from Glaswegian indie-pop stars.

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, TBC

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £10

THE JAZZ BAR, 21:15– 23:30, £8 - £10

ERASURE

NEWTON FAULKNER

Show a little respect to synth-pop legends gracing the stage for their eighteenth studio album.

London-based singer/songwriter known for his guitar playing, which involves rhythmically tapping and hitting his guitar’s body.

BAD BOY CHILLER CREW THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, TBC

British bassline collective known for their wry sense of humour and chaotic live presence.

Wed 13 Oct [SPUNGE]

BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £15 - £18

Legendary ska-punk outfit come to Edinburgh for their only Scotland show.

OCTOBER DRIFT

FATHERSON

A heady mix of pop, grunge, and shoegaze from live gig aficionados.

Scottish alternative rock band who have toured with the likes of Biffy Clyro, Frightened Rabbit, and Panic! at the Disco.

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £8.80

Thu 07 Oct

NAHEMIA (DREKAVAC + VEHEMENT + DECIMATED CROSS) BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:00, £10 - £12

An eclectic line-up of four of the most distinctive metal acts from the UK. SHAMBOLICS

THE CAVES, 19:00– 22:00, £11

Four-piece dreamy rock’n’roll band hailing from Fife, inspired by some of the best indie bands of the last decades.

THOMAS TRUAX

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £11.60

Unique singer-songwriter known for crafting his own instruments.

ERASURE

USHER HALL, 19:30– 22:00, £49.50 £71.50

Show a little respect to synth-pop legends gracing the stage for their eighteenth studio album.

CHILDREN OF ZEUS

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £14 £15.40

Futuristic classic soul from Manchester.

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, TBC

JORDAN MACKAMPA THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, TBC

Coventry raised singer blends Congolese roots with a midlands upbringing for a soulful, authentic sound.

Thu 14 Oct

SCOTT MATTHEWS

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £17.50

Ivor Novello-winning artist drawing from the likes of Simon and Garfunkel.

Fri 15 Oct

GLASGOW (JASON SWEENEY)

BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £12.50 - £15

A double-bill of Scottish hard-rock nostalgia.

THE TOMORROW BAND

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £8

Scotland’s newest R&B supergroup who recorded their debut album Inside/ Outside during lockdown.

MAD DOG MCREA (OLD SEA LEGS)

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £16.50

BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £10 - £13

Sat 16 Oct

LAURA MARLING

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:00, £12 £23

GIN ANNIE

High energy rock with irresistible swagger.

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:00, £27

Folk legend Laura Marling plays songs from her acclaimed back catalogue.

Sat 09 Oct

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT USHER HALL, 19:00– 22:00, £38.50 - £55

Iconic voice and lyrics from one of the ballad’s greatest stars.

Sun 10 Oct

KILLED A FOX (BLAC STAR JACKALS + ENGINES OF VENGEANCE) BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £6 - £10

Four-piece band hailing from Zagreb walking the line between alternative metal and psychedelic rock.

JOHN MCCUSKER

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:00, £21 £24

In celebration of his 30th anniversary as a musician, John McCusker showcases his extensive output.

GEORGIA CÉCILE

Georgia Cécile and her quartet play homage to great jazz influences of the past.

SEA POWER

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £16

Alternative rock band famed for their live shows and introspective lyrics.

CAMERON BARNES THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £8 £8.80

Multi-instrumentalist with folk rock roots.

Sun 17 Oct

JOHN BURGESS + BRIAN KELLOCK + MAX POPP

THE JAZZ BAR, 21:15– 23:30, £8 - £10

Playing joyful and unforgettable 20s and 30s pop songs, with a dash of fiery Dixieland.

Wed 20 Oct KREEK

BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £9 - £12

UK rock’n’roll band celebrate their second birthday.

Brian Molley pays tribute to tenor sax titan and jazz icon Dexter Gordon.

BEN RAILWAY ROBEY THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £14.50

Heartfelt blues from seasoned musician.

Thu 21 Oct

THE CITY KIDS (THE SUICIDE NOTES) BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £10 - £12

Rising stars in the hard rock scene with support from the latest outing from sleaze rocker Billy Tee.

ALL WORK TOGETHER: WITHERED HAND + CARLA J. EASTON + JAMIE SUTHERLAND SUMMERHALL, 19:00– 22:00, £14

Summerhall’s new series of songwriters’ circles brings together three of Scotland's best.

Fri 22 Oct

WISHBONE ASH

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:45–22:00, £27

Iconic British rock band from the 70s retake the stage.

VANISHING TWIN

THE BONGO CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £12

Experimental psychedlic folk from mesmerising band.

NIMBUS SEXTET

THE JAZZ BAR, 21:15– 23:30, £8 - £10

Innovative jazz group emerging from the new wave of UK jazz.

THE ECLECTIC ELECTRIC UKELELE BLUES BAND (WILLIE DUG AND THE COSMIC GENTS) THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £12

Subversive guitar and ukelele riffs abound.

SKIDS

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £25

Scottish veteran punk rock band.

Sat 23 Oct

A RITUAL SPIRIT (CONCRETE KINGDOMS + JEANICE LEE + RENOVATIONS) BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £5

A Ritual Spirit head to Edinburgh for the home leg of their 2021 tour.

STEVE HARLEY & COCKNEY REBEL

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:00, £34.50

Rock from one of the most charismatic live performers out there.

THE VAPORS

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

English new wave and power pop band from the early 80s.

Sun 24 Oct

JACK J HUTCHINSON BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £7 - £10

Acclaimed British blues guitarist with accompanying band.

KING KING (WHEN RIVERS MEET)

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 18:30–22:00, £28

Glaswegian blues rock group play from their most recent album.

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £10 £11

Taking inspiration from Foals and Bombay Bicycle Club, five-piece Whitburn outfit are the latest product from a thriving West Lothian music scene.

Mon 25 Oct

JOANNA CONNOR + EAMONN MCCORMACK

BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £16 - £19

Two international blues heavy weights team up for this collaborative show.

Tue 26 Oct

THE BOO RADLEYS

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

Alternative rockband that came of age in the Britpop of the 90s.

LUCY SPRAGGAN

SUMMERHALL, 19:30– 22:00, £19

Complex, emotionally rich lyrics from former X Factor star.

Wed 27 Oct

Dundee Music

Clubs

Sat 09 Oct

Glasgow Clubs

SHAMBOLICS

CHURCH, 19:00–22:00, £11

Four-piece dreamy rock’n’roll band hailing from Fife, inspired by some of the best indie bands of the last decades.

Sun 10 Oct PAUL HEATON & JACQUI ABBOTT

CAIRD HALL, 19:30– 22:00, £30

A mellow live show from two longtimers on the scene.

Tue 12 Oct FATHERSON

FAT SAM’S, 19:30– 22:00, £15

Scottish alternative rock band who have toured with the likes of Biffy Clyro, Frightened Rabbit, and Panic! at the Disco.

Tue 19 Oct

THE MAGIC GANG

THE COURETTES

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 19:00–22:00, £16.50

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £10

Ferocious rock with a bubbly pop edge.

Hopelessly romantic indie vibes make for a charming, heartfelt show.

Thu 28 Oct

Wed 20 Oct

MICHAEL GRANT & THE ASSASSINS (BLOODY HEELS + BRANDON GIBBS)

THE NINTH WAVE

CHURCH, 19:00–22:00, £10

BANNERMANS, 19:00– 22:00, £15 - £18

Energetic rockers make their Bannermans debut.

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS THE CAVES, 19:00– 22:00, £12 - £16

Dark goth-pop from 2020 SAY Award nominees.

Sat 23 Oct

STEVE HACKETT

CAIRD HALL, 19:45– 22:00, £38.50 £42.50

Intimate album launch from local indie band.

Previous Genesis member plays their full live album Seconds Out.

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £8 £8.80

CHURCH, 19:00–22:00, £11

THE MYSTERINES

Liverpool-based rock band with a great live presence.

Fri 29 Oct

HANDS OF GRETEL

BANNERMANS, 19:30– 22:00, £11 - £13

Fierce, melodic style punk rock makes for a memorable live show.

MARK SHARP & THE BICYCLE THIEVES

Taking inspiration from Foals and Bombay Bicycle Club, five-piece Whitburn outfit are the latest product from a thriving West Lothian music scene.

NEON WALTZ

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 19:30–22:00, £8

THE JAZZ BAR, 21:15– 23:30, £8 - £10

Joyous indie pop from the uppermost northern reaches of Scotland.

Sat 30 Oct

Edinburgh Clubs

JON GREEN SEXTET

A beguiling mix of jazz, rock, country, electronica and avant-garde.

WET WET WET

USHER HALL, 19:30– 22:00, £34.50 £36.50

One of the most successful bands in British pop history show no signs of stopping.

THE BLOW MONKEYS THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £20

New wave pop band from the 80s.

Sun 31 Oct LAU

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:00, £19 £24

Pioneering Scottish folk trio experimenting with sound and form.

ALI AFFLECK’S SPEAKEASY SESSIONS THE JAZZ BAR, 21:15– 23:30, £8 - £10

Heavy doses of old-time pop and the rarest of trad and blues.

Mon 01 Nov

ELEKTRIKAL: ARIES + KELVIN373 + BISH + ELEKTRIKAL SOUND

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £10

Big bass sounds with the DJ booth right on the dance floor.

MISS WORLD: INDIA JORDAN

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00– 03:00, £8 - £12

Emerging as one of electronic music's most exciting producers and DJs, India Jordan is a true disciple of high-energy, fast-paced dance music.

Sat 02 Oct MUMBO JUMBO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4 - £8

A heady mix of everything from disco, funk and soul to electro and house.

EHFM

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00– 03:00, £5 - £7

ECHO MACHINE + OPUS KINK SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £8

Fri 01 Oct

Peddlers of thunderous glam-pop.

Edinburgh's community radio station throws their first post-pandemic party, jam packed with the best local heat.

— 59 —

Fri 01 Oct

PERPLEX: AFLOAT

BROADCAST, 23:00– 03:00, FREE

La Cheetah residents AFLOAT bring the party to Broadcast.

Sat 02 Oct

SUPERMAX PRESENTS A HISTORY OF D.I.S.C.O THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00, £10

A dance extravaganza from two disco-crazed DJs.

Fri 08 Oct

ANNA & HOLLY’S DANCE PARTY

JAIVA (BUTHOTHEWARRIOR + OPTIMISTIC SOUL)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, TBC

THE FENIX RESIDENTS JAM

Sat 09 Oct

SUB CLUB, 23:00– 03:00, £5 - £10

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00, £5

Buzzy vibes from the Berkeley booth.

60s garage, rhythm & blues, and popcorn rock make for a buzzy dance party.

OPTIMO RAVE ENERGY ROOM 2, 23:00–03:00, £12

Does just what it says on the tin.

Sat 16 Oct

HIJACK 007: TODD EDWARDS

ROOM 2, 23:00–03:00, £10 - £15

The godfather of UK garage plays a late-night set.

Fri 22 Oct

CALVIN LOGUE PRESENTS OKTVE: T78 ROOM 2, 23:00–03:00, £10 - £15

The new resident from Calvin Logue takes the floor for a night of deep grooves.

Sat 23 Oct

INTERCHANGE X RAVE: DYEN + ØTTA + MINDBREAK ROOM 2, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £12

Three DJ line-up with hard industrial sounds.

Regular Glasgow club nights Sub Club SATURDAYS

SUBCULTURE, 23:00, £10

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic, oft' joined by a carousel of super fresh guests.

Cathouse WEDNESDAYS

CATHOUSE WEDNESDAYS, 23:00, £4

DJ Jonny soundtracks your Wednesday with all the best pop-punk, rock and hip-hop.

THURSDAYS

UNHOLY, 23:00, £2-4

Cathouse's Thursday night rock, metal and punk mash-up.

FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS, 22:30, £5-6

Screamy, shouty, posthardcore madness to help you shake off a week of stress in true punk style.

SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS, 23:00, £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.

SUNDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH) HELLBENT, 23:00, £TBC

SUNDAYS (SECOND OF THE MONTH)

WEDNESDAYS

Pop party anthems & classic cheese from DJ Nicola Walker.

DJ Garry Garry Garry in G2 with chart remixes, along with beer pong competitions all night.

FLASHBACK, 23:00, £TBC

SUNDAYS (THIRD OF THE MONTH)

CHEERS FOR THIRD SUNDAY, 23:00, £TBC

DJ Kelmosh takes you through Mid-Southwestern emo, rock, new metal, nostalgia and 90s and 00s tunes.

SUNDAYS (LAST OF THE MONTH)

SLIDE IT IN, 23:00, £TBC

Classic rock through the ages from DJ Nicola Walker.

The Garage Glasgow MONDAYS

BARE MONDAYS, 23:00, £3-4

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers. Nice way to kick off the week, no?

TUESDAYS

#TAG TUESDAYS, 23:00, £0-4

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence.

From the fab fierce family that brought you Catty Pride comes Cathouse Rock Club’s new monthly alternative drag show.

SAMEDIA SHEBEEN AT THE MASH HOUSE THE MASH HOUSE, 22:00–03:00, £6 - £8

Residents play global club sounds while DJ Yemstar brings afrobeats to the bar.

Thu 07 Oct

VOLENS CHORUS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00– 03:00, £3 - £5

A collection of resident DJs playing the hottest tunes from around the globe for a night of quintessential UK sounds: grime, dubstep, garage, speed garage.

Fri 08 Oct SSL

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, TBC

Curiously bringing together garage and reggae.

TONTO TECHNO PRESENTS: NUSHA

THE LIQUID ROOM, 23:00–03:00, £12 £12.50

Dance techno from Romanian artist making her Edinburgh debut.

HOT MESS

GLITTERED! WEDNESDAYS, 23:00, £0-4

THURSDAYS

ELEMENT, 23:00, £TBC

Ross MacMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey.

FRIDAYS

FRESH BEAT, 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.

SATURDAYS

I LOVE GARAGE, 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.

SUNDAYS

SESH, 23:00, £3-4

Twister, beer pong and DJ Ciar McKinley on the ones and twos, serving up chart and remixes through the night.

SHY FX (STAMINA) THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, TBC

The might SHY FX brings his drum n bass to Edinburgh.

Mon 11 Oct HWTS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £6

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3

BANGIN TUNES: ANU + JAMIN NIMJAH + YER MAW + TONY JUNGLE

Thu 14 Oct

Multi-genre dancing beats.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £8

Hot Mess is a night for queer people and their friends.

THE MASH HOUSE, 22:00–03:00, TBC

Sat 09 Oct

PULSE: DARRELL PULSE

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £10

Bi-monthly Saturdays are back with DJ Randomer.

Heriot Watt Techno Society make their return to Sneaks.

CONDUCTA’S CRIB: CONDUCTA ALL NIGHT LONG

Artist, DJ, producer, and label head Conducta, known fondly as the Prince of NUKG, embarks on his first ever headline UK tour this autumn.

October 2021 — Listings

Fri 08 Oct

A toe-tapping mixture of folk rock, pop, gypsy jazz and bluegrass.

BRIAN MOLLEY

MARK SHARP & THE BICYCLE THIEVES

THE SKINNY

Fri 15 Oct HEADSET

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, TBC

Garage, house and bass downstairs, old school hip hop upstairs.

RONI SIZE + LTJ BUKEM THE LIQUID ROOM, 23:00–03:00, £9.50

A headline double of drum n bass.

ATHENS OF THE NORTH

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00– 03:00, £5 - £8

ARTWORK + AUSTIN ATO + HANDMADE DJS THE CAVES, 23:00– 03:00, £10 - £15

An insanely skilful digger and accomplished selector, Artwork’s impact on London's electronic music scene has been felt for more than 20 years.

SPECTRUM PRESENTS: JON DASILVA (HACIENDA) + ANDY CARROLL (CREAM) THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £10- £15

Sparkly modern soul and disco music from one of Edinburgh’s finest labels.

Two iconic house DJs come together to celebrate Spectrum’s second birthday.

Sat 16 Oct

Sat 23 Oct

SOULSVILLE INTERNATIONAL

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £1 - £8

Warm afrobeats and irresistible boogie tunes.

HEADSET’S GAY GARAGE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00– 03:00, £5 - £8

Headset bring their Gay Garage party to Sneaky’s for their new residency, playing garage, house and UK funky.

Thu 21 Oct

CHURCH 5.2: LSB & DRS

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £9 - £14

Beautifully crafted liquid beats and thought-provoking lyrics.

Fri 22 Oct

DISCO MAKOSSA

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £8

Irresistible dance vibes from African funk and disco.

MESSENGER

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 - £8

Club stalwarts Messenger programme a night of reggae and dub.

CHASE & STATUS

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:00–03:00, £22- £28

DJ set from one of the most successful British bands of the past decade.

CLUB MEDITERRANEO

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00– 03:00, £5 - £8

Celebrity rehab and luxury holiday resort Club Mediterraneo opens its doors for a new season of cruise packages at Sneaky Pete's, designed to sweat your troubles out.

Thu 28 Oct

CLUB SYLKIE: LCY

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00– 03:00, £5 - £10

Innovative and weighty sound design has quickly earned LCY a place amongst the UK’s most exciting producers and DJs.

Fri 29 Oct

ELEKTRIKAL: AC13 + PARTICLE

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8 - £14

TUESDAYS

MIDNIGHT BASS, 23:00, £3-5

A story of life after retirement starring two unforgettable 70s superheroes.

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:00–03:00, £12.50

The King’s Theatre

SHANE CODD

DJ and producer plays his first ever Scottish show.

TELFORT’S GOOD PLACE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00– 03:00, £5 - £8

Edinburgh DJ and producer Telfort returns to Sneaky Pete's, marking five years of his residency at the club.

Sat 30 Oct MUMBO JUMBO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4 - £8

A heady mix of everything from disco, funk and soul to electro and house.

FIRST EDITION: YOUNG MARCO

THE CAVES, 23:00– 03:00, £10- £16

One of the Netherlands’ most exciting DJs bursts onto the Edinburgh scene.

SMASH HITS HALLOWEEN THRILLER THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £10

Spooky throwback anthems from the likes of Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga.

Sun 31 Oct

BONGO HALLOWEEN: BAILEY IBBS (J WAX + SKILLIS)

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4 - £10

Dance tunes from one of the most exciting rising stars from the London scene.

Big basslines and small prices form the ethos behind this weekly Tuesday night, with drum'n'bass, jungle, bassline, grime and garage aplenty.

Sneaky Pete’s TUESDAYS

POPULAR MUSIC, 23:00, £1-3

October 2021 — Listings

DJs playing music by bands to make you dance: Grace Jones to Neu!, Parquet Courts to Brian Eno, The Clash to Janelle Monae.

WEDNESDAYS

HEATERS, 23:00, £TBC

Heaters resident C-Shaman presents a month of ambiguous local showdowns, purveying the multifarious mischief that characterises Sneaky’s midweek party haven.

SATURDAYS (LAST OF THE MONTH)

TUESDAYS

Monthly no holds barred, down and dirty bikram disco.

Alternative Tuesday anthems cherry picked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

COALITION, 23:00, £FREE

COOKIE WEDNESDAY, 22:00, £FREE

SOUL JAM, 23:00, £5-7

SUNDAYS

Believe presents the best in bass DJs from Edinburgh at his weekly Sunday communion.

The Liquid Room

SATURDAYS (FIRST OF THE MONTH) REWIND, 22:30, £5

Monthly party night celebrating the best in soul, disco, rock and pop with music from the 70s, 80s, 90s and current bangers.

The Hive MONDAYS

MIXED UP MONDAY, 22:00, £FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hip-hop, R'n'B and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

Theatre

TRASH TUESDAY, 22:00, £FREE

WEDNESDAYS

90s and 00s cheesy pop and modern chart anthems.

THURSDAYS

HI-SOCIETY THURSDAY, 22:00, £FREE

Student anthems and bangerz.

FRIDAYS

FLIP FRIDAY, 22:00, £0-4

Yer all-new Friday at Hive.

Cheap entry, inevitably danceable, and noveltystuffed. Perrrfect.

SATURDAYS

BUBBLEGUM, 22:00, £0-4

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

SUNDAYS

SECRET SUNDAY, 22:00, £FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indiepop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

Glasgow Theatre

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: THE TALE OF TYPHOID MARY

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: MY NAME IS SARAH, AND...

Oran Mor

Inspired by history's most infamous super-spreader, this play examines ideas of freedom and collectivity against the typhoid epidemic in New York.

A one-woman musical about chucking the booze before it chucks you.

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: A NEW LIFE

27 SEP-9 OCT, 1:00PM - 2:00PM, £12.50 £15

A warm, surreal take on parenthood that may or may not feature a tapdancing baby.

4-9 OCT, 1:00PM – 2:00PM, £12.50 - £15

25-30 OCT, 1:00PM – 2:00PM, £12.50 - £15

Fancy dress is a must in this Halloween-themed drum and bass night.

Regular Edinburgh club nights The Bongo Club

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: THE SILVER SUPERHEROES

11-16 OCT, 1:00PM – 2:00PM, £12.50 - £15

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: EXQUISITE CORPSE

18-23 OCT, 1:00PM – 2:00PM, £12.50 - £15

Following a grim discovery on the grounds of Sugar Plum Park, attendant Iona and her manager Frank find themselves torn between propriety and self-preservation.

BLOOD BROTHERS

5-16 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Exhilirating musical about the fateful intwined lives of two brothers separated at birth in 1960s Britain.

BAT OUT OF HELL

19-30 OCT, TIMES VARY, £15 - £72.50

A heavy rock musical featuring songs from Meatloaf’s extensive back catalogue.

Theatre Royal

PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT

1-6 NOV, TIMES VARY, £13 - £55

A life-affirming jukebox musical about three drag queens traversing the Australian outback.

GROAN UPS

25-30 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

From the creators of The Play That Goes Wrong comes this anarchic, sidesplitting tale of coming-ofage. Matinee performances also available.

SCOTTISH OPERA: THE GONDOLIERS 16 OCT-6 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Chaotic, irresistible fun abounds in this opera about two gondoliers who discover one of them may be the air to the throne of a distance kingdom.

CRAIG MANSON AND CONNER MILLIKEN: GAYBOYS 22-23 OCT, 9:00PM – 9:45PM, £6 - £8

A wry, vivid performance of queerness, exploring the intersection of modern gay male identity and capitalism.

Presented as part of Dance International Glasgow.

Tron Theatre THE TEMPEST

29 OCT-13 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

This all-female, movementbased performance of Shakespeare’s classic examines the play’s environmental undertones.

KRAPP’S LAST TAPE WITH GO ON

1-9 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

A performance by Jian Yi and JTTE productions, this trancelike dance piece explores ideas of queer love and bodies. Presented as part of Dance International Glasgow.

LIGIA LEWIS: STILL, NOT STILL 9 OCT, 7:00PM – 8:30PM, £6 - £8

A choreographic composition by Ligia Lewis exploring the centuries-old and ongoing exclusions of Black people from the historical record. Presented as part of Dance International Glasgow.

FERNANDA MUÑOZNEWSOME: LET THE BODY 13 OCT, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £6 - £8

This liberating dance piece explores the pleasure of bodies sharing space and music.

Presented as part of Dance International Glasgow.

HEATHER AGYEPONG: THE BODY REMEMBERS 15 OCT, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £6 - £8

A powerful new solo performance examining how trauma lives in the body, particularly for Black British women across different generations.

Presented as part of Dance International Glasgow.

SCOTTISH DANCE THEATRE: ANTIGONE, INTERRUPTED 20 OCT, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £6 - £8

Assembly Roxy SPUDS

2 OCT, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £10 - £12

A musical comedy with shades of Breaking Bad, Spuds is a surreal, evocative take on grief and greed.

Festival Theatre GREASE

1-2 OCT, TIMES VARY, £26.50 - £49.50

Summer may be over but this rock’n’roll tale of young summer love is anything but.

14-16 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

SCOTTISH OPERA: THE GONDOLIERS 16 OCT-6 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Chaotic, irresistible fun abounds in this opera about two gondoliers who discover one of them may be the air to the throne of a distance kingdom.

King’s Theatre Edinburgh

CHICAGO

1-2 OCT, TIMES VARY, £13 - £95

Bringing the razzle dazzle to Scotland, this sexy Jazz age musical is a prohibitively good time.

BLOOD BROTHERS

Exhilirating musical about the fateful intwined lives of two brothers separated at birth in 1960s Britain.

DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Beloved childhood musical gets a new lease of life with this spectacularly innovative theatre production.

The Studio

TAVAZIVA DANCE: BOY’S KHAYA 8 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £16.50

Based on artistic director Bawren Tavaziva’s early life in Zimbabwe, this entrancing dance piece explores legacies of colonialism and injustice.

INNOVATIONS DANCE PLATFORM 15-16 OCT, TIMES VARY, £22.50

An evening of four contemporary dance works by innovative choreographers from across the UK. AN UNEXPECTED HICCUP

26-30 OCT, TIMES VARY, £18.50

A gothic, comic romp through a maybe-haunted house from Plutôt la Vie & Lung Ha Theatre Company.

Traverse Theatre

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: A NEW LIFE

5-9 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

GROAN UPS

A warm, surreal take on parenthood that may or may not feature a tapdancing baby.

From the creators of The Play That Goes Wrong comes this anarchic, side-splitting tale of coming-of-age. Matinee performances also available.

Dundee Theatre

5-9 OCT, TIMES VARY, £23 - £40

THE ENEMY

28 SEP-2 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

LOOKING GOOD DEAD

Crime abounds in this new play by multi-million bestselling author Peter James.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK 12-16 OCT, TIMES VARY, £19.50 - £36.50

One of theatre’s most chilling plays, this classic Gothic horror has been terrifying audiences for decades.

THE ENEMY

20-23 OCT, TIMES VARY, £15 - £33.50

A radical reimagining of the classic Henrik Ibsen play by Scottish playwright and screen writer of Beats Kieran Hurley.

THE SIGNALMAN

A reimagining of the classical story, this intimate, devastating work has already received rave reviews.

Presented as part of Dance International Glasgow.

The Edinburgh Playhouse

Edinburgh Theatre

The UK premiere of an original work created in 1960 for the Paris Opera Ballet by legendary actor and choreographer Gene Kelly.

9 OCT, TIMES VARY, £6-£8

Exploring the common experience of the pedestrian as an act of beauty, meaning and gentle comedy through 36 short dances set to JS Bach's famous Chorales.

21 OCT-27 NOV, TIMES VARY, £20 - £85

A fresh, long-awaited return of Gilbert and Sullivan’s penultimate opera.

JIAN YI: WEATHERVANES

20 OCT, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £8 - £12

Merging Samuel Beckett with new writing by Scottish playwright Linda McLean, this double bill take a raw, darkly humourous look at mortality.

SCOTTISH BALLET: STARSTRUCK

Tramway

EXTREMELY PEDESTRIAN CHORALES

5-16 OCT, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

SCOTTISH OPERA: UTOPIA, LIMITED

20 OCT, 7:15PM – 10:30PM, £16 - £41

Summerhall

29-30 OCT, TIMES VARY, £18 - £28

Examining ideas of blame and shame, this riveting play transports a signalman back to a fateful night on the Tay Bridge.

— 60 —

Dundee Rep 12-16 OCT, TIMES VARY, £12 - £25

A radical reimagining of the classic Henrik Ibsen play by Scottish playwright and screen writer of Beats Kieran Hurley.

DOUBLE BILL: AMETHYST & TUTUMUCKY

29-30 OCT, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £10 - £17

Blending hip-hop, ballet and contemporary dance, these two unique dance pieces consider how we navigate ancestral identity and present-day exploitation.

Art Glasgow Art CCA: Centre for

Contemporary Art

CHRISTIAN NOELLE CHARLES: REFLECTIVE JESTER: IT’S JUST A FEELING

1-16 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Christian Noelle Charles’ first solo exhibition takes on the figure of the jester and its continued circulation in modern entertainment and Black communities, interrogating ideas of self-expression and identity in performance.

HYOJUN HYUN AND RODRIGO RED SANDOVAL: SCATTERED SIGHTS

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum FRANCE-LISE MCGURN: ALOUD

1 OCT-1 JUN 22, 11:00AM – 4:00PM, TBC

France-Lise McGurn’s newly commissioned installation draws on her personal experiences of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, creating bewitching, almost sculptural forms that fill the museum’s gallery.

RGI Kelly Gallery

DAVID MACH: HEAVEN AND HELL

1-23 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

1-16 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Compass Gallery

URBAN POTENTIALS

This collective exhibition features painting and sculpture, exploring the temporalities of the present.

ANNA GEERDES: BORDERLINE

1-9 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

A compelling new exhibition exploring the liminal and symbolic power of border spaces.

David Dale Gallery and Studios

TENDER SPOTS IN HARD CODE… FRAUGHT WITH POTENTIAL, FRAGILE WITH INDECISION 1-23 OCT, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

This exhibition brings together six early career digital artists, whose practice explores how ethics, care, and power can be explored through digital and material mediums.

Glasgow Print Studio JOHN MACKECHNIE: SHIFTING SANDS

2 OCT-20 NOV, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of new and existing works in print by prolific Glasgow printmaker.

BRONWEN SLEIGH: CROSS SECTION

2-23 OCT, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Showcasing a selection of prints and drawings inspired by urban environments in Uganda, Canada and Scotland, this exhibition explores attitudes to space as expressed through architecture and its relationship to the landscape.

Glasgow Women’s Library

LIFE SUPPORT: FORMS OF CARE IN ART AND ACTIVISM

1-16 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Featuring activist perspectives alongside works by artists including Kate Davis and Alberta Whittle, this exhibition focuses on feminist, LGBTQ+, decolonial and anti- racist responses to the systems that are supposed to sustain us.

GoMA

DRINK IN THE BEAUTY 1 OCT-23 JAN 22, 11:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

Inspired by Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking environmental treatise Silent Spring, this exhibition features artists engaging with our connection to the nonhuman, and thinking through the ethics and aesthetics of how we record nature.

Dynamic, large-scale collages make use of found materials to explore the tensions that characterise contemporary life.

23 OCT-13 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Platforming the very best of the city’s architects, designers, artists, and printmakers, this exhibition showcases the creativity and freedom Glasgow’s urban landscape.

Street Level Photoworks

MANDY BARKER: OUR PLASTIC OCEAN

1-10 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

A photography series that traces the legacy of plastic pollution in our oceans, Mandy Barker’s images of found debris are eerily alive and suffocating.

Studio Pavilion at House for an Art Lover IRENE MCCANN: EARLY MORNING SONG

1-31 OCT, 11:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of Glasgowbased artist Irene McCann’s dreamy, collage-like still lifes.

RICHARD GASTON + LAUREN DENT + JENNIFER KENT 14 OCT-21 NOV, 11:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

This group exhibition by photographer Richard Gaston, colourist and hand embroiderer Lauren Day and textile designer Jennifer Kent explores the translation of colour through different mediums.

The Common Guild SHARON HAYES: RICERCHE

9 OCT-6 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

A suite of three films by American artist Sharon Hayes, drawing on Pier Paolo Pasolini’s cinema as a guidepost for examining gender, sexuality and contemporary collective identifications. Exhibited at 5 Florence Street.

The Modern Institute

ALEX DORDOY: THE WEATHER CHANNEL

1 OCT-31 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

Alex Dordoy infuses his landscapes with the nostalgia of vintage travel posters, constructing a sublime, almost artificial view of nature that resists modernity.

THE SKINNY

The Modern Institute @ Airds Lane

MARTIN BOYCE: NO CLOUDS OR STREAMS NO INFORMATION OR MEMORY 1 OCT-31 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

VICTORIA MORTON: SLEEP LINE

1 OCT-31 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

Tramway

PAUL PURGAS: WE FOUND OUR OWN REALITY

1-10 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

An expansive mixedmedia installation spanning architecture, textiles, and soundscapes, We Found Our Own Reality explores the rich musical and technological history of India’s very first electronic music studio.

FLO BROOKS: ANGLETWICH

1-3 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

A narrative of queer and trans experience in the UK, this semi-autobiographical exhibition draws on the isolation and familiarity of rural environments to explore how marginalised communities can imagine themselves in public spaces.

Edinburgh Art &Gallery

KARINE LÉGER: UNMAPPED

2 OCT-3 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Juxtaposing textures and soft patterns, Karine Léger’s paintings reveal a delicate and thoughtful sensibility.

Arusha Gallery FREYA DOUGLASMORRIS: HILLS OF HONEY

1-3 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Incorporating stark, mesmerising use of colour with Modigliani-like figures, Freya Douglas-Morris’s landscapes convey a tangible, intoxicating sense of beauty.

City Art Centre 1-10 OCT, TIMES VARY, TBC

This major retrospective of Scottish painter and printmaker Charles H. Mackie explores his dynamic experimentation with French Symbolism, Japanese art, and the Celtic Revival movement.

IAN HAMILTON FINLAY: MARINE

1-3 OCT, TIMES VARY, TBC

Exploring maritime themes in renowned Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay’s oeuvre, this exhibition pulls work across decades and media, from stone, wood and neon sculptures to tapestry and postcards.

2 OCT-21 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Reconstructing the ancient city of Perspepolis through a CNC-machined, flatpacked kit, this installation is a dreamy, destabilising exploration of Iranian diasporic identity.

ACTS OF OBSERVATION

1 OCT-25 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Spanning Collective’s entire site, this group exhibition presents as a series of “acts” throughout Collective’s physical and digital spaces, including the transformation of the City Dome into a functioning casino.

Dovecot Studios

MAKING NUNO: JAPANESE TEXTILE INNOVATION FROM SUDŌ REIKO 1 OCT-8 JAN 22, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8.50 - £9.50

An innovative exhibition examining the life work of renowned Japanese textile artist Sudo Reiko, Making NUNO spotlights her unconventional practice and radical play with materiality.

Edinburgh Printmakers

SONIA MEHRA CHAWLA: ENTANGLEMENTS OF TIME & TIDE

1 OCT-21 NOV, 11:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

A merging of visual arts and science, this exhibition explores the ecosystems of the North Sea, striving for an empathetic understanding of the oceans and the relationship between the human and nonhuman.

Embassy Gallery

INDIA SKY: THE LIFE CYCLE OF RAINBOWS 1-17 OCT, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Inspired by the BaKongo Cosmogram and its permutations within Afro-Diasporic music and dance traditions, this film and installation exhibition weaves a universe of sound, sculpture, elaborate costumery, dance, and storytelling.

Fruitmarket

KARLA BLACK: SCULPTURES (20012021)

1 OCT-21 NOV, 10:00AM – 7:00PM, FREE

Combining traditional sculptural material with found objects such as cleaning products and cosmetics, Karla Black’s embodied sculptures fill the walls, ceilings, and floors of Fruitmarket. The exhibition, subtitled details for a retrospective, reopens Fruitmarket after a major refurb and expansion into the former Electric Circus space next door.

Ingleby Gallery MOYNA FLANNIGAN: MATTER

2 OCT-18 DEC, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, TBC

Following an exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Moyna Flannigan continues her investigation of collage as a means of exploring the fragmentation of society and civilisation.

ALBERTA WHITTLE: RESET

1-31 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £0 - £10

A powerful response to the pandemic, climate emergency, and Black Lives Matter movement, RESET is a mesmerising challenge to our society’s various hostile environments.

RESET (GROUP SHOW) 1-31 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £0 - £10

A group exhibition accompanying Alberta Whittle’s solo show, featuring Sekai Machache, Mele Broomes, Basharat Khan and more.

Open Eye Gallery

ALBERTO MORROCCO: THE FAMILY ARCHIVE

2-23 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

This exhibition showcases largely unseen drawings and paintings by celebrated Scottish-Italian artist Alberto Morrocco, renowned for superb draughtsmanship and traditional practice.

REINHARD BEHRENS: SHORT AUTUMN BREAKS TO NABOLAND

2-23 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

The art of Fife based, Scottish artist Reinhard Behrens inhabits the mythical world of Naboland, a place of snow, ice, and objects and ideas which transcend time and place.

Royal Botanic Garden

CHRISTINE BORLAND: IN RELATION TO LINUM 1-2 OCT, 10:00AM – 4:30PM, FREE

This multidisciplinary project, featuring watercolours, prints and sculptural pieces, explores the lifecycle of flax, evolving RBGE’s 350-year relationship with the plant.

Royal Scottish Academy RSA ANDIAMO: FORTY YEARS OF THE RSA JOHN KINROSS SCHOLARSHIPS TO FLORENCE

1-17 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the John Kinross Scholarship, which has enabled over 400 emerging artists to travel to Florence, this exhibition pulls together works by 20 artists across the scholarship’s history.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art RAY HARRYHAUSEN: TITAN OF CINEMA 1 OCT-20 FEB 22, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £5 - £14

This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition brings together the life work of a giant of cinematic history and the grandfather of modern special effects, showcasing some of his most iconic designs and achievements.

ISAAC JULIEN: LESSONS OF THE HOUR

1-10 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, TBC

This major ten-screen film installation from renowned British artist Isaac Julien offers a poetic mediation on the life and work of 19thcentury African-American writer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

JOAN EARDLEY: CATTERLINE

PHILIP EGLIN: STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

1 OCT-9 JAN 22, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Celebrating the life and work of the artist Joan Eardley, this exhibition focuses on her post-war works created in Catterline.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

1-23 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

True to its name, this exhibition by renowned contemporary ceramicist Philip Elgin brings together the figures of the priest and pin-up to explore ideas of contrast and tension.

ROBERT INNES: A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

RUINED: REINVENTING SCOTTISH HISTORY

1 OCT-13 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Four young Scots reinvent the bloody complexity of Scottish history, drawing on and subverting works from the National Portrait Gallery to pull visitors into an immersive, disorienting, and radical reimagination of our collective past.

ALISON WATT: A PORTRAIT WITHOUT LIKENESS 1 OCT-8 JAN 22, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A body of new work created in response to celebrated eighteenth-century portraitist Allan Ramsay, Alison Watt’s paintings play with detail and ideas of femininity, exploring the art of portraiture beyond the subject.

THOMAS JOSHUA COOPER: THE WORLD’S EDGE

1-23 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

For his first solo show with The Scottish Gallery, Robert Innes uses simple still lifes to depict the hazy, gentle coastlines of Scotland.

GUY ROYLE: ADORN

1-23 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

This new jewellery collection uses hand-sculpted semiprecious stones to create elegant, striking pieces.

The only artist to have ever taken photographs of the two poles, Thomas Joshua Cooper is known for working in the extremes, pushing the boundaries of both creative practice and human endurance.

Stills

ALEX BOYD: PROJECTS 20

1 OCT-13 NOV, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

A presentation of work from the series ‘Tir an Airm’ (Land of the Military) by Scottish-German visual artist Alex Boyd, examining the militarisation of the Scottish landscape.

Talbot Rice Gallery

ANGELICA MESITI: IN THE ROUND 1 OCT-19 FEB 22, TIMES VARY, FREE

One of Australia’s leading artists explores how performance can be used as a mode of social and political storytelling, examining ideas of colonialism and environmental collapse through dance and sound.

The Queen’s Gallery

VICTORIA & ALBERT: OUR LIVES IN WATERCOLOUR 1-3 OCT, 9:30AM – 5:00PM, £0 - £7.80

Featuring 80 watercolours collected by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, this exhibition celebrates Scottish watercolour painting in the post-Romantic, industrial age.

A LOVE LETTER TO DUNDEE: JOSEPH MCKENZIE PHOTOGRAPHS 19641987 1 OCT-1 MAR 22, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Turning to black and white photography from the 1960s-1980s, this exhibition charts the changing landscape of Dundee’s waterfront and the evolution of the City’s fortunes and its people.

1 OCT-9 JAN 22, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £5 - £10

DCA: Dundee Contemporary Arts

CHIKAKO YAMASHIRO: CHINBIN WESTERN 1 OCT-21 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Drawing on influences as diverse as industrial landscapes and traditional Japanese theatre, Chikako Yamashiro’s filmmaking and photography practice explores themes of neocolonialism and collective memory.

MARY MCINTYRE: PLACES WE THINK WE KNOW 1 OCT-21 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Engaging with ideas of spatiality and psychogeography, Mary McIntyre’s quiet interior photographs are presented in a uniquely sculptural way that pulls the gallery space into her work.

Generator Projects MMMMM

9-31 OCT, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Five early-career artists form a consonant cluster in this show of newly commissioned work. Touching on themes of anxiety and isolation, memory and dreams, monsters and magic, Mmmmm sets out to amplify the intimate murmurs of drawing-based practices.

The Scottish Gallery

S.J. PEPLOE: STUDIO LIFE AT 150

1-23 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of S.J. Peploe’s birth, this exhibition delves into the expansive work of Scotland’s first modernist.

— 61 —

Rooftop bars and bowling alleys abound in our autumn round up of the most exciting new food and drink venues in Glasgow.

This exhibition looks at the influence the Tay has had on the city of Dundee, and the ways in which its various faces, from early settlement to industrial giant, continue to reinvent its iconic waterfront.

23 OCT-13 NOV, 11:00AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Bringing together two Scottish landscape artists, each with a unique and distinctive take on their natural environments.

Compiled by Tara Hepburn

1-2 OCT, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

V&A Dundee

JESSICA OLIVER + NERINE TASSIE

Venues

TIME AND TIDE: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE TAY

Torrance Gallery

Dundee Art

1 OCT-22 JAN 22, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The McManus

NIGHT FEVER: DESIGNING CLUB CULTURE

The perfect exhibition in the light of the last year, Night Fever explores the relationship between vibrant global club culture and fashion, architecture, and graphic design, giving an intoxicating glimpse into the art that informs our nights out.

WHAT IF…?/SCOTLAND 1 OCT-21 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Designed to be staged at the Venice Biennale, this exhibition responds to the festival’s theme “How will we live together?” by collaborating with and involving local communities, highlighting and seeking to return to the civic responsibility of design.

Vega

Doppio Malto

7 GEORGE SQ, G2 1DY

Doppio Malto is a kitchen and brewhouse concept restaurant which originated in Italy and has branches across mainland Europe. Glasgow was selected as the site for the company’s first UK restaurant, taking up residency on George Square in the building which once hosted Jamie’s Italian. The menu features a lot of familiar faces (pizzas, pastas, burgers) but their loaded sizzling barbecue plates are an area of particular achievement. A wide selection of craft beers are available from their long line of rotating taps, and all the beers are devised and brewed in the company’s two breweries. Staff are in the know on taste profiles across the range of drinks, so it’s worth asking for pairing recommendations. A must visit for beer fans.

Vega

260 ARGYLE ST, G2 8QW

Located just seconds away from Central Station, Vega is located on the top floor of Glasgow’s latest uber-hotel Yotel, from the recognisable chain behind Yo! Sushi and other Yotels across the globe. Vega is their rooftop restaurant/bar/bowling alley (no, really) which is open to the public, and dining at Vega is quite a spectacle. Floorto-ceiling windows offer fantastic views of the city, as far across as the river during the daytime. At night, meanwhile, the personality of the place really comes to life, with the velvet seats and marble tabletops lit up by a riot of neon.

The food menu is basically bowling alley stuff done well – burgers, tacos, baskets of topped chips. It would be remiss not to try and hit some pins. As far as bowling goes, this is certainly the most photogenic spot the city has to offer. Even the bowling balls are stylish, and the bowling shoes? Optional.

Broken Pony

734 DUMBARTON RD, G11 6RD

At the end of Dumbarton Road, nestled in the increasingly hip Thornwood area, is the latest venture from the team behind Kelvinbridge’s iconic bar Inn Deep. Broken Pony is a versatile spot: strong bistro vibes carry this place through seamlessly from day to night, with a well-stocked bar as well as a short and considered cocktail list that gives a sense of Broken Pony’s night-time ambitions, while freshly brewed coffee and hearty brunch options showcase a daytime space that is welcoming and child-friendly. The walls of the minimal stylish interior (think Mackintosh) are lined with the work of local artists, so that Broken Pony fits right in where it sits in Thornwood, cool and communityminded with a terrific sense of place.

Abandon Ship Bar 43 MITCHELL ST, G1 3LN

Founded ten years ago, things have moved quickly for this one-time T-shirt company. Abandon Ship is now recognisable as much more than just a clothing brand: they are – in their own words – an “art, ethos, lifestyle” company, with a successful Dundee bar under their belt. It was only a matter of time before they brought their distinctive nautical rock and roll stylings to Glasgow’s city centre. Located on Mitchell Street, the Abandon Ship Bar is organised chaos: arcade machines, a photobooth, a pickleback shot station, table service, a thorough cocktail menu. For fans of tequila and bourbon, there are some innovative offerings. The bar leans into the brand’s shiny and slick version of rock'n'roll: the music is loud, the drinks are strong, and the neon never burns out.

Roberta’s 140 ST VINCENT ST, G2 5LA

Taking up the spot where St Vincent Street meets Hope Street, once occupied by Iberia, Roberta’s is a bold and confident Italian restaurant on one of Glasgow’s busiest dining thoroughfares. Making good use of its prime city centre real estate, the sprawling corner spot has been refit to perfection. Considering the stylish surroundings, prices are reasonable (pizzas begin at £7, pastas at £8). An open pizza kitchen takes centre stage where chefs can be seen tossing dough for their classic Neapolitan-style pizzas.

The long cocktail bar where mixologists shake up espresso martinis feels like a bar within a restaurant – lined with bistro stools and open to walk-ins who aren’t dining.

October 2021 — Listings

CHARLES H. MACKIE: COLOUR AND LIGHT

MINA HEYDARI-WAITE: IN SLEEP IT MADE ITSELF PRESENT TO THEM

Jupiter Artland

Image: courtesy of Vega

Victoria Morton blends abstraction and vivid colour to create compelling, barely recognisable dreamscapes.

Collective Gallery

THE SKINNY

The Skinny On...

AiiTee The Skinny On...

With her debut record, Love Don’t Fall, longlisted for the 2021 SAY Award, Emma Aikamhenze, aka AiiTee (pronounced ‘Aye-T’), takes on our monthly Q&A

What’s your favourite place to visit?

My favourite place to visit is back home in Nigeria.

The last time I was there was 2018, it was Christmas and it was amazing. The last time I’d been there before 2018 was 2006 [before I moved here], so going back was so nostalgic.

What’s your favourite colour?

It depends how I’m feeling, so if I’m feeling sad my favourite colour would be black, or like darker colours... so it’s a different colour for different moods.

Who was your hero growing up?

Definitely Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child. I just love the fierceness they brought to the stage whenever they were performing, and all their songs... I remember always singing along. You know when you’re young, you just wear your mum’s clothes and strut your stuff, that was literally it.

Whose work inspires you now?

I won’t lie, I feel like the people who inspire me now are people that are local to me... like Bemz, Chef, Louis Seivwright, NOVA, seeing people like that come up is quite inspiring to me. LOTOS as well.

What’s your favourite meal to cook at home?

It’d have to be jollof rice, it’s a Nigerian type of rice with a tomato paste. It’s very popular, that’s my favourite thing to cook and eat.

What three people would you invite to a dinner party?

Okay, so my dinner table would have Oprah Winfrey. I’d have Mark Zuckerberg, because I hope his knowledge would just come into me just by looking at him... and Beyoncé.

What are you most scared of?

I think regret is my biggest fear, because I feel like as a Nigerian there’s a lot of educational pressures, because music isn’t really seen as a career [there, it’s more] like a hobby. So the biggest fear would be following what others are telling you to do, and living for others, rather than pursuing the direction that you want to go in.

You recently released your new EP Better Days.

What other releases are you looking forward to this year?

I’ve got some stuff I’m working on with Chef, but I’m not sure if that will be released this year...

[I’m looking forward to hearing the new] Bemz EP, and I think Louis Seivwright has a new album – Wonderland – coming out as well and I can’t wait to hear it.

When did you last vomit?

Wow. Do you know what’s crazy? I haven’t been to a GP since I moved to this country... It’s so weird!

Have I vomited...? Probably when I was in Nigeria, before 2006.

How have you stayed inspired over the past 18 months?

For me music is a therapeutic thing... So even lockdown [was a] better time to have the creative juices flowing... I think it was more a blessing than anything... I found that anybody that did anything, it blew in 2020... so being inspired wasn’t very hard for me.

Which celebrity could you take in a fight?

I weigh 58kg, there’s no way I’m taking anybody in a fight. I am the one that will be running from the fight.

Photo: Omo Dada

October 2021 — Chat

suppress them... That’s why my music is therapeutic to me, because it speaks where I don’t.

What book(s) would you read if you had to self-isolate?

When I was younger I had an obsession with Jacqueline Wilson, so I’d probably go back to Jacqueline Wilson and pick up Tracy Beaker or something from her series.

I loved her.

Who’s the worst?

I would say, I am my own worst… because I have my own bad sides... I like to look inwardly, rather than pinpoint what someone else is doing wrong, so it’s better for me to say, “Oh, I am my own worst at this”, “I am my own worst of that.”

When did you last cry?

I feel like I’m very numb to situations... a lot of Nigerians I’ve found are like this because no-one really cares about your emotions...

I definitely do cry but I couldn’t pinpoint the last time... It’s definitely a bad thing because I think it’s very important to express your emotions rather than — 62 —

Tell us a secret?

Is the secret going to be a secret when I tell the secret?

If you could be reincarnated as an animal which animal would it be?

I would be a cheetah or a lion because they’re very fierce... they just look very like they’re constantly modelling... they’re always photo-ready.

You’ve just been longlisted for the 2021 SAY Award for Love Don’t Fall. Congratulations! How are you feeling?

It’s crazy! This is music I wrote from the comfort of my home and released thinking some people might like it... I didn’t expect it to be on the Scottish Album of the Year Award longlist! It’s definitely an amazing feeling!

In celebration of ten years of The SAY Award, what’s your favourite ever single from a Scottish artist?

I have a joint first place. I feel like these are two iconic [songs]... The Proclaimers’ I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)... and Sweet Dreams by Annie Lennox [and Eurythmics].

AiiTee’s new EP Better Days is out now; Love Don’t Fall is longlisted for the 2021 SAY Award; the winner of this year’s award will be announced at The Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 23 Oct instagram.com/aiiteeofficial sayaward.com

THE SKINNY

October 2020

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October 2021 — Chat

The Skinny On...

THE SKINNY

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