The Skinny March 2011

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ISSUE 66 • MARCH 2011

FOUND CHANGE GEAR

INTERVIEWS:

PLUS:

KYUSS LIVES

GLASGOW COMEDY FESTIVAL

CAT’S EYES

NEW TERRITORIES

RAEKWON

RSA NEW CONTEMPORARIES

RM HUBBERT

KEVIN HARMAN

TWILIGHT SINGERS

JACQUES GREENE

ELBOW

DOUG JOHNSTONE

MUSIC | FILM | CLUBS | PERFORMANCE | DIGITAL | BOOKS | COMEDY | ART | FASHION | LISTINGS

presents

AN JU NO ST UN CED

CONTENTS EDINBURGH PICTURE HOUSE GLASGOW O2 ACADEMY SUNDAY 24 APRIL MONDAY 25 APRIL WWW.SEETICKETS.COM 0871 220 0260 WWW.ARTISTTICKET.COM

ABERDEEN MUSIC HALL SATURDAY 23 APRIL

WWW.GLASVEGAS.NET

A REGULAR MUSIC PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH PRIMARY TALENT INTERNATIONAL

Mon 07 March Edinburgh Sneaky Pete’s Tue 08 March Glasgow Captain’s Rest

SUN 17TH APR O2 ABC2 GLASGOW

MOGWAI

DEVON SPROULE GLASGOW CCA FRI 03 JUNE

P.31 KYUSS LIVES

P.36 HARRIS TWEED

Lucy Wainwright Roche

Glasgow Concert Hall Friday 6th May 0141 353 8000

THE SKINNY MARCH 2011

FRIDAY 15TH APRIL EDINBURGH Queens Hall

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Roddy Hart

Issue 66, March 2011 © Radge Media Ltd. Get in touch: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk T: 0131 467 4630 P: The Skinny, The Drill Hall, 30-38 Dalmeny St, Edinburgh, EH6 8RG

& The Lonesome Fire plus special guests

Monday 04 April

P.20 RSA NEW CONTEMPORARIES

O2 ABC GLASGOW FRI 25TH MAR PLUS SPECIAL Loudon Wainwright III GUESTS plus special guest

GLASGOW BARROWLAND THURS 22 DEC

Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms Sunday 03 April Glasgow Classic Grand

P.19 THE TWILIGHT SINGERS

The Skinny is Scotland's largest independent entertainment & listings magazine, and offers a wide range of advertising packages and affordable ways to promote your business. Get in touch to find out more.

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GLASGOW Oran Mor

Fri 27th May

Tues 23 Aug Fri 02 Sept

EDINBURGH GLASGOW Liquid Room O2 ABC

Christy Moore

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

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WITH DECLAN SINNOTT EDINBURGH GLASGOW Queen’s Hall Concert Hall Wed 13th April 0131 668 2019

Fri 15th April 0141 353 8000

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TICKETS: www.seetickets.com 0871 220 0260

or in person from Ticket Scotland: Argyle Street Glasgow, Rose St Edinburgh & Ripping Records and all usual outlets

4

THE SKINNY MARCH 2011

printed on 100% recycled paper

Editorial Editor Music & Online Editor Art Editor Clubs Editor Comedy Editor Competitions Editor Digital Editor DVD Editor Fashion Editor Film Editor Heads Up Editor Listings/Cyberzap Editor Performance Editor Reading Editor Travel Editor

Rosamund West Dave Kerr Andrew Cattanach Luke Dubuis Lizzie Cass-Maran Adeline Amar Alex Cole Keir Roper-Caldbeck Alexandra Fiddes Jamie Dunn Anna Docherty Anna Docherty Gareth K. Vile Keir Hind Paul Mitchell

Production Production Manager Designer Chief Subeditor

David Lemm Lewis MacDonald Paul Mitchell

Sales/Accounts Head of Sales & Marketing Advertising Sales Execs

Lara Moloney Jan Webster Liam O'Brien

Publisher

Sophie Kyle

Interns

Louise Robertson Eilidh Hickman Aimee Cassells

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

6: Opinion: Marc DeSadé calls for a cull of music industry middlemen; our Comedy Ed introduces a month of west coast hilarity; GKV salivates at the prospect of a month of Performance; Hero Worshipping Vladimir McTavish and Skinny on Tour.

8: Heads Up: March Mayhem or March Misery? Our day by day guide will keep your head in the game.

FEATURES 10: FOUND raise their game with album number three, reveal shite plans to market branded Sellotape.

12: The Horrors' Faris Badwan and his new partner in crime lift the lid on Cat's Eyes.

14: Richard Ayoade and cast take some probing on his directorial debut, Submarine.

16: A look forward to Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival – featuring interviews with Greg Davies, George Monbiot, Mark Thomas and Keith Farnan.

19: The Twilight Singers: Greg Dulli's freestyles make Chipmunk look like Alvin.

20: RSA New Contemporaries returns to showcase the pick of last year's art graduate crop. Here are our current favourites.

21: Smith/Stewart will only allude to what dark audience participation has been documented for their new show.

23: New Territories is back to convince Glaswegians that performance art is really where it's at.

24: Janice Claxton goes head to head with GKV to discuss the role of the primate.

25: Doug Johnstone talks Smokeheads, his new whisky-thriller novel.

26: LuckyMe's Jacques Green talks MySpace hipsters (RIP), and why there's no such thing as a guilty pleasure.

28: Sure, Raekwon once got busted picking his nose on the back of a Ghostface Killah album sleeve, but he's no lazy bastard.

29: Rendezvous With French Cinema brings Cinema Français to the capital for a mini festival 30: Kevin Harman explains why there's more to his artwork than mere controversy.

31: Kyuss Lives: John Garcia's about to tell you motherfuckers why.

32: Elbow return to a world that wants to put them in arenas.

33: StAnza: Love poetry? Think you might love poetry? Head to St Andrews for a 5-day festival!

LIFESTYLE 34: Showcase: ECA student Kathryn Rodger shows off paintings dealing with getting pished.

36: fashion: Contemporary designers celebrate 100 years of Harris Tweed Orb. 39: Travel: The alternative take on travel writing continues with one wanderer's explorations of the West Bank.

42: Food & Drink: How to make a delicious meal out of a pig’s ear.

REVIEW 45: Music: Mogwai tackle the March singles, plus sublime new albums from King Creosote & Jon Hopkins and Parts & Labor.

52: Clubs: Hercules and Love Affair claim Death Disco for a night of bliss at The Arches.

54: Film: It's a stellar month for film releases – we tell you our favourites.

56: Art: August Sander's photography impresses, and Harun Faroki left one reviewer hungry for more.

57: Books: We read some books, they were mainly very good.

Digital: How to stay online as society crumbles around your ears.

58: Performance: National Theatre of Scotland create a cross-venue programme.

59: Comedy: Comedian Imran Yusuf talks identity politics.

60: Competitions: Win tickets! For Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival! Or Scottish Ballet!

61: LIstings: Couple of thousand events happening this month, not one bloody Blake's 7 convention.

71: Starter for 11 drags Aidan Gillen back to his days on The Wire, while Crystal Baws predicts doom over a quiet pint of Guinness.

plus special guests

Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire thursday 17th march Glasgow Classic Grand saturday 19th march WWW.MYSPACE.COM/THEPHANTOMBANDPAGE

GLASGOW CAPTAIN'S REST SATURDAY 9TH APRIL EDINBURGH SNEAKY PETE'S SUNDAY 10TH APRIL

GLASGOW ARCHES MONDAY 18TH APRIL NEW ALBUM WOUNDED RHYMES INCL. ‘GET SOME’ & I FOLLOW RIVERS WWW.LYKKELI.COM

GLASGOW THE ARCHES

Wednesday 13th April

GLASGOW, KING TUTS FRIDAY 15TH APRIL EDINBURGH, SNEAKY PETE'S SATURDAY 16 APRIL PLEASE NOTE: RESCHEDUELD DATES - ORIGINAL TICKETS STILL VALID

OF GOMEZ

JAMIE WOON O2 ABC GLASGOW

EDINBURGH CABARET VOLTAIRE

THURSDAY 26TH MAY

SATURDAY 5TH MARCH

AND THE ROYAL CITY BAND EDINBURGH LIQUID ROOM

Tuesday 12th April

Tickets 24hr credit card hotline: 08444 999 990 Online: www.gigsinscotland.com | www.ticketmaster.co.uk In person: GLASGOW SECC B/O, Tickets Scotland | EDINBURGH Tickets Scotland, Ripping | ABERDEEN B/O, One Up Records | DUNDEE Grouchos.

March 2011

THE SKINNY

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Editorial They’ve been regulars on the Scottish music scene for several years now, establishing a reputation as a uniquely inventive and boundary-pushing creative collective, so as FOUND return with a stellar third album we decided it was high time we put them on the cover. Turn to page 10 for some insights into the making of Factorycraft as well as more on their plans for a follow-up to the Cybraphon (that emotive robo-band in a wardrobe we’ve been banging on about for a couple of years), featuring a collaboration with the inimitably dour Aidan Moffat.

Also eagerly anticipated this month is the beginning of the snappily titled LOLfest Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival which will see dozens of comedians descend on the city to perform 440+ shows, systematically reducing the locals to laughter-induced weeping messes. We’ve interviewed some of the numerous acts we’re eager to see, and there will be extended features and reams of reviews published to our site throughout the coming month if you care to check us out online.

We’ve got an unusually large amount of Art content this month. Maybe that’s because March is an unusually artistic month; maybe it’s because I wrote one of the interviews then rearranged the pageplan

THIS MONTH'S COVER This month’s cover design was a bit of a collaborative effort. The photo was taken by David Anderson, also responsible for our glamorous new headshots. It was then passed to FOUND’s Tommy Perman, who added the drawn elements used in their album artwork. It then went on to Skinny HQ where our Designer and Picture Editor had their way with it. The result is very fine, I’m sure you’ll agree.

A little on David Anderson: He’s a freelance

to make sure it would fit in, who knows. We’ve had a head to head with Glasgow art duo Smith/Stewart in which they refuse to divulge what they’ve done to some unwitting punter in their upcoming show in Stirling (it sounds like it might be freaky).

Our Art editor looks forward to this month’s RSA New Contemporaries, returning for a third year to support Scottish art graduates. And there’s an interview with enfant terrible Kevin Harman in which he explains why filming oneself shitting on a pigeon is actually quite a rational thing to do.

Our Music editor has the chat with Raekwon (so in love with Scotland that he wrote a song about it, apparently), plus an unexpectedly frank discussion with John Garcia about the resurrection of Kyuss, while elsewhere we gained some valuable insight from chief Twilight Singer Greg Dulli on freestlying in the studio. We also hear from Elbow’s drummer about the pressures of following up critical acclaim, while LuckyMe’s Jacques Green confirms that it is definitely not OK to be a hipster anymore. In Film, we have an interview with Richard Ayoade (he of IT Crowd and Mighty Boosh fame) about his directorial debut Submarine, released this month. Reviews suggest the film’s outstanding, so be very excited.

Finally, you may have noticed that we’re all looking a bit older in this month’s issue. That’s because we’ve finally updated our editor headshots – big thanks to David Anderson for taking them for us.

But anyway...[Rosamund West]

photographer based in Scotland. He enjoys engaging with his subjects in order to accurately reflect their personalities in his portraits. His work has been published in the Times, Vogue, Professional Photographer magazine, The Scotsman, and many more.

Working from his Edinburgh base he takes commissions all over the country. When not working he spends his days pottering about town with a Polaroid camera with his fiancée Fi, drinking tea and generally being old before his time.

To find out more about Tommy, turn to the interview with FOUND on p10.

Shot of the month

Hero Worship Vladimir McTavish

In honour of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival, we asked Keir McAllister pals about his comic heroes Asking comics about their heroes is an incredibly loaded question; an ill-conceived answer can do great damage to one’s comedy kudos.

Were I to confidently state Bill Hicks as my number one – that would be considered a fairly hack response and people might assume my comedy to be of a similar ilk. Billy Connolly would also be a bad choice as that infers that I’m not only grossly unimaginative but also sycophantically nationalistic. Were I to say Jim Davidson, I’d correctly be considered a complete cunt.

Despite the potential pitfalls of this most precarious and frequently asked of questions, my answer for some time now has not only been genuine but one which I am confident reflects well on me.

I first saw Vladimir McTavish perform when I was a very inexperienced open spot. I remember being introduced to this wee, humble, unassuming man and being told that he was the headliner. Up until that point I’d assumed he was just an overfriendly drunk. The thrill of seeing him for the first time remains a milestone in my comedy career. Here was comedy that was not only relevant, deliciously caustic and incredibly funny – it was undeniably Scottish too: acerbic one liners worthy of Frankie Boyle lead into small vignettes echoing the best of Chic Murray and Rikki Fulton, all delivered with a warm, whisky-sodden sentimentality profoundly his own. My one abiding memory of watching that gig was clearly thinking ‘I want to be just like him.’

Seven years on and I’m still aspiring to be like

him. He continues be one of the most prolific and relevant Scottish comics of our time and despite the fact that I have seen him perform on literally hundreds of occasions in venues from Orkney to Dumfries he has never once slipped from the comedy pedestal I put him on.

SKINNY ON TOUR Our very own publisher decided to skip the hail and haar, and jetted off to some exotic location instead. Can you guess where Sophie indulged in mint tea and henna hand drawing?

Go to www.theskinny. co.uk/competitions to submit your guess and you might win a lovely bottle of wine, courtesy of our friends at Vino Wines.

Closing date: Thursday 31 March

Rob Zombie O2 Academy 20 Feb By claire Taylor

6

THE SKINNY March 2011

Terms: www.theskinny. co.uk/terms and www.drinkaware.co.uk for the facts.

Over 18s only. The prize isn't redeemable for cash and is to be collected from one of the Vino Wines stores.

LAUGHING OUT LOUD

Actively Funny

Illustration: David Lemm

OPINION

The Proposition Cull the Middlemen The music industry is in desperate need of a cull.

We have arrived at a point where there are surely at least as many Wikipedia-educated pop svengalis for every aspiring schmuck with a chorus.

When did music become so convoluted? When did getting a tune from a musician to their audience become such a labyrinthine process?

With so many middle men taking a cut, prices are high and returns to the artists are horribly low. The maths don’t lie. Consider the fact that, from the 99p charged per song on iTunes, often as little as 11p goes to the band, the rest dissipated through a mesh of middlemen. Thus, when the industry campaigns against piracy, supposedly selflessly defending the intellectual property of its artists, in reality they are motivated out of self interest. Try reading it as “Hey! WE’LL do the ripping off, NOT YOU!” For instance, an individual of modest musical renown looking to earn minimum wage (that’s just one person, not a full band) would have to be streamed almost 5.5 MILLION times per month via Spotify. To make that same paltry wage through individual song sales on iTunes it would require up to 16,500 purchases in the same space of time.

Meanwhile Apple takes those profits and invents an iPod the size of a fucking surfboard that only the Saudi Royal Family can afford.

Major record labels are as culpable as anyone for the current situation, both through action and inaction. Take their enduring army of lackeys and their unshakeable adherence to a bureaucratic mountain of checked boxes (video producers, publicists, image consultants) which, for example,

saw Dandy Warhols half a million dollars in the hole before their first single even emerged, thanks to a thoroughly naff video created at the insistence of Capitol.

Steve Albini summed this up nicely in his interview for the film DIY or DIE, pointing out that publicists are the perfect example. It’s a common misconception that they generate money but they actually only generate publicity which, in many cases, never translates into actual money, at least not for the musician. He also observed that, if anything, the more a band is shoved under your nose the more you can grow to hate them, especially when their material doesn’t live up to the huge amount of money invested in their publicity.

Yet the majors stick with this system.

On the other hand, the big labels’ baffling inability to source acts from amidst the abundance of talent on offer has driven numerous aspiring, pro-active young go-getters into the hands of internet shysters.

Case in point, MySpace’s recent descent into farce can perhaps be traced, in part, to it buckling like the bridge at the end of Temple of Doom, under the weight of this ever-multiplying army of PR agencies. Whilst it still stood proudly atop Mt. Social Network, its clients’ inboxes were flooded daily by the unfiltered gibberish of half-baked moguls. Promote your site. Get more friends. Help us help you. Get heard by more fat guys in suits.

Maybe get your music into the spam folder of a dude who knows a dude who once suggested a song for an especially rapey episode of Hollyoaks.

If there’s one thing the internet should have facilitated, it is musicians being able to eliminate these middlemen and sell directly to the public, whereas MySpace and its myriad green-eyed remoras were practically trying to run a minibus

from the practice rooms to Polydor HQ. Fittingly, now it convulses, wide-eyed and gasping, on the bottom of the boat, waiting to be mercifully clubbed over the head and eventually devoured

by Facebook. You brought us Lily Allen, MySpace, and that’s what you bloody get.

Even at a local level, the number of spare parts drifting around the musical landscape is astonishing, as are the many ways in which they attempt to part musicians from their earnings. Take industry music papers. What are they actually for? Music Award ceremonies that require a payment to submit material for consideration, with no guarantee it will make final cut of nominees. In what other avenue of life would that be viable? Or sponsored seminars: lessons on professionally marketing your band which are little more than exercises in grooming – the equivalent of Pepsi-branded school stationery – PR and A&R wrapped into one.

Actually maybe that could just be collated into one handy acronym: PARP... Like a big fart. A huge dirty marketing fart right into the eager young faces of our musical youth.

Ultimately it’s not a popular reality amidst the record “buying” public or the majors, but musicians also have bills to pay, families to raise and filthy habits to finance (perhaps more so than most others).

So it is that, as our nation’s universities and colleges prepare once more to expunge their annual murky load into the musical realm, those practicing musicians amongst you could be forgiven for wishing you’d spent all those lonely teenage nights learning how to speak Chinese rather than practicing guitar.[Marc DeSadé] Marc DeSadé lives in hope of a world where a drummer can buy a packet of noodles without a panel discussion on how the transaction goes down

Who are the acts in this years MGICF that bring an element of activism to their work? As comedian Keith Farnan puts it, echoing Hemingway, “Before you can become a comedian, you should have been something else. When you’ve formed opinions about the world and you have certain views, that will inform your comedy” Whilst the likes of Daniel Sloss, Bo Burnham and Kevin Bridges may have proudly boasted sell-out audiences before they were out of nappies, something about today’s political climate is more reminiscent of the 1980s, where we saw the birthing of what was then alternative comedy.

In recent years, this uprising has turned into complacency and we’ve seen ‘political comedy’ put into an angry little box and roped off in the corner, sitting humourlessly alongside performance poetry and Private Eye. But the world is changing and comedy, ever at the forefront, is changing with it. There’s a new tide moving back towards comedy with substance, with something real behind it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a well-placed knob gag.

It’s ill-placed, lowest-common-denominator knob gags that tire me. Frankie Boyle, for example, has arguably lost his way of late, battling the strictures of prime time panel shows. But it’s worth remembering that his shock and awe tactics originate from a need to make a point, to question and highlight people’s behaviour. It’s great to see Frankie going back to his roots and using a rare live appearance to support the Palestinians in Stand Up for Palestine on the 21st.

In our MGICF coverage this year, both in print and online, we talk to acts who have lived their comedy: interviews with ex-lawyer Farnan and ex-doctors Paul Sinha and Mike Wozniak, reflections on his religious pilgrimage from Imran Yusuf and tales of activism and investigation from Mark Thomas and George Monbiot.

There’ll also be tweets and write-ups about all sorts of events on throughout the festival.

I’m particularly looking forward to seeing what panelists have to say about the future of comedy in a discussion hosted by the Comedy Unit – Scottish Comedy: The Best Kept Secret in the World?

The event is supported by Creative Scotland and I’m fascinated to see if our new cultural body is going to step up to the plate and start to support comedy as an artform.[Lizzie Cass-Maran] Interviews with Mike Wozniak, Paul Sinha and George Monbiot are available online. Stand Up For Palestine, King’s Theatre on 21 Mar at 7:30pm, £28.50 Scottish Comedy: The Best Kept Secret in the World? 31 Mar at 1:30pm at the GFT Free (ticketed) Follow @skinnycomedy on Twitter

CRITICal mass

Marching Orders I hate March. After two pretty quiet months of performance, the New Territories season kicks off, forcing me to run around Glasgow in a bid not to miss anything. New Territories is somewhere between an annual Live Art party and an essential resource for anyone interested in the cutting edge of theatre. At the very least, it has defined my enthusiasms over the last decade.

Then the other theatres are warming up. Stirling’s Macrobert is becoming the place for dance in Scotland: Jasmin Vardimon recently arrived there for her only Scottish gig, drawing in fans from across the central belt. And Northern Ballet – one of the first companies to consider marrying ballet to a more musical theatre aesthetic – arrive at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre with a new work, Cleopatra. Like much of their previous work, it promises that the implied sensuality of ballet will illuminate this old story of love, passion and Graeco-Roman power politics.

Over in Glasgow, the Free Hetherington (formerly the Glasgow University Postgraduate Club) has been occupied by students who are offering all sorts of creative workshops. Like the Govanhill Pool protest some years back, political activism seems to be leading to creative ferment. It is certainly worth visiting, either to criticise Tory cuts or learn how to knit, make vegan food or develop devised theatre. [Gareth K Vile]

March 2011

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wed 2 Mar

thu 3 Mar

Led by the boom-voiced James Allan, Glasvegas make their live return ahead of new album Euphoric Heartbreak (which drops early April). Cue glacial guitars, heavyweight lyrics, and renewed chat about how they're going to save rock and roll with a whiff of their quiffs, or some such. The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 7pm, £14. Also playing Glasgow's QMU the following night

Getting our monthly do-gooding in early, we're showing some support for Outlet Arts and their attempt to raise enough funds to buy a new space in Govan. Their fundraiser night of unboxable treats will feature psychadelic noisemaker Jamie Wardrop, alongside a selection of improvised comedy, up-and-coming short films, and burlesque from Miss Molly Teaser. Flying Duck, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £5

The lovely chaps that are musical collective FOUND welcome a new batch of their skewed folk-pop into the world, with this, the first of two launches for their third album.

The launch will also feature a mini showcase of the fruits of Skinny readers' attempts to draw/paint/make delightful collages of the band. Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, 8pm, £9.

Also playing Glasgow's Captain's Rest on 14 Mar

HEADS UP

There’s March Misery as we bid farewell to YIFI, but with so much march mayhem going on (Particularly MGICF) there’s no time to stay in feeling sorry for ourselves

Photo: David Anderson

Photo: John Lewis

Photo: Paul Wright

Tue 1 Mar

Miss Molly Teaser

wed 9 Mar

thu 10 Mar

Celebrating the Centenary of International Women's Day, Tramway play host to an all-dayer of 100 different events. Staged both inside and out (in the wonderful Hidden Gardens) will be various visual artists, performers, musicians, and poets. Highlights include spoken word from sonic artists Drew Taylor and Fi Johnson, a solo performance from Zoey Van Goey's Kim Moore, and a knitted centrepiece looped together from 100 million stitches. Tramway, Glasgow, 10am, Free

Pitching in to do their bit at the Edinburgh College of Arts's Intermedia fundraiser night are Skinny faves Meursault, led by the howling tones of Neil Pennycook (last seen by our unbelieving eyes impersonating Annie Lennox in a church hall). Support will come from Washington Irving, and Graeme Clark. Oh, and Hot Rod DJs pumping it into the small hours of the morn. The Caves, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £8

Having put away our woolies and started wearing things made of t-shirt again, it would officially seem to be New Wardrobe season. and so the idea of a clothes swap is really rather appealing. The basic premise behind the Swishing Party is that you donate five items, and then trade 'em in for a brand new (to you) outfit. Plus, it's all aimed at raising funds for Friends of the Earth, so it's double feel-good. Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, 6.30pm, £8

Photo: Justin Moir

Photo: David McGowan

tue 8 Mar

COMPILED BY: ANNA DOCHERTY

Zoey Van Goey's Kim moore

wed 16 Mar

Thu 17 Mar

On the back of new album Build A Rocket Boys!, Guy Garvey and band kick off their UK mini tour as is only right, with a supersized show at Glasgow's SECC. They'll be playing new tracks and hopefully cherry-picking a few from Elbow's rather magnificent back catalogue. Stellar support comes from Conor J O'Brien's lullaby of a band, Villagers. SECC, Glasgow, 6.30pm, £27.50

The Phantom Band wind down their monster European tour with a series of dates on home turf. Their rather wonderful big-balled robo-rock gets an airing first in Aberdeen, before they take a whistlestop tour by way of Edinburgh's Cabaret Voltaire (17 Mar), Dundee's Doghouse (18 Mar), and Glasgow's Glassic Grand (19 Mar). Collect 'em all. Tunnels, Aberdeen, 8pm, £8

The Glasgow comedy festival (or Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival, to give it the full mouthful) kicks off today, and with 440-odd shows on the schedule, we understandably don't know where to start. Oh, hang on, YES WE DO! We're going to go and see Zombiologist Doctor Austin chatting about how a zombie outbreak might occur at any moment, and offering tips on how to survive the apocalypse. QMU, Glasgow, 8.30pm, £5 (£3). The festival runs until 10 Apr

Tue 22 Mar

Wed 23 Mar

Thu 24 Mar

fri 25 Mar

Performed on a large white square, elevated (or lowered) by a ceiling of forty fluorescent lights, Hara-kiri is choreographer Didier Théron's response to a modern world, where six dancers, as rhythmic as the tick-tock of a clock, represent the beginning of humanity with a series of geometric movements. Tramway, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £11 (£6.50). As part of New Territories, until 26 Mar

Experimental London singer/songwriter Patrick Wolf is back with a new batch of electro-pop gems, towering above 'em all in height (he's 6-foot-four) and ideas (his last album was ornamented in a backdrop of chaos and paradise, with Tilda Swinton as the voice of 'hope'). Sometimes we wish every musician had a drop of his fancifulness. Oran Mor, Glasgow, 7pm, £12.50

Four Northamptonshire lads who just want to be adored, Fenech Soler provide the hooks and danceable beats with their all-too-loveable brand of polished electro-pop. Can't say fairer. ABC, Glasgow, 7pm, £8

Bass-driven house and techno young gun Calvertron shares a double-header slot alongside electro tinkerer Last Japan, who's gone from bedroom bootlegger to in-demand remixer in the space of 12 months. Suffice to say they're two talented chaps.

It'll all be powered-up by the rent-a-noise Electrikal soundsystem. Stereo, Glasgow, 11pm, £10

Photo: Sonia Mallan

tue 15 Mar

Last Japan is Well Beefting

wed 30 MAR

thu 31 MAR

fri 1 apr

The Jim Jones Revue serve up some big beats and serious riffs, with their back-to-basics styled rock'n'roll: just the kind of rollicking tunes that were made for a live setting. King Tut's, Glasgow, 8pm, £12. Also playing Edinburgh's Bongo Club on 28 Mar

Cheeky Geordie comic Jason Cook brings his funny business to Glasgow's comedy festival. Leaving his options open as to how exactly the night will play out – which last year involved audience suggestions on how to make his life better – Cook promises but this: "It'll be funny. Piss funny.

Like a supersonic laugh-powered clown train, steaming down your ears into your mind to make some laugh juice".

That'll do us. The Stand, Glasgow, 9.30pm, £8 (£7)

There's something pleasing, and not just for our OCD, about a girl-boy balance in a band, and London quartet Scanners take it to doubly-pleasing levels with their anthemic brand of indie-pop. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 7pm, £7. Also playing Glasgow's Captain's Rest on 29 Mar

You wanted the best, you got the best: Kiss legend Gene Simmons slides into town for a low-key gabber set at The Last Drop, Edinburgh, 8pm, Free

Photo: Wes Kingston

TUE 29 MAR

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THE SKINNY March 2011

fri 4 Mar

sat 5 Mar

Sun 6 Mar

Mon 7 Mar

Infamous DIY band night-cum-clubber's delight Croc Vs Croc returns after a year long hiatus, and they're staging one massive party to mark the occasion. Thirteen bands will play alternately on different stages, including Remember Remember, Divorce, Ultimate Thrush, and North American War, continuing into the wee small hours with Cry Parrot and Copy Haho DJs. Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, 8pm, £5

In a rather genius double bill, the Cameo screen documentary Best Worst Movie, in which a small-town dentist and a deluded Italian filmmaker face up to their part in humdinger of a movie, Troll 2. The film, about man-eating trolls, has since become a massive cult classic and also gets a screening on the night. Cameo, Edinburgh, 11pm, £7 (£5.50)

As part of his first touring UK solo show anti-monumental German sculptor Manfred Pernice takes what look like everyday, or 'found', objects – cardboard boxes, padlocks, cartons, and the like – and uses them to create something recycled and familiar-looking, yet also quite static and devoid of life. DCA, Dundee, until 8 May, Free

Having wowed us with his 'Superheroes In Glasgow' strand at Glasgow Film Festival last month, comic book writer Mark Miller takes to the stage at Aye Write! (runs 4-12 Mar) to discuss his work, which includes Kick-Ass (sold as a movie before it even hit comic book stands), and his partially-filmed Scottish superhero movie (which we're already in a tizzy about). The Mitchell Library, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £8 (£6).

fri 11 Mar

sat 12 Mar

sun 13 Mar

mon 14 Mar

Playing what will be their final show (as in EVER) Adam Stafford and his Y'all Is Fantasy Island(ers) plan to bow out with a minimum of fuss. They'll be playing a chilled gig at Edinburgh's Sneaky Pete's, joined by former member John McCall and his shiny golden clarinet. Support will come from Edinburgh melodic lovelies Loch Awe, and, er, Glasgow melodic lovelies Two Wings. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 7pm, £5

Prepare for a bit (well, a lot) of mid-month gore, as DIY horror film all-nighter, All Night Horror, pops up in Glasgow. The yuck fest kicks off with chainsaws and demons in Evil Dead II, and continues in that OTT vein with walking dead experiments in Re-Animator, 70s giallo classic Surpiria, and, er, deformed Siamese twin brothers kept in picnic baskets (Basket Case, what else?). Grosvenor Cinema, Glasgow, 10.45pm, £15 (£13.50)

The Words Per Minute gang host another batch of spoken word with live music, comedic ramblings, film snippets, and plenty other randomness woven through all the wordiness. March's bill is a closely-guarded secret, but the blueprint will be as always – each act has ten minutes to impress, before being timed out. Perfect Sunday goodness... The Arches, Glasgow, 4pm, £4

Eugene Hutz and his band of merry men and women return for another live showdown as Gogol Bordello.

Expect eccentric gypsy-punk bombardments, by way of Spanish flamenco infusions and clapping monkey lyrics.

We probably can't beat that for this month. HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, 7pm, £17.50

fri 18 Mar

sat 19 Mar

sun 20 Mar

Mon 21 Mar

Primal Scream's house-inspired Mercury winner soundtracked a decade of shandy abuse, this month Bobby Gillespie's boys return to celebrate its twentieth birthday with a colossal shindig at SECC, Glasgow, 6.30pm, £28.50. Producer Andrew Weatherall DJs the after-party at Chambre69, 11pm, £13

New York collective Hercules and Love Affair bring a full 10-piece band live set of their dancefloordesigned neo-disco to the glitterballed lair of Death Disco, for what shall likely be the campest rave-up of the month. If ever there was an occasion for sequined hotpants... Arches, Glasgow, 11pm, £14

Renzez-Vous mini festival (which runs from 17-20 Feb) draws its avant-garde film series to a close with a screening of Potiche, also the GFF's opening gala film of choice. For a full preview and the chance to win some tickets turn to p29. Filmhouse, Edinburgh

In what will be a one-off Glasgow comedy festival guest appearance, Frankie Boyle joins a host of comics for Stand Up For Palestine, with Gary Tank Commander, Miles Jupp, Susan Calman, and Fred Macaulay all joining forces to raise money for Palestine Legal Aid Fund. King's Theatre, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £24 (£19)

Photo: neil thomas douglas

Ultimate Thrush

Gary tank Commander aka Greg McHugh

sat 26 Mar

Sun 27 Mar

Mon 28 Mar

For 2011 the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival seems to be delighting more than ever in playing host to the localest of locals (Burberry-clad Glasgow wide boy The Wee Man, anyone?), right through to a whole host of acts from across the pond. Tonight we're plumping for a bit of the latter, with the ever-smiley Caroline Rhea doing a bit of her bright-witted observationalism. Smiles all round, then. King's Theatre, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £18.50 (£15)

We heaped a rare five stars on his recent, and first, long-player, so naturally we're eager to see how James Blake's highlypraised LP translates to a live setting. With its dubbed-out soul, hybrid electro, and effects-manipulated vocals, we foresee it being pretty damn special. Nice 'n' Sleazy, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £tbc

Bradford Cox finally brings his five-piece band, Deerhunter, to these shores. It's fuzzy garage-rock, all sleepy, swirling, and lovely, made by a bunch of chaps with floppy hair and duffle coats. Oh look, we didn't even judge them. Oran Mor, Glasgow, 7pm, £12

Photo: Rory Cooper

Sat 2 apr

Mon 4 apr

Mixing live presentations and projections, Uncaged Monkeys brings together a group of science broadcasters who like to ramble about dark matter, Bonobo apes, black holes, and such like. Funnyman Robin Ince will host the event, with Professor Brian Cox, Dr Ben Goldacre, and Simon Singh doing the intellectual bits.

Kings Theatre, Glasgow, 8pm, £23 (£18)

Brighton banshee-folk trio Esben and the Witch take their moniker from a Danish fairytale, and, rather fittingly, their sound is a surreal mix of pitter-patter drums, twinkling feedback, and ethereal female vocals.

And it's also quite comforting and wholesome, in a Granny's soup kind of way. Stereo, Glasgow, 7pm, £7 Photo: Jonathan Hyde

Haddow Fest returns to Edinburgh for a massive weekender of music from a selection of up-and-comers, as well as some big name headliners. With over 100 acts on the schedule, we'll likely be playing a game of musical dot-to-dot as we flit from venue-to-venue catching the likes of Broken Records, Johnny Foreigner, and The View. Various venues, Edinburgh, 1pm, £25 (£15) day ticket. Continues on 3 Apr

Sun 3 apr

Broken records

March 2011

THE SKINNY

9

MUSIC

Lost and FOUND Having recently slimmed down to the original trio formed back in 2001, experimental pop collective FOUND are set to return with a somewhat unrecognisable and brilliant third album, a brand new art installation and a potential side business in Sellotape Interview: darren carle Photography: David Anderson As something approaching veteran status of the Scottish indie scene, Edinburgh-based FOUND have been scratching away at the fringes of art and music for what seems like aeons now.

Known as much for their installations as their music, the band have long been a fertile ground for envelope-pushing ideas, all carefully and individually catalogued with equal status regardless of perceived merit.

Fittingly then, The Skinny finds the band spit-balling ideas as they hang around the ominous-sounding Hemi-Anechoic chamber in the University of Edinburgh, which serves as the backdrop to today’s photo-shoot. “Would you buy FOUND-branded Sellotape from one of our gig stalls?” asks front-man Ziggy Campbell, casually toying with said product. Clocking our somewhat guarded expression and the long, considered pause, fellow band member Tommy Perman uses his telepathy and saves the day. “I told you it was a shite idea,” he states deadpan.

It may well be, but they can be forgiven for such indiscretions. The day prior to our meet up, the trio announced they had been successful in securing a Creative Scotland investment for one of their more encouraging and ultimately ‘un-shite’ ideas.

Unravel, a collaborative proposal with Aidan Moffat and Professor Simon Kirby, landed a £40,000 go-ahead as part of the Vital Spark programme which encourages experimentation and radical new approaches to engaging with audiences. Having already created Cybraphon, an “autonomous emotional robot band in a wardrobe”, it was perhaps a grant with FOUND’s name written all over it.

Settled in a nice comfy pub, photo-posing duties completed, Ziggy, Tommy and third member Kev Sim explain a little more about the project. “It’s going to be stories written and recited by Aidan à la Arab Strap,” begins Ziggy. “There’ll be a set of acoustic instruments that’ll be mechanised in the same way that Cybraphon works. But the story that he tells will change depending on different factors like the weather and how many people are in the room at the time. If there are a lot of people, it might be delivered with a lot of gusto and flamboyance but if there’s just a couple it might be a bit more hushed and sincere.”

“At the moment we’re thinking that they’re going to be memories attached to a record from the narrator’s collection,” adds Tommy. “But even if you listen to the same memory at a different time in different circumstances, the narrator will be remembering it differently. That’s something we’re really excited about developing. A lot of it is new territory for us, and some of it is completely new territory full-stop. Some of the technology we’re going to have to actually come up with – stuff that hasn’t actually been built before.”

Will this mean a useful off-shoot of technology for future generations? After all, the moon landings gave us Teflon. “We’re just going to get a moody Scottish bastard who can’t remember things,” laughs Tommy. “Sorry, it’s not a great contribution.” Whatever lies ahead for Unravel, and the band remain tight-lipped due to natural evolution, it will be at least a year before we get to hear Moffat reminisce on some of his favourite LPs and the vague memories they invoke.

More immediately, the band are on the cusp of releasing third album Factorycraft, their first as a trimmed-down trio. “Being in a five-piece band is really difficult,” explains Tommy. “Even just trying to meet up to rehearse and take it out on the road is problematic.” The loss of members Alan Stockdale and Gavin Sutherland was, we’re assured,

10 THE SKINNY March 2011

Gatefold (remember those!?) artwork for FactoryCraft

amicable and partly due to changing commitments. “It started off as the three of us and now it’s back to the three of us,” Tommy continues. “It felt like a reboot and we started writing in a different way. It changed our sound a lot since the last album and we found our feet again. I think it was really good for us, it gave us a bit more energy and motivation and it felt new again.”

That much is certainly evident in Factorycraft.

The bedroom production and piecemeal approach of their previous two records has been resolutely swept away. Song-writing and more traditional instrumentation are now the order of FOUND. “We were quite determined to go into a studio and record everything within a set, short amount of time,” Ziggy embellishes. “We wanted to try and record it as ‘live’ as possible and just do away with a lot of the options that you get by making a record the way we’ve done in the past, with too many ideas and directions really. It’s been nice to refine that.”

It’s a volte-face that few can pull off without the battle-cry of ‘sell-out’ bursting forth from the hardcore fan-base. All three seem ready for such a critique though. “We’ll lose some fans but gain some others,” concedes Tommy. “So far, it’s really difficult to gauge. It’s not been that sudden to be honest, because a lot of the tunes on the album we’ve been playing live for quite a while now so people will know them, they’ve just not heard the finished product yet. The record is a bit different to what we sound like live, but it’s still pretty true to it.”

❝

As long as it’s a good laugh, then it’s worth doing Tommy Perman

❞

Being signed to Chemikal Underground is likely to help smooth this transition. Still considered a barometer of good taste and moderate success, FOUND made the leap from Fence records, with their full blessing, after recording Factorycraft at Chem 19 and pricking the ear of erstwhile Delgado and producer Paul Savage. “He seemed really into it, which we couldn’t quite believe,” marvels Tommy. “He passed it on and after a short while Chemikal got in touch to note their interest. We started chatting to them about it and it quickly became obvious that they were the right people.

They said lots of nice things, bought us some beers and gave us free records. We were sold.”

On paper, FOUND’s progression seems uncannily smooth, from Tommy’s own Surface Pressure label, to Fence and now Chemikal. Has this aided their longevity? “Definitely,” agrees Tommy. “It seems really nice, the way that we’ve done it.

At times we’ve wanted to fast track and leap frog and wonder why we never got a major label backing in our first year. But we’re much happier with this slow progression, doing things the way that we like to do things.”

With the recent, saddening news that fellow city friends Come On Gang are calling it a day, the band are acutely aware of their own enviable position. “If someone had just picked up on them a little bit earlier, things could have gone really different,” says Tommy. “And if Chemikal hadn’t stepped in with us to say they were into the album, I’m not quite sure what would have happened.”

Thankfully, it’s not a hypothesis they have to consider, with the future looking pretty bright for FOUND. “We feel like we’re just finding our feet again,” says Tommy with a degree of excitement.

And as a band with some experience he’s happy to help others along this tricky path. “Just stick at it, try to do your own thing and make sure that you’re in it for the right reasons. It’s hard graft but a really good laugh and as long as it’s a good laugh, then it’s worth doing. There’s no other reason to do it,” he reasons before markedly labouring his next point; “There is no money in music! Let’s dispel any myth and get that message out there.”

Perhaps that entrepreneurial sticky tape venture isn’t sounding so shite after all.

Playing at limbo in the Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh on 3 Mar; The Captains Rest, Glasgow on 14 Mar and supporting The Phantom Band at Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh on 17 Mar Factorycraft is released via Chemikal Underground on 14 Mar foundtheband.com/

Factorycraft: a track by track tour

by Ziggy Campbell Anti Climb Paint Written at the arse-end of an epic argument, this is an acidic plea to a lover. Friend of FOUND, Nuala Kennedy recorded some vocal harmonies to add to the relationship imagery.

I’ll Wake With a Seismic Head No More I was lucky enough to be invited to work on some music in Belgrade recently. While there, a Serbian friend of mine translated a poem she was reading about Lake Palic in Subotica. I was really inspired by the clunky imagery so I decided to appropriate some of it for this song. The album was going to be called Subotica for a while.

Machine Age Dancing FOUND were asked to create a live score at the Edinburgh Film Festival for a Norman McLaren short called Camera Makes Whoopie. An eerie scene in the film, where large robots dance menacingly at a Machine Age Dance initially inspired this song. Kev’s schizo-glitch idea evolved into a malformed Beach Boys style pop tune, and lyrically it became a celebration of the long-awaited weekend.

Blackette I wrote this song after spending an eventful month in New York. That doesn’t really explain why the song apes the sound of the British glam era, or why there are bursts of Joe Meek style scifi sounds. Your guess is as good as mine. Sorry.

Shallow This track was painfully difficult to get sounding right at Chem 19. Paul Savage agonised over it. At one point I declared it a complete write-off before Paul turned it round and managed to make it (in my opinion) one of the finest moments on Factorycraft. It’s a eulogy to all the empty factories, shops and houses in my dying hometown.

Lowlandless This song tells the story of friendship lost through hardship. Kev’s Detroit-inspired beats and Tommy’s strident, Nirvana-esque bass might

make for an odd combination but to my ears it sounds more accomplished than anything we’ve done to date.

You’re No Vincent Gallo I was thinking of that mad, psychedelic feedback on [13th Floor Elevators classic] Slip Inside This House and the persistent motorik of Kraftwerk when I wrote this. I wonder what Vincent Gallo would make of it. I bet he thinks it’s pish.

Johnny, I Can’t Walk the Line In order to get that classic “Bang, Bang…” guitar twang, Chem 19 engineer Jamie Savage brought in a battered old guitar which was used on the first Delgados record. This was another tricky one to get right due to the twists and turns within the song. Paul Savage saved the day again.

Thanks Paul.

Every Hour that Passes I’d been trying for ages to get Kev and Tommy to sing. Only now are they finding their confidence. They’ve developed a unique singing style which I like to call ‘Bawlsetto’. I can’t get enough of it. Here’s yet another grubby, backhanded love song. I always liked that line in [Burns’ poem] Green Grow The Rashes, O that goes, “The sweetest hours that e’er I spent, were spent among the lassies,” so there’s a cheeky wee take on that.

Blendbetter The lyrics for this one include a slightly out of place nod to 80s blue-eyed soul boys Hue & Cry. I’ll say no more on that matter. We used a deliberately out-of-tune guitar and a sample of a hoover to create the moody, sci-fi inspired backdrop to this song. The outro features the only live drums on the entire record, which I insisted on playing much to everyone’s annoyance… because I’m painfully shite. We recorded all the vocals in one day due to a tight budget. I remember screaming the last colourful line of this tune right before my voice packed in.

March 2011

THE SKINNY 11

MUSIC

All Things Belong To Cats

The Horrors’ Faris Badwan and classical musician Rachel Zeffira on their collaborative effort Cat’s Eyes, and how they got the Pope’s blessing Interview: Paul Mitchell

“The thing I’m most happy about with Cat’s Eyes is that it’s very accessible,” says Faris Badwan of his new outfit. Given that the project in question is a collaboration between himself and the Canadian soprano and classically trained multi-instrumentalist Rachel Zeffira, The Horrors frontman is probably justified in his concern.

A collision of two disparate music worlds runs the risk of being perceived as overly pretentious, or simply damned as unlistenable. Badwan admits that this is why the intention was always to make things comparatively straightforward, even if they did end up straying from the original blueprint. “I had made Rachel a girl group compilation and she made one for me with [Hungarian composer György] Ligeti and a lot of classical stuff, and then some fairly weird Italian ballads which I really liked. Then I started talking about doing a girl group, which is the kind of music I’ve collected all my life and have always wanted to do. When we sat down to do it, it evolved pretty quickly from all those influences.”

Zeffira expands on the rationale behind their uncomplicated approach: “Neither one of us wanted to directly imitate a retro sound, we wanted to take the songs as far as we could and apply whatever our expertises are; in my case, for example, thinking of orchestral arrangements or bringing an oboe into it.

The simpler the song was, the more we thought we could do with the arrangement without losing the accessibility of the song. We don’t want to alienate people by trying to get too clever.” So, the girl group never materialised. Instead, we have something depicted in their press release as bringing together

❝

We want people to come to the world of our record, rather than the record come to them Faris Badwan

❞

‘all kinds of dualities – pop/classical, traditional/ avant-garde, acoustic/electronic, virtuoso/novice, male/female, happy/sad and, why not, good/evil’.

Which all sounds intriguing, but what does it actually mean? Badwan, whilst suggesting the sonicscape could be likened to an updated version of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound technique, “blending the instruments together, thickening the sound,” steadfastly refuses to elaborate further, suggesting that the interpretation of the listener is what’s most important. “What we’ve done is create the Cat’s Eyes world. We want people to come to the world of the record, rather than the record come to them. People seem to care about things more when they discover them for themselves.”

Zeffira openly admits that it’s a tall order to define their sound precisely, saying: “I’m not sure about describing it because I hear terms getting thrown around for other bands, including The Horrors – words like shoegaze and Krautrock – and I’m quite unfamiliar with a lot of that stuff, so I wouldn’t know how to describe our music.”

What she and Badwan do seem to know though, is how to make an entrance. In December of last year the duo performed a somewhat amended version of their track I Knew It Was Over, complete with accompanying choir... at St Peter’s Basilica in The Vatican, not-quite-humble abode of Pope Benedict XVI. As debut gigs go, with several “high ranking” cardinals in attendance, it certainly beats being the warm-up act for Friday night karaoke.

Zeffira, who had performed there before and thus made the initial suggestion, explains that whilst

there was an element of duplicity in the stunt, it was undertaken in good, ahem, faith: “None of us were sure if we would be able to pull it off; we did sneak in cameras and there was a bit of an underhand approach to it. I didn’t call up my contacts and say ‘I’m in a band called Cat’s Eyes and we’re going to launch a single there...’ They didn’t think they were watching a rock band with a member of the Horrors. We didn’t want to offend anyone and upset people. The Vatican is a very serious place. I was raised a Catholic, so we made it as appropriate as we possibly could.”

The pair release their debut album, the Steve Osborne-produced Cat’s Eyes in April and this has been preceded by the four track Broken Glass EP, available now as a download, or two 7” singles.

None of the tracks on the EP appear on the album, as according to Badwan: “A record should be coherent and the tracks that didn’t make it onto the album, it wasn’t a case of them being weaker ones, we just wanted something that felt like a whole from start to finish.”

In fact, it seems that the pair are quite a prolific partnership, with work having already begun on album number two. The thought of holding back until they’ve gauged reaction to the freshman effort is not something which has occurred to Badwan.

“Yeah, but I can write one without having to wait for the reaction of other people, can’t I? Pressure is relative and comes from other people. If you’ve totally withdrawn into your own world to make something, then you’re not going to be able to listen to people outside that world – which I like.”

Zeffira admits that it is a world where “a lot of it is new to me, but I am excited about getting on a tour bus,” although she is still coming to terms with the whole process of being interviewed. “I see things written down and, oh man, I sound like a major twat. I’ve got things my friends quote to me to this day that I swear I didn’t say in the interview but somehow ended up being printed – I know I probably did say these things in the heat of the moment but it’s still quite strange.”

With The Horrors due to release their third LP this summer, the Cat’s Eyes live schedule has been somewhat cherry-picked to avoid a clash with any impending tour. Badwan chose Glasgow (along with Manchester and London) because “I was asked to name three cities and I’ve always had a good time playing Glasgow, so it makes sense really.”

The pair are currently rehearsing their live set, adding a full band in order to realise the sound of the record on stage, with Badwan promising that the end result will be “more aggressive than on the album, which is a good thing.”

Zeffira harks back to their auspicious live debut in the home of the Sistine Chapel, suggesting that adapting to the challenges of the live arena is a necessary, yet fun part of the process. “We rearranged the song in the album for the Vatican and it sounds nothing at all like the album version. On the album there’s an acoustic piano, synths and tonnes of other noises that you wouldn’t find in the Vatican. When we did our piece there we knew we wouldn’t be able to hook up amps and hire a grand piano. We just tried to make it appropriate.

So, for our live shows we will rearrange everything to suit that particular environment.” Sounds like a holy enticing experience.

Broken Glass EP is out now via Polydor Debut album Cat’s Eyes is released on 11 Apr via Polydor Cat’s Eyes play St Andrew’s In The Square, Glasgow on 15 Mar www.catseyesmusic.com

12 THE SKINNY March 2011

© 2011 Jack Daniel’s. All rights reserved. JACK DANIEL’S and OLD NO. 7 are registered trademarks.

HERE’S TO ALL THE INDEPENDENT LABELS.

Not every show needs an encore. Please, drink responsibly.

FILM

The Life Aquatic with Richard Ayoade

Submarine is a breath of fresh air, a British film that dares to brush off the two shackles that have bogged down our national cinema for more than three decades: Social Realism and a perverse antiintellectualism. It mixes the fastidious design and composition of Wes Anderson and Aki Kaurismäki with the urbane cool and existential angst of Jean Pierre-Melville and the Cahiers de Cinema crew.

It’s one of the British films of the year.

Its director, Richard Ayoade, best known as Brillo haired über-nerd Moss in The IT Crowd, has been quietly carving out a reputation as a fine music video director, creating witty mini-movies for the likes of Vampire Weekend, Arctic Monkeys and Alex Turner’s side project The Last Shadow Puppets. Based on Joe Dunthorne’s novel of the same name, Submarine is a coming-of-age tale that wears its themes of love and loneliness on its sleeve, focusing on the life of fifteen-year-old Welsh teenager Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), a wannabe Albert Camus, who is dealing with the disintegration of his parent’s marriage just as his own first love with the coolest girl in school, Joanna (Yasmin Paige), is blossoming.

One damp afternoon, I go to a Glasgow hotel to meet the man behind this thrilling debut, and his two teenage leads, Roberts and Paige. Here’s what they have to say.

I guess your film doesn’t follow a British tradition in terms of its look. What were your influences?

RA: Well, I think there are a number of British films that it’s like, but I guess they’re older – Lindsey Anderson’s If... and some of those British New Wave films and, even though he’s American, the Joseph Losey films. But, because Oliver views himself as an existentialist, my main style influence was more French New Wave. Those films are the epitome of intellectual cool, which Oliver would regard himself as being – privately.

Is that what appealed to you about playing Oliver, Craig?

CR: I just thought: I’d love to do this, the character is so utterly cool. Plus it was just really hilarious. So many scripts try too hard to be witty and fall flat. Richard’s script was naturally funny... so I started begging.

Oliver is a character who puts on a persona.

As an actor did that appeal to you?

CR: I put on a persona all the time. Usually I go for a hard gangster-rap persona – like Marshall Mathers.

That’s the sort of guy I am – I’m from ‘the streets’.

RA: That’s also my persona.

What about you, Yasmin? How was it playing Oliver’s dream girl – a kind of Welsh, teenage femme fatale.

YP: I suppose I didn’t really see her like that, but I think she did like having control over Oliver – she enjoyed being quite cruel to him. I think she liked that he viewed her as this dangerous, slightly scary girl.

Were there any significant changes from the Joe Dunthorne book in the adaptation?

RA: The book is first person and it’s all in Oliver’s head, so necessarily it becomes third person when it’s filmed – it becomes more objective. There’s no description of Oliver in the book, physically; in the film there’s a precise person... which is Craig.

Craig’s face exists in it, and you know what it looks like. Filming it adds detail but also reduces people’s ability to imagine it for themselves.

14 THE SKINNY March 2011

Photo: Stuart Crawford

Richard Ayoade – aka Moss from The IT Crowd, aka Thornton Reed/Dean Learner from Garth Marenghi's Darkplace – will make his film directorial debut this month with Submarine, one of the most refreshing and unique British films in recent memory. We talk to the director and his two leads, Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige

I also wanted to ask about the period, the mix of old and new – when it is set is very ambiguous. Do you see the area that it’s set [Barry, Wales] as a kind of land that time forgot?

RA: I think all places are a bit like that – my mother is Norwegian and bits of Norway look really modern and there are bits that look really 60s.

There’s this Whit Stillman film called Metropolitan and it starts with a caption that reads, “Manhattan, Christmas vacation, not so long ago”. I like that as a time period. In that film they try to use older cabs but if a new one passed through the shot they didn’t commit suicide or anything.

We never sat down and said: OK we’ve got to make everything look like 1987 or 1993 (which is probably when the book was actually set). It was more that we felt it wouldn’t really benefit from being completely contemporary. It felt like it existed somewhat out of time and from Oliver’s point-of-view he would know that a coming-of-age story needs nostalgia – he’d have seen The Wonder Years.

And Alex Turner’s music adds to that period ambiguity. Were you involved with the music?

RA: Alex does not require song writing assistance from me. He’s capable of doing it without guidance. You sort of vaguely say what it is and he knew the script and where the characters would be, so I just left it to him.

One of my childhood heroes, Noah Taylor, has a part in your film as Oliver’s marine biologist father, Lloyd. And Oliver could quite easily be a Welsh Danny Embling [the iconic character Taylor played in John Duigan’s The Year My Voice Broke (1987) and Flirting (1991)]. It’s great casting.

RA: Danny Embling, yeah, that was one of the great things about having Noah, you could imagine that he’s already been that person when he was that age and

❝

I put on a persona all the time. Usually I go for a hard gangsterrap persona – like Marshall Mathers.

That’s the sort of guy I am – I’m from ‘the streets’ Chris Roberts

That’s also my persona Richard Ayoade

❞

Lloyd would be like an older Danny Embling, and that Danny Embling would have a Danny Embling-type son.

And I suppose the the other performance we should discuss is Oliver’s neighbour, played

by Paddy Considine – who’s just amazing. How did he get involved?

RA: Just persistence. I always wanted him to do it and thinking of him really helped when writing the part. He was really involved in creating that character. In the book it’s a capoeira teacher but Paddy is such a great improvisor that he really took it in an interesting direction [the direction being an over-sexed new-age guru] Craig, there have been a few comparisons between you and the great Bud Cort from Harold and Maude. Have you heard that before?

CR: Yeah I have, but I think it’s really just because he’s a similar character RA: I think what’s interesting is that very often the comparisons between things are done on a tonal level. If two films are both deadpan, for example, they’re compared regardless of tone. For me, something like Dogtooth felt quite similar to films that are comic, but it would never be compared to comic films because dark becomes a category, so it becomes compared to darker films. So they go, “David Lynch is our ‘dark guy’, we’ll compare it to him.” But, in a way, that film felt quite Wes Anderson to me in terms of the composition, and the stillness of it, and the performance style. And so, if you’ve got a hero of Oliver’s age there’s a certain lineage of film with heroes of a similar age that it’ll be compared to. I can understand those comparisons, but I always slightly imagined the film as something like Taxi Driver, except with a fifteen-yearold who doesn’t have access to guns.

Submarine opens nationwide 18 Mar www.warp.net/films/submarine

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Know when to unplug. Please drink Jack Daniel’s responsibly.

COMEDY

Aren’t you off the telly?

Most stand-up comedians dream of one day starring in a hit sitcom, but what happens to their stand-up careers once they’ve hit the big time? We talked to some of the comics appearing at Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival to find out interview: Bernard O'Leary Illustration: Pete Locke

Greg Davies, also known as Mr Gilbert, the sociopathic head of sixth form in Channel 4’s The Inbetweeners, is in the middle of a 100 date tour of his first solo show. Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog, which hits the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival (MGICF) on 28 March, is a novel idea for a show in which Davies asks audience members to pick random passages from his old notebooks and he tells the anecdotes behind them.

Was he nervous stepping away from the safety of a TV studio? “I was as nervous as it’s possible to be without actually dying. But it is undeniably a good feeling to create something on your own and have people generally be nice about it. It’s a bit like doing your first poo in a potty.”

To give you an idea of how long Norman Lovett has been in comedy, his earliest gigs included opening for John Cooper Clarke and The Clash. “I came to comedy late. I was in my 30s and I used to repair coffee machines.

But then punk came along with the whole DIY ethic... anyone could have a go, so I thought, ‘I’ll give this a bash’.”

Lovett’s long television CV ranges from his own sitcom to working with Gordon The Gopher, but he’s best known for playing Holly, the bumbling computer in Red Dwarf. The nature of sci-fi fandom means that he’ll always have an income from DVD sales and convention appearances (“I like to think of them as my pension plan,”) but he has never stopping gigging.

It can be hard to get up there and do your own material to an audience who only know you from a TV show. Caroline Rhea, also bringing her latest show to the MGICF, is generally more famous for her role as Aunt Hilda in Sabrina The Teenage Witch than she is for a twenty-year career in stand-up comedy. The Skinny saw the show at the Fringe, and though our Comedy editor quite liked Caroline, she gave a bad review to the audience, who ignored the jokes and cheered at every mention of talking cats (see our website for details on what Rhea makes of this). I’ve also seen Ardal O’Hanlon respond to shouts of “Arse! Drink!

Feck!” by saying, “Did you really spend £20 just to hear me shout catchphrases that aren’t even my character’s?”

Lovett has a warm affection for the Red Dwarf fans who come to see his show but admits that they can be difficult sometimes. “I was doing a show a few months ago and I noticed this woman asleep at the back. I asked, ‘Are you tired love?’ and she replied, ‘No, it’s just that I preferred you as Holly’.” So does he prefer playing to audiences where nobody has ever heard of him? “Oh yes.

I played a charity gig recently to some students and none of them had a clue who I was and, yeah, I did the business.”

“My experience,” says Davies, “is that people often want to be told off when I meet them, which is odd. Total strangers will come up to me in the street and ask me to be horrible to them.” Does the shadow of Mr Gilbert hang over his show?

“No. It is often the reason why many people come and see it but they soon discover that I’m far from scary. The show is a positive celebration of the sillier things in life. No one gets detention.”

However, he does admit to using his teacherly gravitas to deal with narcoleptic audience members: “A drunk bloke came into one show, fell asleep before I’d come on stage and woke up as I was leaving to proclaim the show he’d slept through was ‘rubbish.’ I bollocked him, old school.

I’ve still got it.”

Stand-up comedy is physically tiring, emotionally demanding and occasionally humiliating. And that’s just being in the audience. For comedians, you’ve also got late nights, long travel, time spent

16 THE SKINNY March 2011

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Total strangers will come up to me in the street and ask me to be horrible to them Greg Davies

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away from family. It makes sense when you’re upand-coming, but why on earth would you bother when you could make a living in TV? The answer seems to be a profound love of comedy. Davies quit a career as a real-life teacher to follow his comedy dream. “All I can ever remember wanting to do is comedy, so as soon as I started I was champing at the bit to do it full time. The very second I thought I could earn enough money to have a reasonable chance of not becoming homeless, I resigned from teaching.

It is a noble profession but in the last couple of years I wasn’t a noble teacher. I felt almost jetlagged from the late night gigs and I think it’s fair to say that some of my classes saw more DVDs than the curriculum demanded. I hope I’m able to do comedy for the rest of my life and have many things I want to achieve within it.”

When asked how much longer he intends to keep touring, Lovett refers to some recent Frankie Boyle comments. “Frankie says you can’t be funny after you’re 40. Where did he get that from? I’m in my 60s and I think I’m funnier now than I’ve ever been.” Will he ever stop touring? “No, I love it. I’m going to be doing it for another 20 years.”

There seem to be plenty of people in comedy who would gladly pack it all in for a job on telly in a heartbeat. But then there are some who could never walk away from the thrill of performing live.

You can’t keep a good stand-up down.

Greg Davies - Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog, The Garage, 28 Mar, £15 Norman Lovett - LOL, Òran Mór, 31 Mar, 8pm, £13(£11) Caroline Rhea, King’s Theatre, 26 Mar, 7:30pm, from £16 Full interviews with Norman Lovett and Caroline Rhea are available online at www.theskinny.co.uk

Pull No Punches George Monbiot talks to The Skinny about stirring up political debate ahead of his appearance at the MGICF Interview: Bernard O’Leary He has received an award from Nelson Mandela. He has been sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment in Indonesia. He’s built a reputation in Britain that’s comparable to Noam Chomsky’s, but is George Monbiot ready to face the Glasgow comedy audience?

“Whenever I’ve spoken in Glasgow it’s been fantastic,” he tells us. “People are very engaged in political issues there, more so than other areas.”

Gentleman George Monbiot’s Left Hook is not actually a comedy show but a group discussion. The format is this: Monbiot will speak for 10 minutes on something that’s topical that week and then debate it with the audience, before opening the floor for other topics. “We did the first one last night in Warwick and it seems the format does work. I sensed almost a relief in the audience at having a chance to speak with a big bunch of strangers, to know that they weren’t alone in what they were thinking and have a chance to test their ideas. We spilled over into the bar afterwards and continued the discussion over a few beers.”

All of which sounds like fun, but we now live in a world where the internet allows everyone to express any opinion they like. How is this different? “I’m constantly involved in debates on the internet which

are largely frustrating because you can’t see each other. When you’re in the same room, you can fiercely disagree with someone but you tend to work together more in trying to resolve your differences. And I learn things too from these debates. It helps to stimulate my thinking and I hope it stimulates others too.

“We’re seeing a chance now in this country to reinvigorate political debate. We’ve emerged from a miserable period of politics and there’s an enormous level of public anger which stretches from pissed-off students to Daily Mail readers angry that the bankers are paying less tax than they are.”

This is also a time when grassroots action is toppling governments in the Middle East. Could that ever happen here? “I don’t see why it couldn’t,” he replies.

“The government has very few public supporters now and there’s a political denouement brewing.

This government has gone so far, so fast that I think people are open to questions about the underlying agendas. And I think that’s a period of great hope.”

Could George Square be the next Tahrir Square?

It will if George Monbiot has anything to do with it.

Appearing at Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival, 2 Apr, Citizens Theatre, 5pm, £12.50

COMEDY

RAMBLING MAN

Mark Thomas tells us about his experiences in the West Bank interview: JEN LAVERY

Comedian and activist Mark Thomas has been famed over the years for his politically-motivated stunts, including posing as an arms dealer, creating a ‘People’s Manifesto’ based on audience suggestions and being awarded the Guinness World Record for Most Protests Held in One Day. But even he has had to draw the line on occasion. “I wanted to get a pedalo and ride it into Guantanamo Bay,” he says, laughing. “That one I was advised against; by the Cuban Ambassador, actually.”

Having missed out on the opportunity to spend the rest of his life chained to a wall in an orange jumpsuit, he will instead be returning to the MGICF with a new show. So what’s Mark got in store for us this time? “It’s a musical romp. Rambling the Wall – The Musical. A show-stopping number involving lame hotpants and high-kicking rambling boots.”

Before you fully digest that image, we should tell you Mark made that bit up. “Actually, me and a cameraman set out to walk the length of the barrier on the West Bank. The show is the story of what happened. People ask, ‘What was your intention?’ I say, ‘To get to the end. That’s what you do on a ramble.’ I went because I didn’t know enough about the situation and wanted to find out about it in an unconventional fashion.”

Some things he discovered were certainly unconventional: “There is this really insane love of Saddam Hussein in some places on the West Bank. You see statues and posters of him because

he was seen as a hero; someone who stood up to Israel and the West and helped Palestinians.

I’d constantly get into arguments with people. We got into a cab one day and Yunes, our translator – who was a very funny man – said: ‘You must not say anything bad about Saddam Hussein.’ So I started saying, ‘Yeah, he helped the Palestinians, yeah, he fought the Israelis, but...’ And he stopped me and said, ‘No, that’s the name of our driver.’

And this guy turns round and says: ‘Hello, I am Saddam Hussein.’”

Brushes with dead despots aside, the trip certainly had its share of ups and downs, although there was one ‘up’ Mark would have rather avoided... “I put on weight! I walked fucking hundreds of miles and put on fucking weight! That’s down to Palestinian hospitality. It was just constant – wherever you walk, people stop you and bring you food. They want you to have coffee; they want you to stay for lunch and for tea. Seriously though, it was lovely. They are unbelievably generous.”

Mark’s two festival dates are expected to sell out well in advance. So who would he recommend to those not quick enough to get tickets? “People should go and see Josie Long, she’s genuinely fantastic. And Kevin Eldon is a fucking class act, he’s really great.”

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I wanted to get a pedalo and ride it into Guantanamo Bay. That one I was advised against MArk Thomas

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Mark Thomas: Extreme Rambling (Walking the Wall), Citizen’s Theatre 4 & 5 Apr, 8pm, £15(£10)

Cross-Examined Keith Farnan tells us why he isn't a man with a plan

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It’s comedy, first and foremost: gotta get ’em in, gotta make ’em laugh Keith Farnan

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Keith Farnan is currently touring an impressive three shows: Cruel and Unusual talks about his experiences campaigning against the death penalty in America; Sex Traffic examines the trafficking women and sexualisation of young girls and No Blacks, No Jews, No Dogs, No Irish, All Welcome looks at issues of race and immigration.

It’s pretty heavy stuff, yet Farnan denies a conscious effort to spread a message with his comedy.

“If I was to say I had a plan, that would be the most laughable thing I could say. Getting out of bed on a Monday; that’s the plan… I just try to write as much topical material as I can, and you tend to notice patterns in the material as you write it.”

Trained as a criminal lawyer, Farnan found that litigation practice sat uneasily with his conscience.

“I think I came to a sort of moral agreement with myself that although the system needs a defence lawyer, I wasn’t gonna be the guy who could do it.” Having always harboured a passion for writing, acting and directing, he went into comedy as “the perfect amalgamation of the three disciplines.”

Sex Traffic, which ran at the Fringe last year, examines feminism from a male perspective. But was he worried about the kind of audiences a show with that kind of title might attract? “You do get bunches of lads and maybe the odd stag party who came into my show, and sort of went ‘Oh, we’re on the wrong side of the fence here’, but I think they got something out of it as well.” In fact, he says that a lot of the finger pointing was against the misdirected efforts of women’s organisations, rather that at men. Even riskier, perhaps – did it not piss a few feminists off that a man dared speak on their behalf? He tells me that on the whole, feedback has

been very positive, but he’s also happy to engage his naysayers in intelligent debate. “It’s nice when sometimes my comedy brain gets shoved aside and the lawyer says ‘Shh, now, I’ll take care of this,’ and can deal with arguments in a logical way.”

In between his diverse touring schedule, he’s in negotiations to turn Sex Traffic into a TV comedy documentary: a comedian taking on sexism and looking at whether women can ‘have it all’. “Probably the show will answer that in the negative; women can’t have it all unless things change dramatically.” However, it’s No Blacks… which he’s bringing to the MGICF. “It’s about Irish immigration and as you’ve got a lot of Irish people who would have gone to Glasgow, and it’s around St Patrick’s Day, it seems to fit perfectly.”

His shows are thought-provoking and at times uncomfortable but, crucially, they are very funny.

“I like to think that these things raise questions for people to think about, but it’s comedy, first and foremost: gotta get ‘em in, gotta make ‘em laugh.

It’s wonderful if you can write something that can really come back again and again in terms of audiences and having something genuine to say, while making people laugh.”

It may not have been an intentional plan to address life’s inequities, but is he going to continue in this type of comedy? “No absolutely not, I’m going to sell out and do kitten comedy – whatever sells out Wembley.” He’s joking, of course, but also makes the point that you never know what might happen next: “You never try and second guess yourself, and wonder what you’re gonna do.”

we haven’t forgotten the excellent new talent that’s swarming around. Previous New Acts of the Month can be found working hard at the MGICF: see Sarah Cassidy in The Collective at the Halt Bar, or Matthew Winning in Well, This Is Awkward alongside Richard Gadd and James Kirk. Last month’s new act, Stephen Callaghan, can be seen in his own solo show Stephen Callaghan’s Memory Box, or getting sketchy at The Stockholm Syndrome every Saturday night.

You can find you own favourite new act with raw talent gigs popping up all over the place, notably BBC Scotland presents Best of Red Raw at The Stand every Tuesday at 9:30pm. With prices from £2, there’s the added bonus of it being a slightly cheaper way of sampling festival treats.

Keith Farnan: No Blacks, No Jews, No Dogs, No Irish, All Welcome, The Stand, Glasgow £8(£7) 21 Mar, 7:30pm

Go to www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com for full listings and ticket details

Sarah Cassidy

New Acts of the Month

March 2011

THE SKINNY 17

photo: Euan Robertson

interview: Lizzie Cass-Maran

“THE BRITISH KINGS OF LEON” Q Magazine

“SCOTLAND’S HOTTEST NEW BAND” Daily Record

THE DEBUT KASSIDYMUSIC.COM ALBUM MARCH 21

st

MUSIC

A Brighter Beat

Several Shades of J

Chief Twilight Singer Greg Dulli tells of breaking old habits, freestyling in the studio, and what price for an Afghan Whigs reunion Interview: Paul Neeson

Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis talks about his first solo studio album and the notion of a harmony mind interview: Paul Mitchell

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We were going to try and make a record without Lanegan.

In the end I just could not do it Greg Dulli

Photo: Sam Holden

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“I think sometimes my duality will tilt one way or the other. It seems that it might be tilting a little brighter these days.” This is as far as the Twilight Singers’ front-man and ambassador of sexed-up rock n’ soul, Greg Dulli, initially admits to the notion that his latest long-player, Dynamite Steps, may reflect a somewhat more optimistic artist at work.

The suggestion, of course, isn’t that Dulli has created an album lacking in emotional sustenance; rather that in the grand scheme of the Grunge-era Godfather’s long and illustrious career – strewn with personal tragedy, including the death of close friends Ted Demme and Elliott Smith, and a once crippling cocaine habit – it seems he might be in the sway of a subtle transition.

“The title Dynamite Steps for me is very positive,” he offers under further coercion. “I came up with the title almost fifteen years ago. It’s been sitting in a drawer waiting for the moment it was ready to be used. I never forgot about it.” That it’s taken the prolific Dulli a decade and a half to find a sufficiently positive point in his life to employ a simple album title is indicative of the often ominously dark path that the singer has walked.

It also signifies a switch from Dynamite Steps’ predecessor, Powder Burns: an album crafted and released over six years ago, amidst the social rubble of the New Orleans-levelling Hurricane Katrina.

Whilst Powder Burns was an album on which time and place left an indelible mark, Dynamite Steps is driven more by an introspective mood.

Despite being billed and sold on the slant of being recorded on location – the album is split between the disparate bases of Los Angeles, New Orleans and Joshua Tree – Dulli doesn’t attach much importance to place. “Sometimes a song will surprise you; it will sound like the place it was written. Although on this album it depends where I’m at with myself, rather than where I’m at geographically. The song Waves – which is one of the hardest sounding songs I’ve ever written – was

the product of LA, and a very stressful week where I think I needed to get some poison out of me, so to speak,” he tellingly adds. “By the same token, Be Invited – which is slower and dreamy – was also written in LA.” On the question of Dynamite Steps’ defining themes, Dulli offers some priceless insight to his creative process. “I freestyle in front of the mic – it’s very phonetic. I then try to find sense in the phonetics and kind of freestyle it again – I freestyle again and again until it catches. It’s kinda hard for me to know what I’ve said because it’s not written down.”

Given the lucidity of his raw cuts of lyrical introspection, can it really be the case that Dulli’s confessionals are something of a subconscious outpouring? “To be honest, I don’t really know what a lot of my songs are about until months later,” he admits. “They’re kinda like abstract paintings for me that will come in to focus at the strangest times – driving the car, taking a walk, being on stage, singing the words and having a eureka moment.”

What he was conscious about when making the album was its duration, setting a very specific target of between 35 to 38 minutes. The thinking behind this simply seemed to be for the songwriter to set a fresh challenge. “If you get too stuck in your ways you can set parameters for yourself. If you do not bend you will break. I’ve always thought that about life,” Dulli elaborates. Although, at just over 43 minutes in duration, it seems that he failed? “I wanted to bring it in under 40 minutes, and then that damn title track got in the way,” he shrugs. “It came along and defied. It was a nice parameter to set for myself. That’s a good thing, even if you miss it.”

When we ask whether this truncated approach to his craft signals a conscious move away from his past, in particular the sometimes sprawling epics spawned by the Afghan Whigs – the band that made him famous – Dulli is quick to point out that he’s no longer at odds with the omnipresence

of the cult heroes’ legacy. “I’ve come to terms with the fact that I was in the Whigs. I used to consciously walk away from it. Rather than take comparisons as a slight, I tend to celebrate it more these days. People will say to me, ‘That Twilight Singers song reminds me of the Whigs’. Now I just say, ‘Well coincidentally, I used to be in the Afghan Whigs and wrote all of their songs.”

Sensing the inevitable question, he gets straight to the point. “If someone offered me a trillion dollars to reunite the Whigs I would probably give everyone a call. Other than that...” he trails off.

“I’ve set one trillion dollars as the price,” adding wryly, “for one show only.”

“We played our last show twelve years ago,” he reminds us, “I’ve now been a Twilight longer than an Afghan.” Shifting the conversation back to the evolution of Twilight Singers’ rotating cast, Dulli feels strongly that there’s now a small, bona fide nucleus at his band’s core. “What started as a collective with Blackberry Belle which had 25 players… well, I’ve slimmed it down considerably.”

Though Dynamite Steps is propped up by an inspired cast – from Ani DiFranco through Nick McCabe – he cites long-term associates Dave Rosser and Scott Ford as vital participants in the project now. “I like playing with people who understand me and jive with me emotionally as well as musically. Those two in particular – their contributions to the Twilight Singers sound are incalculable.”

But no post-millennial Dulli album would feel quite right without the presence of one particular player, as our maestro concedes. “We were going to try and make a record without Lanegan on it. In the end I just could not do it. He was the perfect guy for his part [on Be Invited, which also features McCabe, and later on Blackbird And The Fox] ... I suppose I could’ve called Leonard Cohen.”

The Twilight Singers play The Arches, Glasgow on 19 Mar Dynamite Steps is out now via Sub Pop www.thetwilightsingers.com

“I felt it would sound different. If I wanted to put drums on it, I’d probably want to put more guitars and it would end up sounding the same as all the other stuff.” J Mascis is discussing the implications of his decision to record his first studio solo album in the absence of any percussive accompaniment.

The record, Several Shades Of Why, is a predominately acoustic affair which is a world away from the feedback and distortion heavy output he is renowned for as the lynchpin of legendary alt-rockers Dinosaur Jr. (and a variety of other bands).

Mascis claims the reason behind this stylistic volte-face is down to encouragement from his record label, Sub Pop, and the desire within himself “to do something that doesn’t sound exactly the same as all the other stuff. I put a lot of limitations on myself to make sure that it sounded different. Along with the no drums policy, I only played acoustic guitars.

Sometimes through fuzz, but it was still an acoustic.”

Despite the stripped down premise, Mascis still approached the project with a few tricks up his sleeve – namely the involvement of several highprofile and accomplished collaborators. Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, Band of Horses’ Ben Bridwell, A Silver Mt. Zion’s Sophie Trudeau and troubadour du jour Kurt Vile all make appearances along the way, even if those contributions, as with the album itself, are subtly understated.

“I didn’t really tell them much what to do, just whatever they wanted and I just picked parts of it that I wanted to use,” he says, using typical brevity to explain the whole choreographical process.

Despite the seemingly minimalist interventions of this roster of stars, Mascis is adamant that the record would not be what it is without their contributions.

“Having other people’s perspectives, adding things, gave it another dimension. These guys brought their personalities and their atmospheres. It wouldn’t sound the way it does if I had done it by myself.”

Pressed on what precisely he couldn’t have done if he had adopted a more solitary approach, Mascis leaps on to one specific example. “I’m not very good at harmonies, I prefer to leave it to other people. Ben and Kevin Drew did a lot of that on the album. For some reason I can’t seem to grasp the concept; I just end up singing the same thing.

The same note, maybe a different octave. I don’t have that harmony mind, whatever that is.”

Several Shades of Why is out 14 Mar via Sub Pop www.jmascis.com/

March 2011

THE SKINNY 19

ART

Bright-eyed and Bushy-tailed

For some it's their biggest opportuntity since degree show. The RSA New Contemporaries returns for a third year, showcasing the best of Scotland's young talent Words: Andrew Cattanach

FROM TOP LEFT TO BOTTOM Martin Bech-Ravn – Bedouin spaceship, 123,5x134 cm, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2010-11 Alex Gibbs – man under a table, with castle, 15cm x 20cm, Acrylic and varnish on board, 2010 Stephen Thorpe – Future portrait 2012, 2010 Arwen Duncan – Larder, lastic Jugs Wooden Plinth, 30cm x 40cm x 20cm, June 2010 (Backdrop of Custard Wall; Instant Custard)

Hand-picked at the art school gates by a ring of Academicians, blossoming young artists and architects are taken under the avuncular wing of The Royal Scottish Academy. Despite tweed jackets and upper-class stammers, the elderly institution tempts the innocent youths back to its hallowed, dusty rooms, where they’ll stay for a month, entertaining the RSA’s network of friends.

But the stakes are high. The veritable bag of sweets comes in the form of a £10,000 prize fund this year, with the finest little urchin among them all receiving as much as £5,000. A pretty tasty offer for anyone looking to finance the next few months of their nascent career. And undoubtedly a pretty good laugh for everyone involved, meeting loads of fellow artists from as far afield as the colonial hinterland of Elgin.

There are one or two familiar faces. We showcased painter, and Glasgow School of Art graduate, Martin Bech-Ravn in these very pages last summer. He paints garish, unpeopled interiors – the aftermath of a playboy’s party abroad, perhaps. Like a hallucinogenic vision of the future, they evoke Philip K. Dick novels, with their unsettling mix of science fiction and psychedelia.

Showing up to five new paintings at the RSA show, Bech-Ravn will focus on similar concerns as before.

“They are a bit more painterly than the older work, meaning that I have used a lot of new techniques,” he says. “Still very architectural. Colours are more spot on. There is a lot of play with perspective in these works, it is hard to tell what is close or what is far.”

Another portrayer of bewildering interiors is Gray’s School of Art graduate Stephen Thorpe. Dark, disjointed spaces with partially depicted figures, they could easily adorn the cover of a Bret Easton Ellis novel about nefarious twenty-somethings who really don’t care about much other than their tans. His paintings are both lively and unsettling. “With painting you can do things you can’t do in the 3D world, “ he says of his distorted perspectives.

Edinburgh College of Art graduate Arwen Duncan is looking to cover an entire wall of the consecrated space with custard. A reprise of her degree show work, Arwen sees the RSA as an oversized domestic space, with its picture rails and colourful walls.

Exploring themes of housewifery and domesticity, Duncan will aestheticise the comforts of home in the

20 THE SKINNY March 2011

bosom of Scottish art.

Fellow Edinburgh graduate is painter Alex Gibbs.

He impressed us last summer with his washed-out landscapes of pastel shades that spoke of loneliness and isolation. Like a pared down Surrealist, he took us to places we weren’t sure we wanted to go.

He’s currently doing a residency in Beijing, so won’t be around much before the exhibition opens.

Nonetheless, he’ll be showing a few works, including some that have already been seen in the group show CLUSTERBOMB at Wasps studios in Edinburgh. “It’s a mix of quite small paintings made specifically for that show and some which were made while artist in residence at Cawdor Castle in Nairnshire several months before,” says Gibbs.

Asides from big cash prizes there’s also a number of non-monetary awards up for grabs, including six months free access to Peacock Visual Art’s digital facilities, one month working in one of Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop’s Project Spaces plus free support and free membership, and the holy grail, a guaranteed double spread in the well-respected magazine The Skinny alongside a specially organised exhibition (the kind of stuff dreams are made of).

Look out for last year's Skinny Prize winner Omar Zingaro Bhatia's solo show in The Briggait in April.

If you want to see the freshest talent from some of the freshest wee faces in Scotland, then this is where you’ll find it. Now in its third year, the RSA New Contemporaries aims to be the most important initiative for emerging artists in Scotland, offering many their first opportunity to show outside of art school. “The exhibition will be a unique opportunity to see the best of Scotland’s emerging talent under one roof,” says RSA Programme Director Colin Greenslade.

With all the variety of a degree show and the considered selection process of a curated exhibition, RSA New Contemporaries spans an awkward gap.

But then again, the first year out of art school is, likewise, an ungainly period, perhaps made all the more bearable with the RSA’s generous patronage.

It’s a wholesome, well-intentioned affair that is less an introduction to the art world than a public service.

And that’s what we need more of in our current climate of savage cultural cuts: uncynical support for the arts.[Andrew Cattanach] 19 mar - 13 apr The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL www.royalscottishacademy.org

ART

What Have We Done?

Collaborative duo Smith/Stewart have been up to no good.

The Skinny tries to find out what's making them feel so guilty interview: Jac Mantle

“You’re putting us in the situation we put other people,” says Eddie Stewart as I reach for my notebook and Dictaphone. “The tables have turned,” Stephanie Smith agrees. We’re meeting to discuss their forthcoming show at The Changing Room in Stirling, a video installation that marks a new direction for the artists.

Where in earlier performance-to-camera works they used their relationship as a couple to explore extremes of intimacy and trust, here the power transferrals have been opened up to implicate multiple people. And what’s more, where they once worked within the closed system of their relationship, here they have devised situations beyond their control, inviting groups to participate in filmed scenarios.

“The set-up was to put people in a situation and just see how they responded, whether they followed the instructions or not,” says Smith. What exactly they asked people to do the artists refuse to disclose. They want the viewer to encounter the work ‘cold’. Suffice it to say, it’s doubtlessly something uncomfortable and awkward – something people might refuse to do. “They were just put on the spot, and that was what was so excruciating for them.”

The work is similar to a project they undertook in Dundee for the Kill Your Timid Notion festival.

That film, however, was never shown, as the participants refused to give their permission.

Thanks to Changing Room’s willingness to take a risk, the new work has a similarly unforeseeable outcome. “In a way, it could’ve completely failed,” explains Stewart. “We could’ve asked people to come, and they might’ve refused to do what we

said. We never knew what was going to happen.

It’s continually been a work in progress, and quite exciting because of that.”

With the decision to bring groups of outsiders into the equation, perhaps we can expect a shift in focus in Smith/Stewart’s work. From the dynamics of power in intimate relationships, we see a move to emotions with much wider social implications – not leaving their earlier themes behind, but rather, extending them.

Smith explains how they have always been conscious of moving towards live art: “From using ourselves in performance-to-camera works we then stepped back and the work became gradually more installation-based and sculptural. But the viewer became the participant in it, rather than us. And now, I suppose these invited groups are the participants. But when we show the work, the viewer becomes somehow implicated as well.”

Though the artists claim they don’t know how the piece will turn out, it seems we can expect something disconcerting with “no beginning or end to it”, and a measure of psychological discomfort. So secretive are they about the work, I hesitate to ask them if there’s a title yet. “It was really intense, watching them [the participants]. We could hardly look. It was Eddie who said it – right at the end – ‘What have we done?’ But that, again, is open to interpretation. Who is the ‘we’? And could it be the viewer?”

TO BE USED FOR THE SKINNY ONLY

What Have We Done? is open 5 Mar – 30 Apr at the Changing Room, Stirling Artist Talk Saturday 26 Mar, 2pm www.stirling.gov.uk/changingroom

“Nobody ever said Lady Macbeth was a brunette.”

World Première

By Sue Glover A co-production with Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

15 March–2 April 2011 “Philip Howard’s handsomely audacious production” The Herald

BOX OFFICE: 0131 248 4848 GROUPS 8+: 0131 248 4949 www.lyceum.org.uk/marilyn Supported by Glasgow Restaurant Association and Arts & Business New Arts Sponsorship Investment Company No. SCO62065 Scottish Charity Registered SCO10509

March 2011

THE SKINNY 21

HANDEL’S

ONE MAN’S BATTLE FOR HEART AND MIND 3 • 5 Mar

FESTIVAL THEATRE EDINBURGH 0131 529 6000

COMING SOON Richard Strauss’s

Intermezzo

A Marriage of Mutual Misunderstanding

scottishopera.org.uk Registered in Scotland Number SCO37531 Scottish Charity Number SCO19787

26 • 30 Mar | 2 Apr

7 • 9 Apr

THEATRE ROYAL GLASGOW 0844 871 7647

FESTIVAL THEATRE EDINBURGH

0131 529 6000

PERFORM

Strike Out for the Edges

Having retired the National Review of Live Art with last year's thirtieth anniversary special, New Territories has reformulated itself as it returns to Scotland to educate us about performance art

Facing The Experimental One of Scotland's entries for New Territories talks of her love for the festival WORDS: Anna Krzystek

WORDS: GARETH K VILE to explore and explain reflects the enthusiasm of artistic director Nikki Millican for the new and bracing. The return of Via Negativa, both performing and hosting a symposium, is welcome: last year, their study of Four Deaths combined a warm and witty mediation on mortality with a lively celebration of performance’s vitality. And Cabaret Futura, arriving from London, pays tribute to one of the longest running contemporary events that evolves the explosive creativity of DaDa. Devotees of performance art will point out that it is a form that emphasises freedom, and often captures emotions and ideas that could not be expressed in any other art. Despite its name, Performance Art is more than just “difficult dance” or theatre. It has its own traditions that draw on visual aesthetics and a dynamic intellectualism. And although the New Territories festival was once firmly associated with dance, Millican’s programming takes in everything from film, through monologues, through movement to complex fusions that defy categorisation.

The festival’s long association with Tramway – this year, the final and larger events are heading to the Southside – makes perfect sense. Long associated with contemporary performance, and now capturing a wave of visual art energy, Tramway has retained its awkward, anti-establishment atmosphere that is echoed in uncompromising performance art. Past years have amazed, disorientated and inspired: New Territories is best taken as a regular dose for the full impact.

Offering introductions to the sometimes foreboding world of performance art through winter schools and a series of presentations at the Ramshorn, New Territories has expanded up to Aberdeen and across to Edinburgh, programmed a strand of Scottish work and strengthened its links with The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama via Into The New. The past decade has seen New Territories become a major influence on

Scottish theatre and dance, while leading its audience further into the possibilities of experimental performance.

The This Is Performance Art strand takes a look at aspects of the powerful European scene: on the back of Black Market International’s residency, it brings across five of Poland’s most celebrated artists. Since performance art is, in itself, a challenging genre, the willingness of New Territories

Top Five for New Territories

Plunge into the Future

Jack Webb and Iona Kewney 3 Mar, CCA

New Territories favourite – and goddess of radical dance – Kewney reteams with Joe Quimby from Take A Worm For A Walk Week to astonish and demolish preconceptions about dance. Paired with new boy Jack Webb, this is a double bill of rocking movement.

Cinematic Space 10 Mar, The Arches

It’s film, but not a Saturday night blockbuster. Four acts, an evening that suggests that Hollywood hasn’t been thinking as hard as it could about the possibility of the screen.

Cabaret Futura 11 Mar, The Arches

Dada still inspires and disorientates. Richard Strange has been staging these events since the early 1980s, demolishing the idea that variety is best left to vaudeville revivals, neo-striptease and variety shows. Tough, challenging, imaginative.

Spalding Grey - Stories Left to Tell 24 Mar, Tramway

As close as New Territories will ever get to a tribute act: a reconstruction of the sadly departed monologue radical, with a cast of five reviving his life and tales.

Sol Pico - Flies Lake 26 Mar, Tramway

Further evidence that dance is the perfect medium for getting under ideas and having a good look at our assumptions and delusions. Old age goes under the microscope, complete with live band and an 80s style concert atmosphere. [Gareth K Vile]

“Into The New is our graduating students’ festival,” explains Kate Stannard, teacher on the RSAMD’s Contempory Performance Practice course. “It kicks off in The Arches on 16 March, and on the 19th we have an event, Performance Recall, which celebrates the 60th birthday of the RSAMD and the tenth birthday of Into the New.” Stannard elaborates, “There are twelve solo performances, and we inhabit all these different spaces in The Arches. It’s an explosion of different kinds of work!”

“Into The New is the high point of the year for us. Performance Recall is our contribution to the RSAMD’s anniversary celebrations,” continues her colleague Robert Walton. “We’ve asked sixty artists to come back and recall a performance that is important to them. Some of them are doing performances that they made, others are recreating their audition piece, or a minature version of a longer show. It’s going to be a real mixed bag.”

The CPP’s graduates and students have become a fixture in the Scottish performance community: from Nic Green’s Trilogy, through Junction 25’s redefining of youth theatre, and even into Random Accomplice’s saucy comedy, the course has provided a generation of makers, and influences directors and choreographers beyond the RSAMD. Into The New is rarely less than fascinating: as Walton mentions, there is no house style, and students are encouraged to find their own voice. Edd Crawley, one of this year’s graduating class, insists that the CPP gave him the tools to say things that he could not express in any other way.

One of last year’s outstanding graduates was

14 Feb - 26 Mar, various venues

Stephanie Black. Returning this year, she is presenting “a new project called Measure. It is part of the Athena Project, an award given to students from the RSAMD.” In many ways, Black’s work sums up the strength of the CPP: her Body of Sand was a mind-blowing gust of desert energy. Examining her experience growing up in Dubai as a western woman, it used her dance background to devastating effect.

“My background is very much dance based: I trained in ballet from the age of four. The movement vocabulary is the first way to express our raw emotion: somehow I can express myself better through movement than language.

“Measure goes in a different direction,” she warns. “Last year, I started to understand how I create work. For instance, I prefer to start from images or colours, or a set task. Whenever I make a piece of work, it has got to be relevant to the place I am at,” she continues. “After graduating I needed to take a new approach. I looked at ideas I had left behind, took a workshop with Julie Tontino and Ron Athey: we got to focus on small, integral movements. I am getting into a yoga practice: I am fascinated by binding the physical and mental approach.”

Black’s continued development as an artist reflects the best of the CPP: radical and challenging, it respects the traditions of the performance artists who blazed a trail, yet includes the personal experience and talents of the artists. For anyone gingerly considering whether performance art is for them, Into The New is a broad introduction.

If it wasn’t for Nikki Millican and New Territories, there wouldn’t be any of my work: it’s a good place for me because the festival looks for more cutting edge work and they’re not afraid to take risks. I would say my work is experimental.

I trained as a dancer – my first art form is dance.

In some respects I always create dances. But I am not that inspired by dance. A lot of my inspiration comes from Live Art, visual art, music and theatre – to some extent. But I never trained in those forms, so everything I do is rooted in dance. It allows me to explore different territories.

As a jobbing dancer, I worked for other choreographers: around then, I realised I had to explore something else, and the only way I could do that was to do it myself. So, I made a life changing decision not to work for anyone else.

The idea of making and performing the work was quite important, but I don’t see my work as solos. I have different media involved: video, sound and the space itself. And there’s the exchange with the audience.

My work is minimalist, my appreciation of paring away the excess. I start from ideas: I try to embody them, and encourage my musician to find the sounds. The fun thing is exploring each medium in relation to the idea. It is excruciating at times – we are in a process of finding!

I am not connected to anywhere. I perform more in Europe now than in Scotland. But Tramway 4 has influenced me, because of its beautiful depth. Tramway commissioned a piece in 2000, and I have learned a great deal about using depth: most stages are wider than they are deep, and that conditions my work.

New Territories is the only festival in Glasgow that feeds me artistically, so I try to attend as much as possible. It gives me a perspective as to where I can place my work. In a small country like Scotland you can feel closed in, but the international companies give me food for thought. That’s not to say I like everything, but I do appreciate Nikki’s programming![Anna Krzystek] Face On, Tramway, 8 Mar, 7pm, www.newmoves.co.uk www.annakrzystek.com

Into the New 10, Wed 10 Mar - Fri 12 Mar, 6pm, £9 (£6) @ The Arches

Cabaret Futura

www.rsamd.ac.uk/

MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 23

PERFORM

The Humanimalian Condition

Contemporary choreographer Janice Claxton has devised new methods of communication through dance – with a little help from our primate cousins

photo: Roy Campbell Moore

interview: Gareth K Vile

World Premiere Glasgow Theatre Royal 12–16 April 2011 0844 871 7647* ambassadortickets.com*

Conceived by Ashley Page & Antony McDonald Original music by Robert Moran

Edinburgh Festival Theatre 20–23 April 2011 0131 529 6000* festivaltheatre.org.uk* Inverness Eden Court Theatre 27–30 April 2011 01463 234 234* eden-court.co.uk* Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre 4–7 May 2011 029 2063 6464* wmc.org.uk* Aberdeen His Majesty’s Theatre 11–14 May 2011 01224 641122* boxofficeaberdeen.com For full details visit www.scottishballet.co.uk *Booking fee. Illustrations by Timorous Beasties. Photography by Nisbet & Wylie. Registered in Scotland No. SCO65497. Registered Charity No. SCO08037

24 THE SKINNY MARCH 2011

Contemporary dance is often regarded as a marginal interest. Often running headlong into the territory of performance art, it inspires a select and enthusiastic audience. Watching Janis Claxton Dance rehearsing Humanimalia, however, suggests that contemporary can be both immediately accessible and intelligent. Based on artistic director Janis Claxton’s investigations into primate behaviour – which includes serious academic study – Humanimalia uses animal movement to develop an original choreographic vocabulary.

“I started studying animal behaviour is influence on movement and choreography because I was taking students to zoos, and noticing that this was a big difference in their movements after watching the animals, particularly the primates.”

Claxton begins. “This led me to study primate behaviour – humans being a primate – and particularly the great apes.”

Although contemporary dance evolved against ballet’s particular rigour and style, it has increasingly developed its own discipline and recognised techniques. Claxton’s vision is to find a new foundation, which both allows her to escape from predictable choreography and articulate ideas about human relationships through movement.

“We started to investigate how gesture speaks across species, not just human but the connections between us and other primates,” she continues. From her Enclosure 44, a successful entry in the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe, Claxton has continued to analyse the links between human and great ape. In rehearsal, Humanimalia uses the groupings and conduct of the apes as a basis for an extended choreography.

Yet Claxton rejects the simplest adaptation of primate behaviour into dance. “We are not interested in imitating primates: they do it much better than us!” She elaborates: “The great apes communicate primarily through the body: their

vocal range is way less than their physical range.

With dancers, it is a similar thing. Some of us dancers can talk a lot, but more dancers are more comfortable communicating through their bodies.

And a dancer is able to communicate physically much more than the general population.”

This connection, between humans and animals, and then great apes and dancers inspired Claxton to deepen her research. Rather than seeking out specific dance-like movements in primates, she considered all of their movement as dance.

“The way that they use space, they scatter, then form clumps: it’s like a choreography unto itself.”

As even a brief visit to her studio reveals, Claxton has used these observations to feed a process that escapes from the repetition of existing choreographic repertoires. “We have used the idiosyncrasies of other primates to influence our own movement,” she explains. “Different species have different variation of gesture. All chimpanzees do these certain gestures, but they develop idiosyncratic ones as well, which is the same for dance. We learn this basic form of dance, this ground rule, and then we make idiosyncratic movement.” In applying this, Claxton has made something unique: “The movement repertoire is definitely not a universal dance language!”

On one level, Humanimalia is a formal experiment that uses scientific research to expand the possibilities of contemporary dance: on another, it investigates the nature of group politics in a manner both abstract and immediate. But perhaps more than this, it contains difficult ideas in an entertaining and accessible format.

Touring nationwide from 4 Mar. See www.janisclaxton.com for further details www.janisclaxton.com

BOOKS

Whisky Galore, And A Wee Bit More

Doug Johnstone’s third novel, Smokeheads, is a thriller set on the island of Islay, whisky's spiritual home Interview: Keir hind

Doug Johnstone laughs when I ask what his relationship with whisky is, saying “A good one!”

Fair point. Smokeheads isn’t one of those books that crams detail down your throat, but it does manage to be about the whisky business on Islay to some extent. “I’d been to Islay before,” says Johnstone “but I went back to do ‘research’ in inverted commas. It struck me as an interesting mix, because it’s got 9 distilleries and a tourist industry, but there’s only 3000 people on the island.” This therefore provides an excellent setting for a thriller, an enclosed place with a unique selling point.

Johnstone’s story is about a group of four friends in their late 30s who go on a whisky tasting trip to Islay, where things spiral out of control after they have a major disagreement. “Of the novels I’ve written,” says the author “it’s the furthest away from people I’ve known, or just met. All three of my novels have male protagonists who have little control over their own lives.” That’s certainly the case here. “A lot of the stuff I’m interested in is ‘what if’” says Johnstone, “because it’s interesting to put yourself in the situation of what if your life had taken a different turn, and that gives an immediate affinity with the character.”

The book is largely plot-based, but the most interesting thing is that there are hidden details, hints about characters that are either not followed up because the plot turns another way, or hidden so far beneath the surface that they’re hard to see.

When I ask about this, Johnstone partially agrees. “I love the idea of trying to combine a real page turner and trying to have stuff after the surface. Some people can read it for the story, but others will pick up details,” he says. But he follows this up with “I think it’s interesting to sneak stuff in under the radar, but I was primarily interested in writing a thriller.”

And it is a good thriller. Without spoiling too much, the notion of illegal whisky stills plays a large part in the plot. Johnstone admits that this was mostly invented, because he couldn’t find any trace of real illegal stills, though he did try. “In Ireland it’s absolutely rife. Everybody knows someone who can get you some Poitín. It’s somehow died

❝

Whisky is one of those dual things where we’re proud of it and yet we worry about the impact of it doug johnstone

❞ out in Scotland, but apparently years ago there was 2-3 times as much illegal whisky as legal on Islay.” If anyone hears anything, let us know.

Still, thrillers come and go, but this one does have a little extra nip, and for my money it’s because there’s a depth to this book it didn’t necessarily need. Though Johnstone says that he “wanted to look at whisky after I saw Sideways, and read the book, but at the same time I was reading a lot of thrillers and thought I’d combine the two”, he’s smuggled in more character and nuance than that might suggest, which is the real strength of the book. He says, “All my books have examined bits of the Scottish psyche, and whisky is one of those dual things where we’re proud of it and yet we worry about the impact of it.” It’s this kind of thought process that appears absent from regular (or, say ‘airport’) thrillers. And, without going into laboured whisky metaphor, it’s the blend of thought with plot and action that makes this book a cut above your average page turner.

Smokeheads is released on 3 Mar Published by Faber, cover price £12.99

Cask Ale Hobgoblin, Deuchars IPA & Guest Ale Addlestones Premium Cloudy Cider Student Discount On All Food Including Our Famous “Big Nachos” Metal, Punk & Goth Jukebox Find Us In CAMRA’s 2011 Good Beer Guide! www.theauldhoose.co.uk 23-25 St. Leonard’s Street, Edinburgh EH8 9QN

MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 25

CLUBS

If The Look could kill Jacques Greene’s uplifting fusion of classic house and contemporary RnB is murdering dancefloors, headphones, Rupert Murdoch’s assets and a few MySpace hipsters too. The Skinny has a word with LuckyMe’s latest prodigy

As a social networking phenomenon, MySpace has been dying on its arse for a while now. Old news, agreed. But, as a destratifying, democratising force for bedroom producers and singersongwriters to get themselves ‘out there’, another burial song looms for Rupert Murdoch’s decaying digital relic, and not only because News Corp are in the process of flogging it like David Dickinson would a puppy on Boxing Day. Jacques Greene, a 21 year old producer and DJ from Montreal, is one of a growing number for whom the MySpace approach of impersonal, scattergun self-promotion has lost its allure.

“The MySpace era is on its way out. It’s tricky, because everyone is making music now, and every -one has access to the same library of cultural baggage and channels through which to put it out. The way my music has come out has been the opposite of marketing it; it was just a case of making tracks and sending it to my penpals in Glasgow. I didn’t really try to put it out there.”

By ‘penpals’, Greene is referring to LuckyMe, the label through which he released The Look EP late last year, following his debut single on Night Slugs, (Baby I Don’t Know) What You Want. Greene freely admits to being a “total luddite”, with a preference for vinyl and analogue synths, though his attitude to technology is not entirely abstemious. Greene has an active Twitter account, and his relationship with LuckyMe was largely facilitated by his ethernet cable.

“Myself and a few friends from Montreal, including Lunice [who, it’s worth pointing out, Greene befriended on MySpace], came across them in Glasgow and they blew our minds. They were synthesising a lot of American pop culture in the same way that we were. They had a really open-minded attitude about the cross-section of underground and mainstream, which is everywhere now in music. They were so far away, but so close as far as their approach and philosophy to music. We just started emailing for a long time and trading music.”

On meeting Lunice, he adds: “I was promoting a night with a couple of friends in a very small club, and we booked Lunice for his first ever club show. I actually met him on MySpace, but literally the next day I ran into him at our school and it turned out that we went to the same college, Dawson. We have our own sounds, but we get along because our philosophy unifies us.”

Another Girl, an EP due for release in early March, signposts yet another shift into new territory for LuckyMe’s increasingly nebulous stylistic range (“When I DJ, I play a lot more house records than a lot of the other guys on LuckyMe...we did a label showcase in NY, and I felt I was boring because I was playing mostly dance records”). And yet, Greene and LuckyMe remain a natural fit. Greene’s 4/4 sensibilities are skewered by his unambiguous affection for RnB and pop music, an irresistible combination that reconciles influences as dissonant as Aphex Twin and Cassie. He agitates at what he perceives to be a puritanical contempt for artists like the latter in some quarters.

“The decade of the hipster and of elitism is done. I don’t think there’s such a thing as a guilty pleasure, which I think was definitely a ‘thing’ before. You would’ve encountered a lot of ‘either you’re playing too housey, or you’re playing too pop, or you’re playing too underground, or not underground enough.’

“There used to be a lot more of looking down your nose at stuff, and some people still do that.

At the end of the day, I’m not trying to make music

26 THE SKINNY MARCH 2011

for those people, I’m trying to make music for myself, and indulge in what I want to be hearing.

It’s not my problem if someone frowns upon something I do.”

Greene has recently chucked his dayjob at a large advertising firm as an art director, “handling the visual/creative side for banks and cellphones, and other horrific companies like that.” I happen to be speaking to him a week before his last day in the office. “I have a pretty good job here in Montreal, but I’m taking the freefall into full-time music, and hopefully the parachute deploys.”

What made him take the leap? “In life, I’ve often been shy of making big decisions like that and taking leaps of faith. A few things aligned in a nice way; the attention in Europe, and the tour coming along in a really nice way. I had to take my courage and realise that I’m not going to do this when I’m 32 – I kinda need to do this now. It’s somethng I really want to do, and I don’t want to be afraid of failure.”

Now that Greene has thrust himself into the abyss, he seems to have left his inhibitions of selfexpression on the ledge. In conversation, he often makes his point in definitive terms, either ‘killing’ or declaring dead anything he observes as such, whether it be MySpace, hipsterism or whatever.

Discussion creeps towards the possibility of an album; his scythe lurches straight for it.

“I would really like to record an album. Then again, I’ve been wondering about the relevance of the album as a format. From a medium point of view, the album is kind of dead. Especially in dance music, it’s a hard thing to pull off. I approached The Look as a very short album. I had an idea of the feel of the whole thing. I sat down with Dom [Flannigan of LuckyMe] and discussed how we wanted to sequence the entire record, so I’d like to push that approach a bit further.”

He continues: “Everyone listens to music on YouTube and MP3s. I listen to albums and I know a lot of other people do, but I think it might be something that we’re holding on to for romantic value. I think it’s something that is, sadly, something that’s just not that relevant anymore. After the tour, I want to write something as long or short as it needs to be, and we’ll see what happens. But I think the convention whereby ‘you have to write an album’, is dead.”

Of his European tour, he says that he’s particularly looking forward to stopping by Glasgow, a city he considers a second home: “I like how casual and down to earth it is. It seems like a very unpretentious place. The Sub Club is a good example, in that it’s an amazing place to hear great music with a good sound system. There’s no ‘bottle service’ attitude there. A lot about the city strikes me as raw and real, and that’s a really comfortable place to be.”

A final word on MySpace. As the old maxim goes, there’s an exception to every rule, but there’s also a rule to every exception. Just as Greene has nurtured his appreciation of a hitherto unexplored space between Autechre and Rihanna, so Lunice has promoted himself properly, and in a way that is identifiably his own, having managed to sidestep the temptation to dip into the hyperlink swamp. “Lunice is a good example of being able to sell yourself on the internet, through YouTube, MySpace, his Twitter account and so on. That was completely innovative. There are different approaches, but there are no rules anymore.”

LuckyMe presents Jacques Greene, Glasgow School of Art, 9 Mar, 10.30pm, £5 www.thisisluckyme.com

PHOTO: ANDREW GORDON MACPHERSON

interview: Ray Philp

❝

The decade of the hipster and of elitism is done. I don’t think there’s such a thing as a guilty pleasure, which I think was definitely a ‘thing’ before JACQUES GREENE

❞

A festival in SW Scotland:

A world of music in the hills!

26th-29th MAY 2011 Horace Andy and Dub Asante * DJ Yoda * Salsa Celtica * DJ Food * Adrian Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds *

The Demon Barber Roadshow * Lau * Russkaja * Aberfeldy * Future Trad Collective ft Michael McGoldrick * Found * Hidden Orchestra *

Mungo's Hi Fi Sound System * Dr Meaker * Departure Lounge * Niteworks * Dolphin Boy * Bombskare * Mim Suleiman Gol * The Horndog Brass Band * Bajaly Suso * Black Cat * Northern Xposure * Stagger Rats * Walter Strauss * Asazi Space Funk Explosion * Captain Slackship's Mezzanine Allstars * Plus workshops, dance tent, crafts, kids area, real ales, stalls, sessions, healing area, open mic, cabaret, camping, cinema, silent disco

More info and tickets: www.knockengorroch.org.uk 01644 460 662

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MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 27

MUSIC

Chop Chop Ninja

Never the most prolific of his dynasty (until recently), Raekwon stands true to his renewed work ethic with Shaolin vs Wu-Tang – The Chef’s third banquet in 18 months interview: Dave Kerr

If last year’s Wu Massacre – co-helmed by Method Man and Ghostface Killah – helped exorcise any residual dismay over the way 8 Diagrams’ expansive production represented the Clan back in 2007, Raekwon’s forthcoming solo album is about much more than the sharpening of his swords.

Titled Shaolin vs Wu-Tang, the release takes its cue from the story arc of Gordon Liu’s 1985 kung fu classic Shaolin and Wu-Tang – poetically, the source of various soundbytes used throughout Wu-Tang Clan’s rugged 1993 debut. Mirroring the film’s penultimate scene where the two eponymous schools do battle in a traditional tournament, Raekwon pulls a cast including Meth, Ghost and Inspectah Deck – as well as old friends Nas, Black Thought and Busta Rhymes – into a plot hell-bent on reinstating his group as a vital force in rap music.

You announced this album before 8 Diagrams even came out, as a response to your frustration with RZA’s production at the time.

You’ve all toured collectively and guested on each other’s projects since then, but there’s still speculation about what Shaolin vs WuTang says about relations within the group.

Can you clear that up once and for all?

Number one, nothing is personal right here. We did speak about making this album a while ago, because we felt at the end of the day it was a bad rep to come with [8 Diagrams] at the time. We did speak about wanting to pick the right production, to show [RZA] what [Wu-Tang] is really supposed to be like. When you’re dealing with your brothers, you don’t want to make them feel like it’s anything personal. But at the end of the day we’ve got careers, we’ve got lives, we’ve got kids we’ve got to take care of. We just felt ‘we’ve got to come with another album,’ and keep our legacy alive.

We wanted to do it the right way.

When we last spoke you said that when it comes to Wu-Tang, “the competition is what makes us stronger.” Is this where the parallel with Gordon Liu’s film comes in?

Wu-Tang is the style – it’s the slang. Shaolin is the militant discipline, the truer living where everything comes from – the origin. These are two schools that represent the same thing, but they’re going through something right now and challenging one another. The movie definitely inspired the album; when you think of Wu-Tang Clan you think of great flicks like this that need to be spoken about on an album. I feel like this is a great topic for hip-hop, it’s going to be an action concept album and it just fits our criteria of work, nah’mean?

The association with the film also brings that atmosphere of clanging blades and dubbed dialogue from the group’s first album to mind.

The tracks you’ve released so far – particularly Butter Knives – sound like vintage Wu… Yeah, we just wanted to make this album more cinematic and put it in a more typical Wu-Tang format. People want to hear that. So this was definitely designed to go back to that sound of the early 90s, but at the same time to expand and deal with growth and development within the music.

So we meshed everything together and made a great situation happen. When people hear it they’re going to know for sure that it’s painted out to be classic Wu, but by the same token we have to make everything a little fresh. I think we did that.

There are over a dozen guest producers and MCs featuring across the album, did you have strict instructions for everyone involved?

Absolutely. Of course, with me having a couple of guys from the Clan involved with it, and putting a few features on there, I definitely had to be the skipper of the ship and basically let everyone

28 THE SKINNY MARCH 2011

know the direction I wanted to go in. We carefully crafted it, and the producers we got came in, they listened to me when I told them ‘this album is straight for the Wu-Tang fans first and foremost.’

It still gots to be gritty. Everybody came through.

❝

A lot of people know my potential but don’t know my full potential; I plan on showing them that over the next couple of years Raekwon

❞

It’s our duty to ask, what’s the story behind the track called Last Trip To Scotland? [imitates Flava Flav] Yeeeah, [laughs] You know me, when you think of Rae he’s always going to say something ill and crazy. I’m always coming up with a fly name for somethin’. Scotland definitely happened to be on my mind; it’s a storyline and it was assassination day for whoever we were looking for at that time. Me and [Lloyd] Banks went in, tellin’ our story – you don’t really catch Banks in a storytelling chamber too much. He came up and followed where I was going with it. The record was produced by Scram Jones, a good friend of mine, and I just felt like the beat was sinister, where we went with it was ill, cinematic and I just came with that fly title…I guess I just like Scotland! I’ve definitely had a lot of fun out there.

One of the big collaborations on the album is with Nas, and fans have been vocal about that being a partnership they’d like to see more of…

Nas is a good brother of mine and we wanted to come up with something that’ll have the fans going crazy. For some reason, a lot of people like our formula when we get together and do what we do. We just had to come with something that we felt was hot, that people could relate to. That record is definitely sizzlin’ – I have this guy named Sean C who produced the track, and he’s a big fan of me and Nas. This is something he felt he really needed to be involved with – he brought the heat and we did what we had to do. I wanted to serve the fans in a great way, because they’ve been supportive of me in the last couple of years.

I had to make this happen for them.

There’s a sense that some of your best music has emerged over these past few years. Is there any particular part of your older catalogue you’d like to urge readers to reinvestigate now?

It was a good struggle because I’ve learned so much, and I had the right team around me to put me in the right perspective. My vision went blurry for a couple of years before I dropped the Cuban Linx II album, because I’ve been going through some changes. But at the end of the day I’m a winner and I won’t allow myself to come out with anything that’s gonna discredit who I am as an artist. So I took my time.

A lot of people know my potential but don’t know my full potential; I plan on showing them that over the next couple of years. I feel like I’ve

got a lot to prove right now, and don’t get me wrong, I love to feel the challenge but I’m here to show and prove. Go back and listen to Immobilarity, man. Play it loud and understand that it’s just one chamber I took you to.

Shaolin vs Wu Tang is released on 7 Mar via Ice H20 Raekwon plays The Liquid Room, Edinburgh on 15 Mar ww.myspace.com/raekwon

FILM

NTS_TheSkinny.pdf

1

21/02/2011

14:23

RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA

THE LUMIÈRE BROTHERS have plenty to answer for*, but birthing French Cinema is not something they should regret. France’s cinematic output has often led the world and always been a fluid, idiosyncratic and seductive medium. And it’s coming to Scotland in March. This year’s Rendez-vous with French Cinema will see Scottish audiences get a golden opportunity to catch what could be this year’s Amelie, La Haine or even A Bout de Souffle ahead of general release.

From 18-20 March Edinburgh’s Filmhouse Cinema will showcase a series of avant-premieres of five of the best, brand-new French movies, including the latest from heavyweight directors Luc Besson and Bertrand Tavernier. As a serious treat for cinephiles, Tavernier will be holding a Q&A before the screening of his The Princess of Montpensier on the 18th.

The five films – The Princess of Montpensier (18 Mar), Love Like Poison and Point Blank (both 19 Mar) and The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec and Potiche (both 20 Mar) – cover the range from whimsical comedy to thrillers to

historical drama. All, hopefully, with the touch of intellectual playfulness and fearless approach to cinema that refuses to underestimate the audience’s capacity that French film is famous for. And, yes, Gérard Depardieu is in one of the flicks.

UniFrance, founded in 1949 to promote French film globally, is the driving force behind Rendezvous and makes regular forays out into the world to introduce us to the latest crop of Cinema Français. While we mourn the loss of the UK Film Council, we can look with a certain amount of envy at France’s fierce determination to support and promote their own homegrown artistic talent with backing from their own government (spot the difference, ideology fans).

Enter the competition below for your chance to win tickets to each and every screening. Allez les auteurs! [Jan Webster] *FOR EVERY TRUFFAUT, AN ED WOOD, FOR EVERY CHILDREN OF PARADISE, HOWARD THE DUCK. DISCUSS….

WWW.FILMHOUSECINEMA.COM/SEASONS/ RENDEZ-VOUS-WITH-FRENCH-CINEMA/

COMPETITION TIME! LIKE FILMS? Like French films?

This year's Rendez-vous with French Cinema will present five brand new films at the Filmhouse, and we're giving away 5 pairs of tickets to each projection: • The Princess of Montpensier (Fri 18 March, including a Q&A with director Bertrand Tavernier) • Love Like Poison (Sat 19 March, including a Q&A with director Katell Quillévéré) • Point Blank (Sat 19 March) • The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (Sun 20 March) • Potiche (Sun 20 March)

C There'll be subtitles, boobs and Gérard Depardieu.

Get guessing.

M

QUESTION: Adèle Blanc-Sec director, Luc Y Besson, also famously directed a film starring a young Natalie Portman. What was it called? CM a)Léon, b)Nikita or c)The Fifth Element?

MY

CY

CLOSING DATE: TUESDAY 15 MARCH

CMY

K Terms: www.theskinny.co.uk/terms. Over 15s only, prizes aren't redeemable for cash.

THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ADÈLE BLANC-SEC

POINT BLANK

MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 29

ART

Bricking It

Edinburgh's answer to the enfant terrible, Kevin Harman has a solo show in the Old Ambulance Depot this month, drawing together works old and new for a first, early career retrospective. The Skinny meets him for a pint to find out what's behind all the controversy interview: Rosamund West

30 THE SKINNY MARCH 2011

I had letters from the college [Edinburgh College of Art] saying I couldn’t take it in, that it came from the top. This is my Master’s show piece. The powers that be were worried about their reputation with the satellite galleries around the college. I got this letter saying I couldn’t exhibit it.”

So he exhibited it. The degree show consisted of the video of the smashing, the original broken window, and various letters from Harman, Collective and ECA relating to the incident, framed and hanging on the wall. It caused a lot of debate. Was it art? The abiding impression was shock at the unwillingness of those involved to engage in the debate. The Collective had been chosen because they specifically state on their website ‘We aim to foster, support and debate new work and practices.’

When Harman tried to physically pose a question as to what constitutes art he ended up in the cells.

An earlier work that proved no less controversial was a slideshow of Harman revenge shitting on a pigeon. “We looked up the legalities of it and you’re not allowed to show a moving image of any animal in distress. But it didn’t say anything about slide images. As long as it was less than a certain number of frames per second it was classed as photography.”

What at first seems to be a one-liner act of cruel art controversy turns out on closer inspection to be quite a serious challenge to our sense of propriety when it comes to animal welfare.

“It’s a ridiculous piece of work in a sense that people go “How could you do that?” and I just look around and I think ‘Are you for real?’ It’s a joke. How could I shit on a pigeon? How can you just go to Tesco’s and buy a ham sandwich? It’s a reflexive nonsense.”

Another piece that at first seems deliberately cruel also reveals a more fundamental rationale.

Demolition is a video of a snail being smashed with a hammer, played in reverse. “It was another question. What constitutes an animal, legally? If I was to do that to a pigeon I’d be locked up, but a snail I can show it. The guy from animal rights was like ‘Yeah, you’re lucky it was a mollusc ‘cos otherwise there’d be trouble.’ Snails get fed pellets every day.

Mass killings. And I’m just taking this one snail and giving it legendary status. It’s like, there you go, one snail. And I feel really bad about doing it, but it’s to highlight other stuff. And I feel it’s important to do this.

“This little creature, he can reproduce by himself, and he’s got a house on his back. This amazing little thing, and yet they can be wiped out. They’re not considered to be under any protection or anything.

My gesture for doing it, and then reversing the video was my way of saying sorry.”

Now we’ve cleared up that controversy, Harman’s also got some new work to show. The Do Your Job series will have many forms, but seems to boil down to paying people to create things (frames, printed t-shirts etc) that abuse themselves. For example a t-shirt printer is paid to print a t-shirt that says ‘People who print t-shirts are idiots’. “I think it is quite relevant in some way. In the way that people feel doing a job that they don’t want to do but they have to.”

Another work will see Harman going on a more poetic bent, with a single padlock fitted to the glass of the gallery window. “It’s a tying in of two spaces, securing one side to the other through a sort of portal. I was looking at a window, thinking, when do you look at a clear window?”

There’s much more besides. Just don’t think any of it’s meant to be funny. “When I make my work I don’t mean for it to be humorous. There’s room for humour in art, but my motivations don’t lie there.“ Kevin Harman - Mesomorphic, Old Ambulance Depot, 77 Brunswick St, Edinburgh. 5-14 mar, 10am-6pm, free

❝

How could I shit on a pigeon? How can you just go to Tesco’s and buy a ham sandwich?

It’s a reflexive nonsense.

Kevin Harman

❞

Photo: Jack Waddington

“With my work I become a sort of tool. It’s not that I enjoy doing this thing, that I want to do this thing. I sever my emotional attachment, sever it being about me. It’s about everything all around.

I, this shell, do this thing. It’s like being in a trance.

And then I wake up and look at what I’ve done, and that’s when you have the discussion. And that’s what you’ll see in this show.”

In his short career, Kevin Harman has established a bit of a reputation for himself as a Controversial Artist. Looking at a brief summary of his more noteworthy works (from a long list – he’s fairly prolific) it’s easy to see how he got this label. He first gained notoriety rearranging skips, he’s smashed the Collective gallery window, deconstructed hotel rooms, stolen the doormats of Bruntsfield; he’s defecated on a pigeon, pulverised a snail on film, and played complex power games with framers and t-shirt printers in his Do Your Job series. It would be very foolish to dismiss him as someone chasing the shock value, however. A closer look at the works and the ideas behind them reveals an artist who is dealing with themes that resonate far beyond the art world, who is keen to challenge us, for whom the concept is king.

His work has manifested itself in a multiplicity of media: video, photography, installation, painting, assemblage, sculpture. “To communicate the idea through my own preference of material wouldn’t be fair. I need to use whatever material that idea needs to be realised.” A common theme is utilising found objects, materials that are universally familiar. “Even though I don’t use image, you know what you’re looking at. There’s an invitation into the work by you knowing what you’re looking at. And that begins a relationship. Most of the time that relationship is a question, a reflexive question on yourself. I don’t have any answers.”

The works frequently display a discomfort with the conventions of the art world, signalling someone railing against being institutionalised, seeking to break down the real and psychological walls of Art and bring it back to reality. But, “I love the art world.

What I’m trying to do is take certain elements of it and try to liberate it a wee bit, to introduce various questions, and various divides, and see what people think of it.”

His skip project saw him reposition the contents of various rubbish containers around Edinburgh, working overnight to systematically remove then replace the contents in a more aesthetically pleasing manner. “With the skips, I was going out and trying to develop a sort of global space that didn’t need to exist within the institution. I could go out and have an audience.”

Sometimes he’d choose a skip beside a pub so he could get people to meet him for an informal viewing once it was done. Sometimes he’d just hang around and watch the builders’ reactions when they got to work on the Monday and found their bin rearranged into geometric shapes. For this latest exhibition he’s secured sponsorship from a skip company who will be delivering some raw materials to the exhibition site. Perhaps his most controversial work to date (well, apart from crapping on a pigeon) involved him putting a scaffolding pole through the Collective gallery’s window in 2009. He’d warned the gallery he was going to do it, although he hadn’t told them when, and he had a glazer on hand to replace the glass instantly. His letters had stated that the gallery had been chosen as his partner in his latest work, Brick, therefore trailing the act very clearly with a statement that he regarded this as art. Collective called the police, and he was arrested, charged £200 on top of the £350 he’d paid the glazer and swiftly released.

“I knew it was going to cause a furore, and it did.

MUSIC

Spaceship Landing Singer John Garcia tells us why Kyuss Lives again. And you thought you’d never see the day Interview: Dave Kerr

If hell froze over in The Eagles’ name and an ice age thawed before The Pixies could make it home, then a black hole opened in the sky for the second coming of Kyuss. Vocalist John Garcia tested the waters with his Plays Kyuss tour last year before going on to assemble a new incarnation of the seminal Palm Desert stoner kings, which includes original members Nick Oliveri and Brant Bjork alongside newcomer Bruno Fevery.

Guitarist Josh Homme is notable by his absence and has been consistently opposed to revisiting the band he made his name with since they split in 1995, but three out of four is enough for Garcia to resurrect their lead-heavy psychedelic groove for the masses under the banner ‘Kyuss Lives’. “A lot of people think I’m doing it for money or revenge,” he tells us. “How the fuck does anybody know unless they ask me?” So we did...

Kyuss’s mythical status has led people to believe that the band just magically appeared with a generator and started jamming in the middle of Palm desert one day. Where did it all start?

We were in high school and I knew that these guys were music heads. They played in a band with a guy by the name of Chris Cockrell – he was the original bassplayer, who used to bug me all the time after [American] football practice where Josh, Brant, Chris and I played. I was into ZZ Top, The Cult and some R&B stuff – they were into the Misfits, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Descendents and all that shit. I always knew that they were jamming in Brant’s bedroom up Highway 74. Chris kept on bugging me: ‘You’ve gotta come see my band play,’ so I eventually went up there one night.

They started playing, man, and [laughs mischievously] it was love at first sight. Josh started playing this song called Wild Flower [from The Cult’s 1987 album Electric] and I’m like ‘alright, where’s the mic?’ I wanted to sing, and to be quite honest with you, I didn’t know how to sing. I sucked! But I didn’t care if I sucked or not. You’ve got to remember that we were four really hungry young men – hungry for music. This was not some long, drawn-out ‘I was fuckin’ writing poetry up on Venice Beach when Ray Manzarek came up to me’ kinda story. Kyuss was created out of sheer boredom, and a lot of angst.

Kyuss sounded like the natural successor to Black Sabbath, but Josh claimed to have limited exposure to them. Who did you take your cues from, besides Ian Astbury?

I took them off of Josh, Brant, Nick and Chris Cockrell. Those guys were really my idols; they taught me how to sing. I remember Brant wrote this song called Communion Youth and said ‘here’s some lyrics, sing it.’ So I go ‘OK, if I’m going to sing it, I’m going to sing it punk rock.’ He says ‘no, no, sing it like this’ and starts singing a melody to me. And I’m like ‘oh, melody’, so when you put something melodic over something heavy and mean, fast and angry – sometimes it marries well and sometimes it doesn’t. But by no means did we sit down and listen to Paranoid over and over again and go ‘we want to sound like that.’ Our plight was just to play music that was missing in our lives.

From Blues For The Red Sun onwards, Chris Goss recorded the trilogy of albums that Kyuss is best known for. What kind of impact did he have?

Chris was the first guy that really believed in us – the first professional producer, singer/songwriter, guitar player, musician extraordinaire that really took Kyuss underneath his wing and said ‘come on, don’t worry about it, no one’s gonna hurt you. I’m gonna lead the way to try and get that live sound for you on tape, on vinyl, on CD.’ I think he did a pretty good job.

As the records went on they became intricately expansive and nuanced. Sky Valley took leaps and bounds in that respect. Did you surprise yourself?

Kyuss Lives L–R: Nick Oliveri, Brant Bjork, John Garcia and Bruno Fevery

❝

Listen motherfuckers, I’m back John Garcia

❞ Well, Sky Valley – I think that’s Josh’s baby; he had a conceptual idea and probably more to do with that record than any one of the band members, even the producer. I was just lucky to be involved, lucky to sing some of Josh’s songs and add my personality to them. It was an exploration and he knocked it out of the ballpark for sure.

That’s when I thought we were really starting to get somewhere, with Sky Valley. I thought ‘this is really the beginning, here we go. This is the direction we’re supposed to be going in.’

There was a sense of finality to And The Circus Leaves Town, did you have an inkling that the band was finished as you were recording?

Before we started mixing that record I knew it was coming to the end for me. I can’t tell you why.

I was fed up with everything, my lack of participation in the band, and what my role was in it. Slowly

but surely being squeezed out of the creative mix of things, that was something I wasn’t going to stand for.

Why did Kyuss ultimately disband?

It was just time, I think we got to a certain level and Josh and I had been through three different bass players, two different drummers. I remember Josh and I sat down in this bar, and within minutes the band was broken up. I didn’t say ‘Hey, I think we should break up the band.’ Josh did, and I went ‘OK, fine’. I really didn’t give a fuck at the time. Within five minutes of the conversation we were already toasting – ‘Remember that one time in Germany?’

That’s been the basis of our relationship ever since that fateful night – being calm, cool and cordial with one another. We’re like brothers; we can still get into fights but eat dinner at the same table. We’ve come to terms with our business decisions and what we’ve made, and a lot of good things have come out of the disbandment of Kyuss. A lot of good music. And that’s what some people tend to forget.

Josh has been opposed to a Kyuss reunion on record in the last few years but hasn’t made any comment now it’s pretty much happening.

Did you seek his blessing?

Actually, I did seek his blessing and I never heard word back. But when I was doing Garcia Plays Kyuss without Nick and Brant, I got this nice e-mail from Josh. It’s great when I get an e-mail from him saying: ‘The band you have right now are showing these songs an incredible amount of respect, and I support you 100%.’

That’s the type of guy Josh is. Although he might be too proud to rub his dick in the past – and it’s never backwards, ever forward for Josh – he’s still been very supportive of me and my career, and I love him dearly.

Each member has spoken about the band as a very sacred thing, why reform now?

Nick knows about it, Brant knows about it, Bruno Fevery knows about it, my manager knows about it – it’s to help promote my solo record called Garcia vs Garcia, which is coming out at the end of the year. Let me ask you a question, do you remember the Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age split EP? I dusted that off last night, as it happens…

Well when Josh called me up and said ‘Hey dude, would you mind if I put a Kyuss song on a Queens of the Stone Age EP?’ I said ‘Of course not.’ It was a great conduit, a great stepping stone. I’m doing the same thing but doing it live.

After being in veterinary medicine for twenty plus years, even when I was in Kyuss, I’ve decided to give it a break with the blessing of my family. So don’t sweep me under the carpet just yet, don’t kick John Garcia to the fuckin’ curb – I’m not done.

This is my statement to say ‘Listen motherfuckers, I’m back.’ We’re comin’ to your town.

Is there a future for this for Kyuss Lives beyond this world tour?

I’m going to do this whole live piece, then Garcia vs Garcia will come out. To be quite honest with you, we’re planning to do another record – me, Brant, Nick and Bruno – yes, we don’t know what it’s going to be called yet, whether it’s Kyuss Lives or fuckin’ Joe Blow and the Whatevers But look, I’m not trying to change the face of rock’n’roll with this. My plight for Garcia vs Garcia is not to get my face on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine; it’s just to fill the void in my gut. We hope that anybody who reads this will take the chance to see Kyuss Lives, because this is as close to the real deal as you’re ever gonna get.

Kyuss Lives play O2 ABC, Glasgow on 4 Apr www.kyusslives.com

MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 31

MUSIC

Rocket Men

Before Elbow debut the sequel to their 2008 Mercury winner in Glasgow this month, Richard Jupp explains their mandate: to build a rocket. Nae pressure, boys... interview: Jonathan Butcher

❝

Even people in the shit seats at the back, at the top, will feel like they're in the front row richard Jupp

❞

32 THE SKINNY MARCH 2011

Elbow’s new album consists of haunting songs that swirl gently around Guy Garvey’s soulful lyrics, subtly evocative and marking an equally delicate change of pace for the band. After the Mercuryscooping success of 2008’s The Seldom Seen Kid, the Mancunian outfit were seen by many to have finally stepped past niche critical acclaim and into true commercial success.

Drummer Richard Jupp suggests that the group’s new release, Build A Rocket Boys!, sees a more focused Elbow, in which strings and multiple layers make way for a sparseness that harks back to their formative years.

“To me it’s a bit more self-assured, and it’s easier to digest,” he elaborates. “It’s a lot more intimate in the quieter sections, but more brash and chaotic in the big sections. It has a lot in common with [first album] Asleep In The Back, which took us ten years to write. We didn’t have a record deal back then and we had all that time to hone our skills, get our shit together and record. Now, not to be complacent or anything, we feel slightly less pressure due to the success of the last album.”

This is not to say that Jupp feels the quintet have any chance of treading water – far from it. Instead he acknowledges that, although in 2011 they are still doing what they have always done, Elbow’s admirable latter-day accomplishment has given them a refreshing confidence boost.

“We’ve come off an amazing high from Seldom, and have really enjoyed the process of making this album, sorting the wheat from the chaff. There’s less strings, and less noodling, and it’s just a little more concentrated. People can obviously compare it with songs from Asleep, but I don’t think we can stagnate because it’s still enjoyable when we get together, and that’s the crux of it. We have a laugh and enjoy it.”

It’s appropriate that Build A Rocket Boys! recalls Elbow’s roots, with its stripped-down compositions and Garvey’s eloquent lyricism, exploring friendship and what it is to come of age. The Birds,

with its startling reprise, is a tale of lost love and last kisses – whereas the first taste of the album to reach public consumption, Lippy Kids, is a plea for the young to live their formative years wisely, while Dear Friends a deeply affectionate dedication to companions past and present.

“It’s a very positive record,” beams Jupp. “Hopefully people will get that and love it. For me, it’s an album about reminiscing, and about growing up.

Saying that, it sounds like we’re having a mid-life crisis, but we’re not. We’ve been doing this for nighon 20 years now. Somebody asked me my age the other day and I said I was 27, but, of course, I’m 37.

I said it in all seriousness, and then I was like, ‘Fuck man, where have those ten years gone?’”

Jupp describes the songwriting process as being “every man for himself,” explaining that the only consistent role is Garvey as lyricist. Throughout the band’s considerable history this flexibility has helped them remain strong; exploring every conceivable dynamic in the collective’s working relationship. “Writing the music is pretty much a free-for-all,” he elaborates. “There’s no set way of sitting down and writing. We are all so different as individuals – God, that sounds horribly clichéd – but we’re all gunning for each other, supporting each other. I mean, we argue, we fuck about, and we piss each other off, to be sure. But we’ve been doing this longer than we haven’t, if that makes sense. And something is working.”

Elbow played some of their largest shows in 2009, from high profile slots across the festival circuit to filling Wembley and Manchester’s largest indoor venues. To what degree has their newfound status as an arena act influenced the way they present themselves now?

“It wasn’t a conscious stance at all,” insists Jupp. “Playing Wembley and the MEN was a bit of a gamble and, thankfully, they paid off. We want to make a statement with this record to say ‘Yes, we can fill arenas,’ but that wasn’t in mind when we wrote the record. I don’t think you could do that

unless you were pretty calculating about it all.”

As the album release date looms, so does the opening of Elbow’s tour at Glasgow SECC, and to reflect such a personal record the band hope to perform a series of equally personal live shows. There are plans to border the stage with red velvet drapes and to erect a runway and smaller platform for Guy, says Jupp, “so that even people in the shit seats at the back, at the top, feel like they’re in the front row.”

Although they look forward to the tour as their attentions return to the road, the days of debauchery and constant heavy drinking have passed for Elbow. “Touring feels like jetlag to me,” Jupp offers.

“The other guys have all got families and their own routines, and when we’re recording we certainly get into a routine every day, so when we start touring our bodies get a bit all-over-the-place. It’s frightening to look back at our older tours that were just about partying, when we were thinking ‘Christ, this is the most amazing thing in the world!’ It’s still amazing but it’s slowed down a hell of a lot. I’m sure there are going to be some good nights up ahead though.”

Aside from their more recent aspirations for a more serene touring environment, much of Elbow’s mechanics and influences remain the same as ever.

Jupp is clear that their musical muses have always encouraged the band to aim for something higher, and continue to fuel their hunger for progression.

“Our love for bands like Genesis and especially Radiohead will be there for eternity. In the studio, if we get stuck for a sound or just have five minutes off, we might spin a couple of their tunes, and we still bang on about these two bands. We want to be as good as those guys, you know, even half as good, and for people maybe 10, 20 years down the line to say that the fifth album from Elbow was amazing. We’d like to think that our music will stand the test of time.”

Build A Rocket Boys! is released on 7 Mar via Fiction/Polydor Elbow play SECC, Glasgow on 15 Mar www.elbow.co.uk

BOOKS

SOME STANDOUTS AT STANZA Want to learn more about poetry in one fell swoop?

Fancy a trip to St Andrews? Read on...

PAUL FARLEY

PHOTO: PAVEL ANTONOV

PHOTO: RUTH MORRISEY

CIARAN CARSON

BOB HOLMAN

LURACH

Coming up in March at The Queen’s Hall Ralph Towner & Paolo Fresu Sat 5 March, 8pm

ECM jazz guitar & trumpet duo

Mark Steel Tue 15 March, 8pm

"very funny" (The Guardian)

John Shuttleworth Wed 16 March, 8pm "Sublime creation" (Daily Telegraph)

Milton Jones Sat 26 March, 8pm

"The best one-liner merchant in British Comedy" (Chortle)

James Grant Sun 27 March, 7.30pm

Solo acoustic show from ex-Love & Money frontman The Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9JG 0131 668 2019 • www.thequeenshall.net www.facebook.com/queenshall

I KNOW many people reading this will like poetry, but let’s not preach to the converted here. If you don’t like poetry, or more probably, if you never really took to it but are interested in trying again, StAnza is a very good place to start.

Most people are first exposed to reading poetry in any serious way at school, where the very act of being taught it can often suck all the joy out of it – StAnza won’t do that. Sometimes people are put off by the archaic language, ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ and so on. StAnza is a very modern affair, and even if events do address older poetry, they’re all about making it accessible.

Many people are put off the poems they’re taught by the very fact that the poets mentioned are dead, and therefore safe. And this is where StAnza is the most value, because it’s a festival where the whole point is to show that poetry is a living, lively art form.

Have a look at the programme. Some people could be fazed by the number of events, but don’t worry, because they’re well chosen, and there’s quality control – if it’s a StAnza event, it should be worth seeing. It’s only a five day festival, but it’s crammed with events of all sorts, so there should be something to appeal to you.

As a flavour of the kind of thing you can go to, here are some selections. Every evening sees a big event at The Byre Theatre, and these are bound to be good. On the opening night, it’s The Golden Hour, the Forest Café’s regular spoken word evening which we’ve written about before, and which is always worth checking out. The next day, Thursday, sees a quality event when the multi award winning poet, and editor of Poetry Review, Fiona Sampson shares the stage with the exiled Chinese poet Yang Lian. Friday night brings

former Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Paul Farley, accompanying acclaimed American poet and translator Marilyn Hacker. Saturday evening in The Byre sees T.S Eliot prize winner Philip Gross teamed with the prolific Selima Hill, winner of the Whitbread Poetry Prize, and Sunday night sees Irishman Ciaran Carson paired with well known Scot Douglas Dunn – followed by a finale with music by Lurach.

If readings aren’t your thing, that’s okay too. There are events at breakfast and lunch in the Poetry Cafés, so you can simply enjoy food with a literary accompaniment. Acts taking part in these include legendary slam poet Bob Holman, and Big Word’s always excellent Jenny Lindsay. Or you can go on a poetry walk, pop into the Byre Theatre some afternoons for a ‘poetic intervention’, or see an exhibition. These should be absorbing and informative, and include images and sculpture inspired by Sorley MacLean, shape poems inspired by the Persian poet Hafez, a poetry boat inspired by Bengali poet (and Nobel Prize winner) Rabindranath Tagore, and knitted poetry, inspired by the fun of it.

It’s all good stuff, basically. Personal choices would be the event on Saturday when poet Gawain Douglas reads from T.S. Eliot’s The Four Quartets – poets are often the best readers of poetry, oddly enough – and the annual opening day event showcasing the university’s own Inklight poets. But there’s plenty for anyone to choose from. Take a look for yourself, then see if you can make it there.

STANZA RUNS WED 16 MAR - SUN 20 MAR IN ST ANDREWS. LISTINGS CAN BE FOUND ONLINE WWW.STANZAPOETRY.ORG

Institute for Creative Industries New Short Courses & CPD for 2011...

- Advertising & Branding Your Business - Introduction to Motion Graphics - Introduction to Google SketchUp - Avid Pro Tools - Apple Final Cut Pro & Apple Colour - Introduction to Multiplatform Online - Writers’ Factory Intro to Screenwriting - Introduction to InDesign - Introduction to Book Publishing - Introduction to Magazine Publishing - Planning for Print Courses are running in March, April and May and cost £45 to £600 depending on length.

Further details, including information on possible funding sources can be found at: www.screenacademyscotland.ac.uk/training

Image: Jeremy Dunn and Ross Jardine, BDes (Hons) Graphic Design

PHOTO: MANUS CARSON/GALLERY PRESS

PHOTO: HAYLEY MADDEN

WORDS: RYAN AGEE

For more information e-mail ici@napier.ac.uk or call 0131 455 2384 t MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 33

SHOWCASE

Kathryn Rodger

34 THE SKINNY March 2011

Kathryn Rodger is from Glasgow and currently in her final year of Painting at Edinburgh College of Art. Her work is concerned with exploring the sociocultural aspects of the binge drinking culture, focused on aspects of the human condition such as loss of inhibitions and need to escape. She works mostly in paint, manipulating the medium to evoke the sensation of being intoxicated through a recognition of the sensory, emotional, psychological effects of particular painting processes.

You can see her work at The Store on 12 March, as part of Mandarin, which she co-organises. The night brings together her twin passions of art and music, and will feature a collection of multidisciplinary artists alongside Edinburgh based DJs including Hanlo, Deckard and Jacou. 10pm-3am, ÂŁ3. To see more work or get in contact go to kathrynrodger.tumblr.com

March 2011

THE SKINNY 35

FASHION

Harris Tweed: 100 Years of the Orb

Credits

Styling Alexandra Fiddes & Judy R Clark Photographer Edmund Fraser www.edmundfraser. deviantart.com Make up/Hair Styling Victoria Watson vrok80@hotmail.com Model Rosie at Colours www.coloursagency.com Garments from a selection to be shown at the Harris Tweed event right The Orb jacket by Judy R Clark £1200 and Linen and Lace dress by Judy R Clark £295 left Harris Tweed skirt with underskirt £450 and shirt £180 by Joyce Paton, Hat by Fabhatrix £185

36 THE SKINNY March 2011

Harris Tweed is celebrating a hundred years since an act of Parliament was passed to give every length of cloth handwoven in the Outer Hebrides a stamp with the official Orb trademark (accept no imitations!). So this March, The Harris Tweed Authority will be holding a catwalk show to celebrate the famous cloth “hand-spun, handwoven and dyed by the crofters and cottars in the Outer Hebrides.”

Co-organising the event and showing her new work within it is Skinny favourite Judy R Clark, who often uses Harris Tweed in her designs.

“I love the material; its textures, colours and patterns are beautiful as well as being strong and durable.”

The fashion show will take place in the An Lanntair Arts Centre on Stornoway, on Saturday 12 March and will showcase the work of various designers who use the iconic fabric within their work and have been carefully selected by Judy and her team. These include Vivienne Westwood, Henry Holland, Iona Crawford, Joyce Paton, Walker and Slater amongst others, many of whom have created pieces especially for this fashion event. Irregular Choice will be supplying the footwear, with their Can’t Touch This design in black and gold to go with the garments.

“It’s to give back to and involve the local community. The makers of the cloth don’t really see the outcome or what people can do with it – this will give them the opportunity to do so,” says Judy, on holding the fashion show on the Isle Of Lewis rather than a more central, accessible location.

As well as the catwalk show there will be an exhibition of Caroline Peacock’s photography work which is based on the wild island landscape, its people and its weavers. There will also be music from one of Scotland’s foremost Gaelic singers and performing artists Fiona Mackenzie, models from Colours agency and comedian Fred MacAulay acting as compere.

When asked if she was excited about the show Judy laughed, “Of course, although, really it’s about welcoming home the Orb!” A sentiment that the community on the island will surely appreciate as well as enjoy. [Alexandra Fiddes] 12 Mar, Tickets are priced at £12 and are mainly available locally at An Lanntair centre for more information www.harristweed.org. Show times are from 2-4pm and 6-8pm. A fashion film by David Lemm to accompany the shoot is available to watch online For more information please visit Judy R Clark - www.judyrclark.com, Joyce Paton - www.joycepaton.com, Fabhatrix - www.fabhatrix.com

March 2011

THE SKINNY 37

The Skinny

CyberZap Scotland’s top ten events for the week ahead We don't just regurgitate the magazine into an email, we tell you about events we didn't know about when we went to print. From secret location film screenings, last minute gigs, and exhibition launches to freebies and competitions, the CyberZap is the pick of events to have up your sleeve when planning your week.

Sign Up www.theskinny.co.uk/zap

38 THE SKINNY March 2011

TRAVEL

Day-trips in the West Bank Stressed by the big city, a traveller takes a wee jaunt to Hebron WORDS and photos: Ally McLeod

Like so many places in Palestine, Hebron’s history is one of loss, conquest, claim and counterclaim. The most recent source of ‘tensions’ is probably the return of the Jews to the city after the 1967 war in the form of the settlements in and around Hebron. Over 160,000 Palestinians and 500-800 Jews live there and the city contains the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a site holy to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, where it is believed Abraham and his family are buried.

In 1995 an American-born Israeli settler and doctor named Baruch Goldstein picked up his army-issue rifle, put on his reservist uniform, walked into the Ibrahimi Mosque and killed 29 and injured 125 Muslims who were praying at the Tomb of Abraham. The survivors overpowered him and beat him to death. The West Bank erupted in riots and 26 Palestinians and 9 Israeli soldiers were killed in the suppression. Goldstein’s gravesite became a shrine for extremists and lies in a nearby settlement. Attacks and discrimination continue from both sides, with frequent reports of Israel Defense Forces observation but non-involvement.

This is after centuries of pogroms, expulsions and slaughters that have punctuated the coexistence in Hebron. To use that nauseating weasel word, ‘tensions’ remain high.

I left the mosque and the temple site and walked towards the nearest guard post that let me into the residential part of the colony. I gave over my passport and with a few cursory questions I was waved though into the main street of the settlement. Except there’s no one there. Shuhada Street is in a vegetative state so deep you can’t tell the difference between its life and death.

It’s built for hustle and bustle but in a more open way than the cloistered Ottoman-style-and-built main road of the souk running parallel to it over the barbed wire and barricades. The absence and silence are creepy. I found myself trying to control my footfalls so I don’t offend anyone, but the only people around are the occasional pair of guards. I know there must be life here. I know there must be something important here or it wouldn’t be so hard getting in. But there’s nothing here on this waiting street.

Shuttered, arched double doors are closed and locked across long blocks of businesses.

Above them are hundreds of tenement flats; some windows are empty and some show the traces of former families, but very few are broken. There aren’t enough kids making a racket and a nuisance or disenfranchised young men demanding rights and breaking glass. There’s unusually little litter in the street, instead accumulating in the vacant courtyards and alleys of Shuhada Street.

Nobody seems to know what this street is, but everybody seems to know whose it is. Every so often you can see a sign explaining that the Jewish community bought a particular patch of land and all that sits on it, which is lying unused, and they demand it returned to them. A beautiful building surrounded by children’s playgrounds houses the Museum of Jewish Hebron. A cemetery lies on the street as it goes up the hill holding the graves of the 67 Jewish victims of a massacre by Arab neighbours in 1929. It also holds a memorial donated by a British Christian group that lays blame at the British Mandate of Palestine soldiers who stood by as the slaughter was perpetrated.

Before the cemetery, on a row of blast walls, are painted signs of pro-Israeli international sentiment, along with an urging to 'Always Keep the Weather With You'.

I sat down by the far wall of the cemetery and

drank the yoghurt and ate the flatbread I’d bought from a nearby shop while watching lizards scuttle along the wall. Good choice. Great day trip.

To navigate the streets you need to walk past an army outpost every couple of hundred of metres.

Every soldier took my passport with polite scepticism, a nod and an “Okay”. Every headscarved mother with a pram and flock of kids following behind regarded me with nothing more or less than stony-faced wariness. The tour group at the museum just gave my torn jeans and dusty shirt some dirty looks. The only smiles that I got in my entire time behind those walls that day were from two Arab guys, laughing at the way I was sauntering around looking like a tramp, and from a young officer who greeted me and asked for my passport as I stared at a hopscotch grid in front of a barbed wire and concrete barricade.

“You’re from the UK?” “Mm. Scotland.” In the Middle East I’ve found I

get a better reception with this, even if they can’t put it on a map.

“Why are you here?”

I shrugged. “Tourism.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? Nothing happens here!” he laughed.

I bit my tongue as my spine disappeared and the ill-advised and witty response got swallowed.

“Mm. Well, it’s different and different is always good.” Even then I didn’t know if this meant anything at all.

He seemed to appreciate it though. “Yeah, yeah.

Well, have a good time.” He handed my passport back with a wide grin of amusement.

“Thanks. You too.” I returned the grin, accepted my passport and sauntered off with what I hoped was nonchalance.

Unfortunately, my meandering was alarming as the next soldier felt the need to stop me in the

middle of the street. “Are you okay? You look drunk. Are you drunk?”

“No. Just – “ I’m overwhelmed by the appalling, dizzying, nauseating sadness of this place! How aren’t you?! “ – a bit too much sun.” I walked on.

Straight.

Later that night when I returned to Jerusalem, I considered getting around an obstruction of tour groups by going through the rooftop exit of a Yeshiva. I stood at a small bridge into it before concluding that it would be rude and unappreciated so I walked away. I was then called upon by a voice from the dark.

“I’m sorry, I can’t speak Hebrew”.

Pause. “Passport.” Young. Beret. Civvies.

Glasses. Body armour. Pistol drawn.

“I’m sorry, but are you police or army or what?”

“Yes. Passport.” I handed it over. “British?”

“Yes.” No nationalistic quibbling.

“Why are you here?” I explained how I was trying to quickly get to the Arab quarter to watch the Brazil – North Korea game. “Hm. Well, you looked very suspicious. Are you drunk?

“No,” – 1. No, I’m not. 2. That’s not illegal here.

3. The people you’re most afraid of aren’t known for their drunkenness. “ – no, I’m not” “Well, you looked suspicious. You looked drunk.

Would you like some help?” The pistol was still drawn.

“Mm. No, thanks.”

“Good night.”

“Good night.” I walked away, hating myself for not asking for ID and wondering if inebriation was a standard excuse for inspection.

But in Hebron that afternoon I was still just absorbed by the sadness I felt for the situation of that place. I couldn’t understand why anyone would fight to live there, never mind believe right, obligation and ordination to dwell there. Before and after I could rationalise, presume and suppose any number of reasons, and I know it’s probably quite childish to even bother myself with the question.

But on that day, any answer eluded me, utterly.

I searched the quiet streets for a while longer and padded around the Talmudic study hall above the Tomb of Abraham and his family. I saw the staircase to the holy sites, which was a symbol of cruel segregation against the Jews but turned into a symbol of their endurance and zeal. Then I got out of there to go back to Jerusalem, which had begun to feel like a barrel of laughs.

I walked back down the souk to find a minibus back. I stopped to get a slushie from an honestto-God Slush Puppy machine. A son manning the family stall gave me a free bread ring in a show of hospitable bravado in front of his pal. I bought a half-decent falafel and debated the respective merits of Barcelona and Real Madrid with the stand owners.

I felt better and the perverse part of me told me I should feel bad because I could so easily feel better. A daft drink. A moment of kindness. Decent food. Meaningless, fervent laughs and chat. Universal things that bring us back and there’s a reason they’re there on the street next to the sadness.

I went to a single part of the Old Town of Hebron and a single settlement for just one afternoon. I didn’t ask any questions behind the wall and I will claim no special knowledge or understanding of the place. This is what I saw, what I heard and what I felt only. I felt hopeless and sad and was laughing again before I left Hebron. I imagine tomorrow will be like that for the next tourist, too.

March 2011

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TRAVEL

GO AWAY! To Christopher Street Day, Berlin Where?

Christopher Street Day (CSD), Berlin.

What?

Annual European LGBT celebration. Generally known as Gay Pride events elsewhere, in Germany they are named in memory of the first big uprising of homosexuals against police assaults that took place on Christopher Street, Greenwich Village, New York in June 1969.

Why? Actually, why not? Berlin is an amazing city to visit at any time of the year, for a huge variety of cultural and hedonistic reasons. But 25 Jun sees added extras such as a multitude of brightly coloured floats and even more brightly coloured people, sound systems all along the route and basically parties everywhere. There is, of course, a serious point being made, it is a celebration of the diversity of the LGBT community and rejection of

discrimination which exists towards its members.

So the event is also used as a platform for political campaigning. There’s also an alternative CSD, called the Kreuzberger CSD, which has a ban on commercialism at all times and limits political grandstanding.

How? Flights to Berlin are frequent from both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Myers hotel is a classically themed establishment in Kollwitzplatz, an area with lots of galleries, bars and restaurants from £100 a night.

The Circus Hostel at Weinbergsweg is cheap (from £19 a night) and incredibly cheerful, with an all-you-can-eat buffet and bike and Segway hire.

TAKES PLACE ON 25 JUN WWW.MYERSHOTEL.DE WWW.CIRCUS-BERLIN.DE/ WWW.BERLIN.DE/KULTUR-UND-TICKETS/ EVENTS/CSD/INDEX.EN.PHP

ST PATRICK'S DAY Where?

Dublin for St Patrick’s Day. What?

The St. Patrick’s Parade in Dublin opens the annual festival with a dazzling display from street theatre troupes, artists, dancers and marching bands. Thousands of onlookers will line the parade route to watch the carnival against a backdrop of green light. The celebrations continue with The Commitments Gigs (14-19 March), reuniting after 20 years; The Dublin Swell Literary tour from 18 March and the much anticipated The England Vs Ireland Rugby game on Saturday 19 March, offering a perfect storm of Irishness.

Who? Born in Wales to wealthy parents at the end of the 4th Century, at the tender age of 16, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders and whisked across the Irish Sea, where he spent the next six years in captivity working as a lonely shepherd. His religion was his solace, and so he became a devout Christian.

Why? The Parade in Dublin is the biggest St Patrick’s Day parade in the world and also one of the biggest creative productions in Europe.

When?

Thursday 17 March.

How? Return flights start from £43 and ferry from £52 The Mespil Hotel which will have rooms for just under £100 or the airport hotels (about 5 miles away) are good and cheap – you’ll get a room for around £55 and there’s a big range.

The five star Dylan Hotel in Dublin has a special St. Patrick’s Day Package including full Irish breakfast and a Jameson’s nightcap from £150 per room Plan your trip now at www.discoverireland.com WWW.MESPILHOTEL.COM

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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

T h E P e r f Ec t N ig h t O u T Words: George Douglas Photos: Jack Davolio LIKE ANY other warm-blooded Edinburgher with few to no responsibilities, a modest income and a rising council tax bill, I enjoy a Saturday night out. So when Morgan’s Spiced assigned me to investigate the ‘perfect night out’ in Edinburgh, gonzo style, I was none too displeased.

Some friends and I meet at Treacle on Broughton Street. It’s one of many attractive bars on a discreetly cosmopolitan stretch of road, where Moviebanks and vintage shops are planted happily alongside hair salons and French bistros. Behind the bar is something called a ‘Shot Monsta’, which, though my beer goggles haven’t compromised my faculties quite yet, looks like a comedy reindeer being ridden by a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. After savouring a bottle of Blue Moon – possibly the only occasion on which I ingest coriander without question – we leave Rudolf and Rafael to their own devices.

After a short walk up York Place and onto Queen Street, we spy a familiar set of precarious concrete steps leading down to one of Edinburgh’s best cocktail bars, Bramble. As usual, elbows jostle for position at the bar for their famous teacup cocktails, and since we’re friends with the staff, we do them a favour by keeping it simple and grab ourselves a round of Brooklyns. Weekends in this candle-lit cavern are usually soundtracked by a DJ, and tonight there’s a pleasant deluge of classic boom-bap hip-hop that, as is the modern parlance, tears the roof off this mother.

! n i w A, MER S CA N IXU E AND A O N AM A CA AL FR F DIGIT OTTLE O ™ B ICED P S ’S GAN R O M

Round the corner on Hanover Street is the simply-titled 99 Hanover Street, where my friends and I resolve to quench our collective thirst with something a little sweeter. As with Bramble, we’ve had the slight misfortune of hitting 99 at peak hour. Once free from tumbler-shoogling duties, a bartender takes our order of a round of Morgan’s and coke, and we promptly head to a quieter corner to survey our surroundings.

Ninety-nine looks like a living room. Well, not my living room – its interior and furnishings are very much in keeping with its New Town context. There are high corniced ceilings and red velvet drapes, but I note an absence of patterned wallpaper: as a design choice, it’s not so much an option as it seems a pre-ordained fact that a city centre bar must have a flowery stencil interior, so it’s refreshing to see little of that here. There are lots of chunky brown leather sofas and coffee tables nestled around the perimeter, adding to the living room vibe,

Skinny's footsteps and If you would like to follow in The , Morgan's Spiced™ are town the on out ts nigh record your nightlife prize in the ect perf the er read offering one lucky a Canon Ixus digital , ed™ Spic form of a bottle of Morgan's can capture and keep your you so e fram al digit a and era cam ition. To enter, just answer memories in pristine digital cond : this simple question tairs club at The Store?

What is the name of the ups a) Criminology b) Sociology c) Ornithology

though we suspect that there’s little chance that it’d be alright to take that idea further and slob out in Paisley pyjamas and play Xbox live. Stop laughing. Pyjamas are cool.

Certainly no games consoles where we’re going next. The recently refurbished City Cafe has pushed its 50s Americana diner aesthetic to the fore. I usually imagine ‘50s Americana’ to be a very innocent time, where a childhood idyll meant yoyos and tricycles instead of gory headshots and Guitar Hero.

While a couple of the guys drift over to the brightly lit jukebox to flick through some Teddy Boy pop and rockabilly, the rest of us indulge in some Morgan’s and ginger beer, with a hint of freshly squeezed lime juice. We have a look at our watches and see the small hours approaching, so we scramble for our belongings and pace briskly to The Store, a space which has happily survived the financial trifles encountered in its previous incarnation, the GRV.

R

DISCOVE

Pulse’s marquee beatsmith this evening is Alan Fitzpatrick, a techno DJ signed to Adam Beyer’s Swedish techno label Drumcode. A typically primal and hypnotic affair, the steam pipe breaks and smouldering melodies are genre staples that go down a treat with those in attendance. We nip upstairs to a find a more downtempo atmosphere in Sociology, a large white lounge decorated with pop-art and comic book illustrations. Eighties NY disco and house grooves swirl the room in similarly agreeable fashion.

Before heading home, the three of us that remain agree on a spot of deep-fried fine dining. Pizza Paradise would be an obvious option, but the idea of pizza feels a bit plebeian after the evening we’ve enjoyed, so we bolt next door to Zenobia for a red cabbage and falafel sammich. Expertly packed as it is by Zenobia’s ever-dilligent restaurateurs, a big slab of scarlet manages to befall my chinos, amusing my mates no end once I stand up to reveal a wound-like stain on my leg. Seems like an apt way to end an otherwise successful evening’s work.

SPIRIT

mpetitions to register Go to www.theskinny.co.uk/co your answer. be 18 years or over. The prize is Terms & conditions: Entrants must tions cash alternative. For full condi non-transferable and there is no erms please see www.theskinny.co.uk/t

The MORGAN'S SPICED words and associated logos are trademarks. © Captain Morgan Rum Co. 2010

MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 41

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FOOD & DRINK

See You When I SeeWoo

Our DVD Editor delves into the mind-boggling diversity of Chinese cooking at Glasgow's SeeWoo Cash & Carry Words: Keir Roper-Caldbeck Photography: Rosie Healey

If you think you know Chinese food, the first lesson of the SeeWoo Cash & Carry is that you probably don’t. Within ten yards of the front door of this vast warehouse I encounter several vegetables I’ve never seen before, a dozen types of dried fungi, only a few of them recognisable as mushrooms, and packets of strange things like Instant Jellyfish Head and Dried Fish Maw. Like most of us I’m pretty fluent in Mediterranean food, and I know the basic grammar of Indian, but I quickly realise that with Chinese food I barely know my ABC. The cookery of China, like its history, is a vast subject of which most of us have only a vague understanding. Eating sweet and sour chicken and watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are very poor introductions. So, for the price of a local bus ticket, shopping at the SeeWoo is like travelling in an unfamiliar country – row after row of bottles and tins with garish labels, lines of freezers filled with tripe dumplings, pink steam buns shaped like little rabbits, sea cucumbers, ducks’ tongues and much more. One deserted aisle is fragrant with the sweet aroma of star anise; this gives way to the pungent scent of tiny, hot dried chillies that make the eyes prickle and throat catch, as if the riot police had just passed through.

Now this is the point when, overwhelmed by it all, I usually purchase a couple of bottles of Korean beer, some instant noodles (“Hot Tingle Flavour” – the thermonuclear option), an unusually shaped item of confectionery, and a low plastic stool (it’s a long story). But this time I’m determined to buy and cook real food. I have nothing to fear but fear itself, I tell myself.

I approach the fish counter. In large tanks crabs and lobsters grapple, eels hover, and turbot lie like carpet tiles on the bottom, their eyes pulled to one side of their head as if designed by Picasso. Local produce is present in the form of bunches of razor clams, bony tubes with semi-animate snot oozing out of them. I’ve cooked these before and they always end up like unpleasant lumps of rubber.

At the butcher’s counter are all the unusual, economical cuts of meat that are often recommended in cookbooks but rarely found at Tesco.

I warm up by asking for a chunk of pork belly, which I’ll braise with soy and wine. I up the stakes with a pig’s foot to add richness to a soup, before deciding to skip the pigs' tails. They aren’t curly.

And they disturb me. I ask for a couple of pig’s ears. The butcher looks at me:

42 THE SKINNY March 2011

“Pig ears?” he asks.

“Yes. Pig Ears … a pair … two, I mean … they don’t have to be from the same pig,” I say.

“Where are you from?” he says “Here. Glasgow.”

“But Scottish people don’t buy these. Only Chinese people.” He seems pleased with me.

My smugness is quickly punctured by a glance in a nearby freezer which contains such delicacies as Beef Manifold, Pig’s Maw, and Pig Fat End. If, like me, you find that five frozen Pig’s Uteri are always one too many, or that that packet of Beef Tendon always gets forgotten behind the fish fingers in the freezer, wSeeWoo’s deli counter offers many of these delights ready-cooked and in smaller, more convenient quantities.

I decide on some salted chicken feet because I remember seeing people eat them as bar snacks in Africa. Bar snacks are always good, I reason. I choose some hot and sour pig’s tongue because it’s been sliced and doesn’t look like a pig’s tongue. Finally, in a moment of bravado, I ask for pig’s intestine. The guy serving finds it hard to conceal his distaste as he crams these fleshy, rubbery telephone cords into a small bag. Holding this last purchase between two fingers, I finish up with some all-too-necessary bottles of beer.

Back home, after giving the ears a good scrub and a short, cleansing boil, I simmer them with stock vegetables and the pig’s foot. After an hour, I remove the ears and strain the resulting broth which I use to make congee, the blandly warming rice porridge. I braise the pork belly, and slice the ears and fry them until they’re crisp. I eat the congee with some of the chewy, savoury pork belly stirred in and spring onions and slivers of crunchy ear sprinkled on top. It’s actually terrific.

The tongue is also good; soft and unctuous, but with a sharp heat.

I look at the bowls of chickens’ feet and intestines; they look like the products of an alien autopsy. I nibble at the chickens’ feet. They’re OK, in a chewy and cartilaginous way. I drink some beer. I consider the intestines. More beer. I throw the intestines in the bin. Shopping at the SeeWoo is a wonderful experience; just be careful what you ask for.

SeeWoo, The Point, 29 Saracen Street, Hamilton Hill, Glasgow G22 5HT www.seewoo.com/x/glasgow.html

Edinburgh Gin Cocktail Competition On Sunday 13 February 2011 the first Edinburgh Gin Cocktail Competition was held at The HydeOut, Edinburgh. Competing mixologists were set the challenge of creating a cocktail using Edinburgh Gin as the base.

Judging this fiercely-fought contest were Iain McPherson (The Voodoo Rooms), Martin Duffy (56 North) and Ed Baird (Emporia Brands).

1st 2nd 3rd

Dean Evans, Tiki Bar and Kitsch Inn David Smillie, The Blythswood Hotel Cailean McGregor, Bond No.9

Winning Cocktail: Midgie Bite by Dean Evans 45ml Edinburgh Gin 20ml Pressed Apple Juice 15ml Blackberry & Raspberry Vinegar* 15ml Raspberry syrup** 1 Egg White Method Add all the ingredients to the shaker. Dry shake it, and fine strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Garnish with 3 pickled berries on a cocktail pick. * To make vinegar, reduce 500ml of red wine vinegar to 300ml with 60g Blackberry pulp & 80g Raspberry pulp add 60g castor sugar.

Sieve out pulp through muslin cloth & store in a jam jar with fresh raspberrys & fresh Blackberrys. Refrigerate. ** To make raspberry syrup bring 200g fresh raspberries to the boil with 500ml water and 15ml peychaud bitters sieve out pulp through muslin cloth bottle & refrigerate.

REVIEW

Big Slope Maybe it’s the students in snowboard gear; maybe it’s the stag heads and antler fittings; maybe it’s just the name, but there is definitely an après ski feel to Big Slope. Wood veneers layer the walls with cut outs of the bar’s trademark silhouette – figures on an outdoor wilderness – plus leather alcoves and a recessed faux fire give a considered and modern feel to the place. It’s bright with natural light despite being below road level, and is wrapped around by a sunken terrace which will inevitably be a popular sun trap when (if) the sun comes out. We walk in halfway through an Old Firm match and it’s busy with couples and pals reading the Sunday papers and nursing pints.

The menu offers alternatives to mainstream pub choices with halloumi and beet salad, a rabbit and beef lasagne, and tempting sticky pork salad with caramelised cashews and mango salsa

dressing. Finlay finds his usual in the form of a pint of Guiness and Boddington’s battered fish and handcut chips, both of which happily induce the required Sunday afternoon food coma, and Rachel’s butternut squash curry with chickpeas, mango salsa and rice is fresh, sweet and spicy.

My roast beef is tender, wholesome and tastes good for me with roasted new potatoes, and parsnips and carrots that are all caramelly and crispy on the outside. All of this over a bitter wee pool of gravy from the roasting pan make for a great mix of roast flavours.

We finish on a dense chocolate brownie with ice cream, and a massive portion of sticky toffee sponge which together pretty much knock us out, leaving us to stroke our fat tummies contentedly.

[Penny Green] Sunday roasts come in at £7.95, and the rest of the menu is £5 to £9 a dish 36a Kelvingrove Street, Glasgow, G3 7SA Phone: 0141 333 0869

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Food News March

The Drake The Drake (complimented for its hearty dishes by The Skinny back in November) is now open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays, featuring DJs including Tom Churchill, Paul Cawley, Laurence Hughes and Simon Cordiner and serving food right up until closing time.

The upstairs restaurant boasts two rooms with an upmarket townhouse feel (think high ceilings and tablecloths) available for private dining with a seasonal menu that changes daily. Downstairs continues the theme, focussing on serving up well cooked, well priced gastropub fare to an increasingly devoted regular clientele.

As it's nearly Spring (fingers crossed) the beer garden out the back is now fully open and licensed until 9pm. It will undoubtedly prove a popular destination once those first rays of sunshine hit.

Joseph Pearce’s Joseph Pearce’s is a homely yet spacious bar at the top of Leith Walk, hugely popular with a very diverse clientele.

By day it’s a relaxed café with a kids’ corner from 11 -5pm, free Wi-Fi and top Swedish roast coffee. The food comes from an award-winning kitchen team, recently named Best Sunday Lunch in Scotland by Observer Food Monthly.

With locally sourced produce, home baking and a seasonally changing menu, every effort is made to ensure that the dishes served are of the highest quality at all times.

By night a bohemian mixed crowd enjoy aquavitbased cocktails and unique Swedish cider served by super friendly staff. Check out Facebook for various idiosyncratic events from jogging club and scrabble nights to book clubs. On Sunday nights “Random Selector”, an assortment of local musicians and DJs bring their eclectic taste.

The Drake, 1 Lynedoch St, Glasgow, G3 6EF, 0141 332 7363 Open Sun-Thu 12–11.45pm, Fri & Sat 12pm-1am

Joseph Pearce’s, 23 Elm Row, Edinburgh, EH7 4AA 0131 556 41 40

www.theskinny.co.uk/article/100882-the-drake

www.bodabar.com

March 2011

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44 THE SKINNY MARCH 2011

MUSIC

Live Music Highlights

METAL COLUMN

words: Mark Shukla

Simpsons either. Catch their reverb-soaked wave at Glasgow Stereo on 19 March.

You can accuse Patrick Wolf of many things, but predictability is not one of them. With a new album – entitled Lupercalia – due to land in May, and a formidably varied back-catalogue at his disposal, we expect nothing less than pure entertainment when the dramatic multi-instrumentalist plays Glasgow’s Òran Mór on 23 March.

Punk rock veteran T.V. Smith stops by Hustlers Pool Bar in Dundee on 27 March to play a ‘best of The Adverts’ set, ably assisted by Italian scene stalwarts The Valentines. This should be a straightup history lesson in confrontational punk protest music – no pose, no pretense.

There are very few bands who can be counted on to absolutely blow you away but Deerhunter are undoubtedly one of them. Shimmering, textured noise; brilliant pop hooks; and impeccably crafted songs – they’ve got it all. Glasgow Òran Mór, 28 March.

❝

There are very few bands who can be counted on to absolutely blow you away but Deerhunter are undoubtedly one of them

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Deerhunter

HOT TICKET of the month Seefeel Glasgow School of Art 21 Mar

Though Seefeel were long seen as outsiders on the Warp label, their recent return to activity has – whether by accident or design – placed them squarely in the zeitgeist. With its strung-out metallic textures and odd, dubstep-informed pacing, their new eponymous LP feels like a major statement by a revitalised outfit.

With Boredoms drummer Iida Kazuhisa and Shigeru Ishihara (DJ Scotch Egg) on board, their live show has taken on a markedly more experimental bent too – the shoegazing tropes of old replaced by a revised focus on the interaction of texture and noise. Their performance at GSA promises to be challenging, surprising and quite out of the ordinary. [Mark Shukla]

Photo: Ivan Jones

Cut Copy’s new LP Zonoscope may be dividing the critics, but there’s no dispute that they have the tools and the talent to put together an amazing live show. Supercharging 80s pop and electro with the driving rhythms of 90s dance culture and alt-rock is a neat trick and these style-savvy Aussies have a reputation for hitting adrenalised paydirt on the reg. Get physical at Glasgow Arches on 3 March.

Disconcertingly youthful Floridan five-piece Surfer Blood know that simple is best when you’re trying to write crowd-pleasing indie rock.

Basic Weezer-esque chord progressions, noisy guitars and lots of syrupy reverb flesh out their chunky, direct sound – fans of classic upbeat fuzz-pop should check them at Glasgow King Tut’s on 5 March.

Whilst his beard may have remained steadfast over the years, the music of Sam Beam (aka Iron and Wine) has undergone quite an evolution over the last decade, from the hushed pastoral strains of 2002’s The Creek Drank The Cradle to the sumptuously coy funk and lush instrumentation of this year’s Kiss Each Other Clean. By all accounts the lad’s put together quite a band to help him realise his new vision, so his gig at Edinburgh’s HMV Picture House on 11 March comes highly recommended.

Whilst The Phantom Band’s brilliant second album The Wants got its fair share of critical adulation, as is the way with so much Scottish talent, it didn’t make quite the kind of splash that many of us expected. All the more reason then to show the home team some love when they play Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire on 17 March. Glowering riffs, a powerhouse rhythm section and a delightful experimental streak make them a must-see. Support comes from fellow pigeonhole-dodgers FOUND whose new LP Factorycraft is out this month.

Formed in 1976 at the behest of Malcolm McLaren, Vic Godard & The Subway Sect seemed destined for great things following a series of incredible early performances and promising recording sessions, but mismanagement meant that the group never made good on their potential. Sporadic but impressive releases from Godard in the interim have managed to keep the legend alive, and his performances at Glasgow Accies Cricket Club on 11 March, Edinburgh’s Citrus Club on 12 March and Dundee Dexters on 13 March should be seen as something of a golden opportunity for anyone interested in the original punk scene.

Gogol Bordello are a band whose reputation precedes them; even if you’ve never heard a note of their music, you know about their riotous performances. For what it’s worth, the music is great too – a swirling maelstrom of East-European influences and punk dynamism that’s actually very carefully orchestrated. And the live show? It’s just like you heard it was – except louder, sweatier and even more fun. Edinburgh HMV Picture House, 14 March.

Having spent the last few years palling around with Mark Lanegan (as The Gutter Twins), Greg Dulli dropped a stellar new Twilight Singers album last month and on 19 March he brings his band to Glasgow’s Arches. Bruised-yet-refined confessional alt-rock of the highest order is assured.

Since Best Coast started shilling Converse and hanging backstage with Bieber we guess you’re gonna need another retro-jangle-fuzz band to obsess over, right? Well fear not, fickle reader, NYC’s The Babies can fill that void with 99% efficiency – and to the best of our knowledge none of their members are dating Otto from The

So we’re in March already – the Jäeger-fuelled juggernaut is picking up, but long before a slew of northern thrashers make the annual pilgrimage to far-flung, toilet-strewn fields to get their heads crushed in by the mightiest of summer headliners (Big Four, anyone?), the home-grown scene flourishes as the salt of metal pulses through the veins of these next few weeks.

Kicking off a month that looks to bridge any and all generational gaps, The Cathouse gets Glasgow off to a banging start with the steamrolling power-metal of Black Spiders and Viking Skull (2 Mar) going back to back with the welcome return of US stoner rock kings Fu Manchu (3 Mar). Suitable support for the latter comes from Auld Reekie’s ever-dependable Melvinslovin’ Lords Of Bastard, who also head up their own show in Edinburgh on 26 Mar (Sneaky Pete’s).

Grinding Holy Roar Records stalwarts Pariso team up with Hush (featuring members of United Fruit, Hey Vampires and Corpses) for an intimate night of brazen riff-driven hardcore (Aberdeen’s Tunnels, 4 Mar; Glasgow’s Bloc, 5 Mar; Edinburgh’s Banshee Labyrinth, 6 Mar) while Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad, Steve Vai), having reluctantly parted with trademark dungeon master mullet, brings his new Devin Townsend Project to Glasgow: expect nothing short of brainmelting exhilaration from this Canadian industrialmetal wizard (Garage, 7 Mar).

A few inevitable clashes await with perhaps the most significant being shit-kicking LA riff-merchants My Ruin battling a bountiful offering from the nu-metal Gods in the form of Ill Niño and Gibraltan metallers, Breed 77 – can anyone say ‘guilty pleasure’? Classic Grand and King Tut’s respectively, 15 Mar. Over in the capital, Welsh screamo stalwarts Funeral For A Friend hit The Bongo Club for a surprisingly downsized performance (19 Mar) then hitting up the equally modest King Tut’s in Glasgow on the 20th for a rare treat. For those who like it a little rougher, behold the pulverising percussive terror of Black Sun Drum Corps in Glasgow (Classic Grand, 25 Mar), while Bannerman’s bring the pain with a night of locally-sourced extreme metal featuring Damngod, Bonesaw and Agonised Deformity (28 Mar).

As we creep into April, the riffage continues to come thick and fast, headed up by a triple threat of triumphant returns. This salvo of should-be illegal proportions sees Finnish death-metallers Children Of Bodom (O2 ABC, 3 Apr) piled up against partially reformed Palm Desert stoners, Kyuss (Kyuss Lives, O2 ABC, 4 Apr) and all-out doom legends – and Skinny cover stars – Earth (Stereo, 5 Apr). To be continued...[Ryan Drever]

8pm, £8.72

Kyuss Lives

www.warp.net

March 2011

THE SKINNY 45

Rob Zombie O2 Academy, 20 Feb

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O2 Academy, 27 Jan

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On their self-titled debut, musicalmagpies Allo Darlin’ emerged thoroughly wrapped up in the cuddly cardigan that is indie-pop, quoting openly (a rhyme borrowed from The Smittens here) and contentedly recycling well-worn lyrical touchstones (references to Sweden there). If their aesthetic parameters weren’t clear enough, they’re currently touring with Sarah veterans The Orchids, who open tonight with a strong set incorporating material from their 1988 saladdays up to last year’s The Lost Star.

From the latter, the likes of She’s My Girl prove their song-writing abilities have yet to dull.

The headliners also keep things fresh, unveiling new tracks ahead of the recording of their second album in April. The new material indicates no great departures lie in store, though tonight’s support act have already demonstrated the merits of consistency over reinvention.

The Orchid’s bassist Ronnie Borland guests on gorgeous duet Dreaming, while elsewhere My Heart is a Drummer and a solo ukulele Tallulah produce further highlights. But as the references accumulate – a Weezer chorus here, a Grease refrain there – it’s difficult not to crave a more singular, less citation-heavy, sound; they’ve much more to offer than an El Scorcho singalong. [Chris Buckle]

A seemingly relentless touring schedule finds Ben Bridwell and his Band of Horses making an early 2011 return to these shores following their high profile support of Snow Patrol at Bellahouston Park only last June. With material from their latest long-player – the Grammy nominated Infinite Arms – on cue to offer a fresh breath to what may be a somewhat familiar set list for tonight’s Glaswegian audience – alongside some yet to be released exclusives which hold true to their whooping country-rock formula – there’s no questioning that the South Carolinians are still striving to evolve.

For tonight’s gathered legions it’s the old favourites – in commercial haymaker The Funeral, a barnstorming Is There a Ghost, and the ever touching No One’s Gonna Love You – that continue to elicit the most fervent response and the band are still to better. Delivered by an increasingly confident Bridwell – by now shadowboxing between tracks – the frontman is infectiously enthusiastic and utterly believing in everything his band do. It’s this leadership which continues to effortlessly sell us the Band of Horses brand yet again. [Paul Neeson]

www.allodarlin.com

www.bandofhorses.com

photo: Ashley Good

Band of Horses

Captain’s Rest, 28 Jan

Rob Zombie returns to play Corn Exchange, Edinburgh on 30 Jun

photo: Justin Moir

Skindred are an exceptionally apt choice for supporting Mr Zombie tonight; both acts have inimitable frontmen, both have an impressive live track record, and both bring that same party vibe to any venue.

Skindred may not have Rob’s budget, but they do have Benji Webbe, a vocalist with a bewildering style, soulful and frantic often within seconds of each other. He might not be the poster boy for British metal yet, but he should be, a master showman who can prompt a mass robot dance during Destroy the Dancefloor then make support act history by actually inciting a successful pit.

And during a new song to boot!

No matter how good they may be, though, tonight’s about Rob Zombie’s first Scottish show in 12 years. Ten-foot robots and ghouls wander to and fro on stage, plumes of flame intermittently blasting from torches all while Rob hops from platform to platform

singing songs of American dreams, nightmares and sleaze.

Let’s not forget the huge backdrop screens, releasing a constant torrent of hentai, 70s flesh flicks and even his own glorious Werewolf Women of the SS trailer.

These morbidly hypnotic scenes merely colour the senses while Rob himself bombards them, an entertainer in the truest sense of the word. Inciting frenzies with the riotous Scum of the Earth and the decadent strip-club rock of Never Gonna Stop, it’s obvious that even after being away from Scottish venues for 13 years, he sure hasn’t been forgotten. It’s treat after treat here, even extending to a version of White Zombie’s Thunderkiss ’65 that simply annihilates any meagre preconceptions the crowd may have, possibly due to the excessively indulgent guitar solo inserted not-too-subtly in the mix.

With a spirited encore of Dragula, this night can be summed up most elegantly in Rob’s own words: rock, motherfucker! [David Bowes]

Allo Darlin’

NME Awards Tour O2 Academy, 3 Feb

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photo: michael gallacher

photo: CLAIRE TAYLOR

Live Reviews

Many have yet to arrive when The Vaccines (***) take the stage, the poor punctuality particularly pronounced when compared with previous NME tours, when the likes of Florence and the Machine and Franz Ferdinand made the first-on slot seem like a reliable kingmaker.

But as they launch into ninetysecond rabble-rouser Wreckin’ Bar, the much-hyped Londoners indicate they’ll graduate from the tour a similar success story. If they had the technology, this is probably the kind of band NME would grow Weird Science-style: little bits of Interpol, Glasvegas and The Strokes, swirled up with Britpop and offering instant appeal.

Everything Everything’s (**) allure is more difficult to grasp, though it’s evidently strongly-felt amongst the now-heaving Academy. They’re an awkward creation, born not of a Weird Science power-surge, but perhaps the body-fusing teleporter from The Fly: a mutant blend of Passion Pit and Polysics, more hectic than the former, yet not unhinged enough to contest the latter (matching jumpsuits aside). Yet, curiously, their synths and caterwauling eventually dispel reservations to prove oddly enjoyable.

With an array of electronics to rival Cape Canaveral, Magnetic Man (****) don’t do understated. The ground-shaking rumble that introduces Benga, Skream and Artwork (plus MC Dread) sets out their stall: when the first beat drops, the derisive scorn of a couple of cack-eared indie-faithfuls standing nearby is (thankfully) obliterated. Their album underwhelmed, but the trio nail it tonight, squelching and wobbling and building and releasing to exhaustion.

Meanwhile, the folk sheltering in the mezzanine listening to The Kinks sure missed out.

Having broken her ankle a few days earlier, there’s concern that Alice Glass will lack her trademark fervency tonight. By her well-documented standards she’s taking it easy, but still manages to repeatedly hoist herself onto monitors. Yet Crystal Castles (****) are more than an energetic front-woman: Ethan Kahn fills the room with unsubtle yet effective noise, the dark, intense Baptism and glitch-ridden anthem Crimewave standing as unrivalled highlights.

If Glass’s enforced moderation constitutes a diminished Castles experience, they’ve confirmed they can comfortably absorb the knock.[Chris Buckle] www.crystalcastles.com

photo: Stewart Fullerton

Wire King Tut’s, 9 Feb

Aidan Moffat’s Valentine Revue Zoey Van Goey Classic Grand, 5 Feb

rrrr Preceding the shy stature of Malcolm Middleton with a mass choir – The Sirens of Titan, who enter from a balcony perch wearing sunglasses and chanting – was a deft move. Middleton takes his place quietly, acting the perfect antithesis to the collective chorals that went before. Playing under the new guise of semi-instrumental project Human Don’t Be Angry, he sits headbowed, cap on, and wordless for the majority. Sparse, verse-style lyrics (of rolling rivers and lover's eyes) become the backdrop to bassy, guitar-based extended instrumentals.

A mini power-cut breaks up his short, three-song set, but there’s enough promise there to keep us intrigued.

Glasgow foursome Zoey Van Goey, launching second album Propeller Versus Wings, start with track one, the slow-burning Mountain On

Òran Mór, 16 Feb

Fire, and continue song-by-song. The Cake and Eating It is a chirpy highlight with a back-and-forth duet between drummer Matt Brennan and lead singer Kim Moore, joined on-stage

by Strike the Colours’ Jenny Reeve.

Coo-cooing the chorus whilst bathed in pink strobe lights, it’s as colourful and twee as anything they’ve done.

Elsewhere they forage musical territories new, joined by the brass section of the Second Hand Marching Band for their jazz effort My Aviator and the punchy guitar-backed You Told The Drunks I Knew Karate, before sing-shouting their way through the punk-led Robot Tyrannosaur, completed with hyper drums and audience-enlisted chants for our eponymous fictional robo-saur. It seems their perfectly-formed indiepop template has become a little less constrained. Breezier, and with dinosaurs and karate chops in tow, a proud unveiling of ZVG: Phase Two. [Anna Docherty]

46 THE SKINNY March 2011

rrrrr Though ostensibly a Valentine revue, Aidan Moffat ain’t buying the billing. “Did ye have a good one?” he asks. “If ye did yer a fucking sucker, cos it’s a loada pish.” For the couples in attendance, this is practically therapy: the relationship-laureate chronicles the good, the bad and the desperately ugly, with heartbreak and the messy exchange of fluids as his muses.

Tonight’s trio of sets are, Moffat jokes, arranged like ‘the average relationship’ – beginning in a “relatively romantic” fashion; maturing in the middle’s collaboration with Bill Wells; before turning dark and lonely come the close.

The first is a Best Ofs best-of, including Now I Know I’m Right’s itinerary of past mistakes. Later, the line “lift up your skirt and I’ll fill you with babies” prompts chuckles, but humour-wise, our

host’s only getting warmed up.

While Moffat’s unmistakeable, candid style varies only slightly across the night, Wells’s classy piano-work helps distinguish the second set from its predecessor. The highlight is a spokenword oddity that culminates in the perplexing non-sequiter “have ye had yer dinner?” – a question rarely met with such confused mirth.

“Now you’ve got me to yourselves you lucky fuckers” says Moffat before set #3, which brings carnal filth in spades (Double Justice’s depravity comes with the punch-line “and would you believe, my mum’s here tonight!”). A brace of Arab Strap tracks make the career overview even more complete, but it’s his promises (namely, the forthcoming album with Wells) that make Moffat so easy to fall in love with. [Chris Buckle] Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells release Everything’s Getting Older via Chemikal Underground on 9 May www.aidanmoffat.co.uk

rrr Opening to a sold-out King Tut’s, San Francisco’s Weekend proffer a deceptively intricate strain of feedback-driven post-punk.

Although only a three-piece, their thoughtful use of guitar effects and juxtaposition engineers songs which build into compellingly sustained crescendos of noise.

Wire’s iconic status generates an atmosphere of tense anticipation tonight, particularly given this rare chance to see them in a venue of this size. Things get off to a sluggish start, however; much of the new material, such as Smash and Please Take, sounds strangely prosaic live, and prompts a muted response. Even 2002’s Comet, a blistering track on record, lacks definition: the replacement of Bruce Gilbert’s clinical, metallic guitar style with the Sonic Youth-esque textures of his touring replacement, Matt Simms, blunting its edge.

The imperious energy of Two Minutes, however, eventually ups the tempo, and the distinctive

tonal depth of Wire’s current incarnation emerges. This approach illustrates the creative restlessness that enables them to remain relevant after 35 years, another sonic variation that brings out new elements in familiar material. Closing a second encore with Pink Flag makes the point emphatically: the 1977 staple sounds reborn, melting into waves of ecstatic, ebbing feedback, but most importantly silencing our initial doubts. [Sam Wiseman] www.pinkflag.com

RECORDS

THE DIRTY DOZEN Welcome to MOGWAI’s take on The Dirty Dozen, where even the single of the month can get a bit of a drubbing. Step forward STUART BRAITHWAITE and BARRY BURNS...

INTERVIEW: DARREN CARLE PHOTOS: PETE DUNLOP

Bearsuit – When Will I Be Queen? (Fortuna Pop, Out now) Stuart: (grimacing at the opening electro chords) No, no, oh no. Who is this?

Barry: Not the best, is it? We were talking about this earlier. If you’re going to make music like this, using all these cheap synthesizers, it’s got to be brilliant – it’s got to be amazing.

Stuart: It’s got an almost purposefully annoying vocal, which is never a good idea. It does my box in.

Barry: Make it end. That’s a three.

Rival Schools – Wring It Out (Photo Finish, 7 Mar) Stuart: They still going?

Skinny: Yeah, but this is just their second album.

Stuart: Is it!? But they’ve been going for years.

Lazy bastards! What have they been doing? I don’t really like this kind of music, so it’s hard to say whether it’s good or not. It’s not for me but maybe that’s the best type of that kind of rubbish song that’s ever been released – it’s just that I hate that kind of rubbish music, which I’ll call ‘crapcore’.

Give it a four.

Wolf Gang – Dancing With The Devil (Atlantic, 21 Mar) Barry: It’s another band with the name ‘wolf’ in it.

Stuart: Aye, what’s with all this Wolf pish? What if you’re a wolf and you’re in a band, meanwhile there are all these humans calling themselves wolves?

Barry: Now you’re thinking.

Stuart: I couldn’t really say whether that’s a good type of that music, cos, again, I don’t like that kind of music; accosting radio indie pop. It’s not my kind of thing but I feel like I should give it a five.

Are there going to be any good records here?

Plan B – Writing’s On The Wall (679/Atlantic, 7 Mar)

EP REVIEWS

Stuart: (rubbing hands) Let’s get started on this!

Do you even know who this is Barry?

Barry: No, who is it?

Stuart: It’s this fucking shite rapper whose A&R guy told him to sound like Amy Winehouse and then all the fucking stupid English journalists said it was a brave decision. Like it’s really brave to stop rapping and start singing just to copy the person who’s sold the most records in the last ten years.

It’s fucking pish! Do you know what it says to me?

You’re with a lassie, looking about Topshop, raging.

Skinny: Marks out of ten.

Stuart: Nothing. Zero. I wish he hadn’t made it.

J Mascis – Not Enough (Sub Pop, Out now) Stuart: That’s way more enjoyable. Good voice.

Barry: Aye. Just waiting for the twenty-five minute guitar solo to kick in.

Stuart: There probably is one by the way. This is nice. It’s probably the kind of thing you’d need to hear a few times to really get into, but it’s good.

Barry: Yeah, that’ll do. Let’s give it an eight.

Stuart: (mockingly) In case something mindblowing comes along.

Alexi Murdoch – Some Day Soon (City Slang, 14 Mar) Barry: Nick Drake influence already. This could be good. (Later) It’s nice actually, aye. I’d like to hear a wee bit more from him. I’d give that seven, or eight?

Stuart: Aye... an eight.

Barry: Well done that man.

The Kills – Satellite (Domino, 28 Mar) Barry: Jamie (Hince) is a good friend of ours. Uh, it sounds good so I’m a bit annoyed. It’s something new that rhythm – the reggae stomp.

Stuart: He’s spreading his wings.

Barry: Far more interesting than some of his stuff we’ve heard. Seven?

Stuart: Aye, why not?

The Jim Jones Revue – Dishonest John (Punk Rock Blues, 28 Mar) Stuart: They’re all quite old, aren’t they?

Barry: They look about the same age as us.

Stuart: Yeah, old. They sound a bit like The Datsuns. Remember them?

Barry: Yeah, yeah. It sounds like a jam.

Stuart: Yeah, they’re jamming in an MC5 style rock. I can’t disapprove of that behaviour. It’s nothing new but they’re doing it well so I’ll give that a six.

Mother Mother – Simply Simple (Last Gang Records, 14 Mar) Stuart: I don’t like that rapid snare.

Barry: I don’t like that kind of singing.

Skinny: (Later) Any words to go with that grimace Stuart?

Stuart: Two words: bad music. It’s rubbish, it’s pish. I don’t want to hear any more of it. Two out of ten.

James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream (7 Mar, Atlas) Barry: Sounds a wee bit like a South Park parody.

Stuart: (reading press release) What’s this ‘missing link’? Why do we need a fucking missing link between Burial, The XX and Feist? (adopting confused consumer impersonation) ‘I love these three records but... where’s the fucking missing link!? Here it is! Here’s the missing link!’

Barry: Record collection complete.

Stuart: I’m a fan of his music but not his singing.

Maybe when his baws drop and he’s got something to sing about...

Barry: (dissolving into hysterics) You can’t say that!

Stuart: I did.

Barry: How about a seven for effort, six for the

PENGUINS KILL POLAR BEARS

MI AMI

BAD FOR LAZARUS

14 MAR, THRILL JOCKEY

28 MAR, SHIT CHIC / FIGHT ME

OUT NOW, MOUNTAIN HALO

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VESSELS & VEINS

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DOLPHINS

25 EP

PLAYING CAPTAIN’S REST, GLASGOW ON 12 MAR

Thought the synth revival was dead and buried? Think again. What’s surprising is just how far it has come in the past few years, as evidenced by San Franciscan outfit Mi Ami’s latest 12”. In taking the obligatory disco template then adding some krautrock-friendly loops and some truly love-Marmite vocals from Daniel MartinMcCormick, they’ve concocted a sound that is a million miles away from their avant rock roots.

It’s a dated but oddly refreshing exploration of electronic soundscapes, harking back to the halcyon days of Grandmaster Flash but with a touch of modern-day cynicism, uplifting without feeling sugar-coated. Given that this has been something of a gamble for the now-duo, it seems to have paid off – even if the unrelenting approach could prove too demanding for a full LP. [David Bowes]

WWW.PENGUINSKILLPOLARBEARS.COM

PLAYING ART SCHOOL, GLASGOW ON 20 MAR

On paper Bad For Lazarus should be one of the most exciting new bands in the country. Congenial front man Rich Fownes has served time in Nine Inch Nails and Eighties Matchbox, not to mention the criminally underrated With Scissors, and his musical chops are surely beyond reproach. However this five track EP is hugely disappointing.

Tantalising early descriptions of the band included mouth-watering phrases like “violent pop” but the reality, as documented here at least, is more “wacky”, occasionally bordering on the inane. Apparently this is an intentionally misleading lo-fi precursor to a much nastier album of feedback and vulgarity. It’s a strange move indeed, but hopefully one that will make more sense retrospectively. For the time being, judgement is reserved. [Austin Tasseltine]

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/MIAMIAMIAMI

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/BADFORLAZARUS

Vessels & Veins is the second EP from plucky Linlithgow outfit Penguins Kill Polar Bears, whose sound marries dense rock riffs à la Pelican or Jesu, with a thick Scots brogue usually more common among indie-leaning bands like The Twilight Sad. Here they take an entirely different tack than was heard on last year’s Dawn EP, cultivating a more organic studio sound, while pushing frontman Ben Proudlock’s vocals to the fore.

The band also boasts a superb guitar and rhythm section, ensuring a sonically explosive soundscape, as on opener Lungs and the weighty Between The Tide; while Proudlock’s vocals lend their tunes an unlikely mixture of mosh-pit and radio appeal. A solid effort, which bodes tantalisingly for a full-length release. [Martin Skivington]

song. So six-and-a-half.

Homework – Why Oh Why (Unsigned, 1 Mar) Barry: That snare drum needs to get tightened.

It’s too high. Wow, more synthesizers. Synth sandwich.

Stuart: I’m warming to this because of the quote here from the singer. It says we’re just so happy and excited to be getting something out at last. He sounds like a nice guy.

Barry: It’s OK but I’m a fussy bastard. I like his Scottish accent though.

Stuart: Good on ‘em.

Barry: It’s a bit more upbeat than what I would usually listen to, but I think it’s a five overall. A good pass.

SINGLE OF THE MONTH Sisterland – Tomorrow (Too Pure, 21 Mar) Stuart: I didn’t even know Too Pure was still going. (reading press release, again) “Sisterland occupy a musical territory somewhere between Galaxy 500” spelled wrong, “and Queens of the Stone Age”!

What two bizarre references to cross.

Barry: I think the Galaxie 500 refers to the vocal reverb, but that’s about it.

Stuart: Past all that though, this is alright. (Later) In fact it’s really quite good.

Barry: Aye, I like it as well. I’m going to give it a high mark. Maybe an eight. It’s good. Well done.

Stuart: It’s got the worst press notes I’ve ever read in my fucking life though.

MOGWAI’S NEW ALBUM, HARDCORE WILL NEVER DIE BUT YOU WILL, IS OUT NOW VIA ROCK ACTION WWW.MOGWAI.CO.UK

TRAPPED MICE PORTRAIT OF A GREAT FATHER EP OUT NOW, SELF-RELEASED

rrr Edinburgh’s Trapped Mice open their new EP quietly before stomping to a crescendo, a familiar but effective trick reminiscent of, amongst others, Okkervil River. The affinity is revisited in The Priest and the Boy’s winning waltz, while a Decemberist's influence is locatable in lyrical references to sailing ships and “the finest wines”.

Like Colin and co., Trapped Mice aren’t adverse to lengthy opuses either – see nine-minute centrepiece (and EP highlight) Beauty and the Beast, which moves from synth-backed overture to gentle coda without ever outstaying its welcome. Recordingwise, this feels very much an early effort, but that’s ok – it is. They’ve plenty of time to up the ante, and these foundations suggest ever more impressive results will follow. [Chris Buckle] TRAPPED MICE PLAY WEE RED BAR, EDINBURGH ON 5 MAR AND SNEAKY PETE’S, EDINBURGH ON 2 APR WWW.MYSPACE.COM/TRAPPEDMICE

MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 47

ALBUM REVIEWS

RECORDS

ALBUM OF THE MONTH: KING CREOSOTE & JON HOPKINS DIAMOND MINE 28 MAR, DOMINO

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All the lucky people who got hold of a Home Game ticket this year: here’s something to get you in the mood for three days in Anstruther. Having spent a holiday in the East Neuk last year, just one listen to Diamond Mine’s seven tracks and we were back, between the Forth and the green hills, on Fife’s secluded prow. Rarely has a record so vividly transferred the essence of place into sound.

Together, Fife native King Creosote and longtime Fence collaborator Jon Hopkins have created a recording of astounding, unhurried beauty, a wistful elegy to life on a quiet coast.

KC, of course, is perfectly capable of creating wistful elegies himself, so what has Hopkins contributed to Diamond Mine? His influence might be subtle, but it’s mightily effective. KC’s familiar plaintive lilt is left intact, as are his guitars, banjos and accordians, but behind them swell gentle choirs of keyboards, offbeat rhythms, hints of machine melody. And field recordings reinforce the sense of belonging: gulls whistle, waves lap, cafés chatter and clink. It’s an album of delicate, insistent charm, but you don’t need to have ever set foot in Fife to appreciate Diamond Mine – just don’t expect it to let you forget where it’s from. [Euan Ferguson] WWW.KINGCREOSOTE.COM

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

J MASCIS

FOUND

7 MAR, DOMINO/REKORDS REKORDS

14 MAR, SUB POP

14 MAR, CHEMIKAL UNDERGROUND

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QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

In early 1998 Dave Grohl went on record naming then-unknown Californian outfit Queens Of The Stone Age as his favourite band on the planet. If that provoked a few perplexed expressions at the time, hindsight shows that the former Nirvana tub thumper was way ahead of the curve. This reissue sees QOTSA’s seminal debut lovingly remastered and subsequently improved, not least thanks to the inclusion of additional tracks, such as The Bronze, previously only available via an obscure split EP. Frankly Josh Homme’s career – post-Kyuss or otherwise – has never bettered Regular John, Avon or If Only, the opening three songs on this brilliantly paced record.

Homme plays the majority of the instruments concerned and thus this album serves as the most undiluted example of his musical vision. With QOTSA now serving as one of the last bastions of excellence in modern rock music, it goes without saying that you should immediately familiarise yourself with their beginnings. [Chris Cusack] QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE PERFORM THEIR DEBUT ALBUM IN FULL AT O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW ON 20 MAY

SEVERAL SHADES OF WHY

In a career that has spanned three decades and countless bands, Several Shades of Why marks J Mascis’ first solo studio recording, but it’s certainly been worth the wait. A lot of signature traits still remain here, like understated vocal delivery and a propensity for writing songs that are heart-warming yet bereft of cod sentimentality, but there is a notable frailty that will be unfamiliar to fans of Dinosaur Jr. The lack of drums and distortion results in a much clearer sense of purpose, aided along the way by the likes of A Silver Mount Zion’s Sophie Trudeau, contributing gorgeous stringed textures in the album’s title track. The anodyne Make it Right shows an unexpectedly folk charm, but the star is Is It Done, showcasing both the new, acoustic sound but also adding a gently distorted solo to keep the old vanguard interested. It may have been 30 years in the making, but it’s an album that could dovetail into any point in Mascis’s timeless pipeline. [David Bowes] WWW.JMASCIS.COM

FACTORYCRAFT

With their recent win of Creative Scotland's Vital Spark award and third album Factorycraft being given a leg-up by the ever daring Chemikal Underground, Edinburgh collective FOUND look set to continue their steady ascent. Where debut Found Can Move slowly unfurled in woozy layers of electro-glitch jazz and 2007 follow-up This Mess We Keep Reshaping compiled this into ragged, beat-laden experimental pop, Factorycraft takes sizeable steps towards cloaking such inner-workings.

Electro beats are honed into 4/4 timings, guitars sound like guitars and vocal melodies take a step in the spotlight. Opener Anti-Climb Paint is a relative slap in the face, immediate and direct in its three-chord ascending bridge and Machine Age Dancing’s interjecting chorus and Every Hour That Passes’ calypso coda will likely prick even casual ears. Album highlight Shallow might bask in their propensity for sonic adventure, however Factorycraft proves that FOUND may be making experimental music, but never for experiment’s sake. [Darren Carle] PLAYING VOODOO ROOMS, EDINBURGH ON 3 MAR; CAPTAIN’S REST, GLASGOW ON 14 MAR AND SUPPORTING THE PHANTOM BAND AT CABARET VOLTAIRE, EDINBURGH ON 17 MAR

NOAH AND THE WHALE

JOSH T. PEARSON

COME ON GANG!

7 MAR, MERCURY

14 MAR, MUTE

OUT NOW, SELF-RELEASED

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LAST NIGHT ON EARTH

LAST OF THE COUNTRY GENTLEMEN

STRIKE A MATCH

Born of the British nu-folk scene, and oft heralded as one of the key players, Noah and The Whale are somewhat defined by a genre. Perhaps understandable then that for third album Last Night On Earth, singer/songwriter Charlie Fink has chosen to take a slight departure.

He sets the agenda with a series of perfectly-formed anthemic pop numbers, occasionally verging on the evangelically upbeat with their carpe diem motifs. But at times, it’s just too polished: case in point being first single L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. and its character-by-character chant of the song title, or the overly buoyant, gospel-backed opener Life Is Life.

If Fink’s talents lie anywhere, it’s still in the folkier, more introspective numbers, like the brooding, fiddle-backed Just Me Before We Met, or slow-burner Wild Thing, which unfurls around drugged vocals of tangled hair, bruises, and bloody knees. Ultimately, the dual personality of this record will, for some, make it worthy of investigation, but for others render it a disjointed experience. [Anna Docherty]

With a decade having come and gone since Josh T. Pearson last graced our stereos, it’s gratifying to discover that Last of the Country Gentlemen is just as potent, emotional, humbling and beautiful as Pearson’s former band Lift to Experience’s existential-rock masterpiece The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads – an album Pearson describes as his “own teenage symphony to God.” However, it’s not the Lord on his mind this time round – although he’s never too far from his thoughts – on this particular collection there’s a woman lodged in there deep.

Pearson succeeds here by instilling humorous one-liners with the most heartbreaking sentiment, like on Sweetheart I Ain’t Your Christ when he sings, “When I said I’d give my life, I wasn’t talking suicide” or on the wryly named Honeymoon Is Great, I Wish You Were Her. A precious record, almost certainly among the most soulful you’re likely to hear this year. [Alan Souter] PLAYING STEREO, GLASGOW ON 25 MAR

The foreword to Come On Gang!’s story was penned in a tiny music room at Edinburgh College of Art, where the band met in 2007; from there they have been regulars on the live circuit, as well as releasing a joint single with Kid Canaveral, and a single proper of their own. It ends here, though, with first long player Strike A Match. Opening with the assured, bright punk-pop of Coffee Shop, it continues in a jaunty vein with Fortune Favours The Brave, a merry-go-round of hooks and wavering vocals.

Elsewhere Spinning Room is a should-have-been single, as is Santa Maria, which rattles along on ticking drums, sounding like it’ll explode at any moment, but instead sinks away on a lone acoustic and stutter of synth. And right there is where their brilliance lies: nothing seems pre-set. They bow out on lullaby of a song, Start The Sound, the tenderest singer Sarah Tanat-Jones has sounded. And with that, we bid them a premature goodbye. [Anna Docherty]

PLAYING STEREO, GLASGOW ON 2 APR

WWW.JOSHTPEARSON.CO.UK

WWW.COMEONGANG.CO.UK

BLOODLIGHTS

PARTS & LABOR

WAGON CHRIST

OUT NOW, TWENTY STONE BLATT

7 MAR, JAGJAGUWAR

14 MAR, NINJA TUNE

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SIMPLE PLEASURES

CONSTANT FUTURE

TOOMORROW

Say what you will about Norway, but they know how to make exceedingly good rock’n’roll. Perhaps the reason for this is that they believe, deep in their hearts, that sing-a-long choruses, big hair and denim jackets are just plain awesome and this is why Simple Pleasures is such an entertaining listen, even if it is the same sleaze rock that the likes of Turbonegro were touting for years.

There’s a healthy injection of pop sensibility and production nous at work here, from the driving chorus and frankly classic solo of Ultimate High to the rattling bass intro to Just One More. Hell, there’s even a pseudo-ballad included in the shape of Never Built to Last, an inclusion that neither seems gratuitous nor awkward and while there’s not a whole lot of substance to it, if you’re wanting something to listen to while driving around the seedier parts of town in an opentop Chevy then you can’t go wrong with this. [David Bowes]

Labelling Parts & Labor an “experimental noiserock band” is one more reason to take user-edited encyclopaedias with a pinch of salt. Such a description ignores their unabashed pop side, with Constant Future echoing less challenging sources than the above wiki-description implies: there’s a Celtic-folk feel to Hurricane; Rest is a close cousin of REM’s I.R.S. years; while Pure Annihilation nicks a sizable chunk of its melody from king-of-kings praising hymn Give Me Joy in My Heart.

Admittedly, it’s folk played through feedback, tailed with a buzzing coda, and a hymn with enough distortion to make a vicar’s collar curl, but their commitment to tunes over abrasion is unwavering. “I used to be a hurricane, but now I’m just a breeze” Dan Friel sings on the penultimate track, before drums stomp in strong. On this form, they’re powerful enough to raze cities – yet leave the survivors whistling along. [Chris Buckle]

Luke Vibert’s Wagon Christ project has been ploughing a deceptively narrow furrow for well over a decade now.

It’s a breezy, upbeat sound: jazzy breaks, trippy melodic loops and an endless array of samples are all deployed in pursuit of the liquid groove; the feeling that life might not actually be such a heavy proposition after all. It’s ironic then that a music built upon aggressive eclecticism should now feel so predictable.

At this stage in his career Vibert is clearly able to sequence loops in his sleep and that sounds like his MO for much of the record – a kind of autopilot slickness that attempts to mask its dearth of inspiration with dead-eyed playfulness and frustratingly mild-mannered funk. Toomorrow does transcend the sum of its parts often enough to make it a worthwhile listen, but only the most undemanding listener would believe that Vibert has put his heart and soul into this work. [Mark Shukla]

WWW.BLOODLIGHTS.COM

WWW.PARTSANDLABOR.NET

HTTP://WWW.WAGONCHRIST.COM

48 THE SKINNY MARCH 2011

BIBIO

LUXURY CAR

DEVOTCHKA

4 APR, WARP

OUT NOW, BIPHONIC

OUT NOW, ANTI-/EPITAPH

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MIND BOKEH

WHEN I WAS GOOD

100 LOVERS

Bibio’s second album for Warp plays out very much as a companion piece to 2009’s impressively diverse Ambivalence Avenue, with evocative instrumental loops, unquantized beats and charmingly homebrewed electronics setting the tone. This time around though his vocals feel more direct; less folky, with confident, sinuous and unashamedly funky flows frequently taking centre-stage, most notably during Take Off Your Shirt – a track which recalls the accessible dancefloor-friendly chug of French popsters Phoenix.

It’s as close as Bibio skirts to the mainstream on an album that remains rooted in experimentation and sets up an interesting tension – it’s rare to encounter an album this accessible in which can be discerned its creator’s love of so many niche genres. Like its predecessor, Mind Bokeh is a superbly-crafted gem that reveals new facets with each encounter and in doing so cements Bibio’s position in the top-tier of Warp’s roster. [Mark Shukla]

Biphonic seems an appropriate label for Luxury Car – partly because brothers John and William Robertson are audibly kindred with label-mates Swimmer One, but also because their sound sutures two aesthetics: plaintive ballads crooned by John, sewn to spiky electronics that have previously brought comparisons to Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada.

The result, on Discrete Packets, evokes an Angelo Badalamenti score left to deteriorate in the rain, allowing glitches and scratches to permeate its sophisticated membrane to settle at its core. The combination is novel yet familiar, and works well, though when the Perth duo claim zero affinity with the likes of Pet Shop Boys or Soft Cell, they may be overstating matters (for instance, there’s a definite echo of Depeche Mode in the chorus of new single I Play The Guitar). Affecting lyrics hit the heart while the electronics hit the rest, resulting in an intriguing synthesis worth multiple visits. [Chris Buckle]

From the string swells of opening track The Alley, DeVotchKa make it clear they’re thinking big on this, their sixth album proper; a widescreen opus recorded in the Arizonan desert and clearly taking many of its cues from the band’s recent soundtrack work.

Such an expansive sound pays off on tracks like All The Band In All The Sea which deploys a relentless piano motif to sweep the listener to a heady emotional crescendo, but elsewhere, as on the plodding Exhaustible it’s clear that they’ve ironed out too many of the odd little creases that made their sound so interesting in the first place.

Too often the band aim for gravitas but only manage a kind of vague stateliness; they’re really at their best – and sound most like an actual band – on the intoxicating The Man From San Sebastian, which plays out like David Bowie fronting a Romani/surf fusion group. [Mark Shukla]

WARP.NET/RECORDS/BIBIO

WWW.IDRIVELUXURYCARS.CO.UK

DEVOTCHKA.NET/

ELBOW

ROBIN ADAMS

THE CHAPMAN FAMILY

7 MAR, FICTION/POLYDOR

28 MAR, EYE DOG EYE

7 MAR, ELECTRIC TOASTER

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BE GONE

BUILD A ROCKET BOYS!

There is a poignancy to every track of Build A Rocket Boys!, and a sparseness that stands in contrast to 2008’s The Seldom Seen Kid. As with all of Elbow’s work, the music is more about connecting with emotions than the listener’s dancing limbs, and this most recent effort is a tapestry of nostalgia. Guy Garvey’s heartstring-tugging lyrics are the album’s most prominent and accomplished element, and the minimalist instrumentation forms a fitting backdrop to his reminiscences.

Tracks like Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl, Dear Friends, and the startling reprise of The Birds overflow with teary-eyed warmth, drifting nigh on sadness but never quite touching it. It is, in fact, a softly positive album that uses simplicity as its strength, and will be enjoyed by anyone who has ever felt the moving subtlety of their slow-burning back catalogue. Music to get lost inside: for headphones rather than booming speakers. [Jonathan Butcher]

Cast in the mould of the quintessential under-theradar artist, the media-shy Robin Adams may struggle with self-promotion; however with two albums simultaneously released this month, he has some attention coming his way, like it or not. Of the two, Be Gone, holds closer to Adams’ perceived persona, bringing an intimate collection of tracks to the fore, with little more than an acoustic-strewn backing and his rich, esonant Scottish brogue to carry it.

There’s little else required, however, as opener Investment Graveyard proves; finding Adams employing such garrulous lyrics as “Fuck you, fuck your money, fuck your worthless, spineless views,” against a rich canvas of timelessly toned Scottish folk, gently tipping the genre on its head; with the equally beguiling, whispered closer Dead Bird by a Stone bookending Adams’ offering. Simply put, on Adams’ own terms, Be Gone exposes the introvert artist, stripped bare, subtly stunning his audience. [Paul Neeson]

PLAYING SECC, GLASGOW ON 15 MAR

PLAYING CAPTAIN’S REST, GLASGOW ON 25 MAR AND WEE RED BAR, EDINBURGH ON 26 MAR

WWW.ELBOW.CO.UK

BURN YOUR TOWN

It’s unfortunate that Joy Division are continually denigrated as the template for disaffected artists such as The Chapman Family. This lot make White Lies look comparatively profound. “I don’t understand the blandness of modern society and culture,” lead vocalist Kingsley Chapman bemoans, “I honestly think I hate everything.” Goddamn it, to hate everything is just painfully mundane, it’s all about specifics. A dour baritone voice doesn’t make you Ian Curtis if you have nothing to say as you impertinently strangle yourself onstage with a microphone cord.

Whilst She Didn’t Know and A Certain Degree bear some semblance of a wretched sentiment, the album’s spine – including angst-ridden singles All Fall, Kids and Anxiety – is as drab as it is generic. A platter of platitudes, Burn Your Town is an insipid record short on substance. Lyricism satiated with an abundance of clichés, puerile connotations of darkness and despair, and yet an astounding absence of vigour for a band supposedly bred from ‘the fertile black soil’ of The Cure’s Pornography. [Era Trieman] PLAYING THE LEMON TREE, ABERDEEN ON 8 MAR AND SNEAKY PETE’S, EDINBURGH ON 9 MAR

THE KILLS

KURT VILE

WILD PALMS

4 APR, DOMINO

7 MAR, MATADOR

7 MAR, ONE LITTLE INDIAN

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SMOKE RING FOR MY HALO

UNTIL SPRING

Brooding for so long in the shadowy realm, The Kills’ latest record is the soil splattered coffin in which we can lay to rest the limp body of The White Stripes. A leathery femme fatale massacre, the fourth LP from the roguish pair is sexy, sleazy and sassy. Depraved by the demonic blues of The Dead Weather or possessed by the exquisite Kate Moss, Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince are playing a Faustian game. In their most ambitious and accomplished undertaking to date, The Kills have conceived their very own Rosemary’s Baby.

Damned If She Do is strewn with shotgun hooks, contorting and kicking as Mosshart’s lyrics trickle poisons down your ear. Hince’s guitar-playing viciously rips apart the animal sacrifice, whilst the belting beat of the base drum on D.N.A. smacks of a propensity for violence. Yet amidst the rasping onslaught, a curious relief is sought in The Last Goodbye, as a piano-accompanied Mosshart conjures a remarkably heartfelt requiem. [Era Trieman]

“Shrink myself just like a Tom Thumb and hide in my baby’s hands” sings Kurt Vile on album opener Baby’s Arms, “because except for her there ain’t nothing to latch on to.” A couple of lines are all it takes for Vile to confirm his lyrical talents (it’s a step up from “I got a trumpet/I know where to dump it” at any rate), the clarity of their delivery locating this fourth effort a world away from the Philadelphian’s early lo-fi recordings.

As on Matador breakthrough Childish Prodigy, Vile is backed by the Violators, pushing him further still from the scrappy CD-Rs of his youth, yet existing Vile-ophiles will nonetheless feel right at home amidst Smoke Ring for My Halo’s modern slant on old familiar sounds. Last year, Ariel Pink delivered a similarly-styled collection of accessible melodies cocked askew, and though comparatively straightforward, Vile comfortably matches their glories. [Chris Buckle]

Although we are assured that London’s Wild Palms subsisted on “a diet of Beefheart, The Fall, Can, and Wire” while working on the songs that comprise their debut Until Spring, you wouldn’t know it from the music, which instead follows the rather tired blueprint of overwrought, anthemic indie rock established in recent years by the likes of The Killers.

Song titles name checking modern literary classics – Pale Fire and To the Lighthouse – evince Wild Palms’ pretensions to lyrical profundity, and while it’s hard to imagine Nabokov coming out with imagery like “a human torch, a phosphorescent heart”, there is at least a sense of earnestness and ambition in singer Lou Hill’s songwriting, one that dovetails well with the record’s ever-present epic, soaring guitars. Until Spring provides a diverting enough listen if you’re a fan of emotive, reverb-drenched alt rock; just don’t expect Woolf-inspired krautrock. [Sam Wiseman]

WWW.THEKILLS.TV

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/KURTVILEOFPHILLY

WWW.WEAREWILDPALMS.COM

WYE OAK CIVILIAN

7 MAR, CITY SLANG

rrrr Civilian opens with a blanket of warm, fuzzy noise enveloping background chat, ushering the listener into Wye Oak’s world gently but resolutely. A lovely world it is too: Two Small Deaths echoes the woozy tone of Asleep In The Back if performed by Beach House; The Alter opens with singer Jenn Wasner recalling Annie Lennox’s vampire serenade, before the instrumentation settles into a Grizzly Bear groove; Holy Holy twiddles the amp dials, raising the volume one moment only to drop it away to a whisper come the middle eight; while Dogs Eyes could be a drowsier Throwing Muses.

The opening run gives them an impressive four for four, and though the final score isn’t quite full-marks (thanks to some comparatively uneventful stretches in the latter half), it remains an impressive tally. They’re not reconfiguring the musical landscape, but like the ancient tree they’re named after, they’re putting down lasting roots. [Chris Buckle] WWW.MYSPACE.COM/WYEOAK

PLAYING KING TUT’S, GLASGOW ON 4 MAR

TOP FIVE ALBUMS

VESSELS

1

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KING CREOSOTE & JON HOPKINS

DIAMOND MINE

2 3 4 5

PARTS & LABOR

CONSTANT FUTURE

THE KILLS

BLOOD PRESSURES

JOSH T PEARSON

LAST OF THE COUNTRY GENTLEMEN

FOUND

FACTORYCRAFT

HELIOSCOPE 21 MAR, CUCKUNDOO

Take equal parts Minus the Bear and Mogwai and what do you have? Aside from the recipe for a great night out, you have Vessels’ Helioscope, only the second full-length from the Leeds quintet but given how accomplished it sounds, you would think it’s their tenth. It’s an album of awe-inspiring scope, packed with jilting melodies, soaring waves of feedback-driven noise and vocals that possess an almost crystalline clarity.

Thanks to John Congleton’s meticulous production, an album that all too easily could have been buried under layers of sound has instead allowed each individual and contrasting moment its chance to come to the fore, be it the intricately coinciding guitars on Recur or the crushing pulsation of snare on Art/Choke. Listening to it through its entirety is a staggering experience, an ordinary enough instrumental setup transformed into something that is no less than ambrosia for the ears. [David Bowes] WWW.VESSELSBAND.COM

MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 49

MUSIC

PUNK AS FOLK

Glaswegian guitarist RM HUBBERT talks early influences, new horizons and playing gigs in swimming pools INTERVIEW: MARTIN SKIVINGTON

ASK AROUND the Scottish music scene and you’ll learn that Robert ‘RM’ Hubbert has become something of a legend. A master captivator of crowds and equally inventive composer, Hubbert’s intoxicating acoustic guitar pieces draw on his own exotic strain of samba and taiko styles. Oh, and it’s all rooted in punk.

After a decade playing with now defunct mathrock provocateurs and John Peel favourites, El Hombre Trajeado, Hubbert released his debut solo effort, First & Last (initially on a pay what you like basis) to glowing praise last year, which Chemikal Underground recently reissued.

That was followed by a heavy bout of live performances, which has included support slots with Godspeed You! Black Emperor and sister band A Silver Mt. Zion; being invited to open for Mogwai on recent European dates this year; and quite possibly, some deft finger-picking over a salad in your mate’s front room, as part of his homely ‘Will Play For Food’ policy.

Now, with a second album in the works, featuring creative partnerships with the likes of Alex Kapranos and Alasdair Roberts, we had a word with the man himself to learn more about the origin of his music.

What was your first instrument?

I played violin for a while when I was very young.

Got kicked out of the class for repeatedly trying to play it like a guitar! I started playing guitar when I was 16.

What music influenced you early on in your career?

I actually remember the exact time I decided to learn guitar. It was whilst watching a Buzzcocks live video. It looked fun and relatively simple. I basically learned by learning Buzzcocks, Black Flag and Minutemen songs by ear. My style of guitar playing is still punk. it just doesn’t sound like it. A wise man once said: Punk is what you make it. Wise words.

Tell us about your forthcoming album, is recording underway?

The next album will be made up of a mix of solo guitar pieces and collaborations with some of my favourite musicians. The basic premise is about the process of building and reconnecting friendships.

It’s kind of an extension of First & Last, in that I find it easiest to connect with people through writing music about and with others.

At this point, the collaborations with Aidan Moffat and Luke Sutherland plus all of the solo pieces are done. We will be finishing it off once I get back from supporting Mogwai on their European tour.

How excited are you to be working with the likes of Alex Kapranos, Emma Pollock and Alasdair Roberts?

It’s been really great to work with everyone involved. I’ve always been really interested in others’ creative processes. I’ve been a big fan of Emma, Alasdair, Aidan Moffat and Stuart Braithwaite for a long time so it’s a real treat to get to write with them.

Will people be surprised with the direction you’ve taken on any of the new material?

I suppose that depends on how much of my back catalogue they are aware of. There is a lot more instrumentation going on. Chinese harp, piano, banjo, Cajon, drums, vocals, electric guitar and violin all feature alongside the flamenco guitar so it certainly has a different dynamic. I think that it still sounds like a RM Hubbert record though.

You’ve gigged prolifically in the past year or so.

Which shows stand out to you?

Playing Glasgow Barrowland with Godspeed You! Black Emperor was a big deal to me. The three dates I did in Ireland with Mogwai were amazing too. Other than that, playing in a cave outside of Anstruther, and in the deep end of a disused Victorian swimming pool in Govanhill was pretty cool too.[Martin Skivington] RM HUBBERT’S DEBUT FIRST & LAST IS NOW AVAILABLE ON CHEMIKAL UNDERGOUND KEEP AN EYE ON WWW.RMHUBBERT.COM FOR FORTHCOMING GIGS

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MON 7TH

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SUN 20TH

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MON 28TH WED 30TH

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50 THE SKINNY MARCH 2011

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em? If so we’ll take the lithe and of Isabella Rosellini, couple it with strionics of Elton John, and marry ture-race breeding of the Olsens and -a-sacrificial-cow ambition of James his sexual, ambitious future-race “wrapped in plastic, à la Joan Rivers.” unds elaborate and messy, it fits ties; if their answers sound articulate eflects their crafty, cultured smarts. ds are too readily vilified for not nailnd,” they argue. “It seems to us that te can produce the most interesting lts.” Their particular palette reaps ur-way musical input that doesn’t turally in the same direction. be fair to say that we began this at the approach has been to try and

the crow’s nest, is all guitar-cradling earing, while Sam will go down hing to the last at his cockpit of ively explain Glasgow (via Fife) ael plays at drums and dressing gine room, and Pablo stands at indy rhetoric and last night’s m for a celebrity endorsement on at ‘Got Milk’ campaign has done sales over the years – want to e-Drink lovers as spokespersons for

kle yanmcgoverne.co.uk

MILK SUPPORT FOUND AT THE ELECTRIC CIRCUS, EDINBURGH ON 7 AUG AS PART OF THE EDGE FESTIVAL

challenge each other, taking our disparate inspirations and finding ways to harmonise them. We enjoy sifting through the noise.” When the sifting is finished, nuggets of Lizard King stargazing, smooth 80s grooves, moody atmospherics, deadpan humour and prog-squiggles remain. The unorthodox blend slips through genres like cow lactose through fingers. “We converge in strange places,” they acknowledge.

Milk confound classification in part through tactical shyness. Their low-profile moniker and lower-profile web presence constitute a genuine attempt to avoid the pigeonholing that rubberstamps acts straight from the womb. Milk are leaving their options open and keeping followers guessing.

“We’re still in the formative stages of playing this music together, so anything that allows the freedom to go off on creative tangents is a must,” they explain. “The name gave us the blank slate. If you treat a band’s name as a statement of intent, then ours remains open to interpretation.” Refreshingly, in an age where choosing a MySpace background sits uncomfortably high on new-starts’ ‘to do’ lists, they’re uninterested in cultivating a potentially-straitjacketing online persona. “We want the opportunity to surprise others and ourselves.”

Live, they don’t let such opportunities pass them by. But what about recordings? Any releases on the horizon? “In this regard,” they assert, “we reserve the right to remain mysterious.” Seems Milk will be whetting appetites a little longer yet.[Chris Buckle]

reat source of calcium, won Sean Penn an , hang on, something’s off. Google has failed , you’ll have to introduce yourselves…

t Milk?

MARCH 2011

WE NO LONGER CHARGE BOOKING FEES

FILMHOUSE 88 LOTHIAN ROAD EDINBURGH Box Office 0131 228 2688 BOOK ONLINE at www.filmhousecinema.com

Collect loyalty points and spend them on FREE tickets and DVDs!

PURE ANTIHERO MATERIAL IS OUT NOW ON CIRCULAR RECORDS. CHECK WWW.STANLEYODD.COM FOR UPCOMING GIGS

THE SKINNY 51

AUGUST 2010

THE SKINNY 51

See www.edinburghpeoplesfestival.org for further details and tickets

• Drama from SpartaKi Theatre Company

• Why the finest comics in Edinburgh end up in Gorgie

• Aid for Afghanistan - a concert

• 3rd Annual Hamish Henderson memorial lecture

• Photographic exhibition 'The Bad and the Beautiful'

• Investigating Rebus's Edinburgh

• Tour Edinburgh's dramatic radical past

• Film premiere of 'Morticia' by Nabil Shaban

August 7th-14th

TO READ MORE OF BRAM’S JOURNALISM, VISIT WWW.WEAPONIZER.CO.UK

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Highlights from this year’s hugely successful two-week festival, which took place in March at BFI Southbank. The season includes LLGFF Closing Night Gala Children of God, a fascinating and politically bold study of sexuality in the Bahamas; lesbian comedy And Then Came Lola; erotically charged crime thriller The Fish Child; acclaimed Argentinian drama Plan B; and two programmes of shorts, one for the girls and one for the boys!

London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival On Tour 10 Aug to 2 Sep

A key work from an era that’s now considered the last Golden Age of American cinema, Bob Rafelson’s superlative character study established Jack Nicholson as the foremost actor of his generation. One of the few honest American films about social class, family and alienation. Don’t miss this wonderfully restored classic.

Five Easy Pieces 13 Aug to 19 Aug

Directed by Juan José Campanella and showcasing two of Argentina’s biggest stars, this is a riveting thriller spiked with witty dialogue and poignant romance. Receiving rave reviews and awards, it was also the surprise winner of this year’s Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film, beating off stiff competition from The White Ribbon and A Prophet.

www.theelectriccircus.biz www.theelectriccircus.biz

The Secret in Their Eyes 13 Aug to 9 Sep

MUSIC

recommends this month...

INTERVIEW: BRAM GIEBEN PHOTO: SOL NICOL

HOME OF THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

films worth talking about

Clockwise from top left: Pablo; Callum; Michael; Sam

With their new EP and a tireless touring ethic, STANLEY ODD are taking Scottish hip-hop to the masses

MUSIC

THE ODD SQUAD

STANLEY ODD are leading the charge in Scottish hip-hop. Signed to Circular Records, they tour and gig tirelessly up and down the country, gaining rave reviews and faithful fans wherever they go.

The interplay between charismatic emcee Solareye and golden-lunged singer Veronika Elektronika drives the band, while T-Lo (piano), Scruff Lee (guitars), Ad Mac (bass) and newest member Samson (on drums) deliver the riffs and beats with a precision musicianship rarely found in live hip-hop. Drawing comparisons to The Roots or the Beastie Boys might describe their sound, but perhaps because of Solareye’s dialect and banter, it doesn’t quite cut it as a description. Quite simply, Stanley Odd are that rarest of beasts: a Scottish hip-hop band with broad appeal who put on one hell of a show.

You’ve been touring a lot recently guys – it must take some determination to keep going back out on the road.

Solareye: Is it determination or just a refusal to listen to anybody? I don’t know! We just love playing live. In terms of the social media side of things, you can see the blips every time we play a new place.

How does the energy of the live band translate to the studio?

T-Lo: It’s tricky. We haven’t found a formula yet, and maybe we will never find one – which I don’t mind, because it means every album’s going to be different.

Veronika: With the new material, we wanted to attack it differently and see what came out. You can certainly hear the difference between the album and the EP. We recorded it first, then started figuring out how to play it live. We seem to get better results that way – it’s fresher, more organic.

Oddio was certainly mellower.

Veronika: It’s a journey, I think. On the first album, the songs started out as Solareye’s solo tracks. With the new EP, the tracks started as an idea, which we then built on as a band. You can really hear Samson’s influence on this.

Do you think that having Scottish accents will stop you getting noticed outside of the local hip-hop scene?

Veronika: There’s always that element of fear.

It goes for and against us: we are very obviously Scottish, and a lot of people love that. I think the more we progress, the more people are picking up on different elements. If you ask ten people about us, every single person will say a different thing.

Solareye: I don’t think you can tell stories and be authentic and have a false accent. It’s as simple as that. If you’re trying to reference a time and a place, you can’t kid on that it is narrated by someone who is not there. In terms of authenticity alone, it’s got to be what it is. You do get people from all backgrounds who are opposed to Scottish dialect, or to any dialect that isn’t transatlantic or London-centric. I think there are just as many open-minded people who are into it, or would dig it if they heard it.

You project the image of being a gang – how close is this to reality? Do you know each other well?

Scruff Lee: We learned a lot of stuff about each other at five am this morning.

T-Lo: It is amazing what you learn about each other when you’re stuck in a van for six hours on the A9, not moving.

Scruff Lee: For all the conspiracy theorists out there, we’ve had three vehicles break down on our latest tour – but we’re still broadcasting Pure Antihero Material! Yeah, we have spent a lot of time in each other’s pockets, and so far there have been no fatal injuries.

With gigs coming up in a town near you very soon, and their new EP doing the rounds, it seems like we’ll be seeing a lot more of the Odd Squad in the months to come. There’s a remix EP coming soon with work by DJ Noface and superproducer Scattabrainz; plus Veronika is collaborating with Mangomad. Do yourself a favour – check them out live, and leave your preconceptions at the door.

CLUBS

PREVIEWS Heard It Through The Bassline Presents: Jacques Greene

Kollektiv presents Fabrizio Maurizi Glasgow School of Art 19 Mar

Having already hosted one of the best nights of 2011 with Pariah and Koreless last month, Heard it Through the Bassline bring us another fantastic booking in the form of Jacques Greene. The young Canadian producer is undoubtedly one of the most talked about musicians in the underground and deservedly so. His individual take on RnB and hybrid house has earned him releases on Scottish label LuckyMe and the infamous London based Night Slugs imprint. Greene’s sound is incredibly organic, merging sweet RnB vocals with some of the warmest analogue sounds one can imagine. His European tour coincides with the release of the highly anticipated and truly incredible Another Girl Ep. This will certainly be the smallest and most intimate show of the tour so be sure not to miss one of the rising stars of the scene. Klaus, Colebs and Bake will providing the early vibes so make sure to head down early.

[Luke Dubuis]

The second of the M_nus marauders to grace us with their presence this month, Fabrizio Maurizi is a body-sonic bass pulse perfectly primed to rattle the inner workings of the Vic Bar’s dishwasher below. Low pitched minimal murmurings with bags of bricks are to be expected; Maurizi creates sets which are occasionally funky, perpetually inviting and withdrawing, meandering from the dark to the light with nothing but a map of the venue and an inner euphonic compass. Since realising his dream of joining Hawtin’s imprint, Fabrizio has had huge success with a string of releases in the past three years; Ok, Switch On (2008), Habitat (2009) and Chronicles (2010) have all spent a significant amount of time worrying the bass bins of anyone with an interest in punchy, freak out minimal techno.

A truly explosive night in the making, Kollektiv have clearly discarded the stabilisers here, cycling uphill with the guiding light of one of techno’s most promising and ever evolving talents; producing mind expanding, rattling beats, and leaving you peeling your ears back to a time when they thought such frequencies did not exist. [Calum Sutherland]

11pm-3am, £7

11pm-3am, £5-8

Ricardo Villalobos at Sensu

Ultragroove with Cooly G

Sneaky Pete's 14 Mar

The Sub Club 4 Mar

Ricardo Villalobos is playing the Sub Club. Who knew that one little six word sentence could have so many good things in it? The man who is credited as being one of the most forward thinking and innovative producers and DJs in the world will be gracing the Sub Club DJ booth on 4 March at Sensu to use the infamous sound system like it has never been used before. Name checked by almost every DJ in existence as an influence, Ricardo has become known as a boundary pusher, someone who challenges the possibilities of what electronic music could be, exploring its relationship with more classical and traditional genres, while championing analogue values and acoustic sound quality above all else. It has been many years since Villalobos’ last Glasgow appearance, and this will be a truly unique opportunity to see the DJ who has been voted number one in the RA poll two years out of the last three in such an intimate 500odd capacity environment. Reportedly sold out in just fifteen minutes when tickets went on general sale, this night is set to be the most important highlight of the 2011 Glasgow clubbing calendar. [Kat Young] 11pm-4am, £15

Hercules & Love Affair bring a touch of disco glamour to The Arches Words: Cal Sweeney

Cabaret Voltaire 19 Mar

Hyperdub’s Cooly G joins Ultragroove for their second March party on the 19th at Cabaret Voltaire.

The Brixton producer and DJ will be bringing her own brand of UK Funky to the established Edinburgh house night alongside resident Gareth Sommerville.

Mostly a London-centric sound, UK Funky has been something of a recent phenomenon, mixing up dubstep and garage with house orientated sensibilities which has captured the imagination of both sides of the genre, as well as getting significant media coverage since its inception in the late noughties. Cooly G herself has had recommendations from both the Guardian and the Independent newspapers, for her single and as a ‘one to watch’ respectively.

Cooly G’s take on the genre is distinctively bass heavy, interspersed with her own RnB style vocal snippets. Her appearance at Ultragroove will showcase the new sound and one of its most promising rising stars. Support will be provided by Sommerville, and Default & Picasso will be playing some soul and funk in the back room of the Cab all night long. [Kat Young] 11pm- 3am £6 before midnight/£8 after (students £6 all night)

Nomad presents Heartthrob (LIVE)

Highlife present: T Williams + Auntie Flo

Glasgow School of Art 5 Mar

La Cheetah Club 5 Mar

The itinerant nature of one of Glasgow’s freshest club nights this month takes the group to the GSA where Nomad play host to Jesse ‘Heartthrob’ Siminski. Heralded as one of the M_nus family’s most promising and gifted current members, the Michigan born producer and DJ has fast-tracked himself to the top of the scene in recent years, from 2008’s amazing full length Dear Painter, Paint Me to 2010, which saw Jesse release the infectious Setting Up EP and a collaboration with Troy Pierce (‘Square One’).

Tonight Heartthrob presents his astonishing live set. The resulting atmospheric bubble he creates is a truly unique and inspiring experience; a hall of mirrors in which the amalgam of light and dark, humour and intensity, and melody and drive come together to produce a sound which manages to be both messy and powerful, whilst maintaining a tuneful top line peppered with twisted vocals and ragged ambience.

Support comes from London based Rossko; a resident of Cerca Trova and a dub/tech house proponent whose career has truly taken off recently. 2010 saw Rossko play We Love Sundays at Space and Cafe Ole in Ibiza, support labels such as Desolat, M_nus, Cocoon and Sci-Tec in the UK, as well as playing B-Pitch’s Off-Sonar boat party. Prepare to feel very positive. [Calum Sutherland]

Just when you wonder if Huntley and Palmers may have been lost to Shoreditch indefinitely, they return to Glasgow to launch their new label with another instalment of their sporadic Afrobeat party Highlife. Good things come to those who wait, and it’s fitting that the debut release on Huntley and Palmers new imprint will be by their Highlife co-promoter Brian D’Souza. Auntie Flo, as Brian is otherwise known to fans such as Optimo, Caribou and Joy Orbison, is a champion of cross-cultural collaborations and a pioneer of world music 2.0, presenting Slabs of the Tabernacle and the wonderful Afro Futures show on Radio Magnetic.

The chaps won’t just be patting themselves on the back all evening, because as you’d expect from Highlife there is also a superb guest on hand.

T. Williams produced some gems in 2010 on his own Deep Teknologi label, not least Heartbeat, whose downright poppy sawtooth synths propelled it to being the number 3 top-selling dance single of the year on iTunes. It’s free entry for anybody armed with proof that they’ve snapped up Auntie Flo’s Goan Highlife release, so get buying and get yourself along. [John McGonagle]

11pm-3am. £10 Adv /£12 OTD

11pm-3am, £7

52 THE SKINNY March 2011

labours of love

Bursting on to the scene in a shimmering cloud of disco techni-colour, Hercules & Love Affair were one of the most distinctive acts of the last decade, popularising a revivalist sound that has only continued to grow since. Sounding as though they were a forgotten act from years past, the influence of 1970s New York disco is immediately striking. Returning with a new album entitled Blue Songs, the group have continued to explore inspiration from previous time periods. There’s certainly a vintage feel to their new material, with the use of analogue snyths still vital to their production. Yet for their new album they’ve leaped forward a decade or so, embracing the sound of Chicago and the early House music movement. While the touches of disco glamour are still there, along with the ever distinctive vocals of lead singer Andy Butler, Hercules & Love Affair have clearly progressed.

The group definitely don’t suffer from second album syndrome, with single My House already proving popular with countless remixes ensuring that it’s been played out on plenty of dancefloors already. It’s a very timely opportunity to hear it and the rest of the group’s fresh material at Death Disco this month. Seeing a live group headline a club can always offer some variety, making it a little more of an occasion than the standard one man and a pair of decks set up. The live Hercules & Love Affair show should allow for more of a spectacle and more interaction with the audience; a bit of indulgence in camp showmanship will definitely never be out of place at Death Disco.

There isn’t much that immediately springs to mind when you think of Belgium, beyond waffles and chocolate that is. However, a quick glance at the country’s disco scene makes you think that things might just be changing. Villa are following in the footsteps of Belgian counterparts Aeroplane, building a reputation for fine disco-flavoured Balearic house that’s worthy of spreading out beyond their homeland. They first grabbed the attention with their cover of dancefloor classic Beats of Love, as well as their staggering ability to rework Keane into something actually enjoyable. They’ve kept up the pace lately, with recent edits of Yeasayer and Adele garnering endless blogosphere praise. As this is their second Death Disco appearance they’ll have the opportunity to build a Glasgow audience and lay a clear claim to being Belgium’s next great musical export.

All four of Death Disco’s rotating residents will appear at this month’s night with a second appearance in succession for Hahaha. His undoubtedly original sound and absorbing live sets have made him stand out from countless other young Glasgow producers, earning him upcoming live slots at Mixed Bizness and Subcity parties in addition to his DJ support sets at Death Disco. It can be easy to forget the club’s recurring support when placed alongside a string of international guests, but the addition of Hahaha is a reminder of Death Disco’s recognition of talent closer to home.

Sat 19 Mar, 11pm-3am, £14/£7 (sign up for DD mailing list on Arches homepage to get half price pass) www.thearches.co.uk/events/clubs/death-disco

The Arches, 253 Argyle Street, Glasgow 0141 565 1000 www.deathdisco.info

CLUBS

CLUBBING HIGHLIGHTS WORDS: RAY PHILIP ILLUSTRATION: AL WHITE

I suppose the expectation is that the pro-democracy stooshie over in Egypt might inspire students to put another shift in at the Houses of Parliament, re-upped with a Helvetica placard and a Twitter account. But, try as we might, we can’t imagine that the political impact of removing an entrenched autodidact from three decades of power would be usurped by a campaign to keep spoilt English kids dressed in Jack Wills and soaked in Jäegerbomb slurry.

If you’re looking for a real revolution, then you’re already too late. Beneath Jamaica Street, a few hundred jammy bastards will huddle together on 4 March (exchanging smug, silent, congratulatory glances) to enjoy a sold-out, three hour banger from Ricardo Villalobos, who’ll be orchestrating a Sub Club rave so free of order and civil obedience it’ll make Tahrir Square look like a slide exhibition at the Fruitmarket Gallery.

Lest we be charged with antagonising the ECA cognoscenti, the Art Department’s forthcoming visit to Scotland presents an offer you, er, can’t refuse.

TicTacToe host Toronto duo Kenny Glasgow and Jonny White at The Arches on 4 March, with a date the next day at The Lane for Rendezvous’ 1st birthday. A forthcoming album via Crosstown Rebels is imminent, and if it’s anything as good as the Rohypnol house of Vampire Club/Without You, then you’d best drink up and ignore the creep in the trenchcoat lurking near your glass. Extending Crosstown Rebels’ profile in Glasgow will be Damian Lazarus, who will, along with Slam, make an appearance at Return To Mono at the Subby on 11 March.

Few producers kissed off 2010 with an EP as thoroughly rinsed as Jacques Greene’s The Look.

Greene’s next helping of house and arranbee, Another Girl, will preface his forthcoming visits to Glasgow’s GSA, featuring proper good rapper Lil B, and Edinburgh’s Heard It Through The Bassline, relocating to Sneaky Pete’s on this occasion, on 14 March. Alongside Greene on the latter date will be Google-proof producer Klaus, whose neurotic, polyrhythmic dubstep is a bleak as it is affecting, and isn’t far off sounding like a FWD>> afterparty in the middle of nuclear winter. A sort of calm before the skin-blistering radioactive storm, if you will.

Fortified with centuries old brick and whisky spit, Cab Vol seems a more robust proposition for fallout evasion, mostly because it’s a) underground, and b) of a sturdy architectural constitution, although the latter might be subject to a thorough once-over by Cooly G’s sub-bass wandering house, assuming that her date at Ultragroove on 19 March follows the script.

Glasgow has the last word here with two sterling dates to keep your eye on. Onur Özer is Bigfoot’s Tea Party’s latest ta-da headliner, which you can wave your jazz hands to on 18 March.

The Day After Ricardo, you can get stuck into a live set from Minus-approved Heartthrob at the GSA-hosted Nomad on 5 March, as long as your liver and sleep cycle can take it.

late night bar / live music / private karaoke rooms

02.03 7pm yOuNG reBeL SeT WIDE DAYS LAUNCH & BUY WHAT YOU HEAR & OXFAM RECORDS DJs THU 03.03

09.03 7pm NApOLeON iiird 30.03 7pm BLue Sky ArcHiveS 31.05 7pm - juST ANNOuNced

10.03: LOST iN AudiO, MATT WiLSON 24.03: ruN/Lucky/Free, LOST ciTy SOuL

CIRCUS arcade

£50

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EVERY TUESDAY

QUIZ & MUSICAL BINGO WedNeSdAyS Free

Funk, Northern Soul and chilled out lounge tunes

lost

THurSdAyS THe NeWeST SOuNdS

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Cocktail of the week £5 W WeekeNd

Bar open from 5pm Fridays

7pM Free Live MuSic & dj reSideNcieS

Live BANdAOke

Sing on stage with our house band, the Bearded Ladies! 150+ songs, see if they know your favourite 10pm WeekLy. Free eNTry BeFOre 10.30/£5

midnight-3am £5

1960s - 2011 pop/rock/indie/disco/rave/party

2nd SAT MONTHLy 10:30pm-3am

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LAST SATurdAy MONTHLy www.theelectriccircus.biz 36-39 Market Street. 0131 226 4224 tickets: ticketweb.co.uk 08444 77 1000 Ripping Records, tickets Scotland.

Facebook/twitter: electriccircusedinburgh MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 53

REVIEWS

March Events

FILM

The Filmhouse in Edinburgh are running a ‘Come and See’ season throughout the year, in which a film is chosen once a month simply because it deserves to be seen on the big screen. This month Roman Polanski’s first English language film, Repulsion, is playing on 3 March. Starring Catherine Deneuve, this disturbing psychological horror about a reclusive young Belgian girl living in London and her descent into madness perfectly showcases Polanski’s talents as a director.

Submarine

Submarine

Route Irish

Director: Richard Ayoade

Director: Ken Loach

Starring: Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Noah Taylor Released: 18 Mar Certificate: 15

Starring: Mark Womack, Andrea Lowe, John Bishop Released: 18 Mar Certificate: 15

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Richard Ayoade, of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and The IT Crowd fame, has constructed a quirky, witty and heartfelt debut with Submarine. Based on the novel by Joe Dunthorne, the writer/director has expertly captured the awkward, alienating experience of teenage life for those who don’t quite fit in.

Wide-eyed odd-ball Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) must juggle the responsibilities of keeping his parents’ marriage intact and maintaining his relationship with the equally precocious Jordana (Yasmin Paige) through a combination of deception, light arson, seduction and house breaking. Obstacles include not being very good at most of these things, and the lascivious, mullet-sporting mystic Paddy Considine. Immediately calling to mind Wes Anderson and a more involving, less smug Noah Baumbach, Submarine manages to be genuinely hilarious whilst preserving a sinister tone riddled with existential angst more attributable to Bergman. Full of memorable lines and eccentric charm, Ayoade’s film is cine-literate and beautifully constructed. With a mesmeric central performance from Roberts, it stands out as one of the must-see films of the month. [Chris Fyvie]

In Route Irish, an ambush on the road of the same name, connecting Baghdad airport with the Green Zone, puts a licensed mercenary in a body-bag and leaves many unanswered questions. “He was a protector, a force for good”, eulogises the firm’s director, but ex-soldier Fergus (Mark Womack) has reason to doubt the rosy portrait painted of private military contractors, and starts investigating the circumstances surrounding his friend’s death. The casting of Liverpudlian stand-up John Bishop as the deceased Frankie is smart: he’s not onscreen much, so his limited thesping (previous credits amount to cameos and Skins) isn’t an issue. But the comic’s affable persona amplifies the emotional impact of the character’s death, lending credibility to Fergus’s grief and guilt-driven quest. Not every performance is as successful, Loach’s habit of filling out his cast with unknown faces resulting in some unconvincing scenes. But they don’t detract from the righteous anger of regular collaborator Laverty’s script, which culminates not in bullets and explosions, but quiet despair. [Chris Buckle]

Archipelago

Faster

Director: Joanna Hogg

Director: George Tillman Jr.

Starring: Kate Fahy, Tom Hiddleston, Lydia Leonard Released: 4 Mar Certificate: 15

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Jackson-Cohen Released: 25 Mar Certificate: 15

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Archipelago can’t help but stand out as a depiction of wealthy toffs. In a repeat of the central motif of director Joanna Hogg’s debut film Unrelated, an upper middle class family is holidaying in an exotic corner of Europe. Bitter and resentful of one another, their disappointment towards life is apparent in every perfectly composed scene. Long still pictures of a leisurely vacation on one of the lush Scilly Isles are marred by the characters’ miserable bickering.

The filmmaking process is somehow being allegorised here. Daughter Cynthia (Lydia Leonard) neurotically insists on a ludicrously particular seating arrangement when the five protagonists visit a local restaurant. Painter Christopher, one of two outsiders who infiltrate the familial gathering, counteracts his apparent sadness at being single and childless through his work’s obsession with colour and tonality. Is art the only way for the privileged to deal with their boredom and discontent? Hogg seems to be suggesting so. [Helen Wright]

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has decided to ditch his recent demeaning, family friendly roles in favour of this retro revenge flick with a gritty 70s flavour. Johnson is ‘Driver’, a man fresh out of a ten-year prison stretch on the hunt for the men who set him up and killed his brother. Armed with a six shooter and his black muscle car, God help anyone who stands in his way. Billy Bob Thornton’s ‘Cop’, a heroin addict with family problems, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen’s ‘Killer’, a rather dapper hitman, are the men out to stop him. The rest are simply cannon fodder as within minutes of the film's opening the action begins, stripped down to the essentials of car chases, gun fights and the old message of redemption. What this has over other action fare is that all the main players have the ability to emote; say what you like about Johnson, he has enough presence and charisma to make this old vehicle purr. [Thom Atkinson]

Norwegian Wood

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Director: Tran Anh Hung

Director: Werner Herzog

Starring: Ken’ichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi, Kiko Mizuhara Released: TBC Certificate: TBC

Starring: Werner Herzog, Dominique Baffier, Wulf Hein, Maurice Maurin Released: 25 Mar Certificate: TBC

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Vietnamese Director Tran Anh Hung has created a piece of cinematic beauty in Norwegian Wood, an adaptation of the modern literary classic by Haruki Murakami. Set in 1960s Japan, the film tells the mournful story of Toru Watanabe and his tragic relationship with Naoko. Driven by a shared sense of loss following the death of Kizuki, Naoko’s soulmate and Watanabe’s best friend, the couple develop a love of their own, set against the stunning backdrop of the Japanese countryside. With delicate attention to detail and a haunting score by Jonnny Greenwood, each scene evokes a powerful sense of place with palpable passion between the young lovers. However, as their romance languidly twists from torment to tragedy a feeling of impatience sets in. Rather than a will they/won’t they scenario, it’s more a case of why are they? This is where Murakami’s immaculate characterisation and warm observation outclass any of the tools Anh Hung has at his disposal.

[Matthew Stanger]

3D is widely seen as the cinematic tool of the future, so trust Werner Herzog to take it into the past. Cave of Forgotten Dreams is the mercurial German’s first film in three dimensions, and while the effect is a little wobbly in spots, it pays glorious dividends when he ventures into the depths of the Chauvet Cave, bringing 30,000 year-old cave paintings to vivid life. The director’s customary voiceover imbues the images with depth and meaning too, with Herzog suggesting that this cave was “where the modern human soul was awakened”, and he has assembled a typically eccentric group of participants to guide him along the dark and narrow path. There’s a scientist who used to perform in the circus, a perfumer who explores the cave by smelling the rocks, and by the time the nuclear crocodiles have shown up you’ll have long realised that nobody but Werner Herzog could have made Cave of Forgotten Dreams. May he long continue to explore such unchartered territory and tell extraordinary stories in his own inimitable fashion. [Philip Concannon]

54 THE SKINNY March 2011

Repulsion

For people interested in the film industry, the University of Glasgow is hosting a Subtitling Day on 19 March. Professional subtitler Ian Burley, who worked on the acclaimed Etre et Avoir amongst others, will be giving two lectures about subtitling, including the challenges of translating colloquial language for different cultural audiences. There will be several other talks throughout the day. The event is free, with only a limited number of places, so be sure to book yours. See the GFT website for contact details.

Cave of forgotten dreams

On 22 March Cave of Forgotten Dreams is showing at the DCA in Dundee with a special live Q&A with the director, Werner Herzog, via satellite. Herzog is one of the most eccentric and prolific directors of recent times, and his documentaries (including Grizzly Man and My Best Fiend) are wonderfully unique. Here he visits the caves at Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc in France, which contain some of the oldest known examples of human art.

This event is a must-see for documentary fans, although it’s worth going just for the Q&A, which is guaranteed to be a fascinating and entertaining account from the director.

The Filmhouse is hosting a series of films focussed on the representation of gangs and gang culture in cinema, with the last two films showing in March. Each film is preceded by a short talk by an academic. On 1 March the classic 1963 adaptation of Lord of the Flies is screening, in which a class of English schoolboys are stranded on a desert island and forced to fend for themselves.

The last film in the season is City of God, showing on 8 March, which is a powerful, violent account of a boy’s life in a slum in Rio de Janeiro.

NT Live is hosting Oscar-winner Danny Boyle’s production of Frankenstein on 17 March. The play

by Nick Dear, an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel, is being shown live via satellite in cinemas across Scotland, so is sure to be screened nearby.[Becky Bartlett]

Frankenstein

FILM

DVD REVIEWS PELICAN BLOOD

THE ARBOR

CONFESSIONS OF A DOG

DIRECTOR: KARL GOLDEN

DIRECTOR: CLIO BARNARD

DIRECTOR: GEN TAKAHASHI

STARRING: HARRY TREADAWAY, EMMA BOOTH RELEASED: 7 MAR CERTIFICATE: 15

STARRING: KATE RUTTER, CHRISTINE BOTTOMLEY, GEORGE COSTIGAN RELEASED: 14 MAR CERTIFICATE: 15

STARRING: SHUN SUGATA, HARUMI INOUE, JUN’ICHI KAWAMOTA RELEASED: 14 MAR CERTIFICATE: TBC

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Adapted from Cris Freddi’s cult novel of the same name, Pelican Blood follows avid birdwatcher Nikko (Harry Treadaway), his rekindled, toxic relationship with environmental activist Stevie (Emma Booth) and his attempts to find two more birds for his list before he commits suicide. Director Karl Golden gives a delicate but unflinching touch to the controversial subject matter, and allows his young cast to shine. Treadaway, in his first lead role, exudes an appealing combination of disturbed young man and Brit cool swagger, while Australian Booth is charismatic and believable. The simple plot is accompanied by an excellent indie soundtrack, including Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and The Coral, while Nikko’s mood is cleverly reflected in his environment.

Pelican Blood is a film that – like the novel – will divide audiences, but is to be commended for managing to be both uplifting and nihilistic, and for its uncompromising approach. [Becky Bartlett]

Clio Barnard’s incredible documentary The Arbor explores the life and legacy of playwright Andrea Dunbar. Concentrating its gaze on the run down estate in Bradford where Dunbar lived, the film comes to focus on the tumultuous life of her daughter, Lorraine, who was left alone at the age of 10 when her mother died in 1990 (aged only 29). Barnard tells this tragic story through a unique and genre-defying reconstruction.

Taking audio interviews of members of the Dunbar family and their neighbours, the director has the actors lip-sync with the recordings to create this mind-bending film filled with discordant yet complementary images. Beautifully shot, The Arbor intercuts performances of Dunbar’s plays, archive footage, and re-enacted real life situations, to create a dynamic and powerful mix of measured takes and varied perspectives. An affecting yet slick rendition of history, its striking authenticity of voice makes this one of the most interesting releases of the year. [Nicola Balkind]

EASY A

CHILDREN OF GOD

DIRECTOR: WILL GLUCK

DIRECTOR: KAREEM MORTIMER

STARRING: EMMA STONE, STANLEY TUCCI, PATRICIA CLARKSON, THOMAS HADEN CHURCH RELEASED: OUT NOW CERTIFICATE: 15

STARRING: STEPHEN TYRONE WILLIAMS, JOHNNY FERRO RELEASED: 21 MAR CERTIFICATE: 15

rrrr When Olive (Emma Stone) tells her best friend a white lie about losing her virginity (her “V-card”) she finds that her “terminological inexactitude” travels fast. Previously one of the anonymous students at Ojai High – one of those impossibly sunny schools that only exist in the movies (we tell ourselves, shivering in Scotland) – she now becomes a minor celebrity as the lies start to pile up one on top of another, “kinda like Jenga”. While Easy A makes many explicit references to the films of John Hughes, Olive is too clued up and self-assured to have the pathos of a Hughes heroine. Instead, the pleasure of this sparkling teen comedy – one which diverts attention from the occasionally shaky plot – is the sharp and oh-so-quotable dialogue as it is delivered by the husky and sassy Stone. Also having great fun are Tucci and Clarkson as Olive’s impossibly groovy parents, given to saying things like: “No judgement, but you look like a stripper.” [Keir Roper-Caldbeck] WWW.SONYPICTURES.COM/HOMEVIDEO/EASYA/

films worth talking about

HOME OF THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

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Filmed back in 2005, director Gen Takahashi struggled to get Confessions of a Dog screened domestically, its depiction of police corruption apparently cutting too close to the bone. In a prophetic opening scene, a policeman on a sleepy beat stops a passing student (and politician’s daughter), earning himself a reprimand. “Make sure you know exactly who you’re questioning,” the Captain warns, the first sign of the rot later revealed to riddle the system. Detective Takeda (Shun Sugata) occupies the centre of the film’s gratifyingly complex web of colleagues, criminals and civilians, his moral corrosion acquiring Shakespearean overtones as his confessional diary entries mutate into expressionistic soliloquies. Sugata, best known in the West for small parts in Kill Bill and The Last Samurai, is exceptional: genial and disciplined in the opening act; increasingly cold and intimidating as the years go by and the toll grows heavy. At over three hours, his development is anything but rushed, but it’s always absorbing. [Chris Buckle]

GENIUS WITHIN: THE INNER LIFE OF GLENN GOULD DIRECTOR: MICHELE HOZER, PETER RAYMONT

RELEASED: 28 MAR CERTIFICATE: E

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“Rosie O’Donnell vs. the Bahamas” may seem like the ultimate B-movie but such was the level of hysteria caused by her gay family cruise ship in the Caribbean in 2004 that you half-expect her to rise Godzilla-like from the ocean depths and lay waste to the islands.

Bahaman writer/director Kareem Mortimer follows several characters impacted by the deeply ingrained homophobia she ignited. A failing art student finds love and inspiration in the arms of a more uninhibited local, while the wife of a frighteningly homophobic anti-gay activist is forced to face some ugly home truths.

In a sense there’s nothing hugely original, but the Caribbean setting and characters make everything new again. Most interesting is the almost meta-textual conflict between the Disneyesque white middle class gay utopia represented by O’Donnell and parroted by so many American LGBT features, and the reality, good and bad, Mortimer depicts. His unflinching willingness to look at the real world charges the film and gives it power. [Scotty McKellar]

When the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould made his New York debut in 1955 at the age of 22 he seemed to have come from nowhere. A mercurial musician who cut a handsome and charismatic figure, he quickly became a media celebrity, successfully wooing an international audience with his flawless technique and idiosyncratic interpretations of the classical greats. With this fame came a fascination with his personal quirks; his insistent humming as he played, his specially made low piano chair which always travelled with him, and his ever-present woolly gloves to protect his hands. But after he quit concert playing at the age of 31 and began a successful, if reclusive, career as a recording artist and radio producer, these peculiarities seemed to slowly overwhelm his personality. The Genius Within tells the story of this wonderful, tragic life through archive footage and exhaustive interviews, and provides an absorbing introduction to both Gould and the often strange world of classical connoisseurship. [Keir Roper-Caldbeck]

March – April 2011

CCA Glasgow presents an eclectic programme this March and April including free exhibitions, live music, performance and film.

Pick up a brochure at CCA or in selected venues across Glasgow.

Join us in the Terrace Bar every Friday and Saturday from 9pm for free DJ nights!

Keep up to date with CCA news on Twitter @CCA_Glasgow and

www.facebook.com/CCA.Glasgow.1

TWO WEEKS OF SENSATIONAL SCIENCE

9-22 April

Online booking: www.sciencefestival.co.uk Booking hotline: 0131 553 0322

MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 55

REVIEW

ART

REVIEW

August Sander @ The Dean Gallery People of the 20th Century The Dean Gallery Until 10 Jul

rrrr Not content with just one exhibition of great German art in Edinburgh – that of Rosmarie Trockel at the Talbot Rice Gallery – The Dean Gallery presents us with a second. This time, in the form of seminal 20th Century German photographer August Sander, courtesy of Artist Rooms.

People of the 20th Century was Sander's long running project, in which he attempted to document a cross-section of society in the Weimar Republic in the first half of the 20th Century. With a methodical approach, he looked to find a truthful view of society; one that included students, artists, Nazi officers, craftsmen, mothers, farmers and the unemployed, to name but a few. The project looked to accommodate all levels of class, from the wealthy and powerful to the poorest and most overlooked.

Manfred Pernice

It is common to feel distanced from historical events, but Sander’s photographs seem to establish a firm connection with the people of the past. Each photograph is an intimate portrait of an individual with an overt, personal story. At the same time, by omitting the subjects' names from the photograph titles, replacing them with their job title, profession or class, Sander simultaneously democratises and objectifies his subjects. The German Dadaist Raoul Hausmann for example, is reduced to the title The Artist. Through this device the people are not refined to merely their individual stories but also act as a representative for their position in society.

Sander's photographs are thoroughly captivating and technically exquisite. It is easy to see his influence on later photographers, such as Diane Arbus and Cindy Sherman. Through a dedicated study of those who made up his society, Sander has given us a detailed survey of an entire era, and a timeless portrait of its inhabitants.[ Marcus Pibworth] www.nationalgalleries.org

5 March – 8 May 2011

152 Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4DY 01382 909900 www.dca.org.uk Exhibition open: Tue – Sat 11:00 – 18:00 Thu 11:00 – 20:00, Sun 12:00 – 18:00 Admission free

56 THE SKINNY March 2011

Harun Farocki @ CCA Comparison via a Third CCA Until 3 Mar

rrrrr There were a few who thought the CCA a lost cause.

A series of obscure shows that persistently fell short of what Glasgow’s foremost contemporary art institution should be offering opened a significant lacuna in the city’s cultural output. With GoMA nothing but a crumbling classical edifice, Glasgow looks to the CCA to lead the way in establishing the city as a forerunner in the arts, rather than simply leaving it all up to the kids.

With Harun Farocki’s Comparison via a Third, the gallery’s gone some way towards redeeming itself.

To many, German filmmaker Farocki is no less an obscure figure, but one undoubtedly worth knowing about. His three films are in turn engaging, shocking and exceptionally well made. Perfectly paced, they are a masterclass in the construction of drama in documentary film.

The film Comparison via a Third shows various methods of brick production in India, Africa and Europe.

Using a double channel video projection, we see the different cultures side by side, exposing the vast gulf that separates Westernised factory processes from the rest of the world. We find ourselves transfixed, not by the hands-on methods of non-Western countries, but the absurdity of modern factory processes.

I Thought I was Seeing Convicts is likewise a dual projection. It compares the systems of control put in place by prisons and supermarkets to govern the behaviour of inmates and shoppers. Exposing the barbarism of the prison environment, it shows how prison wardens orchestrate fights between inmates, normally leading to one being shot by a guard for their disobedience.

Far from didactic, these works are subtle and complex. What is more, they are absolutely certain of their politics. Smug, deluded and in every way estranged, Western society is long overdue a good look at itself – perhaps through the eyes of this excellent filmmaker.

[Andrew Cattanach] to reaD an interview with harun farocki, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/articles/art www.cca-glasgow.com

BOOKS

REVIEWS JAMRACH’S MENAGERIE

TWENTY-ONE LOCKS

THE SHARD BOX

THE CELESTIAL CAFE

BY LAURA BARTON

BY LIZ NIVEN

BY STUART MURDOCH

BY CAROL BIRCH

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The whistle stop nature of this simple adventure story is a bit deceiving. Jaf’s account of growing up in London, mid-nineteenth century, combines brevity and emotion, which many writers (and some readers) would find tricky. Some readers also just don’t take to historical novels – but Jamrach’s Menagerie is a historical novel that doesn’t slow down the action with gratuitous, footnote like, detail. And even in the historical novel genre – and admit it, there are some fine examples in this genre – it’s a bit of a find. Perhaps comparisons with Life of Pi are inevitable, given the ingredients, but Birch might just have the edge. The narrator finds an almost musical rhythm to his descriptions which lifts this above the standard coming of age story. This is Carol Birch’s tenth novel, and it’s not so much for the enormous number of set pieces that make this book worth recommending, more that Birch seems to have captured something truthful about how we interact. Jaf lets others tell their own story within his and there is something powerful about that. Even minor characters get their own voice rather than just acting as devices.

Try it. [Sue Lawrenson]

DIGITAL

OUT NOW. PUBLISHED BY CANONGATE. COVER PRICE £12.99

There are 21 locks in a canal running through a standard-issue North Lancashire town, the nondescript anonymity of the village perfectly befitting Jeannie, the unexceptional girl at the big heart of this story. She’s dull, but as you follow her humdrum, indistinct character magnetically through the story you’ll realise she is more real and closer to you than your shadow. The context provides the perfect realist template and although Barton’s tone initially seems contrived, a stealthy undertow takes you unawares deep into the grey hullabaloo of the dreary small town narrative. Barton is prolifically and incredibly descriptive; innocuous domestic moments reveal a lyrical and melancholic dreariness and day-to-day inanities become the poignant pillars of a surprising tragedy.

The story is quiet but secretly bold, its undercurrent begging the questions: are we hostages to fortune or do we mastermind our own tragedies? Does our social context oppress us or is it our own internal hegemony? Perhaps because the story resonates with both the ordinary moments that make up the bulk of our lives, and with the less frequent throatconstricting, wide-eyed, surely-there-is-more-to-life moments, that this is a most real, most applicable and accessible contemporary novel that you should read. [Renée Rowland]

In a new collection of poems about her experiences in China, Liz Niven seems the perfect traveller. She’s adventurous in confronting the culture she’s exploring, but crucially self-reflexive enough to question her own attitudes too. Highlights include two boisterous monologues in the garrulous Scots of the Dragon, a low-key hotel-room reflection about the Chinese Englishlanguage TV channel aptly called CCTV and a charming riff on the cliché ‘all the tea in China’ called ‘aw the Ts in China’: “Tian’anmen, Tibet, Taiwan”.

Running alongside these political poems are the suggestions of a more personal, family narrative about a mother visiting her adult son and daughter who have emigrated to work in China. Charming, quickly drawn doodles in the corner of each page highlight an appealing unguardedness and humour.

In a post-script to the book, Niven includes an edited Gmail-chat with her daughter discussing the title of the collection, which comes from the decorative boxlids made from fragments of porcelain destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, stating it’s about combining damaged elements to make a beautiful whole. Alternately tinkling and refracting like fragments of fine porcelain and clattering percussively like Olympics construction works, The Shard Box is a vivid portrait of modern China. [Colin Herd]

OUT NOW. PUBLISHED BY QUERCUS. COVER PRICE £7.99 PAPERBACK

OUT NOW. PUBLISHED BY LUATH. COVER PRICE £7.99

OUT NOW. PUBLISHED BY POMONA BOOKS. COVER PRICE £8.99

HOW TO BE DIGITAL DURING A REVOLUTION Fight the power! Update your Facebook status!

WORDS: ALEX COLE ILLUSTRATION: JAMIE JOHNSON

WOULDN’T YOU know it, that cheap holiday you’re taking has dropped you smack dab into the middle of a socio-political revolution. How terribly inconvenient for you, what with your regular Bargain Hunt habit on iPlayer. What you need is a game plan for getting to your interwebs without government interference or, if you’re bored, organising a massive revolution to topple an oppressive autocratic regime. The Digital section is here to help.

Encrypt everything: if your revolution HQ is raided, or you need to pass through customs, your flimsy Windows account password won’t stop the men in dark suits from going through all your subversive files. You can hide all your stuff in a hidden disk drive with free software TrueCrypt, which encrypts your secret files with code so powerful the FBI can’t crack it. You can even make a fake hidden drive that has junk files, to make it look like you’re cooperating. Just don’t forget the password: once it’s locked, it’s locked.

Pole-vault firewalls: some authoritarian countries don’t share the tolerant view we have of stupid ideas, and block certain websites outright while you’re using their internet. Fake them out by making your computer look like it’s connecting from a more liberal country with a VPN connection.

Universities have ‘em for free while you’re a student, but even a free service like proXPN will fool any geographic restrictions, as well as encrypting your internet data in transit (useful when spies are snooping the free WiFi you get at the café).

Hide in The Cloud: You can keep all kinds of files, emails, settings and passwords saved in The Cloud (online storage like Gmail’s inbox) and never need

BITE-SIZED TECH NUGGETS WITH ALEX COLE

THE FEED

The Celestial Café is the first book

by Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch. Written in diary-form it gives the reader an insight into the mind of an unconventional rock star. The diary begins in 2002, a period capturing the making of the record Dear Catastrophe Waitress. Murdoch ‘talks’ to his fans and invites them into his world. It’s a world of ‘indie errands’, tea drinking, writing music, running, football and, surprisingly, God worshipping. It becomes apparent that Murdoch’s passion for music can’t be exaggerated; he even admits that his life depends on it.

It’s fascinating to uncover his musical influences and his belief in fate – he thinks that every decision he makes in life will determine the sound of the next Belle and Sebastian record (and why not?).

He’s a man blessed with freedom, a man not tied to a nine-to- five job, free to write music whenever he chooses. Occasionally though, Murdoch has moments when he finds it difficult to be free and becomes restless and bored.

As you progress through the book and the band tour abroad more frequently descriptions of Murdoch’s beloved city of Glasgow are dream-like and he often wishes he were back on Byres Road.

A highly enjoyable and captivating account of a man wholly committed to his band. [Tina Koenig]

BULLETSTORM PUBLISHER: EA RELEASE DATE:OUT NOW CONSOLE(S): WINDOWS, PS3, XBOX 360 PRICE: £34.99

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to carry around a laptop that can be compromised.

To make best use of a public computer, use the browser’s private browsing mode, which won’t leave any trace of your history or passwords. Also try using a disposable email service like 10 Minute Mail, where you can make über-temporary email accounts that vanish before they can be read by the baddies. Just beware of keyloggers, which record what you type behind the scenes.

In the blackout: Sometimes the man comes down hard, and the ISPs cut off the internet

outright (right when the new Corrie is on, naturally). There’s only so much you can do on your own to get the word out, but last month Google, Twitter and even France stepped in to lend a hand to Egypt during its little fracas. A slew of specialpurpose telephone numbers were made available for revolutionaries to speak any messages they had, which would be translated and posted into special Tweets, while others were toll-free lines for dial-up modems (remember those?) to connect to.

Vive la revolution!

Bulletstorm is well past the marmite of games. Either you know exactly what kind of bloodfest you’re getting into by picking up that controller, or you want nothing to do with this game. The gameplay is that natural evolution of achievement – and trophybased gaming – where accomplishments over the course of play result in a nice trophy room proving how clever you are. In Bulletstorm’s case, however, those achievements are entirely related to how creatively you kill everyone else on the screen.

It’s obvious a huge amount of time has been spent on the visuals and the crazy-pretty levels, but the sad truth is you won’t notice more than 15 seconds of it all in this shouty, 200 mph game. You don’t just open doors, you kick them off the hinges into other players. You never flick a switch when you can use your laser whip to bitch-slap it open. Killing an enemy with a simple revolver is shamefully dull compared to flinging them into an electrical conduit after shooting them with a quadruple-barreled shotgun.

Still, if you’re bored by things like subtlety or characters, the gameplay has the same kind of brutal charm as oldies like Unreal Tournament: grab a weird weapon, run through a weird environment, and kill everything you see in weird ways. It’s begging to be accompanied by Doritos, cold pizza, cheap lager and all-night ladder tournaments. This isn’t going to be one of those games that redefines a genre, like Halo.

It isn’t trying to be. It’s just trying to be unhinged fun.

And for a while, anyway, it manages nicely.[Alex Cole]

AUNTIE BEEB RELEASES IPLAYER APP FOR IPAD AND ANDROID, NERD WORLD IS NOT IMPRESSED • NOKIA RE-ENTERS THE SMARTPHONE WORLD, WE’RE HOPING THAT ANNOYING RINGTONE IS LEFT BEHIND • TABLETS ARE COMING IN ALL KINDS OF FLAVOURS THIS YEAR, IPAD 2 LIKELY TO FACE ‘EM ALL OFF • SUPERCOMPUTER GOES TOE-TO-TOE WITH HUMANS ON JEOPARDY, WON’T PLAY FOR MONEY, ONLY HAPPINESS • 3D CROPPING UP ON TABLETS AND MOBILES, NOW YOU CAN ENJOY HEADACHES EVERYWHERE YOU GO • WORLD CREDITS TWITTER AND FACEBOOK FOR MIDDLE EAST REVOLUTIONS, WEBSITES GO BACK TO DISCUSSING JUSTIN BIEBER

MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 57

PERFORM

Venue of the Month:

Revealing the New The National Theatre of Scotland presents Reveal, a programme that creates a venue without walls WORDS: Gareth K Vile

When the National Theatre of Scotland was born five years ago, after a protracted conception and labour, it boasted that it was “theatre without walls.” In much the same way, this venue of the month is a venue without walls, featuring the Reveal programme, part of the NTS’ debate about its identity as Scotland’s national theatre.

Reveal is clearly designed to introduce the

NTS’s audience to the new generation of theatre makers. Gary McNair, last seen bothering global capitalism with Crunch, Robert Softley getting political about the right to self-determination and Molly Taylor loving the transport system are all working for the first time with the company, while a rehearsed reading of Martin Travers’ Roman Bridge and a platform performance of Ian Finlay

MacLeod’s Somersaults give insights into works in progress. With both the Traverse and, more surprisingly, the Citizens enlisted to stage the season – with additional help from The Play, A Pie and A Pint team at Òran Mór, Reveal aims to locate the NTS at the experimental edge of theatre and made good its inclusive manifesto.

Given the energy and experimentalism that characterises much new Scottish work, the NTS’s audience may be introduced to unfamiliar styles. McNair, although a veteran of The Arches and The Òran Mór, straddles a variety of genres: “I’ve tried to avoid labelling myself – people have said it is a hybrid of stand up and monologues,” he explains. “But I am just making what I am making.” And while he avoids easy classification, McNair’s skill is to unite radical ideas and an easy-going, audience friendly performance.

Unsurprisingly, McNair is diving into new territory. “I tend to tackle subjects i don’t understand,” he laughs. “If I did make shows about things I do understand, I’d make one show, about REM, and then I’d have to get a job.” And after heading to the apocalypse and financial meltdown, there was an obvious topic.

“I realised as a 25 year old, it’s not good to know nothing about politics. That why I went for this.”

Across the NTS’s programme, there has always been a diversity of subjects and styles.

In the past, this has led to criticism from critics who believe that its remit ought to be to preserve the best of Scottish drama. While that is catered for elsewhere in this year’s selection, Reveal consciously goes beyond the parochial, as in the teaming of Robert Softley with Pol Heyvaert, the Belgian creator of Aalst, one of the

PREVIEW

PREVIEW

The Bourne Identity

Born Again The Belief Project Tron 2-5 Mar

Lord of the Flies Theatre Royal, Glasgow 2 - 5 Mar

Matthew Bourne made his name with his all male version of Swan Lake, a bold re-imagining of the ballet classic that cut through sentimentality to create a forceful, vigorous choreography that married balletic technique to contemporary energy. Arriving in Glasgow for Lord of the Flies, Bourne and co-director Scott Ambler have used the famously violent story to engage local young men in professional dance theatre.

“Part of the remit was to cast the net really wide,” Ambler explains. The project, supported

by Creative Scotland and the Ambassadors theatres, offered “a programme of workshops for 150 lads, over a quite a few months, until we got the fifteen who who are going to take part in the performances.”

These fifteen will be alongside professional dancers, telling the familiar story of boys devolving to primitive savagery, in a production that has the hallmarks of Bourne’s narrative driven and multi-media choreography. “We wanted to aim the work at lads,” Ambler continues. “We kept coming back to Lord of the Flies: it has interesting characters and the dancing is quite tribal, not the pretty ballet type.” The music by Terry Davies, in keeping with the theme is “thumping and heavy,” Ambler adds.

Bourne’s previous choreography, from Play Without Words through to The Car Man has hit the sweet spot between popular and

58 THE SKINNY March 2011

Flatrate are nothing if not inclusive. Not only does their monthly night at The 13th Note invite everyone from poets and musicians to burlesque dancers and politicians. “Everyone who turns up is part of the Flatrate Nation,” says Rob Jones. As one of the shadowy cabal behind the company’s multi-media assault, and director of their latest play, The Belief Project, Jones has been involved in the company’s radio show, performances and also hosts their open night.

In line with Flatrate’s ecelectic devising approach, this show includes the presence of a musician, further informing their creative process. “Dol Eoin is an incredible presence as a performer,” acknowledges Jones. “The music he makes responds to writer Steve Redman’s ideas and Steve has then been responding to the music.”

experimental, introducing a generation to the idea that dance isn’t necessarily all about elegance and tradition. Lord of the Flies, equal parts X-Factor opportunity for local young men, dramatic storytelling, utterly modern movement and social inclusion project is an extension to Bourne and Ambler’s unique trajectory.[Gareth K Vile] Lord of the Flies, Theatre Royal Glasgow 2 - 5 Mar Wed - 7.30pm. Thu & Sat mats, 2.30pm, £10 - £26 Box Office: 08448 717 647 www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow

NTS’s great successes.

Softley, like McNair, is excited by the opportunity to collaborate with the national company, especially as it allows him to maintain the distinctive identity of his work. “It’s inevitable every time I perform, being disabled, that the audience reads layers in to the work that wouldn’t be there with a non-disabled performer,” he begins. “But I usually focus on other issues. My previous work has always tended towards the overtly political – I guess at the core of what I want to do is engage with people and then challenge them to change their preconceptions of the world around them.”

The seriousness of Softley’s approach is also reflected in McNair’s content, yet they share a desire to be more than just agit-prop.

“Girl X fits in with my political work,” he continues. “Although I hope audiences are also entertained while they’re being challenged – there’re quite a few laughs here too!” And in this mixture, Reveal’s intentions are precisely revealed.

count me in: Traverse 2-5 mar, times vary £6/4, Citizens 16,18 & 19 mar, times vary, £10. love letters to the public transport system: traverse 2-5 mar, times vary, £6/4. citzens 17-19 mar,, times vary, £10 www.traverse.co.uk www.citz.co.uk www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/content/

Jones and Redman created a three handed play that looks at the darker side of belief. The plot focuses on “a young couple with big ideas.

But then things fall apart somewhat and the recession bites, and they take on an old uni friend who has been having some troubles with substance abuse as a lodger,” Jones continues. “They all get lost when they need each other most. It’s pretty effing tragic,” he laughs.

“Holding on too tight to faith dehumanises all the characters in different ways.”

Yet the play refuses to draw a definite conclusion about the nature of faith. “Belief is definitely a double edged sword in the play,” he explains.

“To use a cliché, it’s dangerous to hang on to your beliefs when the things around you are what needs seeing to. But at the same time, that belief makes us human.It becomes quite circular and I don’t know if I have reached a conclusion about it!”

[Gareth K Vile] Tron Theatre, 2-5 Mar, 8pm, £9(£7)

COMEDY

NONE OF THE ABOVE

IMRAN YUSUF talks to us about identity and the futility of box-ticking INTERVIEW: ARIADNE CASS-MARAN ILLUSTRATION: ROBBIE PORTER

30th

THE CLARSACH SOCIETY’S

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL HARP FESTIVAL 8-13 April 2011

Merchiston Castle School Edinburgh www.harpfestival.co.uk Bookings : Hub Tickets, Castlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2NE or by telephone : +44(0)131-473 2000 www.hubtickets.co.uk Live music from around the world Harp classes for all ages & stages (harps provided for beginners) Workshops Harpmakers’ Exhibition Family Ceilidh

SCOTTISH CHARITY No SC011819

On The

...Shakespeare,

Rocks Arts Festival

pirate musicals, puppets, stand up, IMRAN YUSUF has been working in comedy for years, but his career exploded last year when his free show, as part of the Laughing Horse Free Festival, was nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award. Audiences queued round the block to get into his shows and since then, he’s appeared every-where, including BBC3’s Edinburgh Comedy Fest and the Michael McIntyre Road Show. The BBC described Yusuf as the hardest working comedian and he tells me he had 322 gigs last year. 101 of these were in Edinburgh in August.

A practising Muslim, he was also fasting for Ramadan at the time. How did he not die?

“I came pretty close on stage a couple of times on stage,” he says. “There were moments where I felt myself about to collapse, but the professional side of me said, ‘Don’t fall over, you’ll look stupid.’

It was quite punishing but I love what I do. I’ve wanted to be a comedian since I was very young.

I love the craft. Comedy is a brilliant platform to explore ideas.”

A lot of these ideas he explores onstage are to do with his life and upbringing. Throughout this, he seems to resist the idea of putting himself or anyone else into neat little boxes, which is a real breath of fresh air. Does this represent a pushing back against the current fearful climate?

“I wouldn’t say necessarily pushing against; it’s been a natural evolution of intense introspection.

When I went away to the Middle East for my religious pilgrimage, I really questioned the validity of my faith and why it meant so much to me. What were the mechanisms in my head which made it such an issue.” Born in Kenya, schooled in the US and now resident in Britain, he spent a lot of time considering what makes up our identity. Whilst he thinks that the sense of belonging that we get from being part of a group or community is comforting,

ultimately it’s a manufactured construct that can be as divisive as it is uniting. “All that binds us, the only thing that matters, is how we actively choose to behave from moment to moment in our daily lives amongst the people around us. That’s our true identity. I realised I didn’t have to participate with a group to feel as though I was more or less significant than anyone else.”

He describes his pilgrimage as the most difficult thing he’s ever done. “It tested my faith and made me see that there’s a greater purpose than a manufactured life with a nice car and television. There is a greater wisdom to embrace and a better quality of life to achieve. There is something more beautiful in this life than this daily grind of ticking boxes.”

It is perhaps this drive towards beauty that sustains his reputation as such a hard worker. “A lot of creative people are like that, people who want to communicate their ideas, they enjoy working hard.” Since the nomination and flurry of adoring press, Yusuf’s career has really gathered speed, with work flowing in from all quarters. Never one to rest on his laurels, he acknowledges that this is where he really has to prove himself: “I have to prove I’m not a gimmick; that I love my craft and want to go the distance. I want to be the best comedian I can become and reach the echelons of greatness and respect that my heroes have. I always tell people whenever I go into a meeting that my dream is to be bigger than Chris Rock.”

He tells me he thinks that sounds crazy, but with his combination of drive and talent, I don’t think it sounds crazy at all.

AN AUDIENCE WITH IMRAN YUSUF 4 APR, 7:30PM THE STAND, GLASGOW £10(£8).

PART OF THE MAGNERS GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL - SEE THE FEATURES SECTION UPFRONT FOR MORE COVERAGE

sketch comedy, film festival judged by

St Andrews

Pixar, chamber music masterclass, Brass Jaw, Peter Pan, improv comedy, bassoon quartet,

9

days, 70 events, 15 venues, all tickets £5 or less Scottish Chamber Orchestra, cabaret, animation, photography, dance, King Creosote in the library, lunchtime recitals, directing workshop, King Lear, ceilidh in the Castle, new writing, acting

16-24

workshop, painting...

April 2011

www.ontherocksfestival.com On The Rocks is part of the University of St Andrews Students’ Association , a registered charity SC019883

WWW.GLASGOWCOMEDYFESTIVAL.COM

MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 59

COMPS

Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival

We’ve teamed up with our partners at the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival (17 March – 10 April) for some rather great ticket deals.

More than 400 shows, across 50 venues, over 25 days - get all the details at www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com. That's a lot to choose from no matter what your taste or budget may be!

To get you off to a good start, we’ve got two pairs of tickets to give away for each of the following shows: • Tom Deacon (Thu 17 March , Blackfriars) • Celebrity Autobiography – Starring Rufus Hound and Siobhan Redmond (Fri 25 March, The King’s) • Caroline Rhea: Live! (Sat 26 March, The King’s) • Des Bishop: My Dad Was Nearly James Bond (Fri 1 April, The Citizens)

• Mike Wozniak (Mon 4 April, The Stand) Please indicate your preferred show when answering the question, and we'll try to accommodate this whenever possible.

Q: Which one of these acts has his own show on BBC Radio 1?

Closing date: Tuesday 15 March Terms: www.theskinny.co.uk/terms Tickets aren’t redeemable for cash. Over 18s only. www.drinkaware.co.uk for the facts

Scottish Ballet’s Alice Scottish Ballet is staging a brand new production of Alice and, oh my ears and whiskers, we’re giving away a pair of tickets for each of the Glasgow and Edinburgh shows. Amazinger and amazinger, the winners will also get a super secret Scottish Ballet goodie bag.

After tumbling through a camera lens, Alice finds herself in a strange dreamlike place and meets a series of fantastical characters. Guided by Lewis Carroll himself, she has to rely on her wits to find her way out through designs by Antony McDonald, musical score by Robert Moran and choreography

by Ashley Page.

Alice will play in Glasgow (Theatre Royal) on 12 April and Edinburgh (Festival Theatre) on 20 April.

Please indicate your preferred venue and we’ll try to accommodate whenever possible.

Q: What is Lewis Carroll’s real name?

Closing date: Thursday 31 March Terms: www.theskinny.co.uk/terms.

Tickets aren’t redeemable for cash

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60 THE SKINNY March 2011

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Glasgow music Tue 01 Mar Maybeshewill (Long Distance Calling) Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £6.50

DIY instrumentalists from Leicester.

Vices

Mike Nisbet, Jill Leighton, Beccy Atherton, Kieran Sinclair

Our Innocence Lost (Skarlett, Streetlight)

Dead Rock West (Man Gone Missing, Finding Albert, Mike Nisbet)

Alternative blues and folk singer/ songwriters.

Alternative Manc new wave rockers.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £6

Dave Dominey

Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

Electro-rock sextet from London town.

Funked-up bass loops with laptop, electric bass and a guest soloist.

We See Lights (The Emerald Armada, The 1930s)

Ex-Lovers (The Imagineers, First Tiger)

Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £7

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Edinburgh acoustic folk-rock collective.

John Hinshelwood, Tim Black Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

Americanaandcountry-tingedsongwriting.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Shoegaze dream-pop.

Mitchell Museum (White Heath, We See Lights, Mathalie Holmes and Tom Clarke) Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £4

Jamie Woon (Ghostpoet)

Jubilant Glasgow pop outfit.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £9

To Sofia, Rex Mundi, Stringman

Voice-looping post-dub singer/ songwriter.

Let’s Buy Happiness (Trapped In Kansas)

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Maranchez (Fireside Kicks, HeHateUs)

Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5

Full-on rock from the west coast.

Surfer Blood (Young Prisms, No Joy) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £9

Eccentric sunshine pop from the West Palm Beach quartet.

Counterparts

The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £10.50

Rush tribute act.

McChuills, 21:00–23:00, Free

Fri 04 Mar Cousti (Toni Etherson)

Pariso, Hush

Miaoux Miaoux

Bluesy rock three-piece.

Mono, 21:00–23:00, Free

Shadowthorne (Laws of Alchemy)

The Glasgow Slow Club Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Relaxed music night with live guests from the local scene.

Wed 02 Mar ENOCHIAN THEORY Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £10

Progressive rock chaps launch their new album.

Peter Frampton O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £24

Two hours of acoustic guitar. No support.

New Device, Lethargy, The Treatment, Million Dollar Reload Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, Free

Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

New album launch from the Airdrie death metallers.

Whole Lotta Led

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Led Zeppelin tribute act.

Anti-Nowhere League (Prairie Dugz, Deadbeat Carnival, Razorblade Smile) Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £9

Long-standing punk rockers, on the go since 1980.

Strange October (Rare Breed, Waiting On Jack) O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £6

Crashing and soaring rock’n’roll.

Beady Eye

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £sold out

Powerage Records tour, with bands of the classic rock persuasion.

Liam Gallagher’s new band, formed from the ashes of Oasis.

Admiral Fallow

Butterfly Fridays

The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £8

Louis Abbot’s rousing indie-folkorchestral crossover.

Glasvegas QMU, 19:30–22:00, £sold out

Glasgow quartet led by the boomvoiced James Allan.

Clay (Una Fiori) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

Experimental noisemakers.

Departures (Flags Raised, Notebooks) Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Butterfly & Pig, 19:00–03:00, Free

Live acoustic blues, followed by DJ Junior on deck duty.

UKReign (Preacher, Devil May Cry)

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £6

Classic indie rockers.

The Asps, Mono Fly, Would You Like Fries With That, Dirty Boots Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5

Death Vessel

Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £7.50

Acoustic US popper.

The Billy Walton Band (The Pat McManus Band) The Ferry, 19:00–00:00, £12.50

Member of the Asbury Park/New Jersey scene.

Former Ghosts

The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £7.50

Experimental pop team-up, with members of Xiu Xiu, Zola Jesus and Tearist.

SOUNDSHOK

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £5

Local sluts go wild.

Muso Buff Club, 21:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Fusion live band and club night.

Thu 03 Mar Alabama 3 Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £16

Intimate unplugged night with the blues rock troupe.

Fraser John Lindsay (Destino, Sparrahawk) Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £4

Cinematic blues and rock.

The Silent Forest (Donald MacDonald & The Islands, Blochestra) Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £5 (£3)

Folk-cum-joyous pop seven-piece.

Beady Eye Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £sold out

Goonies Never Say Die (No Comet)

Bloc+, 22:30–23:30, Free

Experimental rock sextet.

Sat 05 Mar

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Bittersweet acoustics and a paintedpanda face.

Butterfly Strategy

Butterfly & Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free

Live acoustic acts; local and far-flung.

13th Note, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Gypsy Mojo (Mothershed, Hollowpoint, Portion Fed) Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £6

Heavy rock band of pals conduct their usual open-jam-rammy.

Misconduct

O2 Academy, 20:30–22:30, £tbc

Wed 09 Mar Sacred Betrayal (For Everything A Reason, Our Final Hour) Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:30, £7

Electro-screamo-pop from Glasgow, known for their noise-making capabilities.

All Time Low (Yellowcard) Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £sold out

Chirpy American punk-pop.

Mona

Eclectic pop party, with a live feed from SXSW.

Oh No Oh My 13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

Happy-go-lucky US indie-poppers

Muso (Sean Kennedy, Wrote The Author, Mr Kil) Buff Club, 21:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Fusion live band and club night.

Thu 10 Mar D:Ream O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £13

Dance pop duo of Things Can Only Get Better fame.

Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £sold out

Devil May Cry Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £6

Experimental noisemakers.

The Limelight Music Festival Tron Theatre, 19:45–22:00, £15 (£11)

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Acoustic rock.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Butterfly Strategy

Acoustic Tribute Night

Live acoustic acts; local and far-flung.

Acoustic battle-cum-singalong.

Butterfly & Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free

Mon 14 Mar Skepta

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £9.50

North London grime MC and producer.

Hello Hello, Downhill, Your Summer Anthem Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £6

Outback Eskimos, We Came From The Sea, Kerrie Lynch

Skilled songwriting from the former Absentee mainman.

Beautiful, soothing acoustic numbers.

Jack Savoretti (Lali Arad) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

Mono, 21:00–23:00, Free

John B McKenna singsong and album launch.

Tue 08 Mar Devil’s Brigade

Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £10

American rockers.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

The Stupid Idiots 13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

Glasgow lyrical poppy-rockers.

Fri 11 Mar Bruno Mars O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £sold out

Young American singer/songwriter and producer.

Does It Offend You, Yeah?

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10

Spiky electro-rock and live hellraisers.

Till This Night

Punk rock greats playing the classics.

Swedish black metal rockers.

Glaswegian acoustic rockers launch their new EP.

Diagram of the Heart

Caitlin Rose Countryesque singer/songwriter.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £8

Folk-pop from the Portland five-piece.

Cut Copy (Holy Ghost)

Jack Bruce

San Fran and the Siscos

David Ell (Vanishing People, Ryan Patterson, Scott Beaton)

The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £21

The legendary bassist performs with full backing band.

San Fran and the Siscos introduce their favourite music acts.

Scottish songwriter, producer and composer.

Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £tbc

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £6

Shayne Ward

Fusion live band and club night.

The X-Factor pop fodder.

Buff Club, 21:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £25

The Phantom Band

Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £12

Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £10

Metallica tribute act.

Slouch, 21:00–00:00, Free

Indie and alternative rock.

The Babies

The Do Or Dies (Ghosts Of Progress, Audio:Model)

Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £7.50

New York indie-pop with guitars.

Bloc+, 22:30–23:30, Free

Raffish London indie four-piece.

The Revolt (The Clock)

Vic Goddard + The Subway Sect

Ghetto-pop songstress.

Punk rock legends

Squeaky-clean Irish pop. Popular with grannies.

Sat 12 Mar

Nodzzz (The Mantles, She’s Hit, Mickey Gloss)

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £tbc

Westlife

Glasgow Accies Cricket Club, 20:00–22:00, £10

SECC, 19:30–22:00, £40.50

Abrasive Wheels (Prairie Dugs, We Free Men)

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Experimental trio hailing from the US-of-A.

Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:30, £9

Punk rock with rowdy choruses.

Buffalo Tom

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £15

American alternative rockers.

Mike Posner (Talay Riley) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Michael Simons

Thu 17 Mar

Folk and blues fingerstyle guitarist.

Chase & Status (Yasmin, Redlight)

Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

Brel Sessions

Brel, 20:00–23:00, Free

SECC, 19:30–22:00, £35.50

Found (S-Type, The Phantom Band)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

Breakbeat-style R’n’B.

Beholder (Acren)

Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £7

Metallic rock five-piece, with beards.

Stiff Little Fingers

Glasgow punk-rock five-piece with big old riffs.

Fox Gut Daata

The Gathering

Folky stories, poems and music from Glasgow’s emerging talents.

Tron Theatre, 19:45–22:00, £15 (£11)

Daws Clubs

Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5

Alternative musings.

James Owne Fender (Jonathan Carr)

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Elbow

SECC, 18:30–22:00, £27.50

Guy Garvey showcases the new album and cherry-picks from Elbow’s impressive catalogue.

My Ruin

Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £11

Solo artist, songwriter and producer from Leeds.

All-screaming metallic rock.

Penguins Kill Polar Bears (The Darien Venture, The Little Yellow Ukeleles, Verse Metrics)

Bolton melodic indie rockers.

Cherry Ghost

Oran Mor, 19:00–23:00, £11

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £5

Gus Stirrat

Aucan

Jazz session with bassist Gus Stirrat and guests.

Big-riffed rockers.

Ill Nini (Breed 77, Static Cult)

Fortunate Sons

Country-tinged rock and roll.

Sweeping post-rock quartet.

13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

1901 Bar, 21:00–00:00, Free

The Works, Sneaky Petes, Revelry Thieves Slouch, 21:00–00:00, Free

Punk, rock and indie showcase.

Sun 13 Mar

Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £3

The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £3 (donation)

13th Note, 20:30–23:30, £5

Seven years in the making, the southsiders release their debut.

Andrea Heins

Run/Lucky/Free

Canadian-born singer songwriter on guitar, vocals and auto-harp.

Melodic folk-rock from the Edinburgh quartet.

Hey! Alaska (Lights Out Dresden, City of Statues, Lions)

Whisky River

Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £4

Screamo pop-cum-punk-cum-rock.

Wolfstone

The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £14.50

Highland-style music.

Slouch, 21:00–00:00, Free

1901 Bar, 21:00–00:00, Free

Foot-stomping blues rock.

Late Night Fiction

Bloc+, 22:30–23:30, Free

Hardcore chops meets emo hooks.

Clueless (Neon Hero)

Sun 20 Mar

Indie-pop with singalong choruses.

Glasgow Thrash Bash (Adrenicide, Virus, Amok, Genetic Mutation)

Bloc+, 21:00–23:30, Free

Fri 18 Mar

Stereo, 14:30–23:00, £6

Hairy hardcore metallers.

Reveille, Eternal Fags

Zodiac Mindwarp

Classic rock, fused with a bit of glam.

Experimental noisemakers.

British hard rockers and brainchild of Mark Manning.

Canadian blues guitar showman.

Arthouse (Project Orion, Vickie Paxton, Calum Wilson, My Name is a Dirty Word)

Cult 80s led by Tracy Tracy.

13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

The Glasgow Slow Club Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Relaxed music night with live guests from the local scene.

Clyde 1 Entertains (Scott Agnew, Stewar Francis, Kassidy)

The Ferry, 19:00–00:00, £8

The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £10.50

Bobby Gillespie and the gang perform Screamadelica in its entirety.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £12.50

TheAyrshireFiddleOrchestradotheirthing.

In your face bluesy rock.

Are You Experienced?

Thrash metal all-day mini fest.

Wed 16 Mar

Ben Poole

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

Longstandng punk rocker and songwriter for the likes of Sex Pistols.

Primal Scream

Innovation

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £10

Glen Matlock and the Philistines (Tragic city Thieves, Punk Jock)

Atomgevitter (Trees Of Sores, Filthpact, Clocked Out)

Original punk-pop four-piece.

Mono, 21:00–23:00, Free

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £7

All-screaming Basque folk five-piece.

Jimi Hendrix tribute act.

The folk-pop collective launch their third album, for the second time.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

Crystal Fighters

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

Mellifulous

Tue 15 Mar

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £6

Sat 19 Mar Echofela (Casino, The Retrofrets)

Metallica UK

Various bands and musicians play musical theatre favourites, for the launch of Limelight Studios.

Dan Michaelson and The Coastguards

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £5

Munich DJ fond of old school house.

Muso

The Hardy Souls, Switchback Road, The Dirty Suits, Shaun Philbin

Royal Republic (Eat Dr. Ape, The Jigawotts) The Kat Healy Music Club (Sonny Marvello, The Dead Man’s Waltz)

Men & Machines (San Quentin)

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £14

Indie, rock and alternative fare.

Punk and funk-influenced four-piece.

Slouch, 21:00–00:00, Free

Alternative rock and pop.

The American post-grunge rockers return after their brief hiatus.

Brel Sessions

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

The Delivery

Melodic soul anthems

New wave and experimental pop.

Folk and blues fingerstyle guitarist.

Indie folk session with Laura Wilkie (of Rachel Sermanni) and Sarah Hayes (of Admiral Fallow).

The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £13.50

The Kinks tribute act.

The Twilight Singers

Complex stuttering drums and squelchy bass.

Brel, 20:00–23:00, Free

Bloc+, 21:00–23:30, Free

Kast Off Kinks

French art-rock, laden with guitars and hooks.

13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Modern chamber music on guitar and double bass.

Les Yeux D’La Tete (Alaska Pipeline)

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Big-balled spectral rock from The Skinny faves.

Twinkly-eyed Irish popsters.

Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

Selection of pop, punk and emo.

Boyzone

Liam Gallagher’s new band, formed from the ashes of Oasis.

The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £12.50

John Hailstones (Zoobiezaretta, Massacre Cave, Borborigmi)

Clyde 1 Entertains (MGICF) Eve-of-festival gala, with headliner Stewart Francis.

The Forgotten Works

Anthemic hook-laden pop from London way.

Dance-friendly electro-rockers .

Various bands and musicians play musical theatre favourites, for the launch of Limelight Studios.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £6

Melodic hardcore punk.

Indie folk session with Laura Wilkie (of Rachel Sermanni) and Sarah Hayes (of Admiral Fallow).

Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £15

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £15

Tron Theatre, 19:45–22:00, £15 (£11)

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

Fushion of electro-pop, rock and R’n’B.

Watain

The Decemberists

The Limelight Music Festival

Various bands and musicians play musical theatre favourites, for the launch of Limelight Studios.

The Stranglers (Wilko Johnson)

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £23

Butterfly & Pig, 19:00–03:00, Free

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7

The Limelight Music Festival

Monoganon

The Who tribute act.

Live acoustic blues, followed by DJ Junior on deck duty.

FNUK

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £6

Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5

Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

Experimental indie-rock five-piece.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £11

Textured experimentals.

Irish indie rockers.

Flood of Red Who’s Who

Young pop hopeful, currently recording his debut EP with Aidan Moffat.

Panda Su (Esperi, I Build Collapsible Mountains)

Sneak preview of the acoustic singer/songwriters new album.

Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £8

Butterfly Fridays

Two Door Cinema Club

Melancholic sonic from the darkly experimental five-piece.

Slide guitar blues.

Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Hotchpotch of pop, with riotous tendencies.

Initial itch

The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £12.50

Tyvek

The Glaswegian thrash rockers launch their new album.

A Plastic Rose (Tiny Little Robots) The Heebie Jeebies, Bwani Junction, Johnny Reb

Funk-crazed musicianship.

Kevin McGuire

Bearsuit (Siamese Ghost)

Paws (Mondegreen, Male Pattern Band, Lady North)

The Erja Lyytinen Band (Virgil and The Accelerators)

The Glasgow Slow Club

The Ferry, 19:00–00:00, £6

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Hell Above

Michael Simons

Bloc+, 21:00–23:30, Free

Young metallic rockers.

Ivory Blacks, 19:30–22:30, £6

Hardcore metal foursome from Arbroath.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Americana-style rockabilly, fae Glasgow.

The British rockers re-form after a five year break.

Terror Bird, Golden Grrrls, Tangles

Duo Stephen Luscombe and Neil Arthur.

Black Hand Gang (The Wagon Rebellion, 32 Miles To Breakfast)

Alternative Glasgwegian indie-folk collective.

Double headliner gig.

Bloc+, 21:00–23:30, Free

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £16

Brel, 19:30–22:00, £9

Sondura

Sun 06 Mar Blancmange

SECC, 19:30–22:00, £35.50

Toploader

Raw acoustic loveliness from Neil Claxton and Fran Baxter.

Wild Palms (Song Of Return, Letters)

Melodic indie-rock from Ireland.

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £23

Detour: SXSW Special (Boutros Bubba, Super Adventure Club)

Mon 07 Mar

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Levellers, The Wonder Stuff

Sweaty, duelling-guitar rock trio.

Experimental London four-piece.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Craig Aspen and Cynthia Frazzini bond over country rock.

Juan Pablo (Julia & The Doogans, The Barents Sea, Becca Fox)

State Broadcasters (Vinny Peculiar, Loudon)

Furious experimental hardcore.

Indie, pop and alternative rock.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £3

Twinkly-eyed Irish popsters.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7

Bloc+, 22:30–23:30, Free

Rammy of scratch poetry, music and comedy.

Flats (Aspen Tide, Rosewood)

Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £8

Seerauber Jenny (The Rudiments, Blank Canvas)

Charming alternative pop songs.

Glasgow hardcore indie rockers.

Alice Cooper tribute act.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7

Relaxed music night with live guests from the local scene.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £5

Experimental indie with guitar soundscapes and clipped vocals.

Organic-sounding electro-pop loveliness.

Folk-pop-cum-countrified punk from the Californina duo.

Experimental and jocular jazz troupe.

The Collectors

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £6

The Believers

Ambient indie from Ayr.

Glasgow garage and R’n’B quintet, playing retro covers.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £4

Boyzone

Led Bib (Pyramidion, Rafe Fitzpatrick)

Bloc+, 21:00–23:30, Free

Guitar-laden rock.

Gallus Cooper (Dirty Cannon, Journey To Europe)

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £17.50

Gala evening of comedy and live music, compered by Bruce Devlin.

SECC, 18:30–22:00, £tbc

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £13

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £6

Experimental types.

Butterfly Fridays

Butterfly & Pig, 19:00–03:00, Free

Live acoustic blues, followed by DJ Junior on deck duty.

Marseille

Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £7.50

Matt Anderson

The Ferry, 19:00–00:00, £10

The Primitives

The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £10

Westlife

SECC, 19:30–22:00, £40.50

Squeaky-cleanIrishpop.Popularwithgrannies.

The Little Yellow Ukeleles (The Riveras, Ten84, Glasgow Lights) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £4

Live bands play in aid of Mary’s Meals.

March 2011

THE SKINNY 61

Glasgow MUSIC Funeral For A Friend (Rise To Remain, Tiger Please) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £15

Highly-polished Welsh rockers.

Marshan 13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

Classic inde-rock Grasgow troupe.

Butterfly Strategy Butterfly & Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free

Live acoustic acts; local and far-flung.

Mon 21 Mar Seefeel School of art, 20:00–23:00, £8.72

Electronic rocck experimentalists

The Script SECC, 18:30–22:00, £tbc

Irish trio perfecting the sound of Celtic soul.

The Pineapple Thief (Second Skin) Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £10

Progressive indie-rock.

Kit (Divorce) Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £5

Noisy garage rock, with strong Glasgow support from Divorce.

The Charlatans Oran Mor, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

Stripped back acoustic set of classics.

Dr. Mango and the Chick Peas Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

Scottish and French-Canadian traditional and contemporary music.

For Abel (Built On Tradition, Culann)

EDINBURGH music Sun 27 Mar

Tue 01 Mar

Crystal Stilts

Gl a s v eg a s

The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £9

Fuzzy, dreamy New York pop.

James Blake

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £14

Gl asgow qu ar te t led by t he boom-voiced J ame s A ll an.

Happy-sad-anything-goes alternative pop.

Imaginative soul hybrid from the talented Londoner.

L e i t h F ol k Cl ub: F ion a R u t he rf ord ( A m y Dunc a n )

Munch Munch (Galoshins, Battery Face)

Fireworks (Make Do and Mend)

C omposer and per for mer of new S cot t ish h ar p music .

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £5

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7.50

Bristol-based bedroom popsters.

Indie-punk-pop crossover chaps.

This Sudden Injury (A Fate Untold, Wolves At Heart)

Moral Dilemma (Apologies, I Have None)

Bloc+, 21:00–23:30, Free

Five guys from Suffolk who like to rock out to a punky tune.

Fri 25 Mar From Sorrow to Serenity, Calum Frame, South of Summer Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £6

Indie, punk and rock showcase.

Indiecode, Lemon Party, The Edge of Noize O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £6

Noisy showcase.

Three Blind Wolves The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £7.50

13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

London punksters.

Butterfly Strategy Butterfly & Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free

Live acoustic acts; local and far-flung.

Mon 28 Mar Eliza Doolittle O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Soulful pop in a Lily Allen vein.

T h e V i l l a g e, 19:30–22:45, £8

Wed 02 Mar Dir t y H a rr y (S ch t ick of R ock , 10,000 Hour s) Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, Free

Blondie t r ibu te ac t .

Young Re be l Se t Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £4

Gr i t t y ur b an folk f r om t he my s ter ious t r oub adour s.

Your F ir s t Mis ta k e , Dec o A r c a de , A r t of P ri v il ege , S av e A r c a de M a g g i e’s C h a m b e r, 19:00– 23:00, £5 (£3)

Deerhunter

A l ter n at ive showc ase.

Oran Mor, 19:00–23:00, £12

P l unge T rio

Bradford Cox finally brings his band to these shores.

The Jazz Bar, 20:00–22:30, £6 (£5)

Impr ovised acous t ic t r io f r om Sweden.

The Leg, Louis Barabbas & the Bedlam 6, Zed Penguin Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:00, £5

Lyr ic al and al ter n at ive music al exper iment alis t s.

Work & W e at he r , T he Direc tor s

Q u e e n’s H a l l, 20:00–22:30, £15 (£12)

Tr adi t ion al S cot t ish t une s and live poe t r y f r om songwr i ter A A Reid.

T he D a nge rf ie l d s, S chi t zop honic s ( T he Def e ne s t r ator s) Ba n n e r m a n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Bl azing punk r ock .

Ja ck s on Idol P ott e r r ow, 20:30–01:00, £8 (£5)

Ten singer s per for m t he hi t s of Mich ael J ack son, wi t h j az z b ack ing.

L at e ‘n’ L i v e : L e S a l on De Ja z z Re f use

Pop princess in golden hotpants. Maybe.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £17

Michael Simons

Ba n n e r m a n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Edinbur gh eight-piece, on voc al s and br as s.

Gentle grunge folk from Baltimore.

Josh T. Pearson

Folk and blues fingerstyle guitarist.

T he K a-T e t

Brel Sessions

Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £8.50

Laidback bearded country gentleman.

Brel Sessions

The Jazz Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Sat 05 Mar

Arbouretum Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £7

Brel, 20:00–23:00, Free

Experimental and progressive rock.

Indie folk session with Laura Wilkie (of Rachel Sermanni) and Sarah Hayes (of Admiral Fallow).

Warrior Soul

Jaya The Cat, Broken Nose

Butterfly Fridays

13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

Reggae rock and hardcore punk, respectively.

Tue 22 Mar A Day Overdue (Kids Can’t Fly) Classic Grand, 18:30–22:00, £7

Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £10

Noisy guitar rock with a mission.

Butterfly & Pig, 19:00–03:00, Free

Live acoustic blues, followed by DJ Junior on deck duty.

The Paris Riots Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £6

Lauries Bar, 20:15–23:00, Free

Reggae favourites.

Acoustic pop loveliness.

The Crookes (The Angies, Sonic Templars)

Black Sun Drum Corps

Mono, 20:30–23:00, Free

Distinctive voice and percussive acoustic guitar, preceded by a talk from Howie Reeve (of local band Tattie Toes)

The Glasgow Slow Club Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Relaxed music night with live guests from the local scene.

Wed 23 Mar Patrick Wolf Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

More electro-pop gems from the south Londoner.

David Rovics, Gary Og, Ken O’Keefe Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £7

Folky songwriters fundraiser night.

Holy Grail (Revoker) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7

Californian heavy metallers.

Jesca Hoop Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £8

Adventurous folky singer/songwriter

Twilight Hotel The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £10

Melodic Canadian duo.

Flags Raised, Moonshne Docks, Departures, Pianosa Bloc+, 21:00–23:30, Free

Handpicked selection of contemporary Scottish punk acts.

Muso (John Rush, Keiran Robinson, Suspire) Buff Club, 21:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Fusion live band and club night.

Thu 24 Mar Fenech Soler O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8

Polished electro-pop foursome.

13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

Industrial metallic rock.

Lynne Carson Slouch, 21:00–00:00, Free

EP launch.

The George Lindsay Band 1901 Bar, 21:00–00:00, Free

Ambient rock, multi-instrumental harmonies and experimental pop.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £14

Cheeky indie-pop five-piece

Kylie SECC, 20:00–22:00, From £65

Pop princess in golden hotpants. Maybe.

Magic Carpet Cabaret Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

Jim McAteer introduces some of his favourite acts.

Scanners Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £6

Indie-pop quartet from London.

Chicago-style blues.

The Jim Jones Revue

Sat 26 Mar

Big beats and serious riffs.

The Despondents, Razorblade Smile, Eddie & The T-Bolts, First Step To Failure

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £12

John Maus Mono, 21:00–23:00, Free

Indie-punk meanderings.

13th Note, 14:30–23:30, £tbc

The Glasgow Slow Club

McFly

Relaxed music night with live guests from the local scene.

Garage, pop and punk all-dayer.

SECC, 18:30–22:00, From £14

Pop four-piece come of age.

Cee Lo Green O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

Funky hip-hop and soul from one half of Gnarls Barkley.

Thea Gilmore The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £14

Beautiful-voiced folkie plays her rescheduled date.

Obvious Outcome (The Dead Agenda, Scragfight, Natalie Pryce)

Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Wed 30 Mar

Blue s and f unk f ive-piece, wi t h hor ns.

Thu 03 Mar M a r t y n M a ck e nzie Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, Free

A cous t ic singer/songwr i ter and f r iends.

T he Box e r Re be l l ion ( W e A re Augus t ine s) C a ba r e t Vo lta i r e, 19:00– 22:00, £8.50

London ambient indie-rock quartet.

M att Norris & T he Moon, K i tt y T he L ion, F r a n O’ H a nl on, C a r o Bridge s & T he Ri v e r S n e a k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £4

Chilled indie and folk showc ase.

T he Sp ring F l ing: A F ore s t C a rni va l !

(Horndog Br a s s B a nd, Bl a ck C at ) St u d i o 24, 19:00–03:00, £7

L ive music and d ancing, r aising f unds for t he beloved For e s t .

A c a de m y of St M a r t inin-t he-F ie l d s U s h e r H a l l, 19:30–22:00, F r o m £10

T he ac ademy per for ms ch amber and s ymphony wor k s.

SCO: Z a dok t he P rie s t Q u e e n’s H a l l, 19:30–22:30, F r o m £9

Muso Buff Club, 21:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Fusion live band and club night.

Ba n n e r m a n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

P r ogr e s sive and ins t r ument al pos t-r ock .

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £sold out

Emotive singer/songwriter who penned her first tune at the age of seven.

Rescheduled date for the soulful popstress.

The Monochrome Set (Wake The President)

Arrington de Dionyso

Beloved live music night , at which FOUND will l aunch t heir t hir d album.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

New wave indie-pop longtimers.

Mono, 20:00–23:00, £7

Experimental American musician, with trumpet.

Green Door Clnic, The Late Julys

Endor (Randolphs Leap, Amber Wilson, Esperi)

Brian Gatens (The Katet, The Fear, Devil May Cry) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £6

Bloc+, 22:30–23:30, Free

Laura Meyer Solo singer/songwriter from NYC.

62 THE SKINNY March 2011

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Vo o d o o R o o m s, 20:00–01:00, £9

Stomp T he Ya rd (D J N a s t y P, MC L e w is C a n ava n ) T h e C av e s, 22:00–03:00, £7

Hip-hop night wi t h live d ance b at t le s.

Hook-laden indie-pop melodies from the Glasgow four-piece.

Fri 04 Mar

The Undertones (The Minutes)

Bl a ck C a n va s, Jump : P re s s A , C ur ator s

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

The Derry band celebrate 35 years.

W e e R e d Ba r, 19:00–22:00, £4

Experiemental roots and angry pop.

T he S und ay Sinner s T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Taml a motown f unk and s oul , f r onted by F ion a Ly nch.

Mon 07 Mar Br o a dway (S acred Be t r aya l ) St u d i o 24, 18:00–22:30, £5

S cr e amo, pos t-r ock and h ar dcor e.

T he De v il’s Brig a de C a ba r e t Vo lta i r e, 19:00– 22:00, £10

A mer ic an r ocker s.

T he Womb at s (Ge t P eop l e , W il d Pa r t y ) HMV P i c t u r e H o u s e, 19:00– 22:00, £13

Indie-pop s c amps.

Ja me s V incen t McMorr ow S n e a k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £7

Husk y at mospher ic fol k .

Bl a ck Di a mond E x p re s s T h e C av e s, 20:00–23:00, £3

Ba n n e r m a n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Eer ie pos t-r ock .

Gl a mour & T he B ay be s T h e J a z z Ba r, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£1)

B o n g o C l u b, 19:30–22:00, £5

Sw agger ing ps ychobillyr ock f ive-piece.

S a d S ocie t y H e n ry’s C e l l a r, 19:30–03:00, £4

Edinbur gh punk r ock noisem aker s.

R a l p h Tow ne r , Pa ol o F re s u Q u e e n’s H a l l, 20:00–22:30, £16.50

A cous t ic US popper, wi t h s tell ar loc al suppor t .

S n e a k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £7

T he InMe m an t r ade s j agged r ock for acous t ic .

L ei t h Fol k Cl ub: D av e V ernon, Dick L ee T h e V i l l a g e, 19:30–22:45, £8

A ccor dion wiz ar dr y and j a z z y cl ar ine t , s a x and r ecor der.

Bl a ck Di a mond E x p re s s T h e C av e s, 20:00–23:00, £3

T he blue s eight-piece r ecor d t heir ne w L P and shoot i t s sis ter doc ument ar y l ive at T he C ave s.

A ngul ar r ock f r om t he Ne t her l ands, plus s tell ar loc al suppor t .

L at e ‘n’ L i v e : Gecko T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)

Quir k y loc al acid-f unk t r io.

Sun 06 Mar St r a ngl e r s ( W ilc o Johns on ) HMV P i c t u r e H o u s e, 19:00– 22:00, £23

H e n ry’s C e l l a r, 20:00–23:45, £5

Wed 09 Mar M a d Nur se W e e R e d Ba r, 19:00–22:00, Free

Eer ie pos t-r ock .

N a p ol eon III E l e c t r i c C i r c u s, 19:00–22:00, £6

O f f-k il ter pop wi t h hookl aden chor us e s.

O Chil dren, T he Ch a p m a n Fa mily S n e a k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £7

P unk gr eat s pl aying t he cl as sic s.

Br ooding and v is cer al indie r ock , t ime s t wo.

D a n Mich a e l s on & T he C o a s tgu a rd s

Me ur s ault, Wa shington Ir v ing, Gr a eme Cl a rk (Hot R od D Js)

S n e a k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £5

Sk illed songwr i t ing, sung b as so pr ofondo by t he former A bsentee m ainm an.

Thu 10 Mar SCO: T he Ch a mber B a l l e t s III Q u e e n’s H a l l, 19:30–22:30, F r o m £9

Or che s t r al f avour i te s, including wor k s by H aydn and St r av insk y.

K ing s & C owa rd s, Ch a sing Fa l c o’s, T w is t er Ba n n e r m a n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Cl as sic-s t y led r ock .

Fri 11 Mar Bl a ck In t ern at ion a l W e e R e d Ba r, 19:00–22:00, £t b c

Fuz z y pos t-punk Edinbur gh t hr ee-piece l aunch t heir al bum.

Ir on a nd W ine HMV P i c t u r e H o u s e, 19:00– 22:00, £15.50

S of t-voiced A mer ic an s ongsmi t h S am Be am and b and.

T he M y s t er y Girl s ( ASSOA , L i a m Inne s) Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:00, £4

G ar age r ock f ive-piece.

Y ’a l l is Fa n ta s y Isl a nd S n e a k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £5

A d am St af for d and t he Y IF I g ang bow ou t .

Tue 08 Mar De at h V e s sel l (R ozi P l a in )

L imbo ( W i t he re d H a nd, Zoe y Va n Goe y, O Me s s y L if e ) Top S cot t ish line-up f r om t he L imbo cr ew.

Blue s and f unk f ive-piece, wi t h hor ns.

Q u e e n’s H a l l, 19:30–22:30, £17.50 (£10)

Bou t r o s Bubb a (S up er A dv en t ure Cl ub)

Vo o d o o R o o m s, 20:00–01:00, £11

T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

A n E v ening w i t h K ur t E l l ing

Ba n n e r m a n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

T hin L iz z y t r ibu te ac t .

T he K a-T e t

J a z z r ock power ed by dr ummer Jor die Gil mour.

D av e McP her s on

Bl a ck R o se

Goonie s Ne v e r S ay Die , W T BR ( Ja ck ie T re e horn )

Epic power me t al .

T he Sta gge r R at s (Se l ec t i v e Se r v ice , Echo A r c a di a )

The Jazz Bar, 20:00–22:30, £5 (£3)

SECC, 20:00–22:00, From £65

S cot t ish j a z z af icion ado, joined by s a x pl ayer Nigel Hi tchcock .

C a ba r e t Vo lta i r e, 19:00– 22:00, £7.50

Four h andpicked and unsigned new b ands.

Pop princess in golden hotpants. Maybe.

D a mn at ion A ngel s, Fa r seer , V ik ing G a l a x y

Melodic Edinbur gh folk ypopper s l aunch t heir new single.

Kylie

Rocky reggae outfit formed by Mick Jones.

Claire Maguire

1901 Bar, 21:00–00:00, Free

W e e R e d Ba r, 19:00–22:00, £5

Unp e e l e d

Jessie J

Vendetta

T r a pp e d Mice (L och Aw e , Ta k e n At T he F l ood)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £27.50

L imbo (F OUND, S-T y p e , On t he F ly, R a dio M a gne t ic S ound s y s t e m )

Glaswegian indie rock, times two.

C i t r u s C l u b, 19:00–22:00, £13

L ong-s t anding punk r ocker s, on t he go since 1980.

L ive duo, on gui t ar and t r umpe t alone.

Thu 31 Mar

Slouch, 21:00–00:00, Free

T he A n t i-Now he re L e a gue

H ammond or g an gr oove s.

Sun 13 Mar

M a e ’s L o s t E mp ire , S ou t h of S ummer (M a d Nur se )

Gomez singer t ur ned solo ar t is t .

T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)

H a ir of t he Dog S und ay s ( Under cl a s s)

Be n Ott e r w e l l Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £12

Ch amber gr oup, pr emier ing wor k by H ar r is on Bir t wis t le.

T h e J a z z Ba r, 20:00–22:30, £6 (£5)

T he blue s eight-piece r ecor d t heir ne w L P and shoot i t s sis ter doc ument ar y l ive at T he C ave s.

P unk r ock mini fe s t , wi t h an 11 b and line-up.

Q u e e n’s H a l l, 19:45–22:30, £14 (£7)

L at e ‘n’ L i v e : T he P ri vat e s

I a in C op el a nd’s X-Men

T h e Ba n s h e e L a b y r i n t h, 13:00–23:00, £7

C oncer t of slow-building B ar oque m as ter s.

Scottish electro-rockers.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

Wa l k T he P l a nk F e s t III ( Zombin a & T he Sk e l e tone s, T he Murde rbur ge r s, C y nic s)

Big Audio Dynamite

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Ayrshire covers band.

Vocals and drums.

13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc

The Pigeon Detectives

Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

the Latecomers

Finn Le Marinell

Anologue Of The Sun, Her Name Is Calla, Birds Of Passage

Wing and a Prayer

The Abyssinians

Indie-poppers born from a love of 60s pop.

Indie folk session with Laura Wilkie (of Rachel Sermanni) and Sarah Hayes (of Admiral Fallow).

Tue 29 Mar

Blues-influenced singer/songwriters.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Brel, 20:00–23:00, Free

Acoustic pop trio.

Pop-punk completed with soaring guitar and a rhythm section.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12

Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

Melodic indie r ock .

T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)

Bir t w is t l e : P ul se Sh a dow s

T h e J a z z Ba r, 20:00–22:30, £4 (£3)

Cr umbl ing Ja ck a nd F rie nd s

Van Der Graaf Generator

Folk and blues fingerstyle guitarist.

V er on a Ch a rd

Ba n n e r m a n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

E xper ime t al t ype s.

Monom a ni a , S w e e t Rel ie f, One wayche mis t r y

SECC, 20:00–22:00, From £65

E xper iment al and joc ul ar j a z z t r oupe.

C a ba r e t Vo lta i r e, 19:00– 22:00, £6

Kylie

Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2

Vo o d o o R o o m s, 19:30–01:00, £10

L ondon-b as ed j a z z voc al is t .

Glaswegian alternative country foursome. Lovely, too.

Michael Simons

L ed Bib

T h e C av e s, 19:30–03:00, £8

EC A f undr ais er night , wi t h top gue s t s.

Rich b ar i toned j a z z ins t r ument al is t .

C orrie Dick Qu a r t e t T h e J a z z Ba r, 20:00–22:30, £5 (£4)

R e d D o g M u s i c, 15:00–16:00, Free

Honk y-tonk , s y nt h-su ff us ed gui t ar s.

T he Begg a r Girl s Vo o d o o R o o m s, 19:30–01:00, Free

A cous t ic fol k L P l aunch.

C a rus T homp s on B a nd T h e J a z z Ba r, 20:00–22:30, £7 (£5)

Aus t r al i an singer/s ongwr i ter l aunche s ne w L P.

CRANACHAN Ba n n e r m a n’s, 20:00–23:00, Free

Cl as sic r ock cover s.

T he S und ay Sinner s T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Taml a motown f unk and s oul , f r onted by F ion a Ly nch.

Mon 14 Mar Gogol Bordel l o HMV P i c t u r e H o u s e, 19:00– 22:00, £17.50

M adc ap eclec t ic t r oupe he aded by Eugene Hu t z .

P eop l e P l a ce s M a p s, C oup d’Etat, Del i v er Me S n e a k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £4

L oc al s elec t ion of Edinbur gh indie and pop t y pe s.

Gl a mour & T he B ay be s T h e J a z z Ba r, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£1)

J a z z r ock power ed by dr ummer Jor die Gil mour.

Tue 15 Mar R a e k won The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £14

T he Wu-Tang Cl an m an tour s his ne w al bum.

L ei t h Fol k Cl ub: R ur a T h e V i l l a g e, 19:30–22:45, £8

Young S cot t ish musici ans.

Wed 16 Mar

Melodic j a z z composi t ions.

E mm a’s Im a gin at ion

T he L une s, A Ri t u a l Sp iri t (p l us s upp or t )

Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £5

Ba n n e r m a n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

G ar age and ps ych-r ock .

L at e ‘n’ L i v e : T he K a-T e t T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)

Blue s and f unk f ive-piece, wi t h hor ns.

Im agin at ive and melodic singer/s ong wr i ter.

Bourne To Bre w T h e J a z z Ba r, 20:00–22:30, £8 (£6)

US dr ummer S e an Noon an, joined by M at t he w Bour ne on ke y s.

Cl uel e s s Ba n n e r m a n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Sat 12 Mar

Up-be at indie r ock .

Dis c op ol is

Ja mmin’ at Voodoo

W e e R e d Ba r, 19:00–22:00, Free

Voodoo Rooms, 21:00–01:00, Free

A mbient dis co hous e Edinbur gh t r io.

Monthly live jam. Good with toast.

M a ceo Pa rk er (Dennis R ol l ins)

Birhe a d (Emel l e , T he Young Sp ook s, D J K ris Wa s a bi )

HMV P i c t u r e H o u s e, 19:00– 22:00, £17.50

The funk master with full band.

F i t zr oy S oul , T he Heir s of Dus t, Mis sing C at S n e a k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £t b c

E l e c t r i c C i r c u s, 22:00–03:00, £5

P os t-punk Edinbur gh duo.

T he K a-T e t T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Sk illed f unk showc as e.

Blue s and f unk f ive-piece, wi t h hor ns.

Misconduct, Taking Chase, Same Old Story (Shields Up)

T he P h a n tom B a nd

Ba n n e r m a n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Melodic hardcore and skapunk.

M a nd a rin T h e Sto r e, 22:00–03:00, £3

A r t-c um-club f usion, wi t h l ive ar t wor k and g ar age DJs pl ay ing l ater.

V ic Godd a rd + T he S ubway Sec t Citrus Club, 20:00–22:00, £10

P unk r ock legends wi t h af ter p ar t y at Henr y's C ell ar

Thu 17 Mar Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £12

Big-b alled r obo-fol k .

T he He a r t bre a k s, R uby l u x S n e a k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £6

Double bill of ambient indie.

St Pat rick ’s Nigh t Pa r t y (Ch a rl ie a nd t he Bhoy s) T h e C av e s, 19:00–23:00, £9

Toe-t apping fol k r ock for St P at r ick ’s D ay.

L o s t In Audio (M at t W il s on )

T he He rmi ta ge ( Jame s Me tc alfe )

E le c t r i c Ci r c u s, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

W ee Re d Ba r, 19:00–22:00, F r ee

Well-cr af ted r ock f r om t he ener ge t ic l ive per for mer s.

Fri 18 Mar Edinbur gh E a gle s Ice Hock e y F undr aiser He n ry’s Cella r, 19:00–22:00, £4

L ive music f undr ais er.

Me tallic a UK S t u d i o 24, 19:00–22:00, £10

Me t all ic a t r ibu te ac t .

Sidel ock Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £6

S c ot t i s h B o o k T r u s t, 19:00–21:30, £5 (£4)

Trapped In Kansas, Pensioner, Carson Wells, Aviation For Kids

A night of av ant-g ar de poe t r y, music and f ilm.

Regg ae, soul and spoken wor d.

L o s t Ci t y L igh t s

L owe r De ns

S n ea k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £3

Indie and r ock showc ase, f r om acr os s S cot l and.

S torm y S und ay Bl ue s T h e J a z z Ba r, 20:00–22:30, £5 (£3)

Blue s b ands h andpicked by J ame s C ar r (of T he Engine s).

Tender-voiced indie r ock .

T he W il dhouse

E x t r eme me t al showc ase.

Singing and s cr e aming Dundee h ar dcor e t y pe s.

Bound To P erdit ion, Dea dwa k e , Neon C oug a r S n ea k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £2

H ar dcor e and al ter n at ive r ock showc as e.

RSNO: Na k ed Cla s sic s U s h e r Hall, 19:30–22:00, £10

Dr iv ing or che s t r al s.

Haigh t-A shbur y L ove Nigh t T h e J a z z Ba r, 20:00–22:30, £4 (£3)

Fol k and r ock gr oove s.

T he F ure y s a nd Dave y A r t hus Queen’s Hall, 20:00–22:30, £16.50

Tr adi t ion al Ir ish musici ans.

Ba n n e r ma n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

T he S und ay Sinne r s T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Taml a motown f unk and soul , f r onted by F ion a Lynch.

Mon 21 Mar Glamour & T he Bay be s T h e J a z z Ba r, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£1)

J az z r ock power ed by dr ummer Jor die Gilmour.

Tue 22 Mar Da niel O’Donnell U s h e r Hall, 19:30–22:00, F r o m £29.50

Ir ish Gr anny f avour i te.

L ei t h F ol k Cl ub: Chl oe M at h a ru T h e V illa g e, 19:30–22:45, £8

L at e ‘n’ L ive : Pa ul Mill s

Gent le-voiced 19-year-old.

T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)

Wed 23 Mar

US f unk y s oul dr ummer and voc al is t .

John Gr a n t (Sea Of Bee s)

Sat 19 Mar

T h e L iq u i d R o o m, 19:00–22:00, £15

Atom Of A mber W ee Re d Ba r, 19:00–22:00, £t b c

Edinbur gh four-piece al tern at ive r ocker s.

F uner al For A F riend B o n g o Cl u b, 19:00–22:00, £15

Highly-pol ished Wel sh r ocker s.

Seve n Dea dly Sins Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £6

Edinbur gh indie-pop fourpiece.

T he F ille r s (Keeva ) The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £10

T he K iller s t r ibu te ac t .

P y r amidion, Homunc ul us

For mer lead voc alis t of T he C z ar s.

S t eve Her on S n ea k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £t b c

W ir e-t ight indie r ock f r om t he Edinbur gh m an and his mer r y b and.

E at Dr . A pe , Shella W ho ?, M a rk Heavenor , P e nn y Bla ck , R or y Bu t le r Q u ee n’s Hall, 19:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

L ive music showc ase. Rescheduled d ate.

Secre t CDs ( T he In visible Helpe r s, A ugus talia , Ka ren E dwa rd, C onf ushia n ) Vo o d o o R o o m s, 19:30–01:00, £3

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:30, £tbc

L ive music night-c um-CD s ale.

SCO: New R oma n t ic s I V

P r ogr am Ini t iat ive , A Nin ja Sl ob Drew Me (Squid-X )

Sp aced-ou t ps yche r ock .

Sun 27 Mar Hair of t he Dog S und ay s (C ons cious R ou t e )

A l ter n at ive acous t ic wi t h gent ly-plucked gui t ar s.

Damngod, Bone s aw, A gonised Def ormi t y

W ee Re d Ba r, 19:00–22:00, F r ee

Fri 25 Mar Ne u! Ree k ie ! 3 (Helen Mor t, S op hie C ook e )

W ee Re d Ba r, 19:00–22:00, F r ee

Sweeping indie-pop.

Neva d a Ba se (Epic 26) Ca ba r e t Vo ltai r e, 19:00– 22:00, £6

Gl asgow elec t r o-popper s.

W e ndy Ca rle Tay l or B o n g o Cl u b, 19:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

Cl as sic r ock cover s.

Shos t akovich ’s power f ul scor e.

Mr McFall’s Ch ambe r Q u ee n’s Hall, 20:00–22:30, £12 (£10)

S cot t ish j az z gr oup pr emier ing new wor k s.

David R ovic s, F ion a Kee n a n Ba n n e r ma n’s, 20:00–23:00, £8

A l ter n at ive folk .

Urb a n S c ot Raw (M a dh at, L ok i, Mog, Ba r /Snow, Sen t imen tal K nigh t s) S t u d i o 24, 20:00–00:00, £3

L oc al hip-hop showc ase.

Ta s t e of E den F e s t ival T h e Cave s, 21:30–03:00, £9 (£8)

P er for m ance spec t ac ul ar, wi t h headline b ands and DJs f r om Eden Fe s t iv al p as t and pr e sent , plus c ab ar e t , d ancing and pyr otechnic s.

L at e ‘n’ L ive : Ray mond Ha rris T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)

Globe-t r ot t ing Gl asgow f usion/f unk m an.

Sat 26 Mar Beat H M V P i c t u r e H o u s e, 19:00– 22:00, £16

Old cl as sic s and br and-new m ater i al .

Great Junc t ion Music S t udio s Showc a se

Mont hly l ive music night , wi t h b ands and DJs.

Guns 4 Hire S t u d i o 24, 23:00–03:00, £10

Guns ‘n’ Ros e s t r ibu te ac t .

L at e ‘n’ L ive : Rene Ba nd (D J A s t r oboy ) T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)

Vocals-fronted funk sixpiece.

Sun 20 Mar Hair of t he Dog S und ay s (Sh a r on King a nd t he Reck le s s A ngel s) Red Dog Music, 15:00–16:00, Free

Ch ar ming melodie s.

Thu 24 Mar T rio Of Oz T h e J a z z Ba r, 20:00–22:30, £15 (£12)

New Yor k pi anis t R achel Z and b and, joined by dr ums legend Om ar H ak im.

Hone yc omb L ove , Toure t t e s (F lying M a n Sh a rk ) Ba n n e r ma n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Mixed-b ag of al ter n at ive r ock and indie.

Run/L uck y/F ree (L o s t Ci t y S oul ) E le c t r i c Ci r c u s, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

R achel C or m ack ’s indie-r ock qu ar te t .

Ba n n e r ma n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

T he Ba n a n a Se s sions B o n g o Cl u b, 21:00–01:00, £10 (£7)

E xper iment al pop t r oupe, singing of t he f iner t hings in li fe.

T he S und ay Sinne r s T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Taml a motown f unk and soul , f r onted by F ion a Lynch.

Mon 28 Mar Jim Jone s Rev ue B o n g o Cl u b, 19:00–22:00, £12

New album l aunch, wi t h big beat s and ser ious r i f f s.

Ha g a n Qu a r t e t Q u ee n’s Hall, 19:45–22:30, F r o m £11

Cl as sic al ch amber qu ar te t .

Glamour & T he Bay be s T h e J a z z Ba r, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£1)

J az z r ock power ed by dr ummer Jor die Gilmour.

Tue 29 Mar L ei t h F ol k Cl ub: L i t t le Mis s Higgins T h e V illa g e, 19:30–22:45, £8

C an adi an power house of blue s and count r y.

Wed 30 Mar Ne W t T rio T h e J a z z Ba r, 20:00–22:30, £6 (£5)

Invent ive f unk y beat s, joined by gue s t s a x pl ayer Silke Eber h ar d.

T he Ja ck al s

Paul W ish a r t, T his Da ring Move

L ive music showc ase.

W ee Re d Ba r, 19:00–22:00, £t b c

A l ter n at ive loveline s s.

T hree Blind Wolve s (Bwa ni Junc t ion, M at t Norris & t he Moon ) Ca ba r e t Vo ltai r e, 19:00– 22:00, £7

T he Ka-Te t

Voodoo Rooms, 20:00–01:00, £tbc

T he minim alis t punker s team-up wi t h E ivind A ar se t .

He n ry’s Cella r, 19:00–22:00, £4

Gla s sfa ce , Killing Time W e L u v Musik

F ood (E ivind A a r se t )

CR A N A CH A N

L ord s of Ba s ta rd, Gia n t Mons t er Atta ck (Dun t )

Blue s and f unk f ive-piece, wi t h hor ns.

E x-L ove and Mone y f r ontm an pl ay s solo.

U s h e r Hall, 19:30–22:00, F r o m £10

Far-ou t pr ogr e s sive r ock and elec t r onic a.

T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Q u ee n’s Hall, 19:30–22:30, £15 (£12)

RSNO: Ja r vi C onduc t s t he L e ningr a d

Or che s t r al per for m ance wi t h a l i ter ar y t heme.

Ba n n e r ma n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Jame s Gr a n t

Vo o d o o R o o m s, 19:30–01:00, £10

Ba n n e r ma n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Sw agger ing indie r ocker s.

S n ea k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £7

Dr eamy new w ave r ock f r om B al t imor e, feat ur ing J an a Hunter.

C ontempor ar y and t r adit ion al S cot s singer/songwr i ter, l aunching her new album.

Sing along able, d anceable t une s f r om t he Gl asgow l ads.

Q u ee n’s Hall, 19:30–22:30, F r o m £9

Re d D o g M u s i c, 15:00–16:00, F r ee

Ba n n e r ma n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Super-f uz zed ou t al ter n at ive r ock and punk .

V iva S t e reo (Mik e Nisbe t, Zigg y Campbell , On T he F ly D Js)

Ba n n e r ma n’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

A cous t ic singer/songwr i ter s.

Bl ue Sk y A r chive s E le c t r i c Ci r c u s, 22:00–03:00, £4

P oppy polyphonic pos t-r ock .

T he Ka-Te t T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Blue s and f unk f ive-piece, wi t h hor ns.

Thu 31 Mar A r t is a ns, T he C ol our s, T he Kove s, A nn a & Re bec c a , To Be C on t inue d, E mbe r s

Ca rt e r’s Ba r, 20:00–00:45, F r ee

Ca ba r e t Vo ltai r e, 19:00– 22:00, £t b c

A lbum l aunch and lis tening, wil t h f ull pl ayb ack .

Indie, punk and pop showc ase.

A moris t e

S c a nner s

E le c t r i c Ci r c u s, 22:00–03:00, £6

E s sex-b ased indie-popper s l aunch t heir new single.

Re d2Red He n ry’s Cella r, 22:00–03:00, £4

S n ea k y P e t e’s, 19:00–22:30, £7

Gir l-led indie qu ar te t f r om L ondon.

SCO: Faure Requiem U s h e r Hall, 19:30–22:00, F r o m £9

Regg ae and sk a.

Touching or che s t r al perfor m ance.

L at e ‘n’ L ive : T he S oul F ound at ion (D J A s t r oboy )

T h e J a z z Ba r, 20:00–22:30, £4 (£3)

T h e J a z z Ba r, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)

Ke rrie S t irling A lbum l aunch p ar t y, wi t h solo gue s t s.

Taml a motown f unk ou t f i t .

March 2011

THE SKINNY 63

Glasgow CLUBS Tue 01 Mar

Jelly Roll Soul (FunkinEven)

I Am

Acid, disco and funk guest DJ/ producer.

Punter requests with DJs Mythic and Muppet.

Mobile Disco Fridays

Hung Up!

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Residents Beta & Kappa joined by varied guests.

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £10

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Killer Kitsch

Chart, indie and hip-hop.

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Old Skool

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Revolt

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Vintage jazz, funk and soul.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Only Fools and House

Y’Uptae

New York house, disco and 80s electro.

Student night with Andy Wilson.

Propaganda

Wed 02 Mar

Rock and metal playlists. In the Attic.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cathouse Sundays

Shake It Up

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 12)

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Power Tools

Feel My Bicep

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

80s sleaze, house and disco.

Massive student night over all rooms.

Shedkandi

Greatest Hits

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Death Disco: Hercules and Love Affair

Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

House and R’n’B with sisters Lisa Mafia and Lil Gem.

Sin City Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3 (students free)

DJ Snafu plays the best of Buff.

Fri 11 Mar

Subculture

Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

Friday @ Bookclub

Longest running house night with Harri & Domenic.

Hillhead Bookclub, 21:00–00:00, Free

Classic and underground disco.

Chart and classics with Andy R.

New reseidency for the funk and soul night.

Rock Radio night of classic rock, with DJ Father Ted.

Stoked

Sensu (Ricardo Villalobos)

Varied rock. In the Attic.

Extra-special guest, voted the number one DJ in the world twice in the past three years.

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

80s synth and funk with Dom and Darrell.

Thu 03 Mar Co-Op

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Weekly party with eye-popping visuals and rotaing DJs.

I.DJ

Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

Punters provide the iPod playlists.

Misbehavin’ (Daydream, Drucifer)

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Electro, alternative and dirty-pop monthly.

Album launch party for the synthesised Glasgow dance duo.

Punter requests with DJs Mythic and Muppet.

Andy R plays hits and requests.

Mixed Bizness (DJ Zinc)

Sat 05 Mar

Burn

Glasgow School of Art, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Hung Up!

Voodoo

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

UK bass, crack house and dubstep.

Weekend party curated by Optimo’s Twitch and Wilkes.

Mobile Disco Fridays

Shedkandi

Inked

Chart, indie and hip-hop.

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £6 (£3 members)

Rock, metal and indie. Under 18s.

Saturday @ Bookclub

Hillhead Bookclub, 21:00–00:00, Free

The Admiral, 22:00–03:00, £12 (adv.)

Residents Beta & Kappa joined by varied guests.

Absolution

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

I Heart the Garage more than yer Maw

The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Massive student night over all rooms.

Release party, with Auntie Flo dropping his debut.

Emo, punk and metal. Resident DJs.

Love Music

Thursdays

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Rock, punk and metal hardcore night.

Fri 04 Mar Croc Madame Vs Croc Monsieur (Divorce, Remember Remember, Fur Hood, North American War) Glasgow School of Art, 20:00–03:00, £5

DIY live music and club crossover, with a selection of ace bands.

Friday @ Bookclub

Hillhead Bookclub, 21:00–00:00, Free

Classic and underground disco.

The Viper, 19:00–02:00, £5 (£3)

From pop classics to hip-hop.

Skint/Vengeance

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Tue 08 Mar Retrosexual (PMcQ, Frazer MacRobert) I Am

Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 12)

Indie, rock and pop with DJ Jopez.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Rock, emo and punk. In the Attic.

Yoyo Saturday

Huntley’s & Palmers Record Launch Party (T Williams, Auntie Flo)

Shake It Up

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Indie and electro, with retro twists.

Rock, punk and metallic beats.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Genre-spanning New York DJ guests at Melting Pot’s 10th birthday bash.

Chart, disco and indie.

Student fun night, complete with bouncy castle.

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £7

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £7

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and the Killer Kitsch DJs.

Nu Skool

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Killer Kitsch Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Student night with Andy Wilson.

Wed 09 Mar Octopussy The Arches, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Student fun night, bouncy castle an’ all.

In About It! Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

House, techno and everything sub-bass.

Stoked

Sunday Sabbath

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Rock Radio night of classic rock, with DJ Father Ted.

Indie and rock, from 60s to present.

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, Free (£3-£5 after 11)

Garage punk, sleaze and rock.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £4

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

Hillhead Bookclub, 21:00–00:00, Free

Funk, soul and hip-hop with Andy Taylor.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Inked

Punter music picks, with a prize for the best.

Pass The Peas (Federation Of The Disco Pimp)

Wednesdays

Stereo, 23:00–03:00, £5

Power Tools

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

80s synth and funk with Dom and Darrell.

Sweaty mix of Italo, disco and house.

Ivory Blacks, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £10

Celebratory night, with a balloon drop and disco balls.

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Subculture (The Revenge)

Classic Fridays

Scotland’s finest export makes his debut at Subculture.

Aternative rock, metal and punk.

The Rock Shop

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 12)

Rock, indie and classics.

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Electro, house and nu-disco.

Co-Op Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Weekly party with eye-popping visuals and rotaing DJs.

Feel My Bicep Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

80s sleaze, house and disco.

Greatest Hits Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3

DJ Snafu plays the best of Buff.

I.DJ Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

Punters provide the iPod playlists.

Rubbermensch

The Arches, 22:00–03:00, £20

Hard dance DJ line-up.

Yoyo Saturday Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

From pop classics to hip-hop.

Absolution Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Killer Kitsch

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Pop, dance and hip-hop.

Ballbreaker/Vice Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Rock, metal and indie. Resident DJs.

Classic Fridays

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£8)

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 12)

Button Up Flat 0/1, 21:00–02:00, Free

Sleazy R’n’B, jump jive and exotica.

Tropical, yes.

Cathouse Sundays Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Rock and metal playlists. In the Attic.

Y’Uptae

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Student night with Andy Wilson.

The Arches, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Student fun night, bouncy castle an’ all.

Gaga Wednesdays

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £12

Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

House and R’n’B with sisters Lisa Mafia and Lil Gem.

Sin City Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3 (students free)

Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

Punters provide the iPod playlists.

Rubbermensch O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Chart, disco and indie.

Rumble Thursdays The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Student fun night, complete with bouncy castle.

Shake It Up Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 12)

Indie, rock and pop with DJ Jopez.

Skint/Vengeance Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Emo, punk and metal. Resident DJs.

Thursdays Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Rock, punk and metal hardcore night.

Hillhead Bookclub, 21:00–00:00, Free

Classic and underground disco.

Crash Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11)

Pop, dance and hip-hop.

Ballbreaker/Vice Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Rock, metal and indie. Resident DJs.

Classic Fridays

Bass rhythms from the Cockney villain.

Mish-mash of funk, disco and electro.

Aternative rock, metal and punk.

Mobile Disco Fridays

Suck My Decks

Dirt Box (Calvertron, Last Japan)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart, indie and hip-hop.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Hip-hop and dirty house over two rooms.

Chambre 69, 23:00–03:00, £13

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Sunday Sabbath Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Vintage jazz, funk and soul.

Alibi Mondays

Only Fools and House

Andy R plays hits and requests.

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Big indie night.

Riot Radio Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 12)

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

Inked The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Rock, emo and punk. In the Attic.

I Am

Hillhead Bookclub, 21:00–00:00, Free

Rectify (Sam Jones) Soundhaus, 22:00–03:00, £12 (£10 members)

Bosh-style, on three decks and FX. Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Yoyo Saturday

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Residents Beta & Kappa joined by varied guests.

Old Skool Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Vintage jazz, funk and soul.

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Propaganda O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Big indie night.

Riot Radio Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 12)

Indie and rock, from 60s to present.

The Egyptian Lover La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £10

Los Angeles-based DJ and 80s electro/hip-hop pioneer.

Killer Kitsch

Sat 26 Mar

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Voodoo

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £6 (£3 members)

Revolt

Rock, metal and indie. Under 18s.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Saturday @ Bookclub

Y’Uptae

Funk, soul and hip-hop with Andy Taylor.

Rock and metal playlists. In the Attic.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Student night with Andy Wilson.

Blink (Fergie, Nino, Mofo)

Button Up

Rumble Thursdays

Love Music

Co-Op

Absolution

Octopussy

Fergie headlines alongside the residents.

Sleazy R’n’B, jump jive and exotica.

Tropical, yes.

Student fun night, complete with bouncy castle.

Weekly party with eye-popping visuals and rotaing DJs.

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart, indie and hip-hop.

New York house, disco and 80s electro.

Sat 19 Mar Rock, metal and indie. Under 18s.

Mobile Disco Fridays

Burn

Tue 22 Mar

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £6 (£3 members)

Stereo, 23:00–03:00, £10

Young DJ double-header, powered by the Electrikal Soundsystem.

Only Fools and House

Indie and rock, from 60s to present.

Voodoo

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Wed 23 Mar

64 THE SKINNY March 2011

I.DJ

Shedkandi

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

From pop classics to hip-hop.

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and the Killer Kitsch DJs.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3

DJ Snafu plays the best of Buff.

Bigfoot’s (Onur Ozer)

80s synth and funk with Dom and Darrell.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Greatest Hits

Weekend party curated by Optimo’s Twitch and Wilkes.

Thu 17 Mar

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £7

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

80s sleaze, house and disco.

Blackfriars Basement, 23:00–03:00, £3

Chart, disco and indie.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Feel My Bicep

Roots reggae and dancehall.

Sun 06 Mar Flat 0/1, 21:00–02:00, Free

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

90s nu-metal all the way.

Fri 25 Mar

Female-driven playlists, ala The Bangles and Bjork.

Club 69, 23:00–03:00, £10

Counterfiet

Friday @ Bookclub

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Canadian DJ duo of Kenny Glasgow and Jonny White.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Weekly party with eye-popping visuals and rotaing DJs.

Hung Up!

Varied rock. In the Attic.

Wednesdays

Thu 24 Mar Co-Op

Argonaut Sounds Reggae Soundsystem

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £8 (£10 after 12)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

80s synth and funk with Dom and Darrell.

Punter requests with DJs Mythic and Muppet.

Deadly Rhythm

Chart and classics with Andy R.

Wednesdays

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

Funk, soul and hip-hop with Andy Taylor.

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5

Subculture

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Varied rock. In the Attic.

Aternative rock, metal and punk.

Stoked

Hotwire

Proper hard rock, from AC/DC and the like.

Sun 20 Mar

Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11)

Saturday @ Bookclub

New bass party launch night, with dubstep headliner guest 2562.

Ivory Blacks, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Crash

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Massive student night over all rooms.

Rock Club

Rock, indie and classics.

Propaganda

Octopussy

The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Sweaty mix of Italo, disco and house.

Hillhead Bookclub, 21:00–00:00, Free

Classic and underground disco.

Revolt

Cathouse Saturdays I Heart the Garage more than yer Maw

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

New York house, disco and 80s electro.

Wed 16 Mar

Rock, punk and metallic beats.

Thursdays

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Celebrating all things Irish, with Father Ted on decks.

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Mon 21 Mar

Thumping tech and dirty beats, eclectic style.

Funk, soul and underground sounds.

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Power Tools

Old Skool

Residents Beta & Kappa joined by varied guests.

Hardlife (Showtek, Luna, Organ Donors, Mark McVey)

St Patrick’s Day Party

Nick Peacock spins Norther soul, jazz and funk.

Rock Radio night of classic rock, with DJ Father Ted.

Walk Of Shame

Balkan orgy of beats, live bands and dancing.

Emo, punk and metal. Resident DJs.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Tue 15 Mar

Orderly Disorder

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Nu Skool

Producer Andrew Weatherall rings in the 20th Anniversary of Primal Scream's classic.

Rock, emo and punk. In the Attic.

I Am

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)

Skint/Vengeance

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £7

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and the Killer Kitsch DJs.

Screamadelica 20yr Showdown

Glasgow School of Art, 22:00–03:00, £8 (£7)

Varied rock. In the Attic.

Indie, rock and pop with DJ Jopez.

Love Music

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Nick Peacock spins Norther soul, jazz and funk.

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 12)

Caspa (MC Rod Azlan)

Voodoo

Saturday @ Bookclub

Shake It Up

Andy R plays hits and requests.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Burn

Rock, metal and indie. Under 18s.

Student fun night, complete with bouncy castle.

Alibi Mondays

Sat 12 Mar Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £6 (£3 members)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Bigfoot’s Friday night debut, with guest Onur Ozer and live visuals from Redux.

BALKANARAMA (Traktorkesta, Miso Petrovic)

Wolfgang Gartner (AN21, Max Vangeli)

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £10

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Mon 14 Mar

Y’Uptae

Subcity’s Sweet Sixteen (Beat Beneath, One More Tune, Datarape)

Art Department (Crosstown Rebels)

Mish-mash of funk, disco and electro.

The Cave

Rock and metal playlists. In the Attic.

Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11)

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3 (students free)

Only Fools and House

Propaganda

Rumble Thursdays

Minimal techno with guest Scott Byrne and the residents.

Fri 18 Mar

Hip-hop and dirty house over two rooms.

New York house, disco and 80s electro.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Chart, disco and indie.

Friday @ Bookclub

Suck My Decks

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Rubbermensch

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Sin City

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Vintage jazz, funk and soul.

Loop (Scott Byrne)

The Rock Shop

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 12)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Proper hard rock, from AC/DC and the like.

Rock, metal and indie. Resident DJs.

Old Skool

Punters provide the iPod playlists.

House and R’n’B with sisters Lisa Mafia and Lil Gem.

Revolt

Crash

Ballbreaker/Vice

Genre-bending New York DJ and producer.

The New York neo-disco collective play an extra-special live set.

Longest running house night with Harri & Domenic.

Gay-friendly electro, techno and dubstep night, with sets from Mobius and Italex DJs.

Rock Club

American electro-house producer.

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £10

I.DJ

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £14

Rock, punk and metal hardcore night.

Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

Riot Radio

Cloak and Dagger (Marcus Marr, Megamegaman, Suezz)

The Arches, 22:00–03:00, £15

Mount Heart Attack (Brennan Green)

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Big indie night.

Live DJ competition, with styles ranging from house to trance.

Pop, dance and hip-hop.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Thu 10 Mar

Soundhaus, 22:00–01:00, £tbc

Stereo, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

Out

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Freshlick

Flat 0/1, 21:00–02:00, Free

Mon 07 Mar

Rubbermensch

Rumble Thursdays

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

Sun 13 Mar Button Up

Alibi Mondays

Cathouse Saturdays

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Classic Fridays

Rock, indie and classics.

Cathouse Sundays

Melting Pot: 10th Birthday (Joe Claussell)

DJ Snafu plays the best of Buff.

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 12)

Den Haan

80s sleaze, house and disco.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3

Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11)

Pop, dance and hip-hop.

The Rock Shop

Sleazy R’n’B, jump jive and exotica.

Tropical, yes.

Feel My Bicep

Greatest Hits

Crash

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£8)

Aternative rock, metal and punk.

Funk, soul and hip-hop with Andy Taylor.

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3

Proper hard rock, from AC/DC and the like.

Rock, metal and indie. Resident DJs.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Ivory Blacks, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Rock, punk and metal hardcore night.

Sunday Sabbath

Wednesdays

The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Rock Club

Superfly

Sub Club, 23:00–04:00, £20

Stoked

Sweaty mix of Italo, disco and house.

Ballbreaker/Vice

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

I Heart the Garage more than yer Maw

Thursdays

Indie and rock, from 60s to present.

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart and classics with Andy R.

Emo, punk and metal. Resident DJs.

Hip-hop and dirty house over two rooms.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Gaga Wednesdays

Rock, punk and metallic beats.

Weekend party curated by Optimo’s Twitch and Wilkes.

Suck My Decks

Gaga Wednesdays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Skint/Vengeance

Riot Radio

The Arches, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Cathouse Saturdays

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Monthly industrial, EBM and eletrconic.

Big indie night.

Student fun night, bouncy castle an’ all.

Cryotec

Nick Peacock spins Norther soul, jazz and funk.

Mish-mash of funk, disco and electro.

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 12)

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Indie, rock and pop with DJ Jopez.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Octopussy

Nu Skool

The Arches, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Student fun night, bouncy castle an’ all.

Hillhead Bookclub, 21:00–00:00, Free

Jilted Soundhaus, 21:30–03:00, £6

Two rooms filled with 11 DJs, playing house, techno and electro.

Yoyo Saturday Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

From pop classics to hip-hop.

EDINBURGH CLUBS ABSOLUTION CLASSIC GRAND, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

SUN 27 MAR BUTTON UP FLAT 0/1, 21:00–02:00, FREE

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

Sleazy R’n’B, jump jive and exotica.

Tropical, yes.

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

CATHOUSE SUNDAYS

Rock, punk and metallic beats.

I HEART THE GARAGE MORE THAN YER MAW THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Massive student night over all rooms.

LOVE MUSIC O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £7

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and the Killer Kitsch DJs.

MODERN LOVERS (ANDY LEWIS) FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£6 AFTER 12)

Paul Weller bassist on guest DJ duty.

NU SKOOL BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Punter requests with DJs Mythic and Muppet.

HUNG UP! SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Weekend party curated by Optimo’s Twitch and Wilkes.

SHEDKANDI SHED, 23:00–03:00, £2

House and R’n’B with sisters Lisa Mafia and Lil Gem.

REVOLT

TUE 01 MAR

THU 03 MAR

PETE TONG + AFROJACK

TEASE AGE

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

ANTICS

CIRCUS ARCADE

OCEAN TERMINAL, 22:30–04:00, £22

Lauch of We Owns new site and clothing

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

Y’UPTAE

Rock, indie and punk anthems.

Pop quiz and musical bingo.

LUVELY

MOTION

MOVEMENT

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 11)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–01:00, FREE

Driving house and trance.

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Rock and metal playlists. In the Attic.

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Student night with Andy Wilson.

WED 30 MAR OCTOPUSSY THE ARCHES, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Student fun night, bouncy castle an’ all.

GAGA WEDNESDAYS THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart and classics with Andy R.

STOKED THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

SIN CITY

Varied rock. In the Attic.

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (STUDENTS FREE)

WEDNESDAYS

Mish-mash of funk, disco and electro.

FLAT 0/1, 23:00–03:00, FREE

80s synth and funk with Dom and Darrell.

Nick Peacock spins Norther soul, jazz and funk.

SUCK MY DECKS

POWER TOOLS

Hip-hop and dirty house over two rooms.

FEEL MY BICEP

TRASH AND BURN

FLAT 0/1, 23:00–03:00, FREE

FLAT 0/1, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Sweaty mix of Italo, disco and house.

PUSCH 79 LA CHEETAH, 23:00–03:00, £10

Finnish disco and house duo.

ROCK CLUB IVORY BLACKS, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Proper hard rock, from AC/DC and the like.

SUBCULTURE SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£8)

Longest running house night with Harri & Domenic.

THE ROCK SHOP MAGGIE MAY’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£5 (£3) AFTER 12)

Rock, indie and classics.

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £4

Glam and hair metal classics, with the T&B go-go girls live on stage.

MON 28 MAR ALIBI MONDAYS THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Andy R plays hits and requests.

BURN BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

INKED THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Rock, emo and punk. In the Attic.

TRONICSOLE: 2ND BIRTHDAY (SHUR-I-KAN)

TUE 29 MAR

THE ADMIRAL, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£9 MEMBERS)

KILLER KITSCH

London house producer Shur-i-Kan guests.

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

THU 31 MAR 80s sleaze, house and disco.

GREATEST HITS BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

DJ Snafu plays the best of Buff.

I.DJ SHED, 23:00–03:00, £2

Punters provide the iPod playlists.

RUBBERMENSCH O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Chart, disco and indie.

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

New student night, playing an eclectic mix of old and new.

SOUL JAM HOT SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Funk, soul and hippity-hop.

SPLIT CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Long-running D’n’B night. Rotating DJs.

FRISKY

Retro from 1970 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Indie and alternative with the Evol DJs.

GIRLS & BOYS

BEEP BEEP, YEAH!

HMV PICTURE HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £3

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Chart, dance and electro.

BUMP THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

Request-led night of house, indie and underground remixes.

THE JAZZ BAR, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

WEE RED BAR, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£2)

WED 02 MAR HUSH ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Northern soul and funk, in the bar.

BANGERS & MASH THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, £1 (£3 AFTER 11)

Chart and cheese midweek student fave.

LIVE-O! THE STORE, 22:00–03:00, £TBC

House, garage and grime.

INDIGO THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

RUMBLE THURSDAYS THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

AXIS SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Superior indie, electro and rock, with Epic 26 guesting on the decks.

DAPPER DANS

HMV PICTURE HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student night.

SICK NOTE CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Indie and electro favourite.

EVERYBODY ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 00:00–03:00, £5

Pop, rock, indie and electro from 1960 to present day.

FRI 04 MAR MISFITS THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Chart, electro and indie-pop.

Techno from Europe and beyond.

BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, FREE

EVOL

Rock, punk and metal hardcore night.

SLAP BANG CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Genre-spanning midweek party.

STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £5

World music night; eclectic and such.

THIS IS MUSIC SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3 (MEMBERS FREE)

OCTOPUSSY

JUNGLEDUB

CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £3

MAD CARAVAN

TOKYOBLU (KRIS WASABI, HARRY BENNET )

MAGGIE MAY’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£5 (£3) AFTER 12)

THURSDAYS

New indie night.

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

SHAKE IT UP

Dub, dubstep and jungle, from DJs scross the Scottish scene.

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Crushed-up disco and soul.

Electro, fidget and bassline house.

Indie, rock and pop with DJ Jopez.

BEAT CONTROL

PLANET EARTH

EXHIBIT MUSIC (EPIC 26)

Swirling guitars and driving beats.

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £12

New independent releases, local and international.

TUESDAY HEARTBREAK

Indie, pop and alternative favourites.

Student fun night, complete with bouncy castle.

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 20:00–01:00, FREE

JACKHAMMER THE CAVES, 22:00–03:00, £TBC

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

Anything-goes alternative anthems: think Sonic Youth and NWA.

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £8 (£5)

HMV PICTURE HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £1 (£5 AFTER 12)

Top tunes from the 50s through to the 70s. In Speakeasy.

THE VILLAGE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Monthly disco, playing anything and everything danceable.

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

Weekend mix of chart, dance and 80s.

HIS & HERS ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)

Indie and alternative, from the 70s onwards.

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 11)

New contemporary student night.

ROCK SHOW THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

SUNDAY ROAST

MUMBO JUMBO BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£7 AFTER 12)

Party soundtrack of funk, disco and mash-ups.

REDEEMER STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

RENDEZVOUS: 1ST BIRTHDAY (ART DEPARTMENT)

WIRED FOR SOUND

GOSSIP

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Bus Daddy and Zomby Lover play breaks and bassline house.

XPLICIT (SIGMA, ENO, TAZ BUCKFASTER)

SAT 05 MAR

Local acoustic acts followed by indie and alternative tunes from the Dream Sequence DJs.

FAKE

Alternative club night, with rock and metal tendencies.

BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8

THE SOUTHERN BAR, 19:30–01:00, FREE

Myriad of rock, from classic to metallic.

Mutant disco, electronic and house.

D’n’B special guest in the form of Sigma.

SUN 06 MAR UNDERGROUND SUNDAY

LANE NIGHTCLUB, 23:00–03:00, £12 (£10)

Canadian underground producers launch their new album.

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

Singalong indie-pop, with the ever-present threat of The Ting Tings.

COALITION SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Dubstep, breaks and D’n’B.

KILLER KITSCH CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Electronic music of all ages for all ages.

MON 07 MAR MIXED UP THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Hip-hop, chart and R’n’B.

NEW FIRE

THE EGG WEE RED BAR, 23:00–03:00, £1 (£3 AFTER 11.30)

Indie institution with DJs Chris and Paul.

THE GO-GO STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Retro tunes with veteran DJs Tall Paul and Big Gus.

ULTRAGROOVE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

New producers showcase, from hip-hop to dubstep.

TRADE UNION CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£2 AFTER 12)

Anything goes with Beefy and Wolfjazz.

TUE 08 MAR

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £8 (£5)

ANTICS

Long-running club favourite.

Rock, indie and punk anthems.

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

MARCH 2011

THE SKINNY 65

EDINBURGH CLUBS Motion The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 11)

New student night, playing an eclectic mix of old and new.

Soul Jam Hot Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Funk, soul and hippity-hop.

Split Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Long-running D’n’B night. Rotating DJs.

Tuesday Heartbreak The Jazz Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Swirling guitars and driving beats.

Wed 09 Mar Hush Electric Circus, 21:00–01:00, Free

Northern soul and funk, in the bar.

Bangers & Mash The Hive, 22:00–03:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Chart and cheese midweek student fave.

Live-O! The Store, 22:00–03:00, £tbc

House, garage and grime.

Indigo The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

Indie, pop and alternative favourites.

Axis Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Electro, fidget and bassline house.

JungleDub Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dub, dubstep and jungle, from DJs scross the Scottish scene.

Slap Bang Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Genre-spanning midweek party.

Thu 10 Mar

Evol

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Anything-goes alternative anthems: think Sonic Youth and NWA.

Heavy Gossip: 1st Birthday (Cottam)

Medina, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£8 after 12)

Night session of house and disco.

Planet Earth

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Retro from 1970 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Bedbug (DJ Fresh)

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £6

Special guest edition of the clubber’s fave.

Bound For Glory (Joseph Malik, Solid Gold Safari DJs)

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Rock Show

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Myriad of rock, from classic to metallic.

Sunday Roast

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Singalong indie-pop, with the everpresent threat of The Ting Tings.

Coalition

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dubstep, breaks and D’n’B.

Killer Kitsch

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Electronic music of all ages for all ages.

Land Of 1000 Dances

Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Detroit soul, chicago blues and 50s/60s choice picks.

Mon 14 Mar Mixed Up

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Local legend Joseph Malik and Glasgow’s Solid Gold Safari DJs play in aid of Oxfam. In Speakeasy.

Hip-hop, chart and R’n’B.

Disgraceland (Le Chat Noir)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £7

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £6

Sleazy blues and rock, with a live set from Le Chat Noir.

Four Corners (Simon Hodge, Johnny Cashback, Astroboy, Wee-G) Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

From deep funk to Latin beats.

Girls & Boys

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

New indie night.

This Is Music

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Sat 12 Mar Bubblegum

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Heard it through the bassline presents jacques greene

RnB + Hybrid house with support from Klaus

Trade Union (Dickie Drysdale)

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Anything goes with Beefy and Wolfjazz, and special guest.

Tue 15 Mar Antics

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Rock, indie and punk anthems.

Motion

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 11)

New student night, playing an eclectic mix of old and new.

Soul Jam Hot

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Movement

Tuesday Heartbreak

Electric Circus, 22:00–01:00, Free

Frisky The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Chart, dance and electro.

Bump The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Request-led night of house, indie and underground remixes.

Animal Hospital Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Young DJ sensation, accompanied

by Polish tech-house duo Catz n Dogz.

Tease Age

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

The Jazz Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Swirling guitars and driving beats.

Wed 16 Mar Hush

Electric Circus, 21:00–01:00, Free

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Northern soul and funk, in the bar.

Beat Control

Bangers & Mash

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £1 (£5 after 12)

Indie and alternative with the Evol DJs.

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Chart and cheese midweek student fave.

Minimal and techno beats.

Big ‘N’ Bashy

Live-O!

BuckFest

Reggae, grime and dubstep.

House, garage and grime.

The Banshee Labyrinth, 23:00–03:00, Free

Jungle, breakcore, reggae and dub.

Octopussy HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student night.

Sick Note Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Indie and electro favourite.

Everybody Electric Circus, 00:00–03:00, £5

Pop, rock, indie and electro from 1960 to present day.

Fri 11 Mar Misfits The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Chart, electro and indie-pop.

BALKANARAMA (Traktorkesta, Miso Petrovic) Studio 24, 21:30–03:00, £7 (£9 after 10.30)

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

It’s All Good

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £5

Funky house, hard house and electro. In Speakeasy.

Pulse (Dusty Kid)

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £12

Eclectic techno and acid house from live guest, Dusty Kid.

Redeemer

Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Alternative club night, with rock and metal tendencies.

The Egg

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £1 (£3 after 11.30)

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

Indie, pop and alternative favourites.

Axis

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Electro, fidget and bassline house.

JungleDub

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sun 13 Mar Underground Sunday

The Southern Bar, 19:30–01:00, Free

Kosheen DJs

Gossip

Electric Circus, 22:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 11)

New contemporary student night.

66 THE SKINNY March 2011

Octopussy HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student night.

Sick Note Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Indie and electro favourite.

Everybody Electric Circus, 00:00–03:00, £5

Pop, rock, indie and electro from 1960 to present day.

Fri 18 Mar Misfits The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Chart, electro and indie-pop.

Evol The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Anything-goes alternative anthems: think Sonic Youth and NWA.

Planet Earth Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Retro from 1970 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Axis (Hostage Vs Calvertron, Attic Kings, Hot Knives) Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £8

Unique blend of everything from electro to futurebass.

Confusion is Sex Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Psychadelic trance and progressive house, with decorative visuals.

Dancehall The Caves, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£8 after 12)

Digital reggae and dancehall, with raggamuffin guest MC.

Girls & Boys HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

New indie night.

IZU The Store, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Techno with the residents.

Stepback Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Electronic bass beats.

The Cricket Club: The Crease (Illtech Joe, Sugar Ray, ST’AX’) Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)

Underground mid-nineties club, back with the original line-up. In Speakeasy.

This Is Music Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Sat 19 Mar

Slap Bang

Bubblegum

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Thu 17 Mar

Edinburgh’s breaks and bassline crew on decks.

Liquid D’n’B.

Dub, dubstep and jungle, from DJs scross the Scottish scene.

Bass Syndicate

Balkan orgy of beats, live bands and dancing.

Alternative electronica.

Indigo

Genre-spanning midweek party.

Local acoustic acts followed by indie and alternative tunes from the Dream Sequence DJs.

Potterrow Union, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

The Store, 22:00–03:00, £tbc

Indie institution with DJs Chris and Paul.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cosmic (Morph, Zalien)

Musika (Nic Fanciulli, Catz n Dogz)

New independent releases, local and international.

Homegrown

Split

Long-running D’n’B night. Rotating DJs.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £15

Jungle, breakcore, reggae and dub.

Funk, soul and hippity-hop.

Weekend mix of chart, dance and 80s.

Pop quiz and musical bingo.

The Store, 23:00–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Glam rock and electro night, with a Looney Tunes theme.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Electric Circus, 20:00–01:00, Free

Circus Arcade

Bunker (Koolmorf Widesen, Selecta Osci)

Circus Arcade

Electric Circus, 20:00–01:00, Free

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Classic disco, boogie and electro-funk with guest HRH.

Driven Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Bangers & Mash

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

New producers showcase, from hip-hop to dubstep.

Cheap and cheerful residents night.

Sat 26 Mar

Chart and cheese midweek student fave.

VEGAS!

Live-O!

60s tunes and showgirls a-go-go.

The Store, 22:00–03:00, £tbc

Voodoo Rooms, 20:30–02:00, £6 (£5)

Redeemer

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Rock, indie and punk anthems.

Indie, pop and alternative favourites.

Weekend mix of chart, dance and 80s.

Axis

Magic Nostalgic

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 11)

Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Alternative club night, with rock and metal tendencies.

The Egg Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £1 (£3 after 11.30)

Indie institution with DJs Chris and Paul.

Ultragroove (Cooly G) Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £8 (£5)

London’s Cooly G plays her bassheavy house selection.

Velvet Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Electro, fidget and bassline house.

Dub, dubstep and jungle, from DJs scross the Scottish scene.

Club 10-86 (The Space DJs)

Funk, soul and hippity-hop.

Lane Nightclub, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

Split

Madchester

Long-running D’n’B night. Rotating DJs.

Slap Bang

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Genre-spanning midweek party.

Thu 24 Mar Pop quiz and musical bingo.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

Electric Circus, 22:00–01:00, Free

Electric Circus, 20:00–01:00, Free

Movement

New independent releases, local and international.

Scorching techno-types.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £6

Manc faves, from Primal Scream and the like.

Tease Age Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £1 (£5 after 12)

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Underground Sunday

Bump

Karnival (Justin Robertson)

Gossip

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Rock Show The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Myriad of rock, from classic to metallic.

Sunday Roast The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Singalong indie-pop, with the ever-present threat of The Ting Tings.

Coalition Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dubstep, breaks and D’n’B.

Killer Kitsch Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Electronic music of all ages for all ages.

Mon 21 Mar Mixed Up The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Hip-hop, chart and R’n’B.

New Fire Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

New producers showcase, from hip-hop to dubstep.

Trade Union Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Anything goes with Beefy and Wolfjazz.

Tue 22 Mar Antics The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Octopussy

Chart, indie and electro student night.

Ride

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Hip-hop and dance with the Ride girls, Checkie and Lauren.

Sick Note

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£8)

Guest deck duty goes to techno and acid house legend, Justin Robertson.

Big Cheese (Beat A Maxx) Potterrow, 21:00–02:00, £6

Art video technology and turntablism.

Misfits

Redeemer Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Alternative club night, with rock and metal tendencies.

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £1 (£3 after 11.30)

Underground Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Alternative 80s pop.

Dare (Jon Pleased Wimmin, Adam Le Chic) Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–05:00, £5

Underground electronic dance. In Speakeasy.

The Store, 22:00–03:00, £tbc

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

Indie, pop and alternative favourites.

Axis Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Electro, fidget and bassline house.

JungleDub Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dub, dubstep and jungle, from DJs scross the Scottish scene.

Slap Bang Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Genre-spanning midweek party.

Thu 31 Mar Circus Arcade Electric Circus, 20:00–01:00, Free

Pop quiz and musical bingo.

Chart, electro and indie-pop.

Underground Sunday

Evol

The Southern Bar, 19:30–01:00, Free

Frisky

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Anything-goes alternative anthems: think Sonic Youth and NWA.

Planet Earth

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Retro from 1970 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Dubstar

Local acoustic acts followed by indie and alternative tunes from the Dream Sequence DJs.

Gossip Electric Circus, 22:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 11)

New contemporary student night.

Rock Show The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Grime, dubstep and D’n’B.

Myriad of rock, from classic to metallic.

Girls & Boys

Sunday Roast

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Green Door

Funk, soul and hippity-hop.

New flagship night for the Glasgow record label.

Studio 24, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£5 after 11)

Split

Modern Lovers (Andy Lewis)

The Store, 23:00–03:00, £5

Tease Age

Long-running D’n’B night. Rotating DJs.

Paul Weller bassist on guest DJ duty.

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Tuesday Heartbreak The Jazz Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Soulsville

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £5

Swinging soul with DJs Tsatsu and Red-6, plus live dancers.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Request-led night of house, indie and underground remixes.

Octopussy HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student night.

Sick Note Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Wired For Sound

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

LuckyMe

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Bump

Indie and electro favourite.

Soul Jam Hot

Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £10

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Chart, dance and electro.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Coalition

Swirling guitars and driving beats.

Live-O!

Sun 27 Mar

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Electro swing and funky house.

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Chart and cheese midweek student fave.

Indigo

House with the specialists, Stewart and Steven.

Indie institution with DJs Chris and Paul.

Fri 25 Mar

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

Everybody

Electric Circus, 00:00–03:00, £5

Bangers & Mash

House, garage and grime.

The Egg

Pop, rock, indie and electro from 1960 to present day.

Electric Circus, 21:00–01:00, Free

Northern soul and funk, in the bar.

Playdate

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Indie and electro favourite.

The Jazz Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Swirling guitars and driving beats.

Wed 30 Mar

Chart, dance and electro.

Request-led night of house, indie and underground remixes.

Tuesday Heartbreak

Hush

Frisky

Local acoustic acts followed by indie and alternative tunes from the Dream Sequence DJs.

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Beat Control

Sun 20 Mar

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Indie and alternative with the Evol DJs.

New contemporary student night.

New student night, playing an eclectic mix of old and new.

Soul Jam Hot

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Wasabi Disco (Billy Woods)

Electric Circus, 22:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 11)

Motion

Varied mix of everything from 90s rave to powerballads.

Circus Arcade

The Southern Bar, 19:30–01:00, Free

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

JungleDub

Genre-spanning LGBTI night. In Speakeasy.

Freakout house, punk and wonky disco.

Electric Circus, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£6 after 12)

New student night, playing an eclectic mix of old and new.

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Tue 29 Mar Antics

Bubblegum

Singalong indie-pop, with the ever-present threat of The Ting Tings.

Bump

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Anything goes with Beefy and Wolfjazz.

Indigo

Hippy Hippy Shake

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Trade Union

Goth, industrial, EBM and future-pop.

New indie night.

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £12

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

House, garage and grime.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 11)

Chart, dance and electro.

Request-led night of house, indie and underground remixes.

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

Northern soul and funk, in the bar.

New Fire

Motion

Rockabilly, doo-wop and 60s hits, plus free cake!

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Devil Disco Club (HRH)

Electric Circus, 21:00–01:00, Free

Sugarbeat Residents Party (Utah Saints, Trilogy)

Xplicit (Nero, Jackwok, Taz Buckfaster)

New independent releases, local and international.

Frisky

Indie and alternative with the Evol DJs.

Wed 23 Mar Hush

Rock, indie and punk anthems.

Dubstep DJ and producer, Nero, launches his new album at his first ever Edinburgh date.

Electric Circus, 22:00–01:00, Free

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £1 (£5 after 12)

Weekend mix of chart, dance and 80s.

Movement

Pop quiz and musical bingo.

Beat Control

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dubstep, breaks and D’n’B.

Killer Kitsch Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Electronic music of all ages for all ages.

Mon 28 Mar Mixed Up The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Hip-hop, chart and R’n’B.

Sat 02 Apr The Village, 21:00–01:00, Free

Monthly disco, playing anything and everything danceable.

Sun 03 Apr Underground Sunday The Southern Bar, 19:30–01:00, Free

Local acoustic acts followed by indie and alternative tunes from the Dream Sequence DJs.

DUNDEE MUSIC

T H E AT R E

Thu 03 Mar

Wed 16 Mar

GLA S GOW

Dormant Figure, The Young Spooks, Wildhouse

Stiff Little Fingers (Spear of Destiny) Fat Sam’s, 19:30–22:00, £16

Britannia Panopticon Music Hall

Original punk-pop four-piece.

Movers and Shakers

Drouthy’s, 20:00–23:30, £2

Noisy, primal pop shenanigans.

Fri 04 Mar

Thu 17 Mar

Balaclava Models (Miniature Dinosaurs, Cha Cha Heels, Steph Arthur)

Wonk Unit (The Apostates, Vega’s Loft, Tragical History Tour)

Punk and ska noisemakers.

Punk outfit from Croydon.

Doghouse, 20:00–23:45, £5

Sat 05 Mar

Doghouse, 20:00–23:45, £6

Fri 18 Mar

Afternoon Blues: James Harper Band

The Phantom Band (Pensioner)

Blues songwriter based in Perthshire.

Big-balled experimental robo-rockers.

Doghouse, 15:00–17:30, Free

Them Beatles

Doghouse, 20:00–23:45, £8

Dexter’s Bar, 19:30–22:00, £8

Sat 19 Mar

The Heebie Jeebies

Afternoon Jazz Session (David Macgregor)

The Beatles tribute act.

Doghouse, 20:00–23:45, £5

Tropical jungle-pop. Can’t say fairer.

Doghouse, 15:00–17:30, Free

07:00PM, 17 Mar, Free

Light-hearted burlesque and cabaret starlets. Part of MGICF.

CCA Iona Kewney, Jack Webb 07:30PM, 02 Mar, £10 (£6)

Two bright sparks on the Scottosh dance scene. Part of New Territories.

Polish Roots 07:30PM, 05 Mar, £10 (£6)

A slice of Polish performance art history. Part of New Territories.

Via Nova 01:00PM, 15 Mar, £12 (£9)

Via Negative present nine performances from the Via Nova series.

Part of New Territories.

An afternoon of jazz, obviously.

Citizens Theatre Lear’s Daughters

The Wombats

The New Times, 14 Miles From Home, The Boycotts

Indie-pop scamps.

Fundraiser gig for Scottish Aid Gig to Gaza.

An imagained tale of King Lear’s three daughters.

Sat 12 Mar

Sat 26 Mar

Marilyn

Sun 06 Mar Fat Sam’s, 19:30–22:00, £13

Doghouse, 20:00–23:45, £5

Various times, 01 Mar—05 Mar, £10 (£7)

Various times, 01 Mar—12 Mar, not 6th, 7th, From £10

Into The New: Alternative Symposium 02:00PM, 19 Mar, £5 (£2.50)

Celebrating the 60th birthday of RSAMD, 60 past artists revisit, recreate or re-enact a key performance. Part of New Territories.

UWS Showcase

Various times, 23 Mar, £7 (£5)

Performance students share a snapshot of productions created in their final year.

The King’s Theatre

Gagarin Way

Various times, 17 Mar—26 Mar, not 18th, 20th, 21st, £9 (£7)–£11 (£9)

A Song, A Sip and A Sandwich 04:00PM, 27 Mar, £12

Musical theatre singalong favourites, plus booze and nibbles.

Mother Courage and Her Children

Various times, Multiple dates, £10 (£6)–£15 (£11)

Breacht’s classic play re-imagined, with Alison Peebles in starring role.

Half A Sixpence

Various times, 01 Mar—05 Mar, From £17.50

Feel-good singalong, based on the novel Kipps by HG Wells.

Les Ballets Trockadero

07:30PM, 08 Mar—09 Mar, £16.50

Ballet’s grandest comedic dames (i.e, they’re men).

Circus Of Horrors

07:30PM, 14 Mar, From £15.50

Celebrating its 15th year with a host of weird and wonderful circus acts.

Oliver

Various times, 29 Mar—02 Apr, From £17.50

New comedy production of the childhood fave. Part of MGICF.

Theatre Royal Lord of the Flies

E D IN B URGH Bedlam Theatre The Cherry Orchard

02:30PM, 02 Mar, £4 (£3.50)

The Checkov classics, as a down at heel aristocrat struggles to save her legacy

Tristan & Yseult

02:30PM, 16 Mar, £4 (£3.50)

Multi-faceted tale of unrequited love.

Bongo Club

King Lear

Chatting the female blues, in Eve Ensler’s award-winning play.

Dexter’s Bar, 19:30–22:00, £12

Sun 27 Mar

Death, Dumb, Blonde

Probably with a live storm...

Surface Festival 2011 (Endeavour, Umbilical Cord, Same Jane, Kings and Cowards, Core)

T.V. Smith, Hustlers

Psycho-thriller unveiling the murk of the Hollywood dream.

Purple Hearts

80s Mod-rock foursome.

Doghouse, 20:00–23:45, £tbc

Rock, blues and indie mini fest.

Mon 13 Mar Vic Godard

Dexet's bar, 19:30–22:30, £10

Punk rock legends

DUNDEE CLUBS Fri 04 Mar

Opto The Hideout, 20:00–02:30, £5 (£3.50)

Doghouse, 15:00–17:30, Free

Doghouse, 19:30–22:30, £10

Punk rock veteran with support from The Valentines.

Wed 30 Mar The Winter Tradition Doghouse, 20:00–23:45, Free

Noisypowerop-rockquartetfromScotland.

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £tbc

Wonk and danceable beats.

HEADWAY

Indie, retro pop and danceable rock.

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Disco, house and techno beats.

Renegades

Renegades

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

The Book Club (Is_Kill, BeatMaster2000, Teesee) Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £tbc

Electro experimental from BeatMaster2000.

Fri 11 Mar Opto The Hideout, 20:00–02:30, £5 (£3.50)

Opto Records night, with guest DJs and live bands.

Mungos Hi-Fi Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £tbc

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Various times, 17 Mar—26 Mar, not 20th, 21st, From £10–£8 (£6)

Somersaults Various times, 10 Mar—26 Mar, not 20th, 21st, 22nd, £8–£12.50

A man confronts his past after a series of tragedies.

Paisley Arts Centre

08:00PM, 08 Mar, £6.50

Double bill of dance duets from Louise Lecavalier. Part of New Territories.

Posing Project B: The Art of Seduction 07:30PM, 12 Mar, £11 (£6.50)

Breacht’s classic play re-imagined, with Alison Peebles in starring role.

Wild Life

Various times, 11 Mar—16 Mar, not 13th, 14th, 15th, £9 (£7)–£11 (£9)

Inspired by the true story of the ‘wolfboy’ found living wild in rural France.

Gagarin Way

Various times, 17 Mar—26 Mar, not 18th, £9 (£7)–£11 (£9)

Spalding Gray: Stories Left To Tell

King’s Theatre

Fri 25 Mar Opto The Hideout, 20:00–02:30, £5 (£3.50)

Beachy Head 07:30PM, 21 Mar, £10 (£6)

RSAMD

Opto Records night, with guest DJs and live bands.

Albert Herring

*CTRL*ALT*DEFEAT

Laugh-along tale of a young man freeing himself of his mother’s apron strings.

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £tbc

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Art rock, indie and punk.

Renegades Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

07:15PM, 19 Mar—24 Mar, not 20th, 23rd, £18.50 (£14.50)

Ramshorn Theatre A Midsummer Night’s Dream Various times, 17 Mar—26 Mar, From £10–£8 (£6)

The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy 07:30PM, 24 Mar—02 Apr, not 27th, £7 (£4)–£10 (£7)

Autodisco

A Cinematic Space

The Hideout, 20:00–02:30, £5 (£3.50)

Children/A Few Minutes To Look

Various times, 10 Mar—02 Apr, not 11th, £10 (£6)–£15 (£11)

Northern Ballet retelling of the inspiring story of Cleopatra.

Various times, 17 Mar—26 Mar, £9 (£7)–£11 (£9)

The Arches

Opto Records night, with guest DJs and live bands.

Solo conceptual piece from Anna Ktzystek, based on the premise of waiting. Part of New Territories.

Mother Courage and Her Children

Dance using signs, mathematical notions of space and fluorescent light.

Part of New Territories.

Gagarin Way

Sat 26 Mar

Opto

07:00PM, 08 Mar, £6 (£4)

Hara-kiri

Rockabilly, doo-wop and soul.

Sat 12 Mar

Fri 18 Mar

Where does the human begin and the animal stop

Where does the human begin and the animal stop

07:30PM, Fri 4th, Sat 5th, Fri 11th, £8 (£6)–£10.50 (£8.50)

Cleopatra

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £tbc

Douglas Adams’ tale re-told by Strathclyde Theatre Group. Part of MGICF.

Electronic DJs and producers showcase.

Virginia Ironside on why it’s great to be 60.

07:30PM, 19 Mar, £11 (£6.50)

Breacht’s classic play re-imagined, with Alison Peebles in starring role.

Electro, trip-hop and funk.

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £10

07:30PM, 09 Mar, £14 (£12)

Sat 19 Mar Locarno

Indie, pop and hardcore with Wolfie and The Girl.

Spektrum (Jon Carter, Edwin Oosterwal)

The Virginia Monologues Humanimalia

Face On

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £tbc

Electro, funk and disco.

Fri 01 Apr

07:00PM, 10 Mar, £10 (£6)

New works using projection and screen. Part of New Territories.

Cabaret Futura 06:00PM, 11 Mar, £12 (£9)

Opto

Richard Stange curates a special work. Part of New Territories.

The Hideout, 20:00–02:30, £5 (£3.50)

Into The New

Opto Records night, with guest DJs and live bands.

06:00PM, 16 Mar—18 Mar, £9 (£6)

RSAMD CPP showcase

Onde de Choc

Exploring the sounds generated by dancers’ movements.

07:30PM, 22 Mar, £11 (£6.50)

07:30PM, 24 Mar, £10 (£6)

Gray’s life unfolded chronilogically, from an intimate five-person cast.

Festival Theatre Orlando

Kathy Boyd directs this adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s classic.

Various times, 10 Mar—12 Mar, From £12–From £15.50

The Haunting

Various times, 01 Mar—05 Mar, From £14.50–From £16.50

El Llac de les Mosques

Thriller adapted from the ghost stories of Charles Dickens.

The search for evolution through change, staged amidst an 80s rock concert. Part of New Territories.

Yes, Prime Minister

07:30PM, 26 Mar, £11 (£6.50)

Tron Theatre Staircase

07:45PM, 01 Mar—05 Mar, From £7

Black comedy set around the spiralling relationship of two gay barbers.

The Belief Project

08:00PM, 02 Mar—05 Mar, £9 (£7)

Belief and how if affects and defines us. By Glasgow-based arts collective Flatrate.

Wild Life

Various times, 11 Mar—16 Mar, £9 (£7)–£11 (£9)

Royal Lyceum Theatre Age Of Arousal Various times, 01 Mar—26 Mar, not 6th, 7th, From £12.50–£15 (£11)

Various times, 15 Mar—02 Apr, not 20th, 21st, 27th, 28th, From £12.50

A glimpse into the private life of the ultimate blonde bombshell, focusing on her relationship with Simone Signoret.

St Augustine’s Church Lazybed 07:30PM, 17 Mar—19 Mar, £7 (£6)

Iain Crichton Smith’s final play; a comic meditiation on love, death and marriage.

01:00PM, 01 Mar—19 Mar, not 6th, 7th, 8th, 13th, 14th, £12

Latin/American plays adapted by Scottish playwrights. Plus a pie and a pint, naturally.

Love Lettere To The Public Transport System Various times, 02 Mar—05 Mar, £6 (£4)

One woman explores the ordinary/ extraordinary journeys we make each day.

Count Me In Various times, 02 Mar—16 Mar, £5–£6 (£4)

Gary McNair one-man political show.

Girl X Various times, 04 Mar—19 Mar, not 7th, From £10–£16 (£12)

Inspired by the Girl X story, about a mother’s decision to remove her disabled daughter’s womb.

Somersaults Various times, 10 Mar—26 Mar, £8–£12.50

A man confronts his past after a series of tragedies.

Roman Bridge 08:30PM, 18 Mar—19 Mar, £donation

Survivial, sacrifice and murder, set in another Scotland.

Bassett Various times, 24 Mar—26 Mar, £14 (£10)

Darkly comic tale of young people questioning their country and beliefs.

Smalltown 07:30PM, 24 Mar—26 Mar, £14 (£10)–£16 (£12)

Polluted water turns a community crazy.

Letters From America Various times, 31 Mar—01 Apr, £14 (£10)–£16 (£12)

A world of spin, Blackberrys and sexed-up dossiers, from the original writers of the classic BBC series.

American choreographer premiere piece.

Journey’s End

D UN D EE

Various times, 15 Mar—19 Mar, From £14.50–From £16.50

WWI drama

Dundee Rep

The Mikado

07:30PM, 22 Mar—26 Mar, From £12

The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice

The Hard Man

07:30PM, 01 Mar—19 Mar, not 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, From £12

Opera favourite in intimate venue

Various times, 31 Mar—02 Apr, From £14.50–From £16.50

Inspired by the true story of the ‘wolfboy’ found living wild in rural France.

Age Of Arousal

Playhouse

Rule-bending sexual revolution, from allfemale production company Stellar Quines.

Various times, 14 Mar—19 Mar, From £16.50

Classic musical tale of twin boys separated at birth.

Various times, 08 Mar—12 Mar, From £14.50–From £16.50

New production of Tom McGrath’s classic, about hardman Byrne in the ganglands of Glasgow.

Various times, 01 Mar—26 Mar, not 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, 20th, 21st, From £12.50–£15 (£11)

Blood Brothers

Traverse

Humanimalia

07:30PM, 04 Mar—11 Mar, £8 (£6)–£10.50 (£8.50)

Various times, 12 Mar, From £16

Always worth seeing in its original form.

A Play, A Pie and A Pint

07:15PM, 03 Mar—05 Mar, not 4th, From £16

Beartrap

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Inspired by the Girl X story, about a mother’s decision to remove her disabled daughter’s womb.

Swan Lake

Comedy adapted from Kevin MacNeil’s novel.

07:30PM, 03 Mar, £11 (£9)

Various times, 10 Mar—02 Apr, £10 (£6)–£15 (£11)

Renegades Transmission

Various times, 04 Mar—19 Mar, not 7th, 14th, 15th, From £10–£16 (£12)

New version of the kiddies favourite.

Sweetness

Mother Courage and Her Children

Heavyweight selections from Mungo’s Soundsystem.

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Tramway

Brunton Theatre

Electro, trip-hop and funk.

Electro musings with a danceable beat.

Electro, trip-hop and funk.

Girl X

Gary McNair one-man political show.

07:00PM, 10 Mar—11 Mar, £10

Seduction, public perception, and how we, as a society, have a tendency to eroticise. Part of New Territories.

Electro, trip-hop and funk.

Sat 05 Mar

Various times, Sat 26th, Wed 30th, Sat 2nd, From £10

New production of the Strausspenned libretto, from Scottish Opera. Part of MGICF.

One woman explores the ordinary/ extraordinary journeys we make each day.

SPACEBALL

Intermezzo

Various times, Wed 2nd, Thu 3rd, Fri 4th, Sat 5th, Wed 16th, £5–£6 (£4)

07:30PM, 17 Mar, £5

Felt

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Count Me In

Love Letters To The Public Transport System

Opto Records night, with guest DJs and live bands.

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £tbc

07:30PM, 09 Mar—12 Mar, £12.50

Various times, 08 Mar—12 Mar, From £17.50

07:30PM, 10 Mar—11 Mar, From £16

Marilyn

Afternoon rhythm and blues session.

Chilled afternoon blues.

Sleeping Beauty

Sultry American erotic repression, from Tennessee Williams

07:30PM, 08 Mar—12 Mar, £5 (£4.50)

Intimate portrait of the ultimate blonde bombshell, offering a glimpse into her private life.

The Boston Tea Party

One in a series of classic Russian State Ballet performances.

Rule-bending sexual revolution, from all-female production company Stellar Quines.

The Vagina Monologues

Doghouse, 15:00–17:30, Free

07:30PM, 09 Mar, From £16

The Glass Menagerie

Various times, 02 Mar—05 Mar, From £12.50–From £14.50

Afternoon Blues: Sean Rea

Romeo & Juliet

Don Quixote

07:30PM, 08 Mar, From £16

Jim Cartwright’s original tale of social standing, love, and a sweetvoiced young girl.

A Play, A Peh and A Pint 08:30PM, 30 Mar—02 Apr, £10

Specially-comissioned play by Dundee’s own Michael Marra and Scottish playwright Linda Maclean.

And a pie an’ pint, naturally.

The Skinny is next out on 5 April Get more events at www. theskinny. co.uk/ listings

One in a series of classic Russian State Ballet performances.

March 2011

THE SKINNY 67

COMEDY GLASGOW

Fri 11 Mar

Tue 01 Mar

Comedy Central Live (Martin Mor, Smug Roberts, Mitch Benn, John Robertson)

Red Raw (Gavin Webster, Sandy Nelson) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Highlight, 20:00–23:00, £12

Live stand-up. Doors open 7pm.

Weekly beginner’s showcase. Doors open 7:30pm.

The Friday Show (Seymour Mace, Matt Green)

Wed 02 Mar

Five handpicked Scottish and International acts. Hosted by Scott Agnew.

Wicked Wenches (Katherine Ryan, Catie Wilkins, Rhona McKenzie)

Sat 12 Mar

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£3)

All-female stand-up. Hosted by Susan Calman.

Thu 03 Mar Laugh Out Loud! (Raymond mearns, John Ross, Grahan Mackie, Billy Kirkwood) QMU, 19:00–23:00, £8 (£6)

Comedy fundraiser, in aid of Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre.

The Thursday Show (Bennett Arron, Sandy Nelson, Catie Wilkins) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5)

Comedy Central Live (Martin Mor, Sean Grant, Mitch Benn, Smug Roberts) Highlight, 20:00–23:00, £15

Live stand-up. Doors open 7pm.

The Saturday Show (Seymour Mace, Matt Green) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £15

Five act mix of headliners and comperes. Hosted by Scott Agnew.

Sun 13 Mar John Shuttleworth Tron Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £15

Graham Fellows comic creation.

Stephen K Amos: The Best Medicine (MGICF)

Gary Tank Commander: From Stage to Screen (MGICF)

Fresh from filming his own BBC2 comedy series.

Man of the moment.

Unique brand of comedy and sketches.

An Afternoon with Frank Carson (MGICF)

Magners Festival Club (MGICF)

The King’s Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £19.50

Phil Nichol: The Simple Hour (MGICF)

The Stand, 19:45–21:45, £10 (£8)

Boundary-pushing cheeky comic.

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Club (MGICF)

Uisge Beatha, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

The Stand, 14:00–16:00, £8

The King’s Theatre, 14:30–16:30, £16 (£13.50)

Maggie May’s, 17:00–19:00, £7 (£6)

Hanpicked line-up of festival faves.

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Southside (MGICF)

Top festival comedians, guests and a late bar.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre (MGICF)

Sun 20 Mar

Shed, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

Comperes Alan Anderson and Bratchy introduce four festival funnies.

Phil Kay In Tweed (MGICF) Oran Mor, 20:00–22:00, £13 (£11)

New storytelling act, with a surprise fashion show.

Russell Kane: Smokescreens & Castles (MGICF)

The Garage, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£10)

The triple Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee explores self, family, and the consequences of his Dad buying his own council house.

The Comedy Supper Club (MGICF)

Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, 19:00–21:00, Free

New show of songs, sketches, socks and violence.

Daniel Sloss: My Generation (MGICF) The Garage, 19:30–21:30, 10

The alter-ego of Australian comedienne Caroline Reid.

Live comedy showcase. Food available.

The Unusual Suspects (MGICF)

Off-the-cuff musical sketches.

Mon 14 Mar

Stand-up from five comics who first performed together during Fringe 2010.

Improv Wars

Wil Hodgson (MGICF)

New philosophies of despair from the hapless comic.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5)

Sat 05 Mar Russell Howard SECC, 20:00–22:00, £25

Quick-witted cheek and anecdotal absurdities.

Sarah Millican: Chatterbox (MGICF) Old Fruitmarket, 20:00–22:00, £15

Sweet and filthy Geordie comic.

Tron Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £8 (£6)

Award-winning cult favourite storytelling comic.

Tue 15 Mar

£5 Festival Funnies (MGICF)

Red Raw

Scottish compere Scott Agnew introduces a pick’n’mix of the festival.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Weekly beginner’s showcase. Doors open 7:30pm.

Wed 16 Mar Mark Steel (MGICF) Old Fruitmarket, 20:00–22:00, £15 (£13)

Commentator and stand-up comic.

Benefit Night The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

Comedy benefit, in aid of PATH Scotland.

Thu 17 Mar

Comedy Central Live (Susan Morrison, Davey See, Neil Dougan, Geoff Boyz)

Des McLean (MGICF)

Highlight, 20:00–23:00, £15

Live stand-up. Doors open 7pm.

Des McLean’s back with a new show, The Big Chap.

The Saturday Show (Bennett Arron, Sandy Nelson, Catie Wilkins)

St Patrick’s Day Irish Special (MGICF)

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

The King’s Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £17.50 (£15.50)

Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:00, £5

An Englishwoman, A Scotswoman and an Irishwoman (MGICF)

The Griffin, 20:30–22:30, £7/ £5

JoJo Sutherland, Viv Gee and Pauline Goldsmith fill the role.

Comic Relief (MGICF)

Classic Grand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£8)

Special guests from the world of comedy, with profits going to Comic Relief.

Highlight (MGICF)

Highlight, 20:30–22:30, £12

Live stand-up as part of MGICF.

Joel Dommett: Breakfast With Usher (MGICF) Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

The Stand, 19:45–21:45, £10 (£8)

Tron Theatre, 19:45–21:45, £8 (£7)

Coalition of Comedy: Tears of the Beer-Affected (MGICF) Flying Duck, 20:00–22:00, £tbc

Gordon Smith and Gordon Struthers bring the laughs.

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Club (MGICF) Uisge Beatha, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

Hanpicked line-up of festival faves.

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Southside (MGICF) Shed, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

Comperes Alan Anderson and Bratchy introduce four festival funnies.

Jon Richardson: It’s Not Me, It’s You (MGICF) Oran Mor, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£10)

Regular Have I Got News For You panellist.

The Comedy Supper Club (MGICF) Arta, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

Magners Festival Club (MGICF)

Doug Stanhope (MGICF)

Top five festival picks.

The King’s Theatre, 21:45–23:45, £19.50

Vulgar, opinionated and brutally honest stand-up.

Late night jokes and jibes.

The King’s Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £16.50 (£15)

Musical tales and a uniquely warped view of life.

The Stand, 19:30–21:30, £10 (£8)

Pam Ann: You F’Cofee (MGICF) The King’s Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £23.50 (£21)

The alter-ego of Australian comedienne Caroline Reid.

Comedy In The Buff (MGICF) Buff Club, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£5)

Selection of comedians from both home and abroad.

Tim Key: The Slut Cracker (MGICF) Tron Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

A combination of poetry, film and athletic clambering.

Gareth Richards, Chris Ramsey (MGICF) Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7)

Laugh-filled duo.

Maureen Langan (MGICF) Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

New Yorker with a quick wit and understandable rage.

Comedy @ the Ivory (MGICF) Ivory Hotel, 20:45–22:45, Free

Free Sunday comedy showcase.

Tom Stade (MGICF) The Stand, 21:30–23:30, £9 (£7)

Co-star and co-writer of Frankie Boyle’s Tramadol Nights.

The Stand, 19:30–21:30, £8 (£7)

Jessica Ransom (MGICF) Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Breath-taking multi-character journey.

Pop-Up Comedy Preview Show (MGICF)

Collective comedy sketch show.

The Gentlemans Closet Comedy Podcast (MGICF) Classic Grand, 20:30–22:30, £3 (32)

The com-talk-improv-podcast make a debut at MGICF, whatever that may entail.

Andrew Lawrence: The Too Ugly For Television Tour (MGICF)

Grosvenor Cafe, 19:30–21:30, £4

Selection of comedians from around Scotland.

Stand Up Drink Up Westend (MGICF) Uisge Beatha, 19:30–21:30, £10 (£7)

Navigating through bars, with a comedian in each venue.

Scottish compere Scott Agnew introduces a pick’n’mix of the festival.

Tom Allen Toughens Up (MGICF)

Christian Shulte Loh (MGICF)

Comedy showcase, the result of workshops with charity Universal Comedy.

Jokes suitable for little ears.

Stephen Carlin: Just Because I’ve Thrown Your Gift Away Doesn’t Mean I Hate You (MGICF)

Keith Farnan: No Blacks.

No Jews. No Dogs. No Irish.

All Welcome. (MGICF)

Anecodally-rich comedy.

Subversive German comic.

Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service

Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Comedy woven only from dubious observations.

Well This is Awkward... (MGICF)

Highlight (MGICF)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1)

Chilled laughs with resident funnyman Michael Redmond.

Tom Deacon (MGICF)

Mon 07 Mar

Charismatic star of BBC Radio 1 and BBC Switch.

Improv Wars

Whisky Fir Dummies (MGICF)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £4 (£2)

Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £9 (£8)

Uisge Beatha, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Unscripted and unrehearsed fun and games.

Cheeky whisky banter.

Tue 08 Mar

QMU, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£3)

Red Raw The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Weekly beginner’s showcase. Doors open 7:30pm.

Wed 09 Mar The Fun Junkies The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4/£2.50)

Madcap comedy challenges. Hosted

by Des Clark.

Thu 10 Mar Count Arthur Strong The King’s Theatre, 20:00–21:30, £20.50

Old-fashioned comedy genius.

The Thursday Show (Seymour Mace, Matt Green) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4)

Five mixed acts over two hours.

Hosted by Scott Agnew.

Zombie Science 1Z (MGICF) Spoof Zombiologist Doctor Austin on how a zombie outbreak might occur.

Irish Special (MGICF) West Brewery, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

Compere Jeff O’Boyle presents a trio of Irish acts.

Fri 18 Mar Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show (MGICF) Corinthian, 13:00–15:00, £5

Des Clarke, Scott Agnew and guests.

Capitol, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Three new Scottish alternative stand-up comedians.

Comedy Out West (MGICF)

West Brewery, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

Weekend round-up of the best of the fest.

Micheal Smiley: Immigrant! (MGICF)

Tron Theatre, 21:30–23:30, £10

Live stand-up as part of MGICF.

John Robertson: Dragon Punch (MGICF) The Griffin, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£6)

Coming-of-age comedy tale, with a love of Star Trek.

Jongleurs live (MGICF) Tiger Tiger, 20:30–22:30, £15

Live stand-up as part of MGICF.

Smiley’s journey from a homeless, jobless young man to an awardwinning comedian.

Rick Molland: The Sick Puppy Who Wants To Burn The World (MGICF)

Paul Foot: Ash in the Attic (MGICF)

No-holds barred comedy on the state of the world and such like.

Tron Theatre, 22:00–00:00, £10 (£8)

Foot fiddles with the comedy rule book.

To Be ContinuedÉ (MGICF) State Bar, 22:00–00:00, £5 (£4)

Improvised comedy sketches.

Magners Festival Club (MGICF) The Stand, 22:30–00:30, £12 (£10)

Five top festival picks.

Classic Grand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£3)

The Continuing Story of Carla Rhodes (MGICF) Capitol, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7)

One girl’s dream of hitting the big time in NYC

Zoe Lyons: Clownbusting (MGICF) Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £9 (£8)

Ha Ha Comedy Late ‘n’ Loud (MGICF)

The acerbic comic is worry mode.

Top festival comedians, guests and a late bar.

Saturday Night at the State (MGICF)

Alan Anderson leads a magical, musical, mystery jaunt round Glasgow.

Sat 19 Mar

Chris Broomfield introduces some new talents on the scene.

Christian Schulte-Loh: Stop Laughing, I am German! (MGICF)

Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show (MGICF)

Henning Wehn: My Struggle (MGICF)

Des Clarke, Scott Agnew and guests.

Unreconstructed German comic.

Alan Anderson’s Gallus Glasgow Comedy Walk (MGICF) Maggie May’s, 17:00–19:00, £7 (£6)

West Brewery, 19:30–21:30, £8 (£5)

Award-winning German comic.

68 THE SKINNY March 2011

Uisge Beatha, 22:40–00:40, £7 (£6)

Corinthian, 13:00–15:00, £5

State Bar, 21:00–23:00, £7 (£5)

Tron Theatre, 22:00–00:00, £10 (£8)

Trampled Bat (MGICF) Classic Grand, 19:30–21:30, £5

Scottish stand-up followed by a live podcast recording featuring regulars and special guests.

CCA, 19:30–21:30, £5 (£4)

The Stand, 19:30–21:30, £8 (£7)

Amateur Transplants in Theatre (MGICF)

Stand Up For Palestine (MGICF)

Oran Mor, 20:00–22:00, £10

The King’s Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £25 (£20)

Robin Cairn’s semi-accurate history of some of Scotland’s most shameless survivalists.

An array of comedians recreate the hit New York comedy.

The Triumphant Return of Jimmy & Jackie (MGICF) West Brewery, 19:30–21:30, £8 (£5)

Sawney Bean Humane Cuisine (MGICF) Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, 15:00–16:00, £3

Robin Cairn’s semi-accurate history of some of Scotland’s most shameless survivalists.

Caroline Rhea (MGICF) The King’s Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £19.50 (£16)

Smart and spontaneous stand-up gem.

Joe Bor in Search of the Six Pack (MGICF) West Brewery, 19:30–21:30, £8 (£5)

Carl Hutchinson and John Whale perform the rise, fall and return of Jimmy & Jackie.

Bor’s struggle to get a six pack before he reaches 30.

Mark Nelson: Guilty Pleasures (MGICF)

John Moloney: Butterflies With Stretchmarks (MGICF)

The Stand, 19:45–21:45, £10

The Stand, 19:45–21:45, £10 (£8)

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Club (MGICF)

Best of Scotland (MGICF)

New sketch show featuring a host of comedy characters.

Highlight, 20:30–22:30, £12

Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, 18:00–19:00, £3

Corinthian, 13:00–15:00, £5

Oran Mor, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£10)

Satirical stand-up who once found some underpants in a jar of mayonnaise.

Selection of comedians from both home and abroad.

Witty and award-winning comic.

Des Clarke, Scott Agnew and guests.

Gordon Smith and Gordon Struthers bring the laughs.

The King’s Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £18.50

Universal Comedy: The Clinc (MGICF)

Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Sawney Bean Humane Cuisine (MGICF)

David Kay: Scones At The Ready (MGICF)

Andy Parsons: Gruntled (MGICF)

Selection of comedians from around Scotland.

Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £9 (£8)

Sat 26 Mar

Coalition of Comedy: Tears of the Beer-Affected (MGICF)

£5 Festival Funnies (MGICF)

The Stand, 15:00–17:00, £4

Uisge Beatha, 22:40–00:40, £7 (£6)

Top festival comedians, guests and a late bar.

The Garage, 20:00–22:00, £13 (£11)

Man vs Woman (MGICF)

Kids Comedy Club

Ha Ha Comedy Late ‘n’ Loud (MGICF)

Unique comedy songs.

Live stand-up as part of MGICF.

Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:00, £5

The Stand, 22:30–00:30, £12 (£10)

Five top festival picks.

Dan Clark (MGICF)

Comedy In The Buff (MGICF)

State Bar, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4)

Magners Festival Club (MGICF)

Thu 24 Mar

Four top Celtic comics.

Buff Club, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£5)

Unpredictable stand-up favourite.

Debut UK tour from the young talent.

Best of Scotland (MGICF)

Sun 06 Mar

The King’s Theatre, 22:00–00:00, £20.50 (£16.50)

Intelligent and original stand-up routines.

Stand-up from five comics who first performed together during Fringe 2010.

Five act mix of headliners and comperes. Hosted by Joe Heenan.

Jerry Sadowitz (MGICF)

Powerhouse stand-up from the rising star.

The Stand, 21:30–23:30, £8 (£7)

Tiger Tiger, 20:30–22:30, £15

Grosvenor Cafe, 19:30–21:30, £4

State Bar, 22:00–23:00, £7 (£5)

Stand-up, sketches and ad hoc surprises.

Des Clarke, Scott Agnew and guests.

The King’s Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £21 (£18.50)

Halt Bar, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£3)

The First Rule Of Club Powerhorse (MGICF)

Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show (MGICF)

Corinthian, 13:00–15:00, £5

The Collective (MGICF)

Free comedy taster.

Jongleurs live (MGICF)

The Stand, 19:45–21:45, £10

Mon 21 Mar

Fri 25 Mar Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show (MGICF)

Celebrity Autobiography (MGICF)

Live comedy showcase. Food available.

Buff Club, 20:00–22:00, £5

Tron Theatre, 22:00–00:00, £10 (£8)

The Victoria Bar, 20:30–22:30, Free

Dommett recalls his impromptu failed trip to Vegas to chase the girl of his dreams.

The Unusual Suspects (MGICF)

Tron Theatre, 22:00–00:00, £10 (£8)

Late night jokes and jibes.

Wed 23 Mar

Best of Scotland (MGICF)

Jupp tells his latest comedic tale.

Patter Merchant City, Phil Differ, Patrick Rolink (MGICF)

An Audience with Tam Cowan (MGICF)

The Return of Boothby Graffoe (MGICF)

Miles Jupp: Fibber In The Heat (MGICF)

The Stand, 22:00–00:00, £10 (£8)

Patter Merchant City, Phil Differ, Patrick Rolink (MGICF)

The Stand, 15:00–16:30, £4

Selection of comedians from around Scotland.

Spoof Zombiologist Doctor Austin on how a zombie outbreak might occur.

The Stand, 21:30–23:30, £3 (£2)

Long-running weekly beginnerÕs showcase.

Kids Comedy Club (MGICF)

Grosvenor Cafe, 19:30–21:30, £4

The King’s Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £23.50 (£21)

Best of Red Raw (MGICF)

Topical gags and the occasional song.

Pam Ann: You F’Cofee (MGICF)

Abandonman: Pic’n’mix Tape (MGICF)

Unscriptedandunrehearsedfunandgames.

Corinthian, 13:00–15:00, £5

Free comedy taster.

Des Clarke, Scott Agnew and guests.

Laughs for the little ‘uns.

Arta, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

Buff Club, 20:00–22:00, £5

Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show (MGICF)

Youthful comic prodigy, who started doing stand-up aged just 16.

Comedy Central Live (Susan Morrison, Neil Dougan, Geoff Boyz, John Robertson)

Five handpicked Scottish and International acts. Hosted by Joe Heenan.

Uisge Beatha, 22:40–00:40, £7 (£6)

Alan Anderson leads a magical, musical, mystery jaunt round Glasgow.

Phil Differ: That Which Does Not Kill Us Makes Us Scunnered (MGICF)

The Friday Show (Bennett Arron, Sandy Nelson, Catie Wilkins)

The Stand, 22:30–00:30, £15 (£12)

Ha Ha Comedy Late ‘n’ Loud (MGICF)

Fri 04 Mar

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £4 (£2)

QMU, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£3)

Alan Anderson’s Gallus Glasgow Comedy Walk (MGICF)

Chilled laughs with resident funnyman Michael Redmond.

Live stand-up. Doors open 7pm.

Zombie Science 1Z (MGICF)

Halt Bar, 20:30–22:30, Free

Five top festival picks.

Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service

Highlight, 20:00–23:00, £12

Pop-up Comedy Preview (MGICF)

Capitol, 22:00–00:00, £6 (£5)

TV star and a bit of a comedy legend.

Five mixed acts over two hours.

Hosted by Joe Heenan.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1)

The Stockholm Syndrome (MGICF)

Adam Kay and Suman Biswas’ darkly humorous re-imaginings of pop and rock classics.

Delightful and surreal ramblings.

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Club (MGICF) Uisge Beatha, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

Hanpicked line-up of festival faves.

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Southside (MGICF) Shed, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

Comperes Alan Anderson and Bratchy introduce four festival funnies.

Milton Jones: Lion Whisperer (MGICF) Old Fruitmarket, 20:00–22:00, £15 (£13)

Flying Duck, 20:00–22:00, £tbc

Uisge Beatha, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

Hanpicked line-up of festival faves.

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Southside (MGICF) Shed, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

Comperes Alan Anderson and Bratchy introduce four festival funnies.

Richard Herring: Christ On A Bike (MGICF) Oran Mor, 20:00–22:00, £15

Exploring Herring’s strange obsession and affinity with the Messiah.

The weird bloke with the shirts from Mock the Week.

The Comedy Supper Club (MGICF)

The Comedy Supper Club (MGICF)

Live comedy showcase. Food available.

Arta, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

Live comedy showcase. Food available.

The Unusual Suspects (MGICF) Buff Club, 20:00–22:00, £5

Stand-up from five comics who first performed together during Fringe 2010.

£5 Festival Funnies (MGICF)

Arta, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

The Unusual Suspects (MGICF) Buff Club, 20:00–22:00, £5

Stand-up from five comics who first performed together during Fringe 2010.

£5 Festival Funnies (MGICF) Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:00, £5

Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:00, £5

Scottish compere Scott Agnew introduces a pick’n’mix of the festival.

Scottish compere Scott Agnew introduces a pick’n’mix of the festival.

Costaki Economopoulos: American Dad (MGICF)

Frankie Boyle leads an all star line-up including Fred Macaulay and Gary Tank Commander. In aid of the Palestine Legal Aid Fund.

An Evening with Shappi Khorsandi (MGICF) Charming and feisty comic bright star.

1 More Burnt CD: Graham Mackie (MGICF)

The Unusual Suspects (MGICF)

Comedy In The Buff (MGICF)

Glasgow-based joker.

Sharp-witted American.

Davey See and Iain Stirling: Take Off Your Wristband It’s Not That Kind Of Festival (MGICF)

Highlight (MGICF)

Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £9 (£7)

Jongleurs live (MGICF)

Halt Bar, 20:30–22:30, £5

Stand-up from a group of comics who first performed together during last year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

Scott Agnew: Tales (MGICF) The Stand, 21:30–23:30, £8 (£7)

Tall tales from the 6-foot-fiveinches comic.

Tue 22 Mar Micky Flanagan (MGICF) The King’s Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £17.50

Razor sharp observational wit.

Tom Wrigglesworth: Nightmare Dream Wedding (MGICF) The Stand, 19:30–21:30, £10 (£8)

Brand new show following last year’s sell-out.

John Bishop (MGICF) SECC, 20:00–22:00, £25

Storyteller-style comedian.

JayDee & Coke (MGICF) Brel, 20:30–22:30, £5

Scotch stand-up comedy, songs and sketches.

The Garage, 20:00–22:00, £14 (£12)

Buff Club, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£5)

Selection of comedians from both home and abroad.

Comedy Pub Quiz (MGICF) The Arches, 20:00–22:00, Free

Er, a comedy pub quiz. Hosted by Bratchy and The Wee Man.

Dan Antopolski: Turn of the Century (MGICF) The Stand, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

The veteran Fringe sell-out presents his seventh solo stand-up show.

Bennett Arron Has Had Enough (MGICF) Capitol, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£5)

Original comedy ranter.

Carl Donnelly: Clap Your Hands Say Carl Donnelly! (MGICF) Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £9 (£7)

Selection of stories from his life in the last year.

Sara Pascoe Vs The Apocalypse (MGICF) Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Surreal and playful solo show.

State Bar, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

Two breezy comedy faves.

Highlight (MGICF) Highlight, 20:30–22:30, £12

Live stand-up as part of MGICF.

Jongleurs live (MGICF) Tiger Tiger, 20:30–22:30, £15

Live stand-up as part of MGICF.

Susan Morrison: Faffing Around (MGICF) Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Morrison keeps if fun and faffy.

Three Men and a Little Lady(boy) (MGICF) The Griffin, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

Three generations of Scottish stand-up, from Graham Mackie, Gus Tawse and Ray Bradshaw.

Comedy Out West (MGICF) West Brewery, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

Weekend round-up of the best of the fest.

The Griffin, 20:30–22:30, £9 (£7)

Highlight, 20:30–22:30, £12

Live stand-up as part of MGICF. Tiger Tiger, 20:30–22:30, £15

Live stand-up as part of MGICF.

Mikey Adams: Messages From The Giving Hawk (MGICF) Capitol, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7)

Seeking inspiration in the lore of the Native American, featuring Jay Bharaj with some funky sounds.

Nick Helm (MGICF) Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7)

An evening of comedy, poetry, music and volume.

Pete Johansson: Pete’s On Earth (MGICF) Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Anecdotal and autobiographical comedy at its best.

Rob Kane: Frustration Can Cause Accidents (MGICF) Classic Grand, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£3)

Dark, sharp, observational comedy.

COMEDY Comedy Out West (MGICF)

Best of Red Raw (MGICF)

Weekend round-up of the best of the fest.

Long-runningweeklybeginner’sshowcase.

Saturday Night at the State (MGICF)

Wed 30 Mar

Chris Broomfield introduces some new talents on the scene.

Kevin Eldon is Titting About (MGICF)

West Brewery, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

State Bar, 21:00–23:00, £7 (£5)

Cabaret Noir (MGICF)

The King’s Theatre, 22:00–00:00, £17.50

Burlesque comedy team-up.

The Stockholm Syndrome (MGICF)

Capitol, 22:00–00:00, £6 (£5)

Unique brand of comedy and sketches.

Magners Festival Club (MGICF) The Stand, 22:30–00:30, £15 (£12)

Five top festival picks.

Ha Ha Comedy Late ‘n’ Loud (MGICF) Uisge Beatha, 22:40–00:40, £7 (£6)

Top festival comedians, guests and a late bar.

Sun 27 Mar Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show (MGICF) Corinthian, 13:00–15:00, £5

Des Clarke, Scott Agnew and guests.

Sawney Bean Humane Cuisine (MGICF)

Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, 15:00–16:00, £3

Robin Cairn’s semi-accurate history of some of Scotland’s most shameless survivalists.

Kids Comedy Club (MGICF) The Stand, 15:00–16:30, £4

Laughs for the little ‘uns.

Chortle Comedy Quiz (MGICF)

The Stand, 21:30–23:30, £3 (£2)

The Stand, 19:30–21:30, £10 (£8)

The all-singing Kevin Eldon makes his Glasgow debut.

Craig Campbell (MGICF)

The Garage, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£10)

Inventive storyteller able to find humour in the seemingly mundane.

What Happened Is This (MGICF) Tron Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £9 (£7)

New comic play with live music by Glasgow-grown writer/performer Nick Underwood.

Bruce Fummey: My Afro Celtic Angst (MGICF) Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Fummey turns his irreverent eye on growing up a proud Scot with an African dad.

Halt Bar, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£3)

Collective comedy sketch show.

Jason Cook: Numpty (MGICF) The Stand, 21:30–23:30, £8 (£7)

New show which Cook promises will be “piss funny”.

Thu 31 Mar

Nick Revell: Revell Yell (MGICF)

Navigate through four bars, with a comedian in each venue. Starts at Maggie May’s.

The Stand, 19:30–21:30, £10 (£8)

Maggie May’s, 19:30–21:30, £10 (£7)

Steven Gribbin: Laugh at First Sight (MGICF)

The Stand, 19:30–21:30, £9 (£7)

The Stockholm Syndrome (MGICF) Capitol, 22:00–00:00, £6 (£5)

Des Clarke, Scott Agnew and guests.

Unique brand of comedy and sketches.

Wed 02 Mar

Magners Festival Club (MGICF)

The Broken Windows Policy

Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

Fast-paced sketch night.

Improvised comedy with residents Stu & Garry.

Craig Hill: Why Don’t You Come Down The Front? (MGICF)

Gentleman George Monbiot’s Left Hook (MGICF)

Top festival comedians, guests and a late bar.

Topical debate where the audience are invited to join in.

Sun 03 Apr

Citizens Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £15

Open and honest Irish favourite.

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Club (MGICF)

Uisge Beatha, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

Hanpicked line-up of festival faves.

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Southside (MGICF) Shed, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

O2 ABC, 20:00–22:00, £15

Glasgow’s favourite ranter.

The Comedy Supper Club (MGICF) Arta, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

Live comedy showcase. Food available.

What Happened Is This (MGICF) Tron Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £9 (£7)

New comic play with live music by Glasgow-grown writer/performer Nick Underwood.

£5 Festival Funnies (MGICF) Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:00, £5

Scottish compere Scott Agnew introduces a pick’n’mix of the festival.

An Alky, a Junkie and a Pyscho Walk into a Bar (MGICF)

Selection of comedians from both home and abroad.

Anna Devitt: Direct Devitt (MGICF)

Chris Martin: Get Involved (MGICF)

Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Debut solo show from Chortle Student Comedian of the year finalist Chris Martin.

Lee Camp: Taking The Piss Out Of America (MGICF)

Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £9 (£7)

American Camp’s rapid-fire, opinionated quips.

Comedy @ the Ivory (MGICF) Ivory Hotel, 20:45–22:45, Free

Free Sunday comedy showcase.

Debra DiGiovanni: Get The Kettle!! (MGICF)

The Stand, 21:30–23:30, £9 (£7)

Honest and charming Canadian comic.

Mon 28 Mar Danny Lobell: New York, New York (MGICF) The Stand, 19:30–21:30, £6 (£4)

NY comic takes a foray into music.

Greg Davies: Firing Cheeseballs At A Dog (MGICF) The Garage, 20:00–22:00, £15

Sell-out smash hit at the Edinburgh Festival 2010.

The Unusual Suspects (MGICF) Halt Bar, 20:30–22:30, £5

Expect a Lady Gaga tribute and possibly dancing on her back legs.

Julia Sutherland and Sarah-May Philo: Fooling Around (MGICF) 13th Note, 20:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Raunchy confessions and musical comedy.

Norman Lovett: LOL! (MGICF) Oran Mor, 20:00–22:00, £13 (£11)

Lovett discusses The Sugababes and how he never seems to like anyone called Andrew.

Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Closet sensitive soul delivers comedy with, er, soul.

Billy & Chris’ Comedy All-Sorts (MGICF)

Classic Grand, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4)

Halt Bar, 20:30–22:30, Free

Energetic comedy show featuring stories, videos and brilliantly funny stand-up.

Eric Lampaert (MGICF) Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Highlight, 20:30–22:30, £12

Live stand-up as part of MGICF.

Capitol, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7)

The 2009 Scottish Comedian of the Year.

Jongleurs live (MGICF) Tiger Tiger, 20:30–22:30, £15

Live stand-up as part of MGICF.

Delete The Banjax (MGICF)

Unique comedy team-up.

Award-winning sketch act.

Comedy Out West (MGICF)

Capitol, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7)

Josh Howie: Gran Slam (MGICF)

The Arches, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

Zombie Science 1Z (MGICF) QMU, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£3)

Spoof Zombiologist Doctor Austin on how a zombie outbreak might occur.

Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £9 (£8)

West Brewery, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

Weekend round-up of the best of the fest.

Obie: Halfwits and Loonies (MGICF)

State Bar, 22:00–00:00, £7 (£5)

Surreal stories, great one liners and a bit of improv.

Magners Festival Club (MGICF) The Stand, 22:30–00:30, £12 (£10)

Five top festival picks.

Ha Ha Comedy Late ‘n’ Loud (MGICF) Uisge Beatha, 22:40–00:40, £7 (£6)

Citizens Theatre, 17:00–21:00, £12.50

Uisge Beatha, 22:40–00:40, £7 (£6)

Chilled Sunday nighter, with five acts on the bill.

Five mixed acts over two hours.

Hosted by Vladimir McTavish.

Mon 14 Mar

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1)

Comedy Central Live (Alex Boardman, Mat Reed, Owen O’Neill)

Weekly beginner’s showcase. Doors open 7:30pm.

Coalition of Comedy: Tears of the Beer-Affected (MGICF)

Magical Mystery Comedy Coach Tour (MGICF)

Gordon Smith and Gordon Struthers bring the laughs.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Highlight, 20:00–23:00, £10

Tue 15 Mar

Road trip to the Scottish countryside with some of Glasgow’s finest comedians.

The Friday Show (Junior Simpson, Katherine Ryan)

Mark Steel’s In Town

Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show (MGICF)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5)

Craig Hill: Why Don’t You Come Down The Front? (MGICF)

Five handpicked Scottish and International acts. Hosted by Vladimir McTavish.

The radio and TV commentator goes stand-up.

Des Clarke, Scott Agnew and guests.

Improverts

No-holds-barred spontaneous comic.

Kids Comedy Club (MGICF)

Comedy Central Live (Tiernan Douieb, Barry Castagnola)

Garry Little: Pure Tonto (MGICF)

Laughs for the little ‘uns.

Improv comedy troupe.

Regular live comedy session.

Sat 05 Mar

Electric Tales (Sian Bevan, Susan Morrison)

Little’s fourth festival show, with more puerile gags.

The Stand, 19:30–21:30, £8 (£7)

Flying Duck, 20:00–22:00, £tbc

Oran Mor, 20:00–22:00, £13.50 (£11)

The Garage, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£10)

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Club (MGICF)

Uisge Beatha, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

Hanpicked line-up of festival faves.

Uisge Beatha, 12:30–14:30, £15 (£14)

Corinthian, 13:00–15:00, £5

The Stand, 15:00–16:30, £4

Addy Van Der Borgh: Advanced Mumbo Jumbo (MGICF)

Uncaged Monkeys (MGICF)

Live stand-up. Doors open 7pm.

The King’s Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £17.50

The first ever national science tour celebrating the universe and the wonders that lie within it.

Comperes Alan Anderson and Bratchy introduce four festival funnies.

Comedy In The Buff (MGICF)

The Comedy Supper Club (MGICF)

Arta, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

Live comedy showcase. Food available.

Watson’s Wind Up (MGICF)

Citizens Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £15

Topical comedy show in a special one-off performance.

What Happened Is This (MGICF)

Tron Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £9 (£7)

New comic play with live music by Glasgow-grown writer/performer Nick Underwood.

Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–00:00, £4.50 (£4)

A show about the different ways we communicate.

Ha Ha Half Price Comedy Southside (MGICF) Shed, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

Live stand-up. Doors open 7pm.

Comedy Central Live (Alex Boardman, Mat Reed, Owen O’Neill, Gary Little)

Buff Club, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£5)

Selection of comedians from both home and abroad.

Stephen Callaghan’s Memory Box (MGICF) Capitol, 20:00–22:00, £6 (£4)

Glasgow-based stand-up comedian.

Kumail Nanjiani, Kyle Grooms (MGICF)

Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

Two of the top American stand-ups on the scene.

Martin Mor (MGICF)

Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Jokes and stories from the Irish funnyman. Oh and a dancing monkey.

Highlight, 20:00–23:00, £13

The Saturday Show (Junior Simpson, Katherine Ryan) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Five act mix of headliners and comperes. Hosted by Vladimir McTavish.

Queen’s Hall, 20:00–22:30, £15 (£13)

The Pleasance, 20:00–23:00, £5 (£4)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £4 (£3)

Comedy and storytelling combine, with the promise of robot badges.

Queen’s Hall, 20:00–22:30, £15 (£13)

Deadpan comic creation.

Comedy benefit, in aid of Marie Curie.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1)

Chilled Sunday nighter, with five acts on the bill.

Mon 07 Mar Red Raw

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10

Thu 17 Mar An Irish Comedy Stew (Kevin Hayes, Niall Browne, Paulie Cronin, Miall McCamley, Pearse James) Voodoo Rooms, 18:30–22:30, £16

Comedy showcase and some Irish scran.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

The Thursday Show (Maureen Manegan) Five mixed acts over two hours.

Hosted by Susan Morrison and with a promised ‘very special’ guest headliner.

Weekly beginner’s showcase. Doors open 7:30pm.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4)

Comedy @ the Ivory (MGICF)

Tue 08 Mar

Scottish compere Scott Agnew introduces a pick’n’mix of the festival.

Free Sunday comedy showcase.

Craig Campbell

Rob Rouse: The Great Escape (MGICF)

Yarn-spinning from the funnyman.

Fri 18 Mar

Wed 09 Mar

The Friday Show (Maureen Manegan, Lee Kyle)

Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:00, £5

Chris Henry: Genderation X (MGICF)

Classic Grand, 20:30–22:30, £7.50 (£6)

The lovable rogue returns.

Ivory Hotel, 20:45–22:45, Free

The Stand, 21:30–23:30, £9 (£7)

Rouse faces the wild animal lurking within.

Conroy Reid Assembly (MGICF)

Mon 04 Apr

Chris Conroy and Tommy Reid on a mission to make you laugh.

Emile Heskey’s Extremely Depressing BagÊof Scottish Alternative Comedy (MGICF)

Buff Club, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5)

Danny Bevins: The Making of an American Smartass (MGICF)

Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £9 (£7)

Grosvenor Cafe, 19:30–21:30, £4

Scottish comedy of a surreal nature.

Mike Wozniak (MGICF)

The Stand, 19:30–21:30, £8 (£7)

Loud, audacious and opinionated. And very charming.

From conception attempts to amateur science.

Henry Packer (MGICF)

Mark Thomas: Extreme Rambling (MGICF)

Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Ad-libbed flights of observational fancy.

Highlight (MGICF)

Highlight, 20:30–22:30, £12

Live stand-up as part of MGICF.

Jongleurs live (MGICF) Tiger Tiger, 20:30–22:30, £15

Live stand-up as part of MGICF.

Robin Ince and Michael Legge: Righteous Anger Pointless Ire (MGICF)

The Griffin, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£6)

Two middle aged men furiously shouting about things.

Citizens Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £15 (£10)

The tale of Thomas’ Middle East adventure, walking the entire length of the Israeli Separation Barrier.

Alan Scott Barry & Malky (MGICF)

Halt Bar, 20:30–22:30, £4 (£2)

Comedy sketches and opinion for your pleasure.

An Audience with Imran Yusuf (MGICF)

The Stand, 21:30–23:30, £10 (£8)

Star of Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Road Show makes his solo debut.

Tue 01 Mar

Comedy Out West (MGICF)

Rolling presentation of some of the best movies of Laurel and Hardy.

Weekend round-up of the best of the fest.

Comedy Central Live (Jason Paterson)

The World According to Damian Crow (MGICF) Capitol, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

West Brewery, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

ED I N B UR G H The Pleasance, 20:00–23:00, £5 (£4)

Regular live comedy session.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10/£1)

We Happy Few (Mickey Anderson, Hitch Hanrahan, Adam Mitchell, Ben Verth, Who Is Jean?)

The Banshee Labyrinth, 20:00–22:30, £3

Raucous sketch and stand-up comedy night.

Thu 10 Mar The Thursday Show (Colum McDonnell)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4)

Five mixed acts over two hours.

Hosted by Raymond Mearns.

Fri 11 Mar Comedy Central Live (Patrick Rolink, Sean Walsh, Harvey Oliver) Highlight, 20:00–23:00, £10

Live stand-up. Doors open 7pm.

The Friday Show (Colum McDonnell, Dan Bland)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5)

Five handpicked Scottish and International acts. Hosted by Susan Morrison and with a promised ‘very special’ guest headliner.

Improverts Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–00:00, £4.50 (£4)

Improv comedy troupe.

Highlight, 20:00–23:00, £13

Live stand-up. Doors open 7pm.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4)

Five mixed acts over two hours.

Hosted by Joe Heenan.

Fri 25 Mar The Friday Show (Steve Hughes, Lee Camp) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5)

Five handpicked Scottish and International acts. Hosted by Joe Heenan.

Improverts Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–00:00, £4.50 (£4)

Improv comedy troupe.

Queen’s Hall, 20:00–22:30, £15 (£13)

The bloke with the odd shirts from Mock The Week.

The Saturday Show (Steve Hughes, Lee Camp, Iain Stirling) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Five act mix of headliners and comperes. Hosted by Joe Heenan.

Sun 27 Mar Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

The Stand, 13:30–15:00, Free

Improvised comedy with residents Stu & Garry.

Jerry Sadowitz HMV Picture House, 20:00–22:00, £19.50

Comic fuelled with The Rage.

Richard Herring: Christ On A Bike The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1)

Exploring his obsession with the Messiah.

Mon 28 Mar Red Raw The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Weekly beginner’s showcase. Doors open 7:30pm.

Tue 29 Mar Greg Davies: Firing Cheeseballs At A Dog Festival Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £17

Award-nominated Fringe show and Davies debut stand-up.

One time Big Train man goes solo.

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Five act mix of headliners and comperes. Hosted by Susan Morrison and with a promised ‘very special’ guest headliner.

Sun 20 Mar Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

The Stand, 13:30–15:00, Free

The Sunday Night Laugh-In

Comedy Central Live (Patrick Rolink, Sean Walsh, Harvey Oliver)

Thu 24 Mar The Thursday Show (Steve Hughes, Lee Camp, Iain Stirling)

The Saturday Show (Maureen Manegan, Lee Kyle)

Improverts

Sat 12 Mar

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£8)

The Fringe sell-out in his seventh solo stand-up tour.

Kevin Eldon is Titting About

Improvised comedy with residents Stu & Garry.

Improv comedy troupe.

Wed 23 Mar Dan Antopolski: Turn of the Century

Sat 19 Mar

Five handpicked Scottish and International acts. Hosted by Raymond Mearns.

Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–00:00, £4.50 (£4)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7)

Bright young comedic talent.

Sat 26 Mar

Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

The Sunday Night Laugh-In

Andrew Lawrence: Too Ugly For Television

Milton Jones: Lion Whisperer

Benefit Night

Improvised comedy with residents Stu & Garry.

The Banshee Labyrinth, 20:00–22:30, £3

Raucous sketch and stand-up comedy night.

Wed 16 Mar

Sun 06 Mar The Stand, 13:30–15:00, Free

Tue 22 Mar We Happy Few (Mickey Anderson, Hitch Hanrahan, Adam Mitchell, Ben Verth, Who Is Jean?)

John Shuttleworth: A Man With No More Rolls

£5 Festival Funnies (MGICF)

Fri 01 Apr Des Clarke, Scott Agnew and guests.

The Sunday Night Laugh-In

Afternoon preview of some of the best festival acts.

The Stand, 19:45–21:45, £10 (£8)

What it takes to survive in the misunderstood goth subculture.

Jokes about dictators and spiders.

Thu 03 Mar The Thursday Show (Junior Simpson, Katherine Ryan)

Stars of the BBC’s Michael McIntyreÕs Comedy Road Show.

Laurel and Hardy Film and Fun (MGICF)

Corinthian, 13:00–15:00, £5

The Stand, 13:30–15:00, Free

Red Raw

Sat 02 Apr Britannia Panopticon Music Hall, 12:00–20:00, Free

Sun 13 Mar

Fri 04 Mar

Cottier’s, 12:30–13:30, £5

Top five festival picks.

Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show (MGICF)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £4 (£2)

Five act mix of headliners and comperes. Hosted by Raymond Mearns.

The Comedy Lunch Hour (MGICF)

Magners Festival Club (MGICF) The Stand, 22:00–00:00, £10 (£8)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£3)

All-female stand-up. Hosted by Susan Calman.

Terry Alderton (MGICF)

Top festival comedians, guests and a late bar.

Tiffany Stevenson: You, Me and Some Other People We Don’t Know (MGICF) Brel, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Classic Grand, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6)

Hosts Billy Kirkwood and Chris Henry play host to some of their favourite comics.

Youtube warrior The Wee Man returns to The Arches for an evening of movie magic, breakdancing and jokes.

Free comedy showcase of festival acts.

Billy Kirkwood: Show me Your Tattoo (MGICF)

Sean Collins and Mike Gunn: Still on the Road Show (MGICF)

Improvised comedy games and sketches.

Pop-up Comedy Hand Pict (MGICF)

The fast-rising star presents his new solo show.

John Gavin: Work Life Balance (MGICF)

The Wee Man (MGICF)

The Stand, 19:30–21:30, £9 (£7)

State Bar, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

Andrew Bird: The Unlikely Lad (MGICF)

Improv Wars: Comedy Festival Special (MGICF)

Deliberately ptovocative funnyman.

Barry McDonald: My Big Fat April Fool (MGICF)

Highlight (MGICF)

Witty storyteller comic.

Tue 29 Mar

A one night only comedy show extravaganza.

New comic play with live music by Glasgow-grown writer/performer Nick Underwood.

Blackfriars Basement, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7)

Scott Capurro Opens Up (MGICF)

The Griffin, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

Debut comedy solo show from the MTV star.

Stand-up from a group of comics who first performed together during last year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

The Stand, 21:30–23:30, £6 (£5)

Buff Club, 20:30–22:30, £5

What Happened Is This (MGICF) Tron Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £9 (£7)

Five top festival picks.

Des Bishop: My Dad Was Nearly James Bond (MGICF)

The Ginge, The Geordie and The Geek (MGICF)

Citizens Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £16.50

Maggie May’s, 17:00–19:00, £7 (£6)

The Stand, 22:30–00:30, £15 (£12)

Ha Ha Comedy Late ‘n’ Loud (MGICF)

Banter with three up-and-coming Scottish comics.

Award-winning Edinburgh Festival 2010 show of silliness and surrealism.

Alan Anderson’s Gallus Glasgow Comedy Walk (MGICF)

Alan Anderson leads a magical, musical, mystery jaunt round Glasgow.

Oran Mor, 20:00–22:00, £13.50 (£11)

Comedy In The Buff (MGICF)

Jenny Eclair: Old Dog New Tricks (MGICF)

Corinthian, 13:00–15:00, £5

No-holds-barred spontaneous comic.

Selection of comedians from both home and abroad.

Tron Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8)

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show (MGICF)

The Stand, 19:45–21:45, £12 (£10)

MacAulay returns to the Festival with his first full-length show for a number of years.

Documenting his 25-year love affair with comedy.

Buff Club, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£5)

The Saturday Show (Colum McDonnell, Dan Bland)

Fred MacAulay (MGICF)

Comedy In The Buff (MGICF) Buff Club, 20:00–22:00, £7 (£5)

State Bar, 21:00–23:00, £7 (£5)

Wicked Wenches (Katherine Ryan, Catie Wilkins, Rhona McKenzie)

Chris Broomfield introduces some new talents on the scene.

Raymond Mearn’s April Fool Show (MGICF)

The Collective (MGICF)

Cottier’s, 12:30–13:30, £5

Saturday Night at the State (MGICF)

Afternoon preview of some of the best festival acts.

Free local comedy showcase.

The Victoria Bar, 20:30–22:30, Free

The Comedy Lunch Hour (MGICF)

Alan Anderson leads a magical, musical, mystery jaunt round Glasgow.

Comperes Alan Anderson and Bratchy introduce four festival funnies.

McPhabb’s, 15:30–17:30, £3 (donation)

Incisive comedy on a broad range of topics.

Maggie May’s, 17:00–19:00, £7 (£6)

Pop-up Comedy: Vocal Locals (MGICF)

Stand Up Drink Up Merchant City (MGICF)

Test your comedy trivia knowledge and win prizes.

Alan Anderson’s Gallus Glasgow Comedy Walk (MGICF)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1)

Chilled Sunday nighter, with five acts on the bill.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10

Wed 30 Mar Jenny Eclair: Old Dog New Tricks The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £12

Expect a Lady Gaga tribute and possibly some dancing on her back legs.

Thu 31 Mar The Thursday Show (Rob Rouse, Costaki Econompoulos) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4)

Five mixed acts over two hours.

Hosted by Billy Kirkwood.

DU N DEE

Mon 21 Mar

Fri 11 Mar

Red Raw

Susan Calman’s Happy Place

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Weekly beginner’s showcase. Doors open 7:30pm.

Dundee Rep, 22:30–00:00, £12 (£10)

Calman chit-chats about all the things that make her smile.

March 2011

THE SKINNY 69

BONUS PREVIEW! The Monochrome Set

department with tracks christened Karma Suture and The Great Barrier Riff – they’ve amassed considerable renown for good reason.

This month they’ve been coaxed to Glasgow

by We Can Still Picnic, whose founders Wake the President will provide support on the night, alongside Spectorbullets (Russell Burn of the Fire Engines’ new act) and POST. To paraphrase an eponymous early single, they’ll be waiting to spuriously entertain your tiny brains; it’d be daft to refuse. [Chris Buckle]

Mono 26 Mar

Currently in their third stint together, after previously packing it in once in 1985, and then again in 1998, The Monochrome Set are a deciduous yet resilient fixture in indie-pop’s past, present – and perhaps its future, should another album materialise.

Marked by songwriter Bid’s laconic vocals and intelligent wit – whether rhyming ‘Pepsi Cola’ with ‘Zola’ (as in Emile, not Gianfranco), or giving Half Man Half Biscuit a run for their money in the pun

8pm, £7 www.themonochromeset.co.uk

ART G L A S G OW Burrell Collection China Through The Lens

Various times, 01 Mar—03 Apr, Free

The work of pioneering travel photographer John Thomson, from 1837-1921.

CCA Harun Faroki: Comparison via a Third

11:00AM, 01 Mar—03 Mar, Free

Archive of work from the pioneering filmmaker, artist and writer, including key installation pieces.

12:00PM, 04 Mar—13 Mar, not 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, Free

Double-header exhibition from Alec Mackenzie and Dan Miller.

Flying Duck All The Young Nudes

08:00PM, Multiple dates, £4

Drawing class with a backdrop of DJ beats and a bar to the side.

Gallery of Modern Art Blueprint for a Bogey

Various times, 01 Mar—03 Apr, Free

Limited advertisers,

70 THE SKINNY March 2011

Various times, 01 Mar—08 Mar, Free

The Modern Institute

Glasgow Print Studio Six By Six

10:00AM, 01 Mar, Free

Group of boundary-pushing printmaking graduates from the Glasgow School of Art.

Poster Club

Various times, 04 Mar—13 Mar, not 7th, Free

Printmakers

Rhubaba

John Goto: Mosaic

Duck Hunt

Abstract mosaics, prompted by the invasion of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Defense Force.

The InterCity mainline group show, an artist collective spread between Bristol and London.

10:00AM, 01 Mar—15 Mar, not 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, Free

An Informed Energy: Lithography and Tamarind

10:00AM, 26 Mar—02 Apr, not 27th, 28th, Free

Prints from the Tamarind Institute of Lithography, in New Mexico.

Fruitmarket Dead Calm: JeanMarc Bustamante

Various times, 01 Mar—03 Apr, Free

New and recent work, tracing the development of Bustamante’s ideas and artistic language.

Tony Swain

Henderson’s Restaurant and Arts Venue

Solo showcase of visual and dreamlike paintings.

Roddy Martine: Scenes From A Life

Various times, 01 Mar—26 Mar, not 6th, 13th, 20th, Free

Tramway

08:00AM, 01 Mar—31 Mar, not 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th, Free

More Nudes In Colour

Personal snapshots of recognisable figures.

More flat-pack, cardboard cut-out sculptures from Keith Farquhar.

Craig Murray-Orr

12:00PM, 01 Mar—27 Mar, not 7th, 14th, 21st, Free

Transmission Elastic Frames

11:00AM, 01 Mar—05 Mar, Free

Group exhibition of film and video works, looking at the meditation of experience through moving image.

scotlandart.com Jack Frame

The Big Postcard Show

New paintings from the GSA Painting and Printmaking graduate.

10:30AM, 01 Mar—02 Mar, Free

Huge new collection of unframed ‘postcard’ artwork.

EDIN B UR G H City Art Centre Ian Hamilton Finlay

Various times, 01 Mar—06 Mar, Free

Exhibition of two recently-acquired stone sculptures, alongside prints and a group of photographs of Little Sparta.

Window To The West: The Rediscovery of Highland Art Various times, 01 Mar—06 Mar, £tbc

Ingleby Gallery 10:00AM, 01 Mar—26 Mar, not 6th, 13th, 20th, Free

The New Zealand-born artists first solo show in nearly ten years, featuring twenty small landscape paintings alongside largescale sculptural works.

Institut Francais d’Ecosse

Claude Cahun, Sue Tompkins 10:00AM, 01 Mar—03 Apr, not 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, Free

09:00AM, 01 Mar—25 Mar, not 6th, 13th, 20th, Free

New work inspired by a John Godsir sculpture, taken from a cast of a medically-anatomised corpse.

Textile, Silver, Wood

10:00AM, Multiple dates, Free

Mixed showcase of textile, silver and wood works.

Maximillion Zentz Zlomovitz 12:00PM, Multiple dates, Free

Solo show from the experimental Berlin-based artist.

Recoat Gallery Apartness

12:00PM, 01 Mar—06 Mar, Free

Group artist showcase, from seven different artists working in the genre of pop surrealism.

Textile artist important in both art and applied art. An ‘inspired by’ mini exhibition of contemporary artists’ runs alongside.

Dundas Street Gallery Jamie Primrose: Auld Reekie

Various times, 11 Mar—19 Mar, Free

Monochrome Indian inks of Edinburgh.

11:00AM, 01 Mar—06 Mar, Free

Talbot Rice Gallery 10:00AM, Multiple dates, Free

The Jazz Bar 03:00PM, 13 Mar, £7 (£6)

Glam burlesque drawing class. GO!

Cooper Gallery

National Gallery of Modern Art 10:00AM, 19 Mar—03 Apr, Free

Old ambulance Depot.

Kevin Harman: Mesomorphic 10:00AM—06:00pm, 5—14 Mar, free

An early career retrospective of the Edinburgh artist, featuring smashed windows, rearranged skips and virginalised tools

National Gallery

Overview of Sander’s most iconic and important photographs.

Mary Mary

Stills Social Documents: The Ethics of Encounter Part 2

Paul Noble: Tent

In the Heart of the Moroccan Medinas

10:30AM, 01 Mar—26 Mar, not 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, 20th, 21st, Free

Drawings, prints and small works on paper from a trio of Edinburghbased artists.

Intimate display of paintings by a young Vermeer.

10:00AM, 01 Mar—13 Mar, Free

Works from Poussin to Seurat.

Anni Albers: Design Pioneer

10:00AM, 19 Mar—27 Mar, Free

The Young Vermeer

Artist Rooms: August Sander

Dovecot Studios

Scratching the Surface

DUNDEE

Make It Glasgow Travel and documentary photography

by Edinburgh-based Jerome Lorieau.

St Margaret’s House Art’s Complex

National Gallery Complex

French Drawings

10:30AM, Multiple dates, Free

Working predominantly in video and animation, the Copenhagen-based artist interrogates notions of perception through explorations of light.

Dr Sketchy

Dean Gallery 10:00AM, 01 Mar—03 Apr, Free

12:00PM, Multiple dates, Free

Photographs by photographer Claude Cahun, and the first major solo exhibition in Scotland for Sue Tomkins.

Through his use of popular imagery, Koons explores the aesthetics and culture of taste.

Christine Borland: Cast From Nature

Sierra Metro Jesper Carlsen: Light and Matter

Presentation of Trockel’s works on paper, taking in 30 years of graphic output.

White Knight

Danish Cultural Institute

Various times, 19 Mar—03 Apr, £2 (£1)

Mass line-up of the best Art and Architecture graduates from the 2009 degree shows, selected from across Scotland.

Inverleith House

Artist Rooms: Jeff Koons

Sculpture Studio

RSA: New Contemporaries 2011

Rosemarie Trockel: Drawings, Collages and Book Drafts

Collective Gallery New work investigating architecture as a frame, from collaborative artists’ Alex Gross and Anna Mields.

Various times, 01 Mar—06 Mar, Free

Looking at a life in pictures, with paintings, drawings and sketch books on display. Extended run.

Paintings and drawings by french painter and illustrator Philippe Lagautriere.

Various times, 01 Mar—26 Mar, not 6th, 13th, 20th, Free

Glasgow School of Art Group exhibition presenting artists whose work explores aspects of the society they live in.

RSA Richard Demarco

Looking at alternative means to engage with social realities.

Asking questions about art and the Highlands, both historical and contemporary.

11:00AM, 01 Mar—03 Apr, not 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, Free

12:00PM, Sat 12th, Fri 18th, Sat 19th, Free

Rebel(le)

Work from a group of Glasgowbased artists who collaborate on designing and printing posters.

Various times, 01 Mar—05 Mar, Free

Advertise your business: 0131 467 4630 sales@theskinny.co.uk

The Arches

Hertie Querty

Living Today

larger engagement

A series of photographs of items made of joss paper to be burned as offerings for the dead.

Various times, 01 Mar—30 Mar, not 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, Free

Various times, 01 Mar—03 Apr, Free

New articles every day Extra listings Photo galleries Up to date reviews Tour announcements ... everything from print and more.

Various times, 01 Mar—03 Apr, not 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, Free

Group exhibition exploring the right to play, and how we play, including work from Dame Paula Rego, Eduardo Paolozzi and Andy Goldsworthy.

Playful works from artists including David Shrigley, Roderick Buchanan and Beagles & Ramsay.

www.theskinny.co.uk

In Case It Rains In Heaven: Kurt Tong

Poet Drew Taylor and sonic artist Fi Johnston’s gathered testimonies of love.

Point/Line/Surface/Solid

Try

Photogrpahic series of Kisina’s hometown of Kiev.

Cafe Cossachok

David Dale Gallery and Studios

online?

Various times, 01 Mar—03 Apr, not 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, Free

From Image to Reality and Reality to Image

Oil paintings, watercolours, prints, ceramics and crafts by globespanning artists.

your business

Alina Kisina: City Of Home

Totem Of My Love

Various times, 01 Mar—27 Mar, not 7th, 14th, 21st, Free

Promoting

Street Level Photoworks

10:00AM, 01 Mar—03 Apr, Free

Drill Hall ChildLine Exhibition

10:00AM, 07 Mar—10 Mar, Free

A celebration of Scottish art, in aid of ChildLine.

LGBT Lives Exhibition

10:00AM, 25 Mar—31 Mar, not 27th, Free

Original artwork focusing on identities and communities.

Patriothall Gallery Scratching the Surface 12:00PM, 01 Mar—05 Mar, Free

Paintings from three Edinburghbased artists. Part of a two-part exhibition with Arts Complex.

Various times, 19 Mar—02 Apr, not 20th, 27th, Free

New exhibition expanding Noble’s vistas of the epic Nobson Newton.

DCA Déjà vu: Manfred Pernice

Various times, 05 Mar—03 Apr, not 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, Free

Solo work from the anti-monumental German sculptor, focusing on developments in his practice over the past three years.

Duncan of Jordanstone Collection(s): Part 1

Various times, 01 Mar—05 Mar, Free

Positioning new Art and Design student work, alongside ‘lost’ objects from the University of Dundee’s Museum Service.

Medical Curiosities

Various times, 05 Mar—19 Mar, not 6th, 13th, Free

Illustration students chart the development of medicine and medical science in Dundee.

Collections(s): Part 2

09:30AM, 14 Mar—18 Mar, Free

University museum pieces reimagined as new found art objects.

Generator Projects Strange Loops

12:00PM, 26 Mar—03 Apr, not 28th, 29th, 30th, Free

Group exhibition, where the artists have been asked to create a series of works following a rigorous production directive.

STARTER FOR ELEVEN:

Aidan Gillen

CRYSTAL BAWS WITH MYSTIC MARK

Aidan Gillen was attending the Glasgow Film Festival to introduce Treacle Jr., a new independent film that reunites him with The Low Down director Jamie Thraves. We caught up with the former star of The Wire to quiz him on that great show, giving him a shot at winning that elusive haggis supper Quizmaster: Jamie Dunn Q1. In 2005 The Wire was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing on a Drama Series. Who won?

I’d say the West Wing, if it was even still going?

A. House. (0 points) Q2. Who described The Wire thus: “The Wire is quite simply a stunning piece of work... it actually physically pains me to use this phrase, because anyone who uses it sounds like an absolute tosser, but it is, truly, multilayered; it is just fucking brilliant.”

Well they use the words tosser and fucking so they’re not American. Charlie Brooker?

A. Charlie Brooker. (1 point) Q3. Which US college famously started teaching The Wire as part of their urban inequality studies last year?

It’s one of those Ivy League fuckers...Yale?

A. Harvard. (0 points) Q4. What is the name of Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell’s business?

Don’t know.

A. B&B Enterprises. (0 points) Q5. Who is the only cop who is actually seen firing a gun throughout the whole series?

Pryzbylewski.

A. ‘Prez’ (Pryzbylewski). (1 point) Q6. Where is Tommy Carcetti (Gillen’s character) and what is he doing when he discovers that he has won the election for mayor?

Taking a break walking down the pier with his wife.

A. At the Baltimore waterfront on his mobile taking a walk with his wife. (1 point) Q7. Who was killed in the opening scene of the first episode of the show?

He was called...Snot?

A. Omar Isah “Snot Boogie” Betts. (1 points) Q8. What was the name of the tolerance zone for drug dealers set up by Major Colvin in season three?

Hamsterdam.

A. Hamsterdam. (1 point) Q9. Who blew the whistle to a reporter and told him about Major Colvin’s operation after refusing to move a body out of Hamsterdam?

Rawls? No it wasn’t Rawls...don’t know.

A. Thomas "Herc" Hawk. (0 points) Q10. How did Senator Clay Davis initially react when he was finally indicted?

He didn’t just say Sheeeeit, did he?

A. He simply said ‘Sheeeeeit.’ (1 point) Q11. Name one item that Bubbles sold from his mobile shopping emporium.

White Ts A. White T Shirts, morphine, needles, and mobile phones (1 point) Seven points. Not bad, really, considering his character, Tommy Carcetti, didn’t show up until season three.

ARIES 21 MAR – 20 APR Despite the energetic kneecap-breaking efforts of your secret police in early Spring, the rising prices of food drive the lumpen proletariat into furiously storming your palaces. To avoid the moment they bottleneck into your “bungabunga” bunker whilst you’re up to the hilt in the lapdancer called Desert Storm (whom you recently made Minister of Education), now is the time to take advantage of your Cypriot beach cottage with its perfectly adequate facilities.

a

TAURUS 21 APR – 21 MAY Beware the Ides of March because Brutus, your rubgyplaying, fart-lighting mate from uni, is not as trustworthy as he appears.

b

GEMINI 22 MAY – 21 JUN Cool, that new ivory dream catcher you bought comes with the nightmares of elephants preloaded. Plus it has a parental guidance setting to stop all the children you begat from having lewd or violent dreams. And you got that crystal-powered rape alarm free as well? Like I said, cool. Celebrate your vernal shrewdness with some homeopathic vodka. Chin-chin.

c

CANCER 22 JUN – 23 JUL In March, quite by accident, through a creaking door you discover the horrible secret of where the church gets its altar wine from. They’ve been battery farming Christs!

d

LEO 24 JUL – 23 AUG If Job Club try to make you get a job in a call centre this month do yourself a favour: stand boltupright straight away, violently beat your chest with your fists and roar at them: “I’LL WEAR A HEADSET OVER MY COLD, DEAD EARS!”

e

VIRGO 24 AUG – 23 SEP The truth is God never wanted mankind to be anything other than a pathetic dog that would wag its tail enthusiastically at its master. But God is bent wrong with ego, and in this spirit He created a pet that is a little too like Him; an animal embodied with His narcissism, His intelligence, His bipolar tendencies, His eagerness toward aggression. Rejoice! Indeed, the stupid bastard created you.

f

We live in hope that Tommy Carcetti will one day overthrow david cameron

LIBRA 24 SEP – 23 OCT I plan to spend this month astral projecting myself into your nightmares until I finally crack you. In little over a week I’ll make you so upset you cry tears enough to put out the sun. All that’ll be left in the remnants of that boiling dark will be a solar system-sized stew of slow-cooked bodies and planets. Hey, it’s only a dream!

g

SCORPIO 24 OCT – 22 NOV You’ve been working too hard. Recline and chill out to that relaxing CD of whale bullying you purchased.

h

i

SAGITTARIUS 23 NOV – 21 DEC

Your landlord still hasn’t fixed the heating? Here’s a tip: buy some Andrex puppies, force your toes up up their arses and wear them like a pair of yelping slippers.

At the very least it’ll furnish “walkies” with a whole new set of sinister connotations.

j

CAPRICORN 22 DEC – 20 JAN

Don’t let people tell you you’re a “has-been”. You’re an “is-now” but you need to stop hungrily smelling your own pheromones and start breathing oxygen again like the rest of us. Cease waving like The Queen as you relish your body’s hot, musty emanations whilst wanking in the mirror. You’re a smug fucker, though you have right to be.

It aches me to say it, but you’re in prize-winning condition.

AQUARIUS 21 JAN – 19 FEB Look on the bright side, there’s plenty more organic lifeforms in the sea.

k

PISCES 20 FEB – 20 MAR This month you finally have that long-awaited “skulljob” in Goa to replace your entire skull with a superior crystal version, whereafter you will develop immeasurable psychic abilities, much like myself and David Blaine (the only two to have survived the procedure thus far). Immediately upon waking you’ll start to hear the garbled grunts, the squelching and the insane, echoing laughter inside your brain, punctuated by a voice that lasciviously screams your name...for the rest of our lives.

l

March 2011

THE SKINNY 71