The Skinny February 2012

.CO.UK

INDEP ENDEN T FREE

C ULT URAL

JOURNAL ISM

Issue 77 February 2012

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

NOW OPEN

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ST ED JU OUNC N AN

DUANEEDDY

PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS

CONTENTS

Wednesday 16th May GLASGOW ORAN MOR

HEY ROSETTA! Special Guests FRENCH Wednesday 11th April O2 ABC2 Glasgow

WIVES

PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS

TUES 6TH MARCH

O2 ABC GLASGOW THURS 5TH APRIL

FRI 6TH APRIL

Oran Mor

The Queen’s Hall

GLASGOW EDINBURGH

Nanci Griffith

NICK LOWE PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS

plus special guests

THE KENNEDYS

GERIANT WATKINS

GLASGOW CONCERT HALL

Edinburgh QUEEN’S HALL

SUN 26TH FEB 0141 353 8000

0131 668 2019

Tues 3rd April 0141 353 8000 GLASGOW CONCERT HALL

Sat 7th April 01463 234 234 INVERNESS EDEN COURT THEATRE

Wed 4th April 01738 621 031 PERTH CONCERT HALL

Sun 8th April 0131 529 6000 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE

Thurs 5th April 01224 641 122 ABERDEEN MUSIC HALL

SHELBY LYNNE WED 22ND FEB

H E R E ’ S W H AT Y O U C O U L D H A V E W O N . . .

02 A B C

KEVIN McDERMOTT ORCHESTRA

GLASGOW S U N D AY 8TH APRIL

GLASGOW ORAN MOR

PHOTO: EUAN ROBERTSON

SATURDAY 10TH MARCH

P.21 ARIKA12

P.20 ALEX FROST

P.45 MUSCLES OF JOY

P.63 DJANGO DJANGO

V I E U X FARKA TOURÉ

FEBRUARY 2012

TUES 7TH FEB

MON 2ND APRIL GLASGOW ORAN MOR

EDINBURGH VOODOO ROOMS

Randy Newman IN CONCERT

The Civil Wars plus special guests

MATTHEW AND THE ATLAS

Fri 24th Feb

Edinburgh Queens Hall

0141 353 8000

Editorial

Get in touch: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk T: 0131 467 4630 P: The Skinny, 3 Coates Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7AA

Editor Music & Online Editor Art Editor Books Editor Clubs Editor Comedy Editor Competitions Editor Deviance Editor DVD Editor Fashion Editor Film Editor Food Editor Heads Up Editor Listings/Cyberzap Editor Performance Editor Tech Editor Travel Editor

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Get in touch to find out more.

Fri 23rd March

Glasgow Concert Hall

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Production

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GLASGOW O2 ABC (Piano & Vocal show) GLASGOW O2 ABC (Full Band show) www.hueandcry.co.uk

VIP Platinum Pass Package Available

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DF CONCERTS PRESENTS…DF CONCERTS PRESENTS…DF CONCERTS PRESENTS… 6: Fred Fletch begins his preparations for the apocalypse by purchasing a Ouija board; The Skinny takes a tour to a large yellow clog; RM Hubbert reveals the hero who inspired him to record a flamenco guitar punk album; Shot of the Month; Stop the Presses! provides up-to-the-minute excitement that we couldn't fit anywhere else.

8: Heads Up: Highly recommended events for each and every day of February.

ERRORS TAKEOVER We’ve given Glasgow’s synth overlords Errors free reign over some of our content for this issue. These are the harrowing results.

10: The Skinny sits down for an in-depth word with our band of the hour.

11: A track by track guide to new album Have Some Faith in Magic by Steev Livingstone.

17: Simon Ward interviews Umberto, who’s live-scoring a top secret film at this month’s Glasgow Film Festival.

20: Artist Alex Frost and Steev introduce their collaborative project for April’s Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art. 32: Showcase: The band explore their interest in the influence of space on sound by taking a peek behind the doors of some Glasgow musicians’ practise and recording spaces.

44: Tangles gets Mr Livingstone in a twist with his maverick recording style.

45: Muscles of Joy tell Simon that they met down the hairdressers.

63: Steev talks to Django Django about their debut drenched in history and sci-fi.

+ I AM THE AVALANCHE + THE XCERTS

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW Tuesday 14th February

WWW.FIGHTOFFYOURDEMONS.COM

+

+ NATIVE TONGUE

EDINBURGH HMV PICTURE HOUSE

THURSDAY 9TH FEBRUARY

GLASGOW O2 ACADEMY

FRIDAY 10TH FEBRUARY KAISER CHIEFS NEW ALBUM THE FUTURE IS MEDIEVAL AVAILABLE NOW ON CD, DL OR CREATE YOUR OWN ALBUM AT WWW.KAISERCHIEFS.COM KAISER CHIEFS NEW SINGLE MAN ON MARS OUT NOW

FEATURES 12: The prolific Mark Lanegan sits down for a frank gas about his return to ’solo’ work.

14: Glasgow Film Festival returns – looking forward to their various strands, including a gorefest, a selection of shorts and the celebrated music/film crossover programme featuring a gig in a pool.

18: Gaspard Auge, one half of Justice, phones us from Paris to insist we don’t call their new album ’electro’, and that they love hageese.

19: Leonard Cohen outwits Jarvis Cocker as he holds forth on "the rigours of monastic life" 21: Arika12 Episode 2 lands at the Tramway this month, with a programme of experimental music and performance 22: Twins Jane and Louise Wilson arrive at DCA, bringing with them video and photography of contentious spaces – the abandoned city of Pripyat and the Dubai hotel room where a Hamas founder was murdered.

25: Glasgow’s Soundhaus is being forced to close – we look back on what made it great.

26: Someone bought Books Ed Keir a Kindle for Christmas, and here is the inevitable conversion to the way of the e-book.

29: The Big Pink explain why their sophomore album revels in the possibilities of electronic music.

30: We Are Augustines invite us aboard their tour bus, enjoy our Alan Partridge references.

+ BROKEN HANDS

GLASGOW THE ARCHES Tuesday 21st February IN ASSOCIATION WITH PCL

Glasgow The Arches Monday 20th February

GLASGOW ORAN MOR THURSDAY 1ST MARCH

Glasgow Art School Monday 27th Feburary + KIDS AT THE BAR + THE LIMOUSINES

55: LIstings: Your definitive guide to what’s happening in Scottish culture in the month of February. Or, what’s on and where in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee.

63: Crystal Baws – Oh, the Valentine’s horror.

LIVE IN CONCERT

GLASGOW CLASSIC GRAND

THESOUNDS.COM “SOMETHING TO DIE FOR” OUT NOW

SUNDAY 5TH FEBRUARY

GLASGOW CLASSIC GRAND

REVIEW 39: Music: Five-star fineries frae The Twilight Sad, Speech Debelle and Azari & III, plus a vast milieu of other bits committed to record.

46: ClubS: Killer Kitsch, Inner City and Jeff ’The Wizard’ Mills are all pure banging this month.

48: Film: The Muppets are back! And there are some other less exciting things happening in the world of cinema also.

49: DVD: A disappointing lack of coverage given to the Doogie Howser, M.D boxset this month. The fuck?

50: ART: Beholder at Talbot Rice was guid, and Luke Fowler at Inverleith House should be guid.

51: Books: Here are some paper ones for all you luddites who haven’t experienced the e-book conversion.

Tech: An interview with Pugs Luv Beats creators Lucky Frame, and a review of Mass Effect 3.

52: Theatre: Venue of the month, some fairy tales and some dance. Business as usual for Scotland’s performance community.

53: Comedy: Keir McAllister introduces new panel show The Good The Bad and The Ugly.

54: COMPETITIONS: WIN LOTS OF SHIT. Good shit, like.

NEW ALBUM ‘GIVEN TO THE WILD’ OUT NOW WWW.THEMACCABEES.CO.UK EXCLUSIVE BUNDLE ON SALE NOW, INCLUDING TICKET + SIGNED NEW ALBUM

www.generalfiasco.co.uk

‘WAVES’ EP OUT NOW ON DIRTY HIT

LIFESTYLE 31: Travel: A trip to Las Vegas for a conference prompts one writer to try and commune with Dr Gonzo.

34: fashion: Looking forward to a plethora of terribly stylish events taking place across the country in February.

35: Deviance is up in arms about a variety of things – this month it is particularly incensed by obscenity laws and the fact that Dundonian escorts won’t talk to journalists.

36: Food & DrinK: Pop up burgers, recipe tributes to our least favourite slebrities, and the inaugural Phagomania column celebrating all the weird and wonderful foodstuffs that distract designer Lewis from laying out the magazine in a timely manner.

EDINBURGH HMV PICTURE HOUSE MONDAY 5TH MARCH

GLASGOW THE ARCHES

TUESDAY 7TH FEBRUARY

Wednesday 29th February www.boxes.mu

+ LITTLE FIRE

GLASGOW BREL LD OUTFeb Tue14th Feb & WedSO15th

JAMIE N COMMONS

Glasgow The Arches Monday 27th February www.jamiencommons.com

PLUS GUESTS

&

GLASGOW ARCHES WED 8TH FEBRUARY

New single ‘Not Your Fault’ out 19th February taken from the debut album ‘Megalithic Symphony’ facebook.com/AWOLNATION awolnationmusic.com

Call: 08444 999 990 Online: www.gigsinscotland.com

www.ticketmaster.co.uk

GLASGOW THE BERKLEY SUITES

SATURDAY 3RD MARCH

Follow gigsinscotland on twitter @gigscot February 2012

THE SKINNY

5

Big news this month is our Errors Takeover. We failed to learn from the stress of our last guest-curated issue and invited Glasgow’s electro darlings Errors to dictate some of our content for the February edition of The Skinny. And very glad of it we are too. The first exciting thing to come of the collaboration is of course the cover – we’re been big fans of Rachel MacLean ever since way back when she was but an ECA undergraduate and we put her in the Showcase. Now she’s a big shot internationally-exhibited artist who’s making videos for some of our favourite bands, most recently Errors’ latest single Pleasure Palaces, so we got her to recreate some of her digital composite magic for our front page. Brave. And ace. There’s Errors content scattered throughout the issue, from the Showcase (a peek into the creative spaces of a few of their peers) to their picks of up and coming Scottish music makers (Tangles and Muscles of Joy) to their interview with live film score merchant Umberto, and men of the moment Django Django.

In other Music news, we’ve got exclusive interviews with The Big Pink, Mark Lanegan (both packing new albums and heading for Glasgow) as well as an intimate tète a tète between Leonard Cohen and Jarvis Cocker.

In Film, February is of course the month of the Glasgow Film Festival, back with another exciting genre-straddling programme of horror, music, short films etc etc. This year we’ll once again be running the CineSkinny, your essential free daily guide to the top films and events of the festival.

You can find out more about the line-up and the Cine here (well, on p14).

In Art, Errors pitch in with a preview of a collaborative project between Alex Frost and their very own Steev [sic]. We also caught up with former YBAs Jane and Louise Wilson, whose exhibition at DCA presents photography and

video documenting hostile environments – here the abandoned atomic city of Pripyat, a satellite of the Chernobyl nuclear plant, and the hotel room in Dubai where a Hamas leader was covertly murdered.

In Clubs, we mourn the passing of Glasgow’s Soundhaus with a look back on what made it such a unique venue for the city and enjoy another exclusive with haggis lovers Justice as they come to the Academy and prepare to hit the festival trail.

Theatre looks forward to Arika12’s second installment, following last month’s film extravaganza with a programme blending performance and experimental music. And in Books, Keir has been given a Kindle so is now well into the whole e-book phenomenon.

Particularly noteworthy is the fact we’ve pretty much managed to get through the whole issue without mentioning Valentine’s Day. Take that, Hallmark.

THIS MONTH’S COVER: Rachel MAclean Rachel directed the video for Errors' Pleasure Palaces.

She says, "My work slips inside and outside of history and into imagined futures, creating hyperglowing, artificially saturated visions that are both nauseatingly positive and cheerfully grotesque. I am a Glasgow based artist working largely in green screen composite video and digital print, often exhibiting this alongside props, costumes and related sculpture and painting."

To buy Rachels prints go to www.culturelabel. com/art/unsigned/the-skinny/rachel-mclean www.rachelmaclean.com

HERO WORSHIP Mike Watt Acoustic six-stringer RM Hubbert explains why a childhood inspiration keeps him focused I’m pretty sure that Mike Watt would disapprove of being anyone’s hero. That, amongst other reasons, is why his music and writings have influenced me so much over the years. I first heard Watt’s inimitable bass and voice through Minutemen and fIREHOSE as a fifteen year old skateboarder on the Streets On Fire video by Santa Cruz in the late 80s. The video was soundtracked by SST Records’ roster of that time which included Black Flag, Sonic Youth, Descendents plus the aforementioned Minutemen and fIREHOSE. To say that it shaped my musical tastes for the next twenty years would be an understatement. Hearing this music changed my outlook on life in a fundamental way.

Minutemen embodied everything I loved about punk at the time. Breakneck, fast, short, politicallyfuelled and intensely personal. It also didn’t sound like other punk music; that was what I loved most about it. That weird confluence of Wire, Parliament and John Coltrane had an immediacy and depth that resonate to this day. fIREHOSE were formed by Watt and George Hurley of Minutemen after singer and guitarist D Boon tragically died in a car accident in 1985. They were perhaps more musically accomplished by this point but had lost none of the passion and energy of their earlier band. I was lucky enough to see them in Glasgow in the early 90s. It was the first ‘small’ gig that I had been to (I think there was maybe two hundred people there at most). It was incredible; sweaty, loud, funny and mind-blowing music played by three guys who seemed just like us. If that isn’t the definition of punk rock, I don’t know what is.

That show was also the first time I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Watt. I remember coming way too early for the gig with my friend

Toby Paterson and sitting at the back beside the mixing desk. We were chattering excitedly about the show and didn’t notice the plaid clad guy that we had inadvertently woken from his slumber on the floor behind us. It turned out to be Watt. He happily shared stories of D Boon and skateboarders around his home town of San Pedro with us for a while.

Watt and I have met a few times over the years.

Each time I leave feeling inspired, more determined to be a better person, to be more honest with myself and those around me. My band, El Hombre Trajeado, were lucky enough to be asked to support Watt on a couple of shows in 2005. Those were two of my favourite shows. Watt was touring an album at the time called The Secondman’s Middle Stand. It is a deeply personal album dealing with his near brush with death after a huge internal abscess developed and burst.

Controversially, the album doesn’t have any guitar on it, instead relying on drums, organ and Watt’s bass. People (myself included) had been a little sceptical of this unusual line up for a ‘punk’ record; happily, I was proven wrong. At that first show we did with him, I felt everything that I had on the first day of hearing Minutemen. It was incredible, and proved to be the catalyst for what came afterwards for me. I had always loved Watt’s proclamation that ‘Punk is whatever we made it to be’. It wasn’t until then that I really understood it though. I decided to make an intensely personal punk record using only flamenco guitar that night.

RM Hubbert’s new album Thirteen Lost & Found is released via Chemikal Underground on on 30 Jan

Shot of SKINNY the month ON TOUR

A Winged Victory for the Sullen Òran Mór, 15 Jan

by Sol Nicol

See more great photography at www.skinny.co.uk

6

THE SKINNY February 2012

In a clog, reading The Skinny. No big deal. Brenna and Clodagh took time out of their foreign jolly to send us this snap, but where were they?

Enter your guess below and you might win a bottle of wine courtesy of our expert friends at VINO WINES. Closing date: Tue 29 Feb

Winners will be notified on the day of closing and will be required to respond within one week or the prize will be offered to another entrant. For full terms and conditions, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/ terms and www.drinkaware.co.uk for the facts.

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

photo: Alex Woodward

Editorial

OPINION

FRED FLETCH

PREPARING FOR THE APOCALYPSE

It has been predicted that the world is going to end on 21 December 2012. This column will now be dedicated to detailing exactly how prepared I am for this inevitable Apocalypse. The answer, as you will see, is ‘TOTALLY FUCKING VERY’ I GUESS the best place to start in preparing for the End Of The World is with the worst case scenario: DEATH. Being a forward planner I decided to think ahead. I wouldn’t rent Roadhouse and not have Kleenex and a cigarette ready so I’m sure as hell not going to be exploded without knowing what comes next. Because the holiday brochure the Church supplies fails to go into details as to the location and dress-code for the afterlife, I realised that I would need to find some user reviews like on TripAdvisor.co.uk. Sadly the ethereal realm has poor internet connectivity and all contact would have to be made old-school.

Devices for contacting the dead have been around for millennia, with historical records showing that the Ancient Chinese invented Twitter for ghosts around about the same time they invented wearing-5-pairs-of-underpants and coroner reports with a tick box for ‘MURDERED

BY POLTERGEIST’. Ouija boards first became commercially available to the general public in the late 19th century when businessman Charles Kennard realised that a tool for summoning supernatural forces would be a whimsical alternative to evenings spent not prank calling Satan.

His company ultimately marketed Ouija towards children as a board game similar to Snakes and Ladders except the only snakes involved would probably be coming out of your sister’s eyes. In

terms of suitability for children, the makers of Ouija would have been better off letting children aged 6-14 Skype with John Wayne Gacy.

Clearly the dark arts of necromancy would be the quickest way to discover what awaited me on the other side of the apocalypse and I promptly did the smartest anything ever and ordered a Ouija board from the internet. Given the fact that my online purchase history currently reads like a list of things police might find in the burning ruins of Lo Pan’s underground temple, paying $10 for an ill-advised ghost-summoning board game hardly seemed like the craziest thing I’ve done.

I ended up ordering my board from a private seller who claimed to be the high priest of something called Sunblood Church, a secret religious organisation so secret Google didn’t even know who the fuck they were. Despite existing less hard than Tom Sizemore’s erection, Sunblood Church seemed relatively well stocked in the sort of thing you might find looting a chest in Skyrim.

Spectral candles, silver bullets and holy water were all available as well as a self-published book, Fighting Phantoms: A Guide To Combating Ghosts and Malicious Spirits. Penetrating the realm of the undead is obviously no laughing matter so you’d be crazy not to pay an extra $3 on 20 pages of how to punch invisible vampires.

With the order placed I could look forward to personally asking Viggo The Destroyer what I needed to pack for heaven within three to four working days. ...Two weeks passed.

I am no NASA-postal-scientist, but I had always assumed it took a lot less than 14 days for a crazy person to put a wooden hotline to the devil into an envelope and send it to Edinburgh. Upon emailing the mysterious seller as to the status of my Ouija board, I received an almost instant response apologising sincerely and blaming the delivery delay on both the death of a Church member and an unexplained fire in their stockroom. Since I have no idea what ‘ominous’ means I happily accepted his apology and it arrived two days later.

I am now the proud owner of a genuine spiritual communication board and can confidently tell you that Ouija worked better when I didn’t have it.

Maybe I am using it wrong because one month of screaming “IS ANYBODY THERE?” at the alphabet has failed to reveal even one ghostly secret.

Sunblood Church failed to include any instructions, perhaps believing that the kind of person who orders a powerful weapon of witchcraft from an anonymous internet man would have more balls than literacy.

In conclusion: I have fallen at the first hurdle.

I am completely unprepared for death and I now have to focus all my attention on everything opposite of dying. You hear that apocalypse? I have two months left to beat you.

///STOP THE ///PRESSES!!!

Important stuff we don’t have space for anywhere else EAMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S SECRET POLIC g at the MAN’S BALL returns for its third year runnin nd has QMU. With some of the best comedy Scotla Feb, to offer you have no excuse to miss it. Sat 4 7.30pm, £5 GRID IRON bring back their succ essful take on Charles Bukowski’s life and loves Barfly: one for the bars and pubs rather than theatre venues, it takes in the Barony Bar and the Tron’s Victo rian as it tours through February and March.

IN RESPONSE to the demise of New Territo ries, graduates from the Roy al Conservatoire (forme rly the RSAMD) have set up Buzzcut, an artist led festival at The Old Hairdressers in Glasgow from 15-17 Mar. The programme is still to be announced, but they aim to bring together emerg ing artists and industry professionals, giving artists and audiences the cha nce to engage with cutting edg e performance.

IVAL box office is THE GLASGOW COMEDY FEST comedyfestival. now open, head to www.glasgow to nab yourself com for more on who’s playing and across es venu Apr, 1 Mar 15 ts. ticke some Glasgow

PARTY! The longstanding Garage nightclub celebrates its 18th birthday with a bang with face painting, balloons, cake and tonnes of prize s. Sat 3 Mar, The Garage, Glasgow, 11pm, £5/3

THE DESIGN & DEMO CRACY exhibition run s in the Scottish Parliament until Fri 23 Mar, featuri ng a selection of gradua tes from Scotland’s fou r major art schools. Bes ides an array of fashio n design and photograp hy, the display feature s some more idiosyncra tic products including edible food packaging, a mental health toolkit and a nutrition abacus.

MUMMY AND X-RAY OF ANKHHOR, A TEMPLE PRIEST © RIJKSMUSEUM VAN OUDHEDEN (LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS)

FASCINATING MUMMIES! The first major exhibition in the National Museum of Scot land’s new purpose-built exhibition space open s this month, featuring treasures from two of the world’s great ancient Egyptian collections. Obje cts dating back as far as 4000BC will guide visito rs through the complex rituals surrounding deat h and afterlife in ancient Egypt, including mummific ation and burial.

Chambers St, Edinburgh, 11 Feb - 27 May, £9 (£7.50)

l, SCOTLAND’S newest grassroots literary festiva from runs al, Festiv Music and Book ns Margi of 24-26 Feb, providing Glasgow with three days include collaborative creative goodness. Highlights Moffat appearances from Roddy Woomble, Aidan Be Don’t n Huma eton’s Middl lm Malco Wells, & Bill Fleck.

Angry, and a performance of Alasdair Gray’s www.marginsfestival.com/2012-festival/ CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S with some protesting! Love Equally March and Rally for Equal Marriage has been organised by the Scottish Youth Parlia ment and starts st 2.30pm in Bristo Square. Tue 14 Feb, Edinburgh. www.syp.org.uk

ILLUSTRATION: JAMIE SHAW

al netWE’RE DRILLING WHAT?: Youth environment at work Young Friends of the Earth Scotland (aimed ups with 18-30 year-olds) kick-start their monthly meetissues an informal chat about environmental justice justice e climat sing discus by g startin nd, in Scotla bloody and corporate lobbying. Over pints. How very Free civilised. Thu 9 Feb, Boda Bar, Edinburgh, 7pm,

runs throughout THE GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL e cinematic som has still ouse Filmh but February east coast: the on fans film for e gold up its sleev rated celeb is h Lync d Davi The twisted genius of cinatory with a full retrospective of his hallu ewall classics oeuvre (10 Feb - 11 Mar), with ston erhead Eras and Dr. d ollan Blue Velvet, Mulh rated but rubbing shoulders with his less celeb s Lost Highway equally fascinating mid-90s gem Me. There’s also with Walk Fire s: Peak and Twin erising sci-fi mesm his of ening scre a rare 70mm folly Dune.

to SOMEWHERETO_ are hitting Dundee this month do to need they s space the find e peopl help young . Look what they love within arts, sports and culture Follow out for their showcase in Dundee on 9 Feb. eto_SCT them on twitter for more details @somewher .com hereto www.somew FILMHOUSE also have a season of films marking LGBT History Month (3 Feb - 19 Feb), whic h includes British queer cinema landmark My Beau tiful Laundrette, two films about Harvey Milk (Gus Van Sant’s biopic and Rob Epstein's Oscar-winning doc) , and the excellent Weekend and We Were Here from last year.

See www.filmhousecinema.com for more info

to the THE CINE SKINNY, aka your free daily guide it up Glasgow Film Festival returns for 2012 – pick for Feb 16 Thu from city the across s venue at 30+ t interviews, reviews and general peerless insigh the into all things film. You can also check out all y articles online at www.theskinny.co.uk/cineskinn

WWW.THESKINNY.CO.UK/CI NESKINNY

FREE MONDAY 6TH FEBRUARY THE OFFICAL GFF DAILY GUIDE

WHAT’S INSIDE? 2 — ToDAY’S pickS This is a description of the content which will be in Tomorrow’s picks 2 — FeATure This is a description of the feature on page 2. This is a description of the feature on page 2.

3 — reviewS Film title 1  Film title 2  Film title 3  4 — whAT’S new online This is a description of the content which will be in this part of the sheet 4 — coMpeTiTion This is a description of the content which will be in this part of the sheet

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4 — whAT Do You Think?

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and here we are to tell

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ThiS iS A FooTnoTe iF neeDeD

WWW.THESKINNY.CO.UK

FEBRUARY 2012

Produced by The Skinny magazine in association with the Glasgow Film Festival Jamie Dunn editor Designer Another Person Someone Else Digital

GFF Box oFFice Order tickets from the box office at www.glasgowfilmfestival.org.uk or call 0141 332 6535 or visit Glasgow Film Theatre 12 Rose Street, Glasgow, G3 6RB info@glasgowfilmfestival.org.uk

MONDAY 6 FEBRUARY THE CINESKINNY 1

THE SKINNY

7

HEADS UP

The shortest month of the year seems pretty packed to us, taking in the experimental delight that is Arika12, the Secret Wars grand finale, Valentine’s Day with The Big Pink, and Glasgow Film Festival 2012 COMPILED BY: ANNA DOCHERTY

TUE 31 JAN

WED 1 FEB

One of our favourite alternative theatre festivals on the block, Manipulate Festival continues with Plucked... A True Fairy Tale, which is, yes, a fairytale, but not in any twee sense. For it, Liz Walker uses live video feed painting, object theatre, puppetry, and animation to conjure up a dark and eccentric miniature world populated by ghoulish creatures. Traverse, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £15 (£11)

As delightfully unconventional as ever, Sonic Boom theatre company take over the attic space of the Old Hairdressers, transforming it into a dilapidated apartment for their new production Pensando En Ti, which examines the nature of friendship and the trials friendships can face via a quartet of holidaying girlfriends. Old Hairdressers, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £7

Over the wall

SUN 5 FEB

Mon 6 FEB

The weekend-long, multi-venue celebration of all things dub, reggae, and roots, aka Wee Dub Festival, draws to a pretty epic close with legendary dub scientist Mad Professor (who we had a lot of fun pitting against Steve Mason in our last issue) playing a live set, while earlier in the evening the eight-piece explosion that is ska tinkerers Esperanza take to The Third Door. Bongo Club, Edinburgh, 9pm, £18.

See listings for full weekend schedule

Outspoken Scottish comic Frankie Boyle stages a series of special warm-up shows throughout February (see listings for full schedule), where he’ll be road-testing new material in advance of his upcoming (and final) tour, Last Days of Sodom. Might we suggest a wee game of count the number of potentially-offensive comments he manages to shoehorn in? The Stand, Glasgow, 6pm, £10

SAT 11 FEB

Our January cover stars (er, that’d be The Twilight Sad. Where’ve you been?) take their rather fine new album to the road, kicking off with Glasgow’s Grand Ole Opry, followed by a handful of UK dates before they skip off to the the USof-A for a 15-date tour. Dunfermline folks are also in for a bit of a treat, as they’ll be playing a special warm up gig there on 4 Feb (Jam Jar, 8pm). Grand Ole Opry, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £12

Taking in new names they’re tipping to make it big, alongside a fair few well-kent faces that they reckon will make it even bigger, HMV Picture House play host to the UK-wide Next Big Thing Festival. And tonight’s line-up is headered by that mighty F’Rabbit lot, alongside Fatherson, and We Are Augustines. HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, 7pm, £10

Ahead of GFF 2012, the youngsters get their chance to shine at Glasgow Youth Film Festival. We’re particularly looking forward to FellSwoop Theatre’s live stage adaptation of Sylvian Chomet’s animated gem, Belleville Rendez-vous, who’ll also be taking over The Arches cafe for the whole month, turning it into a rustic Frenchstyled bistro complete with French menu, silent movies, and rusty bicycles. The Arches, Glasgow, 7pm, £7 (£5)

Photo:Pete Dunlop

Frightened Rabbit

Photo: www.ambravernuccio.com

FRI 10 FEB

Photo:Euan Robertson

THU 9 FEB

THU 16 FEB

FRI 17 FEB

SAT 18 FEB

The musical clubber’s delight Milk throw an Anti-Valentines special, with live sets from Carnivores, So Many Animal Calls, and electro-pop maestros Midnight Lion turning DJ for the night. And, sticking to the love theme, there’ll be a special boozy concoction christened ’Punch Drunk Love’, and made-to-order Pink Russians. Plus, o’course, the usual 75p cider straight outta the jumbo supermarket bottle – for all your un-romantic needs. Flat 0/1, Glasgow, 9pm, £4

Edinburgh’s Bristo Square comes to life for the one-off fundraiser that is The Vintage Village Fete, where housed within marquees will be a selection of vintage and second-hand stalls, artisan food sellers, a vintage barber, and, er, 3D jelly creations and live cabaret. There will also be a proper old-school red double-decker bus where live bands will play throughout the day, including Matt Norris and The Moon, Emelle, and Das Contras.

Bristo Square, Edinburgh, 10am-8pm, £3 (£1.50)

In honour of Errors, who take over this here issue, we feel it only right that we give special mention to their rather fine monthly club night, where the lads play a heady bout of indie, electro and anything inbetween. The band are also to be found playing a live gig set at Dundee’s Doghouse (24 Feb) and Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree (25 Feb) through the month. Nice ’n’ Sleazy, Glasgow, 11.30pm, £3

Experimental Edinburgh-based singer/songwriter Rob St John headlines an intimate evening of eerie alternative folk offerings down at The Banshee Labyrinth, where he’ll be joined by Cheer, and Hiva Oa. Yer ticket also gets you a three-track digital EP with a track from each band, including an exclusive demo from Rob, and an album preview from Hiva Oa. Done deal, we say. The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh, 8pm, £5

Carnivores

Photo: Tom Manley

WED 15 FEB

Matt Moris and the Moon

WEB 22 FEB

THU 23 FEB

FRI 24 FEB

Jolly stand-up German comic Henning Wehn – who incidentally seems to have appointed himself German Comedy Ambassador to the UK – arrives at The Stand as part of his No Surrender tour, for which he’ll probably spend most of his time sending up his own country, such is his ruthlessly funny way. The Stand, Edinburgh, 8.30pm, £10 (£8)

OV, a collaboration between members of Desalvo, Unwinding Hours, and Sons and Daughters, return as part of GFF 2012, using their shared fascination with all things occult and the otherworldly to explore both the beauty and cruelty of war. Performing a selection of live film soundtracks alongside intriguing visuals, their main intention is to shock and disturb in musically magical ways. Amen to that. Old Hairdressers, Glasgow, 8pm, £5

Arika12 return for the second strand of their delightfully experimental mini fest, this time placing focus on music and performance. Over the course of the weekend we’ll be taking in the likes of anarchic composer Walter Marchetti’s final composition, channeled through Spanish performance artist Esther Ferrer, and watching Dawn Kasper uses ever type of performance at her fingertips to re-enact death scenes. Tramway, Glasgow, 24-26 Feb, £14 (festival pass) Dawn Kasper, Murder At The Schindler House

8

THE SKINNY February 2012

FRI 3 FEB

SAT 4 FEB

Alternative netlabel Black Lantern Music host a rather fine showcase night down’t art school, the bill brimming with Texture Vs Morphamish’s blend of performance poetry and dubstep, Tickle’s straight-up hippity-hop, and the electro-rap apocalypse that is Church of When the Shit Hits the Fan. Download free tracks by the acts at blacklanternmusic.com. GSA, Glasgow, 8pm, Free

Things get proper serious over Secret Wars way as they host the final live paintoff, which will see head honcho Conzo Throb go head-to-head with Too Much Fun Club illustrator Rogue One for the title of Secret War champion (and £500 prize money). And, as ever, the rules remain the same: both artists are armed with only black paint, a white wall, and 90-minutes on the clock, before the usual postpainting raveathon kicks in. LA Group, Glasgow, 7pm, £tbc

Heavyweight clubber’s delight Musika celebrate five years of parties at The Liquid Room by inviting along a trio of guests in the form of Cocoon’s Cassy (playing her first Edinburgh date, no less), regular pal of the club Tim Green, and fresh Bristol producer Eats Everything. And the brand new second room, The Annexe, will be open for the occasion, with a secret line-up to be revealed. The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 9.30pm, £16.50

Photo: Jason Andreas

THU 2 FEB

Church of When the Shit Hits the Fan

WED 8 FEB

Atlanta’s progressive metal titans Mastodon squeegee their third eye and celebrate their 12th anniversary by throwing down alongside mathcore specialists The Dillinger Escape Plan at Glasgow’s Barrowland, in what will likely be one of the noisiest nights of our month. Praise be. Barrowland, Glasgow, 7pm, £17.50

The Artist Book Group – set up by Jenny Smith in 2009 (whose studio the group meet in six times a year) – come together once again, working in a variety of mediums to explore the process of bookmaking in all its myriad glory; including fold-up, pop-up, cut-out and journal-style gems, alongside a selection of wall-based works, and a sound installation looking at the relationship between poetry and the book. Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh, 8-22 Feb, noon-6pm (closed Sun), Free

MASTODON

Photo: SARAH ROBERTS

TUE 7 FEB

CASSY

MON 13 FEB

TUE 14 FEB

Leeds-based band of lunatics Pulled Apart By Horses run to a tight balls-tothe-wall rock check-list of torturous vocals, distortion, serious riffage, and hardcore clatter, kicking off their new album tour with a stint at King Tut’s. You can check out the video for new single V.E.N.O.M at pulledapartbyhorses.com. We particularly enjoyed the flaming middle finger salute eight seconds in. King Tut’s, Glasgow, 8pm, £6

London-based multi-instrumental duo The Big Pink (aka Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell) take to the road armed with their latest album Future This, a shoegaze-y dream of a thing taking in densely-layered samples, slomo guitar washes, and twinkling synths in one emotive whole. Quite frankly we can think of no better way to spend Valentine’s Day than in their fine company. King Tut’s, Glasgow, 8pm, £10.50

Photo:Pete Dunlop

Photo: Euan Robertson

SUN 12 FEB The Granny Would Be Proud craft mafia transform themselves for the launch of Boyroom Blitz – their first fair tailored to all things man. There’ll be the usual selection of stalls selling vintage and hand-crafted goodies, but this time taking in a more manly selection of clothing, accessories, retro games, records, comic books, and the like. We’ve already got our eye on Tatty Bon’s specially-made ’Total Cunt’ cufflinks. Hillhead Bookclub, Glasgow, noon-5pm, Free

SUN 19 FEB

MON 20 FEB

TUE 21 FEB

One of the tastiest events on the Glasgow Film Festival’s music strand, Wet Sounds returns for 2012 to transform a Victorian swimming pool into a unique listening space. There’ll be two sound systems – one above and one below the water – emitting a combination of Joel Cahen’s electronic modulations and sound collage, and La Horrox’s voice and live electronica.

Quite, quite magical. North Woodside Leisure Centre, Glasgow, 5.30pm and 8pm, £9

Weegie funnywoman Keara Murphy hosts her inimitable Fit O’ The Giggles comedy night, showcasing a handpicked selection of only the best new material from a host of acts taking in sketches, stand-up, mime, musical comedy, poetry, magic, cabaret, and, well, pretty much anything else they damn well fancy. Suffice to say it’s a winner. City Cafe, Edinburgh, 8.30pm, £3 (£2)

Experimental Mexican duo par excellence, Rodrigo y Gabriela tour on the back of their latest epic, Area 52, which rather boldly features a full Cuban orchestra.

Our night shall likely be made by the fact that said Cuban orchestra, C.U.B.A., will be joining them live on stage. We do love a mass rammy of a stage takeover. O2 Academy, Glasgow, 7pm, £20

SAT 25 FEB

SUN 26 FEB

MON 27 FEB

Edinburgh music blogger Stu Lewis (aka The Tidal Wave of Indifference) hosts his second showcase gig night, for which he’s bagged Glasgow up-andcomers of the tropical thrash variety, PAWS, for a headline set, alongside Edinburgh School for the Deaf, and Sebastian Dangerfield. And, a little on the hush-hush, we hear there’s to be a solo set from Broken Records’ frontman Jamie Sutherland. As in, we’re there. Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, 7pm, £6

Having proved a bit of a hit down’t London way, Glasgow get in on the Classic Album Sundays action; essentially a mass listening session where the lights dip, the volume slides to max and a classic album is played in its entirety, in this case The Stone Roses’, er, The Stone Roses, pumped out via a pimped-up sound system. Perfect Sunday evening fare, we reckon.

Berkeley Suite, Glasgow, 5pm, £5

We end with a dose of charming country-led harmonies from the Soderberg sisters (aka First Aid Kit), paying homage to the sound of their favourite country records, now with added oomph courtesy of the Americanesque full-band treatment heard on latest album The Lion’s Roar, for which Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst even gets in on the act. King Tut’s, Glasgow, 8pm, £10

Paws

February 2012

THE SKINNY

9

MUSIC

STOP MAKING SENSE Before Errors storm the land with Have Some Faith In Magic, we sit down with the Glasgow trio to talk gut instincts, aborted album titles and the attraction of bald Mogwai fans INTERVIEW: Chris Buckle photos: Tom Manley

Since their formation in 2004, Errors have forged twin reputations: first, as pigeonhole-shirking ‘post-electro’ soundsmiths; second, as reliable punproviders. From How Clean Is Your Acid House? to remix LP Celebrity Come Down with Me, they’ve long exercised a penchant for baptising serious music with firmly non-serious labels.

By comparison, their third album’s title seems disarmingly direct, surprisingly free from irreverence. Should the lack of reference to Channel 4’s daytime listings be taken as a sign that the comedy of Errors is on the wane? “I think there was just less terrible chat when we were making this record,” suggests Simon Ward, discussing Have Some Faith in Magic just days ahead of its release. Not for the first time during our conversation, Stephen ‘Steev’ Livingstone respectfully disagrees. “I don’t know about that,” he laughs,

10 THE SKINNY February 2012

“we just didn’t write as much of it down. One alternative I do remember we considered was ‘You Know Where the Bin Is’. We imagined someone giving a demo to a band, and the band just saying that in response. Not us, like, another band…” he hastens to add, preserving their upstanding reputations in the nick of time.

It seems their collective sense of humour remains intact, an observation borne out by the memorably eccentric promo for latest single Pleasure Palaces, which translates the track’s shiny, shimmering charms into garish, gif-inspired graphics and some silky dance moves (from a bubble-headed Steev in particular). Never mind placing faith in magic – they presumably had to invest a fair chunk of confidence in director Rachel MacLean [who also kindly designed the cover of this very magazine] not to make them look like

eejits. “I was thinking about it this morning and I wouldn’t even know where to begin with doing something like that, just the amount of layers,” marvels a de-bubbled Steev. “It made me think that what we do is really primitive in comparison.”

Maintaining such modesty can’t be easy of late, what with Have Some Faith in Magic already rubber-stamped within these pages (and beyond) as the band’s finest work to this point in its seven year lifespan. “The reviews have all been pretty encouraging so far, and I think that helps you a wee bit ahead of going on tour, the fact that at least a few people think it’s good,” says Steev, before considering the potential brainwashing effects of such positive press. “Hopefully that will pollute other people’s minds, make them think it’s good before they’ve actually heard it.”

Are reviews, positive or otherwise, something

they pay much attention to? “I try not to,” says Simon, “I think they can change your opinion, change what you thought of your own music in some ways – which I find quite worrying, that I’m so easily swayed.” For Steev, this has its advantages. “You’re not always really aware of what it is you’ve done and it can take other people to tell you,” he suggests. “I’ve noticed that a lot with response to the titles and the artwork, stuff that we didn’t really think about.” Simon agrees: “It’s amazing some of the interpretations that people come up with,” he smiles. “It makes us seem really smart, like we’ve thought about these things, but most of it is just by accident pretty much…”

Errors insist that such “happy accidents” are rife, yet ultimately they place great faith in their own instincts. “With past records, I’ve always kind of looked back, to go, ‘well, on the last record there was this tune, so we need to have a version of that for this one,’” says Steev. “But this time it was just about looking forward and not thinking about what came before.” The results are, in the band’s own words, their “biggest change of direction” thus far, though they’re keen to stress that any developments were wholly organic. “It was a natural thing,” suggests Steev. “We didn’t sit down and plan out how the album would differ from the others.”

The only exception was the decision to use vocals more extensively than ever before. “That was one of the few conversations that we had before we started writing the record,” starts Steev, but Simon looks puzzled. “Do you think it was as deliberate as that?” he asks. “Because I just said the opposite to someone else yesterday… I mean, I know we talked about it, but I think it came more through experimentation.”

Such dalliances have certainly produced unorthodox results, influenced by Panda Bear, Atlas Sound and, most tellingly, Liz Fraser of the Cocteau Twins. “I quite like the process she goes through,” says Steev. “Like, she goes through dictionaries, takes words from different languages, and puts them together. So it’s more like a collage, but it’s still emotional and powerful even though what she’s saying doesn’t make any sense. I think that’s quite a unique talent to have – to be able to say something, but not mean anything.”

If that was their intention, it’s a lesson successfully absorbed; the lyrics are so masked in digital effects that it’s impossible to tell whether they’re profound or gibberish. “It is gibberish,” deadpans Steev. “It’s mostly just a stream-of-consciousness, just whatever is in my head at that time. It’s more about the sounds that the words make rather than what the words are.”

With their prior comments regarding peculiar misinterpretations of song titles in mind, I wonder how they feel about the prospect of lyric websites trying to elucidate said gibberish? “I don’t really want people to know what the actual lyrics are,” says Steev, “because it’s not important, but people will try and figure out what they are regardless.”

Elsewhere in this issue’s takeover, Errors have interviewed a range of artists about the different spaces in which they work, investigating how environment influences expression. It’s perhaps an inevitable talking point for the band, what with Have Some Faith in Magic having been written and recorded predominantly in Simon’s flat after their studio’s roof collapsed. “It probably changed the actual sound of the record a bit,” reckons Steev of their forced relocation, “because it was obviously a more relaxed space, and we could take our time. We could take plenty of breaks if we needed to; before, you kind of felt that if you weren’t getting anything done, then you were just best to go home, where at least at Simon’s, you were at home already.”

TRACK BY TRACK Steev Livingstone exclusively presents the synth wizards’ third LP

ERRORS R TAKEOVE

scan to stream the album now

It’s more about the sounds that the words make rather than what the words are Steev Livingstone

The close quarters helped foster a fairly regimented routine. “We just got on with it,” Simon recalls. “I think it was a good set of circumstances in the end. It didn’t really affect the way we worked too much, in terms of just getting stuff done.” By Steev’s reckoning, “we did more or less seven days a week for three or four months – it was pretty intense, but in a good way.”

Does that make going out on tour less of an adjustment then – if you’ve already spent all that time living in each other’s laps, what strain could a few weeks on the road add? “I think we’ve kind of gotten used to that in a lot of ways, particularly with the American tour [by Mogwai’s side last spring], which was five weeks in a car together.

Not a van,” Simon stresses, “a car.” Coping mechanisms were swiftly improvised. “I think we did pretty well considering the lack of space,” says Steev. “We all just put our headphones on and ignored each other for a month.”

2011 culminated with a show at the Barrowlands, again supporting their label bosses. “We tried a couple of the new tracks there, and they seemed to go down pretty well,” says Steev. “But the thing that made me feel quite comfortable about the whole show was getting up, and looking out, and realising I knew loads of people in the first few

rows. I was shitting myself up until that point.”

Simon takes somewhat less comfort from performing to friends and family, stating a preference for “a faceless mass,” to Steev’s amusement. “Really, you’d prefer just loads of bald Mogwai fans looking back at you, aye?” he mocks, but Simon’s steadfast. “Oh definitely – just loads of bald guys, like the cover of Being John Malkovich.”

This month they’ll set out on a headline tour of their own, placing Have Some Faith in Magic squarely in the spotlight for the first time – a daunting prospect, all things considered. “With this record, we kind of didn’t think about how we were going to recreate it live,” says Steev. “Since it was more of a bedroom record, we didn’t jam in the studio – there wasn’t even a drum kit set up.”

Complicating rehearsals further is the band’s recent line-up change, with four becoming three following the amicable departure of guitarist Greg Paterson to pursue a career in dentistry. “We just carried on, not really thinking about how we would deal with it, in terms of our live set-up,” says Simon.

“It was just a case of ‘finish the record, and worry about that sort of stuff afterwards’.” The bands’ downsizing affects new material and old alike, but they’re confident they’ve got all bases covered.

“We’re keen not to just have Greg’s parts running off a laptop,” says Steev. “We want to cover as much of that as possible with what we do, but obviously that’s difficult when there’s just three of us, and only two of us playing keyboards and guitars.

But I think we’ve worked out a way of doing it.”

Ignoring their previous warnings against reading too much into their album’s title, I ask whether they feel lucky to be doing what they’re doing. “There is a big chunk of luck, definitely,” reckons Steev, pondering the break that led to their signing with Rock Action. “I mean if certain people hadn’t been at early shows, then who knows what would have happened…” He pauses before joking, “maybe there would have been a guy from a better label, who knows. I guess it’s best not to think about these things…” Faithful? Perhaps not entirely.

Magic? Oh aye.

Have Some Faith In Magic is released via Rock Action Records on 30 Jan Playing Dundee Doghouse on 24 Feb, Aberdeen Lemon Tree on 25 Feb and Glasgow Arches on 11 May www.havesomefaithinmagic.com

Tusk I’d just bought a new harmony guitar pedal the same day I started writing this, which gives everything this sparkly quality. I’ve been getting into the twin-harmonic-guitar à la Steely Dan’s Reelin’ In the Years. It definitely has an ‘albumopener’ feel to it, we wanted something that would have an impact. It’s the only song on the album not to feature vocals. I definitely think there’s a prog influence here too – Scottish prog!

Magna Encarta This is our first tune to make use of prominent vocals; a starting point for the direction that the new material was headed in, it was already in the bag and we released it as a single last March. The only difference with this version is the addition of live drums.

It uses more or less just one synthesiser – the Poly 800, from the same month and year that I was born (September 1984). I can imagine a scif-fi film where we’re accidentally swapped at birth but then meet up years later to duet on this record. It was finished within three days, which is why I think it sounds quite consistent even though it travels down many paths.

Blank Media As I was travelling down to the old studio one day, I decided to get off the bus early and walk through the Barras; I was listening to The Cocteau Twins on my headphones and walked past a stall selling ‘Blank Media’. I got into the studio and wrote the first section for what became this track – I had just bought a new reverb pedal and was looking to get that Cocteau Twins flangey-reverb sound which you can hear in the intro. This is probably my favourite of our new material because it seems unlike anything we’ve ever done before. We used Take My Breath Away by Berlin as a reference point for this song, hence shit-loads of reverb on the snare drum.

Pleasure Palaces This is actually the second version of Pleasure Palaces, the first of which I accidentally deleted just as I had finished it. I actually cried when that happened because I’d spent so long working on it and was really happy with it. I was taking pretty strong (prescribed) codeine at the time of recording this, which made me feel pretty spaced-out most of the time and probably influenced the ethereal quality that the tune has (but also led me to making idiotic mistakes like deleting the whole thing). Once I had wiped away the tears, sworn-at and booted a few inanimate objects, I began rebuilding the tune from scratch. Originally it was called Ben Vane after the hill of the same name – as I started the tune the day I climbed it. But I didn’t really think that suited how the tune eventually sounded, so we named it Pleasure Palaces after a programme about historical British buildings of pleasure and leisure, by the engineering enthusiast and historian Fred Dibnah.

The Knock Similarly, this tune was named after a hill I climbed, but this time it stuck. A lot of it was written when we were on tour in the US last year; it’s pretty difficult and frustrating to write on the road, everything becomes disjointed and I think that can be heard a little here as it sounds like two tunes in one. It’s got some auto-tuned vocals at the start and a Terrahawks sample which I slowed down and warped on my 4-track. It captures a moment when Zelda is berating her son for being an idiot, you can make out the words ‘Sorry, mother,’ which sounds pretty sinister.

John Carpenter’s soundtracks were an influence on this one, the chimey melody and the constant bassline are tricks of his that we’ve borrowed.

Canon This was written and recorded in one day in December 2010. The bass line is really confusing; just when you think you understand the pattern of it, it suddenly doesn’t make sense any more. I recorded this in my bedroom, using an old knackered snaredrum as a ‘bongo.’ All the synths on it are a Korg DW-8000, which is from around the same time as the Poly 800, but it’s got a more digital late-80s quality to it. There are wee synth noises on there that remind me of Roedelius, which I was probably listening to a lot of at the time.

Earthscore The title of this comes from the 1976 film At The Earth’s Core – a film about Victorian scientists journeying to the centre of the Earth where they discover a strange underground labyrinth ruled by telepathic birds and inhabited by cavemen and monsters. I had that on in the background as I started writing this tune. I think the title ended up influencing the overall sound, because it’s pretty epic and tribal.

The early demos are unrecognisable to what the tune eventually evolved into, having started it in November 2009, right after we finished recording Come Down With Me and taking until August 2011 to make it satisfactory. This is definitely the longest we’ve ever spent on a track; there were points when we almost abandoned the whole thing, right up to the end of the recording process we were still arguing about it, mainly about how the drums should sound. Again, this is more prog influenced, it travels down unexpected avenues before you realise you are back at the start again, similar to the labyrinthine world of the film that inspired it.

Cloud Chamber This one was being completed right up to the final moments of the deadline for the record. I couldn’t help thinking of Enya when recording the vocals and I think that’s pretty evident in listening to it. We made most comprehensive use of the synths that we had recently purchased (Yamaha DX7 and Roland JX 3P) on this one; the working title was Nervous. It took on many forms, being deleted and undeleted several times.

Barton Spring I was experimenting with one-take recording when writing this. At the end of the recording one of the synths makes a discordant ‘wvwamp’ sound – that’s me accidentally leaning on the synth in an attempt to press STOP on the computer, I think little nuances like that can be good and make the music a little more interesting. The drums are from an old Casio keyboard, which I saw in the window of a charity shop and used the day I started recording it. I felt that something was missing so got in touch with a guy called Kip Uhlhorn who plays in a band from Memphis called Cloudland Canyon, asking if he could help me out with some vocals.

I met him at South by Southwest earlier that year and we’d talked about collaborating at some point, so it was great to get him involved.

Holus Bolus I had more or less finished this a year prior to writing the rest of the record, but I didn’t have an ending. The vocals were probably influenced by the religious choir music I’d been listening to around the time. The working title was Shallow Tears, but we decided that sounded like a terrible emo band’s name so we changed it to Holus Bolus, which means ‘all at once’ and suits its nature as there are so many instruments playing the same parts in unison. The noise-out at the end was fun to do.

February 2012

THE SKINNY 11

MUSIC

Resurrection Songs Returning this month with his first ‘solo’ album since 2004, Mark Lanegan assembles his band for a Blues Funeral and lays the past to rest

Lounging in the restaurant of a Westminster hotel on a rare sunny December morning, Mark Lanegan – flannel shirted, starter cap flipped backwards, tattooed fingers locked under his chin – peers over his glasses to summarise the eight year period since he last released a solo album.

“I’ve been blessed with a lot of opportunities involving people who sounded interesting, people whose music I already liked and people whose company I enjoyed,” he starts. “I’ve taken advantage of that and always done the next indicated thing.

Most of the stuff I’ve been asked to do hasn’t been crazily outside my ballpark. Usually if it is outside my ballpark it’s more attractive to me anyway.”

One can only imagine that the intervening years – spent on projects with fellow dark lord of 90s alt rock Greg Dulli, electronic producers Soulsavers and Glaswegian chanteuse Isobel Campbell – had proven creatively fortuitous, arming Lanegan with an arsenal of ideas for his seventh solo album.

“Generally when I start a record I go back into my bag of cassette tapes where I’ve put down ideas and usually find one or two things to start a record with there,” he says. “I went back through those tapes this time around and they were all demagnetized – there was nothin’ on any of them.”

Save for a solitary track idea that didn’t pan out for an unnamed contractor’s record – only to later become the basis for lead single The Gravedigger’s Song – Lanegan took to the studio with a clean palette. Fans who have become accustomed to the Washingtonian’s brand of ‘dead slow rock and roll’ might be surprised to find our man down the disco, arms aloft, for Blues Funeral. Did he set out to make a more up-tempo record?

“I didn’t really know what kind of record I was going to make,” he shrugs. “I just started doing it.

Didn’t have any songs when I started, just started writing and recording. The music dictated the setting and the instrumentation. For a long time I’ve been into electronic music, using drum machines and synthesizers on Bubblegum quite a bit, so it didn’t seem odd to me.”

Lanegan has come a long way since making his solo debut on the fledgling Sub Pop label with The Winding Sheet in 1990. Overseen by in-house producer Jack Endino and featuring performances by then upcoming friends Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, the sparse, largely acoustic offering was later referenced by Dave Grohl as a key influence on Nirvana’s approach to Unplugged in New York. But it was his partnership with guitarist Mike Johnson that would prove the most fruitful on record; the two struck upon a kind of modern blues – as indebted to the folk standards of Leadbelly as the punk sensibilities of The Gun Club. “You know what,” he grins. “I was just trying to find a way to get a hold of Mike a few days ago. I’d seen something funny I knew he’d enjoy too. I love Mike, and I love those records we made together, mainly for the experience of working with him. We both really enjoyed the same kind of obscure music, and had a shared vision.”

The two worked together until the completion of the tour behind Lanegan’s majestic 2001 album Field Songs, by which time he was already entrenched in Queens of the Stone Age. Having recorded Bubblegum and now Blues Funeral with a number of steady collaborators he’s regularly gravitated towards over the years – most of whom share Queens or The Twilight Singers as a common denominator – I ask whether it’s a comfortable arrangement. “In [Chris] Goss’s case, I loved his music since before I ever met him – loved the first Masters of Reality record. He’s a friend of mine. Is it comfortable? Not always, with him it’s sometimes challenging,” Lanegan concedes. “At some point I think we’re going to do a record together – just he and I, that’s another plan on the

12 THE SKINNY February 2012

photo: Sam Holden

Interview: Dave Kerr but I’m not interested in doing it. I don’t know if those guys are…”

Are the lines of communication open? “Sure, I just exchanged texts on Thanksgiving with Van and Barrett Martin, and there was a certain amount of contact as this demos record came about. When I’m in Seattle sometimes I see Barrett, Van lives quite a bit further north from there. Lee has lived in Texas for years and he and I were never close anyway, so… it’s like family,” he laughs.

Not that this has stopped Lanegan from embracing his old band’s catalogue – an acoustic tour with guitarist Dave Rosser in the summer of 2010 saw the dust blown from several songs long overdue an airing. “The fact I found some Trees songs that I could actually play in that setting and had never played with Dave – that was cool. I enjoyed that. Even some of my own songs that I’d never played before somehow lent themselves to that setting. Of course, more than that, it was the cover songs that I enjoyed the most, that’s what I get psyched the most about.

My natural inclination is to make as loud a noise as possible Mark Lanegan

backburner. Mainly I’m just a huge fan of what he does, and when I’m doing something I can oftentimes hear his voice or his playing. On this one I asked him to do something on a particular song and when he heard it he said ‘I think that’s fine without me,” he chuckles. “I was like, y’know, ‘c’mon man!’ He did it, and that makes the song for me. It’s a resource.”

As Lanegan traces his prosperous friendship with Goss back to the recording of Screaming Trees’ gospel-tinged 1996 swansong Dust, we stray onto the topic of the recently released Last Words – a chronicle of the Trees’ final demo sessions, recorded while the band knew it was falling apart. 12 years after their final gig, is he glad the recordings finally surfaced?

“Those guys have been coming to me for a while,” he says hesitantly. “I liked those songs when we did ‘em. When I listened to the mixes – that was my involvement, saying this is OK, which they all were – there wasn’t anything I wasn’t cool with, they did a fine job of mixing it. That’s all I really cared about. But when I heard those songs back I was surprised at the emotion that it brought up. It was weird – I realised that they were still really good songs; so yeah, in that way I was glad that they came out.

“But I would have felt that the Trees was bookended if we had ended on any of our records,” he laughs. “I mean, that’s not to say I

didn’t think there was a wealth of songs – there could have been three more records after that, because one thing Gary Lee Conner did was write a lot of really great songs in my opinion, but, five years is a long time for a band, ten years is a long time for a band, fifteen years is a really long time for a band – and that’s how long we were together.

That’s a good eight years longer than my longest love relationship.”

With a number of Screaming Trees’ formerly defunct peers having overcome ego (Soundgarden) and even death (Alice in Chains) to once again function as formidable touring prospects in recent years (indeed, the news that Dulli is set to reconvene the Afghan Whigs for a series of gigs this summer breaks just a few days after we meet), does Lanegan see any allure in following suit?

“Well, after the very last show that the Trees did – which I’ll say we only did because we were offered a significant amount of money to do it – I said to whoever was managing us at the time ‘Don’t ever tell me again if someone wants me to do this,’” he shakes his head even now. “It didn’t make me feel good. It wasn’t easy collaborating with the Trees; for some reason we were like water and fire. Music should have a certain amount of joy to it, and it had stopped doing that for me. I won’t say how long before, but it had stopped.

Regardless of me saying that, it still comes up. As a matter of fact there was an offer last summer,

“Playing those Trees songs was actually like doing covers. It gave me an opportunity to do some stuff that I hadn’t done, but also it was challenging. Always with me, my natural inclination is to make as loud a noise as possible; I don’t know it that’s because I’ve always felt uncomfortable on stage in a setting like that. I’m probably not naturally inclined to be the guy standing in front of people doing stuff, but that forced me to, in a bare-naked way, and really that’s one of the things that keeps me interested in music, and doing something a little bit outside of my comfort zone.”

“The older I get, the more I enjoy it. I really enjoy travelling. Now I enjoy lots of things I didn’t appreciate when I was younger – I enjoy meeting people,” he chuckles, appreciating the irony of pointing at a journalist while he says it. Renowned as a personality who has treated the press with distrust in previous years, I ask Mark if it’s getting easier. “It’s all easier now,” he confesses, sprawled on a sofa. “When I was younger there was nothing easy about it for me, somehow. Even playing and making new songs wasn’t easy for me. I was one of those people who tended to make life difficult for myself. I’ve learned through time, trial and a lot of error to embrace life,” he laughs heartily. “For lack of a better term.”

Blues Funeral is released on 6 Feb via 4AD. The Mark Lanegan Band play O2ABC on 9 Mar Read the full interview with Mark online at www.theskinny.co.uk/music www.marklanegan.com

PARIS GOT FASHION. WE GOT WHISKEY. (SORRY, PARIS.)

J A C K D A N I E L’ S

TENNESSEE WHISKEY

Drinking responsibly is always in fashion. ©2011 Jack Daniel’s. All rights reserved. JACK DANIEL’S and OLD NO. 7 are registered trademarks.

HYMN TO THE GOREHOUND

The Skinny pays tribute to the GFF’s annual crimson splattered crescendo, the mighty FRIGHTFEST, and its much maligned gorehounds who make the Scottish horror scene so special WORDS: JAMES KLODA

14 THE SKINNY FEBRUARY 2012

With this initial outing part of a mini-tour that included Dublin and Edinburgh, further events were made unique to Glasgow because of the passion and perversity that manifested itself in the lively Q&A sessions: the late, great David Hess from Last House on the Left demonstrating how best to axe a Glaswegian upon audience request; Day of the Dead’s Joe Pilato ambiguously downing a bottle of red when asked how his psychotic Captain Rhodes would fare in Afghanistan. This ‘anything goes’ attitude has meant that filmmakers relish the chance to screen their work in the city. Indeed, last year, not to be outdone by the reputation of the local crowd, Hobo with a Shotgun director Jason Eisener conducted his FrightFest Q&A in his underpants, inviting the room to follow suit.

With rabid bloodhounds across the UK making the journey to commingle with the gleeful unpredictability of the region’s horror buffs, FrightFest Glasgow is becoming a distinct personality in itself. As Waddell has noted, “Back in the 90s when horror was considered some kind of ‘underground’ world of video nasties, I never would have dreamed the genre would attract such a diverse following, with smart, social and dare I say sexy being the rule rather than the exception.” And with tickets selling more rapidly than ever, the promised line-up of mutant cannibals, Chinese-speaking aliens and Pinocchio-obsessed psychos is returning to the sassy, shrewd family that love them dearly. But be afraid – they might not keep their trousers on…

FRIGHTFEST TAKES PLACE 24-26 FEB AT THE GLASGOW FILM THEATRE JAMES KLODA IS DVD REVIEWER FOR THE DARK SIDE MAGAZINE (WWW.THEDARKSIDEMAGAZINE.COM) WWW.FRIGHTFEST.CO.UK

IMAGE: COURTESY OF ANCHOR BAY

BE AFRAID. It’s that time of year again. Where the proverbial gorehound is let loose – maw thirsty for blood – upon the plasma-drenched offerings hanging in the delicious abattoir that constitutes FrightFest. Now in its seventh year, nestled in the bosom of the Glasgow Film Festival programme, it provides a climax of subversion to the main affair: as most festivals begin to wind down save for a final gala screening, here a whole new audience descend upon the GFT to pack out its largest cinema to be treated to ten UK premieres and a host of ghoulish guests over two blood soaked days.

The scale of FrightFest in Scotland may be inevitably smaller than its primary summer event held in Leicester Square, but it is no less essential to the horror fan, offering a certain intimacy where the movies take precedence, debates always abounding over which are pure magic and which were utter pish.

What FrightFest’s main success has been is in recognising that the nationwide demand for horror needs to be further sated by hosting prestigious premiere screenings away from London. While the programme tempts many English terror pilgrims to cross the border, this is often overshadowed by the enthusiasm of the home-grown audience, their appetite for the gruesome and wayward having become particularly ravenous over the last few years.

Sam Massey, a life-long evangelist of the macabre who has instigated a monthly discussion group at the GFT called Glasgore, believes FrightFest to be important to the city because it “introduces a captive audience to a wide range of genre films and has paved the way for other horror-related events.”

Key to the development of this have been a number of special screenings sprinkled across Scotland’s horror calendar of classics from the golden age of European exploitation cinema.

Organised by Edinburgh-based journalist Calum Waddell and supported by Arrow Video, the first event (held in Glasgow, May 2009) brought two legendary masters of Italian splatter, Lamberto 'Demons' Bava and Ruggero 'Cannibal Holocaust' Deodato, into the GFT to, erm, chew the fat. As Waddell recalls, “not only did we sell out but, contrary to the sort of perceptions that the genre once attracted, we achieved a considerable female contingent and a crowd of young people who were knowledgeable about this type of cinema’s past.”

CORMAN'S WORLD

ILLUSTRATION: KYLE SMART

FILM

GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL 2012

THE ALPHA AND OMEGA The opening and closing films for this year’s Glasgow Film Festival are inspired choices WORDS: ALAN BETT GLASGOW FILM Festival 2012 is bookended by a pair of distinct cinema voices: two students of the human condition; auteurs whose stories radiate through the screen.

Cannes Grand Prix winner Aki Kaurismäki closes GFF with a flourish. This filmmaker of international renown is a real coup for the festival. He delivers his new work Le Havre, a rare foray away from his native Finland into the northern industrial port of the city that gives the film its title. France is home to many of Kaurismäki’s influences so it can only be imagined that this piece acts as love letter to his Gallic idols. But this is a director never afraid to skewer the cruelties of life. His story of an African refugee taken in by a French shoeshine man (André Wilms, a Kaurismäki regular) will weave heartbreak and torment into a tapestry of delicate comedy. Its unflinching eye is also sure to be the beholder of beauty – we can expect stunning images lovingly photographed.

The opening gala film comes from Seattle’s Lynn Shelton, chosen by Variety as one of its ‘10 Directors to Watch in 2012’. Shelton was a fairly opaque name until 2009’s Humpday, a taboo busting conundrum, more anal than banal, in which

two heterosexual buddies consider indulging in sex together, all in the name of art. Her offering here is the warm, intimate Your Sister’s Sister.

A despondent Jack (Mark Duplass, one half of Humpday’s bromance) is sent to a family cabin by best friend Iris (Emily Blunt) to recover from the loss of his brother. There he meets Iris’s sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt). These fragile people drink tequila together and the inevitable happens – humans do as humans do. In this psychologist’s couch of a film Shelton mines the relationship subtleties of this fallen emotional triumvirate, the ifs, buts and most importantly whys.

For its gala screenings GFF has picked two directors who refuse to be muffled by studio politics or bound to the whims of a target market.

These are clear enunciators of the challenges that hide behind the curtain of the everyday. Fans of this pair will feel lucky. For those uninitiated, let this be your introduction.

GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL 2012 OPENS WITH YOUR SISTER’S SISTER 16 FEB, 7.30PM; AND CLOSES 26 FEB, 8.20PM, WITH LE HAVRE TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED AT THE GFT BOX OFFICE OR ONLINE AT WWW.GLASGOWFILM.ORG WWW.GLASGOWFILM.ORG/FESTIVAL

SONG AND DANCE MAN Glasgow Film Festival makes a song and dance over GENE KELLY with a retrospective to mark what would have been the Hollywood legend’s centenary year WORDS: NICOLA BALKIND AS A wise woman named Jeanine Basinger once said, “You give your heart to Fred Astaire but you save your body for Gene Kelly.” And save itself Glasgow Film Festival did, right up until this year: the centenary of Mr Kelly’s birth. The MGM man with the superstar gene will be honoured as the subject of the festival’s 2012 retrospective.

One of the greatest all-round talents of his time, he tap danced his way across Tinseltown in roller skates, sang in the rain, and left his American heart in Paris. “Gene Kelly led a one-man revolution in Hollywood that changed the screen musical forever,” explains Glasgow Film Festival co-director, Allan Hunter. “He really pushed the boundaries of what was possible and created a uniquely American art form that dazzled the world.

“His work has withstood the toughest test of all – the test of time. The films in the retrospective are as joyous and captivating now as the day they were first shown. Audiences are in for a treat with a rare chance to see them in all their glory on a big screen.”

Nominated for the Best Actor gong at the 1945 Academy Awards for Anchors Aweigh (20 Feb), Kelly won a special Oscar in 1951 for An American in Paris (19 Feb) recognising his ‘brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film.’ The Glasgow retrospective includes both titles, along with On the Town (23 Feb).

Scots favourite Brigadoon will be shown on 24 Feb, followed on 25 Feb with screening at St Andrews in the Square along with a very special event: the Gene Kelly Ceilidh. Don’t miss your chance to celebrate a couple of his worthy costars, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor, in the pièce de résistance of this year’s retrospective: a special 60th anniversary screening of Kelly’s immortal classic, Singin’ in the Rain (18 Feb, 1.30pm).

Come on with the films, I’ve a smile on my face….

ALL SCREENINGS IN GFF’S GENE KELLY RETROSPECTIVE ARE IN THE GFT AT 11AM UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED WWW.GLASGOWFILM.ORG/FESTIVAL

FILM

Animations from Oberhausen

Surrealism/Politics, a programme of eight award-winning animations, dating from 1964 to 1997, is one of the many highlights of this year’s Glasgow Short Film Festival.

The Skinny takes you into this world of the surreal Words: Helen Wright

When the surrealist movement first opened its floodgates to the subconscious in the 1920s, communism was still a respectable cause for lefty artists. André Breton and co believed that loosing their imaginations on the world could help free the proletariat from tyranny. Fast forward to post-WWII and the brutality of Sovietism combined with the decimation of a second World War triggers a more jaded approach. Where earlier artistic dreamscapes sought to free the human spirit, restrictions on liberty are the connecting thread in GSFF’s selection of animated surrealist shorts dating from the 60s through to the 90s.

The triple traumas of Nazism, Communism and Capitalism feature heavily in the programme’s imaginary realms. Walerian Borowczyk’s Les Jeux des Anges begins with the sound of a train rolling ominously through blackness. In its destination of grey rooms and metal pipes, headless angels slump or flap helplessly in concrete chimneys, while organ music on the soundtrack is joined by chants originating in Polish concentration camps. Schwarz-WeissRot (Helmut Herbst) and The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia (Jan Švankmajer) both make fun of superficial shifts in power in their directors’ places of birth. Herbst’s film depicts a society of jittery clockwork toys that march first to the tune of the Kaiser, whose black, white and red flag is appropriated by the swastika before being incorporated as the colours of a right-leaning newspaper conglomerate. Švankmajer, meanwhile, reinterprets Czechoslovakia‘s submission to the USSR as a succession of statues, portraits and clay figures. Stalin’s bust is sliced open on the operating table and gives birth to Klement Gottwald, that nation’s first communist president and committed perpetrator of purges.

Soviet Russia itself is represented by Knopka, about the banality of bureaucratic evil. Its hero finds that every button he presses – be it the off-switch on his alarm clock or a lover’s nipple – releases nuclear hell. Fészek is a sand animation made by Ferenc Cakó from Hungary, another country that endured fascism, communism, and

finally a harsh transition to liberal economics which crippled many of its citizens. Cakó uses his medium to suggest different ideologies slipping into each other in an ever-moving mess of human interaction.

One besuited man is surreptitiously replaced by a larger one, who in turn is squashed by a giant functionary too big for the screen, in front of whom microphones spring up in demagogic anticipation.

With less obvious context but also implying curtailment of freedom, Daniel Szczechura’s Hobby features a woman who takes a break from her knitting to snare hapless winged men and deposit them in oversized birdcages. Zbigniew Rýbczynski’s Tango is an impressive feat of animated choreography, in which a single tiny room is overtaken by multiplying characters, each going about their repetitive daily affairs, unaware they are being crushed together in a bland bedsit.

Several of these films employ surrealism’s traditional naked female motif. A cage shaped like the lower half of a woman’s body, recalling René Magritte’s La Representation, appears in Hobby. A stockinged nude pops up with appropriate incongruity in Les Jeux des Anges. As a kind of twisted recompense, the only work by a female director stars a fully clothed woman who is missing a face.

Suzan Pitt’s Asparagus takes a Freudian approach to the titular foodstuff as it alternates between fecal and sexual stand-in. The tasty vegetable allegedly denotes prosperity in dreams, and a boulevard lined with sex toy, gun, and doll stores hints as to Pitt’s subliminal thoughts on US consumerism.

Brought to Glasgow courtesy of Oberhausen’s short film archive, this is a magnificently hypnagogic collection that will keep viewers very much awake to the political realities of 20th century western history.

Surreal/Political: Animations from Oberhausen takes place 9 Feb, 7.30pm at the CCA, Glasgow Oberhausen archivist Carsten Spicher will be in attendance to introduce the screening and discuss the films www.glasgowfilm.org/festival/information/ festivals_within_the_festivals/gsff

Schwarz-Weiss-Rot

February 2012

THE SKINNY 15

A Centre for the Arts and Creativity

The Circus of Horrors

The Ventriloquist Sat 11th Feb| 8pm Peapod Productions present

Pickups Thurs 16th Feb | 2pm & 7.30pm Classic Music Live! Falkirk

Lara Melda Piano Fri 17th Feb | 7.30pm

Heart of Scotland Choir Falkirk Community Trust is a charity registered in Scotland. No: SC042403.

Sat 18th Feb | 8pm Random Accomplice

Double Nugget Thurs 1st March | 7.30pm

We’ll Meet Again Golden Jubilee Celebration Sun 11th March | 2pm Starcatchers present

The Attic Thursday 15th March | 11am & 2pm Falkirk Town Hall | West Bridge Street, Falkirk FK1 5RS | falkirkcommunitytrust.org

Episode 2

Fri 24 – Sun 26 Feb 2012 Tramway, Glasgow

A SpeciAll FORM

highlights FEBRUARY

EVENts GMAC Café Flicker*

Project Ability Artists in Residence

Russian Cultural Centre Sunday Evening Music Recitals*

EXhiBitiONs

Glasgow Print Studio Resonance: Jacki Parry Sharmanka Gallery Sharmanka before Sharmanka Early works by Eduard Bersudsky Street Level Photoworks & T103 Foyer What Presence! The Rock Photography of Harry Papadopoulos Transmission Gallery Living Truthfully Under Imaginary Circumstances by Anja Kirchner & David Panos

ADmissiON FREE WWW.AriKA.org.uK

An open, conviviAl festivAl of experimentAl music, performAnce, ideAs And discussion. feAturing Keiji HAino, WAlter mArcHetti, junKo, mAlin Arnell, dAWn KAsper, rAy BrAssier, tHomAs metzinger, eugene tHAcKer And more... co-produced By

ticKets: dAy pAss £6 – festivAl pAss £14 BooK in person At trAmWAy: 25 AlBert drive, g41 2pe or WWW.trAmWAy.org 0845 330 3501

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Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre performance*

CREAtE* Trongate 103 offers a wide choice of creative classes in a variety of techniques and media including print, photography, digital imaging animation, film and video. Please visit our website for more information. tRONgAtE 103 WElCOmE Visits

Get to know Trongate 103 better by joining one of our free behind the scenes tours.

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16 THE SKINNY FEBRUARY 2012

Looking forward to another quality lineup from the Glasgow Music and Film Festival WORDS: CHRIS BUCKLE

Illustration: Kyle Smart

FILM

SOUND AND VISION

NIGHT STALKING

ERRORS R TAKEOVE

We don’t know what film Umberto will score at GMFF, but odds on it’ll be some freaky shit. Errors bring the synth maestro in for interrogation INTERVIEW: Simon Ward and James Hamilton

For its 2012 retrospective, the Glasgow Film Festival toasts inimitable hot-stepper Gene Kelly by screening a selection of his most celebrated celluloid. But for those with music tastes beyond Gershwin and Bernstein, the festival’s most intriguing syntheses of sound and vision lie elsewhere in the programme. Back for a fourth time, the Arches and GFT-curated Music and Film Festival offers up every combination of its titular arts that you could hope for: films about music, music about film, and plenty of more tricky-toclassify listings besides. In the first category are a diverse selection of documentaries, spanning Icelandic block parties (Backyard, which sees Reykjavik’s finest play a show in FM Belfast’s Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson’s garden) and hip hop reunions (Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, which follows the New York trailblazers on their 2008 tour, with contributions from the likes of Mos Def and De La Soul).

Then there’s The Other F Word, which quizzes members of Rancid, Pennywise and Black Flag, amongst others, on the subject of fatherhood; as Fat Mike of NOFX points out in the trailer, explaining away prominent dominatrix tattoos to a four year-old ain’t easy.

While the film selection holds definite promise, it’s the innovative live events that have made the GMFF such a compelling fixture of the main

festival, and this year’s line-up looks set to maintain the high standard. Particularly exciting is a rare visit from Simeon Coxe III of influential electronic-rock pioneers Silver Apples: in addition to performing live at Mono, Simeon will attend the world premiere of Silver Apples: Play Twice Before Listening, taking part in a Q&A alongside the film’s director Barak Soval.

Elsewhere, much of the schedule lurks in the shade: as well as Umberto’s horror-synth stylings (see right), classic Universal monster movie The Phantom of the Opera will screen with live Wurlitzer accompaniment, while the enigmatic The Psychocinematic Ritual promises an occult celebration of ‘the disturbing power of music and cinema’, with members of Desalvo, Sons and Daughters and The Unwinding Hours joining forces for a dark mass at the Old Hairdressers.

Meanwhile, those with less sinister appetites can look forward to the return of aquatics/acoustics amalgam Wet Sounds, its singular pool-based performance certain to send shivers of a different kind down swim-suited punters’ spines.

Glasgow Music and Film Festival runs from 16-26 Feb at various venues across Glasgow. See listings for full details www.glasgowfilm.org/festival/information/ festivals_within_the_festivals/gmff

Kansas City native Umberto will be bringing his brand of John Carpenter-esque horror synth to the Glasgow Film Festival, namely music/arts space SWG3 on 25 February. The composer/multiinstrumentalist will be providing a live soundtrack to a horror movie of his choice, the title of which remains a well guarded secret.

Simon Ward caught up with Umberto to find out a little more about the upcoming project and the murky world of horror music.

SW: The film you are soundtracking is still a secret but can you tell us a little about what you have planned for the show? Have you prepared any new material?

U: I’ve composed music for the entire film. It’s 95% new material. So, it’s about 125 minutes of non stop music.

Is this the first time you’ve performed a live soundtrack?

Yes. A lot of artists performing electronic music will add visuals to their shows to keep the audience interested. Have you experimented much with this up until now?

Yeah, I’ve had montages of scenes from horror films play on a projector before. The visual element is very important for me. I like to make the show entertaining. So, I’ll put up pictures, add other people playing instruments, strobe lights, a couple

times I had people dressed up in costumes, etc.

I’ve been using three fog machines lately too.

How important is this visual element to you?

I get bored when I see a show and it’s just a guy playing a synth and messing with a bunch of effects pedals or whatever.

Zombi and Gatekeeper are often cited as your contemporaries. Is there anyone else out there that we should know about?

Xander Harris does horror movie stuff. That’s the only other one I can think of right now.

Do you think you’ll ever embrace the vintage technology found on the soundtracks to the Dario Argento and John Carpenter classics?

Well, yeah, I’ve used vintage stuff in the past for shows and on the recordings. I plan on bringing more equipment over to the UK this time. It’s just expensive and hard for me to lug around a bunch of stuff.

Will this be a one-off or can we expect to see more scoring from you further down the line?

Hopefully, I can do more. It’s something that I really enjoy doing.

And with that, Umberto climbed aboard his giant bat and flew off into the blood-red haze of the sunrise, the last echoes of the cries of the living dead still reverberating around our ears.

Playing SWG3 on 25 Feb www.myspace.com/umberto666

the CineSkinny Rises

Back for a fourth year, the CineSkinny offers you a daily mini-Skinny guide to the best of the Glasgow Film Festival for FREE! Film and Cine editor Jamie Dunn tells you exactly why you should be very, very excited It’s that time of year again, folks. The mighty Glasgow Film Festival is back to brighten the gloomy month of February with its ever growing celebration of cinema. But with over 250 events spread over 15 venues, deciding what to see over its eleven days can be a bit like choosing which Jessica Chastain film from 2011 to put at the top of your LoveFilm queue. If only there was some sort of daily guide to help you navigate the

festival’s cornucopia of film strands and events...

Back for its fourth GFF, The CineSkinny is on hand to offer some guidance. Published each day of the festival by The Skinny’s crack squad of cinephiles, it’s your indispensable source of festival information. We’ll be recommending the cinematic gems hidden within the vast programme and the must-attend events happening all across the city. There’ll be daily features

exploring the darker reaches of the festival (what’s with all the snuff films?), we’ll give you the lowdown on some of the more obscure titles in the mix and we’ll be staging a defence of the acting stylings of that enigma known to teenage girls the world over as R-Patz. We’ll also be tracking down the film-makers and actors attending the festival to get the inside scoop on the films they’ve brought to Glasgow. On top of

all this there’ll be reviews and previews of the best movies the GFF has to offer, plus we’ll be keeping you up to date with all the latest festival news on Twitter and Facebook.

You’ll find our free daily editions at the GFT and other participating venues from 16-26 February. You can also read the CineSkinny online at www.theskinny.co.uk

February 2012

THE SKINNY 17

CLUBS

A Cross to Bear Gaspard Auge explains why he won’t let technology define Justice Interview: Ray Philp

Philosopher and semiologist Roland Barthes would find no little satisfaction in seeing fellow Frenchmen Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge championing the spectacular. He might not have felt the same if he had been a music journalist.

The critical consensus towards their recent second album saw the words ‘style over substance’ levelled at the duo, a condemnation sure to send your average Smiths fan harrumphing about the place.

On the face of it, the accusation holds some currency: the nonchalant appropriation of Christian iconography, the Francophile Strokes look, and even the label to which they belong, Ed Banger (itself perenially cited as an HQ for vacuity), have aroused suspicion of insincerity.

But it is perhaps because of this dedication to aesthetics that Justice have found such an enthusiastic audience, and it’s hard to escape the feeling that such criticisms give too little credit to the substance of style.

Barthes once wrote of wrestling as 'not a sport, but a spectacle... the public is completely uninterested in knowing whether the contest is rigged or not... what matters is not what it thinks but what it sees,' and the same seems especially true of Justice. If anything, the shift from the hydra-headed house and disco of 2007’s † (let’s just call it Cross) to the chest-out prog rock found on their new album Audio, Video, Disco better befits their fondness for the theatrical.

That said, Auge, on the other end of a phoneline from Paris, explains that this principle derives from a ‘less is more’ aesthetic where their new live show is concerned.

“The main difference between the two albums, I guess, is just the matter of production, but the backbone is still the same. It’s always between epicness and melancholia. We kept a few things from the previous tour, we got rid of some other stuff, but it’s still very minimal in terms of colours or lasers or videos. It’s still very kind of Phantom of the Opera. We are using new technologies but we are not trying to use everything we can do with it. It’s still used in a very minimal way.

“We definitely have a kind of theatrical approach when it comes to doing live shows, just because we feel that the proper electronic or techno aesthetic doesn’t really feed our music.

We don’t really like the techno DJ aesthetic. [when pressed to elaborate, Auge begins to describe a ‘huge video with some clown or faces or something’] We’re just trying to keep it raw and minimal.”

This disinclination extends to Audio, Video, Disco too. The album sheds the muscular club aesthetic of its predecessor, taking the self-consciously epic centre of Cross and transposing the same feeling onto a quasi-mythical, prog rock template; more Yes than Yazoo. Auge concedes that this change of direction wasn’t to everyone’s taste.

“Today it seems everything has to have a proper tag and a name – maybe it’s always been like that. We felt a bit annoyed because some people were disappointed that it wasn’t electro or whatever, but we never claimed that we were doing electro. We were just doing music in the wide sense of the term... as long as the music is touching us, it’s always a good influence to take. We are just trying to make music that provides a very simple emotion. That’s what music is about, making people happy or sad, or wanting to punch someone in the face.”

In several interviews, Auge and De Rosnay freely confess to a lack of skill as producers or musicians; surely, two albums in, you would be less inclined to be so self-effacing.

“When we say we are not like trained

18 THE SKINNY February 2012

We definitely have a kind of theatrical approach when it comes to doing live shows... we don’t really like the techno DJ aesthetic; we’re just trying to keep it raw and minimal Gaspard Auge

musicians, it is in the sense that we don’t have any classical knowledge of music because we can’t read music. We tried to learn more about harmonies and stuff, but in the end we just quit because it was losing too much of the magic, y’know, to know how things work in a very mathematical way. Music [being like mathematics] is really depressing. We want to keep the excitement of finding two notes that go well together.

“We are trying to be as sincere and naive as possible, just because this is the kind of music we like. I guess we have a very naïve and romantic vision of music, for example some bands like ELO, they were very... I don’t know the word in English... it’s fleur bleue. It’s almost like music made by a virgin teenager, and we want to keep a bit of virginity.”

The words escape his mouth with a barelysuppressed giggle, but the allusion to innocence does ring true of what the duo refer to as their ‘countryside’ album; the idea being to remove electronic music from a club context; to give

it some fresh air, so to speak. Ohio’s soaring vocals and Love-esque arpeggios lend it a striking sense of purity, and the euphoric title track that closes the album is similarly affecting. It is Brianvision, however, dressed with a sulky Flash Gordon riff and little else, that Auge says is the album’s centrepiece.

“When we did Brianvision we felt that the sound encapsulated the whole idea of the record sound-wise. It’s very roomy... it’s laid back but still powerful. We wanted to have some air around the music. It’s something that is contrary to electronic music because it’s made with a computer. We tried to put some air in the circuits.”

Before wrapping up, Auge touches on Justice’s 2008 tour documentary, Across The Universe. As well as cataloguing the expected littany of ‘what goes on tour stays on tour’ moments (eg. marrying a complete stranger in Las Vegas, bottling folk in car parks), it also gives pause to the thought that, upon being received by thousands of garrulous Scots tossing beer and piss in their direction

at RockNess festival this year, it might not only be Americans who come off as a bit foreign.

“It’s always a bit crazy in Scotland which is why we love to go there, because people are really going for it, and it’s the best thing you can ask from an audience, to be enthusiastic.

We love, when we go to Scotland, to eat haggis [which Auge pronounces ‘ha-geese’ in a lilting French accent], we are huge fans of haggis. The last time we were there we bought some and ate it on the bus, just with the microwave. It was really good.”

The Skinny begins to volunteer information on an eaterie in Scotland that does some pretty exotic things with haggis. Auge half-heartedly contemplates the idea. “We’re really into the old-fashioned haggis, like no fancy stuff around it – just plain old haggis.”

Playing O2 Academy, Glasgow on 12 Feb and headlining RockNess Festival, Dores on 8-10 Jun www.facebook.com/etjusticepourtous

MUSIC

In the Court of King Leonard

At the playback of his first album in eight years, Leonard Cohen proves that as the decades advance, he’s still got plenty left to offer Words: Finbarr Bermingham

Ten years ago, Leonard Cohen told a journalist that he’d “read somewhere that as you get older the brain cells associated with anxiety begin to die. So, I might have saved myself the rigours of monastic life if I had just waited until it happened.”

And so, Cohen’s Zen-like demeanour tonight in the opulent Mayfair Hotel shouldn’t have come as a surprise: after all, his “monastic life” has continued since his ordination as a Buddhist monk 16 years ago, and at the ripe old age of 77 – coaxed out of retirement last decade because of bankruptcy – those anxious brain cells must be few and far between. Pleasingly, they seem to be the only grey matter on the wane.

Cohen’s here to hold court over the first playback of his new album, Old Ideas, which alludes as much to his advancing years and the shadow of death as it does to his strong, spiritual beliefs.

Greeted onto the stage by the equally dapper, corduroy-clad Jarvis Cocker (this evening’s host), Cohen graciously bows to the assembled Who’s Who of Europe’s music press, removing his signature fedora for the only time in the night. His voice is an octave lower still, the wrinkles more defined on his face, and his shoulders slightly slumped. But he retains what will always be his essence: his wit.

If there was ever any doubt that he would grow old gracefully, it’s been swiftly dispelled tonight.

“What’s it like listening to your own album in a roomful of people?” asks Jarvis, when the playback’s complete (there’s something wonderfully Lynchian about listening to Leonard Cohen sing about himself in the third person, while his handwritten lyrics are projected onto the wall, then looking up to see the back of his head, listening and reading along with you). “I wasn’t listening,” says Cohen, instantly, wryly. And so the tone is set. Cocker admits that the early Pulp album It was a rip-off of Cohen’s work. Leonard is flattered, but modest. “You just work with what you got. I never had a strategy. I always felt I was scraping the bottom of the barrel. I never had the sense that I was standing in front of a buffet table.”

What unfolds is a delightful game of cat and mouse, in which Cohen hilariously shirks his interrogator’s attempts to find meaning in his songs. “I’ll buy into that,” he says, with a smirk,

My tiny trouble is that before I can discard a verse, I have to write it Leonard Cohen

as Cocker expounds his theory on Darkness, one of the best cuts from the excellent Old Ideas. To those assembled, it’s a brilliant dose of goodnatured schadenfreude. This eminent raconteur leads Cocker, so often an enigma toward the media, on a merry dance, until the questions are open to the floor.

Cohen holds forth on his womanising (“Back then it was agreeable to have a reputation or some kind of list of credentials so you didn’t have to start from scratch with every woman you walked into. Now it doesn’t really matter one way or the other.”), Chuck Berry (“‘Roll over Beethoven / Tell Tchaikovsky the news.’ I’d like to write a line like that.”) and even indulges a populist query on Hallelujah (“I wrote many, many verses. I don’t know if it was eighty, maybe more or a little less. My tiny trouble is that before I can discard a verse, I have to write it. I have to work on it, and I have to polish it and bring it to as close to finished as I can. It’s only then that I can discard it.”) All the while, he’s humble, gracious and magnificently entertaining.

In the twilight of his career, Cohen, at last, seems content. The “rigours of monastic life” have vapourised his niggling self-doubt and depression. As he sits back, smiling at each question, no matter how ridiculous, it strikes us that Cohen the lothario has gone, replaced instead by Cohen the patriarch – the most relevant septuagenarian you could ever imagine.

Old Ideas is released on 30 Jan via Columbia www.leonardcohen.com

February 2012

THE SKINNY 19

ART

A TOUCH OF FROST

ERRORS R TAKEOVE

Glasgow-based artist Alex Frost and Steev from Errors have teamed up to make a portrait in the form of a record, available during the Glasgow International Festival this April. We chat to the collaborators and hear how it all came about Interview: Andrew Cattanach

Business ADVICE Cultural Enterprise Office offers a range of specialist business support and development services for creative businesses (both start up and growing) and practitioners. Lead Adviser Lynne O’Neil helps a stage director in a quandary Dear Lynne, I have been working as a freelance stage director in the performing arts for over 20 years. Despite the fact I have been relatively successful in my chosen field I can’t help feeling that I am not realising my full potential and I have certain professional ambitions which remain unfulfilled.

I would like to be able to look realistically at how I manage my career, identify anything that might be keeping me back and find ways that can help me achieve my goals.

Robert, Glasgow Hello Robert, It sounds like you are raring to go!! What I'm curious about is your answer to this question – if you were fulfilling your potential what would that look like? What would you be doing? And who with?

Now, if you're ready, let's set a goal. Say you want to direct a production, one that is really authentic to you, how are you going to make this happen?

I would recommend that you attend our Creating Contacts workshop, which will give you the space to map out all of your contacts. I bet you have loads more than you think! Using the techniques you will learn here you can then identify who can help you realise your goal, and if there are gaps in your sector, you will learn how to fill them. You

of the things I was quite keen on was working with someone who was working in the electronic music.”

Being a member of Glasgow’s preeminent electronic band perhaps made Steev an obvious choice. “I like the music of Errors and we have friends in common so it was quite natural, and it made sense, for us to work together,” explains Alex.

Likewise, Steev, familiar with Alex’s work, was approached by Prawn’s Pee and asked to get involved with the project. “Initially, they suggested we do a portrait and Alex and I talked about the idea of a portrait,” says Steev. “Alex does portraits, but not typical things – his face on a cappuccino, and things like that. We were interested in pushing that idea of the portrait even further, so we ended up using a shirt of mine we felt represented me – and that was the portrait.

That was the starting point for it basically.”

After tracing the pattern onto a disc, Alex went on to make a machine, which is a bit like a player piano or music box, that then plays the tracing.

“On the arm of the machine is a music box comb,” explains Steev. “With the pattern on the disc spinning round, whenever one of the raised bits on the disc hits the comb it makes a noise. Then that sound fed into my computer via MIDI. And I used that as the starting point for the tune.”

Alex cites their common interest in the divergent paths of analogue and digital technologies as an important element in their collaboration. “I like this relationship between the whole analogue process of making something in a craft-like fashion, as well as working with contemporary digital technology – the interrelationship between human and inhuman,” explains Alex. “I think there are parallels between this and the kind of music Errors make, which is often about that kind of thing. There’s a lot of reference to old technology in their music.”

The resulting track is a complex layering of sounds that seem to span the analogue and digital divide. Taking the dance music crescendo to Wagnerian heights, it’s basically five minutes of build-up that gets bigger and bigger. Make sure you get your hands on a copy in April.

Jane & Louise Wilson Sat 21 January–Sun 25 March 2012 Dundee Contemporary Arts

might also benefit from our Planning Your Time and Project workshop where you will set a goal, draw it out, create a visual representation (our subconscious loves images and colour!) and plot the strategic milestones needed to realise this goal on a timeline. You can then break down the attendant tasks into smaller and smaller blocks, until it becomes almost effortless to action them.

You spoke about managing your career. Is that a job for an agent/manager or will you do that yourself? If you take on this role I suggest that you wear that 'hat' for the day, either literally or metaphorically, to get you into the mental space needed to market yourself effectively.

So what could be keeping you back I wonder – procrastination, fear of failure or even of success...?

Now that you have set your ideal goal I suggest you create accountability around it with either a coach, adviser or even set up a peer coaching circle.

There's no better strategy for achieving a goal than having someone agree to act as a monitor on your progress to keep you accountable!

Lynne O’Neil Glasgow & West Central Adviser, Cultural Enterprise Office For more information on the services available to you visit www.culturalenterpriseoffice.co.uk Or call the Enquiry Line on 0844 544 9990 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm and Wed 5-8pm)

Dir

20 THE SKINNY February 2012

“It’s one big, horrible, convoluted process,” says Alex Frost, as he tries to describe how him and Steev Livingston from that band called Errors made a track called Wave Rhythm. The project had them doing all sorts, including building a machine and tracing a pattern from one of Steev’s jazzy shirts.

The end result, a flexi disc record, will be available during Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art as part of Rebecca Wilcox and Rob Churm’s project called Prawn’s Pee. Every day of the festival, Prawn’s Pee will produce limited editions of hand-printed paper works featuring a variety of artists. One of the editions will include Steev and Alex’s flexi disc.

Prawn’s Pee approached Alex a while ago and asked if he would like to work with a musician to make a new piece of art. “I spent a bit of time thinking about the musician side of things and went through various options,” says Alex. “One

Exhibition open: Tue–Sat 11:00–18:00, Sun 12:00–18:00 Open late Thu until 20:00. Admission free

Jane & Louise Wilson, Atomgrad (Nature Abhors a Vacuum), 2010

THEATRE

ARIKA12: EPISODE 2, A SPECIAL FORM OF DARKNESS In expecting the dark side of the self, BARRY ESSON reveals how Arika12 illustrates the 'Horror and doubt and scepticism' of being British INTERVIEW: GARETH K VILE

IN EPISODE 1, Arika continued their escape from experimental music, staging a series of films and discussions that centred around the hidden political assumptions about art and creativity. Episode 2, A Special Form of Darkness, delves deeper into the nature of the individual self, taking cues from noise music, HP Lovecraft, existential dread and bodily fluids.

“It’s to do with the usefulness of nihilism, the positives of doubt,” affirms Barry Esson, Arika’s co-curator. “It comes out of how we are thinking about experimental music now, to put it in a context that is provocative and really exciting.”

SFoD features performance inspired by French Grand Guignol – perhaps the most bloody theatre since the Romans used condemned criminals in tragedies – the meditations of literary critic Fredric Jameson, who worries that our very identity has been reduced to a series of tropes defined by advertising and consumerism, De Musicorum Infelicitate, a composition that attempts to express the self-loathing of composer Walter Marchetti through an impossible score and a finale set from Keiji Heino, the legendary Japanese noise musician who will be using just his voice to wail a blues beyond brutality and alienation. Yet Esson insists that there is more to this darkness than just despair.

Discussing one of the weekend’s themes, Esson suggests that potential might lie in unexpected places. “Over deep time, human consciousness is absolutely insignificant. Since the Enlightenment, we seem to have spent 200 years scrabbling around to find human meaning,” he observes. “It may well be better, as an evolutionary step, to recognise that there is no meaning. Understanding that might allow us to overcome some of our hang-ups.”

The works at SFoD, alongside the conversations, discussions and philosophical chats, embody this idea of creation in the face of absurdity and nothingness. Glasgow’s Iain Campbell will be wandering Tramway, wondering about how best to do nothing and continuing his journey from maximalist rocker to challenging live artist. On a more academic trip, Thomas Metzinger, an

important philosopher of the mind and consciousness, will discuss Being No-one – both his book and the concept.

Esson succintly explains why Metzinger is such a bracing voice. “Metzinger identifies the self as a series of subconscious processes to allow our limited minds to cope with the information around us. They are so transparant that we mistakenly come up with the idea that we have a self. It’s a special form of darkness: we stumble around in the dark, we think we are making decisions.”

It may well be better, as an evolutionary step, to recognise that there is no meaning BARRY ESSON

By mixing up immediate, visceral performance and more intellectual approaches, SFoD consciously rejects the model that makes a festival a mere series of consumerist spectacle, rather aiming to provoke as much as it delights. Arika’s political episodes – most noticeable in the final Instal, where the event that brought Glasgow The Boredoms and Jandek handed itself over to the audience – struggle with the gap between inclusive rhetoric and the reality of audience participation.

This embrace of horror avoids these contradictions and opens up the experimental work to broader audiences. As Esson concludes on the themes of the weekend: “Horror and doubt and scepticism: isn’t that everyday British life?

24–26 FEB, TRAMWAY, GLASGOW WWW.ARIKA.ORG.UK/EVENTS/EPISODE-2-SPECIAL-FORM-DARKNESS

17 February – 17 March 2012 BOX OFFICE: 0131 248 4848 ONLINE: www.lyceum.org.uk/mice TWITTER: #ofmice

Royal Lyceum Theatre is a Registered Company No. SC062065. Scottish Charity Registered SC010509.

FEBRUARY 2012

THE SKINNY 21

ART

Artists Without Borders Twins Jane and Louise Wilson began collaborating in 1989, gaining recognition in the 90s as Young British Artists, with video and photographic works often documenting hostile, uninhabited spaces. We talk to them about their show at DCA Interview: Jac Mantle

Face-Scripting – What Did the Building See? 2011 A film installation by Jane and Louise Wilson, with Shumon Basar and Eyal Wiezman

You might not recall what you were doing when co-founder of Hamas, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found murdered in a Dubai hotel room on 19 January 2010. Why would you? The Middle East is far away. But the chances are, you watched video footage of it soon afterwards. Having pieced together images from hundreds of CCTV and face recognition cameras to trace the assassins, Dubai state police then posted the footage on YouTube.

This sounds unremarkable until you consider Dubai’s major preoccupation with security, and the state’s control of public space. YouTube is the home of the amateur photographer. Say you happened to be bumming around Dubai with your iPhone (perhaps on a Gap Yah), you would have been prevented from capturing the footage yourself.

“To go into Dubai as a filmmaker and point a camera at one of their buildings… My God!” says Louise Wilson. “They’ve got technology everywhere.

There are images being grabbed all the time. But if you take a camera and shoot anything, you get arrested. There’s a sensibility of, ‘It’s ok for us! We’re everywhere. We’re Image Gathering.’ So even to just try and get in there to film is half the battle.”

And she should know. Jane and Louise Wilson are seasoned professionals at gaining access to forbidden areas. Producing multi-screen video installations and large-scale photographs, they have examined deserted institutions such as the former Stasi HQ in Berlin and roamed the Houses of Parliament during summer recess. Gamma, which earned them their Turner Prize nomination in 1999, explored the former US military base Greenham Common, used to house cruise missiles during the Cold War. The two bodies of recent work currently on show at DCA haven’t seen the sisters taking a break, either. In Face Scripting – What Did the Building See? (2011), they retraced the last steps of al-Mabhouh and filmed inside his hotel room, an intimate inspection of interiors which they contrast with the actual CCTV footage. In DCA’s other gallery, they will show Atomgrad (Nature Abhors a Vacuum) (2010) – a suite of photographs that document the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, twenty-five years on.

22 THE SKINNY February 2012

Pripyat was chilling.

We chose to shoot in public spaces, so there weren’t children’s toys or clothes lying about, but even so, it was chilling Louise Wilson

The sisters are busy installing the photographs as I arrive, and let me into the gallery for a quick peek.

Inside the Exclusion Zone Propped against the wall are eight large-scale photographic prints in tones of blue and grey.

They show what were once the social amenities of a city – theatre, kindergarten, gymnasium – in an incredible level of detail. As is typical of the Wilsons’ architectural studies, they are poetic. But there is something disturbing about their stillness.

In one, a view of a drained, dilapidated swimming pool, luscious green vegetation can be seen growing through the windows into the dead shell of the structure. The vegetation is, of course, radioactive.

Jane and Louise Wilson, Atomgrad (Nature Abhors a Vacuum) 2010, Courtesy of Jane & Louise Wilson and 303 Gallery, New York and Galería Helga de Alvear, Madrid.

The city of Pripyat, where the photos were taken, lies inside a 30km Exclusion Zone and is now totally uninhabited. Built to house the workers at the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, it was the ninth atomograd – literally ‘atom city’ – in the former Soviet Union. When the worst nuclear power plant accident in history released large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere in April 1986, the city was evacuated in three days. Believing the evacuation to be temporary, inhabitants took few belongings and left their homes in a hurry.

“It was chilling,” says Louise. “We chose to shoot in public spaces, so there weren’t children’s toys or clothes lying about, but even so, it was chilling.”

They had intended to make a film rather than photographs, but when they arrived at Pripyat, they found it impossible to impose their own narrative on the scene – the presence of the disaster itself was too intense. They also found that the still images better captured the extreme detail they wanted than a moving shot.

“Because they’re public buildings they’re large and open with quite large windows and you could do a very long exposure,” Louise explains.

“There’s no movement in the scene – that’s staying put. So we could just leave it for a while. But the 10x8 lens is what gives it that quality of detail, that level of information.”

Hiding in plain sight The sisters talk a lot of gathering information and intelligence, and describe their way of looking as ‘forensic’. Perhaps crime scene investigators in another life, their project in Dubai took them closer than usual to the field of forensics.

“What we were interested in trying to do is to think what you don’t get from the CCTV footage and to actually try and film inside the hotel room where the murder took place,” says Jane. “The CCTV couldn’t cross that threshold, and so we were trying to take something away from the power of that remote technology. Bringing the footage into the space with the film we made, it becomes very personal, very intimate.

“I think it’s important to show the two together because that’s where you begin to understand

about observation. You could look at the CCTV and not think about how they gathered that information, and also just the reality that a murder took place. It was quite brutal. Of course the victim also had blood on his hands. They’re at war, basically.

But this played out in such a public way.”

Prohibited by state law from filming in the corridors of the hotel, the artists instead shot some of the exteriors in neighbouring Sharjah. They also feature in the film themselves, seeking to confuse the face recognition cameras by wearing dazzle camouflage, used by the military on ships during World War I. While still seeming slightly sci fi over here, face recognition cameras are all the rage in Dubai.

“They brought in these cameras which can record with infra-red,” says Jane. “It’s the most accurate way to represent a face and doesn’t rely on shadow line or any distortion of the features. You can measure exactly the distances between the eyes and the nose, and record a face.”

Going viral The sisters’ own bizarre portraits in black and white camouflage will feature in the show, in the form of silkscreen on Perspex, with grabs of the CCTV footage in white to minimise the sheen of the Perspex. They will also show a very early video from 1993 called 8:30. Shot in the artists’ then shared London flat, it tries to ape the look of surveillance and CCTV. Looking back on their work from this time, it seems that the Wilsons’ career has become more global as it has progressed, almost as if they’re collecting passes to forbidden lands like illicit stamps in their passports.

“I think the point is that when we first did Stasi City, we were unlocking doors that had been closed for ten years,” says Jane. “And there wasn’t anywhere near the level of Flickr, Facebook, all those technologies. Going to somewhere like Pripyat now, we’re aware how much the space has already been documented. And I think there is a nod to that in the work… There’s not the same neutrality as there was when we produced that work in 1997. So there is a sense that times have changed.”

DCA, Dundee, Until 25 Mar, Free

Kelvingrove Art gAllery & Museu M presents

pArt

of

t h e v i c t o r i A n s r e di s c ov e r e d

Saturday

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Plus Book ing fee

An evening’s entertAin Ment feAturing

q Contortionist q q Thomas Truax & his self-made Instruments

iona Kewney with joseph quimby

Br i ta n n ia Pa noPticon’s tou r of sPirits & illusions

after darK version

GLASGOW MUSIC & FILM FESTIVAL 16−26 FEBRUARY 2012

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Tickets on sale now at www.glasgowfilm.org/festival

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FEBRUARY 2012

THE SKINNY 23

CLUBS

NIGHTS OF THE SOUNDHAUS Since 1995, The Soundhaus has been a haven for underground music in Glasgow. Faced with imminent closure, Simon Stokes tells us why the venue is like no other in the city Interview: Calum Sutherland AND NEIL MURCHISON Photos: Neil Jarvie

Few old factories scheduled to be demolished to make way for new office spaces would be of significance to the readers of these pages. On the occasion of the former Bilsland Biscuit factory, however, it is not just an empty old building that is being lost. The factory has been standing in the Anderson area of Glasgow since 1881 and is home to the Soundhaus, which has been operating variously as a rehearsal space, a recording venue and an art studio for hire since March 1995. Sometime in 1998 it opened as a club with an ethos and atmosphere unique to the city. And now, after almost 17 years, it’s coming to an end. The Soundhaus received notice that their lease was being terminated, with the landlords giving them just three months to clear out.

The club that has been a destination for 14 years of alternative late nights will be taken off the map.

When it comes to buoyant, wall bending house and techno, Simon Stokes is one of Glasgow’s most prominent DJs, and a veteran of the Soundhaus. As one of the main men behind Point 4, a multi-faceted electronic carnival which has been rocking the club for over a year, Stokes will have one hand on the final curtain call of the historic venue when it closes its doors for good on the first weekend of February. “I moved to Glasgow in 2001 and was introduced to the Soundhaus through people I met in college,” says Simon. “I’d been to the Subbie and other clubs in the city before but the Soundhaus was something completely different. It had a more intense, underground feeling. I started going to nights like Monox and Chakra, which had a new theme for every night, regularly because it was something completely different.”

“I partied there for many years and eventually it got to the point where I was playing out to people.

The first time I ever played a live set was at Off the Record, which was run by Ronin and the Animal Farm guys. It was just amazing. The line up was Mike Huckaby, then Slam, and I was playing at four in the morning – but it was still packed in the main room. When you get unleashed on a crowd to do ‘your thing’ for the first time it’s special and both my DJ and live set cherries were popped by the Soundhaus. It’s amazing to have Point 4 as the last big house and techno party but it’s definitely going to be a mixed bag of emotions. We’ve got everyone back, the Animal Farm guys, Highlife and Kreep too and it seems fitting to finish it off with all the people who got me into it.”

Lynn Macdonald, the club’s secretary, joined in 2002 when the Soundhaus was still able to stand out from the clutch of clubs that dominated the inner city.

“Back then the club’s door could stay open from 1am right through till 5am, even if the bar was closed for the last two hours. It allowed the place to become an alternative and a proper subculture.” Originally the venue was founded by Graham Bisset and James Flyte who built a writing and recording space so that DJs, producers and bands could hire equipment at a low cost to pursue their own creative paths. The venue also put on bands, often still early in their careers, such as Alabama 3, Kid Congo and the Pink Money Birds, The Bezerker and Enter Shikari. Through its members and the nights it put on, the club was able to continue this work of supporting local artists who otherwise might not have found a similar environment to work in. It seems incredible that, in a world where the public funding of creative projects has become common, the Soundhaus has been entirely self-sufficient.

Simon agrees with the idea that the club had a unique atmosphere. “It was just totally different from anywhere else. As a private members club it was open much later, it had a sort of semi-legal vibe that people really craved at the time, it felt less commercial, more like a warehouse rave. There were no toilets, only a few portaloos in a corridor

somewhere! One night there might be people massaging you in the corridors, people doing hair stuff. There was a relaxed feeling of freedom and you felt like you were a part of something a bit different. There’d be some mad reggae on one night and the next night really pounding techno. It was really diverse and had a totally different feeling; something set it apart from other clubs.” He also feels that its loss will leave a hole in the clubbing scene. “I think it’ll leave fond memories for a lot of Glasgow clubbers, especially the older contingent who are still deeply into electronic music that maybe didn’t feel at home other places. Sometimes you would walk in and it was just chaos, a totally different vibe. It was something totally new for the city, absolute class and somewhere you could get such diversity and such a great atmosphere that was unrivalled in its heyday.”

Over a number of years the very things that made the Soundhaus different and great have been slowly eroded away. Changes in alcohol licensing

laws saw the closing time cut back to 2am whilst pubs were being allowed to stay open later. “It’s really been a pincer movement,” Lynn says. “The recession hasn’t helped but losing the license killed us a bit. It has put us in a bad position for moving elsewhere.” She tells of the nightmare that getting a license has been with boundary changes, having to wait until the afternoon of the day before an event to learn if if approval has been given and the little regard there has been for their years of good record. “There’s such strict licensing laws and such a heavy clampdown on anything considered ‘rave culture,’ whatever that is,” says Simon. “You either need to be a fully unlicensed afterparty or a legitimate, slick club. There’s no middle ground anymore, and nowhere that has that ‘we’ll just close when we close’ sort of thing. That was unique to the Soundhaus and I don’t think that’ll be replaced any time soon.”

The closure and demolition of the Soundhaus will not just be the end of a club that gave Glasgow

a different approach to clubbing. Those who never got to experience it will have missed out.

The Soundhaus will soon lose its home but, as a project, they are far from finished. The team behind it are looking for a new location and investors for a future venture and, considering how they have managed the last 17 years, there are few better equipped to bring those ideas forward. The last ever nights at the Soundhaus will be held on the first weekend in February but the club and the rehearsal space will hopefully continue in some form in the future even if the hallowed red brick walls will soon be no more. The next phase of the club that has supported Glasgow’s music scene for so long could itself do with a little support right now.

Fri 3 Feb Off the Record with Animal Farm, Kreep Boutique, Simon Stokes and Highlife, 11pm-3.30am Sat 4 Feb will be ‘The Final Tango’ with Pussypower, Squelch, Froot (Disuko) and CTRL ALT DEL, 9pm - 3.30am, £7 before 10pm, £10 presale www.soundhaus.co.uk

Sometimes you would walk in and it was just chaos, a totally different vibe.

It was something totally new for the city SIMON STOKES

February 2012

THE SKINNY 25

BOOKS

The Inevitable E-Book Article

Be glad we didn’t go with the headline ‘To e or not to e’. Here’s a mercifully brief bit about ‘the future of books’, with some e-book recommendations afterward. You might want to just skip to those Words: Keir Hind [with assistance from Charles Dickens and F Scott Fitgerald] Illustration: Kerry Hyndman

Over 1.3 million e-readers were bought, and presumably mostly gifted, over Christmas in the UK, one for every 40 people. There’s some handwringing about this, in the form of articles debating the ‘death of the book’. What is never claimed is ‘the death of the written word’, because given the multitude of forms the written word can now appear in, such a claim would be totally ridiculous. It’s not quite a direct extension of that fact to say that the book isn’t in any danger, but it seems apparent that there’s an appetite for reading, and does suggest that there will always be an appetite for long-form stories. Whether these stories continue appearing in the shape of a paper artifact called a book is debatable, but to say that long-form, (or ‘book-length’) stories will die completely is ludicrous.

So don’t worry, if you even did to begin with.

Given that there must be some reason people are buying them, let’s now look at the advantages of owning an e-reader. The most obvious advantage is that it saves space, shortly followed by the fact that the delivery time of an e-book, though it depends on your internet speed, is much, much quicker than either having a book posted to you, or going to a shop or library. For me, the main advantage is the number of free books that are easily accessible. Because books breed other books – like one author, and you might look for books recommended by that author, or books by similar writers. E-readers can make this process of exploration very efficient indeed, and there’s

26 THE SKINNY February 2012

a whole lot of free, out of copyright, books to be sought out. A library in your pocket – it’s the world of the future.

And so the book recommendations begin Let’s start with one very well-known author who, like e-readers, got a sales boost over Christmas – Charles Dickens. All of Dickens’ books are available for free, because they’re out of copyright – author’s copyright in the UK extends to the author’s lifetime and 70 years thereafter.

You can, therefore, download all of Dickens’ work legally, for nothing. I chose to pay about £1.50 for a collected Dickens, with all of his novels, short stories, plays and even poems, arranged for me.

I’m lazy like that.

But not in other ways. Because once I downloaded Dickens, I quickly skipped to chapter four of David Copperfield, where the hero describes the books he had access to as a child – and these are also known to be the books Dickens himself read at that age. “Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, Humphrey Clinker [all by Tobias Smollett], Tom Jones [by Henry Fielding], The Vicar of Wakefield [Oliver Goldsmith], Don Quixote [Cervantes], Gil Blas [Alain Rene le Sage], and Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe], came out, a glorious host, to keep me company,” says Mr Copperfield. I quickly found that all of those are freely downloadable – my favourite is probably Tom Jones; I didn’t much care for The Vicar of Wakefield.

Oh, and if you’re planning on downloading Don

Quixote, be careful. Translated fiction is a difficult proposition – the art of translation has generally improved with time, but the translations used in free downloads have to be out of copyright, and so are older, and can be poor to awful. Don Quixote is very difficult to translate, especially as Sancho Panza uses a large number of sayings with no direct English equivalent. On the other hand, a translation done by a famous author can be a great thing – witness Gil Blas, which is more easily translated because it’s largely plot driven, and can be found (with some difficulty, but it’s worth it) in translation by Scotland’s own Tobias Smollett. It’s hardly read these days, although that’s partly because it’s been hard to find. Now you can find it – which is indicative of a larger benefit of e-readers, where rare books become easily available.

More modern authors who have works out of copyright tend to be those who died youngish. F Scott Fitzgerald is one, and again, when I downloaded a collection of his work, I found that there was an article in there listing his ten favourite books, most of which are available for free download. Those were: Samuel Butler’s Note-Books, The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche

by H.L. Mencken, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm, The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain, Nostromo by Joseph Conrad, Vanity Fair by William MakepeaceThackeray, a collection of poems, Thaïs, by Anatole France, and Seventeen by Booth Tarkington – this last he calls “the funniest

book I’ve ever read.” Heard of it? Now you have.

It wouldn’t have been impossible to find these, or other, recommendations before e-books, but the process of finding, and collecting, books has now sped up greatly. And who’s to say the accumulation of knowledge, made easier, is a bad thing?

That point made, I’m also listing all of these to provide a starting point for showing how books can breed other books. Because an interest in Dickens (whose works are all dowloadable) can lead to Smollett (also downloadable) who was a friend of Lawrence Sterne, writer of Tristram Shandy (yes, downloadable). Or, making connections more wildly, The Vicar of Wakefield can lead you to the pulp writer Robert E. Howard, of Conan the Barbarian fame, who disliked that book, and whose works are available for free or cheaply, which can then lead you on to other pulp writers who might be freely available, such as HP Lovecraft if you like horror fiction. From Dickens to Cthulhu in 3 easy steps. Fitzgerald’s recommendations include Samuel Butler’s notebooks, which can lead you to his great novels, The Way of All Flesh or Erewhon. Or, Mencken’s book on Nietzsche can lead to Mencken’s essays – I bought these in a nice collection edited by Alistair Cooke.

Other explorations can lead to fascinating curios. Looking for some science fiction, because it only seemed fitting to read some on what would once have seemed a phenomenally advanced gadget, led me to Jules Verne, all available, (translations vary, but Verne’s use of language is relatively uncomplicated, so they’re generally readable). Verne’s From The Earth to the Moon, where a giant gun is constructed to fire a spacecraft to, yes, the moon (not possible, incidentally) led to another fascinating tale, The Brick Moon by Edward Everett Hale, where a brick moon is constructed and sent into space via a flywheel (again not possible. Did you guess that?). Unfortunately some people are aboard, and somehow survive in space, because this was written in 1869. They’re then watched by telescope as they become a microcosm of Victorian society. An odd, but fascinating discovery. Which led to another such discovery, a similar retro-science fiction book, Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott. Abbott Abbott was a school teacher and once a mathematics scholar, and his book is again an examination of the Victorians, but this time using the device of a land made up of only two dimensions as a mirror on society.

These books in turn lead to…

Well, lots of things. The point is that, used well, an e-reader can be enormous fun, as a research tool and a depository of every sort of great story, or essay, or poem, and you get the idea. It should be a freeing device, saving time and even cutting through red tape if you want to get hold of all kinds of rare items. It’s hardly the death of the book – it’s a liberating way to read them. As for books as a paper artifact, the increased enthusiasm of readers that can only be the result of e-books is probably likely to prevent such a thing happening. Unless, in the end, it just becomes too much of a chore to turn pages.

Two great places to find ebooks are Project Gutenberg: www.gutenberg.org/ And The Internet Archive: www.archive.org/details/texts And those are just for starters.

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St Andrews 14 – 18 March

Kathleen Jamie Karen Dunbar Joe Dunthorne

Jackie Kay Kwame Dawes Martin Figura Tony Walsh

Young Dawkins Chris Young . . .

poetry performance films installations music workshops exhibitions

www.stanzapoetry.org

Discover how the ideas of a new generation of design talent could make a difference to the way we live.

Free entry at The Scottish Parliament until Friday 23 March 2012.

Open Monday to Saturday, closed Sundays. www.scottish.parliament.uk/design&democracy

Design for Scotland’s future.

FEBRUARY 2012

THE SKINNY 27

28 THE SKINNY February 2012

MUSIC

Crystal Visions As The Big Pink trade in their explosive debut’s distortion, Milo Cordell and Robbie Furze tell us why their live show will be all change on Valentine’s Day

Photo: Tom Beard

Interview: Fred Weedon

London duo Milo Cordell and Robbie Furze’s 2009 debut A Brief History of Love was enormously successful, with its blisteringly distorted pop rock songs that were as much for dancing as they were paeans to lost love. Speaking over the phone as their second album surfaces, Cordell explains their change in direction.

“The first record was quite a personal, heartbreak record, that’s just where we were at the time. We were in exactly the same place; we’d both just broken up with girls, and that’s when we got really close, and started playing music. But this record, we wanted more of a universal feeling, it’s not really about love, or anything in that vein.

There’s elements of that, but it’s got much more of a positive energy in there. Just trying to put across a positive feeling without going too deep. It’s a lot more outgoing than the last record, which was slightly inward and quite retrospective. I think it’s a much fairer representation of who I am and who The Big Pink actually are.”

The two big singles from A Brief History of Love – Dominos and Velvet – ended up as unlikely pop hits, finding ubiquitous radio play as well as the very modern endorsement of gracing an Xbox advert. “The first time round they were happy accidents, we never really set out when we first started this band to make any pop hits, and suddenly we did start writing these ‘big’ sounding, radio-type songs. It was amazing hearing it on the radio, and so we thought if we can make this sound that’s slightly off-centre – you know, it’s not regular pop music, it has slightly dark lyrics – we’ve always liked the idea of being able to infiltrate the radio with what we do, and so we set that as a goal.”

The band’s new singles have certainly moved on from that first outing, which Furze suggests was

difficult to present in the live arena. “A lot of this record was inspired by touring the last one,” he notes. “We wanted to create an upbeat, positive, more groove-based album. Our shows were almost a bit of a downer. We just didn’t realise how melancholic our songs from the first record were – we needed to create a different energy. We want to evolve to keep ourselves excited, and to keep our shows exciting.”

Future This has taken yet more strides in its diversity. Turning away from shoegaze to greet the great traditions of early hip-hop, all previous comparisons to My Bloody Valentine have turned to ash. “This time round we did a lot of research into how to create movement at the bottom end and some swing on the beat, and I think that was partly missing in the last record.”

The introduction of sampling has also had a significant effect on the way the duo write and record. “We’d find a sample, manipulate it and stick a loop or a beat underneath then build up the track from there,” says Furze. “We actually used a lot of samples and took them out towards the end of the process, and it would leave an imprint of the initial sample in the song. I mean, Lose Your Mind initially sampled Happy House by Siouxsie and the Banshees, but by the end we took it out, and I think there’s still a slightly 80s feel to it.”

Similarly, lead single Hit the Ground (Superman) makes heavy use of Laurie Anderson’s 80s hit O Superman. Was it this particular song that drove them to write their own? “Yeah, we put the sample in right at the beginning, and created the song around the sample, and then it wrote itself,” Cordell admits. “It was the last song, but it wrote itself.

It seemed like the vibe was there straight away.”

Re-teaming with Dominos producer Paul

We needed to create a different energy Robbie Furze

Epworth, the band found an ally completely in accord with their vision from the start. “When Paul asked ‘What do you want to do with this record?’ we said ‘Well, we just want to make hip-hop beats with guitar,’ Furze recalls “He was like ‘Crunk beats with Sonic Youth guitar? Let’s do it!’” Seeking an elusive tipping point “anywhere between Nirvana and Biggie” was an ambitious task, not least because the band were working with new methods. “We got a lot more into software and effects to give it a certain aesthetic. I think it’s quite beat and synth-heavy. But there are loads of guitars on this record; a lot of what sounds like a synth is actually a guitar!”

With the onus on the band to create music that’s equally fulfilling for them as it is their audience, Furze is convinced that a change of format was essential. “With the last record we did get a bit bored of the stop-startey stuff and playing the same song again and again. I think if we’re bored that translates over to the crowd a bit. We try to keep everything in mind, from our experiences of where we were at last time.”

Having parted ways with Akiko Matsuura of celebrated noise rockers PRE and Comanechi,

their approach to the live set has since progressed further into electronic territory: “We got a new band. We found new ways of making music through Ableton, and different types of software to reproduce the songs live. We’re now able to make it a more organic electronic experience where we can loop sections, speed up BPMs, manipulate our songs almost like DJs; we can make them longer, or speed it all up.”

Their embrace of digital technology and reluctance to retread those melancholic overtones of A Brief History of Love has also opened up the floor for remixes with broader possibilities. Were they writing with a view to having more songs remixed, particularly given the flurry of interest from producers ranging from Mount Kimbie and Rustie through to Gang Gang Dance? “We’ve had a couple of great ones already, we had araabMUZIK do one for Stay Gold, araab’s really good on that and it’s got the great Danny Brown rapping on it,” Cordell enthuses.

“For Hit the Ground (Superman), we’ve just released a Forest Swords remix, which is really cool, it’s got a dub feel to it, but it’s also got a Dre 2001 vibe to it. I love choosing the remixes, and I love remixing; we’ve got one with Ladyhawke coming up.”

Far from the sombre shoegazing of their earlier shows, when The Big Pink bring this latest incarnation to Glasgow on Valentine’s Day Furze promises a work in progress that is bound for the dancefloor. “They’ll still be the same songs, but if you come see us play in February, and then when we’re back in the autumn, those songs will be very different. I want to see it progress to a crescendo dance show, that’s where I want it to go.”

Future This is out now via 4AD. Playing Glasgow King Tut’s on 14 Feb www.musicfromthebigpink.com

February 2012

THE SKINNY 29

MUSIC

Back from the Brink Having penned a concept album based around family bereavement, The Skinny is surprised to find New York trio We Are Augustines happy to be just making music Interview: Finbarr Bermingham

It’s cold, dark and miserable in Camden – a night to turn your breath to crystal, decked out in the full complement of seasonal greys and browns.

Your correspondent has been shivering outside a creaky old bar for fifteen minutes, before being revived, suddenly, by approaching, oblivious laughter. “You wanna come join us in our dressing room?” comes the greeting. Around the corner, a humble eight seater awaits, or as We Are Augustines will come to know it over the next couple of weeks: home. Remarking on how tidy it is, The Skinny climbs in and is confronted with three faces from which the smiles rarely stray over the course of forty minutes’ chat.

Frontman Billy McCarthy, plumped in the backseat in a porkpie hat, could pass for a burlier Brad Pitt. Bassist Eric Sanderson is urbane and dapper, and newly recruited drummer Rob Allen is the picture of contentment: all three are happy to be on board. It’s only fifteen minutes later, when Billy says: “we’re not a tragic band, despite having seen plenty of tragedy,” that a bright pink floods our cheeks, as an earlier preconception comes to mind. It had been decided that if anyone were to be forgiven for being miserable, it would be this lot. It doesn’t happen too often, but sometimes a rock band can surprise you for all the right reasons.

Their travails predate this current guise, and can be traced back to the days of Pela, a band Billy and Eric played in before We Are Augustines.

Eric takes up the story: “The band hit a brick wall, due to a lack of opportunities and resources. We were on a label with a tiny budget. We had little or no support. We self-produced our first record and the label kept telling us that nobody liked it, which is not what you want to hear. Then the year-end came and we ended up on over 30 lists.

We went to the label and asked them: “What the hell’s wrong with you?” We got to the point where we were selling out shows across the country but couldn’t afford to get to them. We were doing our own PR, management, merchandising, support, everything. Eventually the pressure got so great that the band crumbled and we broke up after seven and a half years. We were left with remnants of a record, no career, no support, no band, lots of debt and lots of binding contracts.”

As the band’s professional career lay in tatters, personal tragedy was to strike, particularly for Billy. His brother Jim had spent years living rough in California, moving from psychiatric wards to

Rarely would you hear a kid say ‘My mom’s unwell. She has a sick brain.

She’s manicdepressive.’

People don’t talk about it.

That’s wrong Billy McCarthy

homeless shelters. He was diagnosed as being schizophrenic a number of years back, after he stabbed a shelter staff member with a knife. He spent time in solitary confinement, while being treated in a hospital ward. Upon learning he was being sentenced to the fate for a second time, Jim took his own life. He hanged himself.

In his bereavement, Billy penned Book of James, a song about his brother that’s powerful and emotive, but also acceptant. The chorus ends with the couplet: “And all the words can all get spoken / Well I know we tried and you’re forgiven,” and Billy says that yes, his music has been cathartic, but has also given him the opportunity to speak out about an ignorance and a taboo that he feels contributed to his brother’s death. “It (debut

On the Bog:

The GZA

Wu-Tang’s Gary ‘GZA’ Grice tells us how he spends his downtime

What was the last good concert you went to as a fan?

Sade. Besides her music, her visual show is astonishing.

What was the last good film you saw?

I really enjoyed the Michael Jackson documentary This Is It. What was the last TV series that got you hooked?

I enjoy certain networks more than particular shows e.g. National Geographic, Discovery, History channels. I also really enjoy TED Talks.

What was the last book you enjoyed?

30 THE SKINNY February 2012

album, Rise Ye Sunken Ships) is almost a concept record about family. It can be tough to play, but the upside is seeing people respond to it. Wherever I am in the world, when I see people react to the issues I’m talking about, it makes it worthwhile.

Mental illness isn’t talked about. It’s not… it’s a huge taboo. When you’re a kid and you invite your friends to your house, you have no problem saying: ‘my mom’s not well, she has a bad back.’ But rarely would you hear a kid say: ‘my mom’s unwell.

She has a sick brain. She’s manic-depressive.’

People don’t talk about it, and that’s wrong. So if this album does a little bit of good, raises any awareness at all, then I’m happy.”

The record, like the band, is anything but depressing – if anything, it’s rousing: a call to arms.

It’s not the last book I read that I enjoyed but I highly recommend Marcus Chown’s The Quantum Zoo – it’s an introductory guide to quantum physics.

It’s understood that you’ve been working on and off with your cousin RZA on a ‘sequel’ to your breakthrough solo album, Liquid Swords over the past couple of years. What can you tell us about it?

Liquid Swords II is only a concept at this point.

However, I do have a new album coming in 2012; that’s going to be amazing but I can’t discuss it yet.

As a family man now in your mid forties, what keeps you motivated to stay active in the hip-hop world?

What drives me is my creativity and desire and need to write. That will never leave me but it may take on another form – I can envision myself one day writing screenplays, books or poetry. But as far as rhymes go, right now my pen is on fire.

What’s the biggest misconception about GZA? That I actually am a genius.

GZA plays The Arches, Glasgow on 13 Feb. He suggests you follow him on twitter @therealgza for the most timely and accurate updates www.facebook.com/theGZA

Watching them on stage later that night, it’s clear that We Are Augustines have been galvanised by the hardship they’ve faced and that their audience respond to that. “Sure, they don’t all know what the songs are about,” says Eric, but that’s not important. Everyone can find their own meaning in them.” The Skinny is pleased that the parallel drawn with the infamous Alan Partridge ‘Bloody Sunday’ moment raises a chuckle. Right now, this band is determined to have some fun, no matter how bad the jokes are.

Supporting Frightened Rabbit at HMV Picture House on 10 Feb. Rise Ye Sunken Ships is released via Oxcart Records on 5 Mar weareaugustines.com

As far as rhymes go right now, my pen is on fire

TRAVEL

FEAR AND LOATHING: A NON-SAVAGE JOURNEY TO THE CITY OF LOST WAGES

What happens at an academic conference in Las Vegas stays... oh never mind!

WORDS: GARETH RICE ILLUSTRATION: AREN QUAEL

I AM somewhere over Utah, or maybe Arizona, I don’t know, when the excitement kicks in. There are more stars than I thought possible. This could be outer space. Searchlight needles mainline the sky. There are clutches of city lights, scattered across a black velvet surface miles below. My university has paid for my flights and accommodation so that I can attend the annual conference of the Association of American Geographers in Nevada, dubbed the Silver State due to the importance of silver to its history and economy.

The air feels hairdryer hot and heavy. During the smooth yellow cab ride from McCarran Airport to my hotel, the driver, a talkative Catholic, tells me how his spring-loaded dashboard Jesus brings him salvation on a daily basis. When he clocks that I am not listening, he stomps on the accelerator and takes us closer to Las Vegas Boulevard’s (the Strip) casino skyline, which is looming up through the warm desert neon ground haze.

'The Circus-Circus is what the whole world would be doing Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war. This is the Sixth Reich. The ground floor is full of gambling tables, like all the other casinos... but the place is about four stories high, in the style of a circus tent, and all manner of strange County-Fair/Polish Carnival madness is going on up in this space,' said Hunter S. Thompson. Now I have just arrived in the city of insanity that inspired his hypnotising narrative and chaotic dialogue in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. I feel the same immediate sense that all will go according to plan. In failing that, though, I intend to leave with my own version of the American Dream.

The eager plunger into experience that I am sees me up early the next morning feeling wide awake.

On the way down to breakfast I see a flying trapeze that would make Jules Léotard proud. I follow the fat lady with the green flag who leads me through a beverage oasis to my allocated oversized table. I discover that I dislike Biscuits and Gravy – drippings of cooked pork sausage, white flour and milk. I remind myself to avoid 'savage Lucy' type characters with '...teeth like baseballs, [and] eyes like jellied fire.' A granny in Levi’s jeans and Nike Air trainers hits a jackpot and spins around in her wheelchair.

On my way across the Strip to The Riviera to pick up my conference pack I see my first Elvis lookalike in a silver glitter suit and thick goldrimmed greaser shades. As I stand and look south to Mandalay Bay I realise that this city won’t bother me with the complexity of a statement. As the Scottish writer William McIlvanney once said, it’s just a word: money. The city also dreams of money that it doesn’t yet have. It’s so easy to lose years of savings in one moment because, as many people told me, the house always wins. I don’t get another few metres when Ron calls me over to his wooden box office. He’s a chatty sixty five year old sales man with what feels like a standard set of questions for every tourist, a Colgate prosthetic smile and a lizard-like face. I promise to come back to him about his offer of a side trip to the Grand Canyon.

I pick up my name badge from the conference registration desk in The Riviera. There is a map with the pack. The map is my enemy. Begone, anything that gives me directions in this city. I hop onto a stretched golf car, which zips me across a sun-softened asphalt desert to the Convention Centre – a city within a city – for my first session.

It’s entitled Organizing Urban Space. The room reeks of plastic palm trees and there is a faint dinging of slot machines in the distance. After a few minutes the person sitting next to me says something like “We’re in Vegas man and we’re sitting here listening to this.” He has a point: the idea of attending another two sessions today seems absurd. Before this session finishes, I have decided that I will be an aimless wanderer for the next two weeks. I grease my face with white tanning butter and saunter south along the Strip, listening to the babble of slot machine rhythms, taking in the suddenness all around me.

By suddenness I mean the pop-up city feel of Vegas, thrown together like a stage set for actors to play out their limitless selves and then, after everyone has gone, it can be conveniently taken down, boxed and buried in a hole in Red Rock Canyon among the Joshua trees that droop helplessly on the burnt ancient sea bed, all darkened by jagged mountains extending their shadows across the valley floor.

Vegas is surrounded by a desert tourniquet but there’s no compression, only room for expansion. As the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard observed, there is a secret affinity between gambling and the desert, in that the intensity of gambling is reinforced by the presence of the

Vegas is surrounded by a desert tourniquet but there's no compression, only room for expansion

desert all around the town. This is certainly evident when walking along The Strip: it’s as if nothing can rock the casino capitalism and, besides, the gaming industry is hardly about to limp off into the desert to die.

The next two weeks are intense and chock full of

Vegas randomness. Bored shoe polishers texting on their mobile phones, groups of rowdy students on Spring Break, petite spaced-out looking emos with cotton candy blue hair and eyes set wide apart like E.T.’s. On the verge of having heart attacks, human hamburgers wobble on rubbery legs and fat kids sweat through baggy perforated American Football tops. Firebrands and bankable show merchants, teenage micro celebrities, who are keen to expose themselves to their cyber stalkers, My Little Pony dolls and space cadets who look like they’ve been beamed down from other planets. Self-appointed directors of romance and master mystifiers. Kidney shaped swimming pools, motorised wheel chair rentals, Loud ‘N’ Clear hearing aids that look like mobile phone head sets, sweet candy skulls, apostrophe jumpers and Structure Polos for men and women. I try to take it all in.

I pick up a Diary Queen Mint Oreo Blizzard and head out to Callaway Golf Course to discover that the bunkers look like scorched grass. Pretzel Zone is right next to Mediterranean Delight and Umberto Pizzeria but I stick to low carb wraps for lunch and Lumberjack Slams and Heartland Scrambles in the evenings. I almost get addicted to Avalanche Apples dipped in white chocolate and sugar cinnamon Snickerdoodles. I catch Carrot Top and Fantasy at the Luxor, where hearts in halogen lit cubes are also on display at the Bodies Exhibition.

The Lion King is at Mandalay Bay and Phantom of the Opera and the Blue Man Group at the Venetian with its fake sky, under which gondolas, lit by beads of neon, pass by with their own singing gondoliers. I don’t get around to seeing the Tournament of the Kings at the Excalibur, Lichtenstein or Warhol and Friends at the Ballagio Gallery of Fine Art but, I accidently discover the comedy, music and impressions of Gordie Brown at the Golden Nugget. I try the indoor skydiving, avoid the gun store rentals and pistol ranges and catch the spectacular show that is the Mirage’s erupting volcano when I can. I let myself be seduced by the high tech gadgetry of the Coney Island Emporium and get dwarfed by the camel humps of New York New York’s rollercoaster. It’s impossible not to be aware of what entertainment is on offer and anytime you wake up it will have already started all over again. Peace and quiet is a luxury in a city that cleverly camouflages time and retards the dawn to the extent that Vegas does. It’s exhausting.

I am on my way back to Circus-Circus for the last time when I bump into Ron again. He still has that vaguely reptilian cast to his features.

“Good afternoon to you young sir, are you still wanting this ticket for our superb Grand Canyon tour?” he asks politely. “It’s the best offer you’ll get.”

“Oh hi there Ron, I am sure it is but I fly home tomorrow.”

“That’s that then. So how did you enjoy our city?”

“I loved it, though the last two weeks flew by like two minutes. There’s no sense of time in this city.”

He gives me his best Colgate prosthetic smile and bids me what seems like a genuine farewell.

My own version of the American Dream may not have been as savage as Dr. Gonzo’s. Perhaps things would have been different if I’d checked into my hotel under a phony name with intent to commit capital fraud and a head full of acid. My trip, however, stands as another affirmation of what is true about the academic conference: it gets to play second fiddle to the magnetism of the host city. Outside it’s Las Vegas.

FEBRUARY 2012

THE SKINNY 31

ERRORS R TAKEOVE

photo: gemma burke

SHOWCASE

Andy Wake (The Phantom Band): “Phantom HQ is in an area of town that’s notorious for being quite rough. There’s a big drug problem here, so there’s a degree of other crime that goes along with that. It’s also in one of Glasgow’s last virtually unchallenged enclaves of open sectarianism, which is depressing as fuck (not that it’s one of the last, that it exists at all!), and there’s been a few occasions where my route to the studio has been hampered by roads closed by police tape.

So there’s definitely the feeling of the environment inside the building (whether that be in Phantom HQ or Chemikal Underground’s office) being very separate to what’s going on outside in the street.

“We got this space in April 2011 when we returned from our European tour and, fortunately for those lucky fellas, it happens to be very near the office of our record label, Chemikal Underground – near enough for us to steal their biscuits and internet. Andrew from the label likes our pizza oven though, and I once came in and caught Stewart jamming solo on his old bass guitar instead of doing his accounts or whatnot.”

Who practises in a space like this?

Glasgow musicians shows us where the magic happens

photo: gemma burke

photo: Nick Milligan

Steev Livingstone (Errors): “For the recording of our most recent album we mostly used Simon [Ward]’s living room in his West End flat. We set up our equipment in the corner behind one of his sofas so it kind of functions as a recording space with relaxing space where we would watch TV and have dinner when taking breaks. Bedroom spaces still seem to be the most productive for me as I tend to get lost in the music I’m making and forget that there’s an outside world.”

PLEASURE PALACES

Jamie Grier (Producer): “My recording space is in the middle of an industrial estate. When you’re inside the building you don’t think about what’s going on outside so you can just forget about it and make a racket without worrying that folks can hear you (particularly when it’s shite).

“There were some gigs here when the Finn collective and the Mutual had exhibition openings over the last few years. Palms, Neighbourhood Gout, Silk Cut and Top Dollar have all recorded singles here so far.

“A lot of my favourite records were recorded by people outside of a proper studio environment. Having freedom to experiment makes better music.”

32 THE SKINNY February 2012

photo: Ingrid Mur

Graeme Ronald (Remember Remember): “We rehearse in the former playroom of a disused primary school which is now used as a community centre / artists’ studio and venue. Kids’ paintings and murals from around 1995 still adorn the walls, as do rules of good behaviour and coat hooks labelled with the names of the members of the last class to go there when it was still a school.

“For me it brings back memories of going to the music rooms at lunchtime to ‘jam’ before double German then physics in the afternoon. I’d forgotten that feeling, and it’s nice to have it back. With there being seven in our band it only enhances that feeling of it being a class group or something, only we’ve been given free reign to play around for a few hours. I’m not sure if I could measure a correlation between the space and the music that we make in it, we’re all just grateful to have somewhere of our own to go to. Some members of the band are afraid to go in there at night; I suppose it’s the whole creepy school corridors in the darkness and ghosts type vibe. I for one enjoy locking up in the dark with my big bundle of keys; it makes feel like the janny.”

photo: Nick Milligan

Lewis Cook (Mother Ganga): “At the moment I make most of my music at my girlfriend’s flat, in her bedroom. I’ve been between flats the last few months and she’s been kind enough to let me stay since I graduated. She and her flatmate have made me feel really comfortable here, but there will always be a sense of transience about a place that’s not your own home.

“I think that sense has contributed to an ongoing flux of methods in recording and writing music. As most readers of this article are surely aware, the weather in Glasgow can be pretty depressing. I think this inevitably affects a lot of the sounds as well. That said, the first track on my new record is called Tenement Sunset which I think is testament to the amount of appreciation I have for the sun when I do see it!”

To read the full interview with each participant and see our accompanying photography of their practise spaces visit www.theskinny.co.uk/music

February 2012

THE SKINNY 33

FASHION Made In The Shade Says Goodbye to Glasgow Made In The Shade, Scotland’s favourite purveyor of all quality-yet-affordable craft and design, are moving on to pastures new – London! Carrie Maclennan and Clare Nicolson have decided to close down their West End shop, The Maisonette, and relocate south of the border.

But, lo and behold! This doesn’t mean the end of the duo. “Although we won’t have a full-time shop anymore, we will be as involved – if not more involved – in events, exhibits and nomadic projects here at home,” explains Maclennan.

The former Glasgow Craft Mafia committee members have been teaming up since 2005, hosting their first Made In The Shade event in 2008.

Since then, they’ve received numerous awards and been involved in countless events and a Nokia ad, amongst other exciting things.

Playing a huge role in launching the trend of upcycled and craft material, Made In The Shade owes its popularity to their ethos of using quality

only handmade items and working with indie labels and designers – an ethos that will remain a defining characteristic of their new ventures.

“We’ll be working much more closely with our very favourite designer makers and indie labels to offer our customers extra special product options they simply will not be able to source anywhere else,” confirms Maclennan. “We can’t wait to try out some new ideas.”

Spring will see a relaunch of their online shop as well as the first of the duo’s forthcoming seasonal collections. Also on the list is a revamped website, with mentions of podcasting and video blogging.

Until then, Maclennan confirms they’re not going AWOL: “For the time being, we’ll be lodging with other businesses, collaborating with likeminded projects and popping up here and there.” Details will be available via their website. [Adeline Amar] www.wearemadeintheshade.com

Glitterati Presents Candylicious – A Candy Themed Fashion Show No girl can resist fashion and sweet treats right?

So what better way to enjoy life’s delights than to pick-and-mix them into one seriously gluttonous combination. Such decadence is brought to you

by Glitterati Events, who will be playing host to a fashion show at Glasgow’s Mansion House. The theme focuses on ‘candy’ and will include designs

by Riptinka, Wish Boutique, Secret Wardrobe and Emily Gough to name but a few.

Glitterati have a proven track record of putting together displays such as fashion shows, black tie events and ladies nights, so this event should be a guaranteed hit. With your Golden Ticket you will be treated to a candy themed cocktail upon your arrival, a sweetie buffet and a goodie bag of treats.

As well as the fashion show, there will also be a DJ, a burlesque show courtesy of Ash McT (www. showgirlsessions.co.uk) and a killer performance from the very talented band Cherri Fosphate.

34 THE SKINNY February 2012

Additionally, there will be a variety of fashion stalls to check out as well as the show itself. Your ticket also entitles you to freebie entry at Mansion House afterwards.

Tickets can be bought from the Glitterati website for a mere £12 and all proceeds will go towards helping children’s charity CHAS (Children’s Hospice Association Scotland). Not only are you guaranteed a unique night but you will also be aiding a good cause.

Check out the website at www.glitteratievent. co.uk for more information. Expect fun and glamour – and possibly a toothache the next day!

[Laura Forsyth]

7pm - 11pm Thu 9 Feb Mansion House, The Glasshouse, 20 Glassford Street, Glasgow, G1 1UL www.glitteratievent.co.uk

Boyroom Blitz: Glasgow's First Vintage Fair Dedicated To The Boys!

After scores of ‘girl’ focused vintage fairs and after a lot of general manly whingeing because of this, Scotland’s first fair to be dedicated to boys only (we think) has finally been organised and will be taking place this February.

This generally excellent idea is the brainchild of Granny Would Be Proud vintage fairs, who started as a small vintage and retro venture in mid 2009, which has now grown into a twice monthly event, with each hosting around 25 colourful stalls from a repertoire of over 80 sellers.

Boyroom Blitz is to be held at GWBP’s regular host venue, Hillhead Bookclub, in the West End of Glasgow and will take place between 12 and 5pm on Sunday 12 February. This will hopefully be the start of a regular event, which will be held at least every few months.

Expect both retro and contemporary clothing, accessories (handmade ties and bow ties, cufflinks,

hats, braces and bags) retro glasses, customised trainers and t-shirts. As well as books and comics, games, grooming products and art work along with all the other goodies that you would hope to see.

Stallholders confirmed as taking part include designer Jennie Loof who handmakes one off garments from second hand fabrics combined with new linings or fastenings; Tatty Bon – Glasgow who will be bringing retro clothing and accessories; The City, purveyors of fine vintage fashion in Glasgow; Eyedresser who will bring a huge selection of vintage gents glasses, and also The Notorious Gasoline Company who design and hand print t-shirts and hoodies.

This is your chance boys, make the most of it.

[Alexandra Fiddes] 12-5pm. Sun 12 Feb. The Hillhead Bookclub, 17 Vinicombe Street, West End, Glasgow www.facebook.com/events/246517622088735/

Leather, Fur and Feather A Scottish February is, more often than not, a cold one. Internationally, February sees attempts by designers (through their A/W collections) to present the fashion conscious with aesthetically pleasing solutions to the frosty temperatures.

Fur, a fabric associated with winter, is indeed a contentious choice. Historically once seen as an indicator of wealth, Karl Lagerfeld’s decision to use faux-fur in Chanel’s A/W 2010 collection has led many to reconsider whether the use of real fur is still justifiable. To a varying extent, similar arguments surround the use of leather and feathers, also considered ‘winter’ staple fabrics.

The Leather Fur and Feather exhibition, opening 21 Jan in Aberdeen, looks at the historical use of the three respective fabrics in fashion. Refreshingly, though it does raise issues, including the impact of the use of fabrics on the environment and social conscience, it doesn’t take a definitive stance on them. Rather, the curators simply ask

that we contextualise the current debates and think about both sides of the argument.

Learning about the historical pattern of use of each fabric is a worthwhile experience in itself. The exhibition charts leather’s emergence as a ‘couture’ fabric in the 1970s, particularly in its use in the designs of Bill Gibb. Similarly, the re-introduction of real fur to the catwalks (particularly by Fendi) in the 21st century is explored. Interestingly, though feathers might be seen as the least contentious of the fabrics, in fact the overuse of rare plumes in Victorian dress led to the creation of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the late 19th century.

Taking place in Provost Skene’s House in Guestrow, Aberdeen (as part of its Art Gallery and Museums venue collective), the exhibition is free and open to the public until 31 March. [Emma Segal] Provost Skene’s House, Aberdeen, Until 21 Mar www.aagm.co.uk/Exhibitions/Current

DEVIANCE

The Obtuseness Of Obscenity (Don’t Protect Me) Are the UK’s obscenity laws still relevant? Our Deviance correspondent takes a closer look at the filth

Open Invitation to Scottish Sex Workers Interview subjects needed for an investigation into escorting Words: Ana Hine

Words: Matthew Bobbu Illustration: Nick Cocozza

Obscenity has been a hot topic of late – just last month Michael Peacock was found unanimously not guilty of six charges brought under the Obscene Publications Act. The case itself was both hilarious and terrifying for me to follow, as a kinky kind of chap who enjoys material of a similar kind to the sort he was arrested for selling. Surely the very fact that someone could be arrested and charged for publishing videos of acts that are entirely legal in themselves is ludicrous? And in what we claim to be a civilised society, too.

Apparently the jury were asked to decide whether the material in question would ‘corrupt or deprave’ the viewer. But what do those archaic words really mean in modern society? Surely if ‘corrupting’ people is the yardstick against which we should measure whether or not to censor things, then the creators of Big Brother should have been arrested long ago? Isn’t the entire idea of ‘corruption’ completely out of place in a culture where we acknowledge each individual’s responsibility for their own actions?

This whole debacle brings to light a glaring inconsistency in the way our society views sexuality. Namely, that everything consenting adults do in bed (or on the kitchen top, or wherever you prefer) is perfectly acceptable, yet once it’s been put on film it’s not only disgusting, but illegal.

Is it just me, or should we not have gotten over this obsession with trying to limit what people can read, watch and listen to in the second decade of

35

the second millennium? Have we not realised that the best way to encourage immorality is to drive people away from the eyes of society by making what they wish to partake in illegal?

Legalising even the more extreme forms of pornography, such as BDSM, goes along much the same lines as the argument for legalising drugs that is so well-trodden: when something is legal, it can be regulated. If we stop this charade of trying to ‘protect’ consenting adults from themselves then we actually end up with a very clear line between what’s allowed and what isn’t – unlike the farce of current legalisation.

I’m not saying people should be able to make absolutely anything they want and publish it.

If someone wanted to publish a collection of bestiality videos then I would most certainly support prosecuting them; but I don’t think we have to enforce any kind of censorship laws to do so.

Bestiality is already illegal.

Our current laws were shown to be out of date just a year after they were published, when Penguin Books won the right to publish Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1960. Back then the prosecution was arguing that swearing – particularly the frequent use of the word ‘fuck’, was enough to render the book ‘obscene’. Unfortunately, there are still people in the world – and more worrying, in the legal system – who would probably agree.

Isn’t the entire idea of ‘corruption’ completely out of place in a culture where we acknowledge each individual’s responsibility for their own actions?

When I suggested the topic of escorting for this month’s Deviance feature it didn’t occur to me that I might have nothing to report; but it turns out that it’s not easy to get people who work in the sex industry to talk publicly about their profession.

I figured I’d start at the beginning. How does one find an escort? A quick Google search revealed a website that was quick to remind me that I, as a potential advertiser, should ‘not place an ad that suggests paying for sexual intercourse.’

Even so, some of the women advertising their company were offering a service that at the very least involved lacy underwear and generous amounts of bare skin.

Of course, everyone has to be able to advertise.

Encouraged, I used the site’s internal messaging system to contact a few people saying I was looking to speak to anyone involved in escorting in Scotland, particularly in the Dundee area (where I live).

The profiles seemed to send mixed messages though. Punters (people who were looking to meet these women commercially) were encouraged to text or call the mobile numbers supplied, but was it bad form to do so myself?

I decided to text an older woman who seemed reasonably well established, having a detailed profile that implied a lot of experience in the industry. I immediately got a hostile reply, informing me that she was completely opposed to speaking to the press (me, press?) and that if I was really interested in the story I would phone people directly. So I phoned her.

When I’d explained a little more about who I was and what I was trying to do (erm, find out the truth about the sex industry) she opened up a bit and suggested I post an advert saying I was seeking escorts who were willing to talk about their work.

She also referred to a negative experience she’d had in the past with people looking into the issue of escorting, and into the issue of prostitution in general.

As the law stands the buying and selling of sex is not illegal. What is illegal is for someone to have sex with a person who has been trafficked or coerced into prostitution, whether or not they are aware of the situation. It is also illegal for more than one person to sell sexual services from any one address. This was done to prevent the formation of brothels, but it can cause a number of problems, since it means that many sex workers lack protection if something goes wrong.

The vague legal situation, like most vague legal situations, creates an atmosphere of confusion.

After I followed the advice given to me and posted an advert to attract potential interviewees a few people got in contact to discuss their experiences. They said that they were liable for tax (as self-employed workers) and that the stigma of their profession affected their lives the most. They were keen to stress that they hadn’t been forced into the job, but had chosen to go into it.

I’m not going to make any sort of value judgement regarding the escort industry and the situation of sex workers here. It doesn’t seem right to muse without more information. So, if you work in the sex industry in Scotland and would like to share your experiences then please e-mail me at: ana.hine@theskinny.co.uk.

February 2012

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This month sees the launch of Burgher Burger, a series of pop-up burger nights from some of Edinburgh’s top restaurateurs. We caught up with the brains behind the operation to talk chefs, refusal to compromise, and climate trouble Words: Peter Simpson

something new. Then there’s the weather, which is a real factor. In places like London, pop-ups often start with street stalls and outdoor venues then move into premises. Trying that in February in Edinburgh... it wouldn’t go well.”

So the decision to be indoors was somewhat enforced, but why go for burgers, besides the brilliant punning potential? “It’s hard to resist a burger really,” Aoife explains. “Everyone loves burgers.

They also have the benefit of being accessible, and are the kind of thing the average person would eat. On the other hand, they’re very different to what the kind of chefs we’ve been talking to would do on a daily basis, so it’s a chance to take them out of their comfort zone.”

Ah yes, the chefs, jus-wielding auteurs who take pride in their refinement and technical ability.

Chefs who put their all into their food, food that reflects their vision. Chefs who are apparently more than happy to knock up a few burgers.

Aoife says: “Every chef I’ve spoken to has been different, but generally they’ve been interested by the chance to show their fun side off.

“In that fine dining world you can get a bit pigeon-holed and hemmed in, so I think chefs are

Photo: Paul Johnston Copper Mango Photography

Right now, people are looking for a real experience when they go out, rather than just chucking their money at somebody.

Welcome to Phagomania, a new column celebrating the weird and wonderful foodstuffs available for perusal on the magical interweb. And the food highlight of February? Pancake Day, also know as Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras or ‘Fat Tuesday’. Roll up to indulge in all that is sugary, fatty, eggy, meaty or dairy-based before you allegedly begin your 40-day fast for Lent, and switch from nourishing the body to nourishing the soul. At least you will achieve absolution for your sins if you manage it.

So, for the spiritualists and traditionalists (i.e. the voracious) out there, take your chance on 21 Feb to gorge with a guilt-free conscience. The visual examples below show that culinary magnetism isn’t just a matter of taste either; the act of indulgence is a multi-sensory experience that is kindled by sights and sounds as much as anything your taste buds are telling you.

image courtesy of www.iambaker.net

FOOD & DRINK

Top of the Pop-Ups

Phagomania

With Lewis MacDonald

Rainbow Pancakes

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a bit of bother in the twin worlds of politics and big numbers that only exist in theory. This year’s hot media meme is of a divided nation of awful rich people and aggrieved poor people, and it’s worked its way into every corner of public life, even our humble food section. As Aoife Behan puts it, “the flashy, expensive fine dining scene feels a little bit like a symbol of a lot of things that have now all gone a bit wrong. Times are tough, everyone seems a little bit depressed, and frankly I think people need a bit of fun.” Enter Burgher Burger, a guerilla pop-up restaurant using the power of ground meat to bring ‘the man’ and the plebs together, or something like that.

Aoife is the brains behind the concept, where top Edinburgh chefs will take over greasy-spoon cafes for one-off nights of burgers, beer, and banter. She’s a woman with a bit of previous in this area, having run a secret supper club from her dining room for the last 9 months. Full to burst since its inception, the supper club gave Aoife the sense that this whole clandestine dining thing could be a goer, and worth exploring further. “There’s definitely a gap for more underground events built around food in Edinburgh,” she says.

“Edinburgh people like good food, and different, fun experiences, so if you give them an opportunity to get away from the norm and out of the restaurants they’ll go for it.” Her 400-strong mailing list for Burgher Burger and the ten minutes it took to sell out the first event seem like pretty

36 THE SKINNY February 2012

compelling evidence to back her up. “Nowadays, people are looking for a real experience when they go out, rather than just chucking their money at somebody. They want something different and exciting, something new.”

The event has been planned in plain sight, with blogs and social media used to hype Burgher Burger while the whole shebang takes shape.

Aoife points to the lack of huge start-up costs as one of the benefits of this guerilla approach; low overheads mean no pesky bank managers sticking their beaks in. The plan appears to be a straightforward one: grab your chefs, get the suppliers on board (Hugh Grierson for the meat, Innis and Gunn for the booze), and find a cafe with plenty of seats that won’t panic at the thought of being overrun by chefs and furious carnivores.

Aoife says: “Some of the venues I was looking into freaked out a bit at the thought of having these posh chefs coming into their kitchens, but then at the same time these ‘classic’ kinds of cafes shut at about 3 in the afternoon. They get business they otherwise might not, we get kitted-out venues, and everyone’s happy and having a bit of a fun.”

With that in mind, the relative lack of pop-ups and underground food in Edinburgh seems a little odd. Aoife’s venue search has suggested a lack of appropriate space, but she also believes that there are other factors at play. “There’s an element of fear,” she suggests, “because the fine dining scene is so established and entrenched, people might be wary of taking a big chance on

glad for an event like this that gives the opportunity to do something a bit different. “ First up is Scottish chef of the year Neil Forbes, from Cafe St Honoré, rustling up a bacon cheeseburger. He’s followed next month by Tony Singh from Olorosso who’s unleashing an array of spices for his ‘bhangra burger’. “This kind of model is a great way for these fine dining chefs to show that they are cool and down-to-earth,” Aoife says. “As well as that, they get a chance to encourage people to try their food. A lot of the people we’ve spoken to are glad of the chance to show a younger crowd that any perceived snobbery around restaurant dining isn’t coming from them; they just want to make good food.”

There will be another event in April, but, in keeping with the undercover guerilla nature of the project, Aoife won’t tell us who’ll be cooking.

We’ve devoted a page of the magazine to the event, and she won’t even tell us. Keeping things under wraps just adds to the fun, and in any case the blueprint seems to be sorted.

“It’s all about the burgers. There are no choices, and if people want to come they have sign up to what we’re offering. The night is about having a brilliant chef cooking a brilliant burger, so there’s no room for veggies and no chance to be picky. If you don’t like burgers... well, there isn’t very much point in coming, is there?” Burgher Burger; where we’re all in it together, just as long as we like meat.

For events dates and times, visit burgherburger.co.uk www.burgherburger.co.uk

image courtesy of Olle Hemmendorff

Aoife Behan

Nike Shoe Burger

Louisiana-style King Cake for Mardi Gras

COCK-TAILS: CELEBRITY TRIBUTE RECIPES THE HESTON Eschew traditional notions of cocktails as refreshing liquids that a sane individual would choose to drink. Inject a snail with advocaat and liquidise, along with a citrus bath bomb and an old man’s hat. Set something on fire as an ‘experiment’, then never mention it again. Place snaily soapy liquid in a flask of liquid nitrogen, and cover with suspicious foam. Serve with a series of selfserving journey-type television programmes.

THE WINSLET Blend the finest spirits with expertly-squeezed fruit juices. Look over your quality creation, and decide it won’t win any awards just by being ‘good’. Garnish the glass with a physical embellishment, such as a crack or chip, or alternatively dress it in a little Nazi uniform. Serve with a hysterical wail about how glad you are that others are there to share this drink with you, even if no-one else is around.

SO YOU’RE a barman, jilted by the woman you love? Tough break. But what to do, eh? Well, apparently you should devise a cocktail that represents said woman and name it after her. That’s what the Bar Manager of the Lonsdale Cocktail Bar down in that London did, combining the jiltee’s twin joys of alcohol and vindictive power games to create not one but two cocktails inspired by past loves. Apparently one of his exes was kind, frank, and reminds him of whisky and eggwhites. We daren’t delve any deeper than that.

We at The Skinny don’t have such problems – we’re beating them back with a stick, frankly – but we do like the idea of having a dig at folk through the medium of booze, so here are a few of our recipes inspired by famous celebrity types. Try them at your peril.

THE SALMOND Mix two parts Irn-Bru and four parts whisky in a See You Jimmy hat. Add shortbread, Highland Toffee and a DVD of Scotland’s game against Holland from 1978, and deep fry. Serve in a Toby jug with non-optional Saltire cocktail umbrella. Look confused when it doesn’t quite work.

THE KAY You remember Sodastream, don’t you? Remember, from the 80s? The juice thing? Remember?

Well put some of that stuff in a glass. And vol-au-vents, at weddings. Garlic Bread. GARLIC BREAD? Jim Bowen, he was good, wasn’t he? Put some of those things in, and mix it all up. Recipe will serve and delight an inexplicably large number of people. [Peter Simpson]

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Untitled-3 1 PHOTO: PAUL ROBERTSON

FOOD NEWS WITH PETER SIMPSON

Assistance for lonely hearts, food/film combos and the incredible power of science – all in this month’s round-up SO, IT’S February. While this food section did its part to foster romance in last month’s special (did a damn fine job by the way), we know that Valentine’s Day is one of those times we’re supposed to offer culinary advice of one form or another. With that in mind, our token lovers’ tip is a Singles’ Wine Tasting. Malmaison’s Director of Wine, the improbably-named Johnny Walker, will lead all you loners through a wide world of wine, canapes and awkward small talk. You might learn something – that something might well be that you shouldn’t get drunk with strangers on the most forcibly-romantic night of the year, but don’t say we didn’t try to help.

The 5th Kingussie Food on Film Festival is upon us, foodier and filmier than ever. It’s a brilliant concept, marrying the sloth of eating and sitting around with a healthy Highland setting. The programme is packed with cookery demos, markets and tastings, and a host of showings ranging from celebrity chef biopics to that one with the Oompa Loompas and the Waco fella from Blazing Saddles.

Oh, and an event consisting of a Chaplin film and a full carvery lunch. You did indeed read that right.

Chaplin and roast meat, together at last.

If you like the idea of food and film coming together, but fear the wild North with its enormous ginger cows, unforgiving weather and incomprehensible accents, then Meals on Reels could be for you. For starters, it’s at The Mound in the middle of Edinburgh, with excellent local and regional transport links close by. A three-course meal packed with ostentatiously Scottish ingredients is

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on the menu along with a series of short films and extracts from the archives of the National LibraryCY of Scotland, telling the stories behind the producCMY tion and advertising of a whole host of Scottish foods from back in olden times. Well, the 1930s, K but that is a while ago now.

Now for some science. Woo, science! Nuclear explosions! Bagless vacuum cleaners! Chimps in spacesuits! Well now you can add food to that list, with the Royal Botanic Gardens’ Scottish Science on a Plate exhibition. Find out where your food comes from (we’ll guess plants and animals), and who had a hand in making it (farmers, robots, shadowy corporations), then visit the Gardens’ Edible Garden project for advice and tips to see if you can make a decent fist of it yourself (unlikely, but worth a crack).

VALENTINE’S DAY WINE TASTING, 7PM, 14 FEB, MALMAISON HOTEL, 1 TOWER PL EDINBURGH, £29; KINGUSSIE FOOD ON FILM FESTIVAL, 3-5 FEB, VARIOUS VENUES; MEALS ON REELS, 7PM, 28 FEB, SCOTTISH CAFE, THE MOUND EDINBURGH, £25; SCOTTISH SCIENCE ON A PLATE, 2 FEB-15 APR,ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, INVERLEITH ROW EDINBURGH, FREE

Free delivery for online orders over £15

Shop online at www.realfoods.co.uk 37 Broughton St, Edinburgh EH1 3JU 8 Brougham St, Edinburgh EH3 9JH

Natural healthy ethical shopping

FEBRUARY 2012

THE SKINNY 37

the art of money The Skinny Showcase Shop is open now on Culturelabel.com (see:www.theskinny.co.uk/shop).

Bringing together seven artists who've previously featured in the magazine, the first collection offers up a series of beautiful limited edition prints which can be bought through the Own Art scheme, splitting the cost of buying over ten interest free monthly installments. Glasgow-born, Edinburghbased painter Rabiya Choudhry has created three bespoke works, intricate red drawings on the theme of money. Her paintings are iconographically complex yet deceptively simple, drawing together word and image, blending influences from art history, music and pop culture to explore ideas of love, loss and cultural identity.

The high quality prints are produced on 310gsm German etching paper, and range in size from 30x40cm to 60x80cm. Prices start at just £75, and the venture is supported by Own Art, which provides you with an interest free loan to spread the cost of buying an artwork across ten months.

You can see and buy the full collections online at www.theskinny.co.uk/shop or www.culturelabel.com

38 THE SKINNY February 2012

MUSIC

LIVE MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS

METAL COLUMN

Wee Red Bar on 25 Feb and features a headline performance from superfuzzy pop-punk outfit PAWS with support from local favourites Edinburgh School for the Deaf, Americana disciples Sebastian Dangerfield and Broken Records’ frontman Jamie Sutherland. A varied bill in a tiny room that you trust will go off in a big way.

Although Warp have had a few fairly shady signings of late, we reckon they’ve done well hooking up with producer and multi-instrumentalist Kwes (check his killer No Need to Run EP on Young Turks) – a talented youngster who’s already worked with the likes of The xx, Micachu and Leftfield. He’s fairly new to the live game but we anticipate a bullish showing of dazzling technicolour productions and spicy beats at Glasgow School of Art on 25 Feb.

GZA

KWES

HOT TICKET OF THE MONTH ERRORS DUNDEE DOGHOUSE (24 FEB) AND ABERDEEN LEMON TREE (25 FEB)

It’s one thing to be a great band but it’s quite another to make a great record. Definitive statements can become something of an albatross around the neck if they happen to occur too early in a band’s career; but for Errors, it feels like their new LP, Have Some Faith in Magic, has crystallised at exactly the right moment.

More than merely an assemblage of hypnotic loops, sensuous rhythm and gorgeous synthesis, it’s far and away their most emotionally engaging recording thus far. It’s always a pleasure to see these boys perform live but now they’ve got some real wind in their sails we can hardly wait to see them do their thing. Remember Remember lend their cosmic full band show on both dates, while fellow synth fanatics Indian Red Lopez join the bill in Aberdeen. [Mark Shukla] WWW.WEAREERRORS.COM

PHOTO: IONA SPENCE

Comprised of Travis Stewart (Machinedrum) and Praveen Sharma (Braille), Sepalcure did a pretty good job of consolidating the countless splinters of modern dance music with their eponymous 2011 debut. Abstracted vocal samples and limpid synthetic syncopations are the backbone of their sound but their love of restless, insistent rhythm and warm, enveloping bass will be guaranteed to get feet moving at Glasgow Sub Club on 2 Feb and Edinburgh Sneaky Pete’s on 12 Feb. Lush and lively.

Crushingly legit netlabel Black Lantern Music come through big-time with a free label showcase at Glasgow School of Art on 2 Feb featuring live performance from doom-crunk destroyers Church of When the Shit Hits the Fan with support from sharp-shooting bass-poets Morphamish and Texture. Attendees can also look forward to acidic hip-hop missives courtesy of Tickle and improvised poetronica from experimental duo Opul. In addition you can also check a lunchtime set from Morphamish alongside Asthmatic Astronaut, Krowne + Black Lantern DJs from 11am-3pm at Edinburgh Third Door on 24 Feb (£3 before midday, £5 after).

Wu-Tang’s ‘backbone of the whole shit’ Gza takes the stage at Glasgow’s Arches on 13 Feb for what is undoubtedly a must-see event for all connoisseurs of the boom-bap. Whether or not the rumours that he’s planning to road-test some unreleased joints from the semi-mythical Liquid Swords II have any validity is something of a moot point – The Genius is a legend for a reason and precious few rappers bring the heat (or the wordplay) like this dude.

The Big Pink split the critics when they turned down the guitars and dialled up the bounce on new album Future This, and they’ll be looking to prove they’re still a fierce live proposition when they play Glasgow King Tut’s on 14 Feb. We confidently predict a stormer.

Sultry, underrated duo High Places have just about managed to perfect their unique blend of recondite vocals, suggestive electronics and hypnotic minimal electro/techno. It’s a refreshing, beguiling sound and we expect their shows at Edinburgh Sneaky Pete’s on 15 Feb and Glasgow’s Arches on 16 Feb to be utterly compelling.

Real Estate’s talent for crafting lilting guitar pop saw them transition from underground sensations to potential mainstream playas in 2011. Expect hypnotic guitar riffs, robust chiming melodies and good vibrations at Glasgow Arches on 18 Feb. Field Music have delivered one of their most concise statements thus far in the form of their delicious new LP, Plumb – a supple yet substantial art pop gem if ever we heard one. We’ll be looking forward to an unorthodox blend of creative songcraft, audacious hooks and willowy funk when they play Edinburgh’s HMV Picture House on 6 Feb and Glasgow Stereo on 18 Feb. Class.

Celebrating the multifaceted relationship between film and music, Glasgow Music and Film Festival will showcase a number of special events between 16-26 Feb. We’re especially looking forward to Wet Sounds at North Woodside Leisure Centre on 19 Feb (a cinematic electro-acoustic event in which a beautiful Victorian swimming pool is transformed into a live resonating art space) and OV’s A Psychocinematic Ritual at The Old Hairdressers on 23 Feb (a collab between members of Desalvo, The Unwinding Hours and Sons & Daughters which will employ ritual, coincidence and magick to explore the beauty and cruelty of war). See facebook.com/glasgowmusicandfilm for more info.

The second event organised by The Tidal Wave of Indifference blog takes place at Edinburgh

PHOTO: WES KINGSTON

WORDS: MARK SHUKLA

When you think about it, it’s a pretty exciting time for metal: the Scottish scene’s in rude health and ‘hip’ blogs are wisening to the fact that the term is no dirty word, while bands like Mastodon and Machine Head are climbing the charts higher than ever. Hell, you don’t even need to wear corpsepaint to be in a black metal band anymore; just ask Liturgy’s Hunter Hunt-Hendrix. Dare we suggest the old myth – the one which assumes that metal’s core audience consists of hairy, overweight leather-clad men – can finally be put to rest?

Speaking of Mastodon, Atlanta’s finest are set to play the Barrowlands (7 Feb), touring off the back of recent dazzler The Hunter, but they’d best bring their A-game if they want to outdo their support act: none other than spazzed-out chaos-mongers The Dillinger Escape Plan. If that doesn’t satisfy your inner craving for ridiculously complex time signatures and keyboard battery (fuck is wrong with you?), then Dream Theater are down the street playing Clyde Auditorium the next evening (8 Feb). Just try not to nerd out too much, eh?

If you fancy something truly tongue-in-cheek, head on down to see Alestorm at the Garage (10 Feb), sure to entertain metal casuals and die-hards alike. Edinburgh folk can get serious with some heart-wrenching hardcore from down south on behalf of Veils at the Banshee Labyrinth, with support from the likes of End Reign, Catharsis and Hush on the same night.

The third week in February sees a couple of younger (and very different) bands take the stage: Pulled Apart by Horses are bringing their agit-punk to King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut (13 Feb), and Brand New are guaranteed to ride the sweet spot between blistering hardcore and anthemic melancholia the next night at the O2 Academy (14 Feb). Spoilt for choice, so yeez are.

If it’s infectiously hooky yet viscously danceable punk you seek, take note: The Recovery! headline the O2 ABC2 (17 Feb). This is a big deal for the Glasgow boys and an invitation not to be turned down lightly.

If you can only pick one gig to go to this month, let it be dreamy black-gazers Alcest at Stereo (20 Feb). Touring off the back of brand new album Les Voyages de L’Âme along with fellow Frenchmen, post-rockers Les Discrets and gothic/coldwave act Soror Dolorosa, it’s a strong and varied lineup well worthy of your hard-earned notes.

Those of a sin-ridden conscience can seek absolution (while still rocking to the Devil’s tunes) towards the tail-end of the month as Christian metalcore act Norma Jean play the O2 ABC (28 Feb) with a generously packed supporting cast including The Chariot, Dead and Divine and Admirals Arms.

REMEMBER REMEMBER

PULLED APART BY HORSES

FEBRUARY 2012

THE SKINNY 39

The Liquid Room, 16 Jan

King Tut’s, 16 Jan

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photo: Kenny McCOLL

After an acoustic warm-up session in the downstairs bar from Jonathan Snee (Flood of Red), Kings Tut’s New Years Revolution series continues with a set from Edinburgh trio Lady North. After a nervy opener, there’s danceable math-rock aplenty with a mix of synth-emulating guitars and some mighty fine, hyper-urgent playing from dextrous drummer Paul Bannon. Bearing more than a passing sonic resemblance to the juddering likes of Don Caballero and Minus the Bear, by now their unified interplay suggests they’re well capable of making their own distinct mark.

The sharp-suited Natalie Pryce emerge next; slick-haired frontman Mark Swan makes his presence known by rambling away manically into a vintage mic, Nick Cave style, as he flails around the stage. He pulls out various toys throughout the set which add a finishing touch to the creepy, murky projections cast on stage, while a bass-heavy rhythm section bring the pain.

Despite an obvious fascination for

Lynch, their songs and live show are individually compelling.

Glasgow/Falkirk hardcore outfit Hunt/Gather step up next with some well-received new material.

For a band that’s only been at it for around a year, they’re a unit who play as if they’ve been together an age. Although the infamous anti-mosh barrier threatens to suffocate the energy, their ire still turns what was once a fairly static crowd into a bunch of headbanging loons.

United Fruit had an encouraging 2011; to buy into their supercharged noise rock is understandable as they belt through songs like Push It and Kamikaze.

But like Charlie Sheen, these boys have only got one speed, one gear – go. With energy levels visibly beginning to wane around the room – particularly five bands in – there has to be a comedown after an adrenaline rush, but there’s never any sense that the Glasgow quartet outstay their welcome.

With NYR’s remit to provide a snapshot of where independant Scottish rock bands are at in 2012, tonight’s ensemble cast has been exemplary. [Ross Watson]

M83 / Porcelain Raft The Arches, 19 Jan

Clutch Bar Bloc, 20 Jan

rrrr It’s two hours before Clutch take the stage and Bloc’s atmosphere already runs thick with alcohol and sweat. Eavesdropping suggests that some fans waited since noon for this free, secret gig at close-quarters; simple observation says they passed the time with a few cans. It’s packed too tight to put a plastic pint to your lips, and the anticipation’s so palpable that the crowd erupts at any slight movement onstage.

Careful with that mic, indeed.

Neil Fallon and his men apparently sense this, and the cathartic blast-beat intro of The Mob Goes Wild sets long hair slinging and the crowd surges forward. But it’s not just the manically paced tunes that get the elbows thrown – from the

The Horrors play O2ABC on 15 May www.thehorrors.co.uk

photo: Euan Robertson

United Fruit

From the ashes of Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong, London quintet TOY are more in thrall to the magpie-like sensibilities of their current tour mates than the boisterous indie pop of that onetime NME hype. Beyond adopting The Walker Brothers’ polonecks and The Soup Dragons’ bowlcuts, they sound like they're attempting to distill the last fifty years of psychedelic guitar music.

Debut single Left Myself Behind is the highlight that grabs anyone within earshot by the skull, with its hypnotic bassline and a propulsive, Thurstonfriendly wall of squall that breaks into a three minute freak-out finale. Their old band is already firmly in the rear view.

Here to honour a postponed date from last autumn, tonight

photo: Solen Collet

photo: James Gray

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The Horrors look genuinely hungry; bounding on stage to launch into Changing The Rain – all ringing heads and determined swagger. Frustratingly, the guitars are muted and pushed to the background from the outset, meaning Joshua Hayward’s mad scientist array of effects pedals is often put to waste.

It all briefly falls into place for Scarlet Fields’ Hammer horror score meets carousel theme and Dive In’s show-stopping chorus, but Endless Blue falls flat when we should have had lift off. Calls from the Liquid Room balcony for the punk rock entrance they made their name with (Sheena Is A Parasite) go unanswered as the band stick to the rich pickings of Primary Colours and last year’s Skying with conviction – just a shame the PA put limits on their ambition. [Dave Kerr]

moody stoner-rock staple Spacegrass to the Delta blues-inflected Electric Worry, the floorboards feel less reliable with every passing cut.

A deadly medley from the band’s eponymous 1995 breakout album (including the blistering assault of Animal Farm, wisely followed by the funk-heavy Big News II), prove Clutch can still channel the old days to fit a smaller venue. Then again, given Fallon’s demand that we take some steps back to avoid abject chaos, there’s a feeling that the audience don’t entirely appreciate the confines of the environment, particularly when two fights break out and some ass-hat makes an ill-advised attempt at crowdsurfing. But it’s not enough to tarnish this rare treat from the Maryland veterans. [Jason Morton] www.pro-rock.com

40 THE SKINNY February 2012

rrr Like post-Fromageau M83, Porcelain Raft is effectively one man’s nom de plume, but, also like M83, Mauro Remiddi is not performing alone, with live drums augmenting his array of electronics. It’d be fair to say that there are quite a few similarities between headliner and support, in fact, though Remiddi’s dreamy electro-pop is considerably less bombastic than Anthony Gonzalez’s recent work; more hesitant and personal than M83’s comparatively unsubtle accomplishments. Tonight is Porcelain Raft’s debut Glasgow show, and it’s an excellent introduction.

Over an hour passes before the evening’s next Intro; by the time the Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming opener takes flight, the oscillating drone piped from the PA between sets has fair outstayed

photo: Sol Nicol

The Horrors / TOY

A Winged Victory for the Sullen Òran Mór, 15 Jan

rrrr “You can keep chatting – Dustin’s just having a meltdown,” explains A Winged Victory for the Sullen’s Adam Wiltzie as their expected start time creeps past.

Apparently, Glasgow’s Baltic temperatures are playing havoc with tunings. With meltdown averted, AWVFTS are ready to begin, but not before issuing due notice that they may not be wholly fighting fit (“I just ate a plate of fish and chips and I want to fall asleep” cautions Wiltzie).

Wiltzie is walking a dangerous line: the duo’s sedative ambience

is never dull, but its chemical effects are often soothing to the point of requiring a ‘do not operate heavy machinery’ warning.

That said, this is emphatically AWVFTS’s non-drowsy guise: all the components sound more pronounced than on record, particularly the robust drones that rumble beneath the gentle neoclassical strings and piano lines.

When they announce they’ve all but exhausted their material and bid Glasgow good night, it’s a shock akin to being roused from slumber – with no rough edges to their beautifully sonorous yet minimalist sound, the evening flies past. [Chris Buckle] www.awvfts.com

photo: Euan Robertson

Live Reviews

its welcome. A stellar opening run initially helps quell any potential doubts that M83’s tardiness might have instilled in a packed-in Arches crowd: a Teen Angst/Kim & Jessie double prompts a mental note to dig out half-remembered eighties-films when The Skinny gets home, while Reunion’s opening chords add The Breakfast Club to the viewing list.

Thereafter enthusiasm dips; by all measures, Sitting should ignite the room, but it’s knocked out coolly and, in response, dancing remains minimal, with neither band nor crowd as animated as you might expect. Midnight City successfully hoists audience buzz up several gears, but the fresh spark it generates has nowhere to go - Gonzalez is unwell, and the set is brought to an early close.

On the plus side, though, that leaves plenty of time for a post-gig Gleaming the Cube/Dreamscape double-bill. [Chris Buckle] www.ilovem83.com

Cymbals Eat Guitars / Milagres ABC2, 8 Jan

rrr Conjuring enthusiasm among a disappointingly thin crowd, on a Sunday night in early January, is a test for any band, and New York’s Milagres are too meekly inoffensive to pass it.

The quintet peddle an assured melange of recent fashions: Kyle Wilson’s vocals recall Fleet Foxes’ ethereal neo-folk, while the omnipresent delayed guitars spiral around the mix in a Deerhunter-esque manner.

Despite the deftness with which those elements are married, however, Milagres seem unsure as to whether they are pursuing a kind of endearing whimsy, or a Radiohead-style cinematic tension, and consequently find themselves positioned awkwardly between the two.

Fellow New Yorkers Cymbals Eat Guitars, by contrast, have narrowed their emotional range with productive results: these

songs feel tensile, dynamic and focused. Shore Points is one highlight: clocking in at under three minutes, yet encompassing within that bursts of psychedelic noise, rapid structural shifts, and an intriguingly awkward poppiness, it encapsulates Cymbals Eat Guitars’ fierce determination to infuse the 90s noise-rock that underpins their sound with new energies and ideas.

Elsewhere, the otherworldly depth of current LP Lenses Alien doesn’t always come across in the live context: despite a sharply-defined sound and impeccable musicianship, there’s a dreaminess to the recorded material that the band evidently struggle to translate. Things turn against them, too, when singer/ guitarist Joseph D’Agostino is unexpectedly afflicted with heart palpitations. The set is valiantly finished, however, and for all of the evening’s difficulties, Cymbals Eat Guitars manage to generate warmth by its close.

[Sam Wiseman] www.cymbalseatguitars.com

RECORDS

THE DIRTY DOZEN REMEMBER REMEMBER speak their minds on the February singles INTERVIEW: CHRIS MCCALL PHOTOS: DAVID McCOURT

SINGLE OF THE MONTH Fucked Up – Year of The Tiger (Matador, 6 Feb) Andy: I think this will be difficult to review, with it being 15 minutes long. There’s a lot to take in and make a quick

Reviewing personnel: Graeme Ronald, Andy Brown, James Swinburne, Joseph Quimby, Joanne Murtagh and Tommy Stuart The Mojo Fins – Lighthouse (Amazon Records, 13 Feb) Andy: There’s a lot of needle work guitar lattices going on. It’s like a Greggs pasty.

Graeme: A Greggs single? I don’t think Greggs sell pasties.

Andy: They do, cheese and onion ones. This is just another band that sounds like The Smiths.

Graeme: I’ve got a problem with any band that has the word ‘mojo’ in their name.

Andy: I’d give it a two. It was bad.

Azari & III – Reckless (With Your Love) (Island, 13 Feb) Graeme: It sounds like Good Life.

Joanne: I like the start of it.

Graeme: I liked it when it sounded like Good Life. But not so much now. It reminds me a bit of Empire of the Sun. Andy: There’s a lot of Chicago piano going on.

That’s alright.

Joe: It sounds like CC Peniston!

All: (in unison) Yeah!

Graeme: It gets a four for sounding like CC Peniston alone.

The Indicators – Simon D (Indelabel, 30 Jan) Joe: (appalled) Can you switch that off immediately?

Andy: This is absolutely atrocious. It’s not punk.

It’s kind of Chas n’ Dave ‘knees up mother brown’.

Tommy: He sounds like a bellend.

Graeme: I’d give that a zero.

Andy: Yeah, it’s not even worth one.

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – John Taylor’s Month Away (Domino, 6 Feb) Graeme: This is nice stuff. You can tell he’s a good songwriter. It’s the kind of song you would have to spend time with. There’s a lot to explore.

Andy: The orchestration of it is very well done.

Joanne: Yeah, I like it.

Graeme: I think we should give it a seven. You never know what’s round the corner.

The Megathronic Thrift – The Megathronic Thrift (Club AC30, 6 Feb) Graeme: It sounds like Sonic Youth. It’s neo-neo grunge.

Andy: That’s not a bad thing in my eyes. It’s like the sound that Fierce Panda were releasing 20 years ago. The bassist must be getting bored, it’s just one note all the way through.

Joanne: It’s boring.

Tommy: I’d give them some Thursday market bought Mini Eggs.

Graeme: It’s not aggressive enough. That gets a four.

The Title Sequence – Dinosaur (Too Pure, 27 Feb) Graeme: I’d give the press release alone a seven. Did they have to sell their vintage synths?

I’m not hearing much synth.

Andy: Tommy’s putting his feet up against the screen. I don’t think he likes it. [Tommy is contributing to proceedings via Skype] Graeme: Don’t you like it Tommy?

James: It’s really doing nothing for me.

Joanne: I’d say it gets a five.

Graeme: A five sounds about right.

Tom Williams & the Boat – My Bones (Moshi Moshi, 27 Feb) Graeme: It sounds like Bergerac. It’s the sound of driving whilst wearing leather gloves.

Andy: I think he’s misconstrued Leonard Cohen with just moaning.

Graeme: Yeah, this is the worst so far.

Andy: (incredulously) Worse than The Indicators?

Graeme: I think so.

Andy: It’s a shoo-in for a Brit Award.

Graeme: Okay, Tom Williams gets a one.

EP REVIEWS

assessment on.

Graeme: I like it so far.

Andy: I think for a supposed punk band, they’ve got a pretty indie sound. But I suppose this is them working past that. It’s punk, but with a more poppy and melodic sound.

Graeme: I think it’s quite confusing that it’s been released for the Chinese New Year – but it’s called Year of The Tiger, when it’s actually the Year of the Dragon. We have to draw attention to that. And you’ve got to credit them for giving proceeds from the single to the save the tiger fund.

Andy: I’m into it. Out of everything we’ve heard so far, I’d give it an eight.

Graeme: Yeah, I like it.

Magnetic Fields – Andrew in Drag (Domino, 27 Feb) Graeme: Magnetic Fields always write good lyrics, but this isn’t their most memorable single.

Andy: They’re quite an arch band, I think. You can tell this is them deliberately writing a candy floss pop song, but with quite dark lyrics.

James: Sorry, but I don’t like it.

Andy: To be fair, it actually has a chorus. And I can’t remember any of the other previous singles having one. I think it’s a four at least.

Graeme: I think we should change that to a five, because it’s Magnetic Fields.

Django Django – Default (Because Music, Out now) Graeme: I’ve heard this before, it’s being played a lot on 6Music just now. Is it not the guy from the Beta Band’s wee brother? There’s a definite kind of Beta Band vibe to it.

Andy: I like The Zombies-like vocals they’ve got going, that sweet 60s sound.

Joanne: I would definitely buy this.

Graeme: That’s a good endorsement! I think this has to be at least a seven.

Joanne: Yeah, at least a seven.

Emika – 3 Hours (Ninja Tune, 13 Feb) Andy: Dubby!

Graeme: I’ve heard that effect before.

Andy: It’s pure progressive Goa trance!

Graeme: It’s quite 90s sounding production. But then I’m getting old.

Andy: That’s deep, deep house. They’d play it in

Death Disco wouldn’t they?

Joe: The music’s good, but I don’t like the vocal.

Andy: I’m feeling very unmoved by it. It would be listened to by people dancing, looking at each other smirking.

Graeme: It’s actually quite depressing. A five?

Andy: I think it’s a four.

The Trudy – Dirt Cheap Melody (Miron, 13 Feb) Andy: It’s as bad as that Blondie song they came back with, was it Maria?

Graeme: Yeah, that was the one! This is a shit Blondie.

Joe: It sounds like it’s being played along to a montage.

Graeme: Yeah, it sounds like a montage of girls putting on make-up.

Andy: I bet they sounded a lot better first time around, in 1988. I think for that they should at least get a two.

Graeme: Just to mark them a notch above The Indicators.

REMEMBER REMEMBER SUPPORT ERRORS AT DUNDEE DOGHOUSE ON 24 FEB AND ABERDEEN LEMON TREE ON 25 FEB WWW.REMEMBERREMEMBERBAND.BLOGSPOT.COM

FAT JANITOR

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS

SELF-RELEASED, OUT NOW

DEAD OCEANS, 7 FEB

RED OCTOBER/FENCE RECORDS, 20 FEB

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LURK EP

Featuring members of underground luminaries Vcheka and Sunsmasher, the pressure was always on for Fat Janitor to produce something special. In Lurk’s six tracks they have done just that, summoning the ghosts of many of the European underground’s greatest unsung heroes (Breach, Song Of Zarathustra et al) whilst incorporating some more contemporary post-rock and noise sensibilities.

Given the accomplished nature of this record, the band’s flippant name (and even more flippant online patter) is surprising but frankly, if they can keep producing records to this sort of standard, they can call themselves Danananananarsehole and write in nothing but vowels. [Austin Tasseltine] WWW.FAT-JANITOR.BLOGSPOT.COM

ONWARDS TO THE WALL

Ostensibly a chance to flex their chops with new bassist Dion Lunadon, the stripped-down attack of this self-produced EP offers a predictably visceral listening experience but feels like something of a step backwards after the artfully crafted maelstrom of 2009’s Exploding Head LP. The shoegaze influence gets dialled back in favour of a lean, propulsive garage rock vibe and the band sound as tight as they ever have, but underneath the sheets of noise and reverb these tracks are frustratingly pedestrian.

Oliver Ackermann’s vocals remain stuck in JAMC cover band territory, his lyrics a miasma of drab neuroses; his delivery articulating nothing much above and beyond: ‘Im a vaguely frustrated dude with sinus problems’. Longtime fans will get a kick out of this EP but really this band should be pushing themselves harder right now. [Mark Shukla]

MYSTERY JUICE EYE FOR AN AYE

Big in Russia: an idiom not as often heard as ‘big in Japan’. Despite their successes in the former Soviet Union - they’ve released two Russian-only albums - Edinburgh’s Mystery Juice remain a fairly well-kept secret on home turf.

Visceral funk-blues is perhaps not our best known of exports. However, The Phantom Band’s Gerry Hart described them for us a while back as ‘an amazing band, playing some of the most amazing music you will ever hear’ whilst exalting their singer Tim Matthew’s ‘distorted, wah-wah, freakout violin solos’. Eye For An Aye showcases the band’s unique grooves and aforementioned freakouts alongside their articulate knack for working choruses as infectious as rally chants.

[David McGinty] MYSTERYJUICE.BANDCAMP.COM

FEBRUARY 2012

THE SKINNY 41

ALBUM REVIEWS

RECORDS

ALBUM OF THE MONTH: THE TWILIGHT SAD

NO ONE CAN EVER KNOW FAT CAT, 6 FEB

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The new direction that third album No One Can Ever Know maps out for The Twilight Sad shouldn’t be too much of a curveball for avid fans. The trimmed-down Kilsyth trio have always looked to push the envelope, while the long lineage of acts marrying cold, glacial synths to dark and ominous subject matter is well documented. What is perhaps more marked is how lean and concise this stands in their canon. Multi-instrumentalist Andy MacFarlane’s gritty bass riffs paired with Mark Devine’s metronomic drumming fuel the core tempo, propelling standout cuts like Nil and Kill It In The Morning towards towering climaxes you can feel in your bones from the first listen.

Yet it’s a grower of an album as much as

SPEECH DEBELLE

FREEDOM OF SPEECH BIG DADA, 6 FEB

rrrrr Speech won a Mercury for her debut – the intimate, confrontational confessional of Speech Therapy. On Freedom Of Speech she turns her attention outwards to the dystopia of modern Britain, with a verve and vigour that more than justify the early hype.

Production from Kwes is deep, powerful and slick, combining exquisite live instrumentation with intricate programming. Speech outlines a political and spiritual philosophy born of personal pain and an acute political consciousness, her voice recorded close to the mic, projecting straight into the brain of the listener. Standout track Blaze Up A Fire featuring Roots Manuva and Realism is an intense but understated response to the riots that rocked the country in the summer of 2011, and the perfect example of the kind of ‘studio backpack rap’ which Speech Debelle endeavours to rehabilitate with this album.

This is classic UK hip-hop which acknowledges its roots in the political soul of Curtis Mayfield, the conscious reggae of Bob Marley, and effortlessly carries similar weight and depth. Absorbing, epic, heartfelt and delicately nuanced – a marvellous album. [Bram E. Gieben]

VARIOUS

SID CHIP SOUNDS: THE MUSIC OF THE COMMODORE 64 ROBOT ELEPHANT, 20 FEB

rrrr Fans of chiptune artists like DJ Scotch Egg will be aware of the central role played by Commodore 64 music in 90s and 00s gabba/ breakcore; more recently, contemporary acts such as Rustie have incorporated those distinctive arpeggiated bleeps into dubstep and UK bass. SID Chip Sounds, a collection of music from games including Last Ninja and Arkanoid, excavates these roots to reveal a startlingly creative and influential series of 80s compositions.

Inevitably, it’s a compilation which, for those who can remember the games, carries great nostalgic weight. The technological limitations faced by composers led to remarkably resourceful and imaginative compositions, simultaneously catchy and minimalist, which generate complex rhythms through melodic arpeggios. While those narrow parameters mean the compilation becomes somewhat numbing if listened to as an album, as a documentary piece, SID Chip Sounds is an invaluable record of a seminal era in the development of electronic music. [Sam Wiseman]

EARTH

ANGELS OF DARKNESS, DEMONS OF LIGHT II SOUTHERN LORD, 13 FEB

rrrr You’ll have a pretty solid idea of what to expect from the second half of Earth’s latest opus if you’ve been paying any attention to their output over the past seven years or so: lengthy, beautifully cinematic soundscapes consisting mainly of snail-paced, barely-there drumming, droney textures and minute guitar licks.

The trace-provoking repetition of their best work is ever-present here – the generous use of cello acting as the main musical similarity between this LP and the last – though Dylan Carlson and co take their trademark subtlety even further. There’s the same kind of mournful quality as on part one, but II feels even grander; His Teeth Did Brightly Shine is where it really takes off, and there’s an incredibly soulful atmosphere throughout – a quiet, late night feel which never gives up. Those rich, shimmering Americana influences shine through as always, but Earth sounds like a genre all in itself at this point. [Ross Watson] PLAYING EDINBURGH CAVES ON 8 MAR WWW.THRONESANDDOMINIONS.COM

YOUNG FATHERS THE GUIDE

BLACK SUGAR MUSIC, 5 FEB

rrr Describing your group as an ‘ex-would-be boyband’ on your press release might seem like a duff move for a collective who combine socially conscious, deft wordplay and tough, polished undergound dance beats, but it speaks to Young Fathers’ mainstream ambitions. Certainly, their bass-heavy sound and radio-friendly American / London accents position their tracks favourably in comparison to the likes of Tinchy Stryder or Clipse – this is club music with an underground edge, but containing nothing so challenging as to exclude them from daytime radio playlists.

Equal parts bass music, R&B and hip-hop, this debut from the Edinburgh-based group shows promise, and would sound appropriately enormous in the context of a large club rig. The only slightly disappointing aspect, given that the Nigerian / Liberian-originating emcees claim Scotland as a base, is the lack of any distinctively Scottish themes or sounds – although perhaps this is the key to their popularity, and marketability. African percussion and vocal flourishes do give the album a distinctive flavour, and each track achieves a nice contrast between exuberant melody and darker bass weight. [Bram E. Gieben]

CHEMIKAL UNDERGROUND, OUT NOW

LOOSE LIPS / ISLAND, 20 FEB

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First & Last was perhaps ungenerously characterised as a ‘low-key introduction’ to RM Hubbert’s solo methods within these pages as we greedily anticipated its already-in-the-works successor two years ago. While such impatience undoubtedly sold his debut short, Thirteen Lost & Found is certainly the more immediately satisfying volume; where that first release was a straight-up expression of his compositional style, its follow-up adds guest vocals and more varied instrumentation, with wholly positive results.

The credits are a who’s who of Scottish talent, each diversifying Hubbert’s songwriting in their own particular ways – from Aidan Moffat’s characteristically droll contribution to The Car Song, to Alasdair Roberts’ traditionalist take on folk standard The False Bride. An ovation for all concerned, then – yet, unexpectedly, it ends up being the solo, instrumental pieces that impress most. Set amidst this record’s more mixed aesthetic, their expressive qualities are brought sharply into focus, with For Joe the album’s peerless highlight. [Chris Buckle]

NOT APPLICABLE RECORDS, 6 FEB

KRANKY, 13 FEB

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42 THE SKINNY FEBRUARY 2012

WWW.THETWILIGHTSAD.COM

AZARI & III

THIRTEEN LOST & FOUND

WINDY AND CARL

Icarus’ ninth album presents something of a conundrum for reviewers. Fake Fish Distribution reconfigures the notion of limited edition physical releases for a digital environment, restricting its purchase to 1000 ‘unique downloads.’ The latter phrase is not as oxymoronic as you might expect: through algorithms and “parametric techniques” we won’t pretend to understand, each downloader will receive a singular, structured variation of the music, with no two versions of the album alike.

As a concept, it’s academically provocative, raising myriad questions pertaining to digital ownership and artistic expression. As an album of music, it’s… well, that’s harder to call. Juddering, syncopated beats and a dense, sometimes atonal atmosphere make for a challenging listen, though nothing so demanding as, say, Autechre at their most impenetrable. But while the album’s inventive, electric storm is repeatedly rewarding, our enthusiasm must be measured: after all, your version could be guff for all we know. [Chris Buckle]

DOWNLOAD THE TWILIGHT SAD’S NEW SINGLE ANOTHER BED EXCLUSIVELY VIA THE SKINNY HERE FOR FREE. PLAYING JAM JAR, DUNFERMLINE ON 4 FEB AND GRAND OLE OPRY, GLASGOW ON 9 FEB

RM HUBBERT

ICARUS

FAKE FISH DISTRIBUTION

their previous efforts and despite the relative paucity of instrumental layers, it’s a work of great depth that begs many repeat visits.

James Graham’s lyrical imagery is a large reason why, conjuring up a brooding landscape that will require some dot-joining from keen ears, whilst striving for a tad more literal resonance this time around.

Though it’s possibly not their main goal at this point in time, No One Can Ever Know should see The Twilight Sad stealthily snare a new strand of listeners to their cause. [Darren Carle]

WE WILL ALWAYS BE

There’s something reassuring about a new Windy and Carl release: despite the music’s drifting, anti-material qualities, its tendency to slip through the fingers, their boundless faith in the possibilities and power of ambient drone over a twenty-year career represents an unusually committed investment in a narrow, specific craft. The Michigan duo may often be labelled “experimental”, but their output is essentially an ongoing project to fully realise the latent emotional energies of a fairly simple and unchanging form.

We Will Always Be, then, is more of the same: almost entirely instrumental, the record comprises eight drawn-out drone compositions that merge seamlessly into one another, gradually generating a hypnotic intensity. The strongest definition achieved is on the crystalline picked guitar that hovers above the mix like icicles on The Frost in Winter. Despite the familiarity of the sonic landscape explored here, however, Windy and Carl are evidently still excavating valuable finds. [Sam Wiseman]

AZARI & III

Without wishing to sound like an ambassador for Mixmag, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to suggest that hedonism and intoxication are cornerstones of dance music culture. Tethered tightly to classicist strains of house, disco and 80s synth-pop with vocals at the forefront, Azari & III’s debut album distills the euphoria and adventure of small hours reverie in a fashion that will sound strikingly familiar to anyone who’s been in earshot of records from storied imprints such as Trax or Strictly Rhythm.

Even the tracklist reads like a caner’s night out (Tunnel Vision, Manhooker, Manic); not that I’d know. Bookended by the timeless piano chords of Reckless (With Your Love) and the lascivious creep of Hungry For The Power, the album’s dilated pupils betray a dark pop soul, of which Indigo and Manhooker are its blackest recessess.

An effortlessly exceptional album, one that any discerning clubhead should have no hesitation in surrendering to. [Ray Philp] WWW.AZARIANDIII.COM

ULRICH SCHNAUSS & MARK PETERS UNDERRATED SILENCE BUREAU B, 6 FEB

rrr There’s little point in expecting the unexpected from German electronic pioneer Ulrich Schnauss. His shtick is a synthesised swoon from which he rarely strays. But a penchant for consistency isn’t necessarily a bad thing, particularly when it bleeds through the quality of his work. This collaboration with Engineers vanguard Mark Peters, perfectly entitled Underrated Silence, once again finds Schnauss exploring ethereal soundscapes that air out like the slow undulations of a feather-filled quilt.

For the most part, numbers like the coruscating Long Distance Call and the piano-strewn wash of The Child Or The Pigeon are dreamy, uplifting affairs. Yet a surprising bite can be found amidst these softened layers: Rosen Im Asphalt is a peleton-riding blur of starry effects, while Gift Horse’s Mouth jaywalks to a synthesised funk.

It’s not quite an unfettered masterpiece, but Underrated Silence still retains Schnauss’s unmistakable seal of approval. [Billy Hamilton]

LAMBCHOP

DAMIEN JURADO

MATTHEW BOURNE

CITY SLANG, 20 FEB

SECRETLY CANADIAN, 20 FEB

THE LEAF LABEL, 6 FEB

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MR. M

MARAQOPA

At this stage, it’d be mad to expect sweeping changes from a new Lambchop record, and the loungy, intricate and patient Mr. M (Mr. Met until a litigious baseball mascot got involved) satisfies the rule, for the most part. But in its four-year gestation period (the longest in the Nashville band’s history), Kurt Wagner has added a few, subtle strings to his bow.

Since 2008’s OH (Ohio), Wagner’s collaborated with Cortney Tidwell on the collection of country covers, KORT. And while Mr. M never comes close to a hoedown, it contains some of the most direct songs to have flown the Lambchop banner, including a straight up love song: Never My Love. Alas, the finest moments remain when Wagner is at his poetic, observant best. “The wine tasted like sunshine in a basement,” he sings on the stellar Gone Tomorrow, reminding us that while new tricks aren’t beyond all old dogs, sometimes they just aren’t as good. [Finbarr Bermingham]

Damien Jurado’s last album was a game changer.

Having spent 15 years churning out folk/folk-rock albums that were sometimes excellent, but otherwise showed little sign of progression, Saint Bartlett saw Jurado explore new depths of style and production, harnessing a bit of reverb and a set of strings to great effect.

Maraqopa proves it was no fluke. Opening misstep Nothing In The News aside, this continues in the slick vein of its predecessor.

Whereas the opener morphs, ridiculously, into an excessive 70s superjam, the rest of the album is sparse, tidy and perfectly formed.

Richard Swift remains at the mixing desk and shows again that he knows how to get the best from Jurado’s simple, plaintive melodies.

The superb Life Away From The Garden, complete with a glorious call-and-response and the gorgeous Everyone A Star are the standout tracks on the latest installment of Damien Jurado’s second wind. Long may it continue. [Finbarr Bermingham]

PLAYING ÒRAN MÓR ON 5 MAR

WWW.DAMIENJURADO.COM

MONTAUK VARIATIONS

There’s much to admire about Matthew Bourne – the good grace with which he takes being regularly confused with the ballet choreographer of the same name, for instance, or his maverick inter-genre curiosity (in addition to these solo piano/cello pieces, Bourne’s 'Scott Walker + Meshuggah' outfit Bilbao Syndrome promise a full-length in 2012). Then there’s his sharp sense of humour, demonstrated by sleeve notes which follow a paragraph of self-analysis pondering the inspirational qualities of 'personal unquietness, solitude and heartbreak' with the summation that 'this idea was bullshit.'

But the bulk of praise should be levelled at his boundless talent, both technical and compositional; his improvisational skills are already renowned in jazz circles, and these pieces sound precise and consummate without exception. Whether mellow and romantic (Juliet) or tumultuously erratic (Étude Psychotique), Bourne’s work is ceaselessly inventive and always absorbing, with a wistful cover of Chaplin’s Smile at the close to seal the deal. [Chris Buckle]

MARK LANEGAN BAND

BONOBO

DJANGO DJANGO

4AD, 6 FEB

NINJA TUNE, 13 FEB

BECAUSE MUSIC, OUT NOW

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BLUES FUNERAL

It’s hard to believe that this is Mark Lanegan’s first solo album in eight years; such is the profile of the Seattle scene survivor who has assuredly become the soulful baritone for hire on anyone’s records but his own since Bubblegum. The juddering Gravedigger’s Song lures us back into the dark – blowing away the cobwebs with that familiar growl, Alain Johannes’ unmistakable lap steel and the rattling percussive backbone of fellow Eleven founder Jack Irons.

The remainder of Lanegan’s revolving ‘Band’ intermittently consists of his enduring co-conspirators – most notably Dulli, Goss and Homme – over a rich and varied set that treads blues and modern gospel as often as it seeks out new ground. Pulsating synths and drum machines usher in the aptly titled Ode To Sad Disco, while the same streak of glorious melancholy runs through Harborview Hospital. Taking risks in the face of his own traditions, Blues Funeral is another memorable foot forward in a fascinating career. [Johnny Langlands]

BLACK SANDS REMIXED

PLAYING 02ABC, GLASGOW ON 9 MAR.

The thing about doing a remix album on Ninja Tune is that you pretty much have the pick of the electronic music scene’s most exciting contemporary talent to choose from, and Bonobo’s Black Sands remix collection is a perfect example of this. From Brainfeeder signing Lapalux’s Fly-Lo-esque opening cut, to TRG’s spectral garage re-rub of Kiara, the album starts out strong and keeps building.

Rising hip-hop star Dels adds a Ghostpoet-esque verse to the broken beat re-imagining of Eyesdown, while a new track from Bonobo themselves (Ghost Ship) brings us back to more familiar organic territory, with swooping strings and glockenspiel, and jazz-inflected beats and keys.

Particular highlights are the simultaneously mental and blissed-out high-speed remix of Eyesdown by LuckyMe / Merck / Planet Mu affiliate Machinedrum, and the fuzzed-out glitches of Blue Daisy’s take on Stay The Same. Finishing with Duke Dumont’s orchestral take on the title track, this is a remix album that, through sheer innovation and breadth of scope, almost eclipses the brilliance of the original. [Bram E. Gieben]

WWW.MARKLANEGAN.COM

WWW.BONOBOMUSIC.COM

DJANGO DJANGO

Recorded entirely in drummer/producer David Maclean’s bedroom with nothing but rickety gear, Django Django, a London-based group of former Edinburgh College of Art students, release a debut record that sounds more like a desert-borne jam. To dismiss the Djangos as ‘art rock’ or ‘trip psych skirmish’ (the latter I’ve entirely invented) might be incredibly easy, but sloganeering does nothing to describe their complex sound.

Calling to mind the respectable company of The Beta Band (of which Maclean’s brother John was a member), FOUND and The Phantom Band, Django Django is an album overflowing with creativity, yet it retains a simplistic feel. Polyrhythmic lead single Default’s minimal instrumentation and catchy yet frustratingly unsingable hook is a perfect example of this combination of simplicity and inventiveness. Skies Over Cairo platforms their tongue-in-cheek approach, with synth parts evoking Arabian nights and harem vocals intermingling over methodical, driving bass kicks. A strange, unfathomable record that begs for many more plays. [David McGinty]

SHEARWATER

DIE HARD

FIELD MUSIC

SUB POP, 13 FEB

HALLELUWAH HITS, 27 FEB

MEMPHIS INDUSTRIES, 6 FEB

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ANIMAL JOY

DIE HARD

Shearwater have come a long way from their origins as a humble side project for songwriters and former Austin roommates Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff. In the past ten years, and over the course of seven albums, they’ve shed Sheff, who now focuses his attentions on Okkervil River, and with this latest offering they’ve almost shaken off their reputation as peddlers of Talk Talk-inspired downtempo songs of love and loss.

Animal Joy is not a radical departure from those trusty themes but it contains surprising moments of energy that previous Shearwater offerings have often lacked. If opener Animal Life startles unsuspecting fans with this altogether more radio-friendly approach, then hearing Immaculate will leave them positively open-mouthed. It’s a solid if somewhat polished collection of songs that confirms Meiburg is a lyricist of considerable talent, but also a songwriter clearly feeling constrained by the musical arrangements that previously served him so well. [Chris McCall]

Die Hard, impossible to Google without receiving a flurry of John McClane-based results, are borne of Glasgow label Halleluwah Hits, which also brought us the excellent Dam Mantle.

Die Hard sound like a more anarchic Animal Collective; opener In The Garden is surely one of the darkest songs you’ll hear this year.

The foreboding, deep-pitched vocals set up an album of expanding and developing themes of unearthly transience.

It’s brought back to ground – Glasgow, specifically – in the idiosyncratic Here Goes The Rage, with a tornado of guitars that belie the theme of fighting in the street. The peculiar rhythms of Nailed To The Cross are unusually remarkable. Elsewhere, the simplistic beauty of Shiver Through literally does just what it says on the tin.

The variety of strange sounds that meld so perfectly are a wonder; it’s an irresistible ode to the many facets of Glasgow, and a perfect introduction to the oncoming spring. [Fred Weedon]

PLAYING STEREO, GLASGOW ON 1 APR

WWW.DIEHRD.CO.UK

CROCUS

OUR MEMORIES DRESS ME IN A DEAD LUST HOLY ROAR, 13 FEB

rr At times, progressive hardcore can be something of a joyless business. Hailing from Holy Roar Records, the same stable that gave us the excellent and refreshingly exuberant Rolo Tomassi, Crocus are an austere, unrelentingly-earnest, air-punching outfit, knee-deep in technical ability yet determined to make listening to their album as misanthropic a process as possible.

The production is sharp and effective and tracks like Not Alone and You Don’t Belong inject enough flashes of originality to stand out.

However much of the rest is somewhat formulaic and forlorn – albeit very competently performed – with an over-abundance of tapped riffs but a lack of any real groove. There are frequent glimpses of sadly-departed genre masters Botch, without ever pushing the envelope the way that band did a full decade ago. Thus Our Memories... emerges as one for extreme hardcore enthusiasts only, its exhaustingly grim outlook surely limiting its wider appeal. [Austin Tasseltine]

PLUMB

Album number four from the brothers Brewis is a notable departure from 2010’s Measure, which, like its title denotes, was restrained by a more ‘classic’ songwriting structure. Plumb is a richly textured and many-layered display of musical wizardry. Songs go through so many different changes that it becomes difficult to keep track, with fragmentations that can sound a bit too much like the more demanding moments of Pink Floyd for these ears.

From Hide And Seek To Heartache is a dazzling highlight; it doesn’t try so hard to flit and change, but instead evolves through layered harmonies of piano with voices, strings and insistent percussion. The cyclical guitars of A New Town are spot on, too, and could be a subtle indie-dance hit – perhaps sitting nicely alongside longtime friends and collaborators The Futureheads. Plumb can otherwise present too many opposing themes for it to feel like a coherent journey. [Fred Weedon] PLAYING HMV PICTURE HOUSE, EDINBURGH ON 6 FEB AND STEREO, GLASGOW ON 18 FEB

THE TOP FIVE

BOY FRIEND

1

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2 3 4 5

THE TWILIGHT SAD

NO ONE CAN EVER KNOW

SPEECH DEBELLE

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

AZARI & III

AZARI & III

DJANGO DJANGO

DJANGO DJANGO

MARK LANEGAN BAND

BLUES FUNERAL

EGYPTIAN WRINKLE HELL, YES!, 6 FEB

Those looking for a short-cut introduction to Boy Friend’s sound could do worse than track down their cover of Gimme!

Gimme! Gimme! (A Man after Midnight) online. Slowed a beat, with glassy vocals draped across woozy synth washes, Christa Palazzolo and Sarah Brown transform the overly-familiar ABBA standard (thanks, Mamma sodding Mia) into something fresh, without sacrificing the track’s finer qualities amidst the serene coos and tasteful echoes.

This balance between esoteric atmospherics and pop accessibility is carried across to the duo’s ten track debut, its somnambulist drift reminiscent of an extra-dreamy Cults, or Blouse after a mitt-full of Nytol.

It’s a winning combination – and, unlike Stephanie Franciotti’s more abstract, shrouded Sleep ∞ Over project, with whom Palazzolo and Brown used to play, Boy Friend are comfortable piercing the ambience with some straight-up emoting; see, for instance, In Case, a torch song Shakespear’s Sister would be proud to call their own. [Chris Buckle] BOYFRIENDMUSIC.BANDCAMP.COM

FEBRUARY 2012

THE SKINNY 43

MUSIC

NEW BLOOD

21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN TANGLES’ Ricky Egan documents his many recording guises and explains how he went from obscurity to soundtracking a prime-time BBC soap INTERVIEW: STEEV LIVINGSTONE PHOTO: INGRID MUR

SINCE 2005 Ricky Egan has been making music and performing under the name Tangles. Entirely self-taught, Ricky makes music that is simplistic yet expansive, pushing beyond the conventions of the electric guitar to the point that it becomes almost unrecognisable.

Soon after posting his music online, he was picked up and used in BBC’s Waterloo Road, before any of his music had even been released.

“A director for the BBC messaged me and asked if they could use my music – I was pretty surprised as all I had at that point was a MySpace page”.

Since then Ricky has released on cassette-only labels in the US, most recently Animal Image Search. Tangles makes perfect sense to be released on cassette; that is after all how he records his music: “I don’t own a computer and I wouldn’t really know where to start with that, I’ve always just used my 4-track as I find it easy to work with.

My set-up is pretty basic and I’ve still to work out exactly what I’m doing.”

I don’t own a computer and I wouldn’t really know where to start!

RICKY EGAN

ERRORS R TAKEOVE

Thanks to the popularity of MP3 blogs such as Friendship Bracelet which has posted Tangles music in the past, Ricky’s music has been able to reach to people across the world, though he’s still relatively unknown even in his hometown of Glasgow. Live performances of Tangles seem to differ from gig to gig, as the shows are largely improvised, but with every performance Tangles has the ability to hold an audience’s attention with his delicate, tapesaturated, reverb-heavy, beautiful music. The sound of Tangles seemed to occur almost by accident: “The first amp that I had had a chorus setting on it – I really like the sound of it but didn’t realise people regarded it as a cheesy effect.”

This “cheesy effect” has now become Tangles’ signature sound, calling to mind Discipline-era King Crimson and more recent bands like Ducktails and Pure X, the latter of which he supported at their last Glasgow show. For the minute it’s support slots like this where you are likely to hear Tangles’ music. Ricky assures me that for the time being he’s happy to take such opportunities and doesn’t intend to make a “career” out of it. He plans to go on tour in Europe later this year with fellow blog-friendly Glasgow solo act Sad City and is also busy playing in both Happy Particles and Neighbourhood Gout: “Neighbourhood Gout just released a 7” called Is That You Brother? on our own label Bossed Causes which folks can buy at our gigs,” he offers. “And the Happy Particles album is up on Bandcamp.” Prolific is the word.

PLAYING THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, GLASGOW ON 18 FEB WITH FUR HOOD, MAGIC EYE AND MOTHER GANGA. TANGLES’ LATEST CASSETTE RELEASE IS AVAILABLE NOW VIA ANIMALIMAGESEARCH.BANDCAMP.COM. WWW.SOUNDCLOUD.COM/TANGLESTANGLESTANGLES

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“CALLUM, up in the crow’s nest, is all guitar-cradling and neckerchief-wearing, while Sam will go down with the ship, laughing to the last at his cockpit of keyboards,” collectively explain Glasgow (via Fife) quartet, Milk. “Michael plays at drums and dressing up down in the engine room, and Pablo stands at the prow, full of windy rhetoric and last night’s leftovers.” Any room for a celebrity endorsement on board? After all, that ‘Got Milk’ campaign has done wonders for dairy sales over the years – want to co-opt any Milk-the-Drink lovers as spokespersons for Milk-the-band?

“Can we breed them? If so we’ll take the lithe and insatiable sexuality of Isabella Rosellini, couple it with the high-society histrionics of Elton John, and marry that off with the future-race breeding of the Olsens and the ruthless art-as-a-sacrificial-cow ambition of James Cameron.” Finally, this sexual, ambitious future-race progeny would be “wrapped in plastic, à la Joan Rivers.”

If their creation sounds elaborate and messy, it fits their musical identities; if their answers sound articulate yet obfuscating, it reflects their crafty, cultured smarts.

“We think that bands are too readily vilified for not nailing a signature sound,” they argue. “It seems to us that using a broad palette can produce the most interesting and enjoyable results.” Their particular palette reaps the rewards of a four-way musical input that doesn’t necessarily flow naturally in the same direction.

“I think it would be fair to say that we began this at odd angles, and so the approach has been to try and

Text Chris Buckle Photo www.ryanmcgoverne.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]

Ah Milk. Great source of calcium, won Sean Penn an Oscar… er, hang on, something’s off. Google has failed me – guys, you’ll have to introduce yourselves…

Got Milk?

WE NO LONGER CHARGE BOOKING FEES

AUGUST 2010

THE SKINNY 51

See www.edinburghpeoplesfestival.org for further details and tickets

MUSIC

• Drama from SpartaKi Theatre Company

INTERVIEW: SIMON WARD PHOTO: EUAN ROBERTSON

FILMHOUSE 88 LOTHIAN ROAD EDINBURGH Box Office 0131 228 2688 BOOK ONLINE at www.filmhousecinema.com

• 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

Glasgow’s MUSCLES OF JOY, an all-female vocal-led septet, talk about building their own ERRORS R E V O E K TA instruments and jamming away rather quietly

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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.

The Secret in Their Eyes 13 Aug to 9 Sep

recommends this month...

www.theelectriccircus.biz

August 7th-14th

Clockwise from top left: Pablo; Callum; Michael; Sam

HOME OF THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

films worth talking about

ROOM OF OUR OWN NEW BLOOD

SOME OF you used to sing in the Parsonage, a 50-strong vocal ensemble whose eclectic sets included Joy Division and Jerry Lee Lewis numbers. How did you come to form Muscles of Joy? Jenny: We were all in the Parsonage except Esther, who joined later.

Leigh: I knew nearly everyone through doing hair, which is my day job. Sophie, Katy and I used to talk often about getting a band together and somehow we all ended up in my flat every week for a year just jamming away rather quietly so as not to annoy the neighbours. Esther helped us out – one of a number of people who stepped up when various members left to do residencies or art projects.

It seems like your performances are just as at home in an art space as they are in a regular live venue. Do you feel more comfortable playing in either? Where have people been more receptive?

Ariki: In an art space there has been a bit more freedom, a different... focus of expectation. We’ve been asked to do some interesting collaborations or responses to space that wouldn’t necessarily work in a conventional music venue. This has made things a bit more playful which has helped our music develop in a more experimental way.

How do you write music? Is it done collectively?

Leigh: Yes. All the music comes from jams in the studio or whoever’s flat we’ve ended up in.

Different people will remember a bit, say what they like about it and then we pass round the original and just start working on it again, maybe joining it up with another bit. We record everything we do, then pick pieces that we feel work. Sometimes not everyone is present when a song starts but it is always expanded collectively. We all contribute to the lyrics and we’ve used words from members’ visual arts practice.

I heard that you’ve been sculpting your own instruments. What have you made?

Leigh: Anne-Marie built two marching machines from wood as she didn’t have a drum kit and Ariki built a reverb plate to play and sing into for part of an installation at the Transmission gallery – it’s about two metres by three metres in size. We have been talking about bringing it back out to incorporate into our performances.

The album was produced with [Park Attack founder] Jamie Grier. Is he open-minded when it comes to experimentation? How did you get on together?

Leigh: Jamie was perfect, along with the amazing recordings we got with Andy Miller [Mogwai, De Rosa] at Gargleblast. Jamie and Ariki had collaborated on a sound piece with the reverb metal plate.

One of Jamie’s particular interests is how frequencies move and react in spaces and at one of his performances with the plate he invited us to sing into it while he mixed and added other sounds. We knew from that that we were all like-minded.

And aren’t you heading off to America? I imagine you’ll be pretty excited about this.

Where will you be playing shows?

Leigh: We’re particularly excited – by the time people read this we will have done one show in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

We’re playing the opening night and it will be one of the few times that electric guitars are utilised.

Esther joked that it’s so brand new and with such fantastic acoustics that it’s like a new toy and we’re frightened to break it!

In 2012, Muscles of Joy are Esther Congreave, Anne-Marie Copestake, Katy Dove, Leigh Ferguson, Victoria Morton, Jenny O’Boyle and Ariki Porteous.

THE SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM IS OUT NOW VIA WATTS OF GOODWILL

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MUSCLES.OF.JOY

www.theelectriccircus.biz

FEBRUARY 2012

THE SKINNY 45

PREVIEWS

CLUBS

Killer Kitsch: 7th Birthday The Buff Club, Tue 7 Feb

This year will see some changes in the plans for the night though. “My aspirations have changed over the past years. I’m happy to be playing records to people and enjoying it but the future strategy will be to book big guests once every two months rather than smaller ones. Our next guest will be our 50th so we’re holding off for something amazing that people won’t believe is on a Tuesday!”

The last seven years have seen some changes in the clubbing landscape and in the last six months it has become more noticeable. “Recently the music that we play and really like is not so fashionable!

When we started it was Optimo, 2ManyDJs and Bassment Jaxx and then Justice came along which really propelled us along on that wave. Now a lot more bass culture has emerged; but everything comes in waves.” Undeterred by this change, he puts it in context. “Daft Punk’s Homework was big in ‘94, Justice was about ten years later so right now we are seeing a development coming through from hip-hop and r’n’b. It hasn’t changed what we play that much – although we always reference what is going on we don’t just follow something for the sake of it. In another few years, if we are still going, we’ll be at the forefront of the next revival.” [Neil Murchison]

All Euan Neilson wanted was a midweek night that wasn’t heavily underground and wasn’t a student night. Back in 2005 he felt that nothing like that existed, and thus the techno/ electro/new wave night Killer Kitsch was born. Having set the pace for Tuesday nights since 2005, the Buff Club-based enemy that he now runs along with Dave Sinclair and Alan ‘Hushpuppy’ Miller is celebrating its seventh year. “There were not as many clubs then and a lot of the big ones didn’t open during the week” he says. “We just wanted to put on a night that we would go to.” The midweek setting of KK has helped it to become part of people’s weekly routines as well as somewhere those who might be split between mainstream or underground nights at the weekend can happily find a place offering something in between.

The crowd that KK attracts confirms that many feel the same way and the guests they have attracted have changed expectations of midweek clubbing. Simian Mobile Disco, The Glimmers, and Optimo have all helped KK to, as Euan puts it, “punch above our weight, even for a Tuesday.”

www.killerkitsch.co.uk

Mixed Bizness Present Ifan Dafydd

Cabaret Voltaire: Lucky Number 7

The Art School, Thu 9 Feb

3 - 24 Feb

Fresh on the scene after only debuting this summer, Ifan Dafydd is fast making a statement in electronic music and his growing fan base includes the likes of Jamie xx and Sinden, with the latter praising his record Point to the C. The latest Mixed Bizness collaborator’s music has been likened to James Blake who, as the story goes, became a key musical influence of his while they lived together at university. This even caused a minor storm on the internet – it was assumed that Ifan Dafydd was a pseudonym for Blake (it also makes you wonder how different their essays ended up).

The Welsh DJ’s pivotal first single, No Good, skillfully rearranged vocals lifted from Amy Winehouse with distinctive hymnal chords, echoes and fiendishly dipping and escalating rhythms. Opening with subtle piano riffs and heavily treated synths and vocals, B-side Miranda was given its first airing on Radio 1 by Gilles Paterson. A forthcoming EP, Treehouse, which will see a January release, should confirm Dafydd as a promising new talent in electronica. [Laura Forsyth]

Cause for celebration amid the dreariness of February at the news that Cab Vol will celebrate its seventh birthday by serving up a healthy dose of seven hard-hitting events to dispel the seasonal gloom. Cab Vol has persistently nurtured an eclectic, progressive party aesthetic in the capital for discerning clubbers and this month-long birthday bash is no exception.

The obvious highlight is the closing party with the superb Inner City on Sat 25 Feb, but there is plenty to keep you busy until then. On Fri 3 Feb Supernova offer up Frankfurt’s Cocoon resident and techno wunderkind, Karotte. The Hot Creations addicts at Rendezvous settle in to their new residence on Sat 11 Feb with the luscious, retro fitted disco-house of the label’s recent recruit and founder of Outcross Records, Miguel Campbell.

For those with a taste for subterranean bass, Youngman steps up on Fri 17 Feb. Having made his name early on as an MC in the drum ‘n’ bass scene the Derby-born lyricist is now flexing his R&B vocal muscles as a major fixture on Shy FX’s Digital Soundboy label alongside producers like Benga and Skream. [Rosanna Walker]

9pm - midnight, £5

www.thecabaretvoltaire.com

11pm-3am, free

www.theartschool.co.uk

Substance Presents Jeff Mills The Bongo Club, Fri 24 Feb

That’s right, it’s not a misprint. A few months ago Adam Richardson was celebrating Substance’s 5th birthday by looking back at some of the biggest names to have graced his night and it made for some formidable reading. Now he’s not just pulled a rabbit out of the hat, he’s grabbed ‘The Wizard’ himself as genuine techno pioneer/ legend/behemoth Jeff Mills descends on The Bongo Club.

These days he’s more at home in the rarified atmospheres of the SLAM tent or much larger venues but Mills will deliver a three hour set alongside his trusty TR909s, a piece of equipment over which few others have such mastery, especially during his three decks plus drum machine set up. Having worked on a range of projects, such as scoring a new soundtrack to the classic 1926 sci-fi film Metropolis, his pioneer status remains very much alive; but he is at heart relentless in his pursuit of pounding techno and for that he is still essential to witness. [Neil Murchison] 11pm-3am, £18 advance

46 THE SKINNY February 2012

clubbing HIGHLIGHTS Words: Neil Murchison Illustration: Andrew Denholm You’ll have to be sharp about it but Xplicit have their 7th birthday in the Bongo Club on Fri 3 Feb with drum and bass supremo Andy C, recently voted Mixmag’s 7th best DJ in the world and Drum and Bass Arena’s best DJ of 2011. With MC GQ supporting along with the full roster of Xplicit’s residents, an upstairs hosted by I Love Hip Hop and a full six hours of gloriously kinetic beats to get into this is not one you’ll want to miss.

Trouble relaunch their Devil Disco Club, where bands and DJs collide on Fri 10 Feb at Edinburgh’s The Third Door. Local heroes Discopolis will play live before things get slightly more loose as Trouble DJs Hobbes and D’Viking take the reigns to drop a swarm of disco, electro funk and neon Italo. With added support from Battle of the Zoo (that explains how those pandas got their black eyes) this is a strong comeback for the night and an ideal start to the weekend. Hot Mess have another party lined up on 10 Feb at the Wee Red Bar which combines some ridiculously danceable electronic classics and some more leftfield choices played by Simonotron, all compressed into a capacity of 150 souls; entry gets you into the earlier Pussy Whipped; I think that's enough suggestive titles for one sentence.

Over in Glasgow, on Sat 4 Feb The Admiral will be hosting New York’s Colleen Murphy, aka Cosmo, who has nothing to do with the 70s football team but everything to do with that city’s devotion to club music of an unparalleled quality.

Having played regularly at the The Loft and Deep Space, Cosmo relocated to London to further promote those ideals at London Loft and her relentlessly eclectic label Bitches Brew; but it will be her experience behind the decks that will make all the difference on the night. After stoking up the

NME Tour on Wed 8 Feb indie/dance crossover Metronomy will head to the Sub Club to spin other people’s records, which than means you can catch them and still pretend that you grew out of NME’s kind of music years ago. Joseph Mount, the man who launched the band from his bedroom, has already turned Metronomy into a full-on festival band, remixed the hell out of plenty of big names requiring a dusting of electro and, of course, he can DJ too. Sub Club have also lined up the excellent and utterly prolific producer Tom Trago for 18 Feb. He’s been bouncing out records for the last few years as part of the Amsterdam New School, which relies on a lot of Detroit/Amsterdam crossover, and has been a key influence across the water for a while now. Last year’s Iris album featured his beautiful, sparkling production set over some heavy beat propulsion – this is an excellent chance to catch him doing it live.

Musika have been making The Liquid Room a destination for some huge DJs for five years now and, true to form, this month they’re at it again.

On Sat 4 Feb Cassy makes her Edinburgh debut and the London-born DJ, who cut her music teeth in Vienna and Geneva, has earned her status within the Cocoon collective as one of the premier house/techno DJs on the international circuit with her soulful and deeply minimal brand of house.

Special mention also to the support Tim Green whose driving beats are something else to behold.

Oh, and in true ‘anti-everything’ mode we pay our respects to St Valentine and all that by recommending the Voodoo Rooms’ She-Bang Anti-Valentine’s Party on Sat 11 Feb where you can wallow in your hatred for everything that day has become. Just try not to meet anyone there that you might actually have designs upon...

CLUBS

A Detroit Revival

O2 ABC Love Music Column

Touring again after a ten year break, one of the Detroit originals Kevin Saunderson talks about how it all began Interview: Rosanna Walker

JUSTICE

NME Awards Show, Justice (Live) O2 Academy, Sun 12 Feb, £20

In 1980s Detroit, seismic shifts were developing as foundations were being laid in electronic dance music. Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, who would form the Belleville Three, were beavering away in high school and beginning to think about making some music. The three of them, both collectively and in their own ways, would go on to mastermind the sound of Detroit techno helping to carve out the landscape of dance music culture as we know it. Now, after a ten year hiatus, Saunderson has returned to touring with Inner City and working on a new E-Dancer record. “I haven’t made a lot of music in, like, forever, y’know. So I’m just starting to crank up.”

For Saunderson, he found inspiration in European influences intermingled with a strong New York heritage of disco and soul. “Kraftwerk were important because I think they gave me the belief and knowledge that I could make music without having a whole band,” he explains. In Detroit he listened to Parliament Funkadelic, Prince, The B52s and Tangerine Dream. “The vibe was really cool.

It was young, preppy, high school middle class black kids, they were the only ones listening to this kind of music. They dressed real nice, they had these cigarettes that they called ‘the germs,’ real cool. That went with the music. That was kinda the beginning of Detroit and the culture there and it kinda developed to when we started making more and more music international.

“I think people take the music and the scene more for granted now. It’s not as fresh. Everything was new. The technology was new and you didn’t know the limitations. We started out as DJs but we wanted to make our own music so we started making our own music and playing our own music and we also put ‘em on our own labels. I had my own record company [KMS], Juan and Derrick had their own too so that kicked off that kind of a culture.

Because we were self motivated DJs-producersrecording artists that owned our labels we could just make a record and have it out as soon as we could. That’s how DJ culture kinda evolved on to a whole new level.”

“When I started making music I would visualise myself playing a track or my song being played in the Paradise Garage,” he explains, “especially in records like ‘The Sound’, y’know, it was really meant for that club. I used to go there and hear

Larry Levan playing all sorts of records. They had this long tunnel, this dark, black light, and you heard this boom boom boom. And then you go in and you see all these people dancing. All these, just, fanatics, and they screaming, they dancing and you just catch the vibe and before I knew it I was dancing too and I didn’t know what was going on. Yeah, it was special. All I know is when I left it was like midday, it went that quickly.”

In 1988, Inner City’s ‘Big Fun’ was included in Ten Records’ Techno! The New Sound of Detroit, the first ever techno album, and the sound became a global phenomenon. “[Compiler Neil Rushton] was trying to explain that in Europe our music was building up this kind of cult but we couldn’t grasp that sort of scene. It was a very important compilation because our music was so underground and this helped give us exposure. It was surprising because I would just make music and play it myself, release it, sell a few so we could get our money back. We didn’t expect it to take off like that.” In production Saunderson’s sounds vary widely as he moves through different monikers, from the underground, driving techno of E-Dancer to the uplifting, poppy vocals of the chart topping Inner City. “I had different influences, sort of different paths y’know. I had a hard edge, I had a deeper edge, and I had Inner City. I had Reese Project which was a little more soulful.

“What happened is we inspired so many people, so many scenes being created all around the world. And the music started changing, it grew and now you have twenty forms of techno, and technology grew too.” Saunderson’s Reese Project was also influential to the drum and bass scene. “I had this sound, this bass line I created in a song called Just Want Another Chance, and all the drum and bass DJs would take it. I don’t think they really knew, they got it from one drum and bass DJ who got it from me and they just kept taking it from him… but then they found out it was my bass and now they’re calling it the Reese Bass so, it’s kinda cool, y’know. So I’m influential in a few different ways.”

There is nothing at all subtle about what Justice do or how they sound. A wall of Marshall amps surround a glowing cross. Thunderous electro riffs build into gargantuan drops. They set out to knock the hell out of you with sheer awe. Armed with the blueprint half-inched from Daft Punk that dance is the new rock, itself a replacement for religion, they go for the jugular with a wanton epicness not witnessed since Cecil B. DeMille got behind a camera.

After alerting the world to their presence with their 2003 remix of Simian’s Never Be Alone Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay disappeared under a Parisian rock for a few years to get to work on honing their sound. Around 2007 the internet was awash with videos of the duo unleashing two songs that in conjunction were decimating clubs across Europe. Sounding like an evil beast of distortion being worshipped by a rack of synths on the verge of fusing, Waters of Nazareth was a huge slab of pop dance that simply blew the lid off clubs which was quickly followed up by Phantom Pt.II, a huge stomping record thick with twitched spanks of bass. Coming across these records playing in clubs was equal to encountering the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey and left you wondering what the hell was that and where did it come from?

Playing live is where the band really excel and even as they are hunched over their controllers mid-show they get far closer to the dynamics of rock than almost any other electronic group do and those associations have only got stronger with their recent follow up album, Audio, Video, Disco. Taking on the towering gods of overblown 70s rock there are sonic references galore in honour of their legacy from the Bonham-lifted drums fill on On’n’On to the prog rock cosmic grandeur of Civilisation. By the end of it you won’t look at a cross in quite the same way again.

Club Noir Valentine: Saturday night at the movies O2 Academy, Sat 11 Feb, 9pm - 3am, Tickets £15.50

It’s awards season! In the golden age movies had heartthrobs, romance and escapism although, thanks to the censors, not enough burlesque. Club Noir will be making sure that nothing hits the editing room floor as they recreate the magic of the movies by bringing the stars of Hollywood Land to Glasgow for a night of burlesque shows drawing inspiration from the filmic vaults. Just the names alone conjure up fantastic images, from the infamous Film Noir femme fatales, sex kittens modeling latex recreations of Marilyn Monroe’s most famous dresses to Club Noir’s own take on Fred and Ginger’s cheek to cheek.

The visuals would be nothing without the music and DJ Loveless and DJ Poprock will be spinning tunes befitting a score and The Mosa Funk Club will be playing their modern funk inspired by the greats. You wouldn’t get on the red carpet with trainers or jeans so bring your star quality whether it is Betty Boop or more Dragon Tattoo. This is the only night where dressing like a swan is totally acceptable. Hooray for Hollywood! o2aCademyglasgow.co.uk o2abcglasgow.co.uk www.facebook.com/o2abcglasgow www.facebook.com/o2academyglasgow

Kevin Saunderson’s Inner City play live at Sounds of STREETrave at The Arches and Karnival at Cabaret Voltaire on Sat 25 Feb www.kevinsaunderson.com

February 2012

THE SKINNY 47

REVIEWS

FEBRUARY Events FILM

Anyone who has wished they could see the legendary Chemical Brothers in concert, or those who would like to relive the experience of their mind-bending light and sound show, head to the Cameo in Edinburgh on 3 Feb for The Chemical Brothers: Don’t Think. Filmed during the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan when the band played to 50,000 fans, the event was captured on twenty-one cameras, providing audiences with a dynamic and exclusive view of this long-running group.

CHEMICAL BROTHERS THE MUPPETS

The Muppets

Carnage

Director: James Bobin

Director: Roman Polanski

Starring: Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Walter Released: 10 Feb Certificate: U

Starring: Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz, John C Reilly Released: 3 Feb Certificate: 15

rrr

Old-fashioned dastardly danger is threatening the, now abandoned, Muppet studios as a maniacally laughing oil tycoon (Cooper) looks set to plunder the ground beneath, laying waste to the heritage of this forgotten site. The only kink in the plan is that lifelong Muppet devotee Walter, a puppet, and his brother Gary (Segel) overhear this during a studio tour and set their own plan in motion to get the old gang back together to raise the money needed to save the studio.

Cue the rallying of the Muppet troupe, from a reclusive Kermit, to down-and-out Fozzy Bear, by way of Paris for Miss Piggy. Segel’s script, co-written with Nicholas Stoller, fully embraces the meta-movie referencing fun of The Muppet Show and movies, and rides delightfully from road movie to the big show, by way of a dozen celebrity cameos. Not so much sensational inspirational celebrational Muppetational, but a hoot. [Thom Atkinson] The Muppets is screening as part of the Glasgow Youth Film Festival 5 Feb and opens nationwide 10 Feb

rrrr Roman Polanski’s classy farce centres on the petty squabbles of four bourgeois Manhattanites. Following an attack on the Longstreets’ (Foster, Reilly) son by their own progeny, the Cowans (Waltz, Winslet) enter the lion’s den to thrashout an accord on how to handle the playground scuffle and maintain their façade as progressive, caring parents. Relations become frosty, the couples’ true natures bubbling to the surface with increasingly infantile and bitter exchanges.

Despite utilising broadly-drawn clichés as protagonists and the idea of aggression and outright loathing lurking beneath the cloak of social convention being nothing original, Polanski’s film is such a riot it’s difficult to care. Waltz, Winslet and Reilly excel in roles that fit like gloves, but Foster unfortunately hits false notes as fastidious über-liberal Penelope. Presented in real time within the Longstreet’s apartment, there is maintained tension as to just how far this dispute will go, with the always uncomfortable, often hilarious discourse making for an immensely enjoyable 80 minutes. [Chris Fyvie]

Martha Marcy May Marlene

A Dangerous Method

Director: Sean Durkin

Director: David Cronenberg

Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy Released: 3 Feb Certificate: 15

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Vincent Cassel, Sarah Gadon Released: 10 Feb Certificate: 15

rrrrr

rr

Sean Durkin’s astonishingly assured debut as writer/director is a haunting meditation on identity, manipulation and abuse. Martha (Olsen), long-since assimilated into a creepy cult led by the charismatic Patrick (Hawkes), has escaped her captors and made contact with estranged sister Sarah (Poulson). Taken in by Sarah and her partner Ted (Dancy), Martha’s odd and uninhibited behaviour causes immediate concern.

Using a fractured narrative to unsettle and drip clues to the audience, Durkin adroitly intercuts Martha’s recovery with flashbacks to the trauma and indoctrination endured within Patrick’s commune. Hawkes is predictably outstanding as the seductive, menacing patriarch – his slight frame and magnetism suggestive of the psychosexual rather than physical dominance exerted over his charges. Olsen, ethereal under Durkin’s gaze and Jody Lee Lipes’ gorgeous cinematography, is masterful; by turns offering heartbreaking vulnerability, terror and naïve bravado to portray a young woman unsure as to who she was, who she is and what she will become. An ambiguous, beautiful film blurring the lines between reality, paranoia and fantasy. [Chris Fyvie]

Where is the danger in A Dangerous Method? This exploration of the relationship between Carl Jung (Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Mortensen) should be fertile ground for David Cronenberg, but the director appears oddly straitjacketed by the task of adapting Christopher Hampton’s play. While there is much to intrigue in the film’s opening scenes, as Jung tries to cope with the demands of an extremely disturbed patient (Knightley) who awakens uncomfortable desires within him, the film fails to build towards anything particularly interesting or revelatory in the underwhelming second half. Cronenberg’s clinical approach turns A Dangerous Method into a handsome but cold affair, ensuring that Knightley (aided briefly by a randy Vincent Cassel) carries the sole responsibility for lighting a fire under the picture. Her performance as the unhinged Sabina is a no-holds-barred piece of acting, and it will undoubtedly repel many viewers, but at least she gives this often tepid drama a vital shot in the arm. [Philip Concannon]

Young Adult

Bombay Beach

Director: Jason Reitman

Director: Alma Har’el

Starring: Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, Collette Wolfe Released: 3 Feb Certificate: 15

Released: 3 Feb Certificate: TBC

rrr

Young Adult is the second collaboration between the creative team behind Juno, and it again displays both their strengths and their weaknesses. Jason Reitman’s sure hand with actors is evident once more, but so is his glib shallowness, while Diablo Cody’s screenplay blends sharp zingers with unconvincing plot developments and characterisation. Holding the film together – and elevating it beyond what it might have been – is a tremendous turn by Charlize Theron as Mavis, an author of teen fiction who returns to her home town with the aim of winning back her now-married high school boyfriend (Wilson). Theron never appeals for audience sympathy as this awesomely self-absorbed character, delivering a performance rich in telling observations and flawless comic timing. Unfortunately, having such a vivid protagonist at the centre of the film only shows up the thinness of the movie around her, and despite Patton Oswalt’s good-natured supporting turn, Young Adult ends up feeling purposeless and underdeveloped, finally going off the rails in its climactic scenes. [Philip Concannon]

48 THE SKINNY FEBRUARY 2012

Before the Glasgow Film Festival gets under way, the GFT in Glasgow is hosting three programmes of short films as part of the British Animation Awards 2012. These screenings, taking place on 2, 6 and 8 Feb, feature a mix of animation, music videos and commercials and are up for the public vote. The eventual ceremony takes place in March in London, but this is a chance to have a say on the winners. The Filmhouse in Edinburgh is showing the last of the three programmes on 6 Feb. Several cinemas have special screenings on 14 Feb to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Included in the GFT’s line up are Brief Encounter, David Lean’s beautifully filmed 1945 classic, starring Celia Johnson as a dissatisfied housewife who, after a chance meeting with a stranger, considers having an affair, and When Harry Met Sally, in which Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan question whether it’s possible for men and women to ever have a truly platonic relationship. In Edinburgh, the Cameo is screening French comedy Romantics Anonymous with a special bonus: a free chocolate tasting in association with Hotel Chocolat – perfect for anyone with a sweet tooth.

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY

The DCA in Dundee is starting and ending the month with films about the threat of nuclear war.

On 3 Feb, Stanley Kubrick’s deranged political satire Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is being shown, featuring Peter Sellers in three roles. Robert Aldrich’s bizarre noir Kiss Me Deadly is on 21 Feb, featuring a private eye, a murder and a strange, glowing suitcase containing ‘the great whatsit.’

Finally, anyone interested in Chinese cinema and

rrrr After an outstanding festival journey, a Tribeca World Documentary Award, and praise from Alec Baldwin, music video director Alma Har’el’s debut feature Bombay Beach finally reaches cinema screens across the country. The documentary tells the lyrical story of California’s forgotten residents, the low-income citizens of Salton Sea. Music from Beirut’s Zach Condon intermingls with ethereal dance sequences and choreographed scenes scattered amongst real-life events. At once carefully composed and fly-on-the-wall, Har’el’s distinctive approach is that of a hybrid documentary, as she plays with the desert light to draw us in to the inner workings of the locals’ dark pasts and family lives. The story tells itself, making plenty of room for an artistic flair and injection of sound that elevate the film from a simple documentary to an artistic exploration. Given the colourful flourishes and strains of Beirut, it’s so engrossing you could watch a toilet flush as long as it looks and sounds this pleasant. [Nicola Balkind] dogwoof.com/films/bombay-beach

KISS ME DEADLY

independent Chinese filmmaking should head to the CCA in Glasgow this month, where Ricefield’s annual festival, Takeaway China, is showing a selection of specially chosen films until 4 Feb. Each film offers a valuable insight into one of the world’s fastest rising superpowers, and the effects of modernisation in the face of traditional values.

Check out the www.cca-glasgow.com for further details. [Becky Bartlett]

DVD REVIEWS RESTLESS

HER PRIVATE HELL

ROLLING THUNDER

DIRECTOR: GUS VAN SANT

DIRECTOR: NORMAN J. WARREN

DIRECTOR: JOHN FLYNN

STARRING: MIA WASIKOWSKA, HENRY HOPPER RELEASED: 13 FEB CERTIFICATE: 12

STARRING: LUCIA MODUGNO, TERENCE SKELTON RELEASED: 20 FEB CERTIFICATE: 15

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STARRING: WILLIAM DEVANE, TOMMY LEE JONES, LINDA HAYNES RELEASED: OUT NOW CERTIFICATE: 18

Gus Van Sant presents an unusual romance in Restless. Annabel Cotton (Wasikowska) sparkles with a curiosity for life in the face of terminal cancer. Enoch Brae (Hopper), following a family tragedy, has lost his passion for living. This unlikely pair strike up a bond at a funeral through the bizarre agency of the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot, and soon begin to find connections through their unique experiences. Enoch joins Annabel in her final days, indulging in reckless behaviour and morbid reflection, which gradually begins to draw them together.

As their love grows, so does their realisation of the inevitability of Annabel’s illness. Although they attempt to defy fate to create their own unique ending, they cannot avoid the inescapable.

Restless is like an arthouse A Walk to Remember yet still provides a journey of emotional highs and lows. If you’re in the mood for tears, this thoughtful, quirky film may be the answer. [Laura Forsyth]

URBANIZED DIRECTOR: GARY HUSTWIT

RELEASED: 13 FEB CERTIFICATE: TBC

When a naïve Italian beauty accepts modelling work in 60s London she’s drawn into a sleazy world of booze, jazz parties, free loving, and... dirty pictures! Norman J. Warren’s infamous girl-gone-wrong melodrama is given a sumptuous release from BFI Flipside, and proves itself a fun if inessential moralistic treat.

Warren used the thin plot to push the boundaries of British screen sexuality, with many scenes of mild titillation (nipples) and heavily implied references to ‘doing it.’ Britain’s first narrative sex film, it was scandalous at the time, but it’s all rather tame and a little camp to modern eyes.

Nonetheless, the transfer is crystal clear and BFI Flipside provides plenty of quality extras including interviews, screen tests and a comprehensive booklet to put it firmly in context. Aspiring film buffs and those interested in the evolution of British cinema could do far worse than this cautionary tale of ambition, glamour and dirty pillows. [Scotty McKellar]

THE OZU COLLECTION: THE STUDENT COMEDIES DIRECTOR: YASUJIRO OZU

RELEASED: 20 FEB CERTIFICATE: PG

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With smutty infographs and high-rise money shots, Urbanized slips the panties down on modern city living. This documentary has no sexy Grand Designs narrator, however, as director Gary Hustwit lets carrot-jeaned architects and city-dwelling shmoes narrate. We hear from the guys that turned New York’s derelict High Line rail track into a grass-filled footpath. Residents of a Santiago housing project talk about their self-assemble homes. And Bogota’s mayor takes pride in pissing off car owners with his bus and bike lanes. All these stories reveal (cue a Kevin McCloud smug summary) how we both shape our cityscapes and are shaped by them. Urbanized offers plenty of eye-candy too. With camera pans of Mumbai’s impossible slums, bird’s-eye views of the lavish Brasilia, and art-shots of Detroit’s inner-city gardens, Hustwit fancies the aesthetics of the city more than the theories behind it. By peeping at both, however, Urbanized’s 90 minutes feels overcrowded. A TV two parter would’ve been more flush. [Alastair McCloud]

This box set of four of Yasojiro Ozu’s early silent comedies is part of the BFI’s ongoing project to release all of the master director’s work on dual-format Blu-ray/DVD. As ever, this is a handsome edition with high quality transfers and a useful booklet with essays on each of the films (just in case – heaven forbid – you need to be brought up to speed on Japanese silent cinema).

The four films are themed on student life, reflecting the influence of Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman on Ozu. This is acknowledged not just in the plot of the film; Ozu has the walls of the students’ digs covered with Hollywood posters. Japanese cinema would continue this dynamic relationship with Hollywood over the next half century.

While these comedies lack the sheer energy of their American counterparts, there are decent gags, surprisingly restrained, almost soulful, performances, and that sublime sense of stepping back in time that only watching silent films can give. [Keir Roper-Caldbeck]

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With a script written by Paul Schrader, Rolling Thunder is an unlikely cut-and-paste job between a classic 70s meditation on damaged masculinity and a brutal Death Wish-style vigilante flick.

Returning home after eight years in a Vietnamese prison camp where he was tortured on a daily basis, Major Charles Rane (Devane) seems outwardly untouched. But the smiling passivity with which he recieves both his hero’s welcome and his wife’s request for a divorce begins to build a fascinating portrait of a man who has removed himself from the world of pain and feeling. But then an act of unspeakable violence is visited on him and his family, and suddenly the film shifts gears as Rane sets out to bring revenge to those responsible, a dish which he serves with cold fury and a sharpened prosthetic claw.

A grindhouse classic and one of Tarantino’s favourite films, Rolling Thunder is a strange and uncomfortable ride. [Keir Roper-Caldbeck]

ALBATROSS DIRECTOR: NIALL MACCORMICK

STARRING: SEBASTIAN KOCH, JULIA ORMOND, FELICITY JONES, JESSICA BROWN FINDLAY RELEASED: 6 FEB CERTIFICATE: 12A

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Leather clad tearaway and wannabe writer Emilia (Findlay) takes a job at a hotel on the South Coast run by the dysfunctional Fischer family. She forms an unlikely bond with Beth (Jones), the studious daughter, but is also taken under the wing of her father, Jonathan (Koch), a blocked author who sees in Emilia some of his lost talent.

But soon their relationship becomes more than that of pupil and tutor, and they begin an affair.

Albatross is a nostalgic piece reminiscent of American teen movies of the 1980s, a serving of teenage angst with a side order of syrup which, like the films of John Hughes, treats both characters and audience with respect and affection.

Sebastian Koch gives an impressive performance while Julia Ormond is a delight as his scornful wife, her fading beauty an acidic aftertaste. However, the film belongs to Findlay and Jones who have promising futures ahead of them. [Alan Bett]

THE CINESKINNY A DAILY GUIDE TO THE GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL

WW W .T HE SK IN N Y. CO .U K/ CI NE SK IN N Y

ILLUSTRATION: EDWARD MCGOWAN

FEBRUARY 2012

THE SKINNY 49

REVIEW

ART

PREVIEW

LUKE FOWLER TEMENOS, ARCADIA 2 2008, GICLEE PRINT

LUKE FOWLER INVERLEITH HOUSE 12 FEB - 29 APR

Artist Luke Fowler is best known for his documentary films about radical thinkers on the fringes of society. Made using largely found footage, his 2006 film Pilgrimage From Scattered Points looked at the work of English composer Cornelius Cardew who, with his orchestra, set out to change society through participatory creative expression.

More recently Fowler completed a trilogy about the similarly radical, Glasgow-born psychiatrist R.D. Laing – the third part of which will be on show at Inverleith House from this month. Laing established an alternative institution in his own home in the 1960s where he treated schizophrenics.

Both Cardew and Laing were symptomatic of their generation. They wanted to emancipate people from the restraints of society and free them of stifling institutions, such as the family,

and like many of the New Left, Cardew and Laing failed to achieve what they had anticipated and both died in relative obscurity.

As well as making biopics about dead radicals, Fowler also creates work about obsolete media.

On show at Inverleith House are 50 new photographs from his ongoing Two Frame photo series that sees him using a now defunct camera format to record his daily life. The resulting paired images frame the contemporary world in a nostalgic hue.

Fowler is obsessed with the past and its expired modes of representation. By reintroducing us to important figures of recent history – by depicting the world in grainy tones – Fowler reminds us that we are never wholly free of our past. Everything we see around us today – every person, every chair, and every appliance – has travelled a long and complex historical ramble, with all its tangential, radical figures and dead or dying media. [Andrew Cattanach] TUE-SUN, 10AM-5PM, FREE

BEHOLDER TALBOT RICE UNTIL 18 FEB

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The show’s premise is bold: a diverse group of artists, institutions and academics are invited to nominate an artwork that explores contemporary notions of beauty. The result is an eclectic display of disparate works in a variety of media, including painting, video, text work, slide shows and lacework.

The exhibition tells us that beauty is a contentious subject – that no one individual would try and reduce the term to a concrete description, or dare hold up a work and suggest it represents a culture’s shared notion of what it is to be beautiful.

Not these days, anyway, and instead Talbot Rice offers a distinctly plural approach.

There are the distinctly attractive works, such as the fine, Italian lacework in its museum display case, Yoko Ono’s A Hole to See the Sky Through, and Sir Basil Spence’s Coventry Cathedral.

Other selections are a little trickier. Exploiting beauty’s dubious foundations, some participants attempt to isolate beauty by showing us its antithesis. This dialectical approach, which suggests that beauty is as much defined by its opposite as it is by any positive manifestation of its supposed attributes, is a way of skipping over contested ground.

Michael White’s two digital prints are gauche.

Like much of his work, they are deliberate affronts on good taste that consequently have little impact on our notion of beauty. Djordje Ozbolt’s crude portrait of someone slavering, however, is a sinister joy, cleverly hung out of sight.

The generous collection of video art is equally diverse – but no less a treat. Last Riot by collective AES + F is a mesmerising stop-motion animation that sees models in military fatigues attack each other with samurai swords and baseball bats. It’s like a slowed-down music video about a country’s sexedup military-industrial complex. [Andrew Cattanach] TUE-SUN, 10AM-5PM, FREE

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

SPIN CITIES

SPIN organises events across Edinburgh and Glasgow that help bring contemporary art to life, giving an insight into how the work is made and selected for exhibition. Here we talk to Glasgow Life’s LESLEY HEPBURN about the unique venture

RIC WARREN - CITY LIMITS, @ DAVID DALE GALLERY & STUDIOS

Galleries across Scotland are members of the Own Art scheme. By offering interestfree loans of £100-£2,000 through Own Art, buying an original piece of quality contemporary art or craft couldn’t be easier. For more information about Own Art and a list of participating galleries see the Own Art website: www.ownart.org.uk Look for the pink logo. (representative 0% APR)

50 THE SKINNY FEBRUARY 2012

SPIN gives you the opportunity to really get close to contemporary art. First started at the National Galleries of Edinburgh in 2003, SPIN holds monthly events, in Edinburgh and also Glasgow, that aim to help broaden people’s understanding of Scotland’s wealth of contemporary art. In addition participants get a fascinating insight into the broader context of art production, including commissioning, curating and collecting. Through discussion in a sociable setting, inviting artists and curators along to stimulate chat about their work SPIN helps people get under the skin of art.

SPIN: Edinburgh has an established relationship with venues, artists, curators and critics, which gives the group access to some of the most engaging art available in the city.

SPIN: Glasgow was first launched at Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art in 2006 and has come to reflect the distinct scene in the city that includes a plethora of artist run spaces.

Lesley Hepburn of Glasgow Life, who leads Spin Glasgow, says “Spin offers its participants deeper inroads into the work via discussion and presentations from curators and artists.”As well as giving an insight into the artworks in galleries, SPIN organises exclusive studio visits, allowing members a glimpse into the creative process of how artists produce their work. Sometimes, a studio visit can be an artwork in itself: “We had an interesting visit to an artist’s studio in Trongate 103. Due to a diary clash the artist was in Sweden when the Spin talk was scheduled to take place, so the artist created an interactive talk via a tape recording where Spin participants had to explore his studio for objects that would perform as a catalyst for the different stages of his talk.”

“Quite often, all the founding members of the smaller artist led groups in Glasgow – The Duchy, David Dale and The Mutual for example – will present to the SPIN group, offering their perspectives and expertise,” explains Lesley.

SPIN attracts a broad range of people from all walks of life. The majority of members don’t have a background in visual art but possess a healthy curiosity in contemporary art practices, making it the ideal platform for those looking to learn more about the area. “It’s a total bonus having such a great blend of individuals, of all ages and backgrounds, as their personal experience informs their interpretation of the artworks, which they share together in discussions.”

SPIN: Edinburgh meets at 6pm on the last Thursday of every month in galleries, and sometimes more unusual exhibiting spaces, across the city and enjoy wine and informal discussions with art professionals, including artists, critics, curators and collectors.

SPIN: Glasgow meets on the third Wednesday of the month to enable Spin: Edinburgh members to take part and vice versa.

This year, Spin will again be working with Glasgow International to produce a series of ‘Spin off’ tours (20 April-7 May). These tours will be open to the wider public, as well as SPIN members, and will be available via the Glasgow International website from March.

To join in the discussion at SPIN membership costs £45 (£35 concessions) per year or £75 (£55 concessions) for two adults at one address, and allows members to attend events in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. Find out more about SPIN on the SPIN website www.spinscotland.co.uk

Offer subject to age and status. Terms and conditions apply.

You will need a UK bank account that can handle direct debits, proof of identity and address, and you will also need to be over 18. Own Art is operated by ArtCo Trading Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arts Council. Registered address: Arts Council England, North East, Central Square, Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3PJ

249 West George Street Glasgow G2 4QE

REVIEWS

BOOKS

EDINBURGH STREET FURNITURE

BY DAVID BRANDON

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Edinburgh Street Furniture is an informative guide to the capital’s landmarks and streets.

Fittingly, it’s written by historian David Brandon who knows plenty about the city, so who better to inform you about all the little bits you have no clue about? The book gives a contemporary account of places with a historical edge. Brandon simply wouldn’t be a true historian if there wasn’t a short introduction on the city’s past, which offers fascinating facts on how it came to be. It’ll make you flash back and try to imagine what the slum-like conditions of the Old Town were like, filled with crime, deprivation and despair.

Why is the Balmoral Hotel’s clock two minutes fast? Why do roads in Morningside have biblical names? Even if you think you know lots about Auld Reekie don’t dismiss this book. After reading you should be more clued up about a unique city with a dark past, and next time you walk around Edinburgh you’ll feel all the wiser. An insightful text for tourists and locals alike. [Tina Koenig]

SO MUCH PRETTY

EXILE

BY GIL SCOTT-HERON

BY CARA HOFFMAN

BY JAKOB EJERSBO

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The Last Holiday is a deeply personal, if self-conscious, telling of Gil ScottHeron’s life. The writer and musician’s early life is described from a witty, sensitive angle. The clash between Scott-Heron’s early life in Jackson and New York adolescence is described with humour and honesty, where hard political realities mixed with small talk create a memorable atmosphere.

Maternal presences in the author’s life (his mother and grandmother) are realistic and engaging. Stevie Wonder’s role in creating Martin Luther King Day gave me a broader view of both Wonder and the effort required to give recognition where it is due.

Scott-Heron doesn’t lose sight of his own iconic status, which lets the book down to some extent.

Memories of the publicity surrounding the man can hinder the reader as the story settles into the writer’s adult life. Less flattering memories are occasionally brushed aside while encounters with other contemporary icons are over-emphasised, but the story also slips expertly between the everyday worries of paying for groceries and the injustices that inspired the civil rights movement. The prose is lyrical and no-nonsense, and Scott-Heron’s poetry interspersed with the real-life events that inspired his work adds great depth to the book. Engaging from the first page. [Miriam Vaswani] OUT NOW. PUBLISHED BY CANONGATE. COVER PRICE £20

TECH

OUT NOW. PUBLISHED BY AMBERLEY PUBLISHING. COVER PRICE £12.99

THE LAST HOLIDAY

BEATS AND BEETS If there’s one thing apps do perfectly these days, it’s games. And if there’s two things, it’s games and music (with cute animals) INTERVIEW: ALEX COLE THE NEW game from Edinburgh-based start-up Lucky Frame, Pugs Luv Beats, has taken off and recently been nominated for an Independent Games Festival award. I asked founder and director Yann Seznec how adorable pugs can worm their way into our musical hearts.

BITE-SIZED TECH NUGGETS WITH ALEX COLE

THE FEED

Is this a monosynth disguised as a game?

It’s several music production methods disguised as a game. There is definitely a synth element (though it’s not a monosynth, try two fingers for an extra surprise...). We’re actually right now preparing

to release a free app that is just the singing synth pugs, because people react so well to them. As the pugs run around the world they are triggering samples based on their location. It’s kind of like a giant sampler that you need to explore… There are literally millions of possible permutations, and it is guaranteed to be different for everyone who plays.

How important are the sound and visuals for this kind of app?

If an app looks good and sounds good people are far more likely to give it their time and attention… We are our own worst critics, anyway. Sean

Cara Hoffman’s debut novel follows the disappearance of Wendy White, a teenage waitress in the small rural town of Haeden, New York. In a town where everyone knows everybody, case investigator Stacy Flynn finds it hard to believe that no-one knows where Wendy is. After searching for truth in a town that’s prepared to deny lying even exists, Flynn realises her big case is going to be a difficult one to break. So Much Pretty has a skilfully developed story which reveals its characters through multiple perspectives. In fact, the story’s essence and accomplishment are in the way it uncovers the crime over a decade. Hoffman interrupts the progress of the case every once in a while by divulging character information: a character’s background, relationship or opinion on agriculture – anything really. However, these small interruptions are not without use; they improve the story and explain the complexity of the characters within. The only unfortunate thing about this book is its almost picturesque ending which seems out of place and out of touch with reality. Regardless, So Much Pretty succeeds in reaching forth and grabbing its audience in the hope of saving one girl’s life, and another girl’s future. [Amy Balloch] RELEASE DATE 2 FEB. PUBLISHED BY CENTURY. COVER PRICE £12.99

[McIlroy] will flip out over a tiny little pixel that is out of place. The sound is of course hugely important simply because we are making things that are musical tools that use game mechanics. If the music sounds bad then there’s no point.

What was the goal in starting Lucky Frame?

Was it primarily to work on music projects, or something else?

I started Lucky Frame to support and structure my artistic projects in general, as well as facilitating collaborations. Although we are often seen as a ‘tech startup’ we are primarily artists who are primarily interested in creativity and innovation.

I’m really interested in interaction in general, which can mean how someone plays with a piece of software, or how a performer interacts with an audience, or how an audience reacts to a piece of work. My background is as a musician, and after that sound design and sound art, and Jon [Brodsky, programmer] has a solid background in electronic music too, so much of the work we end up doing is music focused.

How was it starting up in Scotland, versus elsewhere in the UK? I think that starting up in Scotland helped enormously in the sense that it is a much less risky environment. Costs are lower, but there is still a thriving creative culture. There is of course a giant pressure to move to London, particularly for tech startups, it would be silly not to acknowledge that. But that ties into the whole tech startup culture, which can be very focused on growth and then selling to Google or something, which does not interest us.

Any advice for prospective digital entrepreneurs in the area?

Take your time. There is a lot of pressure in the entrepreneurial world to grow very quickly and attract investment. In Lucky Frame’s case, we grew extremely slowly and I think that approach has paid dividends. Those first two years were really great for learning the ropes of keeping a small company alive, as well as working out what would be the best direction and strategy for us.

PUGS LUV BEATS IS AVAILABLE NOW FOR IPHONE AND IPAD LUCKYFRAME.CO.UK

Exile is set in Tanzania in the late 1980s and follows the late teenage years of Samantha, a second generation ex-pat.

Packed off to an international boarding school by her violent father and alcohol dependent mother, Samantha is a self destructive loner. The school preaches cultural understanding but racial tensions run high. Pupils feel neither African nor any affinity for their European homelands, and Samantha finds that living as a white in Africa has made her ‘grey inside’. Despite raising the family in Tanzania their parents want them to return to Europe. Those that go ‘home’ never stay as all they encounter is an alien land devoid of the privileged lifestyle they’re accustomed to. Aware that, despite their expensive education, Africa offers them no future many of the pupils descend into a self destructive vortex of drink, drugs and crime. Samantha is one of the worst, seducing men and taking increasingly strong narcotics. Her actions only serve to alienate those close to her and draw the attentions of dangerous and violent men. Exile offers a shocking insight into the state of Africa in the 1980s and the failure of Europeans to save it, or themselves, from the downward spiral. [Rowena McIntosh] OUT NOW. PUBLISHED BY MACLEHOSE. COVER PRICE £12.99

MASS EFFECT 3 BIOWARE, 6 MAR, £69.99 PC, XBOX 360, PS3

rrrrr Ah, Mass Effect. You came for the controversy over blue alien bottoms and stayed for the killer story and gameplay. The last entry for this series was written up as Star Wars for a new generation, and as the pre-orders start to roll in for ME3, the final installment, that’s looking no less true.

The newest entry picks up not long after the last DLC (depending on who you got killed) with Commander Shepard benched for killing, oh, well, a lot of aliens. And since court martial scenes can be dull, it immediately jump starts the game by throwing you into the middle of an alien invasion of Earth. So that’s new.

The combat sequences here aren’t all that different from before, many of the familiar weapons return in new forms, and there’s a ton of customisation to give each gun your personal touch. Shepard moves around the battlefield much more actively now, can get up in enemies’ faces, and in general makes runand-gun a more valid option than it used to be.

Still, there are a lot of new variables here that don’t bode well. ME has always been a single player story that everyone puts their own spin on, and now Bioware is adding multiplayer for no reason I can think of. Same goes for voice-activated squad commands and dialogue options (because who doesn’t love barking at a video game?). I’m all for giving a good game some new tricks, but these are the kind of thing that distract from what makes ME so great.

Ultimately there’s a lot riding on this to bring home the thousand plot lines every player left dangling in their last save file. Some have even kept the same character going since the very first entry. And so far, this game looks set to deliver an epic conclusion. [Alex Cole]

NETFLIX ARRIVES IN THE UK, PROMISES BUFFERING FOR MOVIE NIGHT FOREVER • IBM ASSEMBLES HARD DRIVE MADE OF 12 FREAKING ATOMS. HOLY CRAP • ICT OVERHAUL ONLY A GOOD IDEA IF ANGRY BIRDS IS AVAILABLE FOR A-LEVELS • RASPBERRY PI CHEAP COMPUTER READY FOR ALL YOUR NERD-OUT NEEDS • 4G TAKING ITS SWEET TIME, BUT PLANS TO COVER 98% OF UK. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT • BBC PULLS JEREMY CLARKSON FROM VOICING SATNAV SYSTEMS FOR ENDORSEMENT REASONS, NOT BECAUSE IT’S CLARKSON

FEBRUARY 2012

THE SKINNY 51

Scott Fletcher as Willie Davenport

Photo: Tommy Ga –Ken Wan

THEATRE

Swallows and Amazons

venue of the Month:

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL That’s Magic!

THEATRE The flagship Edinburgh venue for high art embraces diversity

Talking to Vox Motus about their tale of spirits, seances and siblings Words: Gareth K Vile

words: Amy Taylor February, like January, is a sleepy time in theatre land: the pantomimes have finished, but the big tours haven’t kicked off yet. Fortunately, the Edinburgh Festival Theatre is plugging the gap through an eclectic mix of comedy, music and all ages shows and a taste of forbidden fruit.

Beginning with the nostalgic Swallows and Amazons (31 Jan-4 Feb), a tale of summer nights and innocent childhood days, the sense of childlike adventure runs throughout the month. Scottish Opera brings Hansel and Gretel (14, 16 & 18 Feb), written by Engelbert Humperdinck (no, not that one), with The Singing Kettle returning for its own brand of sing-a-long musical numbers and general tomfoolery in Fancy Dress Party (12 Feb).

The rest of the month has a distinctly more adult tone, with the Scottish comedian Danny Bhoy appearing for just two nights of titillation (7 & 8 Feb) while Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Get

Old offers the only Scottish date of the outspoken director’s tour with Jason Mewes (19 Feb). Chronicling their friendship – on and off screen – to the present day, this new show promises a whole live action section to their successful Smodcast.

Expect adult humour, adult language and a lot of laughs. Finishing off the month is Funny Peculiar (27 Feb-3 Mar), a domestic comedy about a man who attempts an affair with his neighbour that features a handful of former soapstars.

The EFT caters to a broad audience: other months see some hardcore contemporary choreography, and August gets in on the high art action.

It’s too early to tell if the calibre of these shows will make up for the eclectic mix of comedy, childrens’ shows and music, and whether they will be popular, but has the Festival Theatre gone for the safest shows possible? Only time will tell. www.fctt.org.uk/

After wowing the 2010 Fringe with a tale of frozen fathers and small town ambition, Vox Motus hit the Lyceum with a a ‘dark, compelling tale of two brothers in conflict woven around acts of illusion.’ Set in the nineteenth century, it brings on board Peter Arnott, once a vital member of Wildcat’s political company, to add a literary flair to their unique theatricality.

Vox Motus has a reputation for remarkable use of the stage and the set, but the Brothers Davenport features a script from Peter Arnott.

How did he get involved?

We had begun a partner project with Playwrights Studio Scotland to bring new playwriting voices into our process. Peter was the perfect collaborator||: he’s a theatrical wordsmith with an ability to conjure the historical period.

Where did your interest in the ‘magic’ of the 19th century come from?

Co-founder Jamie Harrison has worked as a magician since he was a teenager. Nowadays his focus is on illusion for theatre (famously creating the flying flame Tinkerbell for NTS’s Peter Pan). The 19th century really was the golden era for magic – and spiritualism.

Is this a period piece, or does it have an immediate contemporary resonance?

Every period piece should have an immediate contemporary resonance – we are interested in a gripping, human story rather than a history lesson.

The 1860s is framing for this piece – spiritualism was finding its voice and magic was celebrated across the western world. Communication with spirits is a part of many people’s lives today. It’s a means of offering hope and that is a universal need.

Lyceum, 19 Jan-11 Feb, 7.45pm, Various prices Citizens, 14-18 Feb, 7.30pm, Various prices www.voxmotus.co.uk

HANSEL AND GRETEL

Fairy Tales

With the Disney empire colonising the world of the fairy tale, and their strong association with the diluted versions punted for children, fairy tales, alongside mythology, folk traditions and religious belief have been unfairly consigned to the margins of trivia. Despite this, as the annual Citizens’ Christmas show suggests, and with the continued success of Scottish Ballet’s annual retelling of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker, the fairy story retains a hard kernel of moral instruction and a fascination for the artist wanting to use the fantastic to make serious points.

Englebert Humperdinck’s opera, Hansel and Gretel, has been newly translated by Bill Bank Jones for Scottish Opera’s new production. Emerging from the nineteenth century romantic movement, which would often interpret these tales for gothic or moral ends, the opera follows the siblings’ adventures

52 THE SKINNY February 2012

while retaining a clear message, vividly expressed in the final act. Since the action is precipitated by the poverty of a family – and the tasty trap of the witch plays on a natural childish appetite – this production promises to restore the Grimm inspired psychology and macabre of the original version.

Attune Theatre have opted to reimagine the classic Beauty and the Beast in a modern setting for their Valentine’s production. “There is an attraction of interpreting a classic tale in a fresh context,” says director Stewart Schiller. “Questions about identity, crucial to the original text, make you examine how society is now. Men often feel the need to be the bad boy, or ‘Beast.’ While women are pressured to find a man – any man.”

Although updating a classic does present challenges. “In the original [and to some extent, the Disney version] Belle doesn’t really have a very defined personality. Who is Belle? What is the story saying to her? Addressing those without fundamentally changing the character was quite difficult.” But setting the recession as a backdrop led the way: “Belle is traditionally seen as one of the more positive female characters in fairy tales, but she’s actually tossed about quite a lot. Having her face issues that many young women must face today was really exciting, it transformed the story into something very current.”

Both of these shows echo an enthusiasm for the past’s stories that has most recently been taken up at Platform’s Christmas show – starring magical vocalist Wounded Knee – and the ongoing physical theatre/live art exploration of Luana. Like Luana’s pairing with 85a last November – Grimm tales at Halloween were exactly appropriate – Attune’s intimate staging brings the exotic supernatural close to the audience while the sheer scale of the opera matches the universal scope of Hansel and Gretel. If the Disney vision is smooth, polished and bereft of true darkness, these productions reclaim the creatures of the night for a more troubling understanding of the world. [Antony Sammeroff and Gareth K Vile] Hanseland Gretel, Theatre Royal Glasgow, 4, 8, 10, 12 Feb. Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 14, 16, 18 Feb. Beauty and the beast, Offshore Cafe, 10-12 Feb

Curious seed

Dancin’ across the Country

Both Ballet West and Curious Seed, who are touring this month, are reminders of dance’s versatility.

Ballet West are staging the romantic classic, Swan Lake, with a company evolved from their Oban based school; Curious Seed follow up their Fringe 2009 smash Found by extending their multimedia experimental choreography.

Christine Devaney, artistic director of Curious Seed, is never one to rest on her laurels. Her latest production assembles a performance supergroup and explores the poetic logic of dream and ambition. PUSH reunites her with Luke Sutherland, sometime violinist with Mogwai and celebrated author of Venus as a Boy, adds Jonathan Charles’ video and expands the company to include Breakin’ Convention’s MC Anthony Mills, Jude Williams, fresh from Cryptic’s Orlando, and a community ensemble from each stop on the tour.

Devaney’s choreography moves beyond predictable contemporary: her integration of multimedia and text lends her work accessibility and wit. PUSH was inspired by the play of a nine year old – Tallulah Moleson, who remains in the cast – and questions

the role of resistance in the development of personality. Curious Seed’s eclectic approach suits this sort of study, slipping between genres without ever disappearing into obscure nonsense.

Ballet West, in contrast, are touring a classical favourite. Like Curious Seed, they connect to a community of performers. Ballet West is both a company and a school, offering a BA in dance through practice – the company offers the students the chance to tour in a professional environment. While the film Black Swan was a mixed pleasure – a predictable horror romp obscuring much of dance’s immediate emotional punch – it was a reminder of Swan Lake’s intensity. Perhaps the greatest of the romantic ballets, Ballet West’s admirable committment to touring ballet around the country will hopefully open a new generation to ballet’s potential. [Margaret Kirk] PUSH. Platform (Glasgow) , Fri 17 & Sat 18 Feb, 7.30pm, £8/£4.50/ £3.50. Macrobert (Stirling), Thu 23 Feb, 7.30pm, £12/£9/£7. Brunton Theatre (Musselburgh), Sat 25 Feb, 7.30pm , £10.75/£8.75/£6 com. Mull Theatre (Druimfin), Sat 10 Mar 2012, 8pm, £9/£6. Woodend Barn (Banchory), Thu 15 Mar, 7.30pm, £10/£8/£5. Universal Hall (Findhorn), Sun 18 Mar,7.30pm. Traverse Theatre (Edinburgh), Sat 24 Mar,7.30pm, £15/£11/£6 www.curious-seed.co.uk

Photo: Maria Falconer

PREVIEWS

COMEDY

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Scotland gets its own panel show with The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, a series of podcasts to be recorded in Edinburgh, featuring Scotland’s finest comics debating what is and isn’t shite.

Regular panellist Keir McAllister gives us a guide on separating life’s wheat from the chaff words: Keir McAllister Photo: Sally Jubb

I have always been wary of deeply involved self-analysis. There are two reasons for this: firstly because those who are tend to be the type of people who can’t take a shit without holding a candle ceremony and secondly because I’m reluctant to spend vast amounts of my own money only to reach the inevitable breakthrough that all my problems stem from the cold, hard, emotional truth that I am, in fact, just a bit of a dick. So you can imagine my initial reticence when asked to become involved in a comedy podcast which requires me to identify the good, bad and ugly parts of my existence. Let me just say right now: it’s really not been worth it.

The bad was easy. No-one finds it difficult to identify the bad things in their life, especially comedians. Every good comic is a masochist by nature. A friend of mine once told me a harrowing story about being on his first holiday in nine years.

Within the first two days he was severely beaten up and had a loaded gun pointed at his head. He swears his one presiding emotion throughout the whole ordeal was relief, because now, at last, he had some material for his Fringe show, a show he never got to perform due to the resulting mental breakdown which occurred when the trauma finally kicked in.

I believe most people carry with them a fully loaded rant, ready to shoot from the hip should some unsuspecting do-gooder ever be naïve enough to strike up a conversation with something as moronically vacuous as ‘How are you today?’ If you don’t, you should. One of life’s greatest pleasures is watching a slightly scared stranger being forced to listen as you seethe and spit your way through a lengthy and colourful critique of ScotRail services, an unsettlingly graphic account of the many ways you’d separate Jeremy Clarkson from his head and ending on a slightly surreal vignette detailing why tangerines can just fuck off...

As I said, the bad was pretty easy....

The good, not so much....

It’s not that there isn’t good stuff in my life – it’s just its not very funny or flattering. Not only is it difficult to get the big laughs from material about how “I really enjoyed my walk the other day because I saw a fox,” or “I’m enjoying that new Danish drama series,” but the picture painted is one of a socially retarded recluse aroused by vermin.

Comedians and contentment do not mix. It’s like giving Clark Kent a Kryptonite johnny. The engine of comedy is dissatisfaction, self-loathing and tragedy. Without these components we would all end up smug, self-satisfied, humourless replicants.

Perhaps the only good I’ve truly identified throughout this process is that it’s vastly overrated. Bad is a lot easier to work with and much more satisfying.

Just ask Charlie Sheen.

Then there’s the ugly...

I don’t care what Colleen Rooney says, the human condition is naturally disposed against looking for too long at our unsightly parts for reasons of self preservation. If we were all to reach an understanding as to our own true nature, just think of the massive surge in applications for shotgun licenses and bookings for holidays in Syria. Fortunately for me, I have a family who positively revel in any opportunity to collectively relive the potted history of my ever eventful cuntitude. Even if it’s Christmas Day. And I haven’t seen most of them for three months. And no-one fucking asked them to. Still, I’m now more than equipped with enough ugly material and I can put the whole experience on my bad list. Which is a good thing isn’t it? See I told you. It’s really not been worth it.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly will be recorded live in The Stand, Edinburgh on 1, 7, 15, & 21 February, £5, doors 7.30pm. http://www.edinburghcomedycollective.com/

February 2012

THE SKINNY 53

COMPS

WIN VALENTINE’S DAY TICKETS TO ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS AND CHOCOLATE TASTING

Reminder: Valentine’s Day is on Tuesday 14 February! To mark this, the holiest of greeting card holidays, we’ve teamed up with the Cameo to offer two lucky Skinny readers a fast track to the good books. We’ve got date night sorted with a pair of tickets to Jean-Pierre Améris’ funny and super slushy Romantics Anonymous and a luxurious chocolate tasting courtesy of Hotel Chocolat.

To enter visit www.theskinny.co.uk/competitions, or scan the QR code with your smartphone, and answer the following question:

Q. Chocolate is often rumoured to be an aphrodisiac, but which of the following will probably NOT get you lucky?

A. Oysters B. Ginseng C. Forgetting Valentine’s Day Competition closes Sun 12 Feb Winners will be notified on the day of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. For full terms and conditions, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/ about/terms Romantics Anonymous is Screening at the Cameo 14 Feb at 6.30 pm www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/ Cameo_Picturehouse/

54 THE SKINNY FEBRUARY 2012

WIN £150 WORTH OF ITUNES VOUCHERS For those who enjoyed themselves a little too much over the festive period, the January pinch can easily lead into the February barrel-scrape.

Thank heavens we have £150 worth of iTunes vouchers to give away courtesy of Simply Tap, so at least you’re sorted entertainment-wise for another quiet few weeks.

Simply Tap is the new, instant mobile checkout that allows you to buy in seconds when you see something you like in magazines, out and about, online and in store. Download the app for your smartphone, register your details once, tap in the unique Simply Tap code to buy and your delivery will be on its way. You’ll find tap codes in magazines, on posters or on the websites of Simply Tap retailers like Carphone Warehouse, Thorntons, and Pretty Green.

To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is go to www.theskinny.co.uk/competitions and tell us:

Q: If you could be at any gig in history in an instant, which would it be?

Competition closes Wed 29 Feb Winners will be notified on the day of closing and will be required to respond within 7 days or the prize will be offered to another entrant. For full terms and conditions, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/ about/terms Download the app by searching in your App Store for 'Simply Tap' or at http://bit.ly/TapBlog

Glasgow music Tue 31 Jan Oran Mor’s Open Mic

Oran Mor, 20:00–23:30, Free

Acoustic-styled open mic night hosted by Ross Clark of Three Blind Wolves, joined by a variety of featured acts.

Madison Violet (The Whisky River Boat Band) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £11

More soul-searching lyrics and uplifting melodies from the Canadian duo, aka Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac. Part of Celtic Connections.

The Sensational Shiverin’ Sheiks

Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Madcap rock’n’roll and 50s psychedelia for your Tuesday night pleasure.

Chemikal Underground and Friends Brel, 19:30–22:00, £5

Showcase evening curated by the inimitable Chemikal Underground label. Part of Celtic Connections.

Babybird (The Sneaky Russians)

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £12.50

The Stephen Jones-fronted 90s indie-popsters return, reformed as a three-piece, with hit You’re Gorgeous still very much their calling card.

Alternative Burns Night Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Celebrating the big man’s birthday with a mash up of poets, punksrappers, ravers and rockers. Plus free whisky and haggis.

Reading the Leaves

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

Monthly night of poetry and short story readings.

Black Lantern Music Showcase (Texture Vs Morphamish, Church Of When The Shit Hits The Fan, Opul, Tickle) Glasgow School of Art, 20:00–00:00, Free

The Black Lantern Music netlabel host a free-for-all showcase night, moving from Texture Vs Moprhamish’s poetry-meets-dubstep, right through to COWTSHTF’s electro-rap apocalypse.

Kina Grannis

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

Los Angeles-based acoustic folkmeets-pop singer/songwriter who recently won an MTV award for best web-born artist.

Mayhem Underground (Zombie Militia, Lethal Tender, Engines of Vengeance) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £6

Hardcore rammy of a night uniting Glasgow’s metal scene under one roof, with live bands, DJs and weekly competitions.

Dave Dominey

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

Funked-up bass loops with laptop, electric bass and a featured guest soloist.

Jonathan Wilson

The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £14

Alternative country mover and shaker paying homage to early-70s country rock. Part of Celtic Connections.

Alejandro Toledo and The Magic Tombolinos (Stowaway) Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £7.50

Alejandro Toledo fronts this raggletaggle bunch of eccentric musicians, blending elements of Balkan, jazz and flamenco.

Fri 03 Feb

Wed 01 Feb

Rock, Salt & Nails

Paul Kelly (Tensheds)

Powerhouse Shetland outfit marrying their rich native traditions with bluegrass, country and excellent roots-pop songwriting. Part of Celtic Connections.

Deathkill4000 (Hector Bizerk)

Blouse

Pretty damn fine drummer/MC duo fresh from their Radio 1 live session.

Dream-pop trio based out of a warehouse in Portland, Oregon. Could they sound any hipper?

Bloc+, 22:00–01:00, Free

Maria Speight Quartet Brel, 15:00–18:00, £5

The US jazz vocalist, now located in Edinburgh, blends gospel, blues and standards in her own inimitable way.

Part of Celtic Connections.

Howler (Man Made)

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £8

Surf thrash offerings from the Minneapolis scamps touring on the back of their debut album, America Give Up.

The Mode (Fuzzy Wuzzy Was A Woman?)

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Glasgow quartet mixing alternative indie-rock rhythms and jagged guitars, in one perfectly danceable combo.

Ernest

The National Piping Centre, 19:00–23:30, £10

Talented bunch of players taking in everything from 60s soul to countryfolk cover, also dipping into their own back catalogue for the occasion.

Butterfly Saturdays

Butterfly & Pig, 20:00–02:00, Free

Resident rockers The Meat Men play a live set, followed by DJ Dave Stone.

Plus free entry to the Buff Club’s official after-party.

James Barnes and Cochise Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:00, £3

Hard-gigging Glasgow lot who started out in the east end of Glasgow in the early 70s, still playing their fine mix of soul, rock and blues.

Smoove and Turrell (Federation of the Disco Pimp) The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £13

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £7

Cosmonauts (Mount Analogue) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, Free

Dynamic Edinburgh quartet riding along on 60s-tinged rock, dark beats and brooding electro cello, with support from art-rock experimentalists Mount Analogue.

Vieux Farka Toure

The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £14

Yes, as in the son of the late great Ali Farka Toure, nailing it with his hypnotic amalgam of desert blues, rock, jazz and Malian influences.

What The Blood Revealed (Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster, Naisian, Without James)

Glasgow University Chapel, 20:00–22:30, Free

The experimental organist plays a rare solo set in Glasgow, articulating through improvisation, composition, electroacoustic projects, field recording, electronics and theory.

Suffice to say he’s a bit of a master.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £7

Rock four-piece hailing form the south of England, having formed whilst at school down’t there.

Young Guns (Polar, Tonight Alive)

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

Greg Hughes led emotive pop outfit, touring on the back of their debut LP, Creature of an Hour.

Northern Irish newcomers with healthy Biffy affection.

Jamie Hay

Louis Abbott and Friends

Talented singer/songwriter playing off-beat atmospheric songs in an otherworldly folk style.

Brel, 19:30–22:00, £5

The Admiral Fallow mainman invites along a batch of (likely well-known) chums for a musical singalong. Part of Celtic Connections.

Biohazard (Heights)

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £15

Brooklyn-based noisemakers of the hardcore rock-meets-metal variety, who apparently once managed to smuggle an Uzi automatic into the country. God help us.

Event Horses

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Hardcore and Bronx-esque punk sounds from the Belfast chaps.

Live Jazz

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

The residents play a mix of jazz classics and modern standards.

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

Butterfly Fridays

Butterfly & Pig, 20:00–02:00, Free

Live acoustic blues from house band The Fortunate Sons, followed by DJ Junior on deck duty.

Laura Veirs

The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £14

The Colorado singer/songwriter does her lush acoustic thing, showcased no sweeter than on new album Tumble Bee, a selection of children’s songs drawn from US folk tradition. Part of Celtic Connections.

Vanetta Valls (One Guilty Man, Audiodriver, The Nice) Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5

The Glasgow-based rockers headline a night of all-out classic rock.

The Griffin, 20:30–23:00, £3

Alternative country night featuring the songs of Steve Earle, with sets from The Hellfire Club, Shawna Olivia and various special guests.

Sun 05 Feb Floating Palace (KT Tunstall, Martin and Eliza Carthy, Krystle Warren, Howe Gelb) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

Live music salon hosted by renowned English eccentric Robyn Hitchcock, including a guest slot from a certain KT Tunstall. Part of Celtic Connections.

Hazy Recollections (Dead Man’s Waltz, Gabby Young, Hidden Lane Choir, Captain and the Kings, The Seventeenth Century) O2 ABC, 14:00–17:00, £10

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £6

Canadian rockers headered by Colin MacDonald who never sound like they’re having anything less than a bloody good time.

Terra Naomi (Rebecca Orr) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £10

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £8.50

The Banana Sessions

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 20:00–23:00, £5

The delightful experimental Edinburgh pop troupe tour their rather fine debut album, Mixtape.

Mayhem Underground (Devour, Bacchus Baracus, Longhorn) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £6

Hardcore rammy of a night uniting Glasgow’s metal scene under one roof, with live bands, DJs and weekly competitions.

Michael Simons

Scragfight (Spat, Terminal Parade)

Folk and blues fingerstyle guitarist.

Glasgow trio putting their twist on Riot Grrrl punk.

Big Country

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £22.50

Dunfermline-born 80s rockers formed when Stuart Adamson left The Skids in 1981 and recruited guitar partner Bruce Watson, now back and touring under their new line-up.

Tue 07 Feb The Sensational Shiverin’ Sheiks

Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Madcap rock’n’roll and 50s psychedelia for your Tuesday night pleasure.

Nada Surf (Waters)

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £14

Brooklyn trio big on the melody, with Matthew Caws’ vocals soaring over gentle backing, with strings and the harmonic attributes of both bassist, Daniel Lorca, and drummer, Ira Elliot.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £4 (£3)

Glasgow piano rockers with a distinct pop vibe, taking in shattered punk, classical and hip-hop sounds as they go.

Jean-Luc Guionnet, Seijiro Murayama

Kinning Park Complex, 20:00–22:30, Free

Intense free improvisation set taking in compositions by organist Jean-Luc Guionnet and his long-term colleague Seijiro Murayama, amongst others.

Fri 10 Feb The Heretics (Sunset Stereo, Catara, The Strategy) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8

Rotherham-based metal-meetspunk foursome, with three guitar players amongst ‘em.

Papa Zita, Everywhere, Grand Central, Cassy Lochart

Kaiser Chiefs (Frankie and The Heartstrings, Native Tongue)

Showcase night of indie and acoustic pop types, all toe-tapping rhythms and catchy hooks.

The gangly Leeds indie-pop scamps return following a three year hiatus, back on the road with new album The Future Is Medieval.

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, Free

Jamie Bell

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

The talented fingerstyle jazz guitarist plays his own arrangements of standards.

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £25

Gentle Friendly, Way Through, Peepholes, Wild Pegasus Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Retrospex

Indiana-based bluesy rock singer/ songwriter all coo-coo vocals and gentle harmonies.

No-nonsense new-wave packed to the gills with big hooks and boundless charm, riding along on Chris Devotion’s lean songwriting.

Classic and southern-styled rock influences abound as the mighty Atlanta heavy-metallers tour on the back of their latest album, The Hunter.

Live ska spectacular featuring a selection of Glasgow’s favourited ska bands, plus free pizza for all! We’re sold.

Thu 02 Feb

Sat 04 Feb

Bella Hardy

Hidden Orchestra (Charpelier Fou)

The Alan Kelly Gang (Yuptae, Elbow Jane)

Joe Acheson and his Edinburgh based outfit, duelling acoustic and digital percussion, piano, violin, bass and samples in one gloriously experimental whole. Part of Celtic Connections.

Piano accordionist Alan Kelly and his merry gand of cohorts, joined live by Eddi Reader for their Celtic Connections show.

Blues of the World (Moussu T, Pura Fe and John Trudell, Errol Linton, Keith B Brown)

O2 ABC, 18:30–22:00, £10

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £14

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

International blues gathering bringing together artists whose lineage and traditions stretch from southern France to Native American. Part of Celtic Connections.

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £14

The regular live mainstays play a genre-hopping mix of R’n’B, soul, pop, Latin and rock.

Brel, 19:30–22:30, £12

Acclaimed Peak District singer Bella Hardy combines traditional styles and ballad forms into one poetic, fairytalelike whole. Part of Celtic Connections.

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £17.50

Johnny Cash tribute act. Part of Celtic Connections.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

Wed 08 Feb

The vibrant Glasgow folk collective mix traditional rootsy Scottish tunes with contemporary influences, all bagpipes and whistles. Part of Celtic Connections.

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £17

Boston-born rockers who started playing in the basement of a friend’s barbershop back in the 90s, blending the musical influences they’d grown up with (punk-rock, Irish folk and hardcore) into one chaotic whole.

Butterfly & Pig, 20:00–02:00, Free

James Barnes and Cochise Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:00, £3

Hard-gigging Glasgow lot who started out in the east end of Glasgow in the early 70s, still playing their fine mix of soul, rock and blues.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £7

NME Awards Tour 2012 (Two Door Cinema Club, Metronomy, Tribes, Azealia Banks) O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £19

NME host their annual showcase tour of the most exciting emergent talent, in their eyes anyway.

Butterfly & Pig, 20:00–02:00, Free

Live acoustic blues from house band The Fortunate Sons, followed by DJ Junior on deck duty.

Steve Cradock

Maggie May’s, 19:30–22:30, £9.50

Steve Cradock and his merry band bring their acoustic slant to songs old and new.

Sonic Thirll

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Hard rockin’ Edinburgh five-piece riding along on a timeless 80s sound imbued with modern grit and melodic twists.

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

The melodic rockers take in Glasgow as part of their UK-wide tour, their anthemic brand of tunesmithery well and truly in place.

Michael Simons

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

Folk and blues fingerstyle guitarist.

Brontide

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Brighton instrumental math-rock trio, flowing seamlessly between myriad atonal crescendos, delicate spidery arpeggios and chugging riffs.

The GZA

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £16

The Wu-Tang Clan’s most potent lyrical swordsman, The GZA (aka The Genius), heads Arches way for the usual dextrous assault of colourful wordplay. Bow down.

Tue 14 Feb The Sensational Shiverin’ Sheiks

Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Madcap rock’n’roll and 50s psychedelia for your Tuesday night pleasure.

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £20

Laid-back, Long Island rock quartet.

Nuff said.

Spindly-legged Glasgow punk-rockers, originally going by the catchy moniker of We Are The Physics Club And Therefore Everything We Say Is Fact.

Sun 12 Feb The Easy Orchestra

Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Smooth, lounge-styled tunesmithery from the regular house band.

Justice

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £20

Parisian duo layering crunching electro beats and chunky, stadium rock-influenced riffs, currently experimenting with a more indulgent, wayward structure as referenced on latest album Audio, Video, Disco.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £12

Queen Jane (Campfires In Winter, Kith and Kim) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Alternative indie four-piece hailing from the fiery musical furnace of Cumbernauld.

Mon 13 Feb Kerrang! Relentless Tour (New Found Glory, Sun 41, LetLive) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Sum 41 and New Found Glory come together to co-headline the Kerrang!’s 2012 tour, showcasing punk-rock from near and far.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Ensemble of six dapper Brighton chaps singing about love and the like.

Burial (Cloaked Our)

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Hardcore punksters from Germany, mixing the sounds of early American hardcore with a definite dose of Japanese hardcore.

Mayhem Underground (Grey Calibre, Babylon Fading, Skeleton Soldier) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £6

Hardcore rammy of a night uniting Glasgow’s metal scene under one roof, with live bands, DJs and weekly competitions.

Andrea Heins

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

The Canadian-born singer/songwriter works her magic on guitar, vocals and auto-harp.

GFF: High Places

The Arches, 20:00–22:30, £8

Brooklyn boy/girl duo of Robert Barber and Mary Pearson, making quirky electro-pop that they then backdrop with their own video projections. Part of Glasgow Film Festival 2012.

Outfit (Coat Hooks)

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £6

Liverpudlian guitar-pop ensemble playing a selection of new stuff offa their recent EP.

Fri 17 Feb

Full-on blend of hardcore punk from the Glasgow five-piece, with a bit of metalcore thrown in for good measure (read: extra noise).

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Edinburgh indie-rock quartet big on the towering vocals and pulsing bass lines.

Wed 15 Feb More Than Conquerors (It Girl) Bloc+, 21:00–23:30, Free

The Smalltown America Records’ signees do their bright and magical post-hardcore thing.

James Morrison (Rainy Boy Sleep) O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £sold out

The happy-go-lucky London fivesome churn out the pop tunes.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £5

Sweet Sweet Lies

Campbell’s Wild (Evrol, Waverly, The Defaults)

Multi-instrumental London duo made up of Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell.

Rescheduled date.

Psych-folk trio with distinct pop(ish) influences, picking up random live players as they go.

We Are The Physics (Fiction Faction)

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £14

Florida quartet in possession of rock riffs and long, flowing locks.

The Recovery (Heavy Smoke, Johnny and The Bomb, Witness the Fall)

Solo singer/songwriter who started his days as a busker in Cornwall, before being propelled into the spotlight with his two-million selling debut album.

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Shinedown

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10.50

Adam Stearns and The Glass Animals (Honey and The Herbs, Robin Adams)

Butterfly Fridays

Australian singer/songwriter and her trusty guitar.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

Dropkick Murphys

Acoustic blues done in a one-manand-his-guitar kinda way.

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

My Extraordinary (SubSpheric)

The Big Pink

Speed rockers of the super-fast filth-rock hardcore variety.

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Leeds-based band of lunatics running to a tight check list of torturous vocals, distortion, serious riffage, and hardcore clatter. All in the name of some pretty bloody awesome balls-tothe-wall rock, y’understand.

Showcase night of indie and acoustic rock types, all toe-tapping rhythms and catchy hooks.

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

The founding member of rock’n’rollers The Black Crowes plays a solo set.

Smooth lovesongs a-plenty as Boys II Men celebrate their 20th anniverary.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Brand New

Rich Robinson

Cash

Oxford-based dance DJ bouncing relentlessly between laptop, keyboards, drum machine, samples and live vocals. Also in possession of a sparkly dinosaur head-dress, oh yes.

Glasgow Ska Train (Skababs)

Pulled Apart By Horses (The Computers)

King Cutler, Crimson Saints, Eat Meat, No Fxd Abode, David Ian

Whitemare (Romans)

Boys II Men

The Treacherous Orchestra (Gabby Young and Other Animals)

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 20:00–23:00, £5

Tragic O’Hara (Kevin Walls, Whatever They Say, The Sweet Janes)

Holly Throsby (Tiny Ruins, Jordan Ireland)

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £25

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

The Dirty Keys (Coldair)

Upset The Rhythm tour, showcasing a selection of experimental DIY talent.

Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:30, Free

Aerials Up (Echofela, Kobi)

Resident rockers The Meat Men play a live set, followed by DJ Dave Stone.

Plus free entry to the Buff Club’s official after-party.

Mastodon (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Red Fang)

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Glasgow-based heavy metallers summing up their sound as a ‘zombie picnic’. Nice.

Butterfly Saturdays

Handpicked selection of acts from the flourishing Glasgow indie, folk and roots scene. Part of Celtic Connections.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £6

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £6

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Chris Devotion and The Expectations (Kill Surrff, The Dirt)

Brian Olive (Charles of the Ritz, Sick Kids)

Pilljaw (Burning the Dream, Exile The Traitor, Acedia)

The up-and-coming west coast singer/songwriter launches his debut album, A Tale of Two Halves.

Tottenham-born, reggae-infused folkie mixing fiddle hooks with groovy bass beats, fresh from his stint supporting Ed Sheeran.

The Hellfire Club, Shawna Olivia

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £20

New York-based singer/songwriter of the blue-eyed, charming and soulful variety.

Houston-born rapper fusing his sound with plenty rock’n’roll attitude.

Stillpoint (Felix Champion, We’re Only Afraid Of NYC) Bloc+, 21:00–23:30, Free

Khuda (Citizens, Nasdaq, Fat Janitor)

Mon 06 Feb

Still Corners (My Sad Captain, Pumjaw)

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £6

The residents play a mix of jazz classics and modern standards.

Sat 11 Feb Gavin DeGraw (Juan Zelada)

Cantebury (Straight Lines, Proxies)

Lester Clayton (The Upbeat Beatdown) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

Gareth Croll (Pol Stevenson, Craig Bedson)

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

Live Jazz

Hyro Da Hero (Marmozets, Astroid Boys)

Maggie May’s play host to an eclectic night of indie, rock and blues, with Fifers Thomas Bird and The Blonde Sprirt headlining proceedings.

Favourited Irish singer/songwriter bringing his mighty voice to bear on topics both local and global. Part of Celtic Connections.

Progressive metallers riding along on John Petrucci’s guitar wizardry.

The Griffin, 20:00–22:30, £4

The Americana night returns, soundtracked by Stewart Traquair’s 60s-tinged urban folk, amongst others.

Thu 09 Feb

Colin MacIntyre re-embraces both the urban and his former alias as he launches a new Mull Historical Society release. Part of Celtic Connections.

Damien Dempsey (Kitty The Lion, Eoin Glackin)

SECC, 19:30–22:00, From £28.50

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £12

Swedish progressive rock trio led by Daniel Gildenlow.

Where would our month be without a bit of Celtic-tinged, rustic anthemia?

Aerials Up have it by the bundle, as well as a unique ability to get a rousing jig on. Amen.

The breakout star plays the melodic acoustic compositions that earned her over 21 million Youtube views.

Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5

Dream Theater

The Trews (The Fleet)

Thomas Bird and The Blonde Spirit, 8 Track Stereo, The Dead Agenda, Japanfour, Gareth Croll

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

Vagabond Social Club (Stewart Traquair, Alex Wayt, Dinny)

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £12

Jean-Luc Guionnet

Mull Historical Society (Washington Irving)

Australian singer/songwriter with a gift for perfectly encapsulating his homeland, with recent shows drawing from his massive box set, The A-Z Recordings. Part of Celtic Connections.

North Carolina screamo-styled rockers, e’er ready to take their live sound to some raw and energetic places (i.e. it’s hella noisy).

Instrumental two-piece from Leeds, weaving psychedelic and progressive influences into their guitars and drums sound.

London-based rock five-piece headered by the mighty Gustav Wood.

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £14

Pain Of Salvation

Instrumental rock foursome hailing from Irvine on the West Coast of Scotland

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

The Geordie duo of vocalist John Turrell and DJ/producer Jonathan Watson putting their seductive spin on all genres of soul. Part of Celtic Connections.

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £13

Alesana (We Came As Romans, I Wrestled A Bear Once, Glamour Of The Kill)

Spector (David’s Lyre, Salt) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Rams’ Pocket Radio (Skippy Dyes, Hunter)

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £6

Experimental pop noisemaker on drums, piano and lyrics, aka Northern Island chap Peter McCauley.

The Shakedown Project (XYStereo, Conn Harp, Little Blue) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Psychadelic and indie-styled garage rock, plus support from the one-man blues steam train that is Conn Harp.

Live Jazz

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

The residents play a mix of jazz classics and modern standards.

Midnight Lion

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £6

Chilled oot Glasgow duo combining their Scottish indie heritage with more spacious, lo-fi beats to produce some quietly emotive indie-tronica.

Wounded Knee (Ian Nagoski, The Family Elan) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Experimental Glasgow musician (aka Drew Wright) doing his inimitable freak-folk thing.

Masters In France

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £5

Bangor-born five-piece taking the alternative indie template to some dark and danceable places, anchored on Ed Ellis Jones’ sultry vocals.

Thu 16 Feb Cast The Net (Radio Arcade, Waiting On Jack, Astrid & Quinn, Sean Kennedy) Bloc+, 21:00–23:30, Free

Bi-monthly showcase taking in a handpicked selection of exciting new Scottish artists and bands.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8

Lydia Lunch and Big Sexy Noise (Louise McVey and Cracks In The Concrete) Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £11

Ultra-confrontational no wave icon Lydia Lunch returns to Stereo after her solo set in 2011, this time armed with her full live band the Big Sexy Noise.

Butterfly Fridays

Butterfly & Pig, 20:00–02:00, Free

Live acoustic blues from house band The Fortunate Sons, followed by DJ Junior on deck duty.

Citizen Death (Insomniac, Silvertrace, Cemtex) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Thrash metal foursome from Glasgow, taking a side step by adding elements of jazz funk to the mix.

Beth Jeans Haughton (Goodnight Lenin, Open Swimmer) Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £7

Newcastle singer/songwriter in possession of some rather sweet nu-folk ditties, and her raggle-taggle live band The Hooves Of Destiny.

Sat 18 Feb John Wean

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £6

Four Scottish lads writing about love, life and their biggest interest: girls.

Viva Stereo (FOUND, Lonely Tourist) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £6

Fully signed-up members of the Fence Collective crew, Viva Stereo ride along on a genre-hopping blend of folk, electro, indie, punk, hip-hop and psychedelia, whilst also sharing the same live drummer as Mr King Creosote.

Phantom Limb

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6.50

Sweet and honest country and soul tunes from the Bristol sextet led by vocalist Yolanda Quartey.

The Collectors

McChuills, 20:30–23:30, Free

Retro-styled covers band, taking in mod, R’n’B and garage classics.

Pheromoans (Hookworms, Broken Arm, Scratchcard Lung) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

UK DIY shamble avant garage at its bloody finest.

Gary Ovens, Ewan Butler, Michael Sharpe, Kris Tennant, Greg Pearson Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

Acoustic indie showcase featuring a five-strong bill of singer/songwriters.

February 2012

THE SKINNY 55

G lasgow music

E D I N B U R G H music

Pat Hull

General Fiasco

Jason Derulo

Kwes

SBTRKT (Disclosure)

Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter currently on tour with Michael Chinworth.

Ulster chaps wholly dedicated to the rock’n’roll sound.

Field Music (Stealing Sheep)

Allo Darlin’

Young Miami-based chart topper of the sexy urban dance and poppy love song variety. Deep stuff, we’re sure.

The brothers Brewlis take to Stereo a few days after their new album hits the streets, chock with carefully orchestrated and imaginatively structured songs.

Musical-magpies Allo Darlin’ borrow from a variety of classic indie-pop acts for their homage-styled indiepop loveliness.

New signing on the Warp block, British producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and all-round talented bugger Kwes plays the GSA union as part of the Glasgow Music and Film Festival 2012.

Stage name of London-based producer-cum-musician Aaron Jerome, he of the contemporary electronica and eclectic beat feasts.

And on-stage mask wearing.

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £8.50

Butterfly Saturdays

Butterfly & Pig, 20:00–02:00, Free

Resident rockers The Meat Men play a live set, followed by DJ Dave Stone.

Plus free entry to the Buff Club’s official after-party.

James Barnes and Cochise Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:00, £3

Hard-gigging Glasgow lot who started out in the east end of Glasgow in the early 70s, still playing their fine mix of soul, rock and blues.

Real Estate

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £7

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £8

Tue 21 Feb Oran Mor’s Open Mic

Oran Mor, 20:00–23:00, Free

Acoustic-styled open mic night hosted by Ross Clark of Three Blind Wolves, joined by a variety of featured acts.

The Sensational Shiverin’ Sheiks

Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Madcap rock’n’roll and 50s psychedelia for your Tuesday night pleasure.

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £12

Rodrigo y Gabriela

GFF: Serafina and Sam Steer

The experimental Mexican acoustic duo tour on the back of their latest epic, Area 52, which rather boldly features a full Cuban orchestra. Bow down.

Psych-pop styled indie offerings from the New Jersey foursome, all jangly guitars and catchy melodies.

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £6 (£4)

Multi-instrumentalist Serafina Steer performs her own live scores using harp and vocals to the fairytale animations of her filmmaker brother Sam Steer. Part of Glasgow Film Festival.

Colin James Murphy (Rafiki, Rolled Up 20s, The Beatin Generals, Ripley) Maggie May’s, 19:30–22:00, £6 (£4)

The acoustic indie singer/songwriter launches his new 4-track EP.

Black Operations (Drunk In Hell, Headless Kross, Prolife) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Middlesborough bunch doing a rather fine line in experimental punk.

Randolph’s Leap (Donna Maccioca, Kith and Kin)

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Glasgow ensemble charmingly twisting the folk-pop genre into odd knots, creating witty ear-worms of joy.

Sun 19 Feb Ben Howard

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £sold out

Devon-based folk rocker using his guitar to build percussive beats around his melancholic ditties.

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £20

Grouplove

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7

Contemporary indie five-piece formed when band members Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi met and clicked in lower east Manhattan.

Axis Of, As In Bear

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Belfast hardcore outfit Axis Of bore a hole through the stage, while electric freakout duo As In Bear do the same in the middle of the room.

Gus Stirrat

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

Monthly jazz session with bassist Gus Stirrat and pals.

Band Of Skulls

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £15

London-based alternative garage rock trio fresh from supporting The Black Keys on a string of dates.

Baxter Dury

The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £8

Indie-rock singer/songwriter, who’s also the son of the late Ian Dury.

Wed 22 Feb Shelby Lynn

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £20

Rod Jones and The Birthday Suit

American singer/songwriter known for her country ballads.

Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones plays with his new band, The Birthday Suit, an ever-changing collective of musicians.

Spotlight Kid (Evil Edison, Life In December, Lifestream)

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7.50

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Mechanical Smile (Already Gone, Haivercraft)

Nottingham-based shoegaze ensemble, all dreamy and fuzzy in their alternative pop sensibilities.

Two guys and two girls from Ayrshire, combining rock, pop and grunge to create their own melodic and pulsating sound.

UWS International Exchange Heats (Juan Pablo, Terraquoma, Lily and The Stars, Vasa, The Sidelines)

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £4

Django Django

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £7

Delighful Art School jangle with an electronic edge, fruitily looping and catchily hooking as they go.

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

The heats for the UWS exchange project continue, with the winner getting the chance to take their show on the road in Europe.

The South

Rebecca Ferguson

Former members of The Beautiful South, Dave Hemingway, Alison Wheeler and Dave Stead come repackaged as, er, The South.

Liverpudlian singer/songwriter and X Factor almost-was.

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £20

GFF: Wet Sounds

North Woodside Leisure Centre, 17:30–19:00 & 20:00–21:30, £9

A Victorian swimming pool transforms into a unique listening space, with two sound systems (one below the water) emitting a combination of Joel Cahen’s electronic modulations and La Horrox’s voice and electronica. Part of Glasgow Film Festival.

Mon 20 Feb Dana O’Hara(Killer Robots) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

A night of brash rock ‘n’ searing metal.

Michael Simons

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

Folk and blues fingerstyle guitarist

Alcest (Les Discrets, Soror Dolorosa) Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Otherworldly French project created

by Niege (also of Amesoeurs, Peste Noire and Forgotten Woods), taking its inspiration from a faraway fantasy world of his childhood dreams.

Charlene Soraia

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £7

The London-based songstress and her ever-present guitar, doing her gentle jazz-y thing.

SECC, 19:00–22:00, From £19.50

Live Jazz

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

The residents play a mix of jazz classics and modern standards.

We Have Band (Any Color Black) Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £7.50

London electro-pop trio infusing their sound with a good dose of disco.

Thu 23 Feb Rizzle Kicks

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £sold out

Teenage talents Harley AlexanderSule and Jordan Stephens do their thing, mixing pop with some oldschool hippity-hop. In baseball caps.

Subcity Stories

Bloc+, 21:00–23:30, Free

French melodic post-hardcore foursome specialising in chewed-up and spat-out pop-rock.

SECC, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Fanfarlo

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £8

Winsome chambr pop with Swedish musician Simon Balthazar at the helm, set off with strings, glockenspiels, clustered pianos and churning basslines.

Adam Holmes and The Embers (The Gillyflowers, Brigid Kaelin) Captain’s Rest, 19:30–23:30, £7.50

Rootsy-pop singer/songwriter Adam Holmes plays accompanied by his fivestrong band of players, The Embers.

A Psychocinematic Ritual (OV)

The Old Hairdressers, 20:00–22:30, £5

Collaboration between members of Desalvo, Unwinding Hours, and Sons and Daughters, exploring their shared fascination with all things occult through a selection of live film soundtracks and live visuals. Part of Glasgow Film Festival.

Fri 24 Feb Kathleen Edwards

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Canadian singer/songwriter touring on the back of her latest album Voyageur, which saw her pleasingly expand on both her sonic and lyrical content.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich (Fossil Collective) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12

Gentle, acoustic pop from the Yorkshire singer/songwriter.

Michael Kiwanuka (The Staves)

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £9

British soul artist combining soul and roots influences in one deep and husky-voiced whole.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds

SECC, 19:30–22:00, From £37.50

Noel Gallagher and his new band tour in support of their debut album released at the tail-end of 2011.

Wing and a Prayer

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

Live showcase of blues-influenced singer/songwriters.

Arika12: Deflag Haemorrhage and Haien Kontra

Tramway, 19:30–21:00, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

Accelerating out of the other side of noise music, with free improvisation and rock from one of the most ferocious live bands around.

Arika12: Iain Campbell F-W Tramway, 20:45–21:45, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

Watch someone build a hyper-me using funding, experiences and masking tape, then produce your value response and add beliefs to yourself. Simple.

Arika12: Walter Marchetti Performed By Esther Ferrer Tramway, 21:15–22:30, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

The anarchic, conceptual composer performs what he says will be his last composition, with great Spanish performance artist Esther Ferrer joining him live.

Butterfly Fridays

Butterfly & Pig, 20:00–02:00, Free

Live acoustic blues from house band The Fortunate Sons, followed by DJ Junior on deck duty.

No Fxd Abode (The Crash Bandits, Glass Fool) Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5

More up-beat indie-punk from the chirpy Glasgow lads.

Cherri Fosphate

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Indie-rock foursome hailing from Glasgow and East Ayrshire.

Glenn Jones and Wounded Knee

The Old Hairdressers, 20:00–23:00, £8 adv. (£10 door)

American guitarist Glenn Jones teams up with experimental Glasgow musician Wounded Knee (aka Drew Wright) for one of the more obscure gigs on our monthly schedule, mores the joy.

Glasgow School of Art, 20:00–22:00, £6

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10.50

Skinner

Silver Apples

Evolving colective of Glasgow musicians based around the music of Grahame Skinner from Hipsway.

Groundbreaking 60s electronica duo, with surviving member Simeon Coxe III dropping by Mono as part of Glasgow Film Festival 2012.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £12.50

GFF: Umberto

SWG3, 20:00–22:30, £5

Otherworldly electronic muso Umberto (aka Matt Hill) provides a live soundtrack to a secret film of his choosing. Part of Glasgow Film Festival.

Arika12: Junko

Tramway, 22:30–23:30, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

One of the founding members of the defining Japanese Noise band Hijokaidan, doing her rather epic vocal solo thing.

Simple Minds

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £sold out

The Jim Kerr-led classic rock outfit return to play five songs from each of their landmark first five albums.

Raymond Meade and Band (The Digzys) Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Glasgow singer/songwriter whose uplifting and melodic brand of tuneage is steeped in classic rock’n’roll roots.

Butterfly Saturdays

Butterfly & Pig, 20:00–02:00, Free

Resident rockers The Meat Men play a live set, followed by DJ Dave Stone.

Plus free entry to the Buff Club’s official after-party.

James Barnes and Cochise Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:00, £3

Hard-gigging Glasgow lot who started out in the east end of Glasgow in the early 70s, still playing their fine mix of soul, rock and blues.

Bombskare (Sinister Flynn) Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5

Edinburgh’s original nine-piece ska juggernaut known for reaching zero to 60 in the space of three chords. Or something like that.

Mono, 20:30–23:00, £10

Breadcrumb Trail (Galoshins, Thula Borah, Little Bay) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £3

Kris Drever

Paisley Arts Centre, 19:30–21:30, £10 (£6)

Tramway, 19:30–20:45, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

Performer Taku does his experimental thing, inspired by the supernatural horror of H. P. Lovecraft, black metal, philosophical horror as much as his roots in minimal Japanese improvisation.

Arika12: Keiji Haino Tramway, 21:30–23:00, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

The experimental noise-rock musician of the last 30 years collapses his performance down to a vocal introspection, all whispered and horrific like.

The War On Drugs Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £10

Sans Kurt Vile, fellow War founder Adam Granduciel continues to combines rock’n’roll classicism in the seventies AOR mould, all psychedelic and lushly-layed.

Poor Things (The Bastard, Melonstomp, Claire McKay) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Experimental showcase of bands, headered by Glasgow/Perthshire three-piece Poor Things.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £7.50

Classic Album Sundays: The Stone Roses The Berkeley Suite, 17:00–20:00, £5

A bit of a hit down’t London way, Classic Album Sundays comes to Glasgow, where they essentially dip the lights and play a classic album in its entirety, in this case The Stone Roses.

Mon 27 Feb Melanie C O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

The talented Orcadian folk guitarist performs an exciting new collaboration with Eamonn Coyne.

Her who shall always be known as Sporty Spice does her solo thing, accompanied by her live band.

Stefan Bloemeier, Silk Cut, Ben Butler and Mousepad

First Aid Kit

The Old Hairdressers, 20:00–23:30, £5

Global video party where they’ll be beaming in live sets from fresh artists all over Europe, whilst beaming out live sets from a trio of live Glasgow artists upstairs – including electro-dance behemoth Ben Butler and Mousepad.

High Focus (The Being MCs) Audio, 19:00–23:30, £8

London-based label High Focus showcase a new generation of rappers and producers, including hip-hop MCs Dirty Dike, Jam Baxter, FlipTrix, Verb T, Leaf Dog and The Four Owls.

Sun 26 Feb The Jezabels

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £8

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

More charming country-led harmonies from the Soderberg sisters, actualising the sound of their favourite country records to joyous effect.

SubSpheric Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

Glasgow lads doing alternative rock with a progressive twist. Nuff said.

Australian Pink Floyd SECC, 19:30–22:00, £29.50

Pink Floyd tribute act. May well be Australian.

The Wanted SECC, 19:30–22:00, From £19.50

Over-styled boy band fare from the British and Irish five-piece.

Sat 25 Feb

Attitude-heavy five-piece with their balls-to-the-wall brand of rock’n’roll.

Michael Simons

Cold Specks

Young Toronto singer/songwriter (aka Al Spx), spreading the doom soul vibe as only she knows how.

The Twang

Labrinth

Jamie N Commons

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Mayhem Underground (MAIR, Senzafine, Touch of Severity) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £6

Hardcore rammy of a night uniting Glasgow’s metal scene under one roof, with live bands, DJs and weekly competitions.

56 THE SKINNY February 2012

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Indie-rock that takes its inspiration from Madchester and Britpop times.

Big Boy Bloater

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10

The acclaimed guitarist and singer/ songwriter on the blues and roots scene launches his solo career with a series of showcase gigs.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £13

The London-based producer and singer/songwriter responsible for chart hit Earthquake embarks on his first UK tour.

The Ray Bandos

Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Good time rock’n’roll and soul, for dancing feet.

The Third Door, 20:00–22:30, £5

Music download portal Ten Tracks and video LaB join forces for a rather ace night of live music and video art.

Thu 02 Feb

Amy Duncan Presents

Chicago-based singer/songwriter who abandoned playwriting in favour of becoming a musician.

Seriously cool art-punk outfit from Brooklyn (where else?) playing scuzzy, lo-fi punk with enough of a hint of pop to get those fists pumping in the air.

Video Loves The Radio Star

Arika12: Taka Unami

Adam Stafford does his everinventive solo thing, utilising only his voice, minimal guitar and a loop-station to multiply layers of experimental pop; pretty damn mesmerising in a live setting.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £6

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £7 adv. (£8 door)

Montreal experimentalist and onetime member of cult heavyweights The Dears, currently in the midst of touring his debut solo album.

Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Langree Conducts Beethoven

Joe Pug (Jack James, Al Shields)

Japanther (Cane!, Top Dollar)

Jon Cohen Experimental (Thousandsounds, Cyan Falls)

New monthly experimental night, where featured acts, groups and soloists from wide-ranging fields unite with the single unifying factor of making innovative and forwardthinking music.

Adam Stafford (Radio Trees, O’ Messy Life) 13th Note, 19:30–23:00, £5

Wed 01 Feb

Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 20:00–22:00, Free

Folk and blues fingerstyle guitarist.

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £6.50

Young London-based bluesman of the indie-pop persuasion.

Arabrot (Manatees) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Norwegian noise-rockers hailing from Haugesund, named after their city’s garbage disposal, apparently.

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, From £9.50

A Beethoven-lovers treat, combining concerto, choral and symphonic music from within eight years of what’s known as the great man’s ‘Middle Period’.

The Third Door, 20:00–23:00, £3

Singer/songwriter Amy Duncan is joined by Lee Patterson, Ally Macrae, Johnny Kearney and Lucy Farrell for her regular live acoustic session.

Fri 03 Feb Wee Dub Festival: Session #1 (Celt Islam, Morphy, Jammin J)

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £5 adv. (£8 door)

Multi-venue dub, reggae and roots celebration, which sees Sufi/dub producer Celt Islam wow with his live PA show, moulding sub-bass heaviness with Eastern and spiritual influences.

Steve Strange (Party Fears Three)

Citrus Club, 19:00–22:00, £9 adv. (£12 door)

The Welsh singer/songwriter gets back on it, performing all the hits from his 80s band Visage, alongside material from his new dance-based collective, Detroit Starrzz.

RSNO: Tasmin Little’s Elgar Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, From £11

Sir Andrew Davis joins national treasure Tasmin Little in Elgar’s rapturous love song, following their recent recording of the concerto.

Lux Lives (The Bucky Rage, Dick Dangerous and the Love Bastards, Dirty Red Turncoats, The Fnords, Lord Rochester, Louise MacVey) Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–03:00, £5

Cramps tribute night.

Whisky Kiss

Voodoo Rooms, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

21st-Century styled Scottish ceilidh music.

The Magic Tombolinos (The Black Diamond Express)

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £7 adv.

Alejandro Toledo fronts this raggle taggle bunch of eccentric musicians, blending elements of Balkan, jazz and flamenco.

Imagineers

Ostra Kuchnia

Glasgow four-piece offering an intriguing blend of 50s rock’n’roll, Scottish twang and cinematic flair.

DJ Feel-X and Gutek mix it up with a live set of funky hip-hop, dubstep, scratch and mash-up.

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Wee Dub Festival: Workshops

Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 12:00–16:00, Free

A selection of workshops, film screenings, live music session, face painting, stalls and a whole lot more, to accompany the Wee Dub Festival’s live weekender of music.

Sun 05 Feb Wee Dub Festival: Session #4 (Esperanza, Lucky 7 DJs) The Third Door, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv. (£8 door)

Multi-venue dub, reggae and roots celebration, headered by the mighty eight-piece explosion that is ska tinkerers Esperanza.

Wee Dub Festival: Session #5 (Mad Professor, Mungo’s HiFi, Chungo Bungo) Bongo Club, 21:00–02:00, £15 adv. (£18 door)

Multi-venue dub, reggae and roots celebration, headered by legendary dub scientist Mad Professor.

SCO Chamber Concert

Queen’s Hall, 15:00–17:00, £12 (£5)

Bongo Club, 19:00–22:00, £10 adv. (£15 door)

Fri 10 Feb Michael Marra (Chloe Matharu, Rory Butler)

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, £14 (£12)

Acclaimed singer/songwriter hailing from Dundee and recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Dundee, no less.

Next Big Thing: Frightened Rabbit (We Are Augustines, Fatherson)

HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £10

UK-wide live music festival championing the best new music around, this time headered by the mighty F’Rabbit.

RSNO: Romantic Valentine Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, From £11

Selection of romantic classics performed in full symphony orchestra glory, for all your Valentines needs.

Indie Funday Friday (The Spook School, The Seven Deadly Sins, November Orchid, Little Love and the Friendly Vibes) Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:00, £3

Monthly indie-pop night where a selection of, er, indie-pop acts play in aid of local charities.

Afternoon concert celebrating the late works of Brahms and his love of three instruments in particular – viola, clarinet and piano.

Electric Circus Live Lounge (Imaginary Witch, Jason Kyrone, Jo Hill)

Dam Mantle (Stefan Blomeier, Master of the Ordinance, Fox Gut Daata DJ)

Acoustic-styled musical variety show, headered by Glasgow’s Imaginary Witch, who do a rather nifty line in pseudo intellectual lo-fi.

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, Free

Live music showcase from the Superclub lot, headered by Glasgowbased producer Dam Mantle’s genredefying electronic workouts.

Pussy Whipped Presents: Noisy Pig, Help Stamp Out Loneliness, Seafield Foxes

Mon 06 Feb

New pro-queer, pro-female band night for Edinburgh, headered by one-man electro-noise behemoth Noisy Pig.

Mark Padmore and Paul Lewis

Queen’s Hall, 19:45–22:00, From £12 (£11)

Tenor Mark Padmore and pianoman Paul Lewis team-up to pay homage to Schubert’s winter journey.

Next Big Thing: Field Music, Laki Mera, Bwani Junction

HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £10

UK-wide live music festival championing the best new music around, with Edinburgh’s own Afroexperimentalists Bwani Junction getting a look in.

Tue 07 Feb Dunedin Consort

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, From £9.50 (£8)

The Dunedin Consort celebrates its 15th anniversary with a series of concerts exploring Bach’s richly varied Brandenburg concertos, and some of his cantatas.

Sat 11 Feb Straight No Chaser

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, £20

Modern-styled male a’capella group.

Be afraid.

The Jackals (Selective Service, Rolled Up 20s, Catherine Thompson)

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Guitar-driven psychedelic sounds crossed with gritty songsmithery, served up with a good dose of attitude. Amen.

Edinburgh Undersound (Adam Holmes & The Embers, The Merrylees, Emelle, Greg Pearson)

Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £5

Edinburgh Undersound take over Cab Vol with two rooms filled with a handpicked selection of Scottish underground acts.

John Wean (Cameo Colours, Dirty Boots)

What’s on, Edinburgh, Voodoo Rooms, things to do, going out

Voodoo Rooms, 19:00–23:00, £17

Limbo (White Heath, Mervin Gersh, Run/Lucky/Free, Maydays) (White Heath, Mervin Gersh, Run/Lucky/Free, Maydays)

Four Scottish lads writing about love, life and their biggest interest: girls.

Wed 08 Feb

Sat 04 Feb

Edinburgh Unlimited #7 (Dan Gillian Band, Dusty Cut, Union Canal, Turning Plates)

What’s on, Edinburgh, Voodoo Rooms, things to do, going out

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Wee Dub Festival: Session #2 (Dub Mafia, Captain Slackship’s Mezzanine Allstars, DJ Astroboy) Bongo Club, 19:00–22:00, £7 (£10)

Multi-venue dub, reggae and roots celebration, offering up the Scottish debut for Bristol D’n’B heavyweights Dub Mafia.

Black Keys

Corn Exchange, 19:00–22:00, £21

Akron-formed duo made up of Dan Auerback and Patrick Carney, doing funky things to the blues-rock genre.

Howlin’ Blues (Graeme Scott Blues Band, Thirsty Dog, Booker’s Guitar) Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–23:00, £5

Local mutts Thirsty Dog host another stellar line-up of live electric blues, delta slide and toe-tapping boogie. Job done.

Wee Dub Festival: Session #3

The Caves, 23:00–03:00, £10 adv. (£13 door)

Multi-venue dub, reggae and roots celebration, with dub-meets-reggae pioneers Zion Train doing their inimitable live thing.

The Ordinary Allstars (Taco and The Sharpies)

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

The eight-piece hip-hop troupe launch their new EP, a perfect blend of funk-inflected grooves and tongue-in-cheek rhymes.

Vieux Farka Toure

Wee Red Bar, 20:00–22:30, £2

The Third Door, 20:00–22:30, £3

Rather fine showcase night moving from Turning Plates enchanting brand of experimentation, through to Dusty Cut’s more upbeat offerings.

Campbell’s Wild (Letters, Waverley, The Defaults) Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5

Edinburgh indie-rock quartet big on the towering vocals and pulsing bass lines.

Thu 09 Feb Meadow

Queen’s Hall, 20:00–22:00, £15 (£12)

A trio of European jazz talents (Tore Brunborg, Thomas Stronen and John Taylor) team-up to showcase their sparse and melodic sound, as seen on debut album Blissful Ignorance.

Kaiser Chiefs (Frankie and The Heartstrings, Native Tongue)

HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £25

The gangly Leeds indie-pop scamps return following a three year hiatus, back on the road with new album The Future Is Medieval.

SCO: Emperor and Eroica Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, £tbc

Celebration of Beethoven with conductor Llrw Williams leading proceedings.

Voodoo Rooms, 20:00–01:00, £tbc

Bruncheon!: The Sound of Muesli

Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 11:00–14:30, Free

Brunch and live music event in the Drill Hall cafe, featuring local musical talent.

Sun 12 Feb A Gilbert and Sullivan Gala Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, £10

The soloists and chorus of the Edinburgh Gilbert and Sullivan Society celebrate the centenary of W S Gilbert with a unique gala concert.

Vialka

Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–23:30, £5

French duo flitting across musical borders and employing hard-hitting poly-rhythms, yelps and howls in one danceable whole.

Mon 13 Feb Stokes, William (Ben Tatham) Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Gentle and folky indie-pop brought to life with instrumental arrangements that include tin whistles, accordians, ukuleles and violas. Praise be.

Paul Vickers and The Leg

The Real Mary King’s Close, 20:00–21:30, £4 (limited to 35)

The refreshingly raucous Edinburgh bunch play an intimate set with no amplification in the medieval catacombs of The Real Mary Kings Close, ahead of the release of their new album. Limited to 35 tickets.

E dinburgh MUSIC

Glasgow CL U B S

Chasing Owls

Sat 18 Feb

Edinburgh alternative folkies, all acoustic and wholesome in their sound.

Rob St John (Cheer, Hiva Oa)

Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Paul Vickers and The Leg

The Real Mary King’s Close, 21:45–23:00, £4

The refreshingly raucous Edinburgh bunch play an intimate set with no amplification in the medieval catacombs of The Real Mary Kings Close, ahead of the release of their new album. Limited to 35 tickets.

The Banshee Labyrinth, 20:00–23:00, £5 adv.

An intimate evening of eerie alternative folk with a headline set from Rob St John, who’s debut 2011 album Weald was a bit of a gem in our eyes. Ticket includes a free three-track download EP.

Ben Howard

Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £13

Devon-based folk rocker using his guitar to build percussive beats around his melancholic ditties.

Tue 14 Feb

Blues Brothers UK

Arches

Blues Brothers tribute act.

Philadelphia duo brewing a psych and popstraddling brand of alternative rock.

Sonic Thrill (Hold The Suspect, Wildtype)

Wed 15 Feb

Hard rockin’ Edinburgh five-piece riding along on a timeless 80s sound imbued with modern grit and melodic twists.

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Paul Carrack

Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £28.50

Sheffield-born singer, songwriter and former frontman of Ace, Squeeze and Mike and The Mechanics is back and a-tourin’ his new album.

HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £13

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, £10

A new work from British composer Luke Bedford, written for Lawrence Power and Jonathan Morton, reaching out to Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante.

Phantom Limb

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £6.50

The Topp Twins

Duke

Masters In France

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Bangor-born five-piece taking the alternative indie template to some dark and danceable places, anchored on Ed Ellis Jones’ sultry vocals.

The Vintage Village Fete (Matt Norris and The Moon, Das Contras, Emelle)

Bristo Square, 10:00–20:00, £3 (£1.50)

Vintage festival housed in a unique vintage marquee in Bristo Square, including various stalls and artisan food, plus live music sessions in a red double-decker bus.

Raising funds for a selection of charities.

Click Clack Club

The Third Door, 20:00–23:00, £3

Occasional experimental music club, this time featuring improv specialists Ego Ergo Aggro, ragga punk-cum-jive ensemble the Kings of Cheeze and offthe-wall trio The Casey Kays.

Fri 17 Feb Steve Hackett

Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £22

The former Genesis guitarist dips into old classics and new solo work, with his distinctve guitar sound ever-present throughout.

RSNO: Naked Classics

Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, £10

Paul Rissmann, the full RSNO and Conductor Thomas Sondergard take on one of the most passionate of all ballet scores, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.

Skinner

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £12.50 adv.

Evolving colective of Glasgow musicians based around the music of Grahame Skinner from Hipsway.

The Family Elan (Ian Nagoski) The Pleasance, 19:30–23:00, £5 (£4)

Presentation on the music of the Ottoman-American diaspora by American musicologist Ian Nagoski, followed by a live performance by The Family Elan.

Frantic Chant

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5

The Frantic Chant scamps mix up Nuggets-era garage, shoegaze and psych-rock for your rockin’ and rollin’ pleasure.

Dizzy Dubstep (Tisoki, Fragile Chaos, IAmDino, The Mighty Cream, Preacherman) Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £5

Handpicked selection of some of Scotland’s finest unsigned dubstep artists.

Limbo (Bleech, Ste McCabe) Voodoo Rooms, 20:00–01:00, £tbc

Beloved gig-in-a-club night this time headered by London rockmeets-grunge trio Bleech.

Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Scottish singer/songwriter who recently swapped LA for Lanarkshire.

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Edinburgh Playhouse, 19:30–22:00, £19.50

Thu 16 Feb Twin sisters from New Zealand doing their folk-singing musical comedy thing. Weirdly good, in a freaky identical twin kinda way.

Pete Macleod (Bonehead, Man McGhee)

All-singing, all-dancing Take That tribute act.

Sweet and honest country and soul tunes from the Bristol sextet led by vocalist Yolanda Quartey.

Bongo Club, 19:00–22:00, £15

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Seriously cool art-punk outfit from Brooklyn (where else?) playing scuzzy, lo-fi punk with enough of a hint of pop to get those fists pumping in the air.

Back For Good

Scottish Ensemble: Lawrence Power

Brooklyn boy/girl duo of Robert Barber and Mary Pearson, making quirky electropop that they then backdrop with their own video projections. Quite delightful.

Japanther (The Spook School)

Live music from a selection of local artists, plus a good dose of tea, naturally (well, it is being held in Eteaket).

Monthly live jam session, with some of Scotland’s leading musicians playing lounge grooves from myriad genres.

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £7 adv.

Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones plays with his new band, The Birthday Suit, an ever-changing collective of musicians.

The Teapot Sessions

Sun 19 Feb

High Places

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £6 adv. (£9 door)

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Jammin’ at Voodoo

Voodoo Rooms, 21:00–01:00, £tbc

Rod Jones and The Birthday Suit (Underclass, Tam’s Railways)

eteaket, 18:00–21:00, £2 donation

Black Lantern Music Showcase The Black Lantern Music netlabel host an electronic showcase night, with upfront sets from Morphamish, Asthmatic Astronaut and Krowne. Plus Black Lantern DJs playing into the bedtime hours.

Sat 25 Feb

Tue 31 Jan

Booty Call

The Sensational Shiverin’ Sheiks

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics over four rooms.

Mod, soul, ska and groovy freakbeat 45’s, with DJs Jamo, Paul Molloy and Gareth McCallum.

Point 4

JAK (Andrea Parker)

Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Madcap rock’n’roll and 50s psychedelia for your Tuesday night pleasure.

Wild Combination

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

Junk Disco

Blitz!

I AM Vs HYP (Drums Of Death)

Brand new queercentric night with its focus firmly on 90s-inspired new romantic and danceable pop hits.

Hotch-potch night of chart anthems, a live video feed, dress-up chests and karaoke in the wee room.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

The two Glasgow electronic nights team-up to bring you Drums of Death, with support from Beta & Kappa and Boom Monk Ben.

Wed 01 Feb Subversion

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Alternative pop from the 80s and 90s, with a bit of industrial dance and classic rock thrown in.

Take It Sleazy

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

An unabashed mix of 80s pop, electro and nu-disco. They will play Phil Collins.

The Third Door, 19:30–23:00, £5

Thu 23 Feb

Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £6

Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Serenade

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, From £9.50

The SCO is joined by the prodigious Lars Vogt, very much in his home territory with Beethoven’s concerto.

The Dog’s Ball Presents: A Taste of Knockengorroch (Kuche Ke, The Whisky River Boat Band, Stanley Odd, The Banana Sessions, Earl Grey and the Loose Leaves)

The Caves, 21:00–03:00, £5 adv. (£8 door)

Red Dog Music and Knockengorroch Festival join forces to present a handpicked selection of bands and DJs who will be playing at Knockengorroch 2012.

Fri 24 Feb SNJO: The Music of Weather Report

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, £17.50 (£12.50)

Weather Report’s original drummer, Peter Erskine, pilots the SNJO jazz orchestra through a selection of classic Weather Report numbers.

Rizzle Kicks

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Teenage talents Harley AlexanderSule and Jordan Stephens do their thing, mixing pop with some oldschool hippity-hop. In baseball caps.

RSNO: Lisa Milne

Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, From £11

Scottish soprano Lisa Milne sings Cesar Franck’s Songs of the Auvergne; a bit of a gothic spectacular in our eyes.

Still Marillion

Marillion tribute act.

Song, By Toad (Louis Barabbas and the Bedlam Six, Skeleton Bob) The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Music blogger Song, By Toad’s handpicked showcase night, this month presenting Manchester’s Louis Barabbas and the Bedlam Six, with support from local talent Skeleton Bob.

Sun 26 Feb Nick Lowe

Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £25

The silver-haired punk pioneer returns on the back of his lastest studio album, The Old Magic.

Dead Sea Souls (IC1s, The Rahs)

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5

Singalong West Lothian quartet touting their funky ska wares across the Central Belt since 2006.

The Australian Pink Floyd Show

Edinburgh Playhouse, 19:30–22:00, £30.50

Pink Floyd tribute act. May well be Australian.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

New weekly student night for Subbie, with residents Ray Vose and Desoto joined by various live guests.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Chart, disco and party tunes.Can’t say fairer.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Considered mix of garage, post-punk and girl groups, presented by Adele of Sons and Daughters and the Sophisticated Boom Boom.

Taking Back Thursdays Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Emo, pop-punk and rock, plus extreme death metal in the back bar, for your pleasure.

Misbehavin’

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Monthly mish-mash of electro, dance and dirty pop with DJ Drucifer.

Boom Thursdays

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart and indie classics with yer man Gerry Lyons, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log your tune requests (#Garagelive).

Blink (Gary Beck) Club 69, 23:00–03:00, £10

The monthly underground techno night welcomes Saved and Soma records star Gary Beck for a guest slot alongside residents Nino and Maneuver.

Room 101 Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

The first Friday of the month at Flat 0/1 brings punk, disco, electro and hippity-hop with resident Ean.

Secret Wars: Grand Final LA Group, 19:00–03:00, £tbc

Final live paint-off which will see head honcho Conzo Throb go head-to-head with Too Much Fun Club illustrator Rogue One for the title of Secret War champion (and £500 prize money).

Sat 04 Feb Love Music O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

All Tore Up Blackfriars Basement, 20:00–03:00, £7

Rock’n’roll, rockabilly and R’n’B shenanigans.

Deathkill4000 (Hector Bizerk)

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

Pretty damn fine drummer/MC duo fresh from their Radio 1 live session.

Sepalcure

Absolution

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sub Club, 21:00–01:00, £10

Born of a collaboration between Travis Stewart and Praveen Sharma, Sepalcure impress with their all-gunsblazing fusion of tribal dub, house, two step beats and neon synths.

Feel My Bicep

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cosmic and sweaty mix of 80s sleaze, house and disco.

Fri 03 Feb Propaganda

Bloc+, 22:00–01:00, Free

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Pandemic

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Future Classics: Piatti Quartet and Clare Hammond

David Barbarossa’s Thing

Series of commissioned concerts putting new musicians in the spotlight.

Two floors of punk-rock, reggae and classic disco, with local scallywag David Barbarossa.

The Jezabels

Cathouse Fridays

Attitude-heavy five-piece with their balls-to-the-wall brand of rock’n’roll.

Rock, metal, dance and indie over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Sun 05 Feb Retrospex Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:30, Free

The regular live mainstays play a genre-hopping mix of R’n’B, soul, pop, Latin and rock.

Hail Destroyer Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Pick’n’mix of rock, metal, punk and old school hip-hop with DJs Quarterback and Muppet, plus a hip-hop bar on the side.

Cathouse’s Open Mic Night Cathouse, 21:00–23:30, Free

Classic open mic night, with live performances and a cheeky karaoke twist.

Sunday Roaster The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Resident Wee Cheesy throws in mash-ups, chart-attacks and more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath.

Instruments Of Rapture (The Revenge, Ali OOFT) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £5

Choice nu-disco and house picks from the Instruments Of Rapture label, hosted by Glasgow’s pitched-down house master, The Revenge, alongside Ali OOFT and Craig Smith.

The Shed’s regular weekendextender (i.e the maker of many a Monday hangover).

The Admiral, 23:00–03:00, £10

Melting Pot play host to Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy, taking time out from her London loft parties to play a cross-genre set of magic down’t The Admiral.

Disco Teeth

Damnation

Chambre 69, 22:00–03:00, £8

All singing, all dancing Balkan orgy with a rather special live set from the North Strand Kontra Band, plus belly dancing, live visuals and free brandy. As in, we’re sold.

Melting Pot (Cosmo)

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

All things disco and danceable, with DJs Chris Smith, Eymard, Discetro and R-Bot.

Balkanarama (North Strand Kontra Band, Puff Uproar, Shimmering Sound Affair)

Shed Sundays

Cathouse Saturdays

Blackfriars Basement, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Korben Dallas and Nushta Drognova play a zesty mix of Italo, disco and house.

Cross-genre danceathon with residents Noj and Mark. They will play The Fall.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £8 adv.

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

Up The Racket

Mon 27 Feb Queen’s Hall, 19:15–22:00, From £10 (£5)

Shed Saturdays

Sub Rosa

Boom Boom

Adam Stafford does his ever-inventive solo thing, utilising only his voice, minimal guitar and a loop-station, alongside coheadliner Radio Trees (aka Michael-John McCarthy of Zoey Van Goey).

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Jopez plays a choice selection of indie, rock, blues and funk.

Power Tools

PAWS (Edinburgh School For The Deaf, Sebastian Dangerfield, Jamie Sutherland)

Vic Galloway returns for his showcase slot, where the man himself gets to pick the acts for your aural delectation, this time headered by Edinburgh’s own mathematic riff magicians, Lady North

Rip This Joint

The Nomadic techno and tech-house night settles into its new home at Sub Club for their first night of 2012, joined by The Curse main player Clement Meyer.

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Jellybaby

Adam Stafford, Radio Trees

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£5)

Long-running house night with Harri & Domenic, and a variety of live guests.

Pop classics and a good dose of cheese with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room.

British soul artist combining soul and roots influences in one deep and husky-voiced whole.

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £7 adv. (£10 door)

Subculture (Harri & Domenic)

Fridays @ The Shed

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Thu 02 Feb

Vic Galloway Presents (Lady North, Homework, Birdhead)

Bigfoot’s Tea Party (Clement Meyer)

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Michael Kiwanuka

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £6 adv.

The Arches, 23:00–04:00, £20 adv. (£25 thereafter)

The Colours gang celebrate 17 partyfilled years with a host of guests dropping in, including an Arches debut from Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano.

Andy Robertson plays a mix of commercial pop and cheese classics, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room with DJ Derek.

Tue 21 Feb

Informal rehearsal-cum-gig, featuring 13 brass and saxes with four rhythm sections. That do ye?

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

Badass mix of indie, rock and electro.

Glasgow up-and-comers of the tropical thrash variety, PAWS, headline the second Tidal Wave Of Indifference gig night, with a solo set from Broken Records’ Jamie Sutherland as an added treat.

Colours: 17th Birthday Party (Sander Van Doorn, Gareth Emery, Sunnery James, Ryan Marciano)

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

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

Octopussy

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £9 adv.

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £8

Artist, producer, re-mixer, DJ, label owner and die-hard B-girl Andrea Parker graces the La Cheetah DJ booth.

Jamming Fridays

One-time members of Fiddlers’ Bid, Catriona McKay (on Scottish harp) and Chris Stout (on Shetland fiddle) continue with their inspired take on traditional music-making.

Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:00, £5

Flying Duck, 21:00–03:00, £5

The Rock Shop

Badseed

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Allo Darlin’ (Stina Marle)

Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–23:00, £4 (£3)

The Arches, 22:30–03:00, £10

Freakbeats

Late night spread of cutting-edge beats, including a specially-created set from yer man Mylo. Part of Celtic Connections.

Chart and classics with yer man Andy R, plus weekly live movie showings.

Monthly showcase selection of new bands handpicked by Bainbridge Music.

BBDO: Big Band

Beat Bothy (Halcyon, Niteworks, DJ Dolphin Boy, Mylo)

Garage Wednesdays

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, £15 (£12)

Young Aberdonian trio doing their own distorted rock thing.

Wed 22 Feb

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Chris Stout and Catriona McKay

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Musical-magpies Allo Darlin’ borrow from a variety of classic indie-pop acts for their homage-styled indiepop loveliness.

Soundhaus, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

A selection of promoters from Glasgow and beyond help Soundhaus celebrate their last weekend of being (in the current venue anyway), including Animal Farm, Kreep Boutique and Highlife.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Bainbridge Music Showcase (Silver Birches, Justified Sinners, Cameo Colours, Campbells Wild)

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £8 adv.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

La Rocha The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, Free

New weekly night featuring regular live guests and one-off events, in between resident vibemasters Cutters Choice and Shax O’ Ring.

Voodoo

Mon 06 Feb

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

Space Invader

I Heart Garage Saturdays

Andy R plays chart hits and requests, past and present.

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Student superclub offering up a slice of everything from hip-hop to dance, funk to chart, and everything inbetween.

The Final Tango Soundhaus, 21:00–03:00, £7 (£10 after 10)

Soundhaus host their last ever party before the venue’s demolition, with many a past face making an appearance especially – including Monox, Disco X, Innner City Acid, and more.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Tue 07 Feb The Sensational Shiverin’ Sheiks Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Madcap rock’n’roll and 50s psychedelia for your Tuesday night pleasure.

Wild Combination Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

February 2012

THE SKINNY 57

Glasgow CLUBS Junk Disco The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Hotch-potch night of chart anthems, a live video feed, dress-up chests and karaoke in the wee room.

I Am Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa joined by a variety of local talent, playing the usual mix of electronica and bass.

Wed 08 Feb Subversion Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Alternative pop from the 80s and 90s, with a bit of industrial dance and classic rock thrown in.

Garage Wednesdays The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart and classics with yer man Andy R, plus weekly live movie showings.

Octopussy The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Sub Rosa Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

New weekly student night for Subbie, with residents Ray Vose and Desoto joined by various live guests.

Olympico: Deadly Rhythm Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Bi-weekly night of ear-exercising disco, cosmic, electronic and techno, with Deadly Rhythm and the residents from Subcity Theez Boys R Athletes.

Return To Mono (Len Faki, Slam) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

Badass mix of indie, rock and electro.

Fridays @ The Shed Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Pop classics and a good dose of cheese with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Taking Back Thursdays Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Feel My Bicep Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cosmic and sweaty mix of 80s sleaze, house and disco.

Fri 10 Feb Propaganda O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Reggae Night (The Dubateers, Charlie P, Chungo Bungo, Proud) Blackfriars Basement, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

A proper good reggae dancehall night, with a selection of live guests and DJs, powered along by the mighty Bass Warrior Sound System.

Damnation Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

Kino Fist Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

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

Cathouse Fridays Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Rock, metal, dance and indie over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

Booty Call The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hiphop and chart classics over four rooms.

Tribute La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £10

Myriad club nights (including Stay Plastic, Scrabble and Jelly Roll Soul) combine for an underground mix of techno, house and electro, with special guest Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir joining the rammy this month.

Jamming Fridays Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

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

The Hot Club

Sunday Roaster

Boom Thursdays

Bottle Rocket

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Sat 11 Feb

The Thunder Disco Club residents churn out the 90s house, techno and disco hits, joined by live guests Silk Cut, purveyors of pure anaolgue joy.

Love Music

Shed Sundays

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

The Shed’s regular weekend-extender (i.e the maker of many a Monday hangover).

Osmium

La Rocha

Blackfriars Basement, 23:00–03:00, £3

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

DJs Blair and Gary play Italo, disco, synthpop, funk and a whole bunch of other stuff all with the sole intention of making you throw yourself about with abandon.

New weekly night featuring regular live guests and one-off events, in between resident vibemasters Cutters Choice and Shax O’ Ring.

Club Noir: Valentine’s Saturday Night At The Movies

Mon 13 Feb

O2 Academy, 21:00–03:00, £15.50

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Wrong Island Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

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

Cathouse Saturdays Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Voodoo

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

Sweet and honest country and soul tunes from the Bristol sextet led by vocalist Yolanda Quartey.

Reprisal

Classic open mic night, with live performances and a cheeky karaoke twist.

Emo, pop-punk and rock, plus extreme death metal in the back bar, for your pleasure.

Cathouse’s Open Mic Night

Thunder Disco Club (Silk Cut)

Boom Thursdays

Up The Racket

British soul artist combining soul and roots influences in one deep and husky-voiced whole.

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Eclectic mix from the Dirty Basement duo, power mixing from across the spectrums of soul, funk, bass, techno and electro.

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

Chart and indie classics with yer man Gerry Lyons, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log your tune requests (#Garagelive).

Madcap rock’n’roll and 50s psychedelia for your Tuesday night pleasure.

Dirty Basement

Emo, pop-punk and rock, plus extreme death metal in the back bar, for your pleasure.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Phantom Limb

Resident Wee Cheesy throws in mash-ups, chart-attacks and more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath.

Absolution

Fortnightly fun with Vitamin’s Sam Murray, sifting through some fresh R’n’B and electronic from Scotland and beyond.

Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Taking Back Thursdays

Cathouse, 21:00–23:30, Free

Jellybaby Freaky Freaky

The Sensational Shiverin’ Sheiks

Badseed

Thu 09 Feb Chart,discoandpartytunes.Can’tsayfairer.

Tue 21 Feb

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Pick’n’mix of rock, metal, punk and old school hip-hop with DJs Quarterback and Muppet, plus a hip-hop bar on the side.

Glasgow’s burlesque star teasers host the Valentine’s edition of their favourited raunchy cabaret club, transporting revellers into a fantasy world of movie star romance.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Absolution

A night of pure vinyl grooving, of the heelstomping 50s and 60s garage type.

Hail Destroyer

Podium and Figure label boss Len Faki does his dancefloor destroying thing, joined by Producer/DJ duo Slam (aka Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle).

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

I Heart Garage Saturdays The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Student superclub offering up a slice of everything from hip-hop to dance, funk to chart, and everything inbetween.

Back Tae Mine Flying Duck, 21:00–03:00, £5

House-party styled night, with a group of rotating DJs alongside regular guests DJs. Plus free toast for all.

Mixed Bizness (Ben UFO, Mosca) La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £10

Mixed Bizness play host to fresh young DJ talent Ben UFO and young producer talent Mosca. On the same night! Amen.

Back To The Future: St Valentine’s Party (Angerfist) The Arches, 21:00–03:00, £15

Valentine’s party with all the romance that raving away to the finest hard dance can bring, including hardcore techno man Angerfist launching his new album.

The Rock Shop Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

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

Subculture (Ralph Lawson) Sub Club, 22:00–03:00, £10

Long-running house night with Harri & Domenic, joined by Leed’s Back To Basics resident Ralph Lawson for one night only.

Rip This Joint Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Jopez plays a choice selection of indie, rock, blues and funk.

Shed Saturdays Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

Andy Robertson plays a mix of commercial pop and cheese classics, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room with DJ Derek.

Power Tools Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Korben Dallas and Nushta Drognova play a zesty mix of Italo, disco and house.

Sun 12 Feb The Easy Orchestra Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Smooth, lounge-styled tunesmithery from the regular house band.

58 THE SKINNY February 2012

Space Invader The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The Rev Up Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6.50

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Up The Racket

Cathouse Saturdays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

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

Space Invader

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, Free with wristband

Mixmaster extraordinaire DJ Yoda takes over the reins for his much-anticipated free gig, rescheduled after the destruction of Hurricane Bawbag.

Glasgow Roller Disco Shed, 19:00–23:00, £tbc

Voodoo

Andy R plays chart hits and requests, past and present.

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

Junk Disco

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics over four rooms.

I Heart Garage Saturdays

Hotch-potch night of chart anthems, a live video feed, dress-up chests and karaoke in the wee room.

Scared To Dance (Camera Obscura DJs)

I Am

New indie-pop, post-punk and new wave night, with special guest Tracyanne Campbell from Camera Obscura turning DJ for the night and spinning her favourite tracks.

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Student superclub offering up a slice of everything from hip-hop to dance, funk to chart, and everything inbetween.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa joined by a variety of local talent, playing the usual mix of electronica and bass.

Singles Night

Wed 22 Feb

Feel My Bicep

Propaganda

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Stereo, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Reggae, dancehall, D’n’B and soca served big and loud.

Fri 17 Feb

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5

Andy Divine and Chris Geddes’ gem of a night deciated to 7-inch singles from every genre imaginable.

Subversion Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Alternative pop from the 80s and 90s, with a bit of industrial dance and classic rock thrown in.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Rinse FM Tour 2012 (Zinc, Plasticman, P-Money)

Argonaut Sounds Reggae Soundsystem

The Rinse FM crew go on tour with some of their favourite artists of 2012, including scene headliner Zinc and much-hyped grime newcomer MC P-Money.

Chart and classics with yer man Andy R, plus weekly live movie showings.

Madcap rock’n’roll and 50s psychedelia for your Tuesday night pleasure.

Roots reggae, dancehall and rocksteady in original soundsystem stylee, kicking off their 10th year, no less.

The Rock Shop

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Reprisal

Damnation

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

Sub Rosa

Subculture (Tom Trago)

New weekly student night for Subbie, with residents Ray Vose and Desoto joined by various live guests.

Andy R plays chart hits and requests, past and present.

Tue 14 Feb The Sensational Shiverin’ Sheiks Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Brand new Tuesday nighter manned

by DJ Mythic, who’ll be playing the best in rock, metal, punk and ska.

Wild Combination Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

A Brand New Valentine’s Day Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Valentine’s special traffic light-style party, where you wear green if you’re single, yellow if you like a party and red if you’re taken.

Junk Disco The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Hotch-potch night of chart anthems, a live video feed, dress-up chests and karaoke in the wee room.

I Am Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa joined by a variety of local talent, playing the usual mix of electronica and bass.

Wed 15 Feb Subversion Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Alternative pop from the 80s and 90s, with a bit of industrial dance and classic rock thrown in.

Not Moving Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

South African house, grime, jungle, R’n’B and hauntology. A tropical mix, ayes.

Garage Wednesdays

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Blackfriars Basement, 23:00–03:00, £5

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

Black Tent Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Indie, electro and anything inbetween with Pauly (My Latest Novel), and Simin and Steev (Errors).

Cathouse Fridays Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Rock, metal, dance and indie over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £12

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10

Long-running house night with Harri & Domenic, plus Amsterdam DJ/ producer Tom Trago making his live return to the club.

Rip This Joint

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Jopez plays a choice selection of indie, rock, blues and funk.

Shed Saturdays

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £10

Pitch-black techno war funk you can dance to, with Resurface Records’ techno masters Ancient Methods.

Pressure The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Mighty deep house and techno monthly.

Jamming Fridays Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

Bi-weekly night of ear-exercising disco, cosmic, electronic and techno, with Monox and the residents from Subcity Theez Boys R Athletes.

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

Thu 23 Feb

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

HYP? (Redlight, Breakage)

Straight-friendly lesbian party, this time with a celebration of all things 80s.

Sun 19 Feb

Taking Back Thursdays

Jamming Fridays

Renegade

Emo, pop-punk and rock, plus extreme death metal in the back bar, for your pleasure.

Pop classics and a good dose of cheese with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room.

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:30, Free

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

Covers band playing a wide variety of contemporary blues, rock and Americana.

La Roche Rumba

Rod Jones and The Birthday Suit

Maggie May’s, 20:00–03:00, £6

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7.50

The La Roche Rumba gang bring their mutant disco to Maggie May’s, playing an eclectic range of music, accompanied by audio-visual mash-up artist Thriftshop XL.

Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones plays with his new band, The Birthday Suit, an ever-changing collective of musicians.

Sensu (Tobi Neumann)

Pick’n’mix of rock, metal, punk and old school hip-hop with DJs Quarterback and Muppet, plus a hip-hop bar on the side.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10

Badass mix of indie, rock and electro.

Sub Rosa

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Fridays @ The Shed Pop classics and a good dose of cheese with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room.

Empty!

Hail Destroyer

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cathouse’s Open Mic Night Cathouse, 21:00–23:30, Free

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Resident Wee Cheesy throws in mash-ups, chart-attacks and more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath.

Highlife (Auntie Flo, Esa Williams) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £5

Free-for-all flat party with The Dirty Noise Crew, Monopunk and the Homebass DJs.

Afrobeat, funk and house with the ever-capable residents and guests Auntie Flo and Esa Williams playing a live jam session.

Sat 18 Feb

Shed Sundays

Love Music

The Shed’s regular weekend-extender (i.e the maker of many a Monday hangover).

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

Thu 16 Feb

Shout Bamalama

Jellybaby

Vintage 50s and 60s dancefloor sounds handpicked from genres of R’n’B, rock’n’roll and soul.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Ancient Methods

Badass mix of indie, rock and electro.

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Chart,discoandpartytunes.Can’tsayfairer.

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Pin Up crew bring the fun with a special ladies night, which also marks their penultimate show. Guests include DJ pin-up Joe Gilgun and a live set from Edinburgh pop misfits Kid Canaveral. Get to it, aye.

The Danse Macabre regulars unite those two happiest of bedfellows, goth rock and, er, classic disco.

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Sunday Roaster

Anti-Valentine’s edition of the rather ace gig-in-a-club night, with the usual fine array of live bands, DJs, milk, biscuits and 75p cider. Plus a love-themed cocktail concoction which may or may not contain Mad Dog (i.e. it will).

Olympico: Monox

Blackfriars Basement, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Jellybaby O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Counterfeit Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Full-on mix of nu-metal and hard rockin’ tunes, with yer man DJ Muppet.

Boom Thursdays The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart and indie classics with yer man Gerry Lyons, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log your tune requests (#Garagelive).

Up The Racket Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

Feel My Bicep Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cosmic and sweaty mix of 80s sleaze, house and disco.

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

Fridays @ The Shed Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Am$trad Billionaire Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Techno and house-orientated dance night from the boys that brought you Cotton Cake.

Dance master Gert-Jan Bijl proves he’s still got it some 22-years in.

Sounds of STREETrave (Inner City, MCJ Mackintosh, Jon Mancini, Iain Clark) The Arches, 22:00–03:00, £15 adv. (£20 thereafter)

One-off STREETrave night featuring a full live show from favourited dance act Inner City.

The Rock Shop Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

Subculture (Harri & Domenic) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£5)

Rip This Joint Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Jopez plays a choice selection of indie, rock, blues and funk.

Shed Saturdays Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

Andy Robertson plays a mix of commercial pop and cheese classics, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room with DJ Derek.

Power Tools Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Korben Dallas and Nushta Drognova play a zesty mix of Italo, disco and house.

Sun 26 Feb The Ray Bandos Blackfriars Basement, 21:00–23:00, Free

Good time rock’n’roll and soul, for dancing feet.

Hail Destroyer Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Pick’n’mix of rock, metal, punk and old school hip-hop with DJs Quarterback and Muppet, plus a hip-hop bar on the side.

Cathouse’s Open Mic Night Cathouse, 21:00–23:30, Free

Classic open mic night, with live performances and a cheeky karaoke twist.

Slide It In Cathouse, 23:00–01:00, £4 (£2)

Cult rock hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Sat 25 Feb

Sunday Roaster Resident Wee Cheesy throws in mash-ups, chart-attacks and more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

Pass The Peas Blackfriars Basement, 23:00–03:00, £3

Four solid hours of the cream of what’s happening on the international funk and soul scene.

Absolution

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Horse Meat Disco Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Mighty London disco quartet Horse Meat Disco guest, as part of Sub Club’s series of Optimo Presents nights.

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Shed Sundays

Fri 24 Feb

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Propaganda

Skinner

The Shed’s regular weekendextender (i.e the maker of many a Monday hangover).

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Friday Street Blackfriars Basement, 22:00–23:30, £5

Classic mod sounds, northern soul and 60s-styled R’n’B.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £12.50

Evolving colective of Glasgow musicians based around the music of Grahame Skinner from Hipsway.

Thunder Disco Club Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

The Thunder Disco Club residents churn out the 90s house, techno and disco hits.

Fantastic Man (PAWS)

Cathouse Saturdays

La Rocha

Supremely gonzo club night, this month with a live set from Glasgow up-and-comers of the tropical thrash variety, PAWS.

Damnation

Voodoo

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

New weekly night featuring regular live guests and one-off events, in between resident vibemasters Cutters Choice and Shax O’ Ring.

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£8 after 12)

Love Music

Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, Free

La Cheetah Club: Gert-Jan Bijl

Long-running house night with Harri & Domenic, and a variety of live guests.

Korben Dallas and Nushta Drognova play a zesty mix of Italo, disco and house.

Lock Up Your Daughters: Excessive 80s Party

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

Flat 0/1, 21:00–03:00, £4

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Flying Duck, 21:00–03:00, £5

House-party styled night, with a group of rotating DJs alongside regular guests DJs. Plus free toast for all.

Flying Duck, 21:00–03:00, £6 adv. (£8 door)

Badseed

Badseed

Milk: Anti Valentines (Carnivores, So Many Animal Calls, Midnight Lion DJs)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Back Tae Mine

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

Danse Macabre

Octopussy

New weekly student night for Subbie, with residents Ray Vose and Desoto joined by various live guests.

Octopussy

The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Pin Up Nights: Ladies Night (Joe Gilgun, Kid Canaveral, The Plimptons, Vendetta Vain, Tom Delish)

Chart,discoandpartytunes.Can’tsayfairer.

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics over four rooms.

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

Andy Robertson plays a mix of commercial pop and cheese classics, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room with DJ Derek.

Classic open mic night, with live performances and a cheeky karaoke twist.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Stereo, 21:00–03:00, £5 (£3 members)

Power Tools

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart and classics with yer man Andy R, plus weekly live movie showings.

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Garage Wednesdays

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The Glasgow electronic favourite returns with Redlight & Breakage bringing the big bass sounds as only they know how.

Booty Call

The favourited Glasgow night heads east, with a special guest slot from Kalamazoo-born, Berlin-based techhouse producer Seth Troxler.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Rock, metal, dance and indie over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

Booty Call

Bass Warrior

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Roller disco fun night where all y’all will be attempting to skate to the beat.

Cosmic and sweaty mix of 80s sleaze, house and disco.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Cathouse Fridays

Wild Combination

DJ Yoda

Student superclub offering up a slice of everything from hip-hop to dance, funk to chart, and everything inbetween.

Tearin’ it up with 60s psych-outs and modern sleaze, provided by Rafla and Andy (of The Phantom Band).

Indie dancing club, playing anything and everything danceable.

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

I Heart Garage Saturdays

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £9

Brand new Tuesday nighter manned

by DJ Mythic, who’ll be playing the best in rock, metal, punk and ska.

Chart and indie classics with yer man Gerry Lyons, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log your tune requests (#Garagelive).

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

Michael Kiwanuka (The Staves)

Bloc+, 22:00–01:00, Free

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

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

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

La Rocha: Stanley Kubrick Night (Mermaids) The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, £3 (free in fancy dress)

New weekly night featuring regular live guests and one-off events, this time in the form of a fancy dress Stanley Kubrick-inspired night.

Mon 27 Feb Space Invader The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Andy R plays chart hits and requests, past and present.

EDINBURGH CLUBS Tue 31 Jan

Spin!

I Love Hip-Hop

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

The notorious Magic Nostalgic ‘wheel’ takes on a new persona, picking a more alternative and underground selection with each spin.

Split

Dapper Dan’s

Long-running D’n’B night from residents Beefy and Wolfjazz, plus a rotating collective of DJs.

The usual mix of disco, house and party classics from Picassio and D-Fault, with Decks FX and OSX.

Soul Jam Hot

Sick Note (Lady North)

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

The Cab’s flagship indie and electro favourite now with added live acts, this time being Edinburgh’s own mathematic riff magicians, Lady North.

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Wed 01 Feb J-Dub

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Jungledub crew widen their music policy and take on the new guise of J-Dub, encompassing reggae, dubstep, future garage, grime, D’n’B and jungle into their mighty mix.

Stomp The Yard (Jackin’ The Box, Psycho Stylez, DJ Nasty P) The Caves, 22:00–03:00, £6 adv. (£8 door)

Charity hip-hop event with a host of talent on board and a live set from beatboxer Psylent V.

Witness

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Indigo

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a distinctly danceable beat, taking in everything from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

Fri 03 Feb Balkanarama (North Strand Kontra Band, Puff Uproar, Shimmering Sound Affair) Studio 24, 21:30–03:00, £7 (£9 after 10)

All singing, all dancing Balkan orgy with a rather special live set from the North Strand Kontra Band, plus belly dancing, live visuals and free brandy. As in, we’re sold.

Springboks: On Safari (Ian Billett, Jack Stanley, George Nicolopolous)

Propaganda

Funk de la Flik

Witness

Go-Go

The Edinburgh University South African Society throw one last wild party with an ‘On Safari’ theme, with a selection of local DJs playing electro and minimal beats. In aid of African Wildlife charity.

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

DJ Flik spins an eclectic mix of funk for Cab’s new laid-back Monday nighter.

Mumbo Jumbo (Bubble)

Do It Again

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of garage, dubstep and bassline house with the Attic Kings and Blackwax DJs.

Brand new mix of anything you ears want to hear, from resident DJ Gentleman Jonny.

Party soundtrack of funk, soul, disco and house from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin, with live guest Bubble adding some acid house to the mix.

Day of the Lord-defying Sunday rave-up, visually enhanced by the club’s resident film specialist.

Slap Bang!

Rude

Genre-spanning midweeker with the residents playing a musical mish-mash, alongside rotating guests. In Speakeasy.

The legendary 90s night is revived, offering up its inimitable mix of reggae, ska, dub and early ragga.

Mansion (Third Party)

Four Corners: 7th Birthday

Brand new Friday nighter, with seasoned Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

From deep funk to reggae beats with your regular DJ hosts Simon Hodge, Johnny Cashback, Astroboy and Wee-G, celebrating seven years of soulful party fodder.

Hippy Hippy Shake (Parov Stelar)

The Caves, 23:00–03:00, £5 adv. (£7 door)

The Ordinary Allstars (Taco and The Sharpies)

Alejandro Toledo fronts this raggle taggle bunch of eccentric musicians, blending elements of Balkan, jazz and flamenco.

The eight-piece hip-hop troupe launch their new EP, a perfect blend of funk-inflected grooves and tongue-in-cheek rhymes.

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £7 adv.

Big Time

Electric Circus, 23:30–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

New night playing all the best in old and new disco, funk, soul and rock’n’roll, handpicked by dapper chaps Gav & Jack.

This Is Music

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Jackhammer (Slam)

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £6

Techno fare with DJs Wolfjazz and Keyte, alongside a live set from producer/DJ duo Slam (aka Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle).

Supernova (Karotte)

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £12

Planet Earth: Do You Remember The First Time?

Techno heavyweight Karotte makes his Edinburgh debut at Cabaret Voltaire, as part of Cab’s 7th birthday celebrations.

Slap Bang!

Retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Sugarhill

Genre-spanning midweeker with the residents playing a musical mishmash, alongside rotating guests. In Speakeasy.

Bandioke

Mansion

Go-Go

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

The favourited student midweeker makes the move to The Liquid Room, playing house and electro (upstairs) and hippity-hop (downstairs).

Thu 02 Feb Octopussy

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Citrus Club, 19:30–22:00, £4

Livebandkaraokesession.Alsogetsyoufree entrytoretroafter-club,PlanetEarth.

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £3

Brand new mix of anything you ears want to hear, from resident DJ Gentleman Jonny.

Xplicit: 7th Birthday (Andy C, MC GQ)

Bongo Club, 23:00–04:00, £12 adv. (£14 door)

Heavy jungle and bass-styled beats from the inimitable Xplicit crew, who welcome world D’n’B specialist Andy C into the fold to celebrate seven glorious years of being.

Bongo Club, 23:00–04:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

The Magic Tombolinos (The Black Diamond Express)

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of garage, dubstep and bassline house with the Attic Kings and Blackwax DJs.

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £5

Non-commercial blend of the best in rap, dancehall, R’n’B, soul and funk brought to you by Papa J Gunn and Black Diamondz. In Speakeasy.

Hideout

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 11)

Brand new Friday nighter, with seasoned Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

Sat 04 Feb Tease Age

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Speaker Bite Me

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £5

Mon 06 Feb Nu Fire

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Trade Union

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals). In Speakeasy.

New night from the Evol DJs that values all kinds of pop music, as long as it’s got bite.

The Latin Quarter

Volume!

Regular DJs Freddy Ramirez and James Combe spin a mighty mix of salsa, merengue and bachata.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £3

Edinburgh’s original dubstep, garage and funky crew.

Tue 07 Feb

The Egg

I Love Hip-Hop

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£4 after 12)

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £5

The favourited student midweeker makes the move to The Liquid Room, playing house and electro (upstairs) and hippity-hop (downstairs).

Thu 09 Feb Octopussy

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Spin!

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

The notorious Magic Nostalgic ‘wheel’ takes on a new persona, picking a more alternative and underground selection with each spin.

Art School indie institution with DJs Chris and Paul.

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Animal Hospital

Gasoline Dance Machine

Soul Jam Hot

Minimal and techno for cool kids, with Gabriel Kemp and pals.

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

Sick Note

Split

The Cab’s flagship indie and electro favourite.

Long-running D’n’B night from residents Beefy and Wolfjazz, plus a rotating collective of DJs.

Indigo

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £6

Residents special of classic Italo and straight up boogie allied with contemporary house and disco.

Musika: 5th Birthday

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £16.50 adv.

Heavyweight clubber’s delight Musika celebrate five years of parties with a trio of guests in the form of Cocoon’s Cassy (playing her first Edinburgh date), regular pal of the club Tim Green, and fresh Bristol producer Eats Everything.

Much More

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Devine

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

Brand new Tuesday nighter with the Six Shot DJs playing a mixture of hip-hop, R’n’B, dancehall, grime and UK garage.

Flagshiphip-hopandR’n’BSaturdaynighter.

Wed 08 Feb

Sun 05 Feb

J-Dub

Coalition

The Jungledub crew widen their music policy and take on the new guise of J-Dub, encompassing reggae, dubstep, future garage, grime, D’n’B and jungle into their mighty mix.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dubstep, breaks and bassline house from AF Meldrum and a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £3

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

JakN (S3konz, F-N, Porphamish) The Caves, 23:00–03:00, £6

Musika Vs We Are... Electric (Jacques Lu Cont) Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £12

Musika and We Are... Electric join forces to help celebrate Musika’s 5th birthday for the second time, joined by none other than house maverick Jacques Lu Cont.

Hideout

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 11)

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £12

Parov Stelar showcases his unmistakeable mix of jazz and swing samples and electronic beats.

Sat 11 Feb

JakN relocate to The Caves for their mighty fine three-deck mix up of techno in all its forms.

Tease Age

Electric Circus Live Lounge (Imaginary Witch, Jason Kyrone, Jo Hill)

Propaganda

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, Free

Acoustic-styled musical variety show, headered by Glasgow’s Imaginary Witch, who do a rather nifty line in pseudo intellectual lo-fi.

Retro Catz

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

New night with a cast of all-female DJs working their way through some sexy retro, complete with glitter balls, naturally.

Devil Disco Club (Discopolis, Battle Of The Zoo) The Third Door, 21:00–03:00, £5

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a distinctly danceable beat, taking in everything from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

The Devil Disco crew relocate to The Third Door for their first party of 2012, joined by live experimental Edinburgh trio Discopolis and mysterious newcomers Battle Of The Zoo.

Fri 10 Feb

This Is Music

Planet Earth: Do You Remember The First Time?

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Big ‘N’ Bashy

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Mighty mix of reggae, grime, dubstep and jungle.

The Jackals (Selective Service, Rolled Up 20s, Catherine Thompson)

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Guitar-driven psychedelic sounds crossed with gritty songsmithery, served up with a good dose of attitude. Amen.

The Den

Electric Circus, 22:00–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

Handpicked selection of jive, rock, blues and funk from the B-Sides DJs.

Bass Syndicate

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Hot Mess

The regular Edinburgh breaks and bassline Manga crew takeover.

Bandioke

DJ Simonotron hosts the gay disco party like no other, playing disco, house and acid on vinyl only.

Art School indie institution with DJs Chris and Paul.

Retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top. Citrus Club, 19:30–22:00, £4

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The Egg

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£4 after 12)

Live band karaoke session. Also gets you free entry to retro after-club, Planet Earth.

February 2012

THE SKINNY 59

EDINBURGH CLUBS Rendezvous (Miguel Campbell ) Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£12 after 12)

House specialist, and one half of underground duo HCB, Miguel Campbell helps warm the house for Cab Vol newcomers Rendezvous.

Rewind The Liquid Room, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Rewind take a journey back through the ages, digging out anthemic gems from the last 40 years.

Much More The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Thu 16 Feb

Soulsville

Witness

Sat 25 Feb

Octopussy

Swinging soul spanning a whole century with DJs Tsatsu and Red-6, plus live dancers a-go-go.

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of garage, dubstep and bassline house with the Attic Kings and Blackwax DJs.

Tease Age

Tue 31 Jan

Sat 11 Feb

Sun 19 Feb

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Live & Local

Stick It On

The Outcasts

Sonic Thrill (Hold The Suspect, Wildtype)

Slap Bang!

Propaganda

Genre-spanning midweeker with the residents playing a musical mish-mash, alongside rotating guests. In Speakeasy.

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Thu 23 Feb

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Spin!

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

The notorious Magic Nostalgic ‘wheel’ takes on a new persona, picking a more alternative and underground selection with each spin.

Spare Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Flagship hip-hop and R’n’B Saturday nighter.

Danco and Kami play some hench beats. Nuff said.

Sun 12 Feb

Sick Note (Jesus H. Foxx)

Coalition

The Cab’s flagship indie and electro favourite now with added live acts, this time being Edinburgh’s own tight indie-pop ensemble, Jesus H. Foxx.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dubstep, breaks and bassline house from AF Meldrum and a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

Sepalcure Sneaky Pete’s, 22:00–00:00, £5 adv.

Born of a collaboration between Travis Stewart and Praveen Sharma, Sepalcure impress with their all-gunsblazing fusion of tribal dub, house, two step beats and neon synths.

Eden Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £5

Funky house and dirty electro playlists from the past and future, so say they.

Funk de la Flik

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Indigo The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a distinctly danceable beat, taking in everything from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

Fri 17 Feb Planet Earth: Do You Remember The First Time?

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Bandioke

Disco Box

Live band karaoke session. Also gets you free entry to retro after-club, Planet Earth.

DJ Flik spins an eclectic mix of funk for Cab’s new laid-back Monday nighter.

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £3

More dancefloor classics and glitterball merriment for the Sunday party crowd.

Mon 13 Feb Nu Fire Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Trade Union Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 12)

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals). In Speakeasy.

The Latin Quarter The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £3

Regular DJs Freddy Ramirez and James Combe spin a mighty mix of salsa, merengue and bachata.

Tue 14 Feb I Love Hip-Hop Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Citrus Club, 19:30–22:00, £4

Go-Go HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £3

Brand new mix of anything you ears want to hear, from resident DJ Gentleman Jonny.

ETC02: No Skool (Zonk, Octophant, Toxicologist, Alias23) Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3 in school uniform)

New electronic night from Edinburgh Tekno Cartel, covering techno, acid house, bassline, jungle, dubstep, metal, breakcore and gabber. Phew.

Confusion is Sex (Hot Knives) Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Glam techno and electro night, with the usual themed shenanigans this time of the circus freak variety.

Big Time Electric Circus, 23:30–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

New night playing all the best in old and new disco, funk, soul and rock’n’roll, handpicked by dapper chaps Gav & Jack.

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £5

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Hard rockin’ Edinburgh five-piece riding along on a timeless 80s sound imbued with modern grit and melodic twists.

Pop Rocks

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Pop and rock gems, taking in motown, 80s classics and plenty of danceable fare (well, the Beep Beep, Yeah! crew are on decks after all).

The Egg

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£4 after 12)

Art School indie institution with DJs Chris and Paul.

Gasoline Dance Machine (Cosmonauts)

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £7

Classic Italo and straight up boogie allied with contemporary house and disco, with special guest Cosmonauts.

Saturday Night Beaver

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £5

Lesbian and bi-friendly favourite with Trendy Wendy and pals. In Speakeasy.

Mansion (Jaguar Skills)

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £12

The favourited student midweeker makes the move to The Liquid Room, playing house and electro (upstairs) and hippity-hop (downstairs).

Much More

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Flagship hip-hop and R’n’B Saturday nighter.

Sun 19 Feb Phantom Limb

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £6.50

Sweet and honest country and soul tunes from the Bristol sextet led by vocalist Yolanda Quartey.

Coalition

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dubstep, breaks and bassline house from AF Meldrum and a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

Funk de la Flik

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

DJ Flik spins an eclectic mix of funk for Cab’s new laid-back Monday nighter.

Subduction Zone

The Third Door, 23:00–01:00, Free

DJ Spinula spins some soul-soothing lush electronica. It could only be a Sunday.

Evolving colective of Glasgow musicians based around the music of Grahame Skinner from Hipsway.

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £12.50 adv.

Nu Fire

Long-running D’n’B night from residents Beefy and Wolfjazz, plus a rotating collective of DJs.

Devine The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

Brand new Tuesday nighter with the Six Shot DJs playing a mixture of hip-hop, R’n’B, dancehall, grime and UK garage.

Wed 15 Feb J-Dub Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Jungledub crew widen their music policy and take on the new guise of J-Dub, encompassing reggae, dubstep, future garage, grime, D’n’B and jungle into their mighty mix.

Witness Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of garage, dubstep and bassline house with the Attic Kings and Blackwax DJs.

Slap Bang!

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Genre-spanning midweeker with the residents playing a musical mish-mash, alongside rotating guests. In Speakeasy.

Mansion The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

The favourited student midweeker makes the move to The Liquid Room, playing house and electro (upstairs) and hippity-hop (downstairs).

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

A heady bout of cosmic house, punk and upside-down disco with yer man Kris ‘Wasabi’ Walker.

Soul Jam Hot

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £5

Octopussy

The notorious Magic Nostalgic ‘wheel’ takes on a new persona, picking a more alternative and underground selection with each spin.

Mon 20 Feb

Split

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Spin!

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

Skinner

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Wasabi Disco

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

DUNDEE MUSIC

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, Free (£2 after 12)

Vic Galloway Presents (Lady North, Homework, Birdhead) Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Vic Galloway returns for his showcase slot, where the man himself gets to pick the acts for your aural delectation, this time headered by Edinburgh’s own mathematic riff magicians, Lady North

Indigo

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a distinctly danceable beat, taking in everything from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

Twist and Shout

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £2

Student radio Fresh FM churn out the good-time retro party jams.

Fri 24 Feb Planet Earth: Do You Remember The First Time?

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £4

I Love Hip-Hop

Toe-tapping, soul shaking, blistering beats: job done. In Speakeasy.

Hideout The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 11)

Brand new Friday nighter, with seasoned Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

Soul Kitchen The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Collection of soul classics from DJs Dale Lush and Isla Blige.

Sat 18 Feb Tease Age Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Propaganda HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Dr No’s Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Danceable mix of the best in 60s ska, rocksteady, bluebeat and reggae.

60 THE SKINNY February 2012

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Soul Jam Hot

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

Split

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

Long-running D’n’B night from residents Beefy and Wolfjazz, plus a rotating collective of DJs.

Devine

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

Brand new Tuesday nighter with the Six Shot DJs playing a mixture of hip-hop, R’n’B, dancehall, grime and UK garage.

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £9 adv.

Magic Nostalgic Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 after 12)

Hotch-potch of tracks chosen by a spinning wheel. Expect anything from 90s rave to power ballads, and a lot of one-hit wonders.

Playdate Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

House specialists Stewart and Steven play, er, some special house.

Duke’s Corner, 21:00–23:00, £tbc

High-energy disco-pop from the bouncy Glasgwegian seven-piece.

Sat 04 Feb Deadlight Red Duke’s Corner, 21:00–23:00, £tbc

Local indie-rockers doing a fine line in classic covers, spanning the 60s to present day.

Tue 07 Feb

Sun 12 Feb Aerials Up (Whigs and Rakes, The Violent Whispers) Doghouse, 20:00–22:30, £6

Where would our month be without a bit of Celtic-tinged, rustic anthemia?

Aerials Up have it by the bundle, as well as a unique ability to get a rousing jig on. Amen.

Tue 14 Feb Live & Local Duke’s Corner, 20:00–22:00, Free

Duke’s Corner, 20:00–22:00, Free

Open mic-style platform for local bands and solo artists to showcase their wares.

Thu 09 Feb

Masters In France (Tomas Bird, Vereor, The Blackbirds)

Live & Local Open mic-style platform for local bands and solo artists to showcase their wares.

Carly Connor Doghouse, 20:00–22:30, £4

Young Glasgow singer/songwriter who recently made the big move down’t London-way.

Fri 10 Feb The Law (John Wean, The Trade, The Korova) Doghouse, 20:00–23:30, £6 adv. (£7 door)

Dundonian rock’n’rollers in possession of big ol’ riffs, stirring melodies and a sweet harmony or two.

The Shiverin’ Sheiks Duke’s Corner, 21:00–23:00, £tbc

Madcap rock’n’roll and 50s psychedelia for your Friday night pleasure.

Fri 17 Feb Doghouse, 20:00–22:30, £5

Bangor-born five-piece taking the alternative indie template to some dark and danceable places, anchored on Ed Ellis Jones’ sultry vocals.

The Funkin’ Idiots Duke’s Corner, 21:00–23:00, £tbc

Six-piece Dundee soul, funk and disco collective, playing dancefloor classics from yesteryear.

Sat 18 Feb Skinner Doghouse, 20:00–22:30, £12.50

Evolving colective of Glasgow musicians based around the music of Grahame Skinner from Hipsway.

Beat Generator Live!, 20:00–22:30, £8 adv.

Belfast-born punk-rockers, formed back in nineteen canteen (well, 1977).

Tue 21 Feb Live & Local Duke’s Corner, 20:00–22:00, Free

Open mic-style platform for local bands and solo artists to showcase their wares.

Fri 24 Feb Errors Doghouse, 20:00–22:30, £9

Glasgow’s own understated electronic funk outfit tour their rather fine new album, which we happened to bestow a mighty five stars upon.

Safe to say it’ll be ace.

The Banana Sessions Duke’s Corner, 20:00–23:00, Free

The delightful experimental Edinburgh pop troupe tour their rather fine debut album, Mixtape.

Sat 25 Feb Your First Mistake (Moving Mecca) Beat Generator Live!, 19:00–22:30, £tbc

Edinburgh alternative rock ensemble with doubled-up vocals from lead men Sean and Sam Meechan.

DUNDEE CLUBS

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£4 after 12)

Fri 03 Feb

Fri 10 Feb

Asylum

Bandioke

Art School indie institution with DJs Chris and Paul.

HEADWAY (DJ Sneak)

Transmission

Alternative selection of rock, metal and punk.

Live band karaoke session. Also gets you free entry to retro after-club, Planet Earth.

Karnival (Inner City)

Go-Go

The residents spin the usual fine mix of deep house, funky techno, and everything inbetween, joined by Inner City for a live set.

House pioneer DJ Sneak mans the decks with his signature funk-filtered, discoinfluenced house beats.

Retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top. Citrus Club, 19:30–22:00, £4

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £3

Brand new mix of anything you ears want to hear, from resident DJ Gentleman Jonny.

Soundburger

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

New night specialising in rare funk, rock, psych and jazz on vintage 45s.

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

Rod Jones and The Birthday Suit (Underclass, Tam’s Railways)

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £10

Madchester The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £7 (£5)

Indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

Heavy Gossip Vs Ultragroove (Motor City Drum Ensemble, Craig Smith) The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £10

Deep house and disco heavyweights Heavy Gossip and Ultragroove help christen The Liquid Room’s brand new annexe club, called, er, The Annexe.

Much More The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Flagship hip-hop and R’n’B Saturday nighter.

Sun 26 Feb

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £6 adv. (£9 door)

Coalition

This Is Music

Dubstep, breaks and bassline house from AF Meldrum and a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones plays with his new band, The Birthday Suit, an ever-changing collective of musicians.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Numbers

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £5 (members free)

The Numbers crew stage their monthly Sneaky Pete’s takeover.

Funk de la Flik Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Flik spins an eclectic mix of funk for Cab’s new laid-back Monday nighter.

Trade Union

Indie-pop dance party for the twee of heart, with mixtapes, badges and cake for the first 50 through the door.

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals). In Speakeasy.

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £4

Sensu (Seth Troxer )

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Wed 22 Feb J-Dub

Hideout

TheJungledubcrewwidentheirmusicpolicy andtakeonthenewguiseofJ-Dub,encompassingreggae,dubstep,futuregarage,grime, D’n’Bandjungleintotheirmightymix.

Brand new Friday nighter, with seasoned Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 11)

Reading Rooms, 22:00–02:30, £12

Beartrap Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Eclectic mix of art-rock, indie and punk.

Sat 04 Feb Mixed Bizness: Boom Monk Ben

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–23:00, £2 (£1)

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Indie, pop and hardcore with DJs Wolfie and The Girl.

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5

Carousel Beat Generator Live!, 20:00–03:00, £5

Sat 11 Feb Slam Reading Rooms, 22:00–02:30, £10

Producer/DJ duo Slam (aka Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle) make a welcome return to Dundee, sharing deck duty over a four-hour set of underground techno.

Brand new gig-in-a-club night playing a distinctly alternative selection of metal, extreme punk and classic rock, plus live sets from To Kill Achilles, Silent Nothing, Drawn To Ruin and Stoned Pony.

Fri 24 Feb Ctrl.Alt.Defeat

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £5 (£4)

Asylum

Yer man Boom Monk Ben mashes up all the good stuff over a four-hour set, taking in dubstep, hip-hop, dancehall, reggae, garage and anything else he damn well fancies.

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5

Alternative selection of rock, metal and punk.

Electro musings with a danceable beat, with Clouds, Ado and Ken Swift sharing deck duty.

Carbon

Zazou

Asylum Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5

Alternative selection of rock, metal and punk.

Totally Wired

The Hideout, 22:30–03:00, £4

Alternative-styled club night, handpicking from genres of metal, industrial, rock, indie and anything else they damn well fancy.

Fri 17 Feb

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £5 (£7 after 12)

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Celebrating the sounds of the futures of yesterday (aka forgotten retro classics and decadent Euro-pop).

Sat 25 Feb Autodisco

Beat Generator Live!, 21:00–03:00, Free

Felt

Classic-styled mix of punk, new wave, ska, reggae and dub selections.

Indie dancing tunes, from retro-pop to eclectic rock.

Electro-funk, house and disco with your regular hosts Dave Autodisco and Dicky Trisco.

Thu 09 Feb

Sat 18 Feb

Asylum

Brock Out: Valentine’s Edition

Skinner

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Unpop

The favourited Glasgow night heads east, with a special guest slot from Kalamazoo-born, Berlin-based techhouse producer Seth Troxler.

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Voodoo Rooms, 20:30–01:00, £5

Fri 03 Feb Federation Of The Disco Pimp

Duke’s Corner, 21:00–23:00, £tbc

Musical playlist controlled by you the punter, via the submission of threetrack playlists at stickiton.org.uk.

The Egg

New night with a cast of all-female DJs working their way through some sexy retro, complete with glitter balls, naturally.

Tue 21 Feb

Sweet reggae rockin’ from the original sound system, in a special Bob Marley birthday special where they’ll be playing a selection of tunes from the great man.

Duke’s Corner, 20:00–22:00, Free

Open mic-style platform for local bands and solo artists to showcase their wares.

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

The Latin Quarter

Damn Hot

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£7 after 12)

British soul artist combining soul and roots influences in one deep and husky-voiced whole.

The Sound Of C (Youngman)

Regular DJs Freddy Ramirez and James Combe spin a mighty mix of salsa, merengue and bachata.

Messenger: Bob Marley Birthday Special

The Cab’s flagship indie and electro favourite.

Retro Catz

The Sound Of C present a very special residents party featuring Edinburgh’s very own Jigsaw and a live performance from Youngman.

Sci-fi pop, outsider folk, soulful R’n’B, machine funk and a whole lot more from DJs from bETAMAX, The Gentle Invasion and FOUND, amongst others.

Michael Kiwanuka

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals). In Speakeasy.

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £3

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £3

Sick Note

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £5

Papi Falso

What’s on, Edinburgh, Voodoo Rooms, things to do, going out

Trade Union

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Handpicked weekend mix of chart, dance and retro 80s classics.

Ride girl’s Checkie and Lauren play hip-hop and dance, all night long.

The Substance crew welcome mighty dance DJ Jeff Mills to the decks. Get excited, yeah?

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Bubblegum

Vegas

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Substance (Jeff Mills)

This Is Music

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Ride

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £3.50 (£5 after 12)

Special Valentine’s edition of the hedonistic dance-till-you-drop night, brought to you by undeground DJ and producer Alexia De Vorstin and Spaceball’s DJ Rossco.

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Doghouse, 20:00–22:30, £12.50

Evolving colective of Glasgow musicians based around the music of Grahame Skinner from Hipsway.

Locarno Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £5 (£7 after 12)

Rockabilly, doo-wop, soul and all things golden age and danceable with the Locarno regulars.

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £8

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5

Alternative selection of rock, metal and punk.

Carbon The Hideout, 22:30–03:00, £4

Alternative-styled club night, handpicking from genres of metal, industrial, rock, indie and anything else they damn well fancy.

Mon 27 Feb

Nu Fire

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

The Latin Quarter The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £3

Regular DJs Freddy Ramirez and James Combe spin a mighty mix of salsa, merengue and bachata.

For full listings go to www.theskinny.co.uk/listings or scan left

COMEDY GLASGOW Wed 01 Feb Frankie Boyle: Work In Progress The Stand, 18:00–20:00, £10

The inimitable Mr Boyle presents a series of rather special warm-up shows for his up-coming tour, which he says will also be his last. Like, ever.

Thu 02 Feb The Thursday Show (Carey Marx, Gary Little, Sam Gore, Gordon Alexander)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4 members)

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 03 Feb The Friday Show (Carey Marx, Gary Little, Sam Gore, Gordon Alexander)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5 members)

Sun 12 Feb

Sun 26 Feb

Tue 07 Feb

Thu 16 Feb

Thu 23 Feb

Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service

Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service

Wicked Wenches (Tiffany Stevenson, Jessica Fosterkew, Julia Sutherland)

The Thursday Show (Ian Cognito, Chris Lynam, Ed Patrick, Ray Bradshaw)

The Thursday Show (Roger Monkhouse, Eddy Brimson, Jeff O’Boyle)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond.

Mon 13 Feb

Mon 27 Feb

Frankie Boyle: Work In Progress

All-female stand-up, with a suitably varied mix of headliners and newcomers. Hosted by resident funnywoman Susan Calman.

Scottish Fair Trade Benefit

Danny Bhoy

The Stand, 18:00–20:00, £10

The inimitable Mr Boyle presents a series of rather special warm-up shows for his up-coming tour, which he says will also be his last. Like, ever.

Wed 15 Feb Midweek Comedy Cabaret The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £4 (£2)

Midweek blues combatting comedy showcase, with four acts for four quid. Can’t say fairer.

Frankie Boyle: Work In Progress The Stand, 18:00–20:00, £10

The inimitable Mr Boyle presents a series of rather special warm-up shows for his up-coming tour, which he says will also be his last. Like, ever.

Sat 04 Feb

Thu 16 Feb

The Saturday Show (Carey Marx, Gary Little, Sam Gore, Gordon Alexander)

The Thursday Show (Michael Smiley, Teddy, Wade McElwain, Rod Hunter)

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

The Secret Policeman’s Ball (Graham Mackie, Chris Forbes, Sian Bevan, Barry McDonald, Des O’Gorman, Keir McAlister, Scott Gibson, Jay Lafferty) Queen Margaret Union, 19:30–22:00, £5

Annual student-run comedy benefit, with a whole host of comedy talent pitching in to help raise funds for Amnesty International. Go support the cause, ayes.

Sun 05 Feb Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond.

Glasgow Kids Comedy Club The Stand, 15:00–17:00, £4

Jokes suitable for little ears (i.e. no sweary words), for children aged 8-12 years-old.

Mon 06 Feb Joe Heenan’s Movie Madness The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £4

Movie quiz and knowledge test with comedic film geek Joe Heenan.

Frankie Boyle: Work In Progress The Stand, 18:00–20:00, £10

The inimitable Mr Boyle presents a series of rather special warm-up shows for his up-coming tour, which he says will also be his last. Like, ever.

Wed 08 Feb Wicked Wenches The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£3 members)

All-female stand-up, with a suitably varied mix of headliners and newcomers. Hosted by resident funnywoman Susan Calman.

Frankie Boyle: Work In Progress The Stand, 18:00–20:00, £10

The inimitable Mr Boyle presents a series of rather special warm-up shows for his up-coming tour, which he says will also be his last. Like, ever.

Thu 09 Feb The Thursday Show (Martin Mor, Parrot, Jessica Fosterkew, Gareth Waugh)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4 members)

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 10 Feb The Friday Show (Martin Mor, Parrot, Jessica Fosterkew, Gareth Waugh)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4 members)

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Comedy benefit in aid of Scottish Fair Trade, with live stand-up from Susan Morrison, Phil Differ and Eleanor Morton.

EDINBUR G H Tue 31 Jan Breaking News (Susan Morrison, Vladimir McTavish) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£3 members)

Interactive topical comedy show that blends stand-up, improvisation and live debate in one unpredictable whole.

Sat 18 Feb The Saturday Show (Michael Smiley, Teddy, Wade McElwain, Rod Hunter) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

Sun 19 Feb Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond.

Mon 20 Feb Frankie Boyle: Work In Progress The Stand, 18:00–20:00, £10

The inimitable Mr Boyle presents a series of rather special warm-up shows for his up-coming tour, which he says will also be his last. Like, ever.

Wed 22 Feb Frankie Boyle: Work In Progress The Stand, 18:00–20:00, £10

The inimitable Mr Boyle presents a series of rather special warm-up shows for his up-coming tour, which he says will also be his last. Like, ever.

Thu 23 Feb The Thursday Show (Steve Hall, Bernard O’Shea, Sean Grant, Lynne Ruth Miler) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4 members)

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 24 Feb The Friday Show (Steve Hall, Bernard O’Shea, Sean Grant, Lynne Ruth Miler) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5 members)

Sat 11 Feb

Sat 25 Feb

The Saturday Show (Martin Mor, Parrot, Jessica Fosterkew, Gareth Waugh)

The Saturday Show (Steve Hall, Bernard O’Shea, Sean Grant, Lynne Ruth Miler)

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Playing a special hometown gig, Danny Bhoy cherry-picks from his latest two shows; By Royal Disappointment and Messenger (Please Do Not Shoot).

Wed 08 Feb The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Jo Caulfield, Richard Melvin, Keir McAllister, Graeme Thomas) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £5

New comedy panel show looking at the good, the bad and the ugly things that have happened during the week, with the audience voting on which comedian wins.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Jo Caulfield, Richard Melvin, Keir McAllister, Graeme Thomas)

Playing a special hometown gig, Danny Bhoy cherry-picks from his latest two shows; By Royal Disappointment and Messenger (Please Do Not Shoot).

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £5

New comedy panel show looking at the good, the bad and the ugly things that have happened during the week, with the audience voting on which comedian wins.

Thu 02 Feb

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Prime stand-up from the best on the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Festival Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £16.50

Danny Bhoy

The Friday Show (Michael Smiley, Teddy, Wade McElwain, Rod Hunter) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5 members)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£3 members)

Wed 01 Feb

Fri 17 Feb

Prime stand-up from the best on the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £5

The Thursday Show (Steve Gribbin, Johnny Candon, Stephen Callaghan, Eleanor Morton)

Prime stand-up from the best on the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5 members)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond.

Prime stand-up from the best on the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

T H E AT R E

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £8 (£7/£4 members)

The Comedy Academy The Shack, 21:00–23:00, £3 (£2)

A selection of up-and-coming Scottish comedic talent showcase their wares.

Fri 03 Feb The Friday Show (Steve Gribbin, Johnny Candon, Stephen Callaghan, Eleanor Morton) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5 members)

Prime stand-up from the best on the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

The Improverts Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–23:30, £5.50 (£5)

Festival Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £16.50

Thu 09 Feb The Thursday Show (Steve Hall, Graeme Thomas, Tiffany Stevenson, Mickey Anderson) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £8 (£7/£4 members)

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Brunton Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £14.50 (£12.50)

Prime stand-up from the best on the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

The Improverts

Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–23:30, £5.50 (£5)

Long-standing improv comedy troupe whose rather fine show is built entirely on (oft daft) audience suggestions.

The Shack, 19:00–21:00, £8

The Shack, 19:00–21:00, £8

Sun 05 Feb The Sunday Night Laugh-In

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

The Shack, 19:00–21:00, £8

Sun 12 Feb The Sunday Night Laugh-In

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase for your Sunday evening.

Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

The Stand, 13:30–15:30, Free

Improvised lunchtime comedy favourite with cheeky chappies Stu & Garry.

Mon 13 Feb

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Fit O’ The Giggles

Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

Keara Murphy showcases a selection of new material from a host of acts taking in sketches, stand-up, mime, musical comedy, poetry, magic, and, well, pretty much anything else they damn well fancy.

Chilled comedy showcase for your Sunday evening.

The Stand, 13:30–15:30, Free

Improvised lunchtime comedy favourite with cheeky chappies Stu & Garry.

Mon 06 Feb Fit O’ The Giggles City Café, 20:30–22:30, £3 (£2)

Keara Murphy showcases a selection of new material from a host of acts taking in sketches, stand-up, mime, musical comedy, poetry, magic, and, well, pretty much anything else they damn well fancy.

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5 members)

Prime stand-up from the best on the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

The Improverts

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Saturday Live (Eleanor Morton) The Shack, 19:00–21:00, £8

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

The Colour Ham Voodoo Rooms, 19:00–22:00, £6

Opportunity to see The Colour Ham boys try out a selection of new sketches ahead of Edinburgh Fringe 2012.

Sun 19 Feb The Sunday Night Laugh-In

City Café, 20:30–22:30, £3 (£2)

Wed 15 Feb The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Jo Caulfield, Richard Melvin, Keir McAllister, Graeme Thomas) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £5

New comedy panel show looking at the good, the bad and the ugly things that have happened during the week, with the audience voting on which comedian wins.

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5 members)

Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–23:30, £5.50 (£5)

Long-standing improv comedy troupe whose rather fine show is built entirely on (oft daft) audience suggestions.

Friday Live (Stuart Mitchell, Jim Park) The Shack, 19:00–21:00, £8

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

Sat 25 Feb The Saturday Show (Roger Monkhouse, Eddy Brimson, Jeff O’Boyle) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

Saturday Live (Stuart Mitchell, Jim Park)

Festival Theatre, 19:30–21:30, From £30

The comedic storytelling duo (aka filmmaker Kevin Smith and actor Jason Mewes) chronicle their early years and friendship. Laughter will undoubtedly ensue.

Mon 20 Feb Fit O’ The Giggles City Café, 20:30–22:30, £3 (£2)

Keara Murphy showcases a selection of new material from a host of acts taking in sketches, stand-up, mime, musical comedy, poetry, magic, and, well, pretty much anything else they damn well fancy.

Tue 21 Feb The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Jo Caulfield, Richard Melvin, Keir McAllister, Graeme Thomas) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £5

New comedy panel show looking at the good, the bad and the ugly things that have happened during the week, with the audience voting on which comedian wins.

Wed 22 Feb Henning Wehn: No Surrender The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£8)

Jolly stand-up German comic, who pretty much seems to have selfappointed himself German Comedy Ambassador to the UK, mores the joy.

A Beryl Full Of Life, Love and Laughter Brunton Theatre, 19:30–21:30, £11.25 (£9.25)

Live celebration of the late great British comedy actress Beryl Reid, brought to life by Elaine Panting

Divided City 2–4 Feb, times vary, £10 (£8)

Screenwriter Abi Morgan’s unique intertwining of a couple in their 20s, with the same man and woman a lifetime later, inspired by a T.S. Eliot poem.

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

The Stand, 13:30–15:30, Free

Citizens Theatre

The Friday Show (Roger Monkhouse, Eddy Brimson, Jeff O’Boyle)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase for your Sunday evening.

New spinal sound composition by Raydale Dower performed on an orchestra of loudspeakers, exploring the idea of sound as a sculptural medium. Taking place at 7pm and 9pm.

Lovesong

The Improverts

The Shack, 19:00–21:00, £8

2 Feb, times vary, £5

Fri 24 Feb

Friday Live (Eleanor Morton) Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

CCA Cryptic Nights

Youth production about two boys, one Celtic fan, one Rangers fan, looking for answers in a divided world, performed by a cast of over 50 young people drawn from Glasgow secondary schools.

Long-standing improv comedy troupe whose rather fine show is built entirely on (oft daft) audience suggestions.

Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–23:30, £5.50 (£5)

Theatre Royal Hansel and Gretel

A selection of up-and-coming Scottish comedic talent showcase their wares.

The Shack, 21:00–23:00, £3 (£2)

Prime stand-up from the best on the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Jay and Silent Bob Get Old

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

The Friday Show (Ian Cognito, Chris Lynam, Ed Patrick, Ray Bradshaw)

The Saturday Show (Steve Hall, Graeme Thomas, Tiffany Stevenson, Kevin Lockard)

Sat 04 Feb

Saturday Live (Gary Little, Suzie McCabe)

Fri 17 Feb

Sat 11 Feb

The Saturday Show (Steve Gribbin, Johnny Candon, Stephen Callaghan, Eleanor Morton) Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

Queen’s Hall, 20:00–22:00, £19

Comedy cabaret trio, performing new numbers and a fair few old favourites (and, yes, Cheap Flights is a guarantee).

Improvised lunchtime comedy favourite with cheeky chappies Stu & Garry.

Saturday Live (Michael Redmond, Gus Lymburn)

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

The Comedy Academy

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

The kilted cheeky chappie brings his new show back to Edinburgh, post his world tour.

Fascinating Aida

The Shack, 21:00–23:00, £3 (£2)

Fri 10 Feb The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5 members)

members)

A selection of up-and-coming Scottish comedic talent showcase their wares.

The Saturday Show (Ian Cognito, Chris Lynam, Ed Patrick, Ray Bradshaw)

The Friday Show (Steve Hall, Graeme Thomas, Tiffany Stevenson, Kevin Lockard)

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £8 (£7/£4

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

A selection of up-and-coming Scottish comedic talent showcase their wares.

Friday Live (Gary Little, Suzie McCabe)

Craig Hill

The Comedy Academy

Sat 18 Feb

The Shack, 21:00–23:00, £3 (£2)

Friday Live (Michael Redmond, Gus Lymburn)

The Shack, 19:00–21:00, £8

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a twohour showcase.

The Comedy Academy

Long-standing improv comedy troupe whose rather fine show is built entirely on (oft daft) audience suggestions.

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £8 (£7/£4 members)

GLASGOW

The Shack, 19:00–21:00, £8

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

Sun 26 Feb The Sunday Night Laugh-In The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase for your Sunday evening.

Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

The Stand, 13:30–15:30, Free

Improvised lunchtime comedy favourite with cheeky chappies Stu & Garry.

Rock and Roll Ping Pong Bongo Club, 19:30–23:00, Free

The It’s Funtime jokers present a free, fun, table tennis evening, with dancing discs from DJ Ding Dong.

7–11 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, From £12

Infamous Brothers Davenport 14–18 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, From £12

Theatrical treat of magic and illusion, inspired by the true story of the Davenport Brothers.

Eastwood Park Theatre Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know 4 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £13 (£9)

One-woman comedy drama, performed by Fiona Knowles and written by playwright Rona Munro.

Singin’ I’m No A Billy, He’s A Tim 16 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £13 (£9)

Fame: The Musical 7–11 Feb, times vary, From £9.50

New production of the stage musical, based on the classic 80s film of the same name.

Oran Mor Regret 11–12 Feb, times vary, £10

New play written and directed by Thom McKeown, dealing with the issue of homelessness.

Paisley Arts Centre Double Nugget 22 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £10 (£6)

Random Accomplice Theatre present a double bill of comedies; Mary Massacre and Seven Year Itch.

The Arches Belleville Rendez-vous 11 Feb, 7:00pm – 10:00pm, £7 (£5)

Original stage adaptation of Sylvian Chomet's animated delight. Part of Glasgow Youth Film Festival.

Fit O’ The Giggles City Café, 20:30–22:30, £3 (£2)

Keara Murphy showcases a selection of new material from a host of acts taking in sketches, stand-up, mime, musical comedy, poetry, magic, and, well, pretty much anything else they damn well fancy.

Scottish Opera offer a traditional take on the classic Brothers Grimm fairytale, full of all its original fairytale enchantment and backed

by Engelbert Humperdinck’s moving score.

Go Dance 12 14–18 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, From £6

Now in its fifth year, Go Dance returns with another diverse programme of inspiring dance performances, as energetic and humourous as ever.

An Inspector Calls 21–25 Feb, times vary, From £6

New production of J.B. Priestley’s classic thriller, fresh from its fourth West End season.

Tramway Arika12: Ray Brassier and Thomas Metzinger 25 Feb, 2:30pm – 3:45pm, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

Philosophers Ray Brassier and Thomas Metzinger (by live video) discuss how cognitive neuroscience is unlocking the physical basis of personal experience.

Arika12: Ray Brassier, Alexi Kukuljevic and Mark Fisher 25 Feb, 4:15pm – 5:30pm, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

Three leading, radical philosopher/ cultural critics discuss how neoliberal capitalism has locked down social experience.

Arika12: Malin Arnell, Clara Lopez and Imri Sandstrom 25 Feb, 7:30pm – 8:40pm, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

Thought-provoking look at whether performance art can be used as a means to think with the body.

Arika12: Dawn Kasper 25 Feb, 9:00pm – 10:00pm, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

A series of character sketches and the re-enactments of death scenes, taking in slapstick comedy, monologue, props, make-up and a live sculpture.

Arika12: Socialism and/or Barbarism 26 Feb, 3:30pm – 4:30pm, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

Mute and Film Quarterly’s Evan Calder Williams argues that horror, especially the horror of darkness, is not a depth lurking under the surface of our banal, repetitive lives, as maybe H.P. Lovecraft or Hammer horror would have it.

Arika12: Eugene Thacker 26 Feb, 5:00pm – 6:00pm, £6 (or £14 festival pass)

Mute Magazine’s ‘Occultural Studies’ columnist, philosopher and occasional noise artist Eugene Thacker attempts to avoid the usual philanthropic pep-talk.

Tron Theatre

The King’s Theatre

Woody Sez

Nutcracker

A fittingly heartfelt and uncontrived tribute to folk icon Woody Guthrie, brought to life through story and song. Part of Celtic Connections.

21–25 Feb, times vary, From £18

Keeping the festive season alive with a reimagining of Tchaikovsky’s dance classic from Matthew Bourne (y’know, he who is tirelessly reimagining just about every classic in theatrical existence).

Thoroughly Modern Millie 7–11 Feb, times vary, From £15

1920s set musical based on the classic Julie Andrews’ movie, all flapper girls, dashing chaps and singalong merriment.

All New People 14–18 Feb, times vary, From £12

Mon 27 Feb

4 Feb, 8 Feb, 10 Feb, 12 Feb, times vary, From £8.50

Long Beach Island set comedy about a motley crew of misfits, written by and starring Scrubs’ Zach Braff.

The Old Hairdressers Pensando En Ti 30 Jan – 1 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £7

Examining the nature of friendship and the trials friendships can face, for which Sonic Boom transform the attic of the Old Hairdressers into a dilapidated apartment.

29 Jan – 2 Feb, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, £13

Shakespeare’s The Comedy Of Errors 9 Feb, 8:30pm – 9:30pm, Free (but ticketed)

Staged reading of this classic comedy.

Mwana 10–18 Feb, not 12, 13, 7:45pm – 10:00pm, From £7

Coming of age story which explores family, race, tradition and secrets through the eyes of young Zimbabwean educated in Glasgow.

Double Nugget 14–18 Feb, times vary, £10 (£7)

Random Accomplice Theatre present a double bill of comedies; Mary Massacre and Seven Year Itch.

Melmoth The Wanderer 22–25 Feb, 7:45pm – 10:00pm, From £7

Comic surrealism meets shock horror in this series of ridiculous situations where innocent ecentrics struggle to survive, as Big Telly Theatre Company stage their usual brand of orchestrated chaos.

February 2012

THE SKINNY 61

T H E AT R E

A rt

Passing Through

Save The Last Dance For Me

Luvos

22–25 Feb, 8:30pm – 10:30pm, £8 (£6)

30 Jan – 4 Feb, times vary, £tbc

4 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £15 (£11/£6 unemployed)

Romantic comedy of the magical variety by Alistair Rutherford, performed in intimate cabaret style in a Victorian bar.

Coming-of-age musical tale, riding along on the rock’n’roll classics of the early 60s.

various venues

7–11 Feb, times vary, prices vary

Swan Lake 9 Feb, 18 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, prices vary

Ballet West’s retelling of the classic love story.

Dr Sketchy 5 Feb, 12 Feb, times vary, prices vary

Glam burlesque life-drawing class.

Materials supplied.

E D INBURGH Adam House Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf 1–3 Feb, 7:15pm – 9:15pm, £6 (£4)

Adaptation of the classic story of two couples on the cusp of a longworking relationship, who at the end of a night of pleasantries descend into a devilish cat and mouse game of wits.

Bedlam Theatre The House 1 Feb, 2:30pm – 4:30pm, £5 (£4.50)

Lighthearted comedy tale about the hurdles a young director has to overcome in the hour before he debuts his auto-biographical new play.

The Road To Canterbury: A Revival of The Cantebury Tales 2–4 Feb, times vary, £6 (£5.50)

Combining new writing from members of the EUTC and site-specific setting to recreate Chaucer’s well loved work, The Canterbury Tales.

Snow, Glass, Apples 7–11 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £6 (£5.50)

Delightfully dark and adult retelling of the fairytale adapted from the short story by Neil Gaiman.

Fahrenheit 451 21–25 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £6 (£5.50)

Adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s classic sci-fi novel of the same name, about a fireman whose job it is to destroy books.

Brunton Theatre Craig Hill 3 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £14.50 (£12.50)

The kilted cheeky chappie brings his new show back to Edinburgh, post his world tour.

Sherlock Holmes: The Death and Life 4 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £11.25 (£9.25)

The great detective is brought to life once again in David Stuart Davies’ new play, accompanied by original music from Simon Slater.

The Trial 11 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £11.25 (£9.25)

Nightmare vision of a man who becomes the victim of anonymous governing forces beyond his control, adapted from Franz Kafta’s novel of the same name.

Sensual Africa 16 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £10.75 (£8.75)

Tavania Dance pay homage to the fascinating Tumbuka and Chewa Tribes, injecting their own interpretation on the complexities of these intriguing tribes movements, music and rituals.

A Beryl Full Of Life, Love and Laughter 22 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £11.25 (£9.25)

Live celebration of the late great British comedy actress Beryl Reid, brought to life by Elaine Panting

PUSH 25 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £10.75 (£8.75)

Experimental performance exploring what pushes you to move, speak and push back, conceived by Christine Devaney – known for her unique marrying of expressive choreography, live music, text and video.

Edinburgh Playhouse Back For Good 18 Feb, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £19.50

All-singing, all-dancing Take That tribute act.

Avenue Q Singalong tale of a New York street populated by an unholy comedic alliance of humans and puppets.

Madama Butterfly 24 Feb, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, From £18.50

The classic Italian opera returns, as lavishly-costumed as ever.

La Traviata 25 Feb, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, From £18.50

Verdi’s interpretation of one of the most popular love stories of the 19th century, La Dame aux Camelias.

Festival Theatre Swallows and Amazons 31 Jan – 4 Feb, times vary, From £17

All-new musical adventure, with Captain John and his crew setting sail to Wildcat Island (cue savages and dastardly pirates).

Scottish Opera’s Hansel and Gretel 14 Feb, 16 Feb, 18 Feb, 7:15pm – 9:30pm, From £16.50

Scottish Opera offer a traditional take on the classic Brothers Grimm fairytale, full of all its original fairytale enchantment and backed

by Engelbert Humperdinck’s moving score.

Jay and Silent Bob Get Old 19 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, From £30

The comedic storytelling duo (aka filmmaker Kevin Smith and actor Jason Mewes) chronicle their early years and friendship. Laughter will undoubtedly ensue.

Funny Peculiar 27 Feb – 3 Mar, times vary, prices vary

Comedy tale of Trevor Tinsley the grocer and his misadventures. Laugh at the man’s misfortune we will.

Royal Lyceum Theatre The Infamous Brothers Davenport 24 Jan – 11 Feb, not 29 Jan, 30 Jan, 5 Feb, 6 Feb, times vary, From £14.50

Theatrical treat of magic and illusion, inspired by the true story of the Davenport Brothers.

Of Mice and Men various dates between 17 Feb and 17 Mar, times vary, From £14.50

Re-telling of John Steinbeck’s sun-washed tale of two migrant field workers traveling through California in search of their very own piece of the American Dream.

St Bride’s Centre Edinburgh Ballet Circle 18 Feb, times vary, £10 (£8)

The company of talented nonprofessional adult ballet students stage a rousing trio of performances, with live music and special guests.

Traverse Plucked 31 Jan, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £15 (£11/£6 unemployed)

Liz Walker’s inspired new fairytalestyled piece, using live video feed painting, object theatre, puppetry and animation to conjure up a dark and eccentric miniature world. Part of Manipulate Festival.

Polaris 1 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £15 (£11/£6 unemployed)

Tale of two 19th Centruy polar explorers who are lost and freezing to death. Part of Manipulate Festival.

Gobo. Digital Glossary 2 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £15 (£11/£6 unemployed)

Unique performance piece that hurtles through seventeen sketches at breakneck speed, using lasers, cameras, shadows and an array of bizarre handmade contraptions. Part of Manipulate Festival.

Snapshots 3 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £15 (£11/£6 unemployed)

Three Scottish artists with a passion for puppetry pair-up with three leading directors to create a trio of new visual theatre pieces, with a programme of short films screening between each. Part of Manipulate Festival.

62 THE SKINNY February 2012

Bizarre and brave piece from Austrian choreographer Editta Braun, exploring the human form at its most familiar and most alien. Part of Manipulate Festival.

The Return of the Great Puppet Horn 4 Feb, 9:15pm – 11:00pm, £15 (£11/£6 unemployed)

Satirical shadow puppet show with hundreds of animated cardboard cut-outs playing out tales of the bizarre and comic, through speech, beat-box and, er, pole dancing. Part of Manipulate Festival.

Barflies various dates between 6 Feb and 1 Mar, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £15 (£11/£6 unemployed)

Visceral look at the pains and glories of drunkenness, drawn from the short stories and poems of cult American writer Charles Bukowski.

Snookered 16–18 Feb, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, £15 (£11/£6 unemployed)

Politically-charged play that probes into the lives of three young Muslim men and their fragile masculinity, burdened by cultural expectations yet charged with personal dreams.

The End 17–18 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £17 (£13)

Unique performance of Samuel Beckett’s short story of the same name, about the last days of an old man’s life as he struggles to live despite his willingness to die.

Mwana 22–25 Feb, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, prices vary

Coming of age story which explores family, race, tradition and secrets through the eyes of a young Zimbabwean educated in Glasgow.

Voodoo Rooms Missy Malone and Friends Burlesque Revue: Valentine’s Special 10 Feb, 7:30pm – 11:00pm, £20

Glam burlesque star Missy Malone curates her one-night-only Valentine’s Burlesque Revue; a cabaret spectacular with pals Leyla Rose, Fancy Chance and Desmond O’Connor.

Woot Woot.

Kabarett 24–25 Feb, 7:30pm – 1:00am, £10

Dark cabaret spectacular featuring latex-clad performance artist and burlesque star Marnie Scarlet, alongside the likes of sideshow act Cherry Loco and cabaret-cum-video art collective Miss Annabel Sings.

Wee Red Bar Cachin Cachan Cachunga!

11 Feb, 7:00pm – 10:30pm, £3 (£2)

A queer and trans night of dance, poetry, film and music, including Afro-Cuban dancers Lily & Yamil, politicised wordsmith Jacqueline Applebee and the angry glam racket that is the Glasgow Glam Bangers.

various venues Swan Lake 9 Feb, 18 Feb, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, prices vary

Ballet West’s retelling of the classic love story.

Dr Sketchy

G L ASGOW CCA (SAC) Ongoing bodies: Syndrome de Paris Suite 2-18 Feb (not 5,6,12,13), times vary, free

Artists Simone Hutchinson, Alex Kennedy and Conal McStravick present their new collaborative work, a moving image and sound installation derived from a co-authored text.

Underside, Backside, Inside, Even 16 Feb-3 Mar (not 19,20 Feb), times vary, free

The Arches Movie Poster Design Workshop 12 Feb, 12:30pm – 2:00pm, £5

The Briggait Was, Were 13 Feb-2 Mar (various dates), times vary, free

A trio of artists – Richard Blass, Rosie Toner, Robert Wilson – explore themes of memory and experience, allowing different aspects of memory and prediction to become apparent.

The Duchy

Gallery of Modern Art

Collisions in the Process of Feeling Obstacles

Alasdair Gray: City Recorder

27 Jan-11 Feb (various Dates), times vary, free

Showcase of work from the celebrated Glasgow artist and playwright, focusing on his City Recorder series – a large body of work that Gray created as an ‘artist recorder’ for the City of Glasgow in 1977.

You, Me, Something Else 1 Dec – 18 Mar, times vary, Free

Examples of current sculptural practice in Glasgow, focusing on ten artists who are all at different stages of their international careers.

Includes work from Karla Black, Claire Barclay, and collaborative duo Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan.

Glasgow Print Studio Jacki Parry: Resonance 3 Feb-4 Mar, times vary, free

Marking the opening of Glasgow Print Studios 40th birthday celebrations, former Head of Printmaking at Glasgow School of Art, Jacki Parry, showcases a selection of work.

Glasgow School of Art To Have a Voice 4 Feb-31 Mar (not 5,6,12,19,26 Feb, 4,11,18,25 Mar), times vary, free

Group show exploring contemporary figurative painting, including works

by Kaye Donachie, Moyna Flannigan, Bruno Pacheco, Gideon Rubin and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. In the Mackintosh Museum.

Intermedia Polis 4-18 Feb (not 5,6,12,13 Feb), times vary, free

Glasgow-based artist Helen de Main presents a new body of work in printmaking and sculpture.

Mary Mary Construct 11 Feb-24 Mar (not 12,13,19,20,26,23,27 Feb, 4,5,11,12,18,19 Mar), times vary, free

Collaborative exhibition from Barbara Kasten, Alan Michael, Ricky Swallow and Daniel Sinsel.

Recoat Gallery Mark Lyken: The Loneliness Machines 11 Feb-4 Mar (not mondays), times vary, free

For his first solo show Mark Lyken has created a series of original paintings, a mural and a piece of music that explore his own and other’s feelings on our growing reliance and usage of social media websites.

Installation and works on paper by Glasgow-based artist Lynn Hynd, exploring the relationship between line and form.

The Hidden Noise House Of Yvonne 27 Jan-11 Feb (various Dates), times vary, free

New Glasgow gallery on the block, The Hidden Noise, present their inaugural group show, from British pop artist Colin Self, American experimental film pioneer Kenneth Anger and Glasgowbased artists Sophie Macpherson and Clare Stephenson.

The Lighthouse High Street various dates between 9 Dec and 17 Apr, times vary, Free

Though-provoking exhibition, created by Architecture and Design Scotland, charting the evolution of our High Streets, our changing shops and shopping habits and the impact this has had on us today.

The Modern Institute Alex Dordoy various dates between 14 Jan and 22 Feb, times vary, Free

New exhibition of work from contemporary Glasgow artist Alex Dordoy.

The Virginia Gallery From The Ground Up 18 Feb-17 Mar (Various Dates), times vary, free

Contemporary artists Simon Robinson, Sinclair Neeson, Chay Nicholson and Jenny Rose explore our relationship with the rural and urban environment through print, painting and photography.

27 Jan-11 mar (not Mondays), times vary, free

Matthew Darbyshire continues with his exploration into design as a barometer of social change, transforming Tramway’s main gallery space with an ambitious and thought-provoking response to the building’s own physical and social context.

Gordon Schmidt: The Soul Is Easier To Know Than The Body 27 Jan-26 Feb (not Mondays), times vary, free

Interested in the correlation between performance, document and the experience of the individual, Gordon Schmidt has created a synced video and sound installation using the 1964 BBC adaptation of Jean-Paul Stare’s Huis Clos as a source.

The Beast That Shouted Love At The Heart Of The World

D UN D EE

14-25 Feb (not sun, mon or tue), times vary, free

Collaboration between artist Martin Boyce, filmmaker David Mackenzie and musician Raymond MacDonald, each night featuring a different combination of live music, recordings, images, improvised objects and conversation developed over the past 18 months.

The favourited dance company perform a series of comtemporary dance over a mixed bill of five pieces.

Grid Iron: Barflies 16–18 Feb, 9:00pm – 11:00pm, £10

Visceral look at the pains and glories of drunkenness, drawn from the short stories and poems of cult American writer Charles Bukowski.

9–11 Feb, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £2

Transmission

Street Level Photoworks

Living Truthfully Under Imaginary Circumstances

Harry Papadopoulos

27 Jan-18 Feb (various Dates), times vary, free

various dates between 17 Dec and 25 Feb, times vary, Free

Showcase exhibition of the iconic rock photography of Harry Papadopoulos, his guerilla-style lensmanship taking in the likes of Bowie, Blondie and, yes, Spandau Ballet.

30 Nov – 3 Jun, times vary, Free

National Museum of Scotland

Hot Scots

Exhibition highlighting contemporary art and craft being produced by a handpicked selection of Edinburgh makers, aimed at supporting local artists in the area.

Recent Acquisitions 21 Jan – 4 Mar, times vary, £tbc

Showcase of items recently acquired by the City Art Centre, illustrating how their collection has developed over the last few years.

Collective Gallery New Work Scotland Programme 2011: Part 3 21 Jan – 19 Feb, not 23 Jan, 30 Jan, 6 Feb, 13 Feb, 11:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Group offering from Ash Reid, Jack McConville, and collaborative duo Amelia Bywater and Christian Newby, as part of the New Work Scotland Programme, giving Scottish-based graduates their first significant visual art project or commission.

Dovecot Studios Jerwood Makers 27 Jan-25 Feb (not sundays), times vary, free

Exhibition of pieces by Rapid prototype jeweller Farah Bandookwala, ceramic artist Emmanuel Boos, glass maker Heike Brachlow and installation artist Keith Harrison, with each artist was awarded £7,500 to create a new work for the exhibition.

Edinburgh Printmakers Kirsty Whiten: Breeder Badlands 27 Jan-10 Mar (various Dates), times vary, free

Unique solo exhibition from Kirsty Whiten, dealing with the complexities of the new familial unit in both large works on canvas and a new series of stone lithographs.

Embassy Gallery Salon Neu: Embassy Members’ Show 2012 28 Jan-5Feb (various Dates), times vary, free

The Embassy crew host their annual Members Show, displaying works from a selection of new and existing gallery members. With no theme, no size limit and no format specification, it’s always a hotch potch mix of joy.

Fruitmarket

Scarecrows

8–11 Feb, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, £16

Romantic Camera

1–31 Jan, times vary, Free

Anna Barriball

SWG3

Scottish Dance Theatre: Mixed Bill

Turner In January

Reflection

T Rooms

Glam burlesque life-drawing class.

Materials supplied.

The result of a collaboration between Glasgow-based artists Mark Briggs, Jim Colquhoun and Conor Kelly. Also perhaps one of our favourite exhibition titles, like, ever.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Tramway

5 Feb, 12 Feb, times vary, prices vary

Dundee Rep

City Art Centre

National Gallery of Scotland

1 Dec – 12 Feb, times vary, Free

Series of new fabric sculptures by Laura Aldridge. In CCA 2.

27 Jan-1 Jun, times vary, Free

E D INBURGH

Anja Kirschner and David Panos return to Transmission Gallery with a new multi-channel video installation.

20 Jan – 1 Apr, times vary, Free

Selection of works from the Londonbased artist known for moving between the parallel languages of drawing and sculpture, showcasing a collection of new commissions alongside existing works.

Ingleby Gallery Roger Ackling 4 Feb-12 Apr (not Sundays), times vary, free

Having graduated from St Martins School of Art back in the 60s, Roger Ackling has made all of his work by the same method: focusing sunlight through a magnifying glass to burn lines of tiny dots onto found and rescued materials.

Inverleith House Thomas Houseago: The Beat Of The Show various dates between 30 Nov and 21 Jun, 10:00am – 5:30pm, Free

The first major outdoor exhibition of sculptures by British artist Thomas Houseago, comprising of new and recent large-scale works, mostly in bronze. Sculpture map available from Inverleith House reception.

Luke Fowler 12 Feb-29 Apr (not Mondays), times vary, free

Luke Fowler presents over 50 photographs from the Two Frame series, accompanied by the installation Ridges on a Horizontal Plane and the UK premier of All Divided Selves.

Annual January showcase of works from JMW Turner, with some 38 watercolours providing a remarkable overview of the great artist.

Fascinating Mummies 11 Feb-27 May, times vary, free

Marking the first major exhibition in the National Museum of Scotland’s new purpose-built space, Fascinating Mummies will feature ancient Egyptian treasures dating back as far as 4000BC.

Out of the Blue Drill Hall How the Land Lies 10–24 Feb, not 12, 19, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Exhibition of Alastair Cook’s recent film, analogue photography and glass work.

Patriothall Gallery Paper Page Proocess 8-22 Feb, times vary, free

Group of exhibiting artists, known collectively as The Artist Book Group, who work in a variety of mediums, coming together to explore the book format within the context of their wider practice.

Red Door Gallery Nothing But A Pack Of Cards 27 Jan-21 Feb, times vary, free

Taking inspiration from Alice In Wonderland, and in honour of Valentine’s day, Red Door Gallery showcase some of their most elegant and irreverent Valentine’s cards, intertwined with an actual house of cards.

The March Hare Heir 21 Feb-25 Mar, times vary, free

Red Door Gallery’s March exhibition inherits the House of Cards from their February exhibition, but with the addition of Rachel Elliot’s beautiful screen printed and kiln-fired Leverets.

Rhubaba A Chance Encounter Between an Umbrella and a Sewing Machine 18 Feb-4 Mar (various dates), times vary, free

New exhibition of works from James Clarkson’s using Comte de Lautreamont’s poem of the same name as inspiration, exploring a series of art historical references made when disparate objects and images are combined.

Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) The Art of Sylvia Wishart 27 Jan-29 Feb, times vary, free

RSA showcase of Orkney painter Sylvia Wishart, in which the rugged landscapes of Orkney play the main focus.

Muse 27 Jan-5 Mar, times vary, free

Collection of RSA works concerned with portraying the female character and figure.

The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour 4 Feb-1 Mar, times vary, free

Annual showcases of paintings by established and emerging young artists from across Scotland, taking in more than 180 paintings by over 130 artists.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

Presenting their first exhibition since the grand re-opening, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery explore the highly charged relationship between romanticism and photography in Scotland.

1 Dec – 1 Apr, times vary, Free

Selection of photographic portraits of some of Scotland’s most famous faces, taken by celebrated photographers including Eva Vermandel and Albert Watson.

Sierra Metro A Useful-Looking Useless Object

5-26 Feb (various Dates), times vary, free

Collaborative exhibition from Johann Arens, Shelly Nadashi, Emily Wardill and Jennifer West.

St John’s Church Hannah Louise Carpenter: In The Movies 27 jan-2 Mar, times vary, free

Collection of new drawings by Hannah Louise Carpenter inspired by iconic costume from the world of film and celebrity.

Stills Allan Sekula: Ship Of Fools 21 Jan – 18 Mar, 11:00am – 6:00pm, Free

For the second installment of his Stills’ programme, Allan Sekula presents his most recent series of photographs which examine the sea as a space of trade, work, exploitation, activism and the sublime.

Richard Williams: United States

27 Jan-18 Mar, times vary, free

First public exhibition from Richard Williams, in which he exhibits a series of photographs and artifacts that examine the past, present and future of the once glamorous ship, the SS United States.

Superclub Dead Guys

4 Feb-25 Mar (not Mondays), times vary, free

Slightly odd-themed collection of drawings of dudes bereft of consciousness and self awareness (yes, dead).

Talbot Rice Gallery Beholder

various dates between 1 Dec and 18 Feb, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Taking ‘beauty’ as the starting point, Talbot Rice have invited various artists, individuals and organisations to loan or nominate a work that they feel represents beauty. Viewers will then be invited to vote for the artwork they consider most beautiful.

D UN D EE Cooper Gallery I Really Must Congratulate You On Your Attention To Detail

27 Jan-18 Feb (not sundays), times vary, free

Largest exhibition to date from German artist Viola Yesiltac, features glass sculptures and photographic works that explore the displacements that operate between photography, drawing, sculpture and performance.

DCA Jane and Louise Wilson

27 Jan-28 Mar (not Mondays), times vary, free

1 Dec – 18 Mar, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Sibling duo who studied respectively at Newcastle Polytechnic and Dundee’s DJCAD, joining together to showcase two varied bodies of recent work.

The Sculpture Show

A Painted World: Alan Robb

The Scottish Colourist Series The National Galleries of Scotland present the first of their Scottish Colourists Series with a retrospective of the work of F C B Cadell.

17 Dec – 24 Jun, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Giving themselves over to sculpture in all it’s many forms, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art host a sculptural showcase of works moving from the 1900s to present day.

The McManus 27 Jan – 18 Mar, times vary, Free

Showcase exhibition from figurative painter, and former Head of the School of Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Alan Robb.

MUSIC

Away with the Pharaohs

Drummer/Producer/Mastermind Dave Maclean explains the influence of history on Django Django’s long-incubating debut

CRYSTAL BAWS WITH MYSTIC MARK

ERRORS R TAKEOVE

Interview: Steev Livingstone

ARIES 21 MAR – 20 APR This month you finally find your soul mate. Lucky for you it turns out to be twins.

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TAURUS 21 APR – 21 MAY 10 minutes after taking the red pill you’re still enthusiastic about dropping out of The Matrix.

But three months later, when the Rebellion still haven’t come to pick you up, you begin to contemplate spending the rest of your life bored to madness sitting in a pod of nutritious pink goo.

You’re still a battery, but now you don’t even get the entertainment.

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Rather than musical references of now and the recent past, when I listen to Django Django I hear influences from hundreds of years ago – tribal drums, pipes, and an Egyptian style. It’s as if you’re taking pages from a historical textbook and pasting them together again – is this the intention? How much is history part of what you do?

Yeah, it’s in there – I’ve got a bit of an obsession with ancient megalithic structures like the pyramids. The influences for the LP came from far and wide. We have a song on there called Hand of Man, it’s about an idea of going back in time to the very beginning of mankind and guiding them through to the present, showing them the way and making sure that we avoid greed and war.

Rhythm and song are as old as humanity so I think it’s in us all but it’s defiantly changed a great deal in the west through things like monotheism, electricity and technology. But that’s not the case everywhere in the world and much of the music we listen to is the kind of folk music that’s probably gone unchanged for some time.

I hear quite epic themes in the album – a love song to a comet, and songs about dinosaurs and evolution. Can you tell me a bit about the theme, if there is one?

Yes, I think we cover some quite esoteric themes in the songs. Hail Bop is a kind of play on words – a nod to the comet and a hail to bop or dance. It’s about waiting your

whole life for something to come round and before you know it it’s taken off again in the same way that a comet will whiz by Earth and disappear back into deep space.

Skies Over Cairo was influenced by Ancient Egypt’s obsession with the stars and even the controversial suggestion that the pyramids somehow have a link to Mars.

I loved reading the books Chariots of the Gods and According to the Evidence – whether it’s just sci-fi or has any grounds doesn’t matter to me, the ideas are exciting to imagine. Every song on the record has its own theme but when we put them all together we found that it was a bit like a journey, probably because it was quite an escapist album to make.

You studied with each other in Edinburgh but then moved to London. Is there anything behind this move in terms of thinking about the future of your band or was it for other reasons? How has the environment of London affected you as a band?

Well I moved down to go to Chelsea Art School and the others were already down here doing different things. Personally, I just felt like a change of scene. I had no idea that we’d all end up in a band. I was making weird dance music but never thought I’d be producing this kind of music or playing live, it just happened through the joy of getting together and exchanging ideas. I’m not sure it was that important to be in London but it was a good

thing to be around Dalston and East London, putting on club nights and DJing, because it felt like an exciting place to be.

You have a very strong visual identity which it seems is mostly your own doing. How important is it that you have control of the image listeners are presented with?

I recently made a video for the song Default, which involved lots of painting, and also did the art for the LP. Tommy [Grace, keyboard] made a poster for the LP and does all our fonts and layouts. So we’re always involved in that side. Tommy probably makes more art outside the band, but we’ve both tried to keep involved since Edinburgh and The Embassy days.

Finally, can you just tell us about what you are going to be doing in 2012?

It looks like 2012 will be very busy for us.

It’s great to finally have an LP out after all the setbacks we’ve had, and we’ll be going on the road in the UK in February. I’m in France just now where our main label office is, so we’ll be over here quite a bit. We really want to get stuck into new music soon but we’ll be doing some 12" stuff, remixes and dance edits from the album. Hopefully the festival season will be busy – one of the first we’ve confirmed is The Away Game, needless to say we can’t wait for that!

Playing Stereo, Glasgow on 19 Feb and Fence Records’ Away Game on 20-22 Jul

GEMINI 22 MAY – 21 JUN As the old saying goes, if it’s not broke, break it.

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CANCER 22 JUN – 23 JUL Your suspicions are raised that the Illuminati conspiracy website you frequent is actually run by the Illuminati when you check its WHOIS listing to find the domain name was registered in blood by a Templar Knight in 1216.

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LEO 24 JUL – 23 AUG After consulting your local shamanic clinic, you find you don’t have a cold at all but that your symptoms are instead being brought on by your trans-dimensional soul getting fist-banged in the spirit world by a malevolent demon.

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VIRGO 24 AUG – 23 SEP They say it’s what’s inside that really counts. Your insides are lovely. Take some of them out and wrap them around your face.

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LIBRA 24 SEP – 23 OCT You’re right, I do see you like an object: a shit object.

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SCORPIO 24 OCT – 22 NOV As the recession sets in, February sees you checking the folds of the sofa like a mad haemorrhoid specialist.

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SAGITTARIUS 23 NOV – 21 DEC

This month you sneak a dolphin into the Large Hadron Collider, drop it in, send it round the tube at horrendous speeds before colliding it with a facesized crystal.

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CAPRICORN 22 DEC – 20 JAN

The sum of your life is nothing more than a blank sheet of A4 paper blowing about the surface of the moon.

AQUARIUS 21 JAN – 19 FEB Still furious about homeopathy being on the NHS but not Crowley sex magick, you write numerous angry letters to your MP and eventually your protestations bear fruit. When next you get flu, your prescription will involve getting bummed by your GP for 36 hours while he recants The Lesser Key of Solomon backwards in a shrill, demonic voice.

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PISCES 20 FEB – 20 MAR You spend the first Tuesday of February trying to convince a policeman that you were trying to fuck the dog away from you.

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www.djangodjango.co.uk

February 2012

THE SKINNY 63

Up The Racket

DJ PADDY WITH THE LATEST INDIE / POP / ROCK Maggie Mays Basement

DRINKS PROMOS FROM £1.50 ALL NIGHT

£5/3 student : Doors 11pm-3am (after the live bands)

FUNKING SUNDAYS Free Entry

LIVE FUNK BAND FROM 9pm FOLLOWED BY FUNK DJ 60 The Trongate, Glasgow

Drinks from £2 and Cocktails from £3.50 0141 548 1350

www.maggiemays.co.uk