The Skinny Scotland January 2014

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Scotland Issue 100 January 2014

FOOD AND DRINK SURVEY 2014 The best places to eat, drink and be merry as voted by our readers MUSIC Silver Mt. Zion East India Youth Honeyblood FILM Michael Cera & Sebastiรกn Silva Jeremy Irvine BOOKS Emoji Dick Gimbal CLUBS Croc v Croc ART Romany Dear Stephen Thorpe Omar Zingaro Bhatia COMEDY The Colour Ham THEATRE Manipulate Traverse 50 NOSTALGIA Across all sections

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January 2014

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WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

Contents Front 06 Opinion: One of our founders, Mark Jay

Shukla, looks back on The Skinny’s legacy after 100 issues; Team Girl Comics provide a 3-panel strip; plus regular features Shot of the Month; Skinny on Tour; Hero Worship looks at celebrity chef Simon Rogan.

35

36 The Results in Full – the top dogs in each category.

08 Heads Up: A day-by-day guide to unmissable events taking place in January – fill your calendar with awesome!

Lifestyle 38

Features 10

12

Deviance: Europe’s hub of sexiness and liberation, Barcelona, goes under the spotlight and we examine the relationship between clothing and feminine identity.

Jenny Lee Lindberg and Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint discuss their Floodproduced sophomore album, their growing bond as artists, and why they’re in this for the long haul.

39 Travel: After 100 issues, our Travel

Bedroom-electronica extraordinaire William Doyle (aka East India Youth) talks us through his startlingly confident and ambitious debut Total Strife Forever.

40 Fashion: Danni McWilliams on her new

15

We take a look at the programme for this year’s Manipulate Festival, showcasing cutting-edge puppetry and animation from all over the world.

16

The team behind Croc v Croc take us through their final plans for the perpetually delayed grand re-launch of the Glasgow School of Art Union, opening up a portal to other dimensions with their beats.

18

Ever wanted to read Moby Dick in the language of Emojis? Well, now you can.

19

Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra’s Efrim Menuck goes from despair to defiance as he contemplates the human condition.

20 Our Comedy editor revisits three

Scottish comedy greats – Kevin Bridges, Susan Calman and Janey Godley – and looks at how things have changed for them since issue 1 of The Skinny.

23

Round the World stops in… Scotland!

Plus: the best places to cure your hangover, romance your beloved on a date, and stop for a bite while in a rush!

We speak to the five winners of the The Skinny Award at RSA New Contemporaries and find out how they’ve been getting on since we organised their exhibitions.

24

We speak to boundary-breaking comedy trio The Colour Ham, who combine magic, mentalism and stand-up.

25

We take a closer look at Comma Press’s Gimbal app, which takes short stories and makes them interactive.

26 We speak to nicest guy in Hollywood

Michael Cera about his upcoming douchebag role in Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus.

Food & Drink Survey

Introduction – The votes have been

29 counted and verified. The best food and drink venues in the Scotland are…

31

A look at the best food shops and cafes.

32

We sing the praises of the best newcomers in 2013, and bathe in beer, glorious beer.

January 2014

editor looks back at what we’ve learned from about the world. Includes a lot of war zones, Berlin and diarrhoea. collection HOMEGIRL, inspired by Latina street style.

42

Showcase: A look back at 100 issues of The Skinny in a glorious spread featuring all our covers since 2005! Look out for the early Tim Minchin/Snakes on a Plane mash-up.

Review

45 Music: January’s prospective gig high-

lights, featuring a strong contemporary lineup at the 20th annual Celtic Connections. Reviews of the shows you should’ve bloody well attended last month, featuring Casual Sex, Baths and Rocket From The Crypt. A very special interview with Honeyblood, plus album reviews with releases from Mogwai, Sun Glitters, Father Murphy, Damien Jurado and many more.

43 Clubs: January’s clubbing highlights,

plus an exclusive DJ Chart from Highlife’s Brian D’Souza, aka Auntie Flo.

45 Theatre: A year on from the Traverse Theatre’s 50th anniversary, we talk to their newest crop of emerging playwrights.

46 Art: Visually-oriented praxis me-

tabolised, featuring the brainspeak of Coombes/Congost and Emily Shepherd. Plus: A look inside jewellery specialists Brazen Studios for Own Art.

54 Film: New releases from Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) and the Coen brothers (Inside Llewyn Davis). We smell Oscar season. Plus January’s film event highlights.

47

DVD & Books: From the sublime (Jane Campion’s The Piano) to the riddickulous (Vin Diesel vehicle Riddick ); Books takes a look at the new Asterix adventure, and the latest issue of literary journal, Valve.

56 Listings: Everything you need to know

about going out in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee, but were afraid to ask.

Contents

5

Editorial J

anuary 2014 marks both a new year, and a significant milestone in The Skinny’s history.

Welcome to our 100th issue – we will be banging on about it throughout the magazine somewhat, but hopefully not quite so much that it is offputting or removes our whole raison d’etre, that of telling you what is going on around you, culturally, at this point in time. It’s lucky, ahem I mean we totally planned it, that this should fall at this time of the year, offering us an opportunity to look to both the past and the future, celebrating a few of the things we’re proudest of from the last five score editions of this here magazine, while also looking forward to 2014, set to be a significant year in this country’s history.

In our celebration of 100 we’ve assembled all of the covers and laid them out over three pages in the Showcase. The spreads offer a trip down memory lane for anyone who has been associated with the magazine, either as a contributor or as a reader. For me, it’s a bit like a document of my adult life – The Skinny launched three months after I graduated and writing a feature in issue 1 was the first coherent thing I did post-degree.

There are dozens of reasons why different editions stand out, personally, ranging from my first cover story to my first as Editor; a wealth of exclusive interviews that were firsts in the UK; the Fuck Buttons cover that got us banned from various venues; the one where we set artist Rachel

Maclean loose on depicting Errors; the one where I got tipped head first into a bin to illustrate a special food issue…

Speaking of food, this month we’re publishing the results of our 2014 Food and Drink Survey.

We take a slightly more appetising approach to the subject these days, and are focusing on where is good to eat nice things, as opposed to encouraging bin raking. Sorry, freeganism. That’s totally a legitimate word. We asked you, the readers, to tell us where you like to go eat, drink and be merry and a multitude of you responded. From the literally thousands of votes, here is a democratic survey of the state of cuisine in Scotland’s central belt. Turn to p29 for the full rundown.

We’ve done the same thing for our Northwest edition so if you would like to know what’s good in Liverpool and Manchester you can find out online at www.theskinny.co.uk/food Amidst all this foody 100 excitement we also have a Scottish exclusive interview with our cover stars, LA quartet Warpaint, who gave our Music ed some insight into demoing their eagerly awaited second album in the desert (possibly on peyote), and why they’re lifers at this rock’n’roll lark. Elsewhere in Music we chat to electronic prodigy East India Youth about his debut Total Strife Forever, follow Glasgow’s Honeyblood into the studio ahead of their appearance at our 100 Party (that’s right, there’s a party!) and in a nod

to past, present and (hopefully) future issues, catch up with a man who is no stranger to these pages, Thee Silver Mt Zion and Godspeed You! Black Emperor founder, Efrim Menuck.

Film talks to Michael Cera about taking on grittier roles with more cock snorting, and has a poignant chat with Railway Man star Jeremy Irvine about the responsibility of portraying former prisoner of war Eric Lomax. Comedy has trawled through the archive and discovered a wealth of talent we’ve featured early on – we look back at a young Kevin Bridges’ Braw or Naw column and reveal how ahead of the game we were in championing Susan Calman, while keeping an eye to the future with an interview with Edinburgh’s The Colour Ham. In Art, all this past appraising has revealed a whole load of emergent talent spotting (100 artists featured in the Showcase since 2007) and many real-life exhibitions organised in Glasgow and Edinburgh. To mark the moment, we caught up with some of the artists we’ve presented with The Skinny Award at RSA New Contemporaries to see how things are going. In Theatre, we’re excited to anticipate Manipulate festival 2014, a celebration of contemporary puppetry that arrives in February. Books takes a look at new short story app Gimbal and also Emoji Dick, a crowdcreated translation of the tale of the whale written in, you guessed it, emojis. And in Clubs, we

are almost 100% sure that January will mark the relaunch of the much-missed Glasgow School of Art Vic building. We spoke to the launch night’s masterminds, Croc v Croc to hear about the Red Dwarf extravaganza they have planned.

The Skinny 100: a mixture of business as usual, misty eyed nostalgia, and a food-related popularity contest. Cheers for reading, here’s to the next 100. Also if you’d like to come to the party, turn to the Heads Up calendar to find out how to get an invite. [Rosamund West]

This Month's Cover This month's cover was shot by photographer Daniel Harris. You can see more of his work on his site, www.danielalexanderharris.com

Shot Of The Month Baths at Sneaky Pete's, 25 Nov by Richard Ferguson

The Skinny On Tour We've trawled through the archives for this month's Skinny on Tour from way back in 2007.

But where had our then-designer Charlotte gone for her holidays? If you think you know the answer then head along to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions for your chance to win a copy of The King by Kader Abdolah, courtesy of our delightful pals at Canongate Books.

6

Chat

Competition closes midnight 5 Feb. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within one week or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Full Ts&Cs can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

THE SKINNY

The Creation Story One of The Skinny’s founders takes a misty-eyed look back at the magazine’s beginnings

Where are they now?

Here's the staff list from Issue 1, October 2005, complete with somewhat unorthodox job titles

Words: Mark J Shukla

T

he Skinny’s origin story is probably as rooted in frustration and disappointment (with our own sense of agency; with the media landscape; with how shit was being handled in general) as it is in un-curbed optimism, but you’ll forgive me if I break out the old rose-tinted Ray-Bans for the sake of brevity. When I think back to the very early days of the magazine, what I find most satisfying to contemplate is the way we attracted ourselves into a group who were willing to imagine a bigger picture and pull all-nighters for no money simply because we believed in what we were doing and realised there was value in a publication that had a truly independent voice. Every issue was exciting to put together because we all knew how much collective good-will was keeping the beast on the rails – and I think we sensed intuitively how unusual it was for a publication to operate in that fashion. Such precarious circumstances created a bond between editors and contributors alike and, for me, this shared identity was the essence of what made The Skinny special.

Over the years there have been a few people whose sensibilities have remained a valued constant (nuff respect Kerr, Kyle, Gieben) and many others whose influence has been felt in no less significant ways. Mention should be made of Rupert Thomson’s time as Editor and Nine’s tenure as LGBT [and latterly Deviance] editor – her sense of awareness and disdain for careless thinking bled over into all sections of The Skinny and helped crystallise the modern, broad-minded approach that characterises the magazine today.

As to whether any of us in the early days ever gave a thought as to whether we’d make it to 100 issues – I can’t honestly say that we did. There was simply too much craic to be had; too many arguments to wade into; too much of everything to take in. No matter if The Skinny sees another 100 issues or not, this is how I will always think of the magazine – at the obsequy of every deadline, a grateful acknowledgment of the ineffable now.

Crystal Baws ARIES This month you invent an ingenious solar powered bulldozer for decimating the Amazon rainforest in a carbon-neutral manner.

TAURUS Though you can sometimes come across as a shark-eyed velociraptor of a human there is some goodness in you, like that time you threw a fistful of change into a beggar’s face.

GEMINI You decide it would be more cost effective to cover your entire home in green screen wallpaper and then add your possessions or furniture in later during post-production.

CANCER The donkey you thought you were in love with has been taking you for a ride. Waking up in the barn the morning after with no wallet you call the bank and find that it went and bought a brand new sports car, MacBook Pro and a massive sack of grain on your credit card. You never should have trusted that beautiful bastard.

LEO You decide it’s about time you accepted your guilt and confessed at church about all that priest spunk you swallowed back when you were an altar boy.

VIRGO In order to make waking up in the morning quicker, try changing your alarm clock to the sound dolphins make when they’re on fire.

With Mystic Mark LIBRA After being on the waiting list for an organ transplant the NHS inform you that they found a second-hand one at a car boot sale at the weekend. It’s a bit dusty and out of tune, but it has a real warm sound and the previous owner has taken good care of it, despite years on the road. As you drift off in the operating theatre, you see the nurse wheel it in, packed in ice. The doctor even plays a sad tune on it before he laboriously lifts it up and unsuccessfully attempts to jam it inside your body.

SCORPIO After having your heart broken by so many girls it’s nice to meet one that only breaks your liver.

SAGITTARIUS Your attitude to work is much like God’s. Work for a week, rest on Sunday

and then never go back to work ever again. You also expect to be constantly praised for the fact you even went to work in the first place.

CAPRICORN Your levels of gorm are running dangerously low.

AQUARIUS Your mouth is so clean you could eat your dinner in it.

PISCES Typing 'What is the calorific value of circumcised foreskin?' into the Weight Watchers website gets you placed on a very exclusive watch list. It seems such a waste to throw them all away, you figure, might as well fry them up with a few onions, what can be the harm in that? The jury however are unmoved by your argument of “waste not, want not.�

This month's comic is presented by Team Girl Comic

January 2014

Opinion

7

2014 brings with it all kinds of markable calendar highlights, including the Cameo Cinema's 100th birthday celebrations, Celtic Connections 20th birthday celebrations, the reopening of the Art School union (finally), and – pick o' the lot – our 100th issue megaparty. Happy birthday to us!

Sat 4 Jan

We commence as all good months really should – with a screening of Disney's 1967 classic, The Jungle Book, with Baloo et al making the beginning of January that little bit brighter by allowing us to feel like we're teenie tiny again (y'know, back when we all wished we were a bare-chested boy raised by wolves, with all o' the jungle animals for our pals). Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 1.05pm, £6.50 (£4.50)

Kicking off the new year with musical goodness, King Tut's host their annual January blues beater, New Year's Revolution, with 40-odd bands taking to the venue over the next 14 days, amongst 'em headline sets from The Begies (who open proceedings), Altered Sky, Campfires in Winter, and The Holy Ghosts. See listings for full schedule.

King Tut's, Glasgow, 3-16 Jan, 8pm/8.30pm, £6.50

For yer first proper Saturday blowout of 2014, a whole lorra (well, four, to be precise) longstanding Sub Club residents take to the booth for a mighty versus night – Subculture Vs Optimo – with Subculture chaps Harri & Domenic squaring up to the Optimo tag team of JG Wilkes and JD Twitch.

Going by past versus outings, expect something suitably eclectic and messy. Sub Club, Glasgow, 11pm, £10

The Jungle Book

The Holy Ghosts

Harri & Domenic

Thu 9 Jan

Fri 10 Jan

The Edinburgh institution that is the Cameo Cinema commence celebrations of their centenary year, marking their 100th birthday official on 8 January (when the King's Cinema first opened) with a special advance screening of the Coen brothers' Inside Llewn Davis, two weeks before its official cinema release. Expect bells and whistles (aka bubbly and cake). Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, 9pm, £9.80 (£7.80 members)

Following the release of his 22-track whopper, Big Wheel and Others – essentially a delicately-rendered musical mosaic of his life, loves and influences, composed jigsawlike over a number of years – Californian singer/songwriter Cass McCombs takes in Scotland as part of his Europewide tour, giving said album a live airing in his usual melancholic and lyrically sharp way. CCA, Glasgow, 8pm, £8.50

Alphabet fans unite as Open Eye showcase the full set of lithographs from William Nicholson’s 1897 An Alphabet collection – a specially-commissioned set going from A-Z, including 'A is for Artist' in which Nicholson appears in a self-portrait. A residents' exhibition runs alongside, with artists offering their interpretation of a letter of the alphabet. Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh, until 29 Jan, Free

Cass McCombs

Inside Llewn Davis

Photo: Neil Jarvie

Wed 8 Jan

William Nicholson, An Alphabet

Tue 14 Jan

Wed 15 Jan

Thu 16 Jan

Fri 17 Jan

Curated storytelling night, The Speakeasy, returns for 2014, with this month's line-up of treats including live musical comedy from The Martians, a spoken word set from Rally & Broad's Jenny Lindsay, and comic stints from Andrew Leamonth and night regular Jane Walker. All the stories they tell on the night must be true. Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh, 8pm, £6

The Glasgow Film Theatre's Film Discussion Group returns for its second Wednesday of the month slot, where one-and-all can pitch up to discuss everything from recent biggie blockbusters to offbeat arthouse movies you might not have heard of yet – all under the knowledgeable watch of film writer host Eddie Harrison, who picks two key films for discussion each edition. GFT, Glasgow, 6.30pm, Free

Favourited Glasgow live music haunt, Mono, transforms into a Mexican cantina for one evening only – under the banner Cantina Psicodélica – for which the all-vegan kitchen will be serving up a special super-spicy menu of Mexican-inspired treats, while Monorail's own Russell Elder digs deep into his record collection. Mono, Glasgow, 7pm, Free

So this here issue you're reading RIGHT NOW is our 100th, which we're obviously VERY excited about. In celebration, we're hosting a Skinny 100 party, featuring live sets from Ubre Blanca, Honeyblood, and Kid Canaveral, plus guest DJs, spoken word, live projections from our art Showcases past, and some nifty booze sponsorship. Join us! The Mash House, Edinburgh, 7pm, email party@theskinny.co.uk

Glasgow Film Theatre

Jenny Lindsay

Chillis

Wed 22 Jan

Thu 23 Jan

For those who like their music sub heavy and future facing, Subbie's regular Tuesday nighter, i AM, goes all out for another guest edition – drafting in the talents of L-Vis 1990 (aka james Connolly), known for his singular brand of club music free of rules and genres. L-Vis 1990 also plays Edinburgh's Sneaky Pete's the following evening. Sub Club, Glasgow, 11pm, £tbc

New Zealand's psychedelic son – that'd be Connan Mockasin – takes to the road with his new gem of an LP, Caramel, transferring his interest from dolphins (see 2011 concept album (Forever Dolphin Love) to humans, with said new LP recorded raw in a nameless, faceless Japanese hotel room, utilising just a four-track, guitar, and microphone to magical effect. King Tut's, Glasgow, 8.30pm, £9

Glasgow School of Art union finally returns to its original home, with the rescheduled opening manned by illusive DIY extremists Croc Vs Croc – whose guests include Murlo, Stellar OM Source, Charlotte Prodger, Fem Bitch Nation, and Sacred Paws, prettied up by specially-commissioned lighting automatons, sound works on the stairs and live projections inside and out. The Vic, Glasgow, 9pm, £10 (£8)

L-Vis 1990

Connan Mockasin

Photo: Richard Gamper

Tue 21 Jan

Honeyblood

Stellar OM Source

Tue 28 Jan

Wed 29 Jan

Thu 30 Jan

Fri 31 Jan

With a virtual musical tome of beautifully-crafted post rock at their disposal, the mighty Mogwai play what will be their first ever Celtic Connections set. They'll be marking both the approach of their 20th birthday and the release of their new LP, with stellar support from Chemikal Underground instrumental guitarist, RM Hubbert. Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £25

A selection of comics take part in a Comedy in the Dark fundraiser – performing quite literally with the lights off – raising money for RNIB, and featuring blind comic Neil Skene, alongside Jojo Sutherland, Ross Craig, Vladimir Mc Tavish, and Jay Lafferty, with the intrigue of the night being what each comic does with just their voice and the pitch dark nothingness. Electric Circus, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £10

More than warranting a trip to the wilds of Kingussie, Food on Film brings the big screen to the rural highlands once more – opening proceedings with a themed screening of Pedro Almodovar's female-led tour-de-force, Volver, complete with tapas, Spanish guitar music, and an accompanying weekend-long Spanish art exhibition. Dress in Spanish costume for free sangria! Iona Gallery, Kingussie, 7pm, £6

The ever-innovate Manipulate festival returns to Scotland for a 7th year, with the programme of international visual theatre and film kicking off it's Aberdeen leg with Faux Theatre's poignant and powerful Torn, the portrayal of one woman's effort to find and experience love – which then skips across to Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre for a second airing on 4 February. The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, 7pm, £10

Mogwai

8

Chat

Jojo Sutherland

Volver

Torn

THE SKINNY

Photo: Iain Scott

Compiled by: Anna Docherty

Fri 3 Jan

Photo: Luke Winter

Heads Up

Thu 2 Jan

Sun 5 Jan

Mon 6 Jan

Tue 7 Jan

As the art galleries awake from their winter slumber (aka Christmas hols, in less poetic terms) you'd do well to hit up Dundee's Centre for Conemporary Arts for the last day of Japan-born, London-based artist Hiraki Sawa's solo showcase of animated and video works – imbued as they are with a magical dream-like quality, rich with surreal imagery and atmospheric sounds. DCA, Dundee, ends today, Free

The Filmhouse continue their Jack Nicholson season into 2014, with the bad news being that you've missed your chance to see him do his creepy joker schtick in Batman, but the good news being that they kick off January with The Witches of Eastwick – the 1987 comedy-fantasy classic based on John Updike's novel of the same name. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 3.10pm, £6.50 (£4.50)

Ahead of the festival proper in May, Southside Fringe take to The Glad Cafe for a fundraiser-cum-information evening – where they'll be music from Howlin Radio', Miss Jo, and Papa Shandy and The Drams, alongside live comedy and a short inspirational speech from Greater Shawlands Republic chaps Bruce Morton and Andrew Learmonth, and an open Q&A session on the festival. The Glad Cafe, Glasgow, 7.30pm, Free

The Witches of Eastwick

Hiraki Sawa, Lineament (still)

Papa Shandy and The Drams

Sat 11 Jan

Sun 12 Jan

Mon 13 Jan

Generator Projects' one-off Bring Your Own Blanket screening demands nowt more that you bring yersel' and a blanket to their showing of a trio of new artist/filmmaker films – taking in Rose Hendry and Ian Forbes' Stovies; Andy D. Smith, Ian Forbes and Matt Cameron's A Stately Suicide, and Alan McIlrath and Jeppe Rohde Nielsen's Game. Generator Projects, Dundee, 7.30pm, Free

Stand residents Stu & Garry host their Sunday-bothering improvised comedy show – descriptively titled Stu & Garry's Free Improv Show – once more weave comedy magic from off-the-cuff audience suggestions, ever relied upon to go for the most outlandish suggestions, like that one time when Stu played a scene a bear who was a bomb disposal expert... The Stand, Edinburgh, 1.30pm, Free

Alex Horne brings his Lies show back to the 'burgh postFringe. Meditating on truth, fiction, and the murky area in between, it sees him taking in mimicry of Michael Caine, Andre Agassi, and Cherie Blair, before indulging in an inspired double-act with himself, lip-synching and chatting to a recording of his own voice. Also playing Glasgow the following evening. The Stand, Edinburgh, 8.30pm, £12

Stu & Garry

Stovies

Sun 19 Jan

Mon 20 Jan

Bringing academia into play in her work (she's also a lecturer in Art and Philosophy), Mary Modeen displays a new installation of prints examining representations of metaphysical states of cognitive awareness, embedding layers of vision with philosophical understandings of place into the works – some of which have been commissioned especially. Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh, until 15 Mar, Free

Not jazz, not a trio, and not officially 'national', the Bill Wells-led, er, National Jazz Trio of Scotland, take to Celtic Connections to unveil the fruits of a collaboration that began a Scottish festival in Reykjavik – joined by neo-traditional explorer Alasdair Roberts and triple-pipe revivalist Barnaby Brown, each playing their own set, mixed with some inspired collaborations. Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 8pm, £13

Serving their hip-hop with a dose of wryly-observed comedy, messieurs Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip take to Scottish soil as part of their UK airing of their new LP, Repent Replenish Repeat – again mapping Le Sac's fairground-alike electronic beats with Pip's pent-up lyrical bombardment, squared with some wily facial hair, obvs. Also playing Glasgow the following evening. The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 7pm, £12.50

Mary Modeen, Danger

The National Jazz Trio of Scotland

Photo: Beth Chalmers

Sat 18 Jan

Alex Horne

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip

Sat 25 Jan

Sun 26 Jan

Mon 27 Jan

The Easterhouse 'burbs get in on the Celtic Connections celebrations, as Platform host two samplershowcases handpicked from elsewhere at the festival – with Withered Hand, Richard Dawson, Jeff Lang, and The Mae Trio playing tonight, before handing the baton to Malcolm Middleton, Jordie Lane, Papon, and Dark Northumbrian the following evening. Platform, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £10

Neu! Reekie! host their first foray of 2014, marking the triple whammy celebrations of Burns Night, their first outing down't Leith, and the launch of their very own whisky. Amongst the guests will be Belfast poet Ciaran Carson, Belle and Sebastian's Stevie Jackson, and The Vaselines' Eugene Kelly, plus haggis, neeps, tatties, and whisky for all.

Pilrig St. Paul's Church, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £14

Olive Grove Records and their little family of musicians take to Celtic Connections for a showcase special, marking the first gig in over two years from The Moth and the Mirror (featuring members of Frightened Rabbit and Admiral Fallow), playing alongside Woodenbox, The State Broadcasters, Randolph’s Leap, and Jo Mango, plus newest signing, Call to Mind. Oran Mor, Glasgow, 5.30pm, £10

Star of his own Radio 4 series and a bit of a stand-up master, acid-tongued Londoner Andrew Lawrence brings s'more of his energetic comedic spewings to the stage – imbued with his usual misanthropy and misery, with rumblings about death and the awfulness of other human beings all but guaranteed. Also playing Glasgow the following evening. The Stand, Edinburgh, 8.30pm, £13 (£11)

Withered Hand

Photo: Takeshi Suga

Fri 24 Jan

Ciaran Carson

The Moth and The Mirror

Andrew Lawrence

Sat 1 Feb

Sun 2 Feb

Mon 3 Feb

In their latest incarnation as post-modern Afrocentric rappers, Young Fathers get ready to drop their new LP, Dead – mixing tribal rhythms with harmonised R'n'B hook-lines, quickfire couplets, and grinding synth and bass. They take to Stereo two days before said LP hits streets proper, with support from distinctively-voiced affiliate Lauren Holt, aka LAW. Stereo, Glasgow, 7pm, £8

An emotional sock to the gub of a piece, Susanna Mulvihill debuts her immersive new play, 1933: Eine Nacht Im Kabarett. Set in Anke’s – Berlin’s most seditious night spot – on the night Germany hails Hitler as chancellor, it gathers together Edinburgh artists of various disciplines to bring the world of Weimar cabaret to life. Summerhall, Edinburgh, 22 Jan-2 Feb, £15 (£12)

Following the opening of the Aberdeen arm, Manipulate festival gets its official full festival opening in Edinburgh with the UK premiere of Dudapaiva Company's new work, Bestiaires, blending modern dance and object theatre to tell a tale of Greek gods, all under the watchful eye of your inimitable host, erm, Cupid. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £16 (£12 student/£8 unemployed)

January 2014

Young Fathers

Bestiaires

1933: Eine Nacht Im Kabarett

Chat

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Quiet Defiance

Returning this month with a bewitching second album after a self-imposed desert exile, Jenny Lee Lindberg and Stella Mozgawa say Warpaint are in it for the long haul

J

enny Lee Lindberg and Stella Mozgawa stand on one of the few quiet slabs to be found on Sauchiehall Street at any time of the week, nervously sharing a cigarette on the first night of Warpaint’s most extensive UK tour in some time.

There’s a sense of occasion as they return to Glasgow’s ABC, scene of a particularly memorable win where the band became natural de facto headliners atop an ensemble festival bill of dozens at 2011’s Stag & Dagger. Thanks in no small part to a lot of lost gear – including Jenny Lee’s personalised board of effects pedals – it’ll take a bit of levity to bring the Los Angeles ambient rock rhythm section back to Zen. With disarming frankness and a wicked sense of humour, the duo still know when to reserve a certain mystique – an art too many of their contemporaries have willingly surrendered.

The odds of finding Warpaint locked in a Twitter ruckus with the flavour of the week aren’t particularly high. The duo erupt with laughter at the absurdity of it all. “The four of us were just having a conversation about this yesterday,” says Stella.

“We’re at a point where we’re a little baffled by how to go about presenting the band online – what feels natural and what doesn’t. How far do we go before it starts to feel forced and we’re just becoming another product of…” she hesitates to identify rock’n’roll’s old nemesis “…the system?”

Signed to Rough Trade in 2009, the shady world of social networking did play a pivotal role in connecting Warpaint to one of London’s original independent institutions. “The way that all went down was a happy accident,” Jenny Lee remarks of the alliance. “We’d only had one smaller label approach us before them, so when they did we were over the moon. I mean, we hadn’t even toured outside of Los Angeles. We had a small west coast tour booked on the back of an EP you could only find in Amoeba that we’d released

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Interview: Dave Kerr Photography: Daniel Harris

ourselves, when [the label’s A&R head] Paul Jones found us on MySpace and wrote to us. They had an A&R in Portland, Scott McLean, who came to the show we played up there, and that was that.

We’re close to Geoff [Travis] and Jeanette [Lee, Rough Trade’s managing partners], they came out to LA and listened to the record when we were about 70% finished, before we’d mixed. They’re really involved but they know when to give us space. Jarvis and Steve Mackey from Pulp are also really supportive.”

Grafters from the get-go, the word ‘meteoric’ has regularly been misattributed by part-time spectators to a career now almost a decade in.

Collecting endorsements from the likes of RZA (a vocal fan of Lindberg’s tripped-out basslines) and err… Justin Timberlake (who entreats prospective fans to listen “between giant, tingling swigs of scotch in a dark corner”), probably hasn’t hurt, but as trajectories go, Warpaint’s hard-fought ascent has otherwise been distinctly old school.

With a live reputation that preceded their first gig on these shores, they’ve spent the last three or so years returning to a gradually loudening fanfare.

Now, by their own admission, it’s become home away from home. “Jen loves haggis chips,” Stella deadpans, her bandmate’s face lighting up at the realisation she’s just come to the right town. But beyond our exotic potato snacks, their respect and awe for the history of British music has been well documented, perhaps more so in the mood of their records from the very beginning – The Cure, Mazzy Star and Cocteau Twins have become perpetual, fleeting touchstones – than any interview ever could.

Having finally caught their stride after several years of shedding drummers (a chance introduction to guitarist/vocalist Emily Kokal at a Metallica gig eventually brought Mozgawa into the fold full-time) and a maternity break for guitarist/

vocalist Theresa Wayman, debut album The Fool delivered on the promise of their self-released Exquisite Corpse EP when it emerged in the autumn of 2010. “We didn’t want to sit on a second album for too long,” says Lindberg of its aftermath. “But we weren’t rushing the process, that’s for sure. If it wasn’t ready we weren’t going to record it.”

The band retreated to Joshua Tree for a month of self-imposed exile to get the sessions rolling – not, they insist, to ride the cliché and fall about the desert on peyote. Jenny Lee cackles. “Well, there was a little bit of that, which is necessary I think – almost ceremonial when you’re out there,” Stella concedes. “But it was Emily’s idea that we get out of town and avoid the distractions of being in the city, even though we could’ve done something there, I think it was really good for us to bond and play every single day, recording everything that we’d been playing and just have this period of time to only do that.

Everything outside of that, you’re still going home to your personal environment, your boyfriend, your family, your friends, the same bars, and the same restaurants. We had to get out of that and know that this was the moment to focus.”

An unconventional band calls for unconventional allies. Enter eminent post-punk superproducer Flood, a significant figure behind the scenes on too many landmark releases to mention, ranging from Nick Cave’s first step into the Bad Seeds (From Her to Eternity) to PJ Harvey’s most celebrated (Let England Shake), allying with future heavyweights like Depeche Mode, U2 and Nine Inch Nails at key moments along the way. Regularly in the right time and place, his union with Warpaint makes absolute sense. It’s destiny realised, says Jenny Lee. “Back in the day, Emily randomly asked a friend ‘if we were ever to get a producer, who d’you think?’ He immediately said Flood and that just stuck in her mind for

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years. When we were tossing the idea of having a producer around this time, his was one of only a few names that circled us. We were thinking about doing it all ourselves, but when he said he was available our minds were made up.”

Stella still pinches herself at the coup: “We’re all fans – something that he’s worked on in the past has changed each of our lives in the band. When we met up with him for the first time, which was at the end of 2011, we thought ‘he must take meetings with everyone.’ But I think he’s very particular about who he works with, very calculated about it, and I imagine he knows now – having worked with so many different bands on so many different projects – the things that need to satisfy him musically, creatively and personally.

The fact he was attracted to the idea of working with us made us trust him coming in to the fold a lot more. All of his comments seemed totally in line with what we were thinking. He was very specific about the things that made any particular song work. It seemed we were on the same page from the start and that was a big relief.”

With Flood bringing his Midas touch to the album’s production, another common denominator in the arc of boundary smashing modern music – visionary video artist Chris Cunningham – was charged with documenting the band’s time in the desert. The results (teased on Warpaint’s new website and Love Is To Die single trailer) are the basis for an evocative audio-visual collage of remixes and captured moments – a graceful illustration of the purity in their music. As one in only a handful of projects that the ever in demand director has undertaken in the new millennium, how exactly did they snare his attention? “Well, he’s my husband, first of all – I should tell you,” reveals Jenny Lee, shy as she goes about it. Stella, laughing, finally lets go of a pregnant pause: “I didn’t want to say it if you didn’t wanna say it!”

Keen to shoot down any notions of

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nepotism, though, Jenny Lee elaborates: “…but that’s not why he’s working with us. He had to interview for the job too! He came out to Joshua Tree to do his own work and this was just something that came about quite naturally. He’s just been sporadically filming what we’ve been doing behind the scenes ever since, just the making of the album. We’re all pretty comfortable when he’s around; he’s very mindful about not wanting to disrupt the flow. We were rarely aware of his presence, so what he filmed was real, it never felt like a performance.” Stella pipes up: “He’s become like the fifth member! You look at what this guy’s done with Bjork, Aphex Twin, Portishead…

Madonna, even. In all of those videos, it was a revolutionary style and aesthetic that he had, and it was still in an age where there was a certain artistry in making video clips. They became part of a lasting vision you have when you hear the corresponding song.”

With this formidable team of seasoned gothic aesthetes around them, the result is not a high-flung concept record pointing towards a meltdown. Rich in texture and a clear showcase of their still-evolving songwriting partnerships, there’s an abiding sense that – without forcing some tenuous narrative to hang 12 songs on – Warpaint have simply nailed their colours to the mast. In their own words, it’s the sound of four musicians in a practice space saying ‘this is us.’

Whereas The Fool was a light of touch stoner’s delight by design, their self-titled return blows open the possibilities with electronics.

Somehow intimate and wild, it’s a stew of contradictions that keeps on giving. “We have a natural tendency to try and fit a million ideas into any one song, and it’s been really fun to explore that,” says Stella. “I think we’re honing in on our style, in a sort of intuitive and subconscious way. We’re getting closer to knowing what it is that works for each of us – whether it’s in a song or as this

January 2014

band – and how to interact with each other, now that we’ve played live together for so long. Before the last record we were still finding that, which was a wonderful experience. Touring and being together all the time forces you into a place where you’re trying not to get on each other’s nerves and find out what works as a democratic whole. I think this record is a true representation of us striving for that, to be better, and to get to the point as well, which is…” Jenny Lee shouts the rest of her bandmate’s sentence over the din of a passing lorry: “… pretty hard to do sometimes.

This record is definitely getting to the point quicker than we have in the past, but getting to that point is still sort of time consuming and tedious. Then again, we want it to sound and feel just right – everyone has to be happy.”

“There’s all these decisions some artists must have to make all the time, especially in the pop world.

We’re not even in that universe” Stella Mozgawa

In person, Warpaint’s natural chemistry suggests they’re collectively in that place – defying the bad hand they’ve been dealt by the air luggage Gods on opening night, backstage the

quartet lift the mood by spontaneously breaking into song while The Skinny’s photographer snaps away. On record, where darker moods intertwine with this easy elegance, it’s a different story. Take the sinister gang chorus to Disco// very, where the album’s vaunted rap influence announces itself the loudest. ‘Don’t you battle, we’ll kill you,” shrieks Jenny Lee out in front. ‘Rip you up and tear you in two.’ “That song’s a free for all; it’s very bass and drums,” she says. “We wanted to have everybody singing. I wrote the first verse, Theresa wrote the second, Emily took the third. All three of our verses were very spontaneous and spoke to where we were all individually coming from at that point in time. Speaking for myself, that song’s like a rowdy child that had too much sugar. It’s like a hip-hop song. Someone said to me that it sounds really aggro and angry, I know it probably does, but it’s coming from a very child-like innocent place.”

Since the Cyrus vs O’Connor debate recently gave new voice to the seemingly immortal topic of what constitutes a righteous feminine representation on planet pop, the elephant in the room inevitably stumbles into our conversation.

Jenny Lee lets out a pre-emptive scream and hands the baton to a grinning Stella. “There’s all these small tangents and decisions some artists must have to make all the time, especially if you’re in the pop world. We’re not even in that universe. If we were to do something provocative it would be of our own volition. We’d make a decision to be disgusting, or be really sexual, or even really prudish. We wouldn’t be swayed by what our managers or anyone else thinks we have to do. Luckily, we’re not that kind of band or people.”

Warpaint have undoubtedly clung to their own creative vision without tuning into any external expectations. “We don’t pay any attention to them,” Jenny Lee starts. “I think people, even

MUSIC

back in the day, would ask ‘how does it feel to be an all-girl band?' The truth is we don’t care.

Whether we’re all-boy, girl, dog or monkey, it doesn’t matter; we’re just there playing music together.” Stella’s chuckling again: “I’m just picturing an all-dog band here…”

Presented from the outset as a band playing primarily for itself, have Warpaint’s aspirations changed since The Fool went down smooth – do they consider themselves lifers? “For sure,” Jenny Lee nods without hesitation. “I think all of the decisions we make relate to that,” Stella elaborates.

“We don’t want to be a flash in the pan, and we want to be able to dictate what we do.

Fragments of their DNA may be in thrall to a treasure trove of guitar and electronic music’s past, but Warpaint offer a compelling case for its future. There’s a sense they’re aiming for sustainability on their own terms rather than disposable superstar status. What might they consider a model career to be? Jenny Lee chews on the question and clears her throat. “I think Radiohead’s a pretty damn good example of a band that, from day one, has just done whatever they wanted, managed to take it to the top and they’ve stayed there. No matter what the fuck they do. People are always listening and watching and they’ve still managed to stay true to themselves. That’s the best example I can think of it.

Now, I’m not saying we want to be Radiohead, but it’s a good ballpark.”

As Warpaint step into the night, with a parting promise that we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in 2014, earlier gags about leaving the venue without their laminates are punished when they can’t actually get back into their own gig. But if they’re already halfway to winning the battle for Britain, it’s a safe bet they can take the bouncer.

Warpaint’s self-titled new album is out on 20 Jan via Rough Trade. They play Liverpool O2 Academy on 20 Feb warpaintwarpaint.com

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Strife’s What You Make It A chance encounter with a reluctant label boss sent electronic prodigy East India Youth on an unexpected trip. William Doyle tells us about his long-incubating debut and the ongoing struggle to stop trashing his MacBook on impulse

I

t’s rare for an artist to become a critical darling before their music has even reached the hands of a record label. But in late 2012, William Doyle managed just that when, during a Sonic Youth performance, he handed a tape of demos to John Doran, author and editor of influential and occasionally acerbic culture site The Quietus.

Despite previously claiming that “I'd rather cut off my own head with nail clippers than start a label,” Doran was nonetheless suitably impressed and felt compelled to give East India Youth a serious boost by doing just that. The resulting EP, Hostel, perhaps wasn’t what everyone expected from the site (Popjustice memorably described The Quietus’s first foray into releasing music as “surprisingly listenable”); lead single Heaven How Long was a ponderous slice of electro-pop with a heart-stopping, soulful finale.

As it happens, Doyle has been living with Total Strife Forever for a long while, nearly three years, landing in the hands of Mr. Doran in pretty much full form, and now remixed and remastered for release (via Stolen Recordings) on an uncertain indie landscape. A startlingly confident and ambitious debut, the LP’s Foals-referencing title doesn’t necessarily prepare the listener for the musical gravitas on display throughout. While it was composed and recorded entirely within the confines of his own bedroom, Doyle has at points managed to coax out the sort of expansive and dramatic soundscapes associated more with Brian Eno and Björk, regularly employing a sixty or seventy-strong chorus of his own looped vocals.

“I recorded the initial stuff over two years, and now it’s three years since I first started it,” recalls Doyle. “The whole idea of the project formed quite gradually, and then in the summer of 2012, clicked together really quickly. So I’m coming back to it now and wondering, ‘How did I come to this conclusion with this track?’ and it’s a really interesting process. I’m looking forward to it coming out, because then it’s done and I can move on.”

The accompanying press for Total Strife Forever subtly suggests a scenario of great personal change as the emotional foundation for the recording process. On tracks like Glitter Recession and Midnight Koto, Doyle gears his electronics to something approaching all-out melodrama, but it’s the delicate, heart-on-sleeve songwriting of Dripping Down and Looking for Someone that give the record a melancholic and pleasingly cathartic feel. “Looking for someone/ Pretty sure you were the one/Once you’re there and now you’re gone,” sings Doyle on the latter, with heartbreaking resignation. Nonetheless, he’s keen to remain opaque on what drives the heart of East India Youth in its current form.

“When I finished the first mix of the record it was a real watershed moment,” he says. “There’s a lot of personal, family stuff involved, and I don’t want it to sound like I’m making a press release from it. I wanted people to know it was made in a state of anguish, but as for the specifics, maybe not. I’ve kept the title all the way through, even when I thought it might not be a good idea, but it just sums up that period of my life, really.”

Total Strife Forever has a strong neo-classical influence; unsurprising given that Doyle was listening to classical before even pop music as a child. Minimalists Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Estonian luminary Arvo Pärt all inspire East India Youth, but Doyle stresses that “what classical brings to the table is more to do with the spirit that it was made and paying attention to changes in tempo and dynamics; how repetition affects

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Interview: John Thorp Photography: Nuria Rius

the listener.”

Nonetheless, Total Strife Forever goes so deep into instrumentation alone that the more traditional songwriting which bubbles to the surface might comes as a surprise on initial listening. “It was really important to me that I skewed the balance of the pop tracks in favour of the instrumentals,” Doyle admits, explaining the benefit of self-restraint in the writing process. “A lot of artists seem to favour the vocal stuff above the other, where as I thought it’d be interesting to reverse that. Many of the tracks started with vocals naturally attached to them, because that’s what my habit is as a songwriter, but most of them breathed better without it.” There are no vocals until the third track, Dripping Down, which might confuse some people but it makes the most sense for the album.”

Then there’s Hinterland, which early doors during Total Strife Forever, suddenly and briefly takes Doyle’s work in a completely different direction – pounding, analogue techno, complete with a lurching acid drop. During a recent support tour with Factory Floor, the East India Youth laptop, adorned with a telling Perc Trax sticker, is sent flying to the floor as he pummels the track out of his digital and analogue gear. “That’s actually not the first time that’s happened,” Doyle assures, before, with tongue-in-cheek, pondering the possibility of destroying a MacBook at the end of every show.

“I really enjoy playing that one live, and it’s becoming a bit of an issue, rushing the set to get to that release at the end, because I just fucking love playing it,” Doyle confesses. “And I could easily make everything like that, but it’s not going to be enough of a challenge for me. I do love that sound, and this year I’ve mainly been into industrial techno like Raime, Vatican Shadow and Regis. That stuff really chimes with me, I find it to be very visceral music. I have been working on some material in a separate folder that’s more in that vein, but who knows if that will see the light of day.”

“I didn’t want to become the archetypal electronic musician” William Doyle

Nonetheless, a recent and boozy Saturday night audience in Manchester awaiting Factory Floor, embraced both the understated, inner gazing aspects of East India Youth, as much as the full throttle, club ready finale. “It’s an interesting juxtaposition,” observes Doyle. “Trying to mix those two styles without it becoming a gimmick.”

Whilst there’s nothing gimmicky about an East India Youth performance, it certainly differs from the usual young man hiding his laptop aesthetic that either haunts or perfectly services the majority of live electronic shows. Doyle performs with such sweaty, impassioned and festival friendly gusto, he looks to be less so checking his email than battering his ISP provider. If he’s keen to keep the lyrical influences of Total Strife Forever under wraps, then what at least inspires such confidence? “Well, I’ve been the frontman in bands, prancing around for years, that’s

something I’ve always enjoyed,” he says, diverging from the spirit of his influences.

It’s difficult to imagine Oneohtrix Point Never or Tim Hecker express their love for any kind of prancing. “I was worried I wasn’t going to enjoy performing electronic music as much as playing in bands, so the idea was to have more of a show,” Doyle admits. “It wasn’t a conscious decision, but how do I make it interesting for the audience as well as myself? I didn’t want to

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become the archetypal electronic musician. I didn’t want to focus too much on the aesthetic, even down to just looking down the lens in photos. I wanted to add some personality into what’s become a faceless music scene.”

Total Strife Forever is out on 20 Jan via Stolen Recordings.

East India Youth plays Gulliver’s, Manchester, on 30 Jan, and King Tut’s, Glasgow, on 31 Jan facebook.com/eastindiayouth

THE SKINNY

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

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17 January – 8 February 2014

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14

THE SKINNY

Puppet State Manipulate Festival returns for a seventh year with its repertoire of innovative international visual theatre and film Words: Eric Karoulla

Una Furtiva Lagrima

Un Hinged, Paper Doll Militia

C

urated by Puppet Animation Scotland, the cultural authority promoting the artforms of puppetry and animation, manipulate has been running since 2008. Calling itself a 'visual theatre festival,' its programming is vast and can range from straight puppetry to complex works at the intersection of live performance, film, and animation.

Over the past six years, manipulate has built connections with various countries and their relevant festivals, and hence attracts artists from far and wide. This international link brings in new ideas, but also allows Scotland-based artists to travel. As a consequence, the festival showcases a high quality of Scottish and international work.

Dutch company DudaPaiva present the UK premiere of their latest production, Bestiaires, which sees the ancient Greek Gods out on the road. Toying with mythology, magic, and transformation, the Gods seek to entertain, although they are about to discover the boundaries of the human condition. Of course, as Gods performing for the benefit of humans – essentially a representation of mythical representations – the absurdity of the situation allows the rules, perceptions, and conventions of human behaviour to be stretched, bent, and broken.

Another UK premiere, Polina Borisova’s Go! looks at old age, and the solitude that comes with retiring further and further into fond, fragmented memories. Towards the end of life, looking back at the good times appears to become much easier than anticipating what lies ahead.

A company closer to home, Edinburgh-based Tortoise in a Nutshell – winners of a Scotsman Fringe First Award in August 2013 for Feral – are making an appearance with Grit. True to its name, the production tries to discuss the consequences of children being caught in war, while manipulating a variety of theatrical techniques to tell the story. The company have been going

January 2014

since 2009, making them one of the youngest puppetry companies in Scotland.

While the Scottish puppetry scene doesn’t seem particularly vast, the fact that the National Theatre of Scotland is beginning to put together works like Dragon in collaboration with Vox Motus – of Slick fame – and the People’s Theatre China seems like a hint at the incredible value and popularity of puppetry in today’s theatrical realm. Also, the National Theatre’s touring production of Warhorse, featuring the Handspring Puppetry Company, arrives in Edinburgh during manipulate. Based on the Michael Morpurgo novel, the production follows one boy’s struggle to find and stay with his pet horse when it is enlisted for the First World War. With these performances and many more – not forgetting the films, and workshops – manipulate foregrounds puppetry in its representation of visual theatre. That is not to say the narrative is irrelevant, but the striking images are the ones that have more impact. As a sub-category of visual theatre, puppetry is traditionally associated with the notorious Punch and Judy hand puppets, or even Pinocchio. But recently, it’s been given a makeover and is often referred to as ‘object manipulation,’ since even the most basic everyday items can be used as puppets, so long as spectators engage with them. After all, as demonstrated by Theatre Temoin’s The Fantasist or Boris and Sergey during the 2013 Fringe, the puppet’s physical characteristics do not have to be clearly defined, and exist more in the onlooker’s mind than in the physical realm of the performance. The puppet itself becomes a representation of an idea or character.

Puppets and animation have been used across the ages for various purposes – the most exciting often being the direct or ‘indirect’ defiance of an oppressive political regime, when freedom of expression is compromised. Often

considered an artform for children, puppetry is in fact a rich and complex tradition that can speak to adult audiences too, much in the way graphic novels can address themes that elevate them above children’s comics. Oft-cited examples like Persepolis and Maus showcase the visual medium as an ideal platform for narration and reiterate the idea that animation and comics can be an incredibly powerful tool to encourage ideas and provoke thought.

It’s clear manipulate this year is showcasing the richness of puppetry and animation, which is already becoming fashionable in the mainstream for reasons which remain unclear. Both the National Theatre and the National Theatre of Scotland are promoting puppetry-based shows, which require highly specialised knowledge and, with their weighty topics and huge budgets, are

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referred to as ‘blockbusters’ by the press.

Perhaps it allows them to touch that ‘dream’ demographic of young people; from a consumerist point of view, doing a blockbuster production well could ensure or reinforce a theatregoer’s positive theatre experience, and so provide reason for the theatregoer to revisit and spend more. Thus these shows could be considered simply intelligent investment.

On a less cynical level, it could be that both these two companies – and many more – have realised the genre still has a lot of potential for both tragic and comical storytelling. Either way, manipulate is doing a great deal for opening up the vast range of the puppetry community to the broader theatre community. manipulatefestival.org

Puppets, Perfomers and directions

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Reopening the Star Dancer Portal DJs, live acts and, er... Red Dwarf. The team behind Croc v Croc reveal their plans for the relaunch of The Art School

Interview: Ronan Martin

his month the long process of refurbishment and re-modelling of the Glasgow School of Art Union comes to an end, culminating in a grand opening framed by interstellar themes and offering the kind of electrifying club programming that surely bodes well for the venue’s continued presence at the centre of the city’s vibrant music and art scene.

The promoters tasked with ushering in the launch of a new era for the venue are self-described ‘post-DIY’ collective Croc v Croc, comprising Liam Casey, Laurie Pitt and Anna Schneider. Bringing together the beguiling sounds of acts such as Stellar OM Source, Svengalisghost and Murlo, and wafting them throughout a venue transformed by bespoke installations, the group have lined up an enticing evening. Taking a break from planning The Reopening of the Star Dancer Portal, the trio discuss their plans for the event, fully aware of its added significance. “There’s a sense of history around the reopening of The Art School,” admits Liam.

“Some of us studied at the GSA and we did a lot of shows there over the years. There’s a pressure around the reopening to reconnect with the past, so we wanted to investigate that urge and that’s why we’re building a portal. But, instead of gazing back nostalgically we’re using it to point to the future of dance music. The histories we’re left with are largely fictional and sensational, so we wanted to apply the same treatment to the future.”

The team’s association with the venue goes back many years, during which time they have undertaken several cross-genre productions such as working on a free party showcasing William Bennett’s afro noise project Cut Hands, which featured the use of a massive foam machine – a delightfully odd marriage if ever there was one.

“Our slogan is ‘Croc: Putting the Party in Party.’

So the opening night seemed the perfect opportunity to do exactly this,” explains Laurie.

Musically, the night promises the kind of innovation and variety that has made The Art School so beloved over the years. Christelle Gauldi aka Stellar OM Source produced one of the most impressive techno albums of 2013 with Joy One Mile and the classically trained Brusselsbased artist seems to be enjoying her recent shift to more club-focused music. Her live sets tie together acid-embossed techno, captivating drum programming and are sprinkled with measured moments of sparkling melody. “Christelle is just making great techno,” says Liam. “We got onto her through Golden Teacher. She’s totally transtemporal and with a name like Stellar Om Source we just had to have her music bleed out of a massive portal.”

The portal will also emit the altogether darker, but no less invigorating sounds of Chicago-bred producer Svengalisghost. Marquis Cooper is an interesting character, who appears to have briefly toyed with the idea of releasing simple, hypnotic deep house – executed to great effect on his first EP for L.I.E.S – before promptly deciding to pursue a grainier, industrial-based sound that would feel as at home in B-movie horror flicks as it does in clubs. Increasingly making use of his own distorted vocal drawls and with a knack for laying down menacing bass hooks amid analogue hisses and penetrating drum loops, Cooper’s live set is a full-on performance. “He combines the fetish futurism of electronic body music with what sounds like decayed house music,” says Laurie. “He also really performs it with a microphone; it’s a sort of a direct proposal to the crowd.”

Just when you think The Art School’s rebirth

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Croc v Croc

will be dominated by analogue techno and the arrestingly gloomy soundscapes of Svengalisghost, the programme offers up yet more variety in the form of instrumental grime producer Murlo. As Anna explains, the Londoner laces his tracks with influences from dancehall and soca, bringing a distinctly different flavour to proceedings in the Vic Bar. “He’s not played in Scotland before but he’s indicative of a scene that traverses internet geographies and urban ones simultaneously – something young producers like Inkke in Glasgow are doing too”.

“We want to make disparate music collide – like smashing particles in the Hadron Collider” Anna Schneider

On the topic of Glasgow, it would seem misguided to re-launch one of the city’s most prized venues without the help of some of the leading local talents of the day. Thankfully, the Croc team have plenty of those lined up too. “CVNT TRAXXX is the moniker of our old friend Niall Connolly,” explains Anna. “He has been a massive influence on Croc with his nights Menergy, Tranarchy, and especially his old night No Rave which had a similar creative programming sensibility to

Croc.” Connolly’s sound combines elements of UK bass music with the NYC style of ballroom/vogue house. “Then there’s Fem Bitch Nation,” Anna continues. “They taught us a whole new way of doing music over years of working together. Their stage shows are on a par with Lady Gaga and they taught us how a feminist praxis can transform club environments.”

“A lot of what energises us are the often overlooked music practices that look at gender and sexuality,” adds Laurie. “For us they’re what clubbing comes down to – something that Sophie Reilly and Charlotte Prodger recognise, our two favourite DJs in Glasgow who happen to be women.”

Completing the night’s lineup are post-punk group, Shopping, and two of Croc’s favourite Glasgow bands – Star Voyager and Sacred Paws.

Fielding Hope of Cry Parrot and David Barbarossa will also be on hand to take care of proceedings in the third room so it would seem all bases are covered. As Anna explains, the programme clearly “cuts across genres.”

“The bands, live electronics and DJs we’re working with look to a variety of histories and use them for their own purposes. We start with connections made through other projects – bands we’re in or discussions around sound and ideas. Unlike club nights that stay safely within the boundaries of one form, we want to make disparate music collide – open up a space of possibility, like free-jazz and manifold forms of improvisation – like smashing particles in the Hadron Collider. It’s an allegorical search for the unknown.”

Such lofty ambitions for the evening’s musical programme could only be adequately served with the implementation of a similarly striking

CLUBS

visual production and, as you may have guessed, that’s where the portal comes in. “We’re bringing in Zephyr Lidell, Casey O’Connell, Jack Wrigley and Robbie Thompson – our spiritual sisters from 85a – to do the visuals,” Laurie reveals.

“The Vic Bar will be turned into a glam version of Red Dwarf; a space vessel lost in deepspace-time on a post-historical mission to find the Star Dancer Portal. The Assembly Hall production will involve a specially commissioned installation involving a massive laser and a programmed LED wireframe above the crowd.”

And if that all sounds a touch ostentatious, it’s worth pointing out that club nights often lack imagination and character. With a musical programme truly worthy of praise and the prospect of a captivating visual element, The Reopening of the Star Dancer Portal seems exactly the kind of production the Art School should be hosting after its long hiatus. Above all else, the Croc team see their task as honouring the past while pointing to a new era. “For us it’s about picking out what we want to bring with us into the future”, says Anna. “The old venue had its limitations and recent press has focused on a largely male history. We think it’s critical to think about music as a historical process and, if history never did you any favours, then place yourself in the future.”

Liam chimes in: “That’s what Sun Ra did.

That’s what techno does with us. We truly believe that the rhythm of music is the beat of history.

And if history beats you down then, in the spirit of Chumbawamba, ‘get back up again.’”

The Reopening of the Star Dancer Portal takes places at The Art School, Glasgow on Thu 23 Jan theartschool.co.uk crocvcroc.com

THE SKINNY

Photo: Emilia Muller-Ginorio

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J

ust long enough after Hogmanay that you’ll have hopefully recovered, the Fun Lovin’ Criminals swing by the O2 ABC on Thu 16 Jan. Frontman Huey Morgan’s online-bought Scottish Lordship might be fake, but their New Yorker blues rock – with a strong helping of hip-hop – is as real as it comes. The second stop in their The Bong Remains The Same 2014 tour, Glasgow’s no stranger to the FLC crew, the Barras having hosted ‘em for a few gigs in the late 90s. Expect a lot more than just Scooby Snacks; Morgan and his buds have five studio albums and a wealth of danceable hits to draw on.

Rolling French reggae troupe Dub Inc. (known as Dub Incorporation until ’96) take over the O2 ABC the following night, on Fri 17 Jan. Boasting a hopped up fusion of Latin rhythms, dubby stylings, and multilingual rap (you’ll no doubt hear plenty of French mixed in with English and even Arabic verses) over dancehall and ska beats, this seven-piece gang are known for raucous performances (occasionally getting the audience involved) and a contagious energy on stage.

Keep your weekend going with a session from recently re-formed dub experimentalists The Pop Group (O2 ABC, Sat 18 Jan). As if emerging from a thirty year time capsule since their 1981 break-up (except, not really, at all, as the members – frontman Mark Stewart in particular – have been pretty active in the interim), this Bristolian noise-funk outfit will be dusting down seminal release Y and the subtly political For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? to blast our faces anew. Strap in for some timelessly iconoclastic confrontation from a time that was literally post-punk.

The last Sunday in January offers up a choice between two very talented singer/songwriters from two very different bands. Sauchiehall Street brings us Roderick ‘Roddy’ Woomble, frontman of esteemed (and apparently in limbo) Edinburgh indie-rockers Idlewild, softly strumming at the O2 ABC on Sun 26 Jan. Should be a chilled night of hardy melodic folk with a homegrown flavour.

(Incidentally, this gig is part of 2014’s Celtic Connections, so there’s plenty more where that came from this month).

In a similar style but from t’other side of the Atlantic, check out the O2 Academy the same night for erstwhile Alexisonfire lead singer Dallas Green performing under his folksy moniker City and Colour. The Toronto-born musician’s acoustic solo work, running parallel to Alexisonfire since 2005 until they split in 2012, marks a strong departure from the band’s caustic, post-hardcore fervour. Both men will be delving into their 2013 releases (Listen to Keep and The Hurry and the Harm, respectively), but each have enough of a back catalogue to assure solid sets all round.

Guitars and sweet crooning both sides of the Clyde. [George Sully]

www.o2abcglasgow.co.uk

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Photo: Pete Dunlop

Roddy Woomble

Opinion: The Medium is the Multitude A man has hired a team of over eight hundred people to translate Moby Dick into Emoji Dick. Finally!

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or anyone in the habit of populating their coffee table with quirky volumes that are more to be seen than to be read, look no further than Fred Benenson’s Emoji Dick. This crowdsourced translation of the American classic converts Herman Melville’s romantic tome into the pictorial language of emojis, a zeitgeist-pertinent array of colourful icons normally reserved for text messages and tweets. The colossal task was achieved by using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk service, through which time-consuming tasks can be handed over for quick completion to large numbers of online workers. Melville’s tale of Ishmael and the hunt for the big white limb-stealing metaphor was ‘translated’ by these poorly paid workers into some 10,000 rows of the cute little ideograms we all know and love/despise. EmojiDick and Regular-Dick are juxtaposed line-byline, so one can compare “Call me Ishmael” with the symbols chosen to stand in for that frankly quite forgettable opening line.

You might say the Emoji is a kind of contemporary digital hier oglyph that replaces conventional phonemic rigidity with the ductile significations of pictograms, but then you might discover everyone has stopped listening and wandered off because they simply can’t endure your tiresome presence any longer. Either way, the extent to which this ‘translation’ does the original work justice is not really the point. What’s interesting is the army of Mechanical Turks who made this book happen and the Kickstarter funding that paid them. It’s a vivid example of how the creative industries are still feeling out the possibilities and boundaries of crowdsourced content, labour and finance. It’s also an example of how the energies of entire communities can, hilariously, be expended on huge pointless tasks.

In Emoji Dick’s introduction, Paddy Johnson compares the book to artist Francis Alÿs’ community-based performance work ‘When Faith Moves Mountains’, in which five hundred Peruvian students armed with shovels moved a bloody great big sand dune by a couple of inches. This 2002 work indeed remains a shining example of ‘participatory practice’ and the absurd expenditures of energy possible when a large enough community can be coaxed into action, with or without a political agenda. Thanks to the growth of online content management systems there are now invisible workforces out there willing to carry out your ludicrous demands for mere pennies. If Hamlet hadn’t already been translated into Klingon by a pair of cool hunks way back in 96 then you can be sure that today’s internet

BOOKS

Feature: Lewis den Hertog Illustration: Joren Joshua labourers could have turned it around for you in a matter of days.

But what about when authorial control itself is handed over to the faceless hordes writhing in the digital mulch? This question was addressed in earnest by Penguin Books back in 2007. With no formal guidelines set, 1,500 contributors wreaked literary havoc over the course of a month to create A Million Penguins. The result can still be found online, and the parts of its 1,030 pages I skimmed through resembled a Sopranos fan-script that had smashed headlong into a sedated version of Naked Lunch. Much of the rest seemed to be replete with references to pizza or bananas or, oddly enough, whales.

I’d tentatively suggest that no one would gain anything from reading the entirety of this book, apart from on Opposite Day, when it would be a masterclass in narrative structure.

Since then, more controlled approaches towards the same principle have been attempted. Notably the Fifty Shades of Grey parody The Diamond Club, a crowd-authored erotic hoax which made it to number four on the iBookstore chart because you people just seem to love books with bonking in them. Another more sincere attempt by balloon-crazed artist Willy Chyr to create a collaborative ‘network fiction’ seems to have ground to a halt back in June, apparently due to a lack of interest from would-be collaborators. So much for empowering the audience!

Perhaps therein lies the issue with handing over the authorial steering-wheel to a multitude.

Too much democracy afforded in the production of artworks will either result in chaos, or something so lacking in friction that it’s just bland. The saying goes that a camel is a horse built by committee, and camels are famously lacking in critical content. To paraphrase continental philosopher and all-round Frenchman Jacques Rancière, there can be no politics without antagonism. Art doesn’t operate without implicit exclusions, and great works are often born of unhealthy narcissism. But take comfort: the comments box, the online review, the tweet and the status update – these constitute the great vernacular art form of the early 21st Century, and afford all of us the chance to indulge our inner wordsmith whilst simultaneously co-authoring a dazzling crowdsourced epic about how jubilantly narcissistic, entitled, and prone to petty disagreement we all are. Everyone wins.

Emoji Dick is available for $40 (softcover, black & white), or $200 (hardcover, colour) www.emojidick.com

THE SKINNY

Get Loved Up To Survive The Western world’s recognised narrative lies in peril; for Thee Silver Mt Zion’s Efrim Menuck, only embracing “hokey” values can save it

Photo: Ashley Good

Photo: Yannick Grandmont

Interview: Simon Jay Catling

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he human condition to create narratives within our own lives means that our greatest fears are those that threaten to end them. For Thee Silver Mt. Zion’s Efrim Menuck, focusing on these overwhelming dangers to our recognised existence, be it the west’s economic and social decay, or climate change, has been what’s pulled his creative current through the group’s 15 years together. Their albums alternate between states of despair and defiance, as Menuck grapples with issues that feel paradoxically ignored in the developed world, even as they stare us unflinchingly in the eyes.

“Sure, I find myself vacillating between despair and hope over the course of minutes,” Menuck tells The Skinny over Skype, “It is just the human condition. You can’t wrap your head around something like climate change and not end up feeling a healthy amount of helplessness.”

His troupe’s latest record, the excellent Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything, revolves around several societal, technological and personal themes, reflecting the constantly malleable nature of its creators’ own thoughts. Menuck demonstrates his own restless nature in our chat today, flicking through his mind as though looking through a filing cabinet to discuss the austerity measures of the west, late-stage capitalism’s social restrictions and fatherhood, each at the draw of a breath. “We live in fucking terrifying times,” he says simply at one point, backing up what we’ve always known of him; both in his work with ‘Zion and with the much-revered Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Menuck is someone prepared to face life’s bleakest realities face first.

“But I think human beings all share these same primal fears anyway,” he reasons. “And so my songs are just about finding words for those fears because otherwise there’s no way forward. The beginning has to be finding words for that stuff.

Otherwise we lose everything.”

As a record, Fuck Off… recalls a lot of themes existent in previous Mt Zion material; the band recorded for 10 days solid, in a house Menuck describes as “like someone’s vision of the future

January 2014

circa 1966 or something,” outside of their native Montreal. So it is that this record’s first song, in its pounding drums and hacked at strings, is a part-tribute part-lament to a place Menuck feels a mixture of pride and pity for. Fuck Off Get Free (For The Island Of Montreal) references the Quebec student protests of 2012, in which an 150-strong stand against the potential of raising tuition fees became a full-scale movement against the provincial government as a whole. “It felt like being kissed for the first time!” Menuck exclaims, recalling the spring marches. “Montreal has a long tradition of shooting its mouth off,” he goes on, explaining the opening track’s title.

“It’s something I love about this city. And this protest… it felt like 70% of the city was out on the streets some nights banging on pots and pans.”

In part, the protest worked, and the new leftist minority government, Parti Quebecois, halted tuition fee raises. Much like the combustion and silence of the London riots in 2011, however, they seemed gone in the blink of an eye. “The sad thing was it ended as quickly as it began,” Menuck recalls ruefully. “And it didn’t lead to any substantive changes. So the song’s specifically about that feeling of both pride and regret at the same time.”

Menuck also revisits the themes of austerity he voiced on 2010’s Kollaps Tradixionales. No less impassioned and raw sounding than they were then, with the global crash at the time just two years previous, the fever of his vehemence reaches a pitch on the 14-minute Austerity Blues, as he howls a refrain ‘we hope we’re still alive to see the mountain torn down.’

“Possibly the most outraging thing about these austerity programmes that all the western liberal democracies have engaged in to various degrees over the last few years is how ineffective and unoriginal and transparent they’ve all been,” he fumes. “The insidious thing about late stage capitalism is that it has us all convinced that there’s nothing we can do to change things, that the system we’re born into is the system that always has been and always will be, and that any

suggestion against that is suspect. Like, it feels impossible to even posit an alternative.”

The album ultimately takes this line of thinking to its most desolate on the swelling tumult of What We Loved Was Not Enough. A typical Thee Silver Mt. Zion track structurally, it builds from a place of solitude, strings and guitars gradually scaling up its walls before breaking forth into rumbustious crescendo. It includes the line, ‘the west will rise again,’ a sarcastic take of southern US confederates’ ‘the south will rise again;’ its five words damn the spiral in which the developed world finds itself. “It became this question for me,” Menuck reveals. “’What will it take for the west to rise again? The obvious answer to that is total collapse. It will only rise again when it’s all fallen to shit. So, yeah, what we loved, these values we had, what we believed in hasn’t been enough.”

Before uttering that lyric, it’s notable that Menuck croakily asks ‘are our children gonna die?’ A new father at the release of their previous album, his and ‘Zion violinist Jessica Moss’s son is now four-years-old and has taken a grip on his public perceptions of the world. It is one thing to confront the despondency of our world head on when you are alone; when you’re suddenly responsible for another life that you hope dearly will extend decades beyond yours, that instinct to call out what seem to be the inevitabilities of our fate starts to jar. “It puts you in the position where you have to be on the side of love,” he ruminates from the other end of the internet.

“Huge chunks of my day are occupied with being entranced and in love with this perfect creature who actually knows how to live in this world unlike us adults. It’s like being on a weird drug for a lot of the day and so I spend huge chunks of my days now being in total denial about how dire things look in the world, but those blinders are going to get tore off right fast at some point.”

As such, Menuck posits that, as humans, we need to “get hokier” if we are to survive. “These moments we have where it’s like ‘oh wait I have an idealistic idea!’ Well fucking voice it! People are

MUSIC

going to shoot you down but I think it’s important to do it because we’ve all internalised this idea that things aren’t going to change, so it takes very little for us to stick our heads back into our shells.”

As far as Fuck Off… goes, the moments of love and poignancy shown within it surface in a parallel theme that runs throughout, of paying heartfelt homage to musicians dying young.

Apparent during Take Away These Early Grave Blues – a live staple as early as 2011 – it becomes truly visible during the emotive, piano-led closer Rains Thru the Roof At Thee Grande Ballroom (For Capital Steez). Though the title references the 19 year-old Brooklyn rapper who tragically took his own life last year, jumping from the top of the Cinematic Music HQ in Manhattan on Christmas Eve, Menuck points out “it’s about musicians dying young, so it could’ve also been dedicated to Jason Molina. But the Capital Steez thing was so ridiculously tragic given how young he was. It seemed like the dedication was deserved.”

The Grande Ballroom in Detroit is also referenced, famous as the venue where pioneering proto-punks The MC5 made their name in the late 60s. Like so much of Detroit, it now lies in disrepair, having been closed as a venue since 1972.

The band themselves of course blazed a trail alltoo-briefly before collapsing out the other side of the music industry within four years of their debut LP. Three of the 5’s founding members have since passed away. “There’s a way that narrative didn’t end how one would’ve wanted to. I mean it just ended. Tragically,” Menuck sighs. “So much of this trade that we’re in of playing music is built up of narratives that don’t end well and specifically stories that end with musicians dying young.”

How long until other, greater narratives fall?

Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything is released on 20 Jan via Constellation Records. Thee Silver Mt. Zion play Glasgow’s Òran Mór on 25 Feb cstrecords.com/thee-silver-mt-zion

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Look Back in Laughter We visit three of Scotland’s comedy greats, to see how far they’ve come since issue 1

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ver the last eight years The Skinny Comedy section has featured an enormous number of acts at all stages of their careers, from the salad days of terrified open spots, to the lives and work of household names. In celebration of our 100th issue, we’re firing up the Delorean and going all Back to the Future to revisit three comedians whose careers have exploded. We’ll see where they’ve been and what they’re up to now. Buckle up, kids, it’s about to get a little historical.

Kevin Bridges

Frighteningly sharp, and arguably Glasgow’s most down-to-earth comedy talent of the last decade, Kevin Bridges arrived on the scene a fully formed professional at the tender age of just 17. In just a few short years he’s graduated from small clubs to playing to over 100,000 people, at some of the industry’s most prestigious events. His unrelenting, unapologetic working class humour has become a regular fixture on our tellies, gathering him a cult following and making his name synonymous with Scottish comedy, in much the way The Big Yin’s is. Not bad for someone who’s only just turned twenty-seven.

Then Following on from his full-length solo shows in 2006, in July 2007 he wrote a column for The Skinny, pontificating about his BRAWS and NAWS. Here’s a taster: “A weekend spent in Glasgow city centre has, unconsciously, provided the fuel for my list of BRAWS and NAWS. Hardly a surprise then, that despite the recent nice weather, I witnessed more NAWS than BRAWS. “Cocaine, does everyone take cocaine? This isn’t an anti-drugs rant but it’s fucking everywhere! A one time drug of kings, nowadays you’ve got apprentice panel beaters snorting it through pound notes off toilet seats, in pubs in Partick!

– NAW “Hearing an intoxicated youth, finally conceding his battle against refusal into a nightclub, cry in defiance… ‘Yer club’s fuckin’ shite anyway’ – BRAW” Now Kevin’s a possible contender for Scotland’s worst kept secret, and six years down the line from our first feature, he’s a regular name in some of the country’s biggest venues. He consistently sold out all of his home-town gigs in 2007, 2008 and 2009. He’s performed on TV to over 5 million viewers on the likes of Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Kevin Bridges: What’s the Story?

(BBC1), Stand Up For The Week (C4), Mock The Week (BBC1), Have I Got News For You (BBC 1), 8 Out Of 10 Cats (C4) amongst many more. We actually don’t have enough room in this issue to list the rest (Sorry, Kev). Not only that, he’s released two DVDs – 2010’s The Story So Far and 2012’s The Story Continues, and is now punting the two as a box set.

Susan Calman

Cheery, pint-sized oddball Susan Calman is a name that’s getting a lot of mileage in the comedy world right now. Following on from an open spot at the age of 30, she ditched her cushty job as a high-earning corporate lawyer to make people laugh instead; a bold move for someone who’s spent their professional life essentially doing the opposite; she’s done a reverse Darth Vader. Eight years on from what must have been a terrifying career-change, things could scarcely be better.

Then In February 2006, after only a year in the standup game, we interviewed Susan about her career

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Words: Vonny Moyes

so far, her influences, and how she coped with rowdy punters.

Best heckle received?

Strangely I don’t get too many heckles – I think it’s because usually boys heckle and they seem to be a bit afraid of me. I was called Smurfette once which I thought was quite a compliment.

Best comeback to a heckle?

Shouting at me won’t make your penis grow What are you up to next?

Got my solo show in the Glasgow Comedy festival on March 10th and a collaboration with some boys on at Blackfriars. Also I’m hosting a monthly show for female comics at The Stand called SiStars, which is lovely.

Now Calman has an impressive list of shows to her name, and is something of a Fringe veteran now.

She’s also appeared on Have I Got News for You, been a BBC Radio 4 presenter and regular panellist, and appeared in Channel 4’s Fresh Meat, to name just a few. Not only that, she’s been writing a sitcom and acting too. How does she find the time?

Susan Calman

Janey Godley

Few people can boast a CV quite as full as Janey’s.

It’s a big read; the sort you need a prepatory cuppa and a packet of chocolate digestives for.

Described as ‘the female Billy Connolly,’ she’s refused to constrain herself to one thing. Stand-up comedian, actor, playwright, author, journalist, barmaid, wife, mum... you’d probably be quicker listing the things she hasn’t done.

Then Back in 2006 Janey was nominated for the prestigious Scotswoman of the Year title in the ‘Most Inspirational Woman in Scotland’ category. She then went on to win the Spirit of the Festival award at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. In 2007 she became a columnist for The Scotsman newspaper which she continued until 2009. Here’s a snippet from a feature she wrote for us in March 2006.

“I was attending the prestigious BAFTA awards and needed a ‘frock’; something that will encompass my Jodie Marsh like breasts and cover my Vanessa Feltz thighs. My problem is that I am small, curvy and the only tight firm thing on my body is the skin on my inner wrist. I show it to young men in dark corners of nightclubs. It scares them to see it in daylight.

“My daughter is tall, beautiful and her skin still fits her; well she is nineteen years old. Her burgeoning blossoming is parallel to my slow droopy demise, and that’s not fair, but thankfully she doesn’t have my Hobbit-like DNA. “I am constantly amazed at my bodily functions as the hair on my head slowly grows grey, the hair under my arms stays pitch black. My teeth were going dull, yet bright white hairs grow in my eyebrows. It’s like the ‘colour toner’ in my body is severely confused.”

Now Janey’s producing a weekly podcast with her daughter Ashley Storrie, where they discuss the week’s events; it’s also up for a People’s Choice Podcast Award. She’s also bringing her brand new show, Oh My Godley! To the Glasgow Comedy Festival on 28 and 29 March 2014, working on a radio sitcom and preparing for a Commonwealth 2014 comedy event.

It’s been an incredible eight years for The Skinny Comedy section; during it we’ve been privileged to peer into the lives of many astoundingly talented people, lots of whom have gone on to do some amazing things. It’s been an honour to be a part of it, so here’s to the next 100 issues.

COMEDY

Kevin Bridges

Janey Godley

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Bertille Bak

Exhibition Preview 17.01.14 / 5-7pm Admission Free Opening Hours Tues – Sun 10am – 4pm Collective Gallery City Observatory & City Dome 38 Calton Hill, Edinburgh, EH7 5AA + 44 (0)131 556 1264 mail@collectivegallery.net www.collectivegallery.net

18.01.14 – 02.03.14

Image credit: Bertille Bak, still from Faire le mur, 2008 Colour video, stereo, 17 mins Courtesy the artist and NETTIE HORN

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Illustration: Jonathan Summers Muir

THE SKINNY

The Exhibitionists As we reach our 100th issue, we’ve been embracing the nostalgia and looking back at some of the projects we’ve taken on outside the print magazine. Here, previous winners of The Skinny Award at RSA New Contemporaries tell us how they’ve been getting on

Interview: Rosamund West

Romany Dear

Stephen Thorpe, Drawers, Chest and Wardrobes

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e’ve organised exhibitions, off and on, since 2008 when Edinburgh’s Bongo Club kindly gave us the space to run a monthly programme displaying our Showcase artists. For the first show, painter Rabiya Choudhry created an intricate mural in the cafe that was erased (painted over) at the end of the month-long residency. She was followed by artists including sculptor Scott Laverie (who staged an intervention with the cafe tables, replacing them with cast concrete structures embedded with TVs showing a stop motion animation) and painter Fraser Gray, who sprayed photo realist portraits and rainbow stripes around the cafe walls, windows and doors. The last show in the space was Jock Mooney, who displayed original drawings and a video piece, the first of his now awardwinning collaborations with animator Alasdair Brotherston, Throw Me To The Rats.

After that, we started running an annual award in conjunction with RSA New Contemporaries, picking a winner from each year’s display of Scottish art school graduates to support and promote through our print, online and in the form of a bespoke exhibition. As we hit 100, this seemed like a good time to catch up with past winners and see how they’re getting on now.

The programme started in 2009 with Euan Taylor, whose Inefficient Solutions persona and Cloud Muncher, a large orange sculpture of a crane, caught our imaginations and led on to an early career retrospective in the now-defunct Roxy Art House in 2010. Says Euan, “It was great to have those sculptures assembled in the same place, especially now they’re broken up into wee bitties. Now I’m working with Tin Roof Dundee Arts Collective – we provide cheap studio space.

I live in Monifieth, where things are a lot less rosy and a lot more gritty.” Euan is also co-curator of Gallery, A New Contemporary Space, which offers micro exhibitions in a DJCAD locker.

In 2010 our winner was the inimitable Omar Zingaro Bhatia, who led us on a merry dance organising a show for him. A year’s work ultimately culminated in Glasgow’s Briggait in 2011, with F I G M E N T S, a two room glass-fronted exhibition featuring his Spuriosity Shop of autobiographical trinkets alongside a new video work and the

January 2014

first outing of collaborative venture Omarina, an alliance between Omar and fashion designer Marina Maclean. The opening night featured an extravaganza of performance art, Balkan musicians and DJs. Says Omar, “F I G M E N T S was a great success. Working with The Skinny allowed me to put on a solo show extravaganza on a scale that even the most successful of recent graduates could perhaps only dream of. Since then, highs include a writer’s residency in Transylvania in 2011 and 2012; I just love it there. The greatest highlight was when I was invited to the far north of Hungary to paint a 19m long mural in a Roma/ Gypsy village. The idea is to lift a community out of poverty through the creation of Hungary’s first ‘Fresco Village.’ I lived there for 2 weeks with my assistant and it was a truly extraordinary experience.

“Now you’ll find me hanging out with anarchists and other assorted fringe-societies.

I’m working with my brother Ally Bhatia on a collaborative animation called The Time Travel Inn. It’ll be fun to see my artworks make the leap into motion. I’m also working on a comic called Omar’s Guide To Shadowy Organizations which will be coming out soon. Next year I’ll be doing my first mural in Scotland as part of Leith Late’s Shutter Project.”

In 2011 the prize went to painter Stephen Thorpe, whose beautiful, enormous painting at New Contemporaries alluded to a temporally ambiguous fresco hacked from a sacred wall and redisplayed in the galleries of the Mound. We found him a gallery space in Edinburgh’s Whitespace, where he presented The Poetics of Space, a series of new works on a smaller scale that drew critical acclaim, and the sales which are crucial for an artist at the beginning of his career. Says Stephen,“The exhibition was great to put together – the opening night was packed and I sold works too. Can’t ask for much more than that.

“Since then, I worked as the Assistant Curator at Summerhall, (where I also had a studio) which is a fantastic venue with a very strong visual arts programme headed by Paul Robertson. I had a solo exhibition at Summerhall in the Library Gallery over the summer, where I presented an entirely new body of work which was slightly experimental for me, in terms of

subject and to some degree materials. It was a really great space and the show was well-received. Soon after that I also had work displayed at Saatchi Gallery in London which was a true high point for me.” Stephen is now in London, studying for his MA at the Royal College and working towards exhibitions in Hong Kong, the USA and London.

In 2012 we began a collaboration with Glasgow’s CCA, co-presenting the award with them to give recipients the unparalleled exposure of an exhibition in their Intermedia gallery space. The first winner from this phase of the programme was choreographer, dancer and performance artist Romany Dear. Her short residency, Dance is a Language We Speak, was a sell-out throughout its run, the improvised piece performed by Romany and her troupe of dancers inspired by the physical languages of hip-hop and Olympic athletes’ warm-ups. Mesmerising and confrontational, the nightly queues of visitors around the balcony, eagerly hoping for a gap on the guest list, demonstrated the extraordinary popularity of the work.

“It was really amazing to have free access to a space for a whole month and to spend it working with a group of incredible women creating and exploring movement ideas together,” says Romany. Still in Glasgow, she’s busy developing

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multiple projects. “Earlier this year, I spent some time working in colloboration with Dominic Paterson, creating a performative lecture that was based on a workshop with Yvonne Rainer that we both attended in 2011. I was also part of The Glasgow Weekend, curated by Sarah Lowndes and BQ Gallery for the Berlin Art Week in which we reworked a version of the piece When I Move, You Move [first performed in the Intermedia show].” Next up, she’s working on another project in Market Gallery with Glasgow Open Dance School, which is run by herself, Ashanti Harris and Julia Scott. “We’ll be facilitating six weeks of exciting dance and movement related workshops, classes, talks and other things across the three spaces in Dennistoun. More info on all this will be out and about soon.”

In 2013 the prize went to Alexander Millar, a GSA graduate who will be showing in Intermedia in February, with work created during a recent residency in Marseille. His show, entitled Novella, opens on Friday 7 February, in CCA Glasgow’s Intermedia gallery, and runs throughout the month. Pick up a copy of next month’s magazine for full details of the exhibition, then come along and see it. It’ll be good.

RSA New Contemporaries 2014, Edinburgh, 15 Feb-12 Mar Alexander Millar: Novella, Intermedia, CCA, Glasgow, 8 Feb-1 Mar

Alex Millar, Novella

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Seriously Silly The Colour Ham tell us about reinventing the sketch show, and their new residency at The Stand

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he insuppressible creep of digital convergence is pillaging culture. It’s robbing us of scarcity, and that’s the problem, you see. Things that were once rare and sacred are a few passive clicks away. But what does this have to do with comedy? Well, everything, if you think about it.

How do we mine our laughs now? The internet.

It’s become a Hickman line, bypassing the joy of discovery, delivering a steady dose of mediocrity to sate us. The glut of mildly-amusing is boring us; incubating a quiet dissatisfaction, while mutilating laughter as we know it. Chronic overexposure is anaesthetising us to the very thing we need most; our sense of humour. What do you do when there’s nowhere left to go online? You need to get out.

“Do you want to see something?”

In the company of three unlikelies, behind a veil of hard earned condensation in Edinburgh’s German bakery, ten eyes watch an unremarkable wicker chair. On the padded cushion sit a pair of freshly plucked spectacles. There’d be nothing special about them either; if they hadn’t just moved and stood to attention. Under Kev’s out-stretched hands, the furniture has become a ouija board. None of us know quite what to say.

Taking refuge from a dreich Friday, I drink coffee with a magician, a mentalist and a comedian. An unusual coterie; these lot tend to move in their own herds. As an outsider looking in, it seems remarkable they’re even friends, let alone creating something as a unit. And not just creating – after sell-out runs at two Fringes, five-star reviews they’ve earned a prestigious residency at The Stand, Glasgow; a recognised barometer of comedy talent. They’ve conceived something quite special, and unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Kevin McMahon, Colin McLeod and Gavin Oattes – a reformed physicist, ex-forensic scientist and a one-time primary school teacher are The Colour Ham. Sounding part Discworld, part Python, I question the name, but am denied the anecdote for now. Instead I’m told of the logistical implications of a wife set to give birth, and the trouble with doing magic with a broken arm.

K: “My daughter was born a couple of weeks before the Fringe started.”

G: “Great – it was really good timing.”

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Interview: Vonny Moyes

K:“We do push the limits a bit, but it’s all very good natured. When we deliver comedy that’s quite close to the bone, it’s always done in a nice way. We do have a lot of questionable sketches on paper, but when you see them live you understand the good-heartedness behind it. We have debates about how far we should go, where the line is, is there a line…”

C: “You want to be doing something different. You’ll come up with something and think ‘no one’s ever done that before,’ and then you think ‘maybe there’s a reason for that...’”

They are warm, and passionate. All three are instantly likeable; the bond between them is brotherly and I chuckle as they comfortably tear one another apart. Separately, they’d do well; Kevin and Colin already have their disciples from their forays in the magic world, as does Gav from his previous incarnation as a stand-up. What’s really interesting is that despite a decent chance at self-derived success, they’re doing this together.

Eschewing the easier option in favour of an idea.

A spark of ingenuity. That doesn’t happen so much. We’re a world away from the nebulous 80s that hit us with more alternative comedy than we Colin McLeod could handle. Since then things have mellowed, so it’s really exciting to catch something that These three are on a mission to boldly rejects the status quo, and is proud to be comreclaim laughter. To reinvent the comedy show. pletely unique.

To take what you think you know about magic, C: “The difference between what we’re docomedy and mentalism, destroy it and rearrange ing is that we try to get the balance just right; it in a way that just hasn’t been done yet. They’ll it’s obviously comedy driven, but the moments contact your dead pets, re-enact your first kiss, of amazement – the gasp moments – are unlike and rewrite Pinocchio through the medium of a military crotch. All three are keen to talk, and I’m any other sketch show where you’re just going to laugh start to finish. Sure, we want that as well, soon initiated into their very particular brand but what we can offer that no one else can, are of nonsense. The sort of thing that’s comfortingly reminiscent of the best of Vic and Bob, yet those moments where you’re just left absolutely distinctly their own. We talk about Gaelic TV speechless.” presenters in the same breath as the politics of These days, it’s not enough to just stand on portraying Cilla Black with special needs; but it stage and do a variation on a theme we’ve all seen all makes perfect sense. The thing that strikes me a hundred times, from a hundred different acts. most about them is just how much they believe in The only way anyone can hope of connecting with what they’re doing. Of course, everyone wants to an audience these days is to reach out – often hit it big. Every person who’s ever thought ‘fuck it, literally – and grab them. You’ve really got to I’m doing this’ and defiantly chased a dream has scream with every fibre of your being for anyone believed they were good enough. Though, someto take the blindest bit of notice. Then, you’ve got how, there’s almost a lightbulb moment here. A to hold their attention. glimpse of something indescribable that makes G: “It is extremely silly at moments, but all of you think they might just be on to something. sudden, from a moment of real stupidity, there K “I broke my arm as well, so it was a really interesting month for me.”

G: “Kev’s wife used to do our tech for us too, so she let us down this year.”

K: ”I know, I was particularly disappointed at that.”

“You’ll come up with something and think ‘no one’s ever done that before,’ and then you think ‘maybe there’s a reason for that...”

COMEDY

is an incredible ‘wow.’ For our finale this year, the three of us turned into three children, in less than half a second. Literally, three seven-yearold boys stood on stage and finished our show for us.”

Let’s just admit it; we’re all bored. We need something new, even if we don’t quite know what that is yet. ‘The secret to humour is surprise,’ Aristotle once said. It’s the not-so-secret ingredient. The Colour Ham know this, and are juicing it.

Maybe this is what we all need? A real surprise. A chance to indulge that irreverent idiocy we’ve absent-mindedly neglected in recent times. These three are pioneering a new standard of funny, and forging something memorable; the sort of thing you’ll tell your friends about.

K: ”It’s not just ‘all about the comedy;’ it’s about the experience for us. It’s everything from the moment you walk in, to the moment you leave. From the introduction we have, to the tunes we have, to the filler songs. We spend a lot of time on that so that when you’re seeing it, it’s almost a theatre show. There are a lot of special effects, so it has to be well produced, as well as being a comedy show.”

There’s no doubt that they want it enough; the truth of it is that we need them as much as they need us. We’re not going to find the antidote to modern living on telly; not while the likes of panel shows and Britain’s Got Talent have set the bar for acceptable mediocrity. We, intrepid thrillseekers, must go out and find the cure ourselves.

We need to lighten up. To remember that silliness is good for the soul. The Colour Ham want to make you happier for the cost of a few quid.

Who can say no to that? The only thing for it is to ditch your sensibilities. Put on your coat and step out. Grab a bite, actually see a show. Have this crafted, irreplicable experience. And hey, you just might enjoy it.

Comedy is the new rock and roll, folks, and this band are on the verge of something great.

See them while the tickets are still cheap.

Ham Stand, The Stand Glasgow, monthly from Wed 22 Jan, 7.30pm, £5 or less thecolourham.com

THE SKINNY

Putting Short Fiction on the Map A new app from Comma Press takes short stories and integrates them with detailed maps, allowing readers to explore unfolding narratives in real cities. Your commute just got interesting

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pps are big business – in 2012, paid-for apps alone generated an estimated $8 billion worldwide, with that number swelling to $30 billion with ad placement and subscriptions taken into account. E-book functionality is built into smartphones and tablets as a matter of course, widening the market opened by devices like the Kindle and Kobo. Apps and digital delivery methods range from the ‘enhanced content’ offered

by Harper Collins, with enabled devices showing video, animations and other content alongside and within the text; to myriad audiobook-related apps; to the steadily growing market for Kindle Singles – short stories and serialised works of fiction sold cheap, addressing a growing hunger for fiction delivered in digestible chunks.

Jim Hinks, Digital and Translation Editor at Manchester’s Comma Press, is happy that the literary app market and the rise of e-readers has led to something of a renaissance for the short story, but is quick to shoot down one of the big myths. “People say we live modern, fast-paced lives, so short stories are perfect, because you don’t really have to think about them. You can just sort of... fit them in, when you have time,” Hinks reflects. “I don’t think that’s true, really. If you want the best out of a short story, you have to really concentrate, and read into it. It’s a more difficult art form than a novel, which might link in a lot of context for the reader. Short stories are always going to be something of a niche.” Faced with the challenge of how to fulfil the needs of this niche form of storytelling, and deliver an app that readers would find useful as well as entertaining, he and his team came up with Gimbal.

“When readers use the app, they can either view the story in text form, or they can listen to the audio, and actually see the route that the story takes across the city in which it is set,” Hinks explains. “As you’re listening to the story, you can see the journey across the city plotted on a map. The cursor moves along, and shows you points of interest along the way – these could be places mentioned in the story, or key landmarks.”

Deceptively simple, the experience of using Gimbal is addictive – particularly while on public transport. Designed with commuters in mind, the linking of your physical journey with an unfolding narrative in foreign territory is deeply engaging.

January 2014

“You only have to look at things like the protests in Taksim Square in Istanbul recently to see how important town planning and municipal space are to the way people live their lives – the way we interact in public spaces,” says Hinks. “We see this as a key concern of contemporary short stories. Short fiction is often about chance encounters between strangers in public places – in a square, in a shopping mall, on public transport.

It’s a trope that comes up an awful lot. Gimbal was designed to explore that idea. We don’t see ourselves as being in competition with other literary apps, which have different concerns.”

The Gimbal project began when Comma collaborated with Literature Across Frontiers, a pan-global organisation promoting collaboration between writers in different cultures and territories. It was funded in part by Arts Council England. “We had set up a series of resdencies called the ‘Tramlines’ project – lots of writers went to stay with each other, and lay around on public transport discussing ideas and writing stories,” says Hinks. Some of these stories, by writers such as Hassan Blasim and Yousef al-Mohaimeed, ended up finding a home on Gimbal, giving insight into life in their home cities in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

“Most of the stories feature journeys taken by characters,” says Hinks. Al-Mohaimeed’s story is “about a clandestine meeting between a man and a woman, who he falls in love with. But because of the political and social situation in Saudi Arabia, this kind of interaction between men and women is frowned upon, at least in public – so they have to organise their meetings in a very clandestine way. It’s all about these kinds of encounters on park benches, in shopping malls; but it’s also about the way the government regulates these public spaces, and how this changes the way people live their lives.”

Blasim’s tale, set in Baghdad, “is all about crossing bridges over the River Tigris. The bridges are key points when you are moving from one place to another, and often each bridge is controlled by a different militant organisation.

So these stories, which explore the geography of the cities they are set in but also let you see it on a map, allow you to explore a city and also learn about its politics, its sociology, its anthropology.”

Gimbal’s effect has a similar ambition to

Interview: Bram E. Gieben Illustration: Caroline Dowsett is at the moment.” These stories can work “as an allegory to talk about the politics of the time, or to describe a utopian or dystopian future for their city.”

Asked what he sees as being the future for literary apps, Hinks has a clear idea: “I think searchability will be a huge thing,” he says.

“Hashtagging will be important, in the same way as it is on Tumblr blogs and in Twitter memes.

The problem with many of the current literary apps is that they are a publisher pushing very specific, narrow content through an app –using the app solely for that purpose. I think literary apps that actually aggregate content and allow for more discoverability, and search options for the user, are where things are going to go.”

Some of that searchability is what makes Gimbal a pleasure to use: “You can search for stories that are between 10 and 20 minutes long,” Hinks explains, a feature aimed at commuters.

“If your normal commute takes 30 minutes, you can find a story that perfectly fits your commute.

You can pick by mode of transport, or by genre.

The intention, right from the start, was to make something that was easy to use, and useful.”

Hinks is wary of apps where the designers are “putting functionality in there for the sake of it,” which led him away from his initial thought, of using GPS technology in some way. “We realised it doesn’t offer much use to the reader to do that.

So we had to take a step back and ask ourselves, ‘What will people actually use? What will they want?’ Hopefully we got it right, and it’s something I want to do for all our future app projects... to look at what readers are likely to engage with.”

Gimbal may also offer opportunities for emerging writers to submit their work at some Jim Hinks, Comma Press point in the future. “All I can say on that is ‘Watch this space.’ We have something cooking at the Currently, the stories on Gimbal “tend to moment along those lines. Gimbal feels like a be realist, to a large degree.” But the possibility starting point for us. It’s just opened up so many for overlaying speculative fiction narratives on possibilities – the process of doing it, finding out to maps of real cities is something the app may tackle when Iraq Plus 100, a collection of specially how readers interact with it – it’s opened the door to so much more, in future.” comissioned SF from Iraqi writers, is published late next year. “This is a book that asks Iraqi short Gimbal is a free app available from letsgimbal.com. It is story writers to imagine their city a hundred currently available for iPhone and iPad, with an Android version currently in development years after the US and UK invasion of 2003,” says Hinks. “It’s actually asking them to map that commapress.co.uk imagined future cityscape, onto their city as it some of Iain Sinclair’s writing about psychogeography – attempting to connect a city’s physical geography, its architecture and its history to the territory of the imagination, and experience.

“Psychogeography has been part of the inspiration not just for the app itself, but for a lot of commissions in the past,” says Hinks. “Years ago, we were influenced by people like Iain Sinclair, and other psychogeographers – their understanding of the city. We’ve always comissioned on the basis of location.”

Hinks believes the short story is the perfect literary form for this kind of exploration.

“Whereas poetry might cling more tenaciously to the source language, short stories tend to translate far better. And yet, they often deal with far more universal situations than the novel, which is often so rich in context that it becomes difficult to uproot and put into another language. Short stories tend to be about these universal, minute crystallisations of people’s lives, which you can understand from another perspective. At the same time they have enough context and detail – geographical detail specifically – that you can also learn about different cultures.”

“Short fiction is often about chance encounters between strangers in public places”

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No More Mr Nice Guy DiCaprio has Scorsese, Depp has Burton, Gosling has Winding Refn. We speak to a more low-key actor/director team, Michael Cera and Sebastián Silva, who are bringing a pair of excellent movies to UK screens in 2014

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f the many fine jokes in 21 Jump Street, the surprisingly sturdy movie adaptation of the Johnny Depp-starring 80s TV series of the same name, the smartest is the running gag that turns social norms on their heads. Of the two fresh-faced cops sent undercover to infiltrate a drug ring in a high school, Schmidt (Jonah Hill), a socially challenged and romantically frustrated nerd, is vastly more popular with the student body than his partner Jenko (Channing Tatum), a smooth-operating knuckle-headed jock. This role reversal isn’t just employed for comic effect, though; it’s an act of social realism. Look around you. Comic book movies are hot property, thick rimmed glasses trump 20/20 vision, and skinny torsos top biceps and brutishness. The geeks have inherited the earth.

These geeks have a king, and his name is Michael Cera. Paler than semi-skimmed milk, 100 pounds when wet, and a hair do that cries out mum-cut, Cera is the unlikeliest of movie stars.

But he, and some other narrow-shouldered young men, like Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield, who would have had to vie for roles with Rick Moranis and Martin Short in the 80s and 90s, have carved out varied careers as bona fide leading men.

Cera’s rise to be Hollywood’s chief nerd has been swift. He first came to the public’s attention on TV in Arrested Development as George Michael, the sole redeeming-member of the obnoxious Bluth family. On the big screen his big break came in 2007’s Superbad, in which he played the fragile nice guy foil to his two outlandish best friends. In Juno, as the lover of the smart-mouthed pregnant teen of the title, he was even more timid. And in Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist he is the straight member of an “all gay band” called the Jerk-Offs.

If you need an omega-male, call Cera!

But lately the Canadian actor has been breaking out of this adorkable typecasting. With 2009’s Youth in Revolt he got the opportunity to show his dark side by playing both demure bookworm Nick Twisp and his chain-smoking French alter-ego François Dillinger, who takes over whenever Nick needs to do something badass, like seduce a girl or set his mother’s car on fire. In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World he had fun as a two-timing

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egotist with superpowers. And his bad boy rep has been sealed with his anarchic cameo in last year’s This Is the End, where he plays a party animal version of himself, who snorts coke, touches up Rihanna, and has a three-way at James Franco’s housewarming party.

Cera continues to channel his inner douchebag in a brace of films being released in early 2014 from Chilean director Sebastián Silva (The Maid). In April he co-stars in Magic Magic as Brink, a creep in knitwear whose erratic behaviour and eccentric sense of humour is helping send a young woman (Juno Temple) round the bend. The performance calls to mind Crispin Glover at his most manic.

First, though, there’s Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus, a loose, easygoing road-movie that Silva seemingly threw together when the shooting of Magic Magic was delayed. “I’d left Santiago and lost hope that we would ever make Magic Magic,” Cera says by phone from New York, “but then Sebastián calls me and says, ‘Why don’t we just make this other movie: there’s no dialogue written, we’ll make it in two weeks, and we’ll just be able to work together.’”

In it, Cera plays Jamie, an insufferable thrillseeking American who’s visiting Chile and seems to be attempting to soak up as much of the country’s illegal substances as he can get his hands on. “Yeah, it sounds like you’ve done a lot of drugs here,” a partygoer sighs at the opening of the film after Jamie complains about the quality of the cocaine and weed he’s sampled on his travels. The next high Jamie is keen to try is a native cactus known for its hallucinogenic properties, which he plans to ingest on an idyllic beach he’s travelling to with three Chilean friends. It’s an odyssey similar to one taken by the director in his youth.

“Thirteen years ago, me and my best friend wanted to go and take mescaline, to do it from cactus preparation, down in the national park in Chile,” explains Silva, who joins Cera and The Skinny in a conference call. “We had it all planned, but the night before I went to a party and met a girl from the States. She went by the name of Crystal Fairy. She was this hippy tree hugger from the West Coast. We became good friends that night and I, in a friendly impulse,

Interview: Jamie Dunn

invited her to tag along with us and come to this creek up north, and she accepted the invitation.”

While high on coke, Jamie extends a similar invitation to an American woman he meets at a party, the eponymous Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffman), only this trip proves to be less harmonious than Silva’s. Jamie and Crystal are two sides of a pretty unpleasant coin. He’s an uptight killjoy who manages to take the fun out of partying.

She’s a walking cliche of chakra platitudes, who lectures the boys for eating junk food, but swigs on a bottle of cola and munches on Cheetos when no one’s looking. Their passive-aggressive journey together blurs genres, weaving from awkward comedy to plaintive drama.

“Basically I’m telling a story that I went through, and life contains drama and comedy and surprising things and dullness and all of it” Sebastián Silva

This is the chief characteristic of Silva’s filmmaking: when he sits down to write a film he doesn’t consider the section where it’ll be found on Netflix. “I never think of movies that way, and I hope I never do,” explains the 34-year-old filmmaker. “Basically I’m telling a story that I went through, and life contains drama and comedy and surprising things and dullness and all of it.” By straddling genres, it also allows Silva to dampen expectations. “I don’t want to promise anyone that they’re going to laugh or be scared or that they’re going to cry because I’m just setting myself up for failure if they don’t,” he says modestly.

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“But if I just say, ‘This is the story I’m telling you – you’ll cry or you’ll laugh, whenever you feel like it,’ there’s so much more freedom for me and the audience as an experience.”

Perhaps Cera is trying something similar with his recent career shift? Has breaking from his sweet loser-shtick been about becoming freer as an actor? “I don’t see it as more freeing,” says Cera. “The level of fun for me is always dependent on who I’m working with and how collaborative it is and how much it feels like finding something together.”

Movies don’t come much more collaborative than Crystal Fairy. Shot on a dime and semiimprovised, it brims with energy and a sense of place. It may be a tossed off project, but beneath its nonchalant exterior lies psychological insight that would make most Oscar-bait dramas green with envy. The shoot was so relaxed, in fact, that Cera and the cast took the opportunity to ‘go method’ and sampled some mescaline brewed from a San Pedro (it feels like having “a few glasses of white wine” apparently). Crystal Fairy does that trick that so few films manage: it makes the experience of watching as enjoyable as the experience of the people larking around in the beautiful location. “The movie is basically a document of this vacation we all took together,” explains Cera. “We were in this amazing spot, and all living in the same house, sleeping on top of each other, eating bread and avocado and listening to music.

It was great.”

And what of the real Crystal Fairy? How did she feel about having her journey portrayed on screen? “I spoke to her not long ago, actually,” Silva beams. “Gaby Hoffman, the actress who plays Crystal Fairy, got a hold of her. She had a friend who knew Crystal, so because of all this I got to speak on the phone with the real Crystal Fairy after thirteen years.”

Has she seen the movie? “Yeah, she really liked it. She’s living in Vermont now and I’ve invited her to have a pajama party at my place. You wanna come, Mike?”

“Sure,” says Cera, dryly. “We can get together and watch the movie.”

Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus is released 17 Jan Magic Magic is released 18 Apr

THE SKINNY

THEATRE AT ITS MOST SENSUAL AND IMAGINATIVE THE SCOTSMAN

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January 2014

New weekly Every Saturday 10am - 5pm Discover the area, check what’s around, food to fill up your larder, fab street food to eat as you shop, drinks, crafts & fun.

A great day out for all the family www.stockbridgemarket.com

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War and Peace War Horse-star Jeremy Irvine discusses playing a young Colin Firth in The Railway Man, the story of the life of Eric Lomax, a tortured POW who managed to forgive his captors

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he scene is nostalgic, pastoral, beautifully English. On a trundling train in Northern England, Eric Lomax (Colin Firth), a kindly middleaged man, finds himself sitting opposite the politely inviting Patti (Nicole Kidman). However improbably, Eric finds himself chatting her up. “If you think Warrington’s exciting,” he says. “Wait til we get to Preston.”

It’s a scene consciously reminiscent of David Lean’s Brief Encounter. Eric reaches his destination. His and Patti’s eyes linger before parting.

Later we find him sitting in a Working Man’s Club with his fellow veterans of the Second World War, staring out of the window. Then he jumps up, rushes back to the train station, and eventually intercepts his future wife at Edinburgh’s Waverley Station.

Director Jonathan Teplitzky provides a deceptively reassuring opening to a true story of pain, suffering and, finally, redemption, because Eric and Patti’s romance precipitates the most difficult chapter in their adult lives – Eric must come to terms with “a life of bitterness and hatred.” He was held in captivity by the Japanese as a prisoner of the war, starved and tortured to the point of no return. Nightmares haunt him every night, while his waking days are hamstrung by fantasies of revenge and intense depression.

As Patti confronts her new husband, forcing him to talk about his experiences for the first time, the film spools back. We meet the younger Lomax, played insightfully by War Horse actor Jeremy Irvine, trying to acclimatise to his new existence as a prisoner of war.

The Railway Man is based on Lomax’s own memoir of an almost forgotten chapter of Britain’s war. Lomax, who died last year at the age of 93, was born in Edinburgh in 1919, left school at 16 and joined the Post Office as a telegraphist.

At 19, with war inevitable, Lomax joined the Royal Corps of Signals, becoming a Royal Signals officer for the Royal Artillery. In 1942 he was captured by the Japanese following the surrender of Singapore. As a prisoner of war in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, he became one of the thousands of

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Interview: Tom Seymour

men forced to build “the death railway” over the River Kwai in Burma.

‘We were surviving, but that was not enough,’ Lomax wrote in his memoirs, first published in 1995. ‘We were rebellious and eager to know what was happening in the war.’

Lomax was part of a small group of prisoners to secretly build a radio, bartering stolen tools for parts with local traders. They would tune in to Allied bulletins from India, or just to listen to music from back in Blighty.

But the radio was discovered, and Lomax was held in Changi jail and tortured within an inch of his life as the Japanese tried to force a fictional confession of sabotage.

“Eric Lomax was still suffering 60 years on, and I was asking him to hand the most difficult parts of his life over to me”

responsibility that comes with telling his story.

How could I relate to someone who has been forced into a situation so horrific? I was going to have to do everything to get an occasional glimpse of what his life was like as a prisoner of war.”

Irvine lost 30 pounds for the role, and spent time in Lomax’s home in Berwick-upon-Tweed, trying to learn as much as he could about the conditions he endured. “He was still suffering 60 years on, and I was asking him to hand the most difficult parts of his life over to me,” Irvine says of the experience. “He was an incredibly funny and sharp and generous man, who gave me so much. But there was a line where I couldn’t go.

He’d just go silent, but I could see him reliving it on his face.”

When it came to the waterboarding sequences, Irvine told Teplitzky he wanted to film the scenes as realistically as possible.

“I thought to myself, bit of wet cloth and a hose, it can’t be that bad,” Irvine says. “I’ve heard people describe waterboarding as drowning on dry land, but it’s so much worse. You can have your head held under water, no worries. But water forced into your lungs, into your stomach, up your nose, eyes, ears – you can’t breathe in, exhale. You’re so totally helpless. We did a lot of takes, but not for very long. I managed to deal with it for seven or eight seconds, and I could stop when I wanted. Eric had it day after day.”

But waterboarding was only the tip of the suffering Lomax was about to experience. He would endure much worse. “They’d waterboard him until his stomach visibly swelled with water, and then they’d stamp on his stomach,” Irvine reveals. “We couldn’t put what Eric went through in the movie, because no-one would watch it.”

In the film’s third act, a now ageing Eric realises that the man that tortured him, the interpreter Takashi Nagase of Kurashiki, Japan, has resurfaced. The film shows Nagase working as a tour guide at the prison in which Eric was tortured, now a museum open to tourists.

Firth’s Lomax travels alone to Burma to confront Takashi with the express purpose of murdering him, but instead finds in himself a capacity to forgive, to reconcile the past with the damaged men they are now. Extraordinarily, the two found in the other an element of mutual understanding and, over time, became friends.

The film, it must be said, takes liberties here in the interests of dramatic unity. Lomax discovered Takashi after he wrote his own book, Crosses and Tigers, about his own experiences during and after the war. After Patti made contact with Takashi, Lomax met him again on the bridge over the river Kwai with a camera crew in tow; it became the documentary Enemy, My Friend? directed by Mike Finlason.

Yet this remains a reverent, powerful film – a true tribute to the quiet men who sacrificed themselves, in death and in living, so we could live free and without fear. “He wrote the book and kept it in a cupboard for 30 years,” Irvine says. “He felt shamed by himself, but Eric Lomax was a hero, not just as a young man at war, but throughout his life. I have no idea how he forgave like he did. I could never do that.” But Lomax captures his life in the final sentence of his memoir: ‘Some time the hating has to stop.’

The Railway Man is released 10 Jan by Lionsgate films

Jeremy Irvine

As his interrogator said to him on arrival at the prison: “Lomax, you will be killed shortly, whatever happens. But it will be to your advantage in the time remaining to tell the whole truth.

You know now how we can deal with people when we wish to be unpleasant.”

“I’ve never had the sort of emotional connection [to a character I’ve played than] I had to Eric Lomax,” Irvine tells The Skinny when we meet in London. “I got to meet him and his wife, so I spent a lot of time thinking about the

FILM

THE SKINNY

Welcome to the Food & Drink Survey 2014 Over the next eight pages, you’ll learn which places your fellow Skinny readers voted as their favourites. But first, some background

O

K, this is now an actual, bona fide tradition.

Twelve months ago, we tried to convince you all that an event was ‘annual’ just because it took place two years in a row at around the same time.

Well, now we’re back for a third year, and as De La Soul said, three is the magic number.

Not magic enough to avoid being overshadowed by the magazine’s 100th issue celebrations, but that’s neither here nor there. Honest.

Yes, for the third straight year we asked you, the readers of The Skinny, to tell us where you like to get the food and the drinks, and once again you gave us your suggestions. We tallied up

January 2014

Words: Peter Simpson Illustration: Michael Arnold

more than 4000 votes in this year’s survey, pulling in suggestions from Edinburgh, Glasgow, and beyond. We also got one response written entirely in the style of Sir Sean Connery, so… thanks for that.

In the course of the next eight pages, we look at your love of cafes with incredibly descriptive names, and get our favourite beer blogger to find out why one small brewery from Alloa came to rule the roost right across the country.

We take a trip around the world of Edinburgh and Glasgow to find the best grub from across the globe, and travel back in time to the heady

days of 2013 to see where your favourite new places slotted in alongside the royal babies and giant ducks.

Our resident Phagomaniac is also on hand, with some ideas on what you can do with the fare from your favourite food shops besides, you know, actually eating it.

Places for first dates, landing spots when you’re on your last legs, food on the go and drinks in comfy chairs – the next eight pages are filled with your favourite places to eat, drink and get merry.

We’re also joined in survey-land this year by

FOOD AND DRINK

our colleagues from our Northwest edition – go to the website to find out which bars, cafes and restaurants to make a beeline for when you visit Manchester and Liverpool.

Thanks to everyone who voted in this year’s survey, spread the word about the survey, and harangued their friends and family into voting for their favourite pub. And as we always say, if you don’t like the winners, you only have yourselves to blame.

Don’t look at us like that – it’s now, officially, tradition.

Lifestyle

29

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OpenMic_Quiz.indd 1

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THE SKINNY

Phagomania: Shop, in the Name of Love

The Name Game

We couldn’t let the Survey pass without letting our resident phagomaniac loose. Here are his tips for how to get the most out of your favourite food and drink retailers

Words: Peter Simpson

Your favourite cafes all have something in common – names which perfectly encapsulate what’s inside. Time to try our hands at amateur etymology, as we look at our Best Cafe winners

Words: Lewis MacDonald

Glad Cafe

Brush

Lupe Pintos/ Real Foods

Glad Cafe

Sometimes it isn’t enough to merely eat your food. You have to control the food, manipulate the food, to paint with a broad (but edible) brush. Head to Lupe Pintos for your hot sauces, your guacamole, and your salsa. Don’t forget your nacho cheese, essential for getting those highlights. Grab a rustic organic loaf from Real Foods and BOOM! Art. Genuine, actual art.

Glasgow is a big, diverse place, with all sorts of creative capers going on. It’s a hive of activity, and there are lots and lots of people each getting on with their own thing. The Glad Cafe provides a place for them all to get together under one roof.

By night it’s a gig venue/cinema/comedy space, and by day it’s one of the Southside’s best cafes that gives those arty types a place to get inspired and drink great, locally-roasted coffee.

You feel glad that a place like it exists, and it’s a cafe. Glad Cafe. Boom.

IJ Mellis

It’s the ‘all the cheeses’ sandwich, in that it’s a sandwich made solely from cheese. A layering from hard cheeses on the outside, blending into soft cheeses in the inside. Our man on the inside at Mellis recommends Mimolette for the outside, then Montgomery Cheddar. Tomme de Savoie next (it’s one of the softer of the hard cheeses), followed by Dunsyre Blue, Brie de Meaux Donge, with a runny Vacherin Mont d’or centre. That’s a lot of cheese, we’re sure you’ll agree.

We don’t want to think how much this cost in both financial and emotional terms, but little effigies of your favourite Scottish cultural figures made from top notch Scottish cheese are expressions of civic pride we can get on board with. Our American cousins have their giant cheddar Lincoln, but we’ll happily feature the first person to sculpt Steve Mason or Stuart Braithwaite from manchego. And that’s a promise.

Find out where to get started on these creations on p36

Lovecrumbs

cheese lincoln

For a cafe to live up to the Lovecrumbs name, it would need to be imbued with a sense of joy and care, but also have a bit of an anarchic and scruffy edge. Sit at a table made from an old piano with a slice of violet & cardamom cake, or an orange and pistachio tart, and it all makes sense.

Well, it might not ‘make sense’, but it’s brilliant nonetheless.

Artisan Roast

Hula

Hula makes the best cafe rankings for a second straight year, with its great menu and cracking location in the centre of Edinburgh getting it the nod. As for the the whole name-matching thing, Hula’s bright, breezy decor and array of juices and smoothies make the place a ray of light in Auld Reekie. It’s the closest thing Edinburgh has to a tropical oasis without bothering the birds in the Zoo’s aviary.

Brew Lab

This one’s easy. ‘Brew’ is what these guys do best, with their Slayer espresso machine and everchanging array of coffees from around the globe.

The ‘Lab’ part becomes apparent as soon as you walk in – the stripped-back aesthetic has something of the mad professor about it, and their Syphon Sunday coffees put this into overdrive.

Seriously, we’re talking halogen lamps, beakers, the lot.

Guess what Artisan Roast do? That’s right, they roast their own coffee in an artisanal fashion. You Get the full details on your Best Cafe winners on page 36 lot love their cafes in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and their brilliance at their craft is clear to see.

Their coffee is served in cafes up and down

Tiered Cheese sandwich

Lupe Pinto

January 2014

Scotland, but going direct to the source gives you the full experience which landed them on your list.

FOOD AND DRINK

Lovecrumbs

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Brothers in Arms

I

t’s no surprise that Williams Bros have turned up near the top1 of the ‘best beer’ category in the survey; they are a true Scottish success story. From the aspirations of two brothers inheriting a home-brewing shop2 in the West End of Glasgow, a business has emerged that now exports to 25 different countries.

Bruce and Scott Williams are nothing short of pioneers in the world of Scottish beer, and their story has plenty of interesting twists. Their anecdote about the day in 1988 when a benevolent crone entered their shop at midnight and, as lightning played across her face, revealed the recipe for what would become their first beer – Fraoch – has gone into Scottish brewing legend.

After the early ‘Heather Ales’ days at Williams, the brothers have put down roots in Alloa, a town with a rich tradition of brewing.3 Relaunching as Williams Bros Brewing Co in 2004 they have changed gear several times, moving onto beers like Williams Gold, Red and Black, and then past those into the likes of Midnight Sun, Double Joker and Profanity Stout.

This continual re-thinking fits with their proactive attitude – from hand-picking heather shoots back in the day, to hand-fitting disco balls to pub ceilings.

There’s no way laurels will be rested upon in Alloa anytime soon, either. Williams Bros recently announced a £1m humdinger of an expansion plan (increasing bottling capacity by 60%), with potential side projects into both canning and PET plastic bottles.

Their bar ventures are flourishing – Inn

When we looked at the results in the Best Pub and Favourite Local Brewery categories, we noticed something of a pattern.

Our favourite local beer expert Richard Taylor explains how one brewery from Alloa had a hand in a host of winners Words: Richard Taylor

Williams Beer

Deep4 is always popular with the locals of Kelvingrove, and Leith’s The Vintage (which Williams Bros co-own) was one of Edinburgh’s best new bars of 2013.5 This coming year sees one of Williams’ biggest projects to date – the Alloa-based brewery are set to launch their much-anticipated Drygate collaboration with Tennent’s.6 Given past form, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the fruits of that plan land Williams on next year’s list once again.

1 You also enjoyed beers from the kings of craft beer marketing Brewdog, loveable Lothian-ers Stewart Brewing, and the rum-powered juggernaut that is Innis & Gunn. You also like Tennent’s, and we can’t stop you from doing that, can we?

Glenbrew, on Dumbarton Rd. Corner of Broomhill Drive – hit the car dealerships and you’ve gone too far.

2

3 Harvieston and Tryst are among the other small brewers working in the area, where beer production dates back two centuries

Inn Deep sits on the site of the former Big Blue bar on Great Western Rd, and is one of your favourite pubs in this year’s survey.

4

5 The Vintage and Inn Deep were joined in the pub top 5 by Glasgow’s Squid and Whale, and the Edinburgh pair of The Hanging Bat and Roseleaf 6 Tennent’s and Williams are planning a craft brewery with its own restaurant and homebrew training facility next door to the Wellpark Brewery in Glasgow. It could be up-andrunning by mid-2014. It’s very exciting.

Richard Taylor is the editor of Edinburgh-based beer website and podcast, thebeercast.com Read the full results on p36 www.thebeercast.com

Brewdog

Best Newcomers We look back at 2013, to see where some of your favourite new places slotted into a year of new popes, powerful babies, and giant rubber ducks

A

fter a quiet few months, save for last year’s edition of your favourite readers’ food and drink survey, 2013 kicked into action in March.

The world got a selfie-taking, Harley-riding new Pope, and Edinburgh got a top-notch new gastropub. The Vintage opened its doors in March, and has been going great guns with its cracking craft beer range and top-drawer food ever since. The Pope is also, we hear, doing a decent job.

Fast forward to May, and the world’s largest rubber duck was in the middle of one of the greatest world tours of our time. Fittingly, The Squid and Whale opened on Glasgow’s Great Western Road in May, bringing a natty nautical theme to the West End along with some cracking Mexican and American food. Good timing, giant rubber duck!

In June, we learned that the ‘NSA’ had been using a ‘PRISM’ to read all our ‘Facebook’ posts.

At just that moment, a bang-on-trend burger place with a slick interior and oh-so-cute cartoon mascots turned up. We know that Burger Meats Bun in Glasgow city centre wasn’t party to the mass surveillance of our emails and social

32

Lifestyle

Words: Peter Simpson

networks (if they were, they’ve kept it under their hats very well), but the simple brilliance of the food and the cosy space feel as though they’ve been plucked direct from our fevered, data-addled minds.

July was a busy month. Fans of aristocracy and media over-reaction were treated to a new Royal Baby and the attendant 24-hour news coverage of a human child being born of a human mother in - of all places - a hospital. Those who felt the coverage of their future king was a bit gratuitous wouldn’t stop going on about the made-for-TV sci-fi shambles Sharknado. It was very warm, and we all needed to cool down. Enter Mary’s Milk Bar on Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, with an ever-changing menu of hand-made gelato and milkshakes to choose from, and a quirky space to enjoy them in.

So that’s what we added in 2013 – spying, ducks, gelato, beer, babies, squid, and cute little cartoon characters. Well played, 2013, well played.

Full details of the winners on page 36 The Vintage

FOOD AND DRINK

THE SKINNY

Join us at The Rosehip this January come rain, hail, or even snow for some fabulous, fresh and locally sourced produce.

Or why not enjoy a wee tipple from the largest whisky selection in the New Town?

wishing one & all a happy new year & great eating in 2014

43 Rose Street Edinburgh, EH2 2NH tel: 0131 225 8028 www.therosehipedinburgh.com

January 2014

www.timberyard.co

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Online booking

34

THE SKINNY

Around the World

Keep Calm and Have a Sandwich

Time to put on your explorer’s hat with the detachable hairnet, as we go us on a journey around the world (of food) (in Scotland)

Here are your selections for three of the most potentially stressful categories in this year’s survey – date places, on-the-move lunches, and spots to nurse a hangover

Words: Peter Simpson

Words: Peter Simpson

Mother India

Under the Stairs

Wannaburger

Y

our foodie world tour begins in the hot, humid and tropical climate of Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens. Leave them, and head down Byres Road to La Vallee Blanche, one of your favourite places for European cuisine. Well, French to be exact, with a menu focusing on Alpine classics made with the sort of prime Scottish ingredients that normally get spirited away to the far-flung corners of the world.

After your French sojourn, head over the culinary border to Italy, and La Favorita on Edinburgh’s Leith Walk. Your standard pizzas sit alongside some left-field alternatives in the wood-fired oven, and the arancini are like big, lovely risotto cricket balls. The decor is nice and subdued, there’s a nice family air without it all being overly familiar, and they deliver. Not that it really matters, given that we’re on a big adventure, but it’s good to know.

From Europe to Asia, and you did what every traveller does at some point – called out for Mother. Lucky for us, it was Mother India, and we didn’t have to try and contact hundreds of parents to tell them their grown-up children had injured themselves doing an online survey.

Mother India’s Cafes in Edinburgh and Glasgow combine the joy and variety of curry with the mild greed and occasional problem-solving that comes with tapas. You like filling the table with lots of little nuggets of Indian goodness then scrapping over who gets what – we can’t say we disagree.

At Kismot, food fights are much more personal affairs. The Indian/Bangladeshi favourite is revered around Edinburgh for its ‘Kismot Killer’ curry, a challenge that has felled many food lovers in its time. The standard, out-of-competition curries are brilliant as well, and the place is always packed with happiness and cheer. Well, cheer and curry-induced terror.

Moving on to Asia, and you picked out a

January 2014

range of options from across the continent. Your favourites included Edinburgh’s Chop Chop, with its brilliant northern Chinese dumplings and blink-and-you-still-won’t-miss-it bright red and yellow paintwork. You also rated the Chinese/ Malaysian mix on offer at Asia Style in the heart of Glasgow, with the cracking food again outweighing concerns about the colour scheme.

No such problems over at Kanpai, one of your favourite Japanese restaurants in Scotland.

Cool, sleek and unassuming, it puts out some of the best sushi in the country while hidden in plain sight on a tenement row beneath Edinburgh Castle.

When it came to picking your favourite American restaurants, the North won hands down. You liked, amongst others, the brilliant burgers and shakes of Edinburgh’s Wannaburger, where gourmet-quality burgers come at takeaway prices and sit with a side of topical humour from a specials board that’s always got some kind of pun on it.

Another favourite was just up the road, in the shape of Tex-Mex joint Illegal Jack’s. Burritos, benches, and a big space that always seems to have space for a few more diners – just what the weary foodie traveller needs. Glasgow new boys The Squid and Whale also popped up in your favourites, with their US and Mexican-inspired goodies hitting the spot in the West End. And to finish it’s back to Europe, and a homegrown representative for this global odyssey. Edinburgh’s Timberyard turns great local ingredients into brilliant modern Scottish dishes, all in a lovingly-converted old… well… an old timber yard.

Still, with all the variety on offer in Edinburgh and Glasgow, it’s nice to know exactly what to expect from time to time.

Full results for our four global categories can be found on page 36

The Vintage

Y

ou have a date. Congratulations. Now, where to go? Interestingly, four of the five winners in this category won in another category as well – our readers clearly like the safety of familiar surroundings when trying to impress people.

The one place that stood out in the dating game was Edinburgh’s Under the Stairs, a quirky, kitschy basement bar underneath the main action in the city centre. It’s laid-back, the food and drinks are brilliant, and it’s always full of interesting people who will make you seem more interesting by proxy. Smart choice, readers.

Your date went well, and now you are hungover. Commiserations. Luckily, our voters have a wide range of places for you to seek refuge. One of those ‘back on the horse, never mind the fact I just fell off’ types? Inn Deep and The Vintage made the top five as the kind of nice pubs that remind you that life isn’t all bad. Want a cup of tea and a sit down? The Glad Cafe got the nod, as did Freemans in Edinburgh’s Marchmont. A super-friendly neighbourhood cafe that loves its

FOOD AND DRINK

coffee, it’s just the place to get your bearings.

Those of you who felt food was the answer voted for Edinburgh’s Wannaburger – crisp white decor, comfy leather chairs, and tasty burgers. You people really are good at this voting business.

Gold stars all round.

When it came to grabbing food to go, you voted in Wannaburger (the burgers still taste good sans the decor), and the cracking takeaway grub from Hula. When you had slightly more time to hang around, you plumped for burritos from Leith’s terrific Los Cardos Mexican takeaway, or an on-the-run curry from the Original Mosque Kitchen behind Edinburgh’s Central Mosque in Newington. You also named Greggs the bakers as one of your top five places when you’re in a rush, and you will almost definitely pass at least three of them on your way to your destination. See, we knew asking you lot to do this survey again was a good idea...

Get the full details on the winners on p36

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35

Food & Drink Survey 2014: The Winners Here’s the full list of 2014’s winning venues, and all the info you’ll need to track them down

Best place in a rush Wannaburger 7 Queensferry St, Edinburgh 0131 220 0036 | @Wannaburger Los Cardos 281 Leith Walk, Edinburgh 0131 555 6619 | @loscardos Hula 103 West Bow, Edinburgh 0131 220 1121 | @hulajuicebar The Original Mosque Kitchen and Café 50 Potterrow, Edinburgh 0131 662 9111 Greggs, the bakers Various branches, literally everywhere @GreggstheBakers

Best Food or Drink Shop Lupe Pintos 24 Leven St, Edinburgh 0131 228 6241 313 Great Western Rd, Glasgow 0141 334 5444 I J Mellis Various stores, Edinburgh, Glasgow & Aberdeen Cornelius Beers 18-20 Easter Rd, Edinburgh 0131 652 2405 @corneliusbeers Valhalla’s Goat 449 Great Western Rd, Glasgow 0141 337 3441 | @ValhallasGoat Real Foods 37 Broughton St 0131 557 1911 & 8 Brougham St, Edinburgh 0131 228 1201

Best Place For a First Date

Best Place When Hungover

The Vintage 60 Henderson St, Leith, Edinburgh 0131 563 5293 @thevintageleith

Inn Deep 445 Great Western Rd, Glasgow 0141 357 1075 | @inndeepbar

Under The Stairs 3A Merchant St, Edinburgh 0131 466 8550 Inn Deep 445 Great Western Rd, Glasgow 0141 357 1075 | @inndeepbar Glad Cafe 1006A Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow 0141 636 6119 | @thegladcafe Hula 103 West Bow, Edinburgh 0131 220 1121 | @hulajuicebar

36

Lifestyle

Wannaburger 7 Queensferry St, Edinburgh 0131 220 0036 | @wannaburger The Vintage 60 Henderson St, Leith, Edinburgh 0131 563 5293 @thevintageleith Freemans 2-6 Spottiswoode Rd, Edinburgh 0131 446 0576 @freemanscoffee Glad Cafe 1006A Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow 0141 636 6119 | @thegladcafe

Best Newcomer

Favourite Local Beer

Best of The Americas

Best of Asia

The Vintage 60 Henderson St, Leith, Edinburgh 0131 563 5293 @thevintageleith

Williams Bros. @williamsbrewery

Los Cardos 281 Leith Walk, Edinburgh 0131 555 6619 | @loscardos

Kanpai 8 Grindlay St, Edinburgh 0131 228 1602

The Squid & Whale 372 Great Western Rd, Glasgow 0141 339 5070 | @glasgowsquid

Stewart Brewing @stewartbrewing

Illegal Jack’s 113-117 Lothian Rd, Edinburgh 0131 622 7499 | @illegaljacks

Chop Chop 248 Morrison St, Edinburgh 0131 221 1155

The Squid & Whale 372 Great Western Rd, Glasgow 0141 339 5070 | @glasgowsquid

Asia Style 185 St George’s Rd, Glasgow 0141 332 8828

Lupe Pintos 24 Leven St, Edinburgh 0131 228 6241, 313 Great Western Rd, Glasgow 0141 334 5444 facebook.com/lupepintosdeli

Sushiya 19 Dalry Rd, Edinburgh 0131 313 3222

Timberyard 10 Lady Lawson St, Edinburgh 0131 221 1222 | @timberyard10 Mary’s Milk Bar 19 Grassmarket, Edinburgh hello@marysmilkbar.com @marysmilkbar

Brewdog @brewdog

Innis & Gunn @innesandgunuk Tennent’s facebook.com/TennentsLager

Wannaburger 7 Queensferry St, Edinburgh 0131 220 0036 | @wannaburger

Burger Meats Bun 48A West Regent St, Glasgow 0141 353 6712 @burgermeatsbun

Best Cafe

Best Pub

Best of Europe

Glad Cafe 1006A Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow 0141 636 6119 | @thegladcafe

The Hanging Bat 133 Lothian Rd, Edinburgh 0131 229 0759 | @thehangingbat

La Vallee Blanche 360 Byres Rd, Glasgow 0141 334 3333 | @ValleBlanche

Artisan Roast 57 Broughton St & 138 Bruntsfield Pl, Edinburgh 15 Gibson St, Glasgow @artisanroast

Inn Deep 445 Great Western Rd, Glasgow 0141 357 1075 | @inndeepbar

Timberyard 10 Lady Lawson St, Edinburgh 0131 221 1222 | @timberyard10

The Vintage 60 Henderson St, Leith, Edinburgh 0131 563 5293 @thevintageleith

La Favorita 325 Leith Walk, Edinburgh 0131 554 2430 | @LaFavoritaEd

Lovecrumbs 155 West Port, Edinburgh 0131 629 0626 @hellolovecrumbs Hula 103 West Bow, Edinburgh 0131 220 1121 | @hulajuicebar Brew Lab 6 South College St, Edinburgh 0131 662 8963 | @brewlabcoffee

The Squid & Whale 372 Great Western Rd, Glasgow 0141 339 5070 | @glasgowsquid Roseleaf 23/24 Sandport Pl, Leith, Edinburgh 0131 476 5268 @roseleafbarcafe

FOOD AND DRINK

The Vintage 60 Henderson St, Leith, Edinburgh 0131 563 5293 @thevintageleith L’Escargot Bleu 56 Broughton St, Edinburgh 0131 557 1600 | @Lescargot_B

Bonsai 46 Richmond St & 14 Broughton St, Edinburgh 0131 668 3847 | 0131 557 5093 facebook.com/pages/ Bonsai-Bar-Bistro

Best of The Indian subcontinent Mother India’s Cafe 3-5 Infirmary St, Edinburgh 0131 524 9801 1355 Argyle St, Glasgow 0141 339 9145 Khushi’s 10 Antigua St, Edinburgh 0131 558 1947 | @KhushisEdin Tuk Tuk Indian Street Food 1 Leven St, Edinburgh 0131 228 3322 @TukTukEdinburgh Kismot 29 St Leonard’s St, Edinburgh 0131 667 0123 Balbir’s 7 Church St, Glasgow 0141 339 7711 @Balbirsglasgow

THE SKINNY

This month we’ve taken our Borders’-Bred, Aberdeen Angus Scotch Beef and our Locally Sourced Craft-Baked Buns and added Scottish Cheddar, Smoked Streaky Bacon, Bread-crumbed Haggis, Grilled Onions and BBQ Sauce to create:

THE RABBIE BURNS

What a glorious sight!

January 2014

37

The Economics of Spanish Sex Words: Kate Pasola Illustration: Kim Thompson

Deviance’s foreign correspondent considers the legislative and financial forces behind Barcelona’s sexual permissiveness

T

here’s something about public displays of affection that leaves me feeling profoundly repulsed. It’s an irrational and confusing form of bitterness, and not an attitude I’ve always held. A few years ago, I found myself in that sickly, gut-bending type of relationship exclusively reserved for hormone-saturated adolescents.

Uninhibited public affection and appropriation of cinematic romance occupied my mid-to-late teens, until the novelty wore off and monotony crept in. Over time I became a subscriber to more British, grown-up standards – a cynical Scroogieness leaves me wanting to drag public snoggers off one another and tell them to wipe the saliva off their faces. Call me a hypocrite, call me a convert, but these days I can´t stomach public loving.

My impatience was in superb company in the UK, but moving to Barcelona was a completely different story: women perched backwards on their boyfriends’ handlebars; pelvic grinding on the night bus; dreadlocked couples piggybacking by the Montjuïc fountains... this place is underdog competitor for the most love-drenched city in the word. Barcelona’s tolerance, diversity and eroticism has attracted bohemian adventurers for centuries, and it’s now a European hub of sexiness and liberation. Midway down the main street, La Rambla, is the Museu de l’Eròtica – Spain’s only erotic museum – which exhibits the progression of human sexuality since the beginning of time. From phallic art to Oriental eroticism and even its own ‘Erotic Garden,’ the museum has curated a dynamic collection of the truly unexpected. It even gives patrons a sneaky peak into the porn stash commissioned

by King Alfonso XIII – quite the voyeuristic afternoon activity.

The funny thing is, the museum – along with Barcelona’s dozens of other sex shops – is sleazefree and matter-of-fact. It’s not a case of slinking down an alleyway and into the glow of red light bulbs – it’s situated directly across from the infamous Boqueria fruit market, and at peak times a cheery Marilyn Monroe waves from the balconies to bemused tourists. Sex isn’t a silent, sinful burden: it’s everywhere, it’s normal, and it’s up for grabs for whoever fancies it.

Unsurprisingly, it seems like this destigmatisation of casual sex, kinkiness, and public expression of attraction is all wrapped up in economics.

Prof. Nezih Guner at Barcelona Graduate School of Economics has identified a strong link between the advances of contraception and a rise in premarital sex. In his words, as quoted in a 2010 GSE

article: ‘We can look at the decision to engage in premarital sex as a cost-benefit analysis. The joy of the sexual experience must be weighed against the cost – the possibility of an out-ofwedlock birth that could impact a young woman’s prospects.’

“Sex isn’t a silent, sinful burden: it’s everywhere” Parents, churches and the state often bear the financial burden of non-wedlock children, so it makes sense that, as contraceptives have improved, those most concerned about costly accidental pregnancies have relaxed a bit – and as a consequence are less compelled to indoctrinate children against casual sex. This has wonderful implications for our ability to halt the brimstone of prejudice that sexually liberated women usually endure. Take away the financial

The Lesbian Look?

I

think a lot of people wonder what makes some queer (or non-straight) people choose to physically present themselves in the ways that they do.

Or wonder why women are attracted to women who seem to present themselves in a typically ‘masculine’ way. That, ‘Why don’t you just date a man, then?’ attitude.

When I entered into the world of gay at 17, it was a bit of a shock, not least to me. I had spent my teenage years ‘til then tracking down boys (I’d kissed a few female friends, but it had all felt quite ‘Katy Perry’) and obsessing over guitar gods. Then I went and fell in love with a girl. I think my mum was worried I might go out and get a rainbow-coloured buzz-cut the very next day. I didn’t; I didn’t actually know what to do.

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incentive from slut-shaming, and perhaps we’ll also remove its sting.

Slightly problematic, though, is the fact that the newly elected conservative Spanish government has taken a bit of a U-turn when it comes to contraception. Progress was being made in 2011 towards the end of Prime Minister Zapatero’s leadership. A fan of LGBT rights, equal marriage, abortion-law reform and fighting gender-based violence, Zapatero was making efforts to widen access to state-funded and subsidised contraception. However, Spain’s current right-wing government slammed a lid on this progress, and it can now cost a woman anywhere from €12-15 per month to protect herself using oral contraception. Pretty steep, especially as, according to the European Commission, 55% of Spanish young people are unemployed.

So what’s the alternative? A pharmacist I spoke with told me the only state-funded contraceptive left, Diane 35, is a controversial option.

Because of a whole host of health risks, it isn’t even acknowledged as a safe form of contraception in many parts of Europe. He explained: “I discourage use of Diane 35 – it’s very unsafe. But people cannot pay for monthly contraception.

I regularly have young women coming into the shop, crying for me to give them free emergency contraception. I lose a lot of money because I cannot bring myself to refuse them.” The morning after pill costs between €18-25, and the pharmacist disperses his monthly stock so rapidly that there is often no option but to close his shop early at weekends. Otherwise, he’s left at the mercy of his own conscience, rooting deeper into his own income to provide the protection that should be the responsibility of the state.

If Guner is right about the merits of accessible effective contraception, then it seems like charging young women €150 a year to protect themselves is a gigantic leap in the wrong direction. I’m still shell-shocked from the amount of sexiness that’s been chucked at me since my arrival here, and I continue to find my impulse to knock shared ice-creams out of the hands of dickhead couples difficult to manage. But there’s no denying that this city cultivates a unique environment of diversity, freedom and tolerance – and if I’m prepared to give up my seat on the night bus to a pair of drunken tonsil-wrestlers, then I think something’s got to give in the government too.

One writer examines the relationship between clothing and feminine identity

Dressing in a typically feminine way, especially to ‘go out’ at night, was the default for me, so I just kept on: it was what girls did, and the people around me said I looked nice. It was when I realised that strangers just assumed that I was out looking to be chatted up by a guy (rather than a girl, or anyone else, or no one) that I felt uncomfortable. One particularly cold winter I went to a clubnight in Doc Martens instead of heels and realised I felt I looked… better. After that I always looked forward to the feeling of control that I got from turning up to a club in jeans and boots.

I now just wear what I think suits me, not because I, personally, want to be more of a ‘man,’ but because I don’t want to be constrained by all of the rules that a typical ‘woman’ is supposed

to follow. I still have long, un-styled blonde hair, for instance, but a lot of aspects of my image that I had associated with being female were, I realised, actually more linked to a projected future of me being in a heterosexual relationship.

I enjoy constructing my own look from scratch, and confusing the changing room staff while I’m at it. Although every day is still one in which I have to challenge people’s expectations of how I live, looking a bit different has helped a lot with this; it’s actually easier when people in everyday life don’t just assume that I’m straight when they see me.

I would say that I find girls who dress a bit like ‘boys’ attractive because it says to me that they’ve thought about who they are. I am much

DEVIANCE

Words: Phoebe Benjamin

more immediately attracted by personalities than physical bodies, so a woman dressed like a ‘man’ is absolutely nothing like a ‘femininelooking boy.’ Their minds are different – they have come to their looks from totally different directions. I could see a picture of an androgynous person and only find it attractive when I realise that that person identifies as female. In a way it shows that they have the confidence to roll with that identity.

And if a woman looks like they’re not particularly dressing in a way that would typically interest the opposite sex, it’s undeniably attractive to feel that that person could be trying to attract me.

THE SKINNY

Travel: What Have We Learned?

A look back at almost 100 issues of the Travel section

Words: Paul Mitchell Illustration: Brittany Molineux

A

late addition to The Skinny’s canon of subdivided cultural categories, the Travel section was born out of a desire to properly reflect the diversity of didactic experiences available to our readers away from the geographical confines of our normal areas of coverage. That, and the desire to wangle some free trips. But, as with the conceit of ‘travel’ itself, our eyes have been opened and knowledge has been acquired (ahem). Here we impart to you, grateful reader, the six greatest lessons we’ve learned to date from The Skinny’s Travel section. Use this knowledge wisely.

1. Travellers hate other travellers What else could explain the plethora of advice, warnings against straying too far into ‘tourist’ zones (oh, the irony!), missives on what to wear (try clothes) and an incessant ‘my experience is better than yours now listen to meeeeee’ attitude that curiously seem to plague vast swathes of travel writing as we know it. Turns out we may not be so enlightened – take these choice nuggets for example: ‘Our planet’s most idyllic natural landscapes are invariably disfigured by the presence of horse-faced gap yah students and dishevelled backpackers, all of them pursuing the elusive meaning of life and losing all concept of personal hygiene as they go.’

A Traveller’s Manifesto, March 2012 ‘Or perhaps the [gap year] concept has been sullied somewhat by the abiding memories of tedious willy wavers boasting endlessly about single-handedly (remember, one hand on willy) saving the orphaned children of Africa (all of them) whilst talking about the self-fulfilment and path to enlightenment (as embodied, naturally, by ethnic beads and an ill-fitting poncho).’

Gap Yah: A Guide to Taking a Year Out, Student Handbook 2011 ‘Don’t use CouchSurfing.org like it’s a dating site – that’s not what it’s there for, and such an approach is generally considered sleazy and obnoxious. If you do wind up couchsurfing with somebody you’re attracted to, then who knows where things could go, but take extra special care before making a pass at a guest in your home – you don’t want to make them feel awkward, especially when they’re dependent on you for a place to stay.’

CouchSurfing for Beginners, October 2009 2. We like Berlin So much so, it’s the single foreign destination we’ve covered most. We’ve even provided a handy guide to what to do should you find yourself living there…

‘Pace yourself A night out really is a night out in Berlin.

No closing hours makes everything incredibly relaxed, and if you’re into it, you can go clubbing from Friday all the way through to Sunday.

The flip side is the great British sport of binge drinking isn’t well suited to here. You’ll peak too soon and be going home before anything even gets going (which normally starts at 11pmish in a bar/3am at a club). Also it’s not really acceptable to be smashed here (or anywhere else that’s not the UK/Australia/America) – throwing up in the streets and yelling and starting fights – it’s not pretty and you’re not funny. So stop being a twat.’

So, you want to live in Berlin? An expat’s guide, January 2013 But alas, not everybody appreciated our well-intentioned advice, as one online commenter weighed in...

January 2014

‘Sub-heading: how to experience Berlin in the style of a brainless moron.’

Posted by Damien, 31st January 2013 @ 14:11 3. And festivals...

For a good while, in every single issue we’d earmark a foreign musical, filmic or artistic jamboree at which we felt you, our bastions of illuminative nous, could attain cultural nirvana. Question, have any one of you ever actually headed away to any one of these carnivals on the back of a recommendation you read in The Skinny? Seriously?

OK – drop us a line at hello@skinnymag.co.uk and share your experience with us. You may feature in our 200th issue retrospective.

4. Not so much Australia ‘It’s true to observe that Australia has never been more expensive for a visitor than it is now.

A pound used to buy two-and-a-half Australian dollars, now only one-and-a-half. So a low-range hostel dorm bed, $30, used to be a reasonable £12, but is now £20. That’s only the start. If you like to travel with a guidebook, bring one with you and guard it like a second passport: they’re $40 to $75 here. A sandwich, wee bottle of Coke and pack of crisps will cost $15 (£10). It’s the same for a pack of cigarettes, and if you can find a pint for less than five quid, you’ve chanced upon happy hour. Prepare to go hungry, sober, or insolvent.’

Hard Up Down Under. June 2011 Just kidding Ozzie Sheilas and Bruces, we love it really, particularly when it’s free…

‘Dear Paul, On behalf of Tourism Australia, the Youth Hostel Association (YHA) and Qantas Airways, I would like to invite you on a ‘Coastal Discovery’ trip to Australia to explore the incredible adventures on offer for backpackers, gap year students and working holiday makers. We would love for you to join us on the trip, starting in the famous harbour city of Sydney in New South Wales, across to the sheer cliffs and canyons of the Blue Mountains, up to the spectacular Great Barrier Reef in Queensland and ending in the ancient rainforests of the Daintree.

Yours, Margo’ Um, OK then, cheers for that Margo – Oz is ace!

The Perks of Being a Travel Editor: Australia, October 2012

5. War zones – if you ain’t been to one, you haven’t lived (or nearly died) One of our very first travel pieces was a first person account of a US army tour of duty to Afghanistan (yep, we’re hard like that).

‘Those tempted to make the trip should know that there are hazards involved in any Afghanistani vacation. First, women are generally required to be covered from head to toe – failure to comply risks death by stoning. Second, malaria pills are a must (despite their odd side effect of remarkably vivid nightmares). Third, Westerners are highly attractive targets for terrorist ambushes and suicide bombings. Not trying to scare anybody, just a few things to consider.’

Go Away! – to Afghanistan, July 2007

for ID and wondering if inebriation was a standard excuse for inspection.”

Middle-Eastern Travels: Day-trips in the West Bank, March 2011

‘For foreigners of many stripes in Peshawar, Prince is a man who can get things done: an individual media types would call a fixer. Prince is a fast talker and a hard bargainer who knows the tribal officials, the government bureaucrats, military men, opium smugglers, weapons dealers, hotel operators, business men, Talibs and more.’

Elite Encounters in Pakistan, February 2011

6. Sometimes travelling can be really quite shit…

‘In Los Angeles, by a stroke of luck my friend and I had been invited to a USC sorority party.

Anyone who has ever seen Girls Gone Wild knows how these occasions always end up. Before, we went for dinner at this restaurant famous for fish tacos. You probably know where this is going...

It was like fizzy gravy! Every time I thought about leaving the house, I was drawn back to the toilet as if by powerful magnets in the seat. My mate went, and what I missed that night can only be found on the internet, pay-per-view!’

Holiday snap-shorts, January 2009

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

“I’m sorry, I can’t speak Hebrew”. Pause.

“Passport.” Young. Beret. Civvies. Glasses.

Body armour. Pistol drawn.

“I’m sorry, but are you police or army or what?” “Yes. Passport.” I handed it over.

“British?” “Yes.” No nationalistic quibbling.

“Why are you here?” I explained how I was trying to quickly get to the Arab quarter to watch the Brazil-North Korea game.

“Hm. Well, you looked very suspicious. Are you drunk?

“No,” – 1. No, I’m not. 2. That’s not illegal here. 3. The people you’re most afraid of aren’t known for their drunkenness. “ – no, I’m not” “Well, you looked suspicious. You looked drunk. Would you like some help?” The pistol was still drawn.

“Mm. No, thanks.” “Good night.”

“Good night.”

I walked away, hating myself for not asking

TRAVEL

‘If there’s one thing better than seeing the cradle of civilisation, it’s participating in its wanton destruction! Follow in the footsteps of pioneering American adventurer Chris Jeon, who spent his summer vacation fighting with Libyan rebels, by indulging in the hottest new trend in travel today: war tourism!’

The Travel Hot List 2013 Only one of these was an attempt at parody – can you guess which?

‘Alas, Charlotte would not be so lucky. At some stage, something in Mexico disagreed with her and she suffered from the very symptoms that the [anti-diarrhoea] drug was supposed to dispel. Perhaps she received a placebo, and was thus incapable of replicating my iron-bellied feats, or perhaps she’s just a delicate little one.

In any case, medical science is unlikely to provide an explanation since she took the decision to cop out of the stool sampling part of the experiment.

An understandable course of action; bagging up your shit isn’t a barrel of laughs at the best of times, but it becomes an extremely uninviting proposition when you’re too nauseous to walk. I might add that her boyfriend’s singular refusal to assist her in the sample collecting process made it even less likely to happen.’

On: The runs in Mexico – Diarrhoeas of a medical triallist, December 2010

Lifestyle

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Homegirl Sexy yet subversive, Danni McWilliams’ debut collection HOME GIRLS has already caused a stir in the public domain

Photo: kirstin kerr

Interview: Alexandra Fiddes

D

anni McWilliams’ HOME GIRLS has been shown at prestigious events and firm favourites on the Scottish fashion scene such as Nightwalk and Bold Souls. The Heriot-Watt graduate began her creative journey long before starting art school, following in the footsteps of other family members in their love of designing and making. McWilliams explains: “Not to sound cliché but anyone who knows me, knows that my love of clothing and styling has been a lifelong affair!

“My mum sewed clothes for herself and her friends as teenager, made me dresses and knitted my dad scarves and jumpers.” She adds, “My dad’s family ran a kids’ clothing company for a while based in my auntie’s house so from a young age I always had scraps of cloth I could play with or I was knitting with my gran.”

However, her biggest influence (whom she cites as her mentor and support) is cousin and homewear and accessories designer Nikki McWilliams, of Tunnock’s Teacake cushion fame, whose work has been included in the likes of Marie Claire, Vogue (and of course, The Skinny!) and is stocked in Selfridges, the DCA and has recently appeared on George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces. Danni says: “She has achieved so much personally that her advice and encouragement has been invaluable to me. I seriously feel very lucky that I am able to pick up the phone anytime and she’s there to offer me advice. Just catching

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up with her always leaves me feeling all inspired and positive!”

As well as being exposed to designing and making from a young age, McWilliam also looks further afield for her inspirations. HOME GIRLS is mainly influenced by the look of the American hip-hop scene of the 1990s, its street culture and the lives of young Mexican girls who were heavily involved within gangs. McWilliams is particularly interested in the “amalgamation of American youth culture and with the traditional Mexican culture.” Think stunning minimalist dresses, cropped tops and dungaree shapes, all with a distinctly sports luxe feel.

McWilliams explains that in her view, “the collection is for individuals who have a certain outlook on what it means to be a woman. The HOME GIRLS collection is designed to project strength and individuality while retaining the ability to be sexy no matter what is traditionally considered so. “ As well as these influences, McWilliams also feels that growing up in Scotland and being based in Glasgow has influenced her collection’s aesthetic: “Although it is hard to say exactly how this manifests itself in my designs, I think there is definitely a certain vibe to the way I style my work overall that comes from the way Glasgow feels as city to me. Glasgow’s social and cultural history is certainly something I have a particular adoration

for and it’s undoubtedly shaped my view of how people choose to present themselves in their environment.”

When it comes to the designing and making of the collection, McWilliam focuses on colour, cut and using the right material. “I really like high quality, predominately natural fibre-based fabrics. I look for materials that have a feel of comfort, quality and a handle that lends itself to the garment.”

The designer is now based in a “curious looking building” on West Regent Street which is shared with artists Lady K & Bones studio, Devils Own Apparel, Jetpace industries and RIG bike shop, where McWilliams held an open studio event earlier in the year. “It’s a great space with a nice little group vibe about it,” she explains. “It’s been more than useful having my machines up and ready to go whenever I need. Plus it’s really convenient for fittings and being able to meet (clients) in the city centre like that.”

As well as selling to the fashion forward public of Scotland, McWilliams has also designed merchandise for Glasgow band The Amazing Snakeheads and has been working with singer songwriter Laura St. Jude over the past year on various stage pieces.

How does it feel to have achieved so much in 2013? “To have people willing to spend their hard earned money on something you’ve worked so

FASHION

hard on is certainly what I find most gratifying.”

“I have learned a lot over the past year and had the pleasure of working with a lot of lovely, talented people and really now I’m just excited to get my next collection ready to launch!”

So what does McWilliams have planned for 2014? “I have a new project on the cards with Manchester based jewellery designer Ciara Clark.” Clark’s bright and iridescent perspex jewellery is surely going to be a fantastic match with McWilliams’ new garments, which we are extremely excited about seeing! She says, “My SS14 collection will finally feature some of my own print work which is pretty exciting, though handing over an idea and waiting for the results is daunting as I like to be hands on with everything.”

She adds, “My only real plan [for the coming year] is to build on what I have achieved so far by continuing to design, create and promote new design. I really just want to learn as much as possible and create work I’m proud of.”

You can see more of Danni McWilliams’ work on her newly launched website www.dannimcwilliams.com and can buy her work at marketplace. asos.com/boutique/danni-mcwilliams-studio @dannimcwilliams www.dannimcwilliams.com

THE SKINNY

100 Issues To celebrate number 100, here's a look at all the covers we've run in Scotland since October 2005

January 2014

SHOWCASE

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SHOWCASE

THE SKINNY

.CO.UK

INDEPENDENT FREE

CULT U R A L

J O U R N A L I S M

Scotland Issue 100 January 2014

FOOD AND DRINK SURVEY 2014 The best places to eat, drink and be merry as voted by our readers MUSIC Silver Mt. Zion East India Youth Honeyblood FILM Michael Cera & Sebastiรกn Silva Jeremy Irvine BOOKS Emoji Dick Gimbal CLUBS Croc v Croc ART Romany Dear Stephen Thorpe Omar Zingaro Bhatia COMEDY The Colour Ham THEATRE Manipulate Traverse 50 NOSTALGIA Across all sections

WARPAINT HERE TO STAY

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

January 2014

SHOWCASE

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Y RYDA EVE

O FO

ED UNTIL 10PM V R E DS

R E M M A MEATH JA

G LA S G O W 'S MES VS BURGER

BEST BURGER

ALL MID-WEEK CLUBS

ACOUSTIC NIGHT (MON)

a v a st g y w it h e n t, ch n o lo e q u ip m S S L te t rd r a a o e tb ou f th th e f o o in te n a o io g st ud e c ti T e a m in ix in g st te d c o ll g and m ll y c u ra in fu rd re t. o a c c ic re but d is tr d new e L e it h a b ra n c re a ti v T a p e is b u rg h ’s in d E f heart o

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THE SKINNY

Gig Highlights 2014 gets rolling with a surge of national pride at Celtic Connections, announcing the return of Mogwai, RM Hubbert, Olive Grove Records and Lau; you can also catch Ubre Blanca and Kid Canaveral at The Skinny’s 100th issue bash, plus much more!

Words: Illya Kuryakin

K

icking off the New Year at King Tut’s is their regular showcase series, King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution, which aims to bring you the best of Scotland’s emerging bands. It runs from 3-16 Jan, with headline appearances from the likes of Tijuana Bibles (12 Jan), Campfires In Winter (8 Jan), Cherri Fosphate (10 Jan), and The Holy Ghosts (11 Jan), amongst others. Check our listings for the full line-up.

On 4 Jan, cross-platform collaborative extravaganza Decagram returns to Edinburgh’s Henry’s Cellar Bar. With previous Decagram events featuring collaborative performances from the likes of Lipsync for a Lullaby, Hiva Oa and Asthmatic Astronaut amongst others, and the promise of live visuals and film screenings alongside the music, this is a good bet for lovers of alternative and experimental music, even though the bill is as-yet un-announced.

On 14 Jan, former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks come to Glasgow’s Òran Mór to play tracks from imminent new LP Wig Out at Jagbags. A dry wit and sharp surrealism characterise Malkmus’s playfully stoned lyrical ramblings, and they’ve lost none of their appeal over the years.

On 17 Jan, we celebrate The Skinny’s 100th issue with a big party at The Mash House in Edinburgh. We’ll be featuring live performances from some of our favorite Scottish bands from the last few years, with Ubre Blanca, Honeyblood and Kid Canaveral in attendance along with DJs, spoken word performers and all types of cutural high-jinks. E-mail party@theskinny.co.uk if you fancy it, the first 100 to RSVP will receive free entry and a couple o’ drinks on us.

Olive Grove Records mainstays Woodenbox come to Edinburgh student hangout the Teviot Bar on 17 Jan – formerly going under the name

Young Fathers

Wooden Box with A Fistful of Fivers, Ali Downer and co have shortened the name (again!) and honed their folk, rock and soul-influenced indie to a keen edge.

Hip-hop heads will welcome the return of Dan Le Sac v Scroobius Pip to The Arches on 21 Jan – their new album Repent Replenish Repeat takes them in a moody, bass-led direction with clashing dubstep beats, and Scroobius waxing lyrical in his own inimitable style.

On 24 Jan, Phantasy signing Connan Mockasin tours his sophomore album Caramel, coming to Glasgow’s King Tut’s – the

blonde-haired New Zealander plunders soul, folk and woozy electronica to create psychedelic soundscapes and delicate songs.

As the end of the month draws near, there’s a night of quadruple-threat awesomeness and bill-clashes to contend with in Glasgow on 31 Jan – which will you pick? Beatboxing singersongwriter Adam Stafford and Andrea Marini at The Glad Cafe, with all proceeds from the night going to the Scottish Green Party? Gloomy epic rockers Holy Esque at Nice ‘N’ Sleazy’s? The majestic, orchestral electronica of East India Youth at King Tut’s? Or a quick jaunt across the

M8 to catch atmospheric indie rockers The Deep Dark Woods and Trembling Bells at Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s? They all sound brilliant, so you can’t lose, really.

And finally, Anticon-signed alternative hip-hop trio Young Fathers take the stage at Glasgow’s Stereo on 1 Feb to launch their new album Dead, which rides a wave of praise from both the press and their fellow musicians – everyone from Daedelus to CHVRCHES bowing down to their steez in this very magazine. See what all the fuss is about when they head west with entrancing touring partner LAW in support.

Celtic Connections

Various Venues, Glasgow 16 Jan-2 Feb

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t’s the 20th anniversary of Celtic Connections this year, and along with a comprehensive programme of concerts, workshops and events focusing on traditional Scottish music, they have pulled out all the stops to bring you a who’s who of our contemporary rock and folk stables, at a selection of Glasgow venues both familiar and less well-kent.

On 11 Jan, you can catch multi-instrumentalist Colin MacIntyre performing as Mull Historical Society at The Arches, bringing the best of his solid back catalogue to bear. On 18 Jan, legendary Bristol post-punk band Pop Group come to town for the first time in over three decades, playing the O2 ABC with ex-Fire Engines main man Davy Henderson’s new project Sexual Objects in support.

Skinny favourite and SAY Award winner RM Hubbert pops up not once but twice – on 21 Jan he will be joined by Arab Strap frontman Aidan Moffat in an intimate, one-off gig at the Mitchell Library, and you can catch him again on 28 Jan at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, for one of this year’s festival’s biggest gigs, headlined by Mogwai, who’ll be fresh from the release of haunted new album Rave Tapes.

On 24 Jan, acclaimed singer-songwriter Withered Hand brings a taste of his long-awaited second LP New Gods to Glasgow, heading up

January 2014

a bill that also includes Newcastle songwriter Richard Dawson and Australian slide guitar virtuoso Jeff Lang at Platform. On 26 Jan, Olive Grove Records, the DIY collective founded by Halina Rifai and Lloyd Meredith, presents a showcase of some of their best-loved artists, including a rare appearance from understated indie supertroupe The Moth and the Mirror, the afore-mentioned Woodenbox, The State Broadcasters, Jo Mango and Randolph’s Leap.

25 Jan sees another former Arab Strap mainstay, Malcolm Middleton, the man behind the rather magnificent Human Don’t Be Angry, joined by Australian singer-songwriter Jordi Lane, Papon and Dark Northumbrian.

Soul legend Bobby Womack’s world-beating return to form on the Damon Albarn and Richard Russell-produced The Bravest Man In The Universe was greeted deliriously on its release last year – a barnstorming set at Glastonbury introduced him to a whole new generation of fans.

Now, he brings his live show to Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on 27 Jan – expect a set dominated by cuts from the new album, with some classics thrown in.

As the festival winds to a close for another year, look out for Lau at the City Halls on 30 Jan, and be sure to catch the magnificent Rachel Sermanni in an intimate gig at Kelvingrove Art Gallery on 31 Jan. All in all, tartan and shortbread, this ain’t.

MUSIC

Mogwai

Feature

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Photo: Ross Gilmore

Do Not Miss

Casual Sex / Halfrican Nice N Sleazy, 22 Nov

Rocket From the Crypt

Photo: John Graham

rrrrr

The urgency of Halfrican’s surf-punk sound is in stark contrast to the laidback beachware they wear on stage, despite the Baltic-like conditions outside. They set the tone for their well-recieved support slot with barnstorming opening track Cocksucker, delivered with a smile and performed with a visceral relish. On another night, you could argue that the trio might just steal the show, but despite their stellar efforts this evening belongs to Sam Smith and his Casual Sex enthusiasts.

“I have only one thing to say to you,” Smith announces after borrowing lipstick from an audience member. “I am a fucking princess.”

Regardless of whether his regal pretensions are genuine, Smith instinctively knows when to ham things up for the amusement of those watching, in this case the heaving basement venue of Nice

N Sleazy.

He’s in his element tonight, playing with a strutting purpose that’s difficult to ignore and easy to admire. His band are here to formally unveil The Bastard Beat EP; five tracks which suggest this Glasgow four-piece are likely to only increase their already substantial profile.

As enticing as that record is, Casual Sex remain – for the moment – an act best enjoyed live. They are close to hitting top gear this evening, looking confident, adding new energy to their songs and feeding off the positive reaction of the crowd. The Sound of Casual Sex is a psychobilly beauty (but shouldn’t be considered their definitive style) and the infectious bass of the EP’s title track (dedicated tonight, as usual, to the Westminster Government) encourages many to start dancing – always a positive sign for any band still to release its debut album.

[Chris McCall] www.facebook.com/casualsexmusic

intense. At their centre, roguish ringmaster John ‘Speedo’ Reis carries himself with a zeal that’s Classic Grand, 3 Dec part Vegas hawker, part evangelical preacher, his rrrrr fanciful metaphors and witty self-aggrandizement making the gaps between songs almost as With image, schtick and sound all displayanticipated as each fresh blast of horn-backed ing a clear debt to the night’s headliners, The greaser rock.

Computers tackle their support duties like enA mid-set run through Scream Dracula thusiastic understudies. Whether clambering up Scream’s opening quartet (from Middle to Young the back wall with mic stand in hand or grabbing hold of crowd members and waltzing them up and Livers via twin anthems Born in 69’ and On a Rope) garners the most enthusiastic response, down the venue, frontman Alex Kershaw gamely though there are plenty other air-punching highdoes everything in his power to raise the room’s lights, from Carne Voodoo’s dirty swagger to Dick energy levels. While their rip-roaring, retro rock n roll has a tendency towards the slickly generic, on a Dog in the encore (though not, incidentally, their recent Baker Street cover, dismissed as “a their showmanship is seriously impressive. novelty item”). “We’re pretty good!” barks Speedo Rocket from the Crypt know a thing or two in the set’s home stretch, motioning to their about showmanship themselves. Dressed in sparkly, name-emblazoned backdrop. “C’mon, matching mariachi threads, the reformed San that’s a pretty good band!” Listen to the man – he Diegan rockers are on devilishly fine form, their knows what he’s talking about. [Chris Buckle] high-voltage garage punk immune to the passing of time and played as it should be: fast, loud and rftc.com

Baths / Swallows Fly Low Sneaky Pete’s, 25 Nov

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A Krakow native now residing in Edinburgh, Swallows Fly Low graces the stage first of all tonight, quickly proving how suitable a support act he is. Otherwise named Mikolaj Szatko, his ambient, jazzy, crackling noise textures are very much cut from the same cloth as our headliner.

On this evidence, there’s a promising elegance to his output, and onlookers are suitably primed for what’s to follow.

“We’re Baths,” calmly announces Will Weisenfeld, a man originally nervous to be performing as a duo. This deliberate plurality reveals what his dark pop project has become; he and collaborator Morgan Greenwood cocommand Sneaky’s sweatbox with an easy dynamism. Charming and confident on stage, they are

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a natural pair, playfully unphased by the few technical issues at the start of their set.

Weisenfeld’s bookish appearance – vest and gym shorts, for real – belies his charismatic professionalism, and his falsetto renditions on favourites like Lovely Bloodflow and Obsidian’s No Eyes are mesmerisingly kinetic in the flesh. The effortless hopping between classically-trained piano and multiplicitous mixing makes for an engaging set, the twosome blending and detonating tracks at will (Earth Death providing particularly gutteral bass). To their credit, fervently demanded track Aminals doesn’t get aired; Baths refuses to dwell on crowdpleasers, and it’s a better night for it. [George Sully] Obsidian by Baths is out now on Anticon www.anticon.com/artist/baths

The Dismemberment Plan / Great Cop

to catch up on.

Despite its relatively lukewarm reception Stereo, 28 Nov earlier in the year, cuts from Uncanny Valley rrrrr stand up well in tonight’s set. From the giddy With a Fugazi-referencing moniker and a Hüsker loops of opener Invisible to the wonky disco Dü cover centre of tonight’s set, Great Cop aren’t syncopations of Mexico City Christmas, the fruits coy about their influences. As interlocking guitars of their reunion fit in seamlessly amongst the trade tight riffs, the Glasgow quartet’s inexhaust- longer-cherished likes of Gyroscope (which trigible and trouserless drummer Joe Campbell gers the first mass sing-along) and crisp relationbatters out full-on fills, and the combination rat- ship opus Ellen and Ben; in fact, the only jarringly tles the viscera with such force that its recycled ‘modern’ moment comes in the encore, when a nature barely registers. slither of Lorde’s Royals interrupts a noisy finale.

Shortly before The Dismemberment Plan Throughout, Morrison is an endearingly make their live return, the room goes expectantly off-kilter performer, ramping up the stuttering still, mistaking last-minute tunings and tweaks madness of Girl O’Clock and grinning away when for a band ready to start. “Um, we’ll be ready fans start respectfully shoving his slight frame soon,” chirps frontman Travis Morrison, gently around the stage during The Ice of Boston. This diffusing the premature hush. But the crowd’s mix of musical idiosyncrasies and affable charm eagerness is understandable. It’s been 12 years summarises their cult appeal, and makes tonight since D-Plan last played Glasgow, with this their a real pleasure. [Chris Buckle] first post-reformation visit; as such, there’s much dismembermentplan.com Photo: Richard Ferguson

Baths

The Dismemberment Plan

Touché Amoré / Self Defense Family / Dad Punchers Stereo, 10 Dec

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Boasting two members from our headlining band (Nick Steinhardt on guitar and Elliot Babin on vocals), Dad Punchers blast through a joyous little set of emotive, anthemic punk. Whether it’s the overriding indie rock vibes or Babin’s heavilyaccented delivery, it couldn’t be more Americanflavoured. They’re a likeable presence, mainly because they make the process of harking back to an era of sweet power-pop gems look easy.

Self Defense Family (a “reformatted” End of a Year) find themselves fighting against some technical issues throughout their set, but frontman Patrick Kindlon’s admirable banter carries these moments: he speaks directly to the younger members of the crowd as a peer, encouraging them to discover and be open to Glasgow’s rich musical history. Turn the Fan On’s eerie, melancholic sonics provide the perfect accompaniment to Kindlon’s gruff, weary vocals, and Self Immolation Family’s almost-kraut mantra

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manages to sound both minimalist and expansive. Their weird, post-modern inversion of punk is the perfect antidote to thousands of samey post-hardcore bands.

LA’s Touché Amoré recently took steps to blow open their blueprint with September’s Is Survived By, retaining some of the quick-fire hardcore that gained them their initial following. But it also had them reaching more than ever for the anthems: the dramatic, tempo-shifting sway of Harbor works beautifully live alongside the nervous bursts of energy from their previous records like Pathfinder and Honest Sleep. Elliot Babin shows incredible stamina as he blasts behind the kit, whereas Nick Steinhardt and Clayton Stevens’ frantic-yet-catchy guitars collide perfectly. Frontman Jeremy Bolm remains as humble an onstage personality as ever – his burning love for this city is well documented, so it’s no surprise to see him on form. They may have sacrificed some of their live ferocity for a more nuanced and attentive approach, but it’s more than a fair trade. [Ross Watson] toucheamore.com

THE SKINNY

Photo: Vito Andreoni

Rocket From The Crypt / The Computers

In the Studio: Honeyblood Interview: Chris McCall

Photo: Shona McVicar

Stina Tweeddale and Shona McVicar caused a stir in 2013 with their determined brand of noise pop. The Skinny met the Glasgow girls to talk about studio freak-outs and how domestic life in Connecticut helped shape their debut

T

he double act is a familiar concept in theatre and comedy; think of Morecambe and Wise or Waiting for Godot. But musicians have tended to steer clear of partnerships. Even the great songwriting duos will nearly always draft in a backing group to boost their numbers on stage. It was only around the turn of the century that a variety of artists – from The White Stripes to Death From Above 1979 – illustrated the raw power and sonic dexterity that two people can make when armed only with a guitar and a drum kit.

Honeyblood have little in common with those groups, but they do similarly suggest that sometimes less really can be more. Their sound recalls The Breeders circa Last Splash, PJ Harvey’s Dry or the reverb-heavy harmonies of West Coast slackers Best Coast. It’s a winning combination.

Drummer Shona McVicar and guitarist/ vocalist Stina Tweeddale have come a long way in a short time since playing their first gig in February 2012, when they supported Allo Darlin’ at Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s. They soon landed a record deal with Brighton’s FatCat, released a wellreceived single in Bud, completed their first tour of the UK in October and then recorded what is likely to be one of 2014’s most eagerly-anticipated debut albums – and all without a bass player.

The Skinny met Honeyblood in a lively Woodlands bar shortly before Christmas to talk about that record, surviving the attentions of US immigration officers and why every band suffers at least one studio freak-out.

It was at Peter Katis’s residential studio in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that Honeyblood taped the as-yet-untitled LP. The American producer’s Tarquin complex is best known for handling The National’s breakout album Boxer, and to all diehard FRabbit fans as being the place where Scott Hutchison nailed down The Midnight Organ Fight.

“It’s this huge Victorian house – imagine the one in The Addams Family,” explains Tweeddale.

“Peter bought it cheap and had to do it up.

Upstairs is the recording studio, and downstairs there’s a wing for the bands to stay in.” McVicar interjects, grinning. “Which was awesome for us.

Unlike The National, we didn’t have to share beds because there’s just the two of us.”

January 2014

‘freak outs’: no matter how long a band has to record an album, they will, at some stage, freak out,” Tweeddale explains. “And I had a freak out.

I just… kind of went away for a wee while on the second last day. But then, by 8pm on the last day, we had everything done. I still don’t know how.”

Despite spending the seven-hour return flight Scotland discussing track listings and potential artwork ideas, the duo can’t say for sure – at this stage, anyway – which songs will make the album. There’s a possibility that a new version of Bud could be included. The only thing that is certain is the record will be out in the spring, most likely April, and that Honeyblood will be back on tour across the UK to support it.

Playing shows is second nature to Tweeddale and McVicar; it’s what brought them together in the first place. They met when students at the University of Glasgow, by which time they had been playing in bands for the best part of a decade, despite still being in their early 20s.

Tweeddale had begun writing songs at home in Oxgangs, Edinburgh, aged 14 – around the same time that McVicar was learning to play the drums while at school in Cumbernauld.

Fast forward several years and their respective bands were sharing a bill at Bar Bloc Stina Tweeddale on Bath Street. Tweeddale was the singer in The routine did have its advantages. While Boycotts, and McVicar was pounding the skins the producer relaxed at home, Honeyblood head- for Partwindpartwolf. The pair hit it off from ed for a weekend in New York. This downtime was the start. “I said to Shona that same night that spent seeing the sights and relaxing, and not, as we should start a band. Her boys were really Tweeddale is keen to point out, playing gigs. “Just protective, asking if I was trying to steal her from for the record, we did no shows. I had my guitar them – but mine were like ‘whatever,’” laughs in the case and took it on the plane as hand lugTweeddale. “We [Boycotts] were best pals, they gage. The immigration caught me at the other were like my brothers – but you’re always the girl end and asked me, ’what are you doing with that?’ in the band. It seems me and Shona were both in And I was like, ‘err, I’m just going to jam with my the same boat; when you’re in a band with three friend.’ They pretty much thought we were going boys they just poke fun at you all the time.” on tour, which you need a working visa for. It’s There were no messy breakups. Both supposedly the way a lot of bands tour without Boycotts and Partwindpartwolf reached their a working visa, by claiming they are recording natural conclusions over time, and Honeyblood an album.” McVicar quickly adds, “But we’re not were free to begin their first rehearsals as a two 100 per cent sure of that fact. So let’s just say we piece. Tweeddale had already written several were there on holiday.” songs, including the soon-to-be live favourWhen they returned to the studio the follow- ite Super Rat. McVicar believes the decision ing Monday, the pressure to finish on time sudnot to bring in a bass player was a natural one. denly seemed very real. “Peter talked about these “We sounded pretty awful at first, but we kept

The duo recorded 13 songs in Bridgeport in an intensive 10 day schedule, with breaks being taken to allow Katis to maintain a domestic routine – a reasonable request given that his family stay in the same house as the studio. “We would work from 12-10pm, and there would be a break in-between where he would go and put his son to bed and have dinner and stuff,” Tweeddale says.

“His son is six, and I think he connected with us because we’re more his size. He’s used to bands of big guys being around. Peter’s still very passionate about music. He’s not a typically cynical producer. I think it’s because he prioritises. He used to work flat out, like with The National when they worked every single day until it was right.

But now’s he older, he has a family, so he stops on Friday and starts again on Monday.”

“When it came to playing guitar and singing, I totally freaked out”

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practising just the two of us and never found anyone else. It’s not like we’re ruling anything out.”

Anyone who has seen Honeyblood live will testify to the richness of their songs, but the absence of a third wheel remains a talking point. “Andy from The Twilight Sad actually offered to write all of our bass parts,” Tweeddale grins at the prospect. “But playing just the two of us was more about the person than the sound.

And it doesn’t sound bad… or empty. Having a bass player would be great, but we don’t feel like we’re lacking. I’m constantly trying to work out how to make the guitars sound a bit fuller. But I do not want to compromise my tone. I just don’t want to play through a bass amp – which is what a lot of people have suggested. Also, I have no upper body strength so I don’t think I could cart a bass amp around.”

Her time in Boycotts meant that Tweeddale was already an experienced live performer, but there were some new challenges for her to tackle with Honeyblood. “When it came to playing guitar and singing, I totally freaked out. Sometimes it’s easier to play when you have people behind you.”

Having overcome that fear, Honeyblood’s reputation as a live act continues to grow. They will kick-off 2014 by performing at The Skinny’s 100th issue party later this month. “I love The Skinny,” says McVicar. “I’ve read it the whole time I’ve lived in Glasgow.” Tweeddale, meanwhile, is an even longer-term fan, having picked up the very first issue back in 2005.

Honeyblood are already planning life after the release of their debut album, with several new songs already written. And there’s no danger that these best of pals will fall out. “I think we actually get on better the more time that we spend together,” says McVicar. Tweeddale nods in agreement. “Yeah, we’re very lucky. Maybe we’ll go find a bass player, and we won’t have to spend so much time just me and you!” She booms. “I’m joking, obviously.”

Honeyblood play The Skinny’s 100th issue party at The Mash House, Edinburgh on 17 Jan Their as yet untitled debut album is due for release this spring yumhoneyblood.tumblr.com

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Album of the Month

Mogwai

Rave Tapes [Rock Action, 20 Jan]

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If Mogwai were a movie, they’d probably be a horror movie. A sense of dread has long stalked the band’s discography, from The Exorcist-referencing artwork of CODY to the werewolves, vampires and skeletons that lurk amidst their irreverent song titles. Last year the connection tightened with their inspired score for zombie drama Les Revenants – a subtle collection pregnant with menace and melancholia. Now, the band’s ongoing appreciation of John Carpenter manifests itself in prominent, unsettling synths, making Rave Tapes one of their most haunting albums yet.

The creeping electronics of Remurdered sound particularly

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything [Constellation, 20 Jan]

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The first full-length release from SMZ since 2010’s Kollapse Tradixionales sees the Constellation heavyweights continuing their trajectory towards a more focused and rockoriented approach, with the music’s chamber elements often submerged beneath Efrim Menuck’s squalls of apocalyptic guitar noise. This gradual shift in SMZ’s sound has been reflected in a stripping-back of personnel: that dominant guitar is now usually augmented by nothing more than two violins, electric bass, and drums.

This finessing of arrangements has not limited the dynamism of SMZ’s approach: brief, understated piano-led pieces like Little Ones Run sit comfortably alongside the 14-minute epic ebb and flow of Austerity Blues. As illustrated by the latter’s vocal refrain – ‘Lord, let my son live long enough to see that mountain torn down’ – the outfit have not lost their dramatic edge; like all SMZ releases, this is a record which treads a fine line between histrionic and redemptively passionate. [Sam Wiseman]

indebted to the aforementioned horror auteur (with secondary shades of label-mates/friends Errors), while the relentless sci-fi pulse underpinning Deesh adds a sinister edge to the track’s crescendo. Elsewhere, Mogwai’s familiar strengths are present and correct, with Master Card boasting big, choppy guitars and Blues Hour building into heavenly walls of noise before masterfully dropping the decibels (a trademark dynamic yet to lose its visceral impact). From the brooding, ragged glory of Simon Ferocious to the sad calm suggested by The Lord is Out of Control’s electrostatic percussion and processed vocals, Rave Tapes is filled with expert contrasts, making this a pulse-quickening return from a band that’s still evolving, and still amazing. [Chris Buckle] Mogwai play Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow on 28 Jan and The Usher Hall, Edinburgh on 8 Mar

Warpaint

Blank Realm

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Warpaint [Rough Trade, 20 Jan] Warpaint founder Theresa Wayman’s assertion that the follow-up to The Fool would be a minimalist affair is made flesh on this, the LA quartet’s second album. Raw and elementary, it locks down the their methodology, its songs at first seeming to overlap and merge, impossible to separate. Built on a drifting bed of hazy beats and coloured

by Wayman’s spidery arpeggios, it’s far less immediate than their debut and demands real diligence from the listener.

Flanked by Wayman and Jenny Lee Lindberg, Emily Kokal’s plaintive vocals are unadorned and often placed mix-front.

Largely hook-free, the album’s jam-based origins lead to little shift in either tempo or tone; dreamy trailer Love is to Die is as upbeat as the band gets here. But venture into Warpaint ’s lower levels and it emerges as a courageous and uncommonly focussed piece; a tacit dismissal of the constraints and expectations of guitar pop. [Gary Kaill] warpaintwarpaint.com

Playing Glasgow’s Òran Mór on 25 Feb

Grassed Inn [Fire, 13 Jan]

On last year’s Go Easy LP, this Brisbane quartet occasionally let their love of vintage distortion overwhelm their melodic inclinations; Grassed Inn, while similarly in thrall to frazzled psychedelia, manages to keep those infectious tunes at the forefront of things. Daniel Spencer’s endearingly lackadaisical vocals mesh perfectly with the reverb-heavy jangling rhythm guitars, acquiring an added poignancy when the outfit explore melancholy shoegaze noise, as on the closing Reach You on the Phone.

Blank Realm have been compared to everyone from the Zombies to Sonic Youth, but it’s on tracks like Falling Down the Stairs that they use their influences most effectively: the gloriously trebly riffage and clattering percussion recall 80s indie highpoints like the Blue Orchids or the Fire Engines, and the quartet combine those elements with an irresistible starry-eyed psychedelia. That adroit understanding of their various musical lineages ultimately makes Grassed Inn a successful progression from Go Easy. [Sam Wiseman] www.facebook.com/pages/Blank-Realm

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks

Pontiak

Hospitality

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Wig Out At Jagbags [Domino, 6 Jan]

“Actually,” remarks Stephen Malkmus, halfway through his sixth solo record, “I’m not contractually obliged to care.” He’s right too – of the many strengths on display throughout his twenty-four year career, sincerity has never been a particularly notable feature. He’s an ironist; a smart-arse who gets more kicks from not giving a fuck than from giving his all.

Regardless, Wig Out At Jagbags finds the ex-Pavement man in fine form. Whether snarking at punk purists (Ramble At The Rainbo) or warmly intoning coming-of-age tales (Lariat), it’s genuinely funny (“We lived on Tennyson and venison and The Grateful Dead” is a special moment), while the accompanying Jicks help serve up his most engaging set of pop songs in over a decade. Even with brass embellishments lending an air of overt politeness to proceedings, Wig Out is both slanted and enchanted enough to goof its way into your heart. It’ll stay there too. [Will Fitzpatrick] stephenmalkmus.com

INNOCENCE [Thrill Jockey, 27 Jan] With a Stooges-esque two-minute burst of scuzzy riffs and yelped vocals, this prolific Virginian trio launch into their tenth LP with aplomb. The three Carney brothers have been honing their distinctive take on psych and stoner rock since 2005, and beneath the surface there is a distinctive edge to these songs. Ghosts and Surrounded by Diamonds, for example, sound something like Kyuss with a more spaced-out, 70s feel, all chunky riffs and blistering overdrive.

Elsewhere, the guitar wig-outs recall the kind of space-rock explorations conducted in Hawkwind’s heyday, as Van Carney’s vocals are buried beneath a whirlwind of heavily distorted wahwah. Yet INNOCENCE also has its quieter moments: the lolloping, frazzled country of Noble Heads and It’s the Greatest bring a melancholy edge to proceedings. It’s ultimately testament to the coherence of the trio’s vision that these changes in tempo feel perfectly integrated. [Sam Wiseman]

Trouble [Fire Records, 27 Jan] There are infuriatingly-fleeting flashes of brilliance on Hospitality’s second album,. The subtle, gorgeous key change on the two-line chorus of set highlight Rockets and Jets; the throbbing synth excellence of Last Words, a track that could’ve been lifted straight from the Drive OST and the warm 70s AM drumbeat of Going Out which, combined with Amber Papini’s aloof vocal, recalls Husky Rescue circa Ghost Is Not Real.

That such moments sparkle so brightly, however, is due in part to the relative doldrums by which they find themselves surrounded. Too many of the songs are hollow shades of beige: see the loungy Sullivan which, great Scott, sounds like a cut from a sub-par Enchantment Under The Sea pastiche, the forgettable I Miss Your Bones and Morcheeba-aping Sunship which does Hospitality’s chances of nailing a Groove Armada remix no harm at all. The highlights could’ve made a great EP, but the chaff proves too bothersome to sit through. [Finbarr Bermingham]

Peggy Sue

East India Youth

Actress

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Choir of Echoes [Wichita, 27 Jan] Poise, harmony, dexterity: three connotations of Choir of Echoes’ kaleidoscopic Busby Berkeleyquoting artwork that are equally applicable to the songs within.

On their third album, alt-folk trio Peggy Sue have gracefully raised their game another notch after the promising developments of 2011’s horizon-broadening Acrobats, revisiting existing metiers and cultivating new ones.

In places, it deepens their noir-ish edge, with the narrator of bluesy lead single Idle joining Robert Johnson in his Faustian pact and Electric Light’s uncanny doo-wop stoking the atmosphere and showing off the band’s vocal prowess (whilst also recollecting 2012’s reimagined Scorpio Rising covers collection). But elsewhere there’s a brighter tone – a contrast nicely encapsulated in album highlight Always Going, which lays ringing, distorted guitars across a light and breezy beat. Shrewd production keeps things buoyant throughits few lulls, ensuring attentions never wander far from its central qualities. [Chris Buckle]

Total Strife Forever [Stolen Recordings, 13 Jan]

Ghettoville [Werkdiscs/Ninja Tune, 27 Jan]

Beginning with synth arpeggios and washes of ghostly noise echoing out across sombre piano keys, Glitter Recession announces the depth of East India Youth’s ambition – never settling on a genre or style for very long, the magnificent Total Strife Forever takes in stately, minimal ambient and neo-classical manoeuvres; shoegaze-y dream pop and house with choral flourishes; pulsating, melodic techno; and swaying, fragile indie balladry underpinned by pitch-dark hip-hop kicks.

The gorgeous piano playing grounds the record in a classical sensibility, much like the work of Baths; the restless fusion of songwriting and experimental beats recalls Youth Lagoon and Deco Child; the more techno-inspired moments lift the album into realms of shimmering euphoria. A remarkable album of astonishing scope and beauty, with an effortlessly direct emotionality, Total Strife Forever more than delivers on the early promise of this young Bournemouth producer. [Bram E. Gieben]

Billed as the sequel to Hazyville – inadvertently suggesting that 2012’s R.I.P., was, on the contrary, a tangent – Ghettoville is a purposeful back-step for Actress. In the LP’s accompanying statement, he hints at a deliberate devolution, leaving a record that has no ‘decipherable language’; indeed, Ghettoville is a hinterland where textures materialise, mutate and fade, observed and mediated by no one.

Many sputter out as quickly as they spurt into life (Image, Don’t), while those that labour under their own glutinous weight continue, perversely, to blot and foam (Forgiven, Street Corp.).

Time is a highlight, its brittle, muted bells like the rupture and pucker of fogged glass in winter. Where in his missive he accuses today’s ‘pseudo artists’ of toothlessness, Actress still exhibits snarl: fans of R.I.P.’s Shadow of Tartarus will recognise its paranoia in Frontline and its meat and gristle in Towers. Overall, however, this is a far less bloody affair. [Lauren Strain]

East India Youth plays King Tut’s, Glasgow on 31 Jan

Ninjatune.net/artist/actress

Playing Glasgow Broadcast 10 Apr

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Review

RECORDS

THE SKINNY

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

Father Murphy

Ásgeir

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Give the People What They Want [Daptone, 13 Jan]

Now over ten years into their career, show no sign of deviating from their authenticity-obsessed soul revivalism; as the title of this sixth LP indicates, it’s earned them an ever-expanding fanbase. Jones’ vocals sound as rich and strong as ever, and the Dap-Kings’ implausibly accurate channelling of vintage, brass-laden soul feels almost uncanny throughout.

Much has been made of Jones’ attention to detail in terms of recording equipment and instrumentation, and the warm, analogue textures remain in evidence here; but ultimately it’s the strength of the songwriting – whether on stompers like Retreat!, or sultry slower tracks like Long Time, Wrong Time – which ensures that the LP feels justified in joining the canon of classic soul.

It may be more of the same, but that is undoubtedly what the people want. [Sam Wiseman]

Pain is On Our Side Now [Aagoo Records/Boring Machines, 27 Jan] Tackled individually, the four movements that make up Father Murphy’s latest EP are formidably severe: an atonal collection of clanging semi-rhythms, draining drones and ghastly wails; elements found throughout the Italian trio’s enigmatic oeuvre but here taken to extremes.

Yet these tracks are split across two single-sided 10”s for a reason, and once paired up and played simultaneously, the pieces slide into place like a Cenobite puzzle box, revealing new dynamics. The first coupling, for instance, sutures the hellish braying of side one to the chopped gabbles and screams of side two, each infernal component amplifying the other’s effect. The conceptual cleaving may render Pain is On Our Side Now a fans-only curio, but members of said sect will be suitably bewitched. [Chris Buckle] fathermurphy.blogspot.co.uk

In The Silence [One Little Indian, 27 Jan] Iceland's latest export, Ásgeir Trausti, looking like a cross between Daniel Brühl and the Norse god Thor, is smashing records set by label-mates and fellow islanders Björk and Sigur Rós. First LP Dryd í dauðaþögn is the country’s bestselling debut from a local, and In The Silence is its wholesale translation, re-recorded in English (with the help of John Grant, no less).

A first listen might trigger Bon Iver, log cabins, and wistful Scandinavian serenity, but beyond the vaporous vocals and bucolic guitar there’s a richness and craftsmanship to the record which justifies his volcanic, chart-topping ascent. Trumpets and synths bubble up unexpectedly, some tracks swerve with neon electronica, and Grant’s remarkable work in reimagining the source poetry (mostly penned by Àsgeir’s dad) articulates an exultant lyricism, rendering an already enchanting album even more potent for a new audience. [George Sully]

September Girls

Sun Glitters

Damien Jurado

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Cursing the Sea [Fortuna POP!, 6 Jan] So in 2014 girls groups are now very much ‘a thing’ again. You know the type I mean – reverbladen guitars, dreamy vocals and production that would make Phil Spector’s over-sized barnet twitch. Frankie Rose, Veronica Falls and – arguably the pioneers – Raveonettes have all been there, so what chance of Dublin’s September Girls finding room at the table?

Well, pretty good as it happens. The five piece tick off various elements and influences as they go, but build plenty of big hooks in with their Ronettes-meets-Mary Chain sound. Another Love Song is a potential dancefloor filler – provided you don’t mind your dancefloor full of awkward, shuffling teens – and former single Green Eyed (originally released on West Lothian’s own Soft Power Records, no less) hisses with urgent menace around chiming guitars. September Girls may have missed a trick by putting this out in January, but there’s much to love here. [Stu Lewis]

Scattered Into Light [Mush, 27 Jan] Sun Glitters is the alias of Luxembourg’s Victor Ferreira, who has carved out a niche for himself in the post-dubstep and chillwave micro-genres with light-filled, airy productions combining neo-shoegaze vocals and pitch-bent R ‘n’ B melodies with complex, glitch-filled beats. On his debut for Mush Records, home at one time or another to the likes of cLOUDDEAD, Thavius Beck and Bibio, he proves why his studied take on this sometimes blandly chilled genre is head and shoulders above his peers.

Sara Cappai’s singing anchors the record, pulled into dream-like choral shapes by Ferreira. The beats are suffused with heavenly static, chopped into polyrhythmic patterns that nod to early Anticon, classic Warp, and Tri-Angle’s witchy take on R ‘n’ B, while maintaining a unique identity all their own; on an exquisite acoustic closer, beats are constructed by rubbing coins together.

Minimal in places, mind-expanding in others, this is an impressive, richly-textured album from a singular talent. [Bram E. Gieben]

Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son [Secretly Canadian, 20 Jan] “Do not disturb me, let me be,” Damien Jurado sings in quiet resignation over a gently-plucked guitar on penultimate track Silver Joy. It’s these pit-stops of brilliant clarity scattered through the existential fugue which have defined his past three albums – records of transient beauty. With each Richard Swift-produced release, Jurado climbs further into the rabbit hole, becoming bolder with his musical choices, more attached to his themes and detached from his past.

Album opener Magic Number, with its smoky, jazz-club drum brushes and the playful bass and spaghetti-western gongs on Silver Donna continue the jammier motifs of Maraqopa, while the effortless, simple-to-the-core melodies on Silver Timothy and Metallic Loud remind us what a wonderful songwriter Jurado’s always been. These past three records have found him chasing himself around his own head, musically and thematically. And on Brothers and Sisters… the textured production, layers of echo and oases of ethereal beauty frame Jurado the dreamer, the paranoiac and the stray in glorious Technicolor. [Finbarr Bermingham]

Patterns

I Break Horses

Guardian Alien

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Waking Lines [Melodic, 6 Jan] From the opening echoes of This Haze onwards, Waking Lines sounds impressively lush and layered – not bad when you consider Patterns eschewed studio time to record it themselves at home. As well as demonstrating their sonic resourcefulness and nuanced grasp of dream-pop dynamics – all swirling vocals, twinkling guitars, atmospheric samples and so forth – the Manchester quartet’s debut evidences clear songwriting talents, with an anthemic edge giving definition to tracks like Blood.

But if ‘pattern’ is another way of saying ‘repeated decoration,’ then the Manchester quartet live up to their name a little too well. With a relatively narrow selection of tricks at their disposal, a sense of déjà vu enters somewhere in the second half – a hazy sameness that initially augments the pretty, diaphanous dreaminess, but which over repeated listens diminishes the album’s magnetism. Not quite scaling the heavens then, but for a first stab they’ve come admirably close. [Chris Buckle]

Chiaroscuro [Bella Union, 20 Jan] Chiaroscuro: the technique of managing light and dark in pictorial art. As titles go, this one’s a statement of intent with substance and weight. This second album from these pioneering Swedes reads like a chill rebuke to the horde of boy/girl electro duos currently making waves. At every turn, they unseat expectations: Maria Linden’s vocals buried somewhere in the distance; the brittle nu-rave warp of Faith tussling with the hyper balladry of Denial; the glassy, swirling mix (shades of Vangelis and Donnagio) pricked by astringent, fractured sounds.

Their approach is closer to the sonic provocations of Crystal Castles than the pop refinements of Chairlift or Beach House.

The epic Berceuse (so named after a composition in 6/8 time, resembling a lullaby) is preceded by its own mini overture, and ascends. Fearlessly, I Break Horses respect and invigorate the form.

Throughout this remarkable album, they celebrate their developing artistry and seemingly boundless ambition. [Gary Kaill]

Dum Dum Girls

Cymbals

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Too True [Sub Pop, 27 Jan]

Diversifying her tried-and-tested sound with mixed results, Dee Dee’s third Dum Dum Girls album updates the project’s key reference points by a couple of decades. The fuzzed-up 60s girl group style is still discernable in the cinematic allure of Evil Blooms and Cult of Love’s surf twang, but other elements have wound on considerably from debut I Will Be, taking things in a cleaner, shinier pop direction.

The commercial aspirations implied by the chart starlet cover art (not to mention the slick H&M-produced promo for Lost Boys and Girls Club) finds sonic realisation in the album’s de rigeur 80s influences, with Rimbaud Eyes ripped straight from Tango in the Night and echoes of Benatar torch-songs, Siouxie-esque dark drama and a soupcon of Cocteau Twins all hovering in the margins. Unfortunately, it’s often too slick to stick (Are You Okay, in particular, has an undesirable Corrs-ish quality), preventing Too True from quite matching up to its predecessors. [Chris Buckle] wearedumdumgirls.com

The Age of Fracture [Tough Love, 27 Jan] This London art-pop quartet follow their 2011 debut Unlearn by polishing the synth-heavy postpunk of that record into something glossier, but similarly melancholy and nostalgic. The Age of Fracture makes no attempt to hide its influences: it’s impossible to ignore the ghost of New Order’s post-modern pop in tracks like Winter ‘98, with its 80s synth-voice stabs; yet Jack Cleverly’s wistful vocals and the muted, reverb-laden guitar lines ensure the sound retains a distinctive edge.

The Age of Fracture partly accomplishes this through the ambition and complexity of the song structures: the 9-minute Like An Animal, for example, shifts through mournful, goth synthscapes before ultimately culminating in a haunting, disco-led climax.

Another key element is the sharp, intricate sound, assisted by producer Dreamtrak (Hot Chip). Collectively, these dual qualities raise Cymbals above the masses of identikit synthpop revivalists; Fracture sounds like an outfit dreamily distracted by the past, rather than overwhelmed. [Sam Wiseman]

Spiritual Emergency [Thrill Jockey, 27 Jan] The third album from Greg Fox’s project sees the New York avant-rock drummer joined by Alexandra Drewchin on vocals and electronics, Bernard Gann on guitar, Turner Williams on shahai baaja, and Eli Winograd on bass.

The results are strikingly original, not least structure: following the ten-minute opener Tranquilizer – an amorphous mass of twisted vocal samples and stabs of percussion – there are three relatively brief pieces, before the closing 20-minute title track.

This unorthodox approach is mirrored in Spiritual Emergency ’s characteristically freeform song structures, built around the aforementioned on the shorter pieces. It’s only really on the closer that the outfit’s post-punk/noise influences are made explicit, with Cann’s whirling squalls of distortion and Fox’s frenetic drumming recalling Rhys Chatham. Intermingling that lineage with Fox’s mystical leanings, the LP ultimately conjoins its acoustic and electronic elements in an awkward but distinctive unity. [Sam Wiseman]

The Top Five 1

2 3 4

Mogwai

Rave Tapes

East India Youth

Total Strife Forever

Warpaint

Warpaint

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra

Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything

5

Sun Glitters

Scattered Into Light

facebook.com/CYMBALSmusic

January 2014

RECORDS

Review

49

The Young Innovators Challenge returns in January 2014 with a new focus on social innovation. This is a great opportunity to develop ideas and new ways of tackling real issues that can make a difference in Scotland and beyond.

Social innovation is an emerging global phenomenon that brings together enterprising and entrepreneurial thinking with creative innovative skills to deliver solutions with a social impact. Done well, it changes people’s lives and communities for the better.

The Young Innovators Challenge 2014 invites Scotland’s students (18+) to submit ideas which address problems or opportunities related to one of three areas:

• Healthcare and wellbeing • Green and sustainable energy resources • Smarter communities and infrastructure Twenty-five successful entrants could receive up to £2500 to work on their innovations throughout summer 2014 and take it from an idea to a potential solution!

Entries can be submitted online from January 23rd. Up to 150 entrants will be invited to a special social innovation development weekend event in April. Final competition judging takes place in May, and the best 25 ideas will then be supported through a summer of residential and workshop events with help from social innovation experts.

For more info and competition FAQs: www.sie.ac.uk/YIC

Sc sm an re art wit gis ph h te on you ry e r ou to r in te re st

This is your chance to make a difference to our communities, our environment and the future of Scotland!

The Ultimate Burger Challenge

Do you have what it takes??

1 Burger, 45 Minutes

READY, SET, GO! 50

Edinburgh

THE SKINNY

Clubbing Highlights Words: Ronan Martin Illustration: Sophie Freeman

We start the year with nods in the direction of Joey Beltram, Alden Tyrell and Plastician amongst others...

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ith an explosive run of club nights across Christmas and NYE, it’s perhaps understandable that January sees a bit of a slowing in pace across the country. Yet, you shouldn’t be fooled into thinking there aren’t ample opportunities to break some of those half-baked resolutions you made as you struggled through New Year’s dinner soaked in sweat and suffering from tinnitus. For one, the reopening of The Art School in Glasgow is well worth noting in your diary (see our main feature). To save you scanning the schedules for other options, here’s our pick of the rest...

We begin in Edinburgh where Bixon celebrate their 2nd birthday with a visit from Berlinbased producer Junes. Launching his own label, Galdoors, in 2013, the Londoner announced his own presence with the Colours EP – a deep and penetrating house four tracker which showed early promise. A favourite of the Bixon crew, Junes will take to the turntables on 17 January to help them mark their milestone (Sneaky Pete’s, £5).

Elsewhere, ever-reliable techno troopers Jackhammer provide a lively end to the month with the visit of US heavyweight Joey Beltram.

Bursting onto the scene with his classic 1990 stomper, Energy Flash, Beltram has become one of the most recognisable names in underground electronic music. Releasing tracks for some of the most respected labels around (R&S, Warp and Tresor among them), the producer, who started DJing at the age of 13, worked continually throughout the 90s and early 00s. In recent years his production output has slowed, allowing him to focus more on touring as a DJ (31 Jan, The Caves, £10).

First up in Glasgow, we have a heady dose of rave from Get Sorted at Fabriq. One half of iconic 90s duo Altern 8, Mark Archer is in town and he comes with a trusted reputation. A veteran of the UK scene, Archer’s music is exemplary of the party spirit which spread across the country in the early 90's. Regardless of whether or not this year’s web campaign to have Activ 8 reach number one is successful, Archer is bound to be in his usual buoyant mood behind the decks (4 Jan, £8-12).

Fresh from celebrating their 5th birthday in December, Bigfoot’s Tea Party keeps the momentum going into the New Year with a stellar booking in the shape of Dutch maestro,

Alden Tyrell. Having established himself on Clone records with his glorious retro-futuristic forays through Italo disco and electro, Martijn Hoogendijk has recently developed the knack for producing searing techno and jacking Chicago style house, as exemplified with recent releases on Clone’s Basement and Jack For Daze series.

With a back catalogue as impressive as his, this live set promises to be one of the best nights out this month (24 Jan, Sub Club, £5-7).

The following evening there’s more live analogue goodness on offer as #notsosilent welcome Swedish techno outfit Skudge to La Cheetah. Producing pulsating, dark tracks which swirl and oscillate in the most gratifying way, the duo are among the most talented of those breathing new life into techno at the moment. Often laced with elements of dub, and always with a discernible groove amid the gloom, Skudge’s warped soundscapes feel a little like a synthesis of Robert Hood and Moritz von Oswald’s more dancefloor oriented work. In short, we recommend you get yourself down to this one (25 Jan, £8-12).

At the end of the month, Broadcast on Sauchiehall Street hosts Croydon’s Plastician,

one of the earliest champions of dubstep and the first DJ to bring the sound to the masses on Radio 1. Also celebrated for his contributions to the grime scene in the UK, Chris Reed currently holds a weekly slot on Rinse FM where his bass music style is increasingly complemented by a wider range including house and disco. He is joined for the Terrorhythm event by fellow Rinse FM head and Hyperdub mainstay Scratcha DVA (31 Jan, £5-10).

Finally, on the same night, La Cheetah continues its strong start to the New Year with a set by 3024 label head Martijn Deykers AKA Martyn.

The Dutch producer has been doing his thing since 2005 – a career which has seen him offering up rapid fire drum ‘n’ bass, deep dubstep of the respectable variety and latterly house and techno, always blurring boundaries and evading simple classification. With his label he has championed the likes of 2562, Julio Bashmore and, more recently, Trevino. As you would expect his DJ sets play out like a genre-dismissive compendium of everything you want to hear in club music (31 Jan, £10).

DJ Chart: Brian D’Souza (Auntie Flo) Words: Ronan Martin

Our first ever guest DJ, returns to share his current picks

R

eading this month’s Scottish edition, you may well have noticed that The Skinny has reached its 100th issue north of the border – an impressive little milestone, if we do say so ourselves!

Over the years in the Clubs section we’ve done our best to reflect the ever-shifting phases of electronic music and provide you with choicest cuts from both close to home and further afield.

The aim has always been to point you in the direction of the best local nights on offer, or to dip into our record bag – and those of others – to pluck out the tracks making waves that month.

Our first ever DJ Chart, in issue number 1, was compiled by Glaswegian selector Brian D’Souza to coincide with a night focussing on acid tracks that he was involved with at the time.

Published in October 2005, and highlighting such killer records as Marco Passarani’s Criticize and Luke Vibert’s Kerrier District project, the chart offered a brief glimpse of one area of Brian’s musical tastes.

Having launched his celebrated Highlife parties and production project Auntie Flo in the years since, Brian has continually kept ahead of

January 2014

the curve. Known for introducing clubs to electronic wonders from across the globe, Brian’s thirst for new and exciting music is abundantly clear. It seemed rather fitting to approach himto compile a chart for our 100th issue, giving us a 10 track taster of what’s occupying his turntables at the moment...

Anbuley – Kemoo’ Yo Keke (Wrong Island’s Banishment Remix) [Wrong Island Communications] My most played club track of 2013. Analogue synths plus African vocals. Big ups to Teamy and Aleks for this remix. Watch out for some Auntie Flo tracks with Anbuley in 2014.

Axel Boman – Hello [Studio Barnhus] Axel Boman ruled 2013. This is the best track from his new album, timeless house music – in equal parts classic Matthew Herbert and DJ Koze.

Nils Frahm – Says [Erased Tapes] One of my favourite albums of 2013. Sheer emotion! Playing this in Plastic People recently was

one of my favourite musical experiences, so intense on that soundsystem.

Duologue – Push It (Auntie Flo Remix) [Philomena] I was really happy how this remix came together and super happy when Dixon and Âme got in touch to ask if they could release it. Dixon even gave it a bit of extra punch and it sold out in a day.

Africaine 808 – Tummy Tummy [WT] A Highlife secret weapon from the Berlin based artist. We’ve been caning this all year long. This rescues any dancefloor.

Golden Teacher – Like a Hawk [Optimo Music] The best thing to come out of Glasgow this year.

Golden Teacher and all the various off shoot acts are masters of DIY. Raw voodoo shit, and completely unique.

DrumTalk – Time [Huntleys and Palmers] One to watch out for in 2014. Already been played

CLUBS

by Jackmaster and James Holden, and due for a release on Huntleys and Palmers early next year.

Big, big, big.

DJ Gilb’r & Dj Sotofett – Foliage (808 Sax Mix) [Versatile] Seeing Sotofett DJ in Oslo was one of my favourite DJ sets of the year. Effortlessly mixing different styles, his productions are equally diverse.

Mehmet Aslan – Raptiye Rap [Highlife] I'm so excited by our new Highlife label. This is the second release from our friends in Basle editing some obscure Turkish disco. Loads of new releases on Highlife planned for next year.

Penny Penny – Dance Khomela [Awesome Tapes from Africa] Previous Highlife guest Brian (Awesome Tapes from Africa) has done a great job of turning the blog into a label. Absolutely love this early kwaito re-issue, equal parts Reese, equal parts Fela Kuti.

Preview

51

Traverse 50: A year later A year on from the Traverse Theatre’s 50th anniversary, we speak to the up-and-coming playwrights who have been attached to the venue for the past 12 months about their big break, and the importance of new writing Interview: Eric Karoulla

A Panto, A Pie and a Pint: The Uglies Òran Mór

rrrrr You know the story. Everyone does... but you don’t know this version. This time it’s all about the Ugly Sisters, as the Cinderella fairytale is given a shake up in this highly entertaining panto for adults at Òran Mór. Writers Dave Anderson and David MacLennan have a ball with the script.

Adding a play-within-a-play scenario, they take the well known story and give the sisters a chance to stand in the spotlight, only to find them trying to hog it most of the time.

The double entendres roll off the tongue, the jokes come thick and fast and director David MacLennan maintains a cracking pace. Filled with recognisable tunes, amusing lyrics, a dose of satire and some inter-theatre rivalry, it’s a

J

anuary 2013 saw the Traverse take on fifty new playwrights after a scriptwriting competition that involved 630 submissions. These playwrights became the Traverse 50, attached to the venue for the duration of the year, in celebration of the Traverse’s fiftieth year. The idea was to nurture and support Scotland’s new writing community, while at the end of the year a number of playwrights would be commissioned for the Traverse.

In December 2013, the venue announced seven playwrights who will have their work performed in the 2014 programme. They are Lachlan Philpott, Molly Innes, Tim Primrose, Sylvia Dow, Martin McCormick, Alison Carr and John McCann.

The Skinny caught up with a few of them to see how they got on. Faced with the representatives of the future generation of playwrights, it seemed only appropriate to ask about their experience, new writing, and the scriptwriting community in Scotland.

“Being part of the Traverse across the past twelve months has been invaluable,” declares McCann, the only writer out of the seven to be offered the opportunity to present his play as a full production. “The passion of the writers, actors and directors I have worked with has been inspiring.”

Innes backs this up with: “I’ve learnt so much from excellent mentors and workshop facilitators. Guidance I don’t feel I could have picked up elsewhere.”

The subject of new writing and its value elicited a wide range of responses. “New writing

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Review

is where Scottish theatre leads the way,” remarks McCormick. “We are good at it, and this is something more than just a want or need for new writing, it is intrinsically linked to our psyche.

Our generosity. You wouldn’t get the chances anywhere else to be brave and take creative risks than in Scotland.”

As Dow points out: “Even Shakespeare represented new writing once! Any art form benefits from a continual flow of new ideas, I’m guessing, but theatre is so dynamic, so immediate, so dependent on being experienced by an audience that it eats up new work. It’s hungry for it.”

The importance of new writing becomes clear in the approach from the theatre’s point of view too. Without new writing, the programming would be quite dry. This draws attention to the value of theatres as educational beacons for ‘new’ scriptwriters, and performers, responsible for creating and sustaining a supportive environment for them.

“It’s essential that theatres commission and create the best possible environment to produce work for our stages in order to engage the artist and audience in a fresh and relevant conversation,” states Linda Crooks, joint Chief Executive of the Traverse.

Now that the Traverse has celebrated its 50th year – strangely enough, along with the National Theatre – the theatre venue looks forward to the future. In their own words, they “aim to maintain the spirit of the Edinburgh Festival throughout the year and offer an international platform for the cultural voice to be heard.”

West Side Story

The King’s Theatre, Glasgow The famous reworking of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet appears on the Glasgow stage as part of a UK-wide tour. The age-old love story of Tony and Maria follows a similar plotline to its parent play, but tackles the issue of racial segregation and prejudice, as well as gang violence, rather than family vendettas.

Directed and choreographed by Joey McKneely, who made the artistic decision to use the original (and challenging) choreography

by Jerome Robbins, West Side Story unravels the tragedy of two lovers separated by racial prejudice. While Tony (Louis Maskell) and Maria (Katie Hall) get along, their friends, family, and by extension, their respective gangs – the Jets and the Sharks – are prepared to kill on sight. The only barrier to this is often the law; in this case, Officer Krupke (Sion Tudor Owen). And, of course, as in Romeo and Juliet, when the lovers try to

THEATRE

hoot. The cast are fantastic. Frances Thorburn gets the double – the dual role of a peppy and hormonal Buttons and a free spirited Cinderella, pulling off a very funny duet between them both.

Juliet Cadzow goes for the triple; her wicked stepmother is saucy, her fairy Godmother Elaine C Smith-esque, and her lisping Prince brings the house down.

But it’s the titular sisters’ show. Dave Anderson and George Drennan make a rather fetching pair of ugly sisters; one scowling, the other simpering, both hoping to trap the Prince’s affections. Their catty exchanges are very funny; flaws and foibles have never been so fabulous. The audience are right into it; yelling, hissing, booing and singing. The Uglies is a pure dead brilliant end to the season. [Susannah Radford] Òran Mór, Glasgow, 2-7 Dec, 9-14 Dec, 16-21 Dec, performance times and prices vary playpiepint.com

escape together, things go terribly wrong.

Featuring the timeless musical and lyrical collaboration of Sondheim and Bernstein, the production includes heart-breaking ballads like There’s A Place For Us, but also songs about making fun of the law (Gee, Officer Krupke), and about the joys of being in love, like Tonight and I Feel Pretty (potentially revitalised by its use in the film Anger Management).

For those who might consider the love story to be soppy and irrelevant to today’s world, it seems worth remembering that Glasgow in particular has a reputation for its history of gang violence and sectarianism. Whether you’re in it for the love story, the action, or the dancing, this is not a production to be missed. [Eric Karoulla] 15-25 Jan, various times, various prices. Signed Performance: 21 Jan, 7.30pm. Audio Described Performance: 22 Jan, 7.30pm For bookings and/or further information: Box Office: 0844 871 7648 westsidestorytheshow.com

THE SKINNY

Man of the Year CCA, until 26 Jan

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Photo: Mary Freeman

Man of the Year at CCA brings together two excellent video artists: Glasgow-based Henry Coombes – perhaps one of the most interesting artists working in the country – and Spaniard Carles Congost.

Coombes’ video Two Discs and a Zed is a humorous look at the origins of art, with Coombes playing a Pictish cave painter who has seemingly reached a creative impasse. A cave-woman comes to the rescue, offering Coombes’ character a milky breast from which he drinks greedily. She then fastens him into a rotating device which gives him access to ‘visions.’ It’s an interesting look at how art, in all likelihood, has its roots in myth and ritual.

Congost’s latest film Paradigm is in every way dissimilar to Coombes’ Two Discs and a Zed. Set in a modern city, a policeman has pulled over a car that he is about to inspect. A man and what seems to be his son sit nervously in the front seats as the police officer goes round the back of the car, where he starts playing a mouth organ. Meanwhile, a choir of children start to sing. It’s strange and otherworldly, mixing cliché and the absurd to create a tense and humorous film.

Both artists supplement their filmmaking with painting, and too much space at the CCA is given over to their ‘secondary’ practices. Where Coombes’ paintings lack the humour of his films, Congost’s works on paper do not share the finesse of his videos. Lastly, one is left wondering what curatorial decision brought these two artists together in the same show. Both are interested in the role of the artist, and often show characters in the midst of the creative process, but that seems to be where the similarity ends. These are two excellent artists who deserve solo shows and being brought together in such a small gallery does neither artist justice. [Andrew Cattanach]

Emily Shepherd

WASPS, Hanson Street, until 10 Jan

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Henry Coombes, Figure in a Landscape

www.cca-glasgow.com

Un-discovery is the thematic basis for Emily Shepherd’s ambitious new solo show at Hanson Street; a confluence of seemingly disparate events, it plays persistent tricks on its audience with riddles of fact and fiction, knowing and unknowing.

At the threshold, an open atlas offers some contextual orientation. It’s just one of the millions of atlases printed worldwide that mistakenly fuelled the perceived existence of île de Sable – an island off the coast of Australia that was officially undiscovered in 2012; removed from Google maps and consequently banished from the present tense. But you can’t always take an eraser to history, as is exemplified in the accounts of Vivienne Murray, the captivating interviewee in Shepherd’s faux-documentary, who is unfalteringly convinced of the existence of the island and her palpable (but strangely mythical) encounters

with it. Questioning not only the sanity of this elderly woman but her very authenticity, the short film disorientates the viewer in such a way that we begin to doubt our own grasp on reality. There are even elements of the ever-reliable blurb to hint at its own mischievous mistruths. The video is a backdrop to a flawlessly seductive series of objects that fill a concise area of the cavernous hall. Each enlarged entity is representative of a feature from Google; the familiar mustard coloured man locating us at the centre of a magnified map that leads to nothing but an infinitely empty expanse of pristine ocean-blue.

It’s not just about an island that was there one minute and gone the next; the ephemerality of our experiences and our inability to trust our own memories come under scrutiny. Vivienne’s character and her displaced dealings with loss promote empathy, and while the soft surfaces and glossy blue are instantly gratifying, it’s sadness that we depart with. [Emma Ewan] waspsstudios.org.uk

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Own Art: Bespoke Designs at Brazen Studios Brazen Studios owner and designer Sarah Raffel takes us through their current collection and bespoke jewellery design service

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estled in a quiet corner of Glasgow’s Merchant City, Brazen Studios was set up as both a jewellery retailer and design studio in 2004 by designer Sarah Raffel. With its quirky decor and antique display cabinets, it offers a luxurious environment in which to browse for that special gift, stocking a range of innovative, design-led jewellery and accessories by Scottish and international designers, and housing a bespoke design studio and workshop where Brazen produce their unique custom pieces.

“We try to find designers whose work isn’t available elsewhere in the city, or who’ve graduated from Glasgow School of Art, or who have a particular aesthetic that separates it from high street jewellery,” says Raffel. Trinkets, necklaces and brooches start at around the £30 mark, while elaborate confectionaries of precious metals, diamonds and gemstones can cost several thousands of pounds. One of the high-end designers, Ana deCosta’s work is exclusively available in Scotland at Brazen – she has designed for Swarovski, and her glittering creations are the height of luxury.

A more affordable collection comes from designer Tina Lilienthal – a German-born designer who graduated from the Royal College of

Interview: Illya Kuryakin

Art. Her pieces, adorned with colourful feathers, carved wood and precious metals, are inspired by the aesthetics of tribal dress. Then there are the exquisite ‘found object’ pieces by Edinburgh College of Art Graduate Grainne Morten – bright buttons and tiny figurines are incorporated into her quirky brooches, earrings and necklaces.

Dutch designers Vlieger & Vandam’s striking leather bags are imprinted with the outlines of handguns, crucifixes and handcuffs. Their designs are “controversial, but rather appealing if you have a good sense of humour,” says Raffel.

“The design came about when they were at design college in Rotterdam, and they were asked to respond to a brief about the rise in violent crime against women.” She displays the magnificent handgun handbag: “The piece is called the Guardian Angel bag.”

Brazen’s reputation as a stockist of alternative, high-quality jewellery and accessories is exceeded only by the success of its celebrated bespoke design studio, which enables clients to design very special rings entirely to their own specifications. Goldsmith Scott McIntyre creates these unique pieces from Raffel’s designs, but it is the customer who leads the process.

Customers begin by emailing Raffel a selection

of images for inspiration: she shows me pieces inspired by Art Deco, and the Mexican Day of the Dead.

“I encourage them to go for images that represent their style, or what they want to infuse into the ring,” says Raffel. “I try and get them to steer away from sending me pictures of jewellery – architecture, prints, graphics, personal trinkets and sculpture are what we work with as inspirations.” The studio also offers re-modelling work, helping customers re-design and re-set older pieces of jewellery into more modern pieces.

It’s a thrilling prospect for Raffel, who clearly enjoys the collaborative process behind the creation of each unique piece. “The scope for

design is limitless – you have to be very focused on what you want the final piece to be. First and foremost, it should be a fun process!” Simple designs in silver, with less precious stones, can cost as little as £500, with prices varying according to materials used. A £100 design fee is charged up front, and then taken off the final price. Brazen are always happy to try and accomodate any kind of budget, and will consult throughout the process to make sure the customer leaves happy.

“A lot of jewellery is priced around the intrinsic value of the materials,” says Raffel. “What we try to do is put the design first.”

Pieces costing £100-£2000 can be purchased from Brazen under the Own Art scheme – ask in store for details, or visit ownart.org.uk

Galleries across Scotland are members of the Own Art scheme. By offering interest-free 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

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 an Arts Council England initiative operated by Creative Sector Services CIC, a Community Interest Company registered in England and Wales under number 08280539. Registered address: 2-6 Cannon Street, London EC4M 6YH.

Look for the pink logo. (representative 0% APR)

249 West George Street Glasgow G2 4QE

January 2014

ART

Review

53

January Film Events A new year, a new set of film events, with gothic screenings at GFT, a children’s cult classic at Cameo and Filmhouse celebrating Scotland on screen Words: Becky Bartlett

12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave

Inside Llewyn Davis

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Director: Steve McQueen Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender Released: 10 Jan Certificate: 15

Director: Joal Coen, Ethan Coen Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake Released: 24 Jan Certificate: 15

Hunger and Shame proved that Steve McQueen’s artistic sensibility was well-suited to cinema, but 12 Years a Slave is the first time he has adapted his visual gifts to a classical narrative and imbued them with humanism.

The true saga of Solomon Northup (Ejiofor) allows McQueen to tell one man’s extraordinary story, but also expose, as Solomon is passed from owner to owner – the avaricious Paul Giamatti, the conflicted Benedict Cumberbatch, the vicious Michael Fassbender – the workings of the slavery machine and the myriad ways in which blacks were subjugated and humiliated.

McQueen’s unerring compositional sense often expresses all of this in a single image, as in the shot of Solomon dangling from a noose as plantation life goes on around him, but the director’s gaze, while unsparing, is never exploitative or hysterical. The film is beautifully underplayed with an emotional undercurrent that gradually builds an accumulative force, before all of that anger and sorrow finally explodes to the surface in an unforgettable final scene. [Philip Concannon]

The Coen brothers’ latest success is a film about failure. Llewyn Davis (Isaac) is a talented singer-songwriter barely eking out an existence in the Greenwich Village bars and cafés of the early 1960s. Does he lack the spark of genius that turns a good artist into a great one? Or is he simply a man out of time, striving fruitlessly before the 1960s folk music scene really took off?

Inside Llewyn Davis is a wintry, melancholy comedy elevated into something more resonant by that inimitable Coen touch. As ever, the editing and camerawork (this time provided by Bruno Delbonnel) is perfectly judged and the cast (including John Goodman, F. Murray Abraham and Adam Driver) is imaginatively chosen, but it’s the sensational lead performance that powers the film. Llewyn is a prickly character prone to alienating anyone who can help him, but the film plays as a deeply empathetic portrait of a struggling artist, with Isaac’s heartfelt performances of Llewyn’s songs proving that, yes, he coulda been a contender.

[Philip Concannon]

The Armstrong Lie

Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus

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Director: Alex Gibney Starring: Lance Armstrong, Reed Albergotti, Betsy Andreu Released: 31 Jan Certificate: 15

Consider Michael Cera’s recent film roles. There’s two-timing Scott (Scott Pilgrim vs the World), schizophrenic womaniser Nick (Youth in Revolt), and coke-snorting party animal Michael Cera (This Is the End). This nerdy sweetheart has proved he’s equally adept at portraying nerdy douchebags. For more evidence, see this low-key Chilean comedy from director Sebastián Silva, where Cera plays Jamie, a control freak who’s so uptight and egotistical that he manages to take the fun out of an altered-state road trip with friends to an idyllic beach to ingest some psychotropic cactus.

He’s not the only member of his party you want to throttle, though.

Tagging along with Jamie and his three Chilean friends is the eponymous Crystal Fairy (blast-from-the-past Gaby Hoffman), a hippy hypocrite who lectures the boys on eating junk food while spouting chakra platitudes and parading around naked. Watching these two monsters’ passive-aggressive sparring is a toe-curling joy, and Silva’s freewheeling direction is pleasantly at odds with the angst on screen. [Jamie Dunn]

Lone Survivor

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

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Lone Survivor is apparently the passion project that Peter Berg directed Battleship for, and his enthusiasm for the material is evident in every frame. The film opens with real-life footage of the US Marines that Berg clearly idolises, before proceeding to tell the story of the disastrous Operation Red Wings in bloody detail.

Berg’s film is built around an extended firefight between four Marines (Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster) and dozens of Taliban insurgents, which is expertly staged but the relentless intensity quickly grows numbing. Enemy fighters goes down with one shot while the Americans take countless bullets before finally breathing their last in admiring slow-motion.

It all leaves you ample time to wonder what exactly Berg is trying to say – war is hell and Marines are hard? Is that really it? There is an interesting late twist when a group of Afghan villagers present us with a different brand of heroism, but many viewers will have been turned off by Berg’s military fetishism long before that point. [Philip Concannon]

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Review

he GFT in Glasgow continues its Gothic strand this month, focusing on the theme ‘love is the devil.’ Seven films are screening in January, including camp cult favourite What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (5 Jan), starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, whose off-screen feud helped to create an unforgettably frictionfilled on-screen pairing. Also showing is Roger Corman’s The Tomb of Ligeia (14 Jan), featuring Vincent Price, and quintessentially 80s doomed vampire romance The Hunger (21 Jan), starring David Bowie. All films are introduced by David Melville Wingrove; see www.glasgowfilm.org for the full line-up.

The Cameo in Edinburgh is offering a rare chance to see The 5000 Fingers of Dr T (5 Jan), conceived and written by Dr Seuss. This strange children’s movie about a boy attempting to escape from the villainous piano teacher Dr T, who wants to force five hundred boys to play a giant piano in unison, opened to poor reviews when released in 1953. It’s since become a nostalgic cult classic, making this the perfect afternoon viewing for fans of Dr Seuss’ inimitable, surreal style.

Director: Sebastián Silva Starring: Michael Cera, Gaby Hoffmann, Agustín Silva Released: 17 Jan Certificate: 15

The titular ‘lie’ refers to Lance Armstrong’s use of performance-enhancing drugs in all seven of his victories at the Tour de France (since rescinded) as well as his competitive comeback in 2009. Gibney’s film actually started as a fluff piece about said comeback – the remarkable story of one man’s struggle against all of the odds. In its place we get an explorative documentary about how Armstrong perpetrated the lie: his ruthlessly competitive nature, the bullying of his teammates, the sinister science of blood doping.

Whether or not you have any interest in the sport, there’s a peculiar appeal to watching such an elaborate charade being constructed and maintained in the full view of professional cycling bodies as well as the general public. Despite the constant murmurings from the press, Armstrong was transformed into a symbol of hope against adversity, and his charity, Livestrong, has done incalculable amounts of good for cancer sufferers.

While we may deride his actions with hindsight, at the time we were all complicit, caught up in the lie. [Tom Grater]

Director: Peter Berg Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch Released: 31 Jan Certificate: 18

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Director: Ben Stiller Starring: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Sean Penn, Released: 26 Dec Certificate: PG Based on James Thurber’s short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty stars its director Ben Stiller as an inexpressive, daydreaming underachiever who, provoked by a takeover at the print magazine he works for, finally takes risks and embarks on a convoluted global journey. The takeover is led by a felt-bearded Adam Scott, who plays an even more one-dimensional bastard than his character in Will Ferrell comedy Step Brothers. Two hours of gloopy, insipid, narcissistic wish fulfilment ensues, alongside an uncomfortably extended promotion for dating site eHarmony.

Credit goes to Kristen Wiig, for her turns in the more comedic daydream sequences, and it’s encouraging to see a Hollywood actor-director try out such a visually playful feature on a fairly big studio budget, even if that visual language and the cheap, undercooked sentiments at its core mean it won’t feel out of place in the company of the adverts that will precede it at the cinema. Horribly on-the-nose uses of Space Oddity and Arcade Fire’s Wake Up work against it, too. [Josh Slater-Williams]

FILM

Nairobi Half Life

Two specially programmed films are showing at the GFT as part of Afrika Eye Film Festival’s tour – now in its seventh year, the festival continues to expand, bringing African movies to UK audiences. Nairobi Half Life (9 Jan) and Something Necessary (16 Jan) are screening as part of New Visions from Kenya: Celebrating 50 Years of Independence, a special strand developed through workshops encouraging African filmmakers to consider their art on an international level.

With the referendum just around the corner, why not start the year with some of the finest Scottish-set movies, both old and new?

The Filmhouse in Edinburgh is screening eight films (until 5 Jan) that celebrate the country in a season named Scotland Galore!; included are the delicately animated The Illusionist (3 Jan), and the wonderfully Americanised Brigadoon (2-4 Jan). The season concludes with a special screening, From the Archive: Scotland on Film, which compiles various shorts depicting life throughout the years.

Fans of French cinema should head to the Institut Francais d’Ecosse in Edinburgh, where two films are showing this month. Versailles (7-8 Jan), starring the late Guillaume Depardieu, was selected in the Un Certain Regard category at Cannes in 2008, while Le Nom des Gens (21-22 Jan) is a light-hearted romantic comedy that won two Cesar awards in 2011. Admission is free, so make sure you arrive early.

THE SKINNY

Museum Hours

Riddick

Insidious: Chapter 2

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Director: Jem Cohen Starring: Mary Margaret O’Hara, Bobby Sommer, Ela Piplits Released: 13 Jan Certificate: 12A

In this documentary-fiction hybrid, a guard (Sommer) at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum strikes up a friendship with a lonely Canadian tourist (O’Hara) present in the city to visit her estranged cousin in a coma. Museum Hours is a collection of diary musings on larger issues of culture, perspective, art and its relation to life, and the inevitability that all things will fade. The closest comparison might be to say it’s like a non-romantic cut of Before Sunrise blended with Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil.

The pair’s conversations and personal musings overlap with beautifully composed visual tours of both the museum’s artworks and the city outside, particularly the more neglected architecture and facets of Vienna. This may make Museum Hours sound like some mannered sermon, but it is in fact one of the most peaceful, bittersweet and uniquely comforting films of late.

[Josh Slater-Williams]

Director: David Twohy Starring: Vin Diesel, Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff, Nolan Gerard Funk, Released: 13 Jan Certificate: 15 After the ambitious first sequel to Pitch Black failed, you can see why producers would want to return to familiar territory, but something still isn’t working. After a coup, Riddick (Diesel) is abandoned on an all-new desert planet with an all-new monstrous alien life form to contend with. Unfortunately he’s also saddled with a messy, indulgent script that’s light years behind the efficient original.

There are so many elements jostling for attention that more important factors, like a huge threat, which might produce some tension or motivation, are all but forgotten. Tone is also a problem: cartoonish alien puppies sit awkwardly alongside decapitation and sexual violence. Indeed, despite including genre favourite Katee Sackhoff, this is one of the most jarringly misogynistic films of recent years and a big step backwards from even the first film.

Sci-fi fans deserve much better than this. [Scott McKellar]

Director: James Wan Starring: Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson, Barbara Hershey Released: 6 Jan Certificate: 15

Insidious: Chapter 2 takes the elements introduced in its predecessor and runs with them, to mostly good effect. Thanks to Insidious’ shock twist finale (spoiler alert), poor Renai (Byrne) may have suspicions about her husband Josh (Wilson), but we already know why he’s gone full Jack Torrance. Renai, Josh’s mother, and recently-deceased medium Elise’s comedy sidekicks (the film’s weakest links) bear the brunt of the terror.

Writer-director James Wan demonstrates a self-assured style, with the first hour filled with numerous familiar, though effective, scare tactics. All the elements of a low-budget, well executed haunted house/possession story are present, and there are plenty of nods to established horror fare. Then the fog-filled realm of ‘The Further’ is reintroduced, along with the inevitable setting up of the third instalment – it’s disappointing that once the actual plot kicks in, the scares vanish. [Becky Bartlett]

The Great Beauty

The Piano

You’re Next

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Director: Paolo Sorrentino Starring: Toni Servillo, Sabrina Ferilli, Carlo Verdone Released: 13 Jan Certificate: 15 In The Great Beauty ’s sublimely grand overture, a smiling tourist snaps the Roman skyline then suddenly falls, as if overwhelmed by the splendour of the city before him. A similar awe accompanies a first viewing of director Paolo Sorrentino’s sixth feature, brimming as it is with luxuriant detail and technical bravado. These assets serve a picaresque narrative that delves into Rome in all its contrasts.

At its centre is Jep Gambardella: a sad-eyed, sharp-witted man-about-town, living la dolce vita among Rome’s hollow high society. Charmingly played by Sorrentino regular Toni Servillo, Jep walks a tightrope between elation and ennui, the opulent pleasures of each night giving way to the uncertainties of every morning after. Encounters with saints, sinners and a vanishing giraffe ensue, and the cumulative effect is dazzling. [Chris Buckle]

Asterix and the Picts

By Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad

rrrrr The first original Asterix book to be completed by an all new creative team marks a key moment in the series’ history. Will Dider Conrad and Jean-Yves Ferri live up to the imposing canon of Goscinny and Uderzo? Will they, at least, come up with more sensible stories than Uderzo’s later solo efforts ( Asterix and the Falling Sky involved an alien invasion)?

Signs are promising with Asterix and the Picts. Conrad’s illustrations substitute seamlessly for those of his predecessor, and Ferri has constructed a narrative that nods to a swathe of the much-loved character conventions, taking us on an old school quest, introducing some more pun-tastic names and neatly avoiding the inclusion of spaceships.

When Asterix and Obelix happen across a Pict frozen into a lump of ice they must thaw him out and return him to his native Caledonia.

Cue a sea voyage, the decimation of a shipload of pirates, and various battles with Roman legionaries to depose the wicked puppet ruler Maccabeus and restore the rightful, native king, the defrosted MacAroon.

Scottish readers will surely appreciate the indomitable Gauls’ taking a wee jaunt to the frozen north, and the coincidence of its being released amid the independence debate offers a wealth of cause for speculation within the plot.

Could we draw parallels here with the current status quo? Sort of, maybe. And what of the suggestion that Asterix and the Picts rivals the white paper as most pertinent political document in the referendum dialogue? Absolutely.

[Rosamund West]

Director: Jane Campion Starring: Holly Hunter, Sam Neill Released: 20 Jan Certificate: 15 Ada (Holly Hunter), a mute, 30-something Scotswoman, is uprooted and transported overseas with her precocious daughter (Anna Paquin) to wed an Antipodean landowner (Sam Neill) she has never met, and can never love. On arrival at the other side of the world, her beloved piano is abandoned on the shoreline, then sold to rough-hewn local Baines (Harvey Keitel).

Slow-burning eroticism is traded for each cold, polished key, as Ada buys back her piano, trading sex for her only mode of self-expression. Jane Campion’s Oscar-magnet has continued to attract reappraisal since its 1993 release; as post-feminist cautionary tale, romanticised portrayal of 19th century New Zealand and gothic melodrama. Taken at its most elemental, The Piano will endure, as only the most pure and haunting of fairytales do.

[Kirsty Leckie-Palmer]

The Telling Room: A Tale of Passion, Revenge and the World’s Finest Chees

By Various

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Out 2 Jan, published by Canongate, RRP £12.99

Actors and directors from a certain subset of American independent cinema star in this knowing slasher film. The first of You’re Next ’s two genre twists is that an attack on a family reunion at an isolated luxury home does nothing to quell the bickering and pettiness from before the first crossbow bolt is fired. The second is that one of You’re Next ’s would-be victims happens to be adept at not just defending themselves, but unleashing their own brand of brutality upon the attackers.

The theoretically interesting survivalist backstory of that one character is lazily sketched in the film itself, and a general air of half-baked effort spreads elsewhere. Its macabre humour is limp, and the film’s straight stuff is lacking in any dread or clarity. This is an anaemic play on formula, bereft of any punch.

[Josh Slater-Williams]

Valve #03: A Literary Journal

By Michael Paterniti

For anyone who thinks their attention cannot be held by a book about cheese, think again: The Telling Room is a work of literary non-fiction that is simultaneously as thrilling as a fast paced novel and as edifying as a historical work.

The book is the culmination of a decade long obsession for Michael Paterniti, who relocated his family to rural Spain in search of the ‘world’s finest cheese.’

At its core, the book tells the story of Ambrosio, a ruined cheese-maker from Guzmán who once made a cheese so exquisite that it was said to have the power to invoke long-forgotten memories. Ambrosio’s story is one of passion, betrayal and blood feuds, yet the book becomes about much more than the maker and his cheese. Paterniti questions the very nature of our modern lives. In a world where fast food and gastro-technology leave us with a product far removed from the original fruit, vegetable or animal, how can we maintain our connection to the land that begat it?

Ambrosio is the ultimate ambassador of slow food, creating a cheese with such care and attention that, for Paterniti at least, it conjures up a sense of the arresting Spanish countryside where it was created.

[Rosie Hopegood]

Director: Adam Wingard Starring: Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg Released: 13 Jan Certificate: 18

Now in its third year, Valve’s combination of new and established writers offering poems and stories with an experimental edge is a winning formula. As you take in these mostly brief pieces a thematic flow stretches between a sequence, offering a continuity and wholeness often absent from other literary journals. This can be seen in the opening four stories that pull into focus death and the ocean through fantastical and parochial lenses. Lucy Ribchester’s The SheSquid’s Embrace is particularly noteworthy in this chain, offering the lonely tale of a mythical beast from the deep, who falls in love with a dead sailor and drags him back to her home.

Other highlights include Afric McGlinchey’s poems Out of the Green and Remnants of the Old Century, which work a plethora of intrguing images into beguiling narratives and have something of John Ashbery about them. Elaine Reid’s Trees for Africa is one of the longer pieces; an unnerving story about a woman working at a charity call-centre going in search of the customer who verbally abused her. There are several poems from en vogue names like Ryan Van Winkle and Michael Pederson, which continue in the high standard they have set elsewhere. If you’re at all interested in what the current crop of voices in the world of Scottish literature have to offer, Valve is essential. [Ryan Rushton]

Other People’s Countries: A Journey into Memory

By Patrick McGuinness

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A memoir from a Belgian backwater doesn’t sound promising. And the contents page, listing titles like ‘Boxes’ and ‘My Suits,’ does little to counteract the apprehension. But for Patrick McGuinness memories are electrical storms of the mind. His collection of stories and poems transforms Bouillon from a sleepy town close to the French border into a Belgian Ballykissangel.

His cast includes eccentric relatives, unsavoury oddballs and Kevin Keegan. The football legend provides an unlikely connection between the author’s Belgium and the north-east of England.

While manager of Newcastle United, Keegan signed a player from Bouillon. The move spawned a cult of Kev in the town, and these days teenage Kevins rub shoulders with the more customary Philippes and Marcels. McGuinness’s fondness for his maternal hometown shows up in his lyrical observations of the everyday. Croissants are regarded as new-fangled; the local gendarme’s policing is so light-touch “it could have been carried out by a modest breeze.” And he doesn’t shrink from its difficult past – Bouillon’s most famous son became Belgium’s Nazi leader. But McGuinness knows Bouillon can take the rough with the smooth. As he says himself, “Less is not always more; sometimes it’s everything.”

[James Carson] Out 6 Mar, published by Jonathan Cape, RRP £14.99

Out now, RRP £5 www.valvejournal.co.uk

Out now, published by Orion Children’s, RRP £10.99

January 2014

FILM / BOOKS

Review

55

Glasgow Music Fri 03 Jan

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: THE BEGBIES (THE VIRGINIA DONS + LEMONHAZE)

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) kicks off with a headline set from Livingston-hailing indie-inspired alternative punk quintet, The Begbies.

THE SENSATIONAL DAVID BOWIE TRIBUTE BAND + THE UNDERGROUND JAM + DIRTY DIAMOND AND THE GUNSLINGER + SONNY AND THE LOST SOUL TRAIN

THE FAKTORY, 17:00–03:00, £8

A selection of tribute bands and local acts bandie together to raise funds for the Clutha Vaults, as part of The Clutha Benefit Weekend (3-5 January).

BACKWATER + SOUL REMOVER + THE PUZZLERS + LOST IN AUDIO

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–22:00, £6

A selection of tribute bands and local acts bandie together to raise funds for the Clutha Vaults, as part of The Clutha Benefit Weekend (3-5 January).

Sat 04 Jan

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: THE BANTER THIEFS (THE MOON KIDS + BLACK BALLOONS + THE MASSES) KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a headline set from indierocking four piece, The Banter Thiefs, making the trip from bonnie Motherwell

BOMBSKARE + THE BEATROOTS + COLONEL MUSTARD AND THE DIJON 5 + BUTTON UP + MICKEY 9S + BROOKSY AND THE SOUND COLLECTORS THE FAKTORY, 17:00–03:00, £8

A selection of local acts bandie together to raise funds for the Clutha Vaults, as part of The Clutha Benefit Weekend (3-5 January).

LUCKY 13 + THE SLEAZE BROTHERS + MEANBONE + GEORGE LINDSAY BLUES BAND + ARTHUR JOHNSTONE AND THE STARS BAND + CAHOOTS + THE WALTZERS + DR. BLISS + WILL AND THE WILD HORSE IVORY BLACKS, 13:00–17:00, £DONATION

A selection of local acts bandie together to raise funds for the Clutha Vaults, as part of The Clutha Benefit Weekend (3-5 January).

LOGAN + MAIDEN SCOTLAND + NON JOVI + H AYE VOLTAGE + THE CUT THROAT RAZORS + DEAD GENERALS + SPLENDID GENTLEMEN + ONE LAST SECRET + WE WERE KINGS + PROUD HONEY CLASSIC GRAND, 19:00–22:30, £8 ADV. (£10 DOOR)

A selection of tribute bands and local acts bandie together to raise funds for the Clutha Vaults, as part of The Clutha Benefit Weekend (3-5 January).

Sun 05 Jan THE RISING

THE FAKTORY, 17:00–03:00, £6

Bruce Springsteen tribute act, raising funds for Clutha Vaults as part of The Clutha Benefit Weekend (3-5 January).

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: HAVE MERCY LAS VEGAS (ROSE PARADE + KING EIDER)

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a headline set from energetic blues and folk hybrid, Have Mercy Las Vegas, rather romantically formed on the shores o’ Loch Lomond.

Mon 06 Jan

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS (QUINNY + THE VAN T’S + KITH & KIN)

KING TUT’S, 20:00–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a headline set from Glasgowbased acoustic soul lovelies, Harry and the Hendersons.

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Tue 07 Jan UNION J

SECC, 19:00–22:00, FROM £22.50

Boy band formed in the ninth series of The X Factor, made up of Josh, JJ, Jaymi and George. Joys.

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: ALTERED SKY (DANCING WITH DAKOTA) KING TUT’S, 20:00–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a headline set from all-rockin’ female-fronted Glasgow fivepiece, Altered Sky. WOLFXDOWN (BENCHPRESS + WAR CHARGE + REVELATIONS + DREAD)

BROADCAST, 18:00–22:00, £6 ADV. (£8 DOOR)

The hard-styled Germans (they describe their thang quite simply as ‘MOSH!’) make merry, with myriad noisy support.

FREE NELSON MANDOOMJAZZ

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Doom jazz soundscapes from the Edinburgh-based instrumental trio recently signed to RareNoiseRecords.

SOUTHSIDE FRINGE FUNDRAISER (HOWLIN RADIO’ + MISS JO + PAPA SHANDY AND THE DRAMS) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, FREE

Ahead of the festival proper, Southside Fringe host a fundraiser evening with music from Howlin Radio’, Miss Jo, and Papa Shandy and The Drams, alongside live comedy from Greater Shawlands Republic’s Bruce Morton and Andrew Learmonth.

Wed 08 Jan

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: CAMPFIRES IN WINTER (BOOK GROUP + THE LONELY TOGETHER)

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a headline set from alternative Croy indie-rockers, Campfires in Winter – riding along on their usual melodic wall of post-rock and experimental noise.

ALCOA

CLASSIC GRAND, 18:30–22:00, £8

JAMES ARTHUR SECC, 19:00–22:00, £27.50

The 2012 X-Factor winner drops into town to offend some people.

Sat 11 Jan

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: THE HOLY GHOSTS (COLONEL MUSTARD AND THE DIJON 5 + A NEW INTERNATIONAL + SAINT MAX AND THE FANATICS) KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a headline set from Edinburgh rock’n’rollers The Holy Ghosts, infusing their sound with a splash of country and blues.

SOUNDWAVE MUSIC COMPETITION: THE FINAL (PARAMOUNT + MICHAEL MCGURN + REELY JIGGERED + KEIRA SWIFT + 140 OR LESS + BLACK HEART BEATS + FLYING BY MIRRORS + THE STELLARS + GEOFF ROWAN + JAGGED VIOLET + LOST NATH + IN THE DARK) O2 ABC, 18:00–22:00, £6.50

Twelve unsigned Scottish upand-comers battle it out to win a recording and exposure package.

IRON MAIDEN TRIBUTE NIGHT (VIKING GALAXY + DISASTER AREA + MENAGE A TROIS) 13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £2

Musicians from across the Glasgow metal scene come together to stage a two-part tribute to heavy metal legends Iron Maiden.

TEN GALLON BRATZ (CHINASKIS + DROPKICK)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:00, £6

Gourock ensemble of the Americana-styled variety.

Sun 12 Jan

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: TIJUANA BIBLES (DIRTY DIAMOND AND THE GUNSLINGER + KIRSTEN ADAMSON + THE DEAD RAVEN) KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a headline set from Glasgow rock’n’rollers Tijuana Bibles, built on a diet of gritty guitars, driving bass lines, baritone vocals and rock-steady drums.

FIONA RUTHERFORD

Solo project of singer/songwriter Derek Archambault, who’s spent the last four years on tour with his progressive hardcore unit, Defeater.

The Edinburgh-based harpist and composer launches her new LP.

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

SLOW CLUB (THE BLAS COLLECTIVE + SPLIT SECOND)

JOHN MCLINDEN

The Scottish acoustic troubadour returns to play a headline slot in Bloc’s little lair.

Thu 09 Jan

CASS MCCOMBS (FRANK FAIRFIELD)

CCA, 20:00–22:00, £8.50

More musically melancholic but lyrically sharp offerings from the US singer/songwriter, all hesitant and delicately rendered as he showcases tracks from his recent 22-track whopper of an LP. GOOD GRIEF’S GOOD SHOP

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

The DIY label and zine collective present an evening of alternative sounds.

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: CHLOE LATIMER (BECCA FOX + DOUGIE CROSBIE + CHELSEY CORNELIUS) KING TUT’S, 20:00–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a singer/songwriters special, headed up by fledgling Glaswegian songstress Chloe Latimer.

Fri 10 Jan

TRONGATE RUM RIOTS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:00, £5

Scottish ensemble comprising seven lads and one lass making their own brand of folk-punk songs, or ‘hyper-sea shanties’ as they call ‘em.

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: CHERRI FOSPHATE (MODEL JET PILOT + THIS SILENT FOREST) KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a return set from local indierock foursome Cherri Fosphate, after they rocked it during their set last year.

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £TBC

Mon 13 Jan BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

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

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: DEATHCATS (GARDEN OF ELKS + KILL SURRRF + SECRET MOTORBIKES)

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a headline set from Glasgow guitar popsters Deathcats, dropping a set of their fiery post-surf brand of hardcore.

Tue 14 Jan LATECOMERS

AVANT GARDE, 20:00–22:30, FREE

More acoustic pop loveliness from the Glasgow-based outfit.

MAROON 5

THE SSE HYDRO, 18:30–22:00, £7.50

The LA quintet return to Manchester as part of their Overexposed world tour – their words, not ours.

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: LIFE ON STANDBY (MONO SIX + PENGUINS KILL POLAR BEARS) KING TUT’S, 20:00–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a headline set from femalefronted alternative rockers, Life on Standby.

STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

The Pavement mainman tours on the back of his fifth studio album with his band The Jicks, following the Pavement reunion tour.

LYLO

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

The young Glaswegian outfit launch their new LP.

Wed 15 Jan

CORY CHISEL (ADAM HOLMES AND THE EMBERS)

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

Folk singer/songwriter raised on hymns and Johnny Cash, the result of which can be felt in his resonantly weathered vocals and incisive lyrics. Part of Celtic Connections.

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: MINOR DELILAH (THE DETOURS + ONE LAST SECRET + WAITING ON JACK)

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) continues with a headline set from Lanarkshire acoustic lot, Life on Standby – driven along by their own brand of hard guitars and strong melodies.

KATAKLYSM (FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE)

CLASSIC GRAND, 18:30–22:00, £16

The Canadian death metal gods take to the UK to spread some of their usual mayhem.

Thu 16 Jan

KING TUT’S NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION: SONNY AND THE LOST SOUL TRAINS (PERPETUAL MOTION + TOURING BARCELONA + TEAM SOLRIPE) KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolution schedule (3-16 January) rounds to a close with a headline set from Weegie soul, blues and rock’n’roll lot, Sonny and The Lost Soul Train.

FUN LOVIN’ CRIMINALS

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £20

Huey Lewis and his NYC hip-hop/ rock ensemble play a special Glasgow date, hopefully minus the mug-smashing.

LAMB OF GOD

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £19.50

The groove metal giants take in Glasgow as part of their nine date UK tour.

CELTIC CONNECTIONS: OPENING CONCERT (NICOLA BENEDETTI + ULIE FOWLIS + ALY BAIN + PHIL CUNNINGHAM + JOY KILLS SORROW + DUNCAN CHISHOLM) GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30–22:00, £24

Celebrating a mighty 20 years, 2014’s Celtic Connections celebrations open with a suitably bumper line-up – with multi-awardwinning violinist Nicola Benedetti leading proceedings.

CANTINA PSICODÉLICA

MONO, 19:00–22:00, £TBC

One-off Mexican-styled eveing, with the all-vegan kitchen serving up a special super-spicy menu of Mexican-inspired treats, while Monorail’s own Russell Elder digs deep into his record collection to play a set of all-heavy beats.

GLASGOW OPEN HOUSE: FUNDRAISER PARTY (PETER + JON PHONICS + SAM VITAMINS + FIELDING HOPE)

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 20:00–23:00, £6 (£5)

In the run up to the inaugural Glasgow Open House festival in April, the organisers host a fundraising evening of music and performance enlisting the help of the 50 strong festival contributors. In Old Hairdressers (8pm-11pm), then Stereo (11pm-3am).

Fri 17 Jan STRUGGLE

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

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

MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY

THE ARCHES, 19:30–22:00, £14

Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Colin MacIntyre re-embraces both the urban and his former alias, Mull Historical Society, touring his first ‘best of’ release, The Supermarket Never Sleeps. Part of Celtic Connections.

VAGABOND POETS

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £6

Mod-styled band of scallywags hailing from the fiery musical furnace of Cumbernauld.

TREACHEROUS ORCHESTRA (HABADEKUK)

OLD FRUITMARKET, 21:00–23:30, £16

Vibrant Glasgow folk collective mixing traditional rootsy Scottish tunes with contemporary influences, all bagpipes and whistles and loveliness. Part of Celtic Connections.

DUB INC.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

The Saint Etienne-hailing reggae specialists play tracks offa their new LP, Paradise. Part of Celtic Connections.

ORAN MOR, 19:30–22:00, £13

THE ZIPS (THE DUGZ + SPLINTER + THE DREGGS)

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

The Glasgow’s socio-politico-proto punk outfit continue to ride the wave of their reformation.

Sat 18 Jan

JOY KILLS SORROW (JENNY RITTER)

THE MITCHELL LIBRARY, 20:00–22:00, £13

Boston-based alternative bluegrass ensemble composing new material on mandolin, banjo, guitar and double bass. Part of Celtic Connections.

THE PSEUDOS

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6

Ayr/Glasgow-straddling sweaty rock’n’rollers, led by guitarist and lead vocalist Jake Mackie.

THE POP GROUP + THE SEXUAL OBJECTS

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £18

Celebrating 20 years of Glasgow indie label Creeping Bent, two contrastingly fearsome combos gleefully encapsulate the imprint’s singularly maverick ethos: all hail The Pop Group and The Sexual Objects. Part of Celtic Connections.

THE OLLAM (ROSS AINSLIE)

ORAN MOR, 19:30–22:00, £13

Irish-American trio who self describe their thing as ‘neo-acoustic Celtic post-rock’. That’ll cover it.

Part of Celtic Connections.

YVES LAMBERT TRIO (METTA)

THE ARCHES, 19:30–22:00, £14

Yves Lambert – helmsman of La Bottine Souriante from 1976-2002 – continues to lead from the front in his powerhouse three-piece.

Part of Celtic Connections.

DRÌNE

CCA, 20:00–22:00, £12

The Sutherland collective celebrate the life and work of Rob Donn, including a new commission based on some of his best-loved poems.

Part of Celtic Connections.

GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY (GREAT COP)

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

Gallows guitar player Stephen Carter steps out with his new band, taking him on a slightly more mellow twist.

DEER TICK

BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

Dirty Americana-styled pseudohillbillies led by guitarist and singer/songwriter John McCauley.

PERSPEX FLESH (MOB RULES + CLOCKED OUT)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:00, £5

Leeds-based hellraisers featuring members of The Flex and Broken Arm, nihilistic and uncompromising in their approach.

Sun 19 Jan

HAZY RECOLLECTIONS (LITTLE RACH + ADAM HOLMES + MC MOG + DANTE + THE SECOND HAND MARCHING BAND) O2 ABC, 14:30–17:00, £10

Afternoon sesh of handpicked acts from the flourishing Scottish indie, folk and roots scene. Part of Celtic Connections.

HANNAH TRIGWELL (ELISSA FRANCESCHI + PAIGHTON)

KING TUT’S, 20:00–23:00, £8

Acoustic pop Leeds songstress heading out on her very first UK headline tour.

TIREE: OUTSIDE THE BOX (SKIPINNISH + GUNNA SOUND + SKERRYVORE + TRAIL WEST) O2 ABC, 19:30–22:00, £15

All-accordion line-up celebrating the instrument’s flourishing prominence on the small Hebridean island of Tiree. Part of Celtic Connections.

THE NATIONAL JAZZ TRIO OF SCOTLAND (ALASDAIR ROBERTS + BARNABY BROWN + BENNI HEMM HEMM)

TRON THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £13

Not jazz, not a trio, and in no way officially ‘national’, the Bill Wellsled, er, National Jazz Trio, host a collaboration that began a year ago at a Scottish festival in Reykjavik.

Part of Celtic Connections.

ROXY MUSIC TRIBUTE NIGHT (MICHELLE HANNAH + JANE MCATEER + STEVE JACKSON + DISCO SHARK + MS B) THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS, 18:00–20:00, FREE

Chilled Sunday tea-time event of themed Roxy Music talks and live music performances, with guests including artist Michelle Hannah, Belle and Sebastian’s Stevie Jackson and Ms B herself.

HEARING VOICES MOVEMENT (RUSSIAN BRIDE + BEN O’FARELL) 13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

More guitar-laden experimental electronica from the Glasgow duo.

Mon 20 Jan

SLOW CLUB (SPLIT SECOND)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

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

ADAM GREEN

BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £11.50

The New York-hailing anti-folk chappie steps out on his own – sans Kimya Dawson or Binki Shapiro, waaaah! – for a solo acoustic tour, taking in venues up and down the country and spreading his pottymouthed cheer while he’s at it.

Tue 21 Jan

RM HUBBERT (AIDAN MOFFAT)

THE MITCHELL LIBRARY, 20:00–22:00, £13

The Chemikal Underground instrumental guitar virtuoso tours the follow up LP to his SAY Awardwinning LP, ably supported by a special spoken word set of poetry and short prose from a certain Mr. Aidan Moffat. Part of Celtic Connections.

SETH LAKEMAN (KAN)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £16

The Devon folk singer/songwriter and virtuoso fiddler does his damned impressive live thing, shredding strings as he goes. Part of Celtic Connections.

DAN LE SAC VS SCROOBIUS PIP

THE ARCHES, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Messieurs Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip air their new LP, Repent Replenish Repeat, again mapping Le Sac’s fairground-alike electronic beats with Pip’s pent-up lyrical bombardment, squared with wily facial hair, obvs.

DEFEATER

CLASSIC GRAND, 18:30–22:00, £12

Massachusetts hardcore metal hellraisers known for actively taking creative liberties when crafting their songs.

Wed 22 Jan CONNAN MOCKASIN

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £9

New Zealand’s psychedelic son tours his new LP, Caramel, which sees him transferring his interest from dolphins to humans, creating pop music on a whole other plane as he goes.

JULIE FOWLIS (RANT + PARVEEN SABRINA KHAN)

OLD FRUITMARKET, 20:00–22:00, £13

Traditional folk loveliness moving from the sprightly to the melancholic ballad, with Fowlis’ words riding the flowing fiddles and guitar with the usual consummate grace. Part of Celtic Connections.

OUTFIT

REDD KROSS KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £16

Longstanding rock’n’rollers, founded back in 1979 in Los Angeles by brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald (then pre-teens).

ALKINOOS IOANNIDIS + KARINE POLWART

OLD FRUITMARKET, 20:00–22:00, £16

Greek-Cypriot composer, lyricist, singer and orchestrator, playing a special collaborative set with Borders lass Karine Polwart. Part of Celtic Connections.

WILSON, SWARBRICK, GAUGHAN AND ELLIS

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £15

Canadian reggae artist Jason Wilson showcasing his ambitious new album with English fiddle icon Dave Swarbrick, joined also by Dick Gaughan and Pee Wee Ellis. Part of Celtic Connections.

Fri 24 Jan

SALSA CELTICA (RURA)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £16

The Edinburgh-based ensemble play a trademark set of Scottish and Irish traditional music. Part of Celtic Connections.

JULIA SHEER

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £7

Colorado-born, Nashville-based country-styled popstress, currently on her world tour.

DEL AMITRI (THE BIG DISH + THE O’S)

THE SSE HYDRO, 19:00–22:00, FROM £30

The Justin Currie-led Glasgow rock ensemble take in a retrospective sweep of their entire output. Part of Celtic Connections.

SKIPPINISH

THE ARCHES, 19:30–22:00, £14

The West Coast champs bring along a host of guests to perform songs from their new LP, alongside some old faves. Part of Celtic Connections.

RAGHU DIXIT PROJECT (SHELLIE MORRIS)

ORAN MOR, 19:30–22:00, £13

The alternative Indian singer/ songwriter and guitarist continues to draw lyrical inspiration from classical poets, amid a vibrant blend of folk, blues, rock, Sufi, funk, reggae, bhangra and Latin sounds. Part of Celtic Connections.

WITHERED HAND + RICHARD DAWSON + JEFF LANG + THE MAE TRIO

PLATFORM, 19:30–22:00, £10

The first of two sampler-style shows handpicked from elsewhere at Celtic Connections, with Edinburgh-based DIY folk-rock troubadour Dan Willson (aka Withered Hand) amongst ‘em. Part of Celtic Connections.

Sat 25 Jan

TRAMPLED BY TURTLES (FOGHORN STRING BAND)

O2 ABC, 19:30–22:00, £15

The chaotic Minnesota countryrockers play one of their signature energetic sets (aka you have been warned). Part of Celtic Connections.

JUNEBUG (MADE AS MANNEQUINS + JAMIE AND THE BUZZ)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–22:00, £5

THE ARCHES, 19:30–22:00, £15

DREVER MCGUIRE AND YOUNG (KENT DUCHAINE)

ORAN MOR, 19:30–22:00, £13

Former Wolfstone singer/guitarist Ivan Drever, bodhran and flute player Frankie McGuire and multi-instrumentalist Rich Young pool their talents. Part of Celtic Connections.

Thu 23 Jan

PEATBOG FAERIES (BUDIÑO)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

More high octane instrumental contemporary folk from the Isle of Skye crew. Part of Celtic Connections.

Drummer/producer Iain Copeland performs his new LP, A Northerly Land, with ten of the LP’s guests – including Sketch, Fiona J. Mackenzie and Malcolm MacFarlane.

The second of two sampler-style shows handpicked from elsewhere at Celtic Connections, with Aidan Moffat’s erstwhile Arab Strap cohort, Malcolm Middleton, amongst ‘em. Part of Celtic Connections.

Rising Blackpool trio doing their best to spearhead the latest rock revival.

MEGAN NICOLE

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

IAIN COPELAND (FACE THE WEST)

ORAN MOR, 19:30–22:00, £13

MALCOLM MIDDLETON + JORDIE LANE + PAPON + DARK NORTHUMBRIAN

DARLIA

Acoustic rock Glasgow quartet, gigging across Scotchland since mid-2011.

The 19-year-old singer/songwriter makes her UK debut.

THE SSE HYDRO, 19:30–22:00, £24

Special celebration marking Robert Burns’s birthday, taking in artists both local and far-flung – including a special collaboration between Greek-Cypriot balladeer Alkinoos Ioannidis and Borders folk lass Karine Polwart. Part of Celtic Connections.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:00–22:00, £6.50

BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £7

Liverpudlian guitar-pop ensemble playing a selection of new stuff offa their recent EP.

INTERNATIONAL BURNS CONCERT (THE MAHOTELLA QUEENS + ALKINOOS IOANNIDIS (WITH KARINE POLWART) + RAGHU DIXIT + KAREN MATHESON + RACHEL SERMANNI (WITH JEFF LANG) + AND DOUGIE MACLEAN)

THE NEW MENDICANTS

Banter-heavy performance from Glasgow-born Norman Blake and the Massachusetts-hailing Joe Pernice, now neighbours in Canada and making music under their sublime pop The New Mendicants guise.

THE HOLY PISTOL CLUB

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6

West Dunbartonshire rock’n’rollers fronted by vocalist James Cairns.

PLATFORM, 19:30–22:00, £10

THE CAMPBELLS OF GREEPE

CCA, 20:00–22:00, £13

Gaeldom’s great Isle of Skye singing dynasty return armed with a new LP. Part of Celtic Connections.

NATHANIEL RATELIFF

BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00, £8

Indie folk rock hard-knock from Denver, Colorado, touring with his band of spirited musicians, with his latest release, Falling Faster Than You Can Run, doing all the talking.

JACOB YATES AND THE PEARLY GATE LOCK PICKERS (SECONDS + HALFRICAN)

STEREO, 19:30–22:00, £5

Glasgow-dwelling quartet who describe their sound as ‘doom wop’: basically a bit rock’n’roll, a bit rockabilly and plenty dark vibes.

Sun 26 Jan CITY AND COLOUR

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £25

Canadian Dallas Green’s alter ego, under which he makes some rather lovely acoustic folk rock sounds.

HAZY RECOLLECTIONS (JEMMA TWEEDIE + ALISTAIR OGILVY + BECCI WALLACE + THE DIRTY BEGGARS)

O2 ABC, 14:30–17:00, £10

Afternoon sesh of handpicked acts from the flourishing Scottish indie, folk and roots scene. Part of Celtic Connections.

ALASDAIR ROBERTS (GEORGIA RUTH)

TRON THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £13

Inimitable folk musician and songwriter Alasdair Roberts take to the stage, joined by a selection of musical pals. Part of Celtic Connections.

OLIVE GROVE RECORDS SHOWCASE

ORAN MOR, 17:30–20:00, £10

Special Olive Grove Records showcase marking the first gig in two years from The Moth and the Mirror, plus Woodenbox, The State Broadcasters, Randolph’s Leap, Jo Mango and new signing, Call to Mind. Part of Celtic Connections.

RODDY WOOMBLE (AOIFE O’DONOVAN)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £14

The Idlewild frontman plays solo acoustic, drawing on songs from his new solo album, Listen To Keep, as well as handpicking tracks from the Idlewild back catalogue. Part of Celtic Connections.

CLASSIC ALBUM SUNDAYS: LOU REED

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 17:30–20:30, £6

A hit down’t London way, Classic Album Sundays dip the lights and play a classic album in its entirety – in this case Lou Reed’s Transformer.

Mon 27 Jan

SLOW CLUB (THE BLAS COLLECTIVE + SPLIT SECOND) BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

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

SKINDRED

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

Longstanding Welsh rockers mixing heavy metal, alternative rock, punk rock and reggae into their mash-up mix.

THE SKINNY

BOBBY WOMACK GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30–22:00, £33

The great soul survivor – now in his seventh decade of recording – takes a wander through his impressive and extensive back catalogue. Part of Celtic Connections.

Tue 28 Jan

MOGWAI (RM HUBBERT)

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30–22:00, £25

With a virtual musical tome of beautifully-crafted post rock at their disposal, the mighty Mogwai mark both the approach of their 20th birthday and the release of their new LP. Part of Celtic Connections.

Fri 31 Jan RACHEL SERMANNI

KELVINGROVE ART GALLERY AND MUSEUM, 20:00–22:00, £15

The much-lauded young Scottish folkstress plays a special set launching her new EP, recorded in New York with Alex Newport. Part of Celtic Connections.

HOLY ESQUE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:00, £TBC

The Scottish indie-rock mob bring the intense sonic morass of distortion and atmospheric soundscapes, featuring the unearthly vocals of Pat Hynes.

RON POPE (WAKEY WAKEY + ALEXZ JOHNSON)

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £15

Fresh from their Hogmannay show at Stirling castle, the local postblues indie outfit grace Bloc’s lair.

Ron Pope-led American outfit whose current sound steers his former country-folk leanings into irresistibly hooky pop-anthem territory. Part of Celtic Connections.

BROADCAST, 20:00–23:00, £5

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £7

RAIL FAN

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

FILTHY BOY

Alternative four-piece hailing from south London, touring with their debut album, Smile That Won’t Go Down.

Wed 29 Jan

MATT NORRIS AND THE MOON (KAT HEALY + MARK DURNAN)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–22:00, £5

Edinburgh-based modern folk collective resplendent with trumpets, fiddles, accordions and four-part harmonies.

MMX

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6

English indie-rockers hailing from Oxford, formerly playing under the name Francesqa. Rescheduled date.

LLOYD COLE AND THE LEOPARDS (THE JAZZATEERS) O2 ABC, 19:30–22:00, £20

Having built his post-Commotions solo career, Lloyd Cole plays a special set with cult Glasgow outfit The Leopards – a collab he’s calling ‘the dirty Martini of dreams’. Part of Celtic Connections.

NUALA KENNEDY BAND (AJ ROACH)

ORAN MOR, 19:30–22:00, £13

The inventive Irish folk singer, composer and musician launches her third solo album, Noble Stranger, playing live with her touring band. Part of Celtic Connections.

Thu 30 Jan IMELDA MAY

OLD FRUITMARKET, 20:00–22:00, £18

The sultry songstress and her rockabilly blues band mix soulful vocals with cool-cat double bass, bouncing beats and protorock’n’roll guitar. Part of Celtic Connections.

LAU (ANNABELLE CHVOSTEK)

CITY HALLS, 19:30–22:00, £16

The award-winning Scottish folk trio – made up of Kris Drever, Martin Green and Aidan O’Rourke – play a special set teamed with contemporary-classical experimentalists, The Elysian Quartet.

Part of Celtic Connections.

THE WAVE PICTURES (EUGENE TOMBS)

MONO, 19:30–22:00, £9

Witty indie-pop trio headed by vocalist and guitarist Dave Tattersall, touring their new LP, City Forgiveness.

STRETCHED

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Jazz-influenced sound sauna, moving through mathcore to post-rock.

KEVIN MCDERMOTT + ROBBIE MACINTOSH (ZERVAS AND PEPPER)

ORAN MOR, 19:30–22:00, £13

Glasgow musician Kevin McDermott embarks on his 25th year, playing a set with longtime cohort Robbie McIntosh covering his Kevin McDermott Orchestra oeuvre and recent solo work. Part of Celtic Connections.

GAMA BOMB

AUDIO, 19:00–22:00, £10

EXIT CALM

Alternative four-piece hailing from South Yorkshire, awash with psychedelic influences and drawing comparisons to early My Bloody Valentine.

EAST INDIA YOUTH

KING TUT’S, 20:30–23:00, £6

William Doyle’s one-man experimental soundscapes, built on vocal and instruments that wander down alleyways of electronica, techno, krautrock and pop.

ADAM STAFFORD + ANDREA MARINI (SONNY CARNTYNE) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:15–22:00, £8 (£5)

Special joint headliner set from former Y’All Is Fantasy Island mainman, Adam Stafford, playing alongside Glaswegian singer/songwriter Andrea Marini. All proceeds go to the Scottish Green party.

WINSTON MCANUFF + FIXI

THE ARCHES, 19:30–22:00, £14

Veteran Jamaican singer Winston McAnuff plays alongside his pianist/accordionist collaborator, Fixi, joined for a one-off outing by beatboxer and percussionist Marc Ruchmann. Part of Celtic Connections.

Sat 01 Feb

THREE BLIND WOLVES (GABRIEL KELLEY)

ORAN MOR, 19:30–22:00, £11

More singalongable, dancealongable alternative countryesque tunes from the Glasgow lads. Part of Celtic Connections.

YOUNG FATHERS (LAW)

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £8

In their latest incarnation as post-modern Afrocentric rappers, the Young Fathers chaps get ready to drop their new LP, Dead – mixing tribal rhythms with harmonised R’n’B hook-lines, quickfire couplets, and grinding synth and bass.

SUZANNE VEGA (SAMANTHA CRAIN)

CITY HALLS, 19:30–22:00, £20

The much-loved songstress makes her live return, performing new material alongside earlier classics from her impressive back catalogue. Part of Celtic Connections.

FLOOK (MAIREARAD GREEN + ANNA MASSIE)

THE ARCHES, 19:30–22:00, £13

Edinburgh Music

Indie rock lot from London formed back in 2010, touring on the run up to the release of their debut album.

Thu 02 Jan

Thu 30 Jan

127TH NEW YEAR MESSIAH USHER HALL, 12:00–14:00, FROM £13

Edinburgh Royal Choral Union’s annual New Year performance of Handel’s Messiah, celebrating a mammoth 127 years.

Fri 03 Jan DON’T DO THAT LIVE

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £4

The up-and-coming indie rockers kick out with an early January set.

X-MESS PARTY (PAL + INCENDIARY BATS + MAYONNAISE)

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:30–03:00, £DONATION

Henry’s host their annual January Christmas Party (we’re sure it makes sense to them), featuring bands that the staff at Henry’s play in, plus a selection of guest bands handpicked for the occasion. And tinsel. Loadsae tinsel.

Sat 04 Jan

FALL ROCKETS (PENNY BLACK + HALCYON)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 19:00–22:00, £5

Edinburgh-residing quartet of the alternative rock variety.

JIM THREAT AND THE VULLTURES (THE VACANTS + PANIC ATTAK) BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Fledgling punk rockers playing a mix of old and all-new original tunes.

DECAGRAM 1.2

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00–03:00, £3 (£6 AFTER 12)

All-new night based on unique collaborations, featuring film (7pm till 9pm) and then live music (9pm-midnight), before discoing down ‘til the wee hours.

Sun 05 Jan

FREE NELSON MANDOOMJAZZ

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:30–23:30, £5 (£4)

Doom jazz soundscapes from the Edinburgh-based instrumental trio recently signed to RareNoiseRecords.

Tue 07 Jan ARUNDA WIND TRIO

USHER HALL, 11:00–13:00, £3 (STUDENTS FREE)

All-female wind trio known for exploring new repertoire and playing lesser known works. Part of Usher Hall’s Emerging Artist series.

Wed 08 Jan

ADAM HOLMES AND THE EMBERS

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–22:00, £10

Young rootsy-pop singer/ songwriter Adam Holmes plays accompanied by his five-strong band of players, The Embers.

Thu 09 Jan

BANNERMANS, 20:00–22:00, £5

Fri 10 Jan

EDGEVILLE HELLRIDE (DARKFALL + ZERO HOUR)

Penicuik-based heavy metal quintet who formed in 2010 and got their arse in gear in 2013.

Sat 11 Jan PAUL CARRACK

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 18:30–22:00, FROM £28.50

Sheffield-born singer, songwriter and former frontman of Ace, Squeeze and Mike and The Mechanics back and a-tourin’ a selection of new tracks and past hits.

THE VEGA’S

New alternative rock-meets-pop outfit from Edinburgh.

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

Glasgow singer/songwriter of the solo acoustic variety, with a hint o’ country to his sound.

January 2014

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:30–23:30, £5 (£4)

Edinburgh-based alternative indie lot led by husband and wife pairing James and Lisa Russell, providing a quiet/loud contrast.

Wed 15 Jan JAMMIN’ AT VOODOO

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 21:00–23:00, FREE

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

THE BLUESWATER (TOMLIN AND THE STROLLERS)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £6

Rockin’ Edinburgh 11-piece, resplendent with an old-school R’n’B vibe and a three-horn brass section.

Thu 16 Jan

LINDI ORTEGA (TOM HICKOX)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 21:00–01:00, £10

The Canadian singer/songwriter does her country-styled-popmeets-rockabilly thing, most likely in cherry-red cowboy boots.

Fri 17 Jan NORTHERN LIGHTS

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 20:00–22:00, £12

Wind quintet in possession of a diverse repertoire, welding the traditional and the avant-garde by combining ancient instruments with new composition.

WOODENBOX (VICTORIAN TROUT CONSPIRACY)

THE PLEASANCE, 20:00–01:00, FREE

Ali Downey’s Americana-styled folk ensemble play under their clipped back Woodenbox moniker, still imbued with the same propensity for full-on barn-raising anthems.

RALLY & BROAD (DON PATERSON + LEO CONDIE + REBECCA GREEN + CARLY BROWN) COUNTING HOUSE, 20:00–22:45, £5

First 2014 edition of the spoken word night, welcoming Scottish poet, writer and musician, Don Paterson, alongside a musical set from Leo Condie and his band, spoken word from Rebecca Green and a debut set from fledgling talent, Carly Brown.

THE SKINNY 100 (UBRE BLANCA + HONEYBLOOD + KID CANAVERAL)

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–03:00, FREE (VIA RSVP@THESKINNY.CO.UK)

Sat 18 Jan

JAMES ARTHUR

The Northern Ireland speed thrash metallers tear it up in their usual raw and introspective way.

CHRIS SUCKLE (FRAGILEX + LUISA MENONI)

UNIVERSAL THEE

USHER HALL, 19:00–22:00, £27.50

Sun 02 Feb

ORAN MOR, 19:30–22:00, £14

USHER HALL, 15:00–17:00, FROM £17.50

The Johann Strauss dancers and orchestra return with their enchanting Viennese Ball show, bedecked in full period costume.

SCO Conductor Emeritus, Joseph Swensen, returns to Scotland with a programme with Paris at its heart (aka plenty Mozart).

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £10

The 2012 X-Factor winner drops into town to offend some people.

Nashville singer-songwriter best known (by us, at least) for True Blood theme song, Bad Things. Part of Celtic Connections.

JOHANN STRAUSS GALA: A VIENNESE PARTY

We (yes, us – The Skinny) celebrate our 100th issue in style, with live sets from Ubre Blanca, Honeyblood and Kid Canaveral, plus guest DJs, spoken word, live projections from our art Showcases past and some nifty booze sponsorship. Join us!

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: PARIS MASTERWORKS

The Anglo-Irish outfit weave sheer musical magic from seemingly minimal elements: two flutes, a guitar and a bodhran. Part of Celtic Connections.

JACE EVERETT (L’ACOUSTICA)

Sun 12 Jan

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

MIRACLE GLASS COMPANY (ANDY HICKIE + JAMIE ARGH)

The all-new psychedelic supergroup simultaneously play their debut gig and launch their debut EP, Turn Around.

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: A NIGHT IN ITALY

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £10

Mezzo-soprano Renata Pokupić leads a reworking of Respighi’s romantic evocation of sunset, amongst other Italian opera favourites.

CLIPPER (THE WEE ROGUE)

WEE RED BAR, 19:00–23:00, £4

Dumfries-born songwriter and ex-Cupid Mount Etna frontman Malcolm Irving returns with an LP’s worth of material describing and questioning the events surrounding the Lockerbie bombing.

JOHN TURRELL AND THE HEED

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £10

One half of cult soul lot, Smoove and Turrell, and the lead vocalist in Craig Charles’ Fantasy Funk Band project, John Turrell takes to the stage with his own live band, The Heed.

RAZORBLADE SMILE

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

The Glasgow metallers do their best to burst some eardrums with their usual noisy musical onslought.

NECK DEEP (ROAM + HOLD UP + IN PROVIDENCE) STUDIO 24, 20:00–23:00, £7

The European pop-punk lot tour their new LP, Wishful Thinking.

Mon 20 Jan

ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS

USHER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £12

The small, conductor-less ensemble take in a series of international classics – including Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.

Tue 21 Jan OLGA JEGUNOVA

USHER HALL, 11:00–13:00, £3 (STUDENTS FREE)

Latvian pianist with a vast-ranging repertoire. Part of Usher Hall’s Emerging Artist series.

Thu 23 Jan CLICK CLACK CLUB

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 20:00–23:30, £5 (£3)

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

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: MEDITATIONS ON THE SEA

THE QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £10

Conductor Gerry Walker and clarinetist Maximilano Martin lead a selection of pieces concerned with our complicated relationship with the sea.

RALEIGH

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

Canadian outfit imbued with beautifully gleeful songwriting and careful arrangements.

Fri 24 Jan

JUNEBUG (MADE AS MANNEQUINS + KUNG FU ACADEMY)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

Acoustic rock Glasgow quartet, gigging across Scotchland since mid-2011.

URVANOVIC (STAMPEDE ROAD)

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

Pronounced ‘er-van-o-vitch’, the pop-styled seven-piece pitch up for their usual variety bucket of strings, synths, vocals, percussion and other noises.

Sat 25 Jan BOMBSKARE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £8

Edinburgh’s original nine-piece ska juggernaut – known for reaching zero to 60 in the space of three chords, or something impressive like that.

DEER LAKE (MAN OF MOON)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

Americana duo made up of former Annie Christian frontman Larry Lean and The Felsons’ troubadour, Dean Owens.

Sun 26 Jan

HACKNEY COLLIERY BAND (DJ ASTROBOY)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £10

East London all-acoustic take on the brass band, featuring trumpets, trombones, saxes, sousaphone and marching percussion.

Mon 27 Jan

WHALES IN CUBICLES SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

CODEJAK (MONKEY PUZZLE)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

All-rockin’ quartet driving along on a punk-fuelled and angular manifesto.

TRIO VALORE

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £10

New deep funk and mod jazz trio formed by Steve White on drums, Damon Minchella on bass and Seamus Beaghen on hammond.

Fri 31 Jan

THE WAVE PICTURES (NICE CHURCH)

WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £7

Witty indie-pop trio headed by vocalist and guitarist Dave Tattersall, touring their new LP, City Forgiveness.

THE DEEP DARK WOODS + TREMBLING BELLS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £8.50

Up-and-coming psychedelic country-styled Canadian quintet, making their return visit to Sneaky Pete’s.

RSNO: JOHN LILL’S 70TH

USHER HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £11.50

Acclaimed British pianist John Lill takes on Brahms’ tempestuous heartbreaker of a First Piano Concerto, amongst others.

FORTUNE UNSIGNED

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Evening of hand-selected unsigned indie from Fortune Promotions.

LYNDSEY CRAIG

COUNTING HOUSE, 20:00–22:00, £6

Following a lengthy stint in the studio, Lyndsey Craig takes to Edinburgh’s Counting House to debut new EP, Blue Jays.

Glasgow Thu 02 Jan MISBEHAVIN’

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Monthly mish-mash of electro, dance and dirty pop with DJ Drucifer.

DANSE MACABRE

CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–04:00, £4

The Danse Macabre regulars unite those two happiest of bedfellows, goth rock and, er, classic disco, in their regular home of Classic Grand.

NEVERLAND

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Themed night with a live Twitter feed and a bouncy castle for added LOLs. R.U.IN THURSDAYS

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

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

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

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

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

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

JORDIE LANE + JEFF LANG + THE MAE TRIO + SHELLIE MORRIS

Fri 03 Jan

WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

The Wee Red play host to a special folk-styled showcase evening, as Celtic Connections makes its presence felt over in the ‘burgh.

NEON TETRAS

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Prog rock-styled trio still riding high on the back of their debut LP.

Tue 28 Jan AONACH MOR

USHER HALL, 11:00–13:00, £3 (STUDENTS FREE)

Traditional Scottish trio on fiddle, accordion, voice and piano. Part of Usher Hall’s Emerging Artist series.

Wed 29 Jan ZERVAS AND PEPPER

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £8.50

Cosmic folk rock five-piece, formed in 2007 when Cardiffbased singer/songwriters Paul Zervas and Kathryn Pepper discovered a mutual love of harmony-heavy folk.

OLD SKOOL

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

DAMNATION

CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £6

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

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

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

JAMMING FRIDAYS

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

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

HARSH TUG

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4

Hip-hop and gangsta rap brought to you by the Notorious B.A.G and pals.

Glasgow Clubs ROCK THE BLOC

SUNDAY ROASTER

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

The HNDPCKD Cassette chaps take control of the decks, playing a set of classic hip-hop, instrumental beats, future funk and headnodders.

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

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

DJ Mythic’s Sabbath-bothering mix of rock, metal and punk, with punter requests accepted all night long.

YES!: NEW YEAR HANGOVER SPECIAL

New gay indie night on the block, with a playlist that mixes classic Bowie, The Smiths, Blondie et al alongside new kids like Django Djanjo and Grimes – this month with an NYE hangover special (i.e. with added Irn Bru).

FRESH BEATS

HAIR OF THE CAT

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Mon 06 Jan BURN

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

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

Sat 04 Jan

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

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

BLACK TENT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4

Indie, electro and anything inbetween with Pauly (My Latest Novel), and Simin and Steev (Errors).

ABSOLUTION

CLASSIC GRAND, 22:30–03:00, £6

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

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

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

THE ROCK SHOP

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

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

VOODOO

CATHOUSE, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 MEMBERS)

Under 18s rock night playing, er, anything and everything rock.

LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by Gerry Lyons and guests.

DEATHKILL4000 (TWIN MIRROROS)

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Industro-rock noise party with live players and bespoke visuals to boot.

I HEART GARAGE SATURDAYS

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart.

FREAKBEATS

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Mod, soul, ska and groovy freakbeat 45s, with DJs Jamo, Paul Molloy and Gareth McCallum.

SUBCULTURE VS OPTIMO

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

SPACE INVADER

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Tue 07 Jan KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

VOODOO VOODOO

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Duncan Harvey plays a mix of vintage rock ‘n’ roll, sleazy R’n’B, swing, soul, surf and pop from a bygone age.

I AM

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

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of house, techno and electronica – a live guest or two oft in tow.

TV TUESDAY

THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Weekly Tuesday party playing a selection of dancefloor-friendly anthems.

Wed 08 Jan 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.

SUB ROSA

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm.

MUSIQUE BOUTIQUE

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

Midweek party night with resident Bobby Bluebell playing classic house only.

DISCO RIOT

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

All whole lorra Sub Club residents take to the booth for a mighty versus night – with the Subculture’s residents squaring up to Optimo’s JG Wilkes and JD Twitch.

Disco-styled party night with Alfredo Crolla spinning a selection of favourites, bolstered by karaoke and popcorn stalls, just cos.

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3 WITH BOXING DAY STUB)

DJs Izzle and Hutchy serve up their usual midweek rammy of pop punk, hardcore and deadly slushy drinks.

LET’S GO BACK... WAY BACK: THE RECESSION SESSION

Residents JP McGowan, Bosco and Rob Mason bring acid-house, techno and rave back to the dancefloor, playing a special cheap January date with cheap entry to everyone with a Boxing Day ticket stub.

NUDE ON MARS

STEREO, 21:00–03:00, £4

Flore de Hoog plays a speciallyselected batch of vintage sleaze, joined by a selection of local bands for a January-welcoming first o’ 2014 edition.

Sun 05 Jan NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

BEAST WEDNESDAYS

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

SHANGRILA

THE ARCHES, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

New midweeker with décor inspired by various festivals across the globe, manned by a rotating batch of DJ guests adopting a different theme to each week.

Thu 09 Jan NEVERLAND

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Themed night with a live Twitter feed and a bouncy castle for added LOLs. R.U.IN THURSDAYS

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

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

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

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

Listings

57

JELLY BABY O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

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

Fri 10 Jan OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

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

DAMNATION

CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £6

FOR THE RECORD (ZOO LOOK + SEAN STEWART + DOUG HARRIS) LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Starting off 2014 with their La Cheetah Cub debut, For the Record bring house trio Zoo Look to the basement with support from Sean Stewart and Doug Harris.

Sun 12 Jan NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

Fri 17 Jan OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

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

DAMNATION

CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £6

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

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4

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

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

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

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Indie dancing club, playing anything and everything danceable.

KINO FIST

SUNDAY ROASTER

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

PROPAGANDA

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

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

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

COMMON PEOPLE

THE FLYING DUCK, 21:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Celebration of all things 90s, with hits a-plenty and a pre-club bingo session.

JAMMING FRIDAYS

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

HAIR OF THE CAT

DJ Mythic’s Sabbath-bothering mix of rock, metal and punk, with punter requests accepted all night long.

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

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

BOTTLE ROCKET

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

JAMMING FRIDAYS

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

Mon 13 Jan BURN

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

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

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

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

SPACE INVADER

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

OFFBEAT

The Offbeat crew take to their now regular home of La Cheetah, with guests being kept under wraps for now.

KILL YR IDOLS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4

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

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

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Tue 14 Jan

DIY disco with a punk attitude, where psychedelic voodoo grooves meet souped-up turbo-tech, played out by the regulars and their occasional guests.

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

STEREO, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

RETURN TO MONO

Monthly night from Soma Records taking in popular techno offerings of all hues, with a special guest or two oft in tow..

ZONE ZERO

69 BELOW, 21:00–03:00, £15

Zone Zero herald the return of MCs Stretch and Impulse to Glasgow, headlining alongside MC Banks and DJs Neil G and DMB. FRESH BEATS

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

Sat 11 Jan ABSOLUTION

CLASSIC GRAND, 22:30–03:00, £6

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

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

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

THE ROCK SHOP

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

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

VOODOO

CATHOUSE, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 MEMBERS)

Under 18s rock night playing, er, anything and everything rock.

LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by Gerry Lyons and guests.

BACK TAE MINE

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

KILLER KITSCH

ENGINES

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

The Engines collective host their experimental techno night with three electronic producers, DJs and VJs in tow.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

VOODOO VOODOO

Duncan Harvey plays a mix of vintage rock ‘n’ roll, sleazy R’n’B, swing, soul, surf and pop from a bygone age.

FRESH BEATS

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

I AM

Sat 18 Jan

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

CLASSIC GRAND, 22:30–03:00, £6

ABSOLUTION

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of house, techno and electronica – a live guest or two oft in tow.

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

THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

TV TUESDAY

Weekly Tuesday party playing a selection of dancefloor-friendly anthems.

Wed 15 Jan SUB ROSA

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm.

MUSIQUE BOUTIQUE

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

Midweek party night with resident Bobby Bluebell playing classic house only.

DISCO RIOT

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Disco-styled party night with Alfredo Crolla spinning a selection of favourites, bolstered by karaoke and popcorn stalls, just cos.

BEAST WEDNESDAYS

SUBCULTURE

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

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

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

THE ROCK SHOP

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

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

VOODOO

CATHOUSE, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 MEMBERS)

Under 18s rock night playing, er, anything and everything rock.

LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by Gerry Lyons and guests.

I HEART GARAGE SATURDAYS

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

House-party styled night with residents Gav Dunbar and Sci-Fi Steve, plus free toast for all as standard.

DJs Izzle and Hutchy serve up their usual midweek rammy of pop punk, hardcore and deadly slushy drinks.

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart.

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

THE ARCHES, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

I HEART GARAGE SATURDAYS

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart.

FANTASTIC MAN

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

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

SUBCULTURE (JACKMASTER)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic manning the decks, joined by Numbers’ chap Jackmaster for a special guest slot.

WRONG ISLAND

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4

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

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

SHANGRILA

New midweeker with décor inspired by various festivals across the globe, manned by a rotating batch of DJ guests adopting a different theme to each week.

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

Thu 16 Jan

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

NEVERLAND

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Themed night with a live Twitter feed and a bouncy castle for added LOLs. R.U.IN THURSDAYS

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

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

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

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

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

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

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Listings

SINGLES NIGHT

STRANGE PARADISE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4

MILLION DOLLAR DISCO

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00, £5

Al Kent and his disco-styled night returns to Glasgow almost a year to the day since their last party. Free mix CDs for the first 100 down.

CODE (REBEKAH)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 EARLYBIRD (£10 THEREAFTER)

Underground techno specialists Code celebrate their first outing of 2014 by bringing Berlin-based, Brummie techno DJ and producer Rebekah to Scotland for the first time.

STIGMA: GIVE THE DRUMMER SOME STEREO, 20:00–03:00, £5

All-new club night from Hector Bizerk, comprising the celebratory elements of hip-hop culture including graffiti, break dance and a good dose of DJing – this month with added drumming.

TYCI (SKINNY DIPPER + FLOYD DJ)

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

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

Sun 19 Jan NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

SUNDAY ROASTER

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

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

HAIR OF THE CAT

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

DJ Mythic’s Sabbath-bothering mix of rock, metal and punk, with punter requests accepted all night long.

Mon 20 Jan BURN

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

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

SPACE INVADER

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

Tue 21 Jan KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

VOODOO VOODOO

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Duncan Harvey plays a mix of vintage rock ‘n’ roll, sleazy R’n’B, swing, soul, surf and pop from a bygone age.

TV TUESDAY

THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Weekly Tuesday party playing a selection of dancefloor-friendly anthems.

I AM (L-VIS 1990)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play host to a special guest slot from L-Vis 1990 (aka James Connolly), known for his singular brand of club music free of rules and genres.

Wed 22 Jan NOT MOVING

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

South African house, grime, jungle, R’n’B and hauntology – tropical mix, ayes.

SUB ROSA

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm.

MUSIQUE BOUTIQUE

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

Midweek party night with resident Bobby Bluebell playing classic house only.

DISCO RIOT

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Disco-styled party night with Alfredo Crolla spinning a selection of favourites, bolstered by karaoke and popcorn stalls, just cos.

BEAST WEDNESDAYS

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

DJs Izzle and Hutchy serve up their usual midweek rammy of pop punk, hardcore and deadly slushy drinks.

SHANGRILA

THE ARCHES, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

New midweeker with décor inspired by various festivals across the globe, manned by a rotating batch of DJ guests adopting a different theme to each week.

Thu 23 Jan NEVERLAND

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

R.U.IN THURSDAYS CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

I HEART GARAGE SATURDAYS THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart.

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

HIP HOP THURSDAYS

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

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

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

CROC V CROS: GSA UNION REOPENING

THE ART SCHOOL UNION, 21:00–03:00, £10 (£8)

GSA union (finally) reopens, with Croc Vs Croc joined by the likes of Murlo, Stellar Om Source, Charlotte Prodger, Fem Bitch Nation, Jackie Your Body, Sacred Paws, and more, prettied up by lighting automatons, sound works and live projections.

Fri 24 Jan OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

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

THE HOT CLUB

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4

Tearin’ it up with 60s psych-outs and modern sleaze, provided by Rafla and Andy (of The Phantom Band).

DAMNATION

CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £6

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

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

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

SUPER TROUPER

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5

Clubber’s delight dedicated to all-Swedish indie, pop and rock – moving from ABBA through to The Knife like a proper legend.

JAMMING FRIDAYS

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

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

MENERGY (DWV)

AXM CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £15

The Italo, hi-NRG and live drag dance party welcome back RuPauk’s Drag Race superstars, DWV (aka Detox Icunt, Willam Belli and Vicky Vox) to tear things up with their usual O.T.T. drag antics.

VOID (ALAN OLDHAM)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

The Void crew bring Alan Oldham (aka DJ T-1000) back to La Cheetah Club for another night of techno mayhem.

FRESH BEATS

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

BIGFOOT’S TEA PARTY

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

The Nomadic techno and techhouse night makes its regular trip to Subbie’s basement.

Sat 25 Jan ABSOLUTION

CLASSIC GRAND, 22:30–03:00, £6

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

TEENAGE RIOT

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

HAUS DIMENSION

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4

All-new night taking in a bit of disoc, house, techno and acid, plus all manner of other wavy beats.

THE RETURN OF MUNGO’S HIFI

THE ART SCHOOL UNION, 23:00–03:00, £10 ADV. (£12 DOOR)

Mungo’s HiFi and The Art School reunite once more in The Vic’s (now refurbished and finally open to the public) digs, with the full soundsystem manned by a selection of live guests. #NOTSOSILENT (SKUDGE)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8 EARYBIRD (£10-£14 THEREAFTER)

The #notsosilent crew return to their regular den of La Cheetah Club with Swedish duo Skudge in tow, bringing the party-hard techno as only they know how.

SUBCULTURE (DIXON AVENUE BASEMENT JAMS)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

Long-running house night with regulars Harri & Domenic playing host to ultra hip Glasgow imprint Dixon Avenue Basement Jams – who bring their dirty grooves to the booth.

Sun 26 Jan NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

SLIDE IT IN

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Full-on mix of nu-metal and hard rockin’ tunes with DJs Mythic and Div. TRASH AND BURN

CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £4

Monthly glam trash and sleaze tease party, with guest burlesque performers, magicians and a bit o’ belly dancing.

SUNDAY ROASTER

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

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

HAIR OF THE CAT

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

VOODOO

CATHOUSE, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 MEMBERS)

Under 18s rock night playing, er, anything and everything rock.

LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by Gerry Lyons and guests.

Midweek party night with resident Bobby Bluebell playing classic house only.

SO WEIT SO GUT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

The party sounds of Ean, Smiddy and Kenny White on decks.

DISCO RIOT

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Disco-styled party night with Alfredo Crolla spinning a selection of favourites, bolstered by karaoke and popcorn stalls, just cos.

BEAST WEDNESDAYS

BURN

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

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

SPACE INVADER

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

New midweeker with décor inspired by various festivals across the globe, manned by a rotating batch of DJ guests adopting a different theme to each week.

Thu 30 Jan COUNTERFEIT

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Full-on mix of nu-metal and hard rockin’ tunes with DJs Mythic and Div. NEVERLAND

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Themed night with a live Twitter feed and a bouncy castle for added LOLs. R.U.IN THURSDAYS

CATHOUSE, 23:00–04:00, £4 (£2)

VOODOO VOODOO

I AM

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of house, techno and electronica – a live guest or two oft in tow.

TV TUESDAY

THE GARAGE, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Weekly Tuesday party playing a selection of dancefloor-friendly anthems.

FRESH BEATS

THE GARAGE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

I AM EDINBURGH

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

JUICE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Pumped Thursday nighter playing a mighty mix of everything from Hud Mo to Fly Mo. HI SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

Fri 03 Jan MISFITS

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

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

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

HIP HOP THURSDAYS

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

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

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

STRETCHED

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Jazz-influenced sound sauna, moving through mathcore to post-rock.

Fri 31 Jan OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

DAMNATION

CLASSIC GRAND, 23:00–03:00, £6

PLANET EARTH

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top. THIS IS MUSIC

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3 (MEMBERS FREE)

Regular indie and electro outing from the Sick Note DJs. PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

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

POP TARTS

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 12)

Pop and rock gems spun by DJs from Electric Circus’ Saturday club nights, including Magic Nostalgic, Beep Beep, Yeah! and Pop Rocks.

FLY

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

A powerhouse of local residents take over Cab Vol, joined by a selection of guest talent both local and further flung (aka London).

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

STUDIO 24, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 11)

PROPAGANDA

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

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Monthly club bringing the spirit of the psychedelic trance dance ritual to the floor, with live acts, VJs and colourful fluoro decor.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

One half of the esoteric ambient duo, Demdike Stare, Sean Canty pitches up for a guest slot on the Sleazy decks.

Thu 02 Jan

Tue 28 Jan The Killer Kitsch residents take charge – eight years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic.

SEAN CANTY (THE GUILD OF CALAMITOUS INTENT)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £4

SHANGRILA

THE ARCHES, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

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

KILLER KITSCH

3024 mainman Martyn joins La Cheetah Club residents Wardy and Dom D’Sylva for an end-of-January blowout.

Edinburgh

DJs Izzle and Hutchy serve up their usual midweek rammy of pop punk, hardcore and deadly slushy drinks.

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

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

LA CHEETAH CLUB: MARTYN + WARDY + DOM D’SYLVA LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

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

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

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

MUSIQUE BOUTIQUE

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

Mon 27 Jan

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

THE ROCK SHOP

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Subbie’s regular student night with residents Ray Vose and Desoto at the helm.

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

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

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

SUB ROSA

DJ Mythic’s Sabbath-bothering mix of rock, metal and punk, with punter requests accepted all night long.

Duncan Harvey plays a mix of vintage rock ‘n’ roll, sleazy R’n’B, swing, soul, surf and pop from a bygone age.

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

Wed 29 Jan

COSMIC

STEREO, 23:00–03:00, £5

JAMMING FRIDAYS

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

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

SHAKE APPEAL

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Damn fine evening of hip shakers and neck breakers, combining everything from Buddy Holly to Motorhead.

OPTIMO

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

JD Twitch and JG Wilkes take to the decks for their monthly night of pure Optimo goodness, with guests kept tightly under wraps for now.

GLUE

THE FLYING DUCK, 22:00–03:00, £5

Fresh from their inaugural party smashing night in November, the Glue lads are back with all the best in indie, electro, punk, rock’n’roll and dance.

UNSEEN

More stripped-down techno with a back-to-basics warehouse style from the Unseen crew and their handpicked guests.

Sat 04 Jan TEASE AGE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

THE GO-GO

STUDIO 24, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 11)

Long-running retro night with veteran DJs Tall Paul and Big Gus. MUMBO JUMBO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Funk, soul, beats and mash-ups from the Mumbo Jumbo regulars, joined by Bubble DJs Brainstorm and Durkit for some added acid and house.

BUBBLEGUM

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

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

PLAYDATE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3 (MEMBERS FREE)

House specialists Stewart and Steven play, er, some special house.

THE SKINNY

Edinburgh Clubs SPEAKER BITE ME ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)

The Evol DJs worship at the alter of all kinds of indie-pop, with their only rule being that it’s gotta have bite.

REWIND

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

Journey back through the ages, with the residents digging out anthemic gems from the last 40 years.

BORDELLO

STUDIO 24, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 11)

Classic sleazy rock action, all the night long.

POCKET ACES (THUNDER DISCO CLUB)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Dance-inducing party with an anything goes attitude and rotating schedule of guest DJs, with TDC making their monthly journey to the capital for a night of discoinfused house.

Sun 05 Jan COALITION

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly cross-genre of bass from a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs. THE CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.

Mon 06 Jan MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

NU FIRE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Tue 07 Jan

Fri 10 Jan

Mon 13 Jan

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

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

MISFITS

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

FOUR CORNERS

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)

Soulful dancing fodder, from deep funk to reggae beats with your regular DJ hosts.

PLANET EARTH

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

MIXED UP

Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

NU FIRE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Tue 14 Jan ANTICS

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

PROPAGANDA

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4 STUDENTS)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

SOUL JAM HOT

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

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.

STUDIO 24, 21:00–03:00, £3 (£6 AFTER 10)

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

COSMIC

Monthly club bringing the spirit of the psychedelic trance dance ritual to the floor, with live acts, VJs and colourful fluoro decor.

POP TARTS

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 12)

Pop and rock gems spun by DJs from Electric Circus’ Saturday club nights, including Magic Nostalgic, Beep Beep, Yeah! and Pop Rocks.

FLY

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

A powerhouse of local residents take over Cab Vol, joined by a selection of guest talent both local and further flung (aka London).

TEESH

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3 (MEMBERS FREE)

DJ Cheers – frequent flyer at many a Sneaky’s night – finally gets his own show on the road, playing disco, house and boogie gems.

FALLING UP

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £4

I LOVE HIP HOP

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

HECTOR’S HOUSE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)

The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

Wed 15 Jan COOKIE

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Ross Blackwax and Danet.

CHAMPION SOUND

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£3 AFTER MIDNIGHT)

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

TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4 STUDENTS)

Sat 11 Jan

I AM EDINBURGH

TEASE AGE

Thu 16 Jan CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

BASS SYNDICATE

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

HECTOR’S HOUSE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3 (MEMBERS FREE)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

I LOVE HIP HOP

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)

The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

Wed 08 Jan COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Midweek student rundown of chart, club and electro hits.

WITNESS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Ross Blackwax and Danet.

CHAMPION SOUND

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

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

TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

New night manned by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson.

Thu 09 Jan I AM EDINBURGH

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

JUICE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Pumped Thursday nighter playing a mighty mix of everything from Hud Mo to Fly Mo. HI SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

January 2014

The regular Edinburgh breaks and bassline Manga crew takeover.

BUBBLEGUM

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

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

BIG ‘N’ BASHY

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£6 AFTER 12)

Mighty mix of reggae, grime, dubstep and jungle played oot by the inimitable residents.

DR NO’S

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£5 AFTER 12)

Danceable mix of the best in 60s ska, rocksteady, bluebeat and early reggae.

BEEP BEEP, YEAH!

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)

Retro pop stylings from the 50s to the 70s, via a disco tune or ten.

POCKET ACES (THINK TWICE)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Dance-inducing party night, with Craig Smith making his monthly appearance rich with deep, soulful house sounds.

Sun 12 Jan COALITION

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly cross-genre of bass from a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs. THE CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Two-fold night of house and techno manned by the regular 4x4 crew.

HEADPHONE PARTY

THE PLEASANCE, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Student-friendly party night where one-and-all don their headphones and bop along to two channels worth of tunes, while the room around remains in silence.

BIXON: 2ND BIRTHDAY

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

Hip young party collective spinning house jams all night long, celebrating their second birthday on the night.

Sat 18 Jan TEASE AGE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

THE EGG

WEE RED BAR, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£5 AFTER 12)

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

WITNESS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

4X4

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.

FLY

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

A powerhouse of local residents take over Cab Vol, joined by a selection of guest talent both local and further flung (aka London).

Art School institution with DJs Chris and Jake playing the finest in indie, garage, soul and punk.

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

New night manned by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson.

SOUL JAM HOT

Pop and rock gems spun by DJs from Electric Circus’ Saturday club nights, including Magic Nostalgic, Beep Beep, Yeah! and Pop Rocks.

Midweek student rundown of chart, club and electro hits.

The vinyl-obsessed Weegie residents play a four-hour long session of house tracks, marking their first Edinburgh outing to boot, joined by guest pals Roy’s Iron DNA.

ANTICS

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

POP TARTS ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 12)

JUICE

Pumped Thursday nighter playing a mighty mix of everything from Hud Mo to Fly Mo. HULLABALOO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Mash-up mix of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Mumbo Jumbo’s Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin, bolstered by Tall Paul’s vintage selections.

HI SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

BUBBLEGUM

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

THE GREEN DOOR

STUDIO 24, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 11)

Surf, blues and rockabilly from the 50s and early 60s, plus free cake.

Job done.

SOULSVILLE

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

DECADE

STUDIO 24, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 11.30)

Fresh playlists spanning pop-punk, emo and hardcore soundscapes.

POP ROCKS!

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)

Pop and rock gems, taking in motown, 80s classics and plenty danceable fare (well, the Beep Beep, Yeah! crew are on decks after all).

POCKET ACES (GASOLINE DANCE MACHINE)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Dance-inducing party night, with GDM’s Cheap Picasso making their monthly appearance armed with classic Italo, straight-up boogie, contemporary house and disco.

Sun 19 Jan COALITION

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

Weekly cross-genre of bass from a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

Fri 17 Jan

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

MISFITS

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

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

PLANET EARTH

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top. CONFUSION IS SEX

THE CLUB

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.

Mon 20 Jan MIXED UP

Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

NU FIRE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

PROPAGANDA

Tue 21 Jan

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4 STUDENTS)

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

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

ANIMAL HOSPITAL

STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11.30)

The Animal Hospital troops continue to medicate Edinburgh with their unique blend of techno, house and minimal.

Visit our mobile site to have an easy to use listings service at your fingertips

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)

Glam techno and electro night, this time with a circus theme.

Get up to date news bulletins, video premieres, extra event listings and online only content on theskinny.co.uk

ANTICS

@theskinnymag /TheSkinnyMag

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

SOUL JAM HOT

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.

I N D E P E N D E N T

C U LT U R A L

J O U R N A L I S M

Illustration: Jonathan Summers-Muir

I LOVE HIP HOP

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Listings

59

HECTOR’S HOUSE CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)

The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

Sat 25 Jan TEASE AGE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

BUBBLEGUM

Wed 22 Jan

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

COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Midweek student rundown of chart, club and electro hits.

CHAMPION SOUND

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

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

TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

New night manned by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson.

WITNESS (L-VIS 1990)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures – joined for a special guest set by L-Vis 1990 (aka james Connolly), known for his singular brand of club music free of rules and genres.

Thu 23 Jan

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

RIDE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3 (MEMBERS FREE)

The Ride girls play hip-hop and dance, all night long – now in their new party-ready Saturday night slot.

BETAMAX

STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Monthly offering of new wave, disco, post-punk and a bit o’ synthtastic 80s with your hosts Chris and Big Gus. DR NO’S

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£5 AFTER 12)

Danceable mix of the best in 60s ska, rocksteady, bluebeat and early reggae.

MESSENGER

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£7 AFTER 12)

I AM EDINBURGH

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

JUICE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Pumped Thursday nighter playing a mighty mix of everything from Hud Mo to Fly Mo. HULLABALOO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Mash-up mix of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Mumbo Jumbo’s Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin, bolstered by Tall Paul’s vintage selections.

HI SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

Fri 24 Jan MISFITS

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

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

PLANET EARTH

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top. PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

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

POP TARTS

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 12)

Pop and rock gems spun by DJs from Electric Circus’ Saturday club nights, including Magic Nostalgic, Beep Beep, Yeah! and Pop Rocks.

FLY

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

A powerhouse of local residents take over Cab Vol, joined by a selection of guest talent both local and further flung (aka London).

SUBSTANCE

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

The Substance crew mix up cutting edge and classic electronic music from across the spectrum, with resident Gavin Richardson likely joined by a guest or two.

DISORDER

Pumped night of acid, techno and electro soundscapes with residents Elhoi VG, Dari J and Dimebag.

WARM FUZZY

WEE RED BAR, 23:00–03:00, £5

New funky electronic night from DJs Nick Nasty Biscuit and Bill Spice, intended to offer an all-inclusive club environment for like-minded people – bolstered by a strong visual element featuring hangings, installations and projections.

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Ross Blackwax and Danet.

CHAMPION SOUND

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

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

Thu 30 Jan I AM EDINBURGH

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£5/£4 STUDENT AFTER 11)

Studio 24 takes a foray into all things heavy and metal for their usual last Saturday of the month blow-out.

MAGIC N-OZ-TALGIC: AUSTRALIA DAY SPECIAL

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£7 AFTER 12)

Wed 15 Jan

NON-ZERO’S, 19:30–22:00, £5

Messy student midweeker of party tunes and five quid fish bowls.

NECK DEEP (ROAM + LAST OF US + WE SEEK BRIGHTNESS)

The European pop-punk lot tour their new LP, Wishful Thinking.

Fri 31 Jan KING KURT

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 20:00–22:00, £10

Musically bizarre five-piece from London, mashing up rockabilly sounds with African rhythms and pop sensibilties.

Mash-up mix of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Mumbo Jumbo’s Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin, bolstered by Tall Paul’s vintage selections.

HI SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

MISFITS

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

XPLICIT

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Dundee Clubs Fri 03 Jan

CRAYON VS BAD BLOOD

READING ROOMS, 23:00–02:30, £TBC

Crayon and Bad Blood join forces for a January welcoming special, providing assorted beats for heads and feet.

Sat 04 Jan

Mon 27 Jan MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

NU FIRE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Tue 28 Jan ANTICS

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

SOUL JAM HOT

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.

I LOVE HIP HOP

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

HECTOR’S HOUSE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)

The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

Wed 29 Jan COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Midweek student rundown of chart, club and electro hits.

STACKS

WEE RED BAR, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

WONKY

A cast of players take care of all your hardtek and breakcore needs, with full UV decor and glowstick action.

POP TARTS

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 12)

Pop and rock gems spun by DJs from Electric Circus’ Saturday club nights, including Magic Nostalgic, Beep Beep, Yeah! and Pop Rocks.

FLY

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

A powerhouse of local residents take over Cab Vol, joined by a selection of guest talent both local and further flung (aka London). #NOTSOSILENT

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

Belch and crew bring the best in underground house with special guests being kept under wraps for now.

JACKHAMMER (JOEY BELTRAM)

THE CAVES, 22:00–03:00, £8 ADV. (£10 DOOR)

The Jackhammer crew up our dose of all things techno, drafting in American DJ and record producer Joey Beltram to help blow off the January cobwebs.

Sat 01 Feb VEGAS!

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:30–01:00, £6

50s-themed party fun night, with Frankie Sumatra, Bugsy Seagull, Dino Martini, Sam Jose and Nikki Nevada. Plus Vegas showgirls ago-go, natch.

Because nothing says Christmas quite like, erm, the jungle, Citizens go all-out for their staging of the Rudyard Kipling tale – bringing the vibrant jungle-world to life with innovative set design and original music. Matinee performances also available.

John Barrowman returns to the SECC as Dick Whittington, accompanied by The Krankies as Councillor Krankie and Jimmy Krankie – now with added 3D sequences. Afternoon performances also available.

The King’s Theatre

THE RAT PACK VEGAS SPECTACULAR

31 JAN, TIMES VARY, FROM £17

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 6 DEC AND 12 JAN, TIMES VARY, FROM £9

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

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

Edinburgh Playhouse

THE JUNGLE BOOK

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 30 NOV AND 5 JAN, TIMES VARY, FROM £13 (£7 CHILD)

ALADDIN

PLANET EARTH

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Citizens Theatre

Rat Pack-styled musical favourite, taking a trip back to the glitz and glam of 50s Las Vegas.

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

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.

FAT SAM’S SATURDAYS

See thewithworld Scottish Opera

Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests.

THE CLUB

Sat 18 Jan

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Rip-roaring soul, funk, and 50s r’n’b, jollied along by free mix CDs on the door.

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests.

Edinburgh

DICK MCWHITTINGTON

Sun 26 Jan SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)

Glasgow

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 14 DEC AND 5 JAN, TIMES VARY, FROM £13

Heavy jungle and bass-styled beats from the inimitable Xplicit crew, likely joined by a guest or two.

Weekly cross-genre of bass from a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

Fri 17 Jan

Theatre

SECC

A hodgepodge of quality tracks chosen by JP’s spinning wheel, this month with an Australia Day bent – aka expect all o’ the Kylie.

COALITION

FAT SAM’S WEDNESDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £5 (£4)

HULLABALOO

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

STUDIO 24 GOES METAL!

Thu 16 Jan

ASYLUM KAGE, 23:00–02:30, £4

Pumped Thursday nighter playing a mighty mix of everything from Hud Mo to Fly Mo.

Fri 31 Jan

Dance-inducing party with an anything goes attitude and rotating rota of guest DJs, with i AM residents Beta and Kappa showing their versatility with a guest appearance.

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes.

JUICE

Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

POCKET ACES (I AM)

Dundee Music

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Conscious roots and dub reggae rockin’ from the usual beefty soundsystem.

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)

WITNESS SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)

FAT SAM’S SATURDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 22:30–03:00, £8 (£5)

Massive Saturday night party spreading its wares over three floors and no less than six rooms, with Ricky H spanning dance, house, r’n’b and hip-hop selections.

ASYLUM

KAGE, 23:00–02:30, £4

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes.

Wed 08 Jan FAT SAM’S WEDNESDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £5 (£4)

Messy student midweeker of party tunes and five quid fish bowls.

Fri 10 Jan

DJS FOR THE PHILIPPINES (TEDDY HANNAH + GOOD STUFF + SLICE + JONO FYDA + ADO & KEN SWIFT)

READING ROOMS, 22:00–03:30, £5 DONATION

Second instalment of a Reading Rooms’ fundraiser special in aid of Eastern Samar, with DJs including Bleep’s Teddy Hannan and Cookin Sessions’ Jono Fyda.

FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)

Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests.

Sat 11 Jan

FAT SAM’S SATURDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 22:30–03:00, £8 (£5)

Massive Saturday night party spreading its wares over three floors and no less than six rooms, with Ricky H spanning dance, house, r’n’b and hip-hop selections.

Massive Saturday night party spreading its wares over three floors and no less than six rooms, with Ricky H spanning dance, house, r’n’b and hip-hop selections.

Panto adaptation of Disney’s Aladdin, reuniting the cast of last year’s panto to suitably uproarious effect – with stand-up favourite Des Clarke reprising his role as Wishee Washee. Matinee performances also available.

KAGE, 23:00–02:30, £4

27 JAN, 29 JAN, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

FAT SAM’S, 22:30–03:00, £8 (£5)

ASYLUM

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes.

Wed 22 Jan

FAT SAM’S WEDNESDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £5 (£4)

Messy student midweeker of party tunes and five quid fish bowls.

Fri 24 Jan MUNGO’S HI-FI

READING ROOMS, 23:00–02:30, £TBC

More heavyweight selections from Mungo’s Soundsystem, playing a full soundsystem set.

FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)

Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests.

Sat 25 Jan

FAT SAM’S SATURDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 22:30–03:00, £8 (£5)

Massive Saturday night party spreading its wares over three floors and no less than six rooms, with Ricky H spanning dance, house, r’n’b and hip-hop selections.

ASYLUM

KAGE, 23:00–02:30, £4

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes.

Wed 29 Jan FAT SAM’S WEDNESDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £5 (£4)

Messy student midweeker of party tunes and five quid fish bowls.

Fri 31 Jan LAST EVER BLEEP

READING ROOMS, 21:00–02:30, FREE (£5 AFTER 12)

Last ever dose of ear-bleeding electronic beats ‘n’ bleeps, as Bleep stages its final show Like, ever.

FAT SAM’S FRIDAYS

FAT SAM’S, 23:00–02:30, £4 (£3)

Fun Friday nighter soundtracked by big party tunes and punter requests.

VAMPIRES ROCK

Steve Steinman plays the undead and evil Baron Von Rockula, owner of the Live and Let Die nightlcub, as he searches for a bride and rocks out through all the classics anthems.

WEST SIDE STORY

15–25 JAN, NOT 19, TIMES VARY, FROM £15

The Broadway musical favourite – featuring lyrics by Stephen Sondheim – returns to the stage 50-odd years after Jerome Robbins transposed a timeless tale of romance and rivalry to the streets of New York.

BRITISH DANCE EDITION 2014: AVANTE GARDE DANCE + SCOTTISH DANCE THEATRE 31 JAN, 6:30PM – 8:30PM, £12

Established dance companies join new artists for the 2014 British Dance Edition, capturing the diversity and vitality of dance in the UK today – with this edition featuring work from London-based Avant Garde Dance and the Scottish Dance Theatre.

EVITA

VARIOUS DATES UNTIL 8 FEB, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical about the wife of former Argentinian dictator’s wife, Eva Peron, now with added Martibloody-Pellow.

THE LION KING

VARIOUS DATES UNTIL 18 JAN, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £30

Stage adaptation of the favourited Disney film, bolstered by suitably dazzling staging and elaborate costumes, masks and puppets.

Matinee performances also available.

Festival Theatre WAR HORSE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 20 NOV AND 15 FEB, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

War Horse continues to tour the UK, telling the story of Albert and his beloved horse, Joey, adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s novel.

You may as well just start weeping now...

WHITE CHRISTMAS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 29 NOV AND 4 JAN, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £16

Stage musical of Bing Crosby’s classic 1954 movie of the same name, about two buddies who put on a show in a magical Vermont Inn, finding their perfect mates in the process. Matinee performances also available.

SCOTTISH BALLET: HANSEL AND GRETEL

8–11 JAN, TIMES VARY, FROM £13

Scottish Ballet’s take on the classic Brothers Grimm fairytale, marking choreographer Christopher Hampson’s first full length ballet for the company – backed by Engelbert Humperdinck’s moving score.

King’s Theatre PETER PAN

30 NOV – 19 JAN, NOT 18 DEC, TIMES VARY, FROM £13

The King’s Theatre head to

BRITISH DANCE EDITION 2014: HOFESH SHECHTER COMPANY + CASSON & FRIENDS

2 FEB, 4:00PM – 5:30PM, £12

Established dance companies join new artists for the 2014 British Dance Edition, capturing the diversity and vitality of dance in the UK today – with this edition featuring work from Hofesh Shechter and Casson & Friends.

Royal Lyceum Theatre A CHRISTMAS CAROL

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 28 NOV AND 4 JAN, TIMES VARY, FROM £14

Neil Duffield’s all-new stage adaptation of the Charles Dickens Christmas staple, with everyone from Scrooge to Tiny Tim all accounted for – hurrah. Matinee performances also available.

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

21 JAN – 8 FEB, NOT 26 JAN, 27 JAN, 2 FEB, 3 FEB, TIMES VARY, FROM £12

Pulitzer Prize-winning characterdriven tale following the Tyrone family through a mesmerizing day and night at their seaside Connecticut home.

Summerhall

1933: EINE NACHT IM KABARETT 22 JAN – 2 FEB, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £15 (£12)

Susanna Mulvihill’s immersive new play, set in Anke’s – Berlin’s most seditious night spot – on the night Germany hails Hitler as chancellor, performed with Edinburgh artists of various disciplines bringing the world of Weimar cabaret to life.

Traverse Theatre BESTIAIRES

3 FEB, 7:30PM – 8:45PM, £16 (£12 STUDENT/£8 UNEMPLOYED)

UK premiere of Dudapaiva Company’s new work, blending modern dance and object theatre to tell a tale of Greek gods, hosted by Cupid.

Part of Manipulate.

The SSE Hydro PETER PAN, THE NEVER ENDING STORY

10–12 JAN, TIMES VARY, FROM £20

High-flying (quite literally, they’ve got tricksy wires and everything) recounting of Peter’s adventures in Neverland, accompanied by clever visuals.

Theatre Royal

stylish

SCOTTISH OPERA’S DON PASQUALE

24 JAN, 26 JAN, 29 JAN, 1 FEB, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

Scottish Opera’s inspired retelling of the classic comic opera, about a reclusive old man with a crumbling pensione and a love of cats – with a wee twist up its sleeve for the cat portrayal.

Tron Theatre

PETER PANTO AND THE INCREDIBLE STINKERBELL

29 NOV – 4 JAN, NOT 2 DEC, 16 DEC, 25 DEC, 1 JAN, TIMES VARY, FROM £8

Johnny McKnight’s pantomime romp take on Peter Pan, in which Peter can fly and Tinkerbell has, erm, a problem with flatulence.

Matinee performances also available.

Neverland this year for their annual panto/opportunity to boo the hell outta Grant Stott. Matinee performances also available.

BRITISH DANCE EDITION 2014: AKRAM KHAN COMPANY

30 JAN, 8:30PM – 10:00PM, £12

Established dance companies join a new artists for British Dance Edition 2014, capturing the diversity and vitality of dance in the UK today – with this edition featuring Akhram Khan Company and their classical Kathak and modern dance training.

Dundee Dundee Rep BOEING, BOEING

30 JAN – 1 FEB, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £19.50 (£16.50)

English retelling of the classic comedy written by French playwright Marc Camoletti, about a chap called Bernard who juggles three flight attendant fiancées: cue lies, much farce and hopefully some comeuppance.

Get £10 tix if you’re under 26. Any seat. Any performance.

60

Listings

THE SKINNY

Comedy Glasgow Thu 02 Jan

THE THURSDAY SHOW (PIERRE HOLLINS + JAMES DOWDESWELL + JOHN GAVIN + BEN VERTH + MC SCOTT AGNEW) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£2 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Sat 18 Jan

THE SATURDAY SHOW (ANDREW STANLEY + PHIL DIFFER + JOHN MCGOLDRICK + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

Fri 10 Jan

THE FRIDAY SHOW (CRAIG HILL + STU & GARRY + DAN PETHERBRIDGE + KEIRON NICHOLSON + SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Sat 11 Jan

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

THE SATURDAY SHOW (CRAIG HILL + STU & GARRY + DAN PETHERBRIDGE + KEIRON NICHOLSON + SUSAN MORRISON)

Fri 03 Jan

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

THE FRIDAY SHOW (PIERRE HOLLINS + JAMES DOWDESWELL + JOHN GAVIN + BEN VERTH + MC SCOTT AGNEW) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Sat 04 Jan

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

Sun 12 Jan

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (CHARLIE ROSS + KATIA KVINGE)

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

Sun 19 Jan

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (ANDREW STANLEY)

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£2 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and guests.

Mon 20 Jan

ROBERT NEWMAN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £13 (£8)

The comedian, author and journalist marks his return to the live circuit with his first full show in seven years, exploring the 150year controversy in evolutionary theory and how the latest science demonstrates show that DNA is not destiny.

Tue 21 Jan

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£2 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

RED RAW

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase

THE SATURDAY SHOW (PIERRE HOLLINS + JAMES DOWDESWELL + JOHN GAVIN + BEN VERTH + MC SCOTT AGNEW)

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (JAMES DOWDESWELL)

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£2 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

exotic

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and guests.

GLASGOW KIDS COMEDY CLUB

Mon 06 Jan

with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and guests.

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £15

Mon 13 Jan

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Multi-format quiz and comedy night, this month starring Glasgow’s premiere razor-wit Chris Henry, back from his adventures in London Town.

Tue 07 Jan RED RAW

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

ALEX HORNE: LIES

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12

The abstruse comic presents a night based on lies and lying, aided and abetted by voice mimicry of Michael Caine, Andre Agassi and Cherie Blair.

Tue 14 Jan RED RAW

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Wed 15 Jan VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

Thu 16 Jan

Thu 23 Jan

Thu 09 Jan

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

THE THURSDAY SHOW (CRAIG HILL + STU & GARRY + DAN PETHERBRIDGE + KEIRON NICHOLSON + SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£2 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

THE THURSDAY SHOW (ANDREW STANLEY + PHIL DIFFER + JOHN MCGOLDRICK + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£2 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Fri 17 Jan

THE FRIDAY SHOW (ANDREW STANLEY + PHIL DIFFER + JOHN MCGOLDRICK + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

season 2013 | 14 January 2014

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and guests.

Mon 27 Jan

ANDREW LAWRENCE: THERE IS NO ESCAPE

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £13 (£11)

Star of his own Radio 4 series and a bit of a stand-up master, Andrew Lawrence brings s’more of his energetic comedic spewings to The Stand – imbued with his usual misanthropy and misery.

Tue 28 Jan RED RAW

THE THURSDAY SHOW (GARY LITTLE + PARROT + RAY BRADSHAW + STEPHEN HALKETT + MC SUSAN MORRISON )

THE SATURDAY SHOW (DAVE JOHNS + ANDREW STANLEY + ROBIN GRAINGER + MC SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

Sun 05 Jan

THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN (ANDREW STANLEY + DAVEY CONNOR + KATIA KVINGE + MC SIAN BEVAN) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£2 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-towork blues.

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

THE STAND, 13:30–15:30, FREE

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from offthe-cuff audience suggestions.

Wed 29 Jan

Mon 06 Jan

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

MAZ’S MAGGIE’S BENEFIT (GARY LITTLE + JOHN GILLICK + PAUL MCKEAN + SUSIE MCCABE + MC BRUCE DEVLIN)

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £8

Live comedy fundraiser in aid of Maggie’s Centre Glasgow, with Bruce Devlin the lucky lad keeping a quartet of acts in check.

THE THURSDAY SHOW (SEYMOUR MACE + JOHN GILLICK + SHELBY BOND + BOB GRAHAM + STU MURPHY)

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£2 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

CHRIS HENRY STANDS UP

THE STAND, 18:00–22:00, £4

The comic (and self proclaimed inventor of yodeling cunnilingus: don’t ask) once more uses the stage as a therapeutic place to get things offa his chest.

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes, all new material.

NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£2 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Live comedy showcase in Maggie May’s basement, featuring regular stalwarts o’ the scene Des Clarke and Gary Little, amongst others.

The three man sketch project provide the straight up belly laughs as only they know how – mostly built on character comedy, mentalism and a little magic.

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes, all new material.

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (LARRY DEAN)

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£3)

THE COLOUR HAM

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes, all new material.

Wed 08 Jan

Sat 04 Jan

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Wed 22 Jan

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)

Sun 26 Jan

Thu 30 Jan

THE STAND, 15:00–17:00, £4

Comedy session suitable for little ears (i.e. no sweary words), for children aged 8-12 years-old.

THE FRIDAY SHOW (DAVE JOHNS + ANDREW STANLEY + ROBIN GRAINGER + MC SUSAN MORRISON)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes, all new material.

Sun 05 Jan

FUNNY LITTLE FROG (DARREN CONNELL + CHRIS HENRY)

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

Fri 03 Jan

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

The South African comic riffs on established cultural stereotypes from around the globe, with far more playfulness than the provocative title might suggest.

THE SATURDAY SHOW (GARY LITTLE + PARROT + RAY BRADSHAW + STEPHEN HALKETT + MC SUSAN MORRISON)

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

TREVOR NOAH: THE RACIST

Sat 25 Jan

MAGGIE MAY’S LIVE COMEDY

MAGGIE MAY’S, 19:30–22:00, £10

I’M SORRY I HAVEN’T A CLUE

THE KING’S THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, FROM £21.50

The BBC Radio antidote to panel games starts an all-new touring stage show/evening of inspired nonsense, with host Jack Dee keeping Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Jeremy Hardy on board.

Fri 31 Jan

THE FRIDAY SHOW (SEYMOUR MACE + JOHN GILLICK + SHELBY BOND + BOB GRAHAM + STU MURPHY) THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)

RED RAW

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Thu 09 Jan

THE THURSDAY SHOW (BENNETT ARRON + HOLLY WALSH + BRUCE FUMMEY + KATIE KVINGE + MC FRED MACAULAY)

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£2 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 10 Jan

THE FRIDAY SHOW (BENNETT ARRON + HOLLY WALSH + BRUCE FUMMEY + KATIE KVINGE + MC FRED MACAULAY)

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

A TO Z IMPROV

KILDERKIN, 20:30–22:00, FREE

The A to Z players host their regular free-entry improv comedy night, making merry under all manner of themes.

GRASSROOTS COMEDY

THE PLEASANCE, 20:00–22:30, £1

Showcase night featuring the best in fresh, local talent – bringing together first-time and upand-coming comics in a series of quickfire 10-minute slots.

ALEX HORNE: LIES

ROBERT NEWMAN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £13 (£8)

The comedian, author and journalist marks his return to the live circuit with his first full show in seven years, exploring the 150year controversy in evolutionary theory and how the latest science demonstrates show that DNA is not destiny.

Mon 20 Jan RED RAW

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Wed 22 Jan WORK IN PROGRESS

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12

The abstruse comic presents a night based on lies and lying, aided and abetted by voice mimicry of Michael Caine, Andre Agassi and Cherie Blair.

Wed 15 Jan

SUMMERHALL, 19:30–21:30, £3

Comics from the Work in Progress crew (made up of Daniel Sloss, Kai Humphries and special guests) try out a selection of all-new material.

Be gentle on ‘em.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UNEXPECTED

THE MELTING POT

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£2 STUDENT/£2.50 MEMBERS)

Series of comedy sketches picked by the audience and performed by a varying troupe of actors and musicians.

Thu 16 Jan

THE THURSDAY SHOW (TONY BURGESS + NISH KUMAR + JIM PARK + LIAM WITHNAIL) THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£2 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 17 Jan

THE FRIDAY SHOW (TONY BURGESS + NISH KUMAR + JIM PARK + LIAM WITHNAIL) THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

IMPROVERTS

BEDLAM THEATRE, 22:30–23:30, £5.50 (£5 MEMBERS)

Long-standing improv comedy troupe made up of an everchanging line-up of local students, whose rather fine show is built entirely on (oft daft) audience suggestions.

Sat 18 Jan

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5

A bright collective of comedians experiment with the medium of stand-up, under the ever-watchful eye of regular host Jo Caulfield.

Thu 23 Jan

THE THURSDAY SHOW (VLADIMIR MCTAVISH + STU & GARRY + ANDREW LEARMONTH + LARRY DEAN + MC JOJO SUTHERLAND)

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£2 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 24 Jan

IMPROVERTS

BEDLAM THEATRE, 22:30–23:30, £5.50 (£5 MEMBERS)

Long-standing improv comedy troupe made up of an everchanging line-up of local students, whose rather fine show is built entirely on (oft daft) audience suggestions.

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of

only

£10

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£2 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

RED RAW

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from offthe-cuff audience suggestions.

ANDREW LAWRENCE: THERE IS NO ESCAPE

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £13 (£11)

Star of his own Radio 4 series and a bit of a stand-up master, Andrew Lawrence brings s’more of his energetic comedic spewings to The Stand – imbued with his usual misanthropy and misery.

Mon 27 Jan RED RAW

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Tue 28 Jan

G-SPOT (JEN BRISTER + CRAIG JOHNSTONE + DAISY EARL + POPPY LA PILULE)

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £5

Funnywoman Jojo Sutherland leads an all-new camp-styled evening of comedy and cabaret.

BEST OF SCOTTISH COMEDY

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£2 STUDENT/£3 MEMBERS)

COMEDY IN THE DARK (JOJO SUTHERLAND + ROSS CRAIG + NEIL SKENE + VLADIMIR MC TAVISH + JAY LAFFERTY)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:30–00:00, £10

A selection of comics take part in this unique fundraiser (quite literally performing with all the lights off), with the intrigue of the night being what each comic does with just their voice and the pitch black dark nothingness. Raising funds for RNIB.

Thu 30 Jan

THE THURSDAY SHOW (ROB DEERING + ANDREW STANLEY + OWEN MCGUIRE + JAMIE DALGLEISH + MC SUSAN MORRISON)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 31 Jan

THE FRIDAY SHOW (ROB DEERING + ANDREW STANLEY + OWEN MCGUIRE + JAMIE DALGLEISH + MC SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

scottishopera.org.uk

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

Mon 13 Jan

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

THE STAND, 13:30–15:30, FREE

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£2 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

THE STAND, 13:30–15:30, FREE

THE THURSDAY SHOW (DAVE JOHNS + ANDREW STANLEY + ROBIN GRAINGER + MC SUSAN MORRISON)

ROCK AND ROLL PING PONG

THE BONGO CLUB, 19:00–23:00, FREE

The It’s Funtime jokers present a free, fun, table tennis evening with a comedy bent, bolstered by dancing discs from DJ Ding Dong (ahem).

A selection of top comics from the contemporary Scottish circuit do their thing, aye.

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£2 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Thu 02 Jan

Sun 26 Jan

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Sun 12 Jan

Fri 24 Jan

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.

Wed 29 Jan

THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN (ROB KANE)

Edinburgh

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

THE FRIDAY SHOW (VLADIMIR MCTAVISH + STU & GARRY + ANDREW LEARMONTH + LARRY DEAN + MC JOJO SUTHERLAND)

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

THE SATURDAY SHOW (TONY BURGESS + NISH KUMAR + JIM PARK + LIAM WITHNAIL)

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from offthe-cuff audience suggestions.

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Monthly spoken-word show of the rather ace variety, featuring a feastful of writers, comedians and musicians telling (mostly) true stories, under the watchful eye of host Jo Caulfield.

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)

SCOTTISH STORYTELLING CENTRE, 20:00–22:00, £6

THE SATURDAY SHOW (BENNETT ARRON + HOLLY WALSH + BRUCE FUMMEY + KATIE KVINGE + MC FRED MACAULAY)

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-towork blues.

THE FRIDAY SHOW (GARY LITTLE + PARROT + RAY BRADSHAW + STEPHEN HALKETT + MC SUSAN MORRISON )

THE SPEAKEASY (THE MARTIANS + JENNY LINDSEY + ANDREW LEARMONTH)

Sat 11 Jan

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

THE STAND, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£2 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Tue 14 Jan

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

Sun 19 Jan

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW

THE STAND, 13:30–15:30, FREE

Long-running improvised comedy show with resident duo Stu & Garry weaving comedy magic from offthe-cuff audience suggestions.

Don Pasquale 24 Jan-22 Feb | Madama Butterfly 8 May-3 Aug

up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.

Sat 25 Jan

THE SATURDAY SHOW (VLADIMIR MCTAVISH + STU & GARRY + ANDREW LEARMONTH + LARRY DEAN + MC JOJO SUTHERLAND)

THE STAND, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

IMPROVERTS

BEDLAM THEATRE, 22:30–23:30, £5.50 (£5 MEMBERS)

Long-standing improv comedy troupe made up of an everchanging line-up of local students, whose rather fine show is built entirely on (oft daft) audience suggestions.

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. Check their Facebook page on the day for line-ups.

scottishopera.org.uk Listings

61

Art Glasgow 1 Royal Terrace HELEN SHADDOCK: BRIMMING

12 JAN, 18 JAN, 19 JAN, 25 JAN, 26 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Solo show from Glasgow-based artist Helen Shaddock, known for her colourful and playful installations in which she explores form, colour and texture using processes that allow order and chaos to collide.

CCA

MAN OF THE YEAR: HENRY COOMBES + CARLES CONGOST VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 22 NOV AND 25 JAN, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Double header presenting Henry Coombes and Carles Congost’s latest work, with Coombes’ premiering his new film, accompanied by a new series of paintings, and Congost presenting his most recent film, alongside earlier projects.

FLORRIE JAMES + EMILIA MULLER-GINORIO

17–25 JAN, NOT 19, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Artists Florrie James and Emilia Muller-Ginorio present a collaborative work produced in conversation, taking in themes of desire in the possessive case, the performance of capitalism, selfimprovement schemes and more.

Cyril Gerber Fine Art

THE WINTER COLLECTION 2013

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 6 DEC AND 31 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Winter exhibition of speciallyselected works of 19th-21st century modern British paintings, drawings and sculpture work.

David Dale Gallery and Studios SILENT HARDWARE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 7 DEC AND 24 JAN, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Triple header exhibition from artists Neil Clements, Chadwick Rantanen and Magali Reus. taking in painting and sculpture looking at technological tendencies within formalist practice.

Gallery of Modern Art

IAN HAMILTON FINLAY: POET, ARTIST, REVOLUTIONARY

22 JUN – 1 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition of graphic prints and sculptural installations by the late Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925–2006), drawn from Glasgow Museums’ own gifted collection.

A PICTURE SHOW

18 JUL – 2 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Group show of 12 Glasgow-based painters, intended to survey the complexity, subtlety and variety of the art form – with no unifying concept of theme, other than painting being their central practice.

LIVING WITH THE WAR

7 OCT – 9 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Work from Glasgow Museums’ art collections, illustrating how artists from places as far ranging as Berlin, Brazil, Glasgow, London, Los Angeles, the Middle East and South Korea respond to the effects and prevalence of war and conflict around the world.

Glasgow Print Studio LIVING PROOF

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 5 DEC AND 2 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Taking its theme from Charles Darwin’s research to find living examples to support his theory of evolution, artists including Alasdair Gray, Elizabeth Blackadder and John Byrne revealing their fascination with creatures and their portrayal in art.

62

Listings

Glasgow School of Art INTERWOVEN CONNECTIONS: THE STODDARD TEMPLETON DESIGN STUDIO AND DESIGN LIBRARY, 1843-2005

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 9 NOV AND 11 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase exhibition providing a unique insight into the Design Library’s contents, the Stoddard Templeton design studio, through folios, books, designs, films and samples. In the Mackintosh Museum.

Hunterian Art Gallery

ALLAN RAMSAY: PORTRAITS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 13 SEP AND 5 JAN, TIMES VARY, £7.50 (£5)

Intriguing exhibition casting new light on the work of Allan Ramsay (1713-1784), to mark the 300th anniversary of his birth – taking in a selection of works from across his 30 years as a painter.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

The Lighthouse

FUN MAKES GOOD: A NEW ANGLE

6 DEC – 12 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Fun Makes Good create a sitespecific textile installation inspired by both the modern aesthetics of The Lighthouse and the building’s original creator, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, re-interpreting his iconic architectural style and motifs through textiles.

REACTIVATE: INNOVATORS OF DUTCH ARCHITECTURE

6 DEC – 5 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Interesting profile of a number of ground-breaking projects led by architects in recent years in response to changes in society – from a rooftop vegetable garden on a disused office building to a crowd funded bridge over a motorway.

DERELICT GLASGOW

24 JAN – 4 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Intriguing exhibition exploring the forgotten spaces and buildings in and around Glasgow, as documented by derelictglasgow.co.uk – a photographic record site of the derelict architecture of Glasgow.

SPRING FLING

31 JAN – 22 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Collective exhibition of work by leading Dumfries and Galloway designers, featuring pieces by JACK VETTRIANO: A 18 ceramicists, jewellers, textile RETROSPECTIVE designers, printmakers and others 21 SEP – 23 FEB, TIMES VARY, £5 (£3) The most comprehensive exhibition​ with a national and international profile. ever devoted to Scottish artist, Jack Vettriano - bringing together his most definitive works gathered The Mitchell for the first time from private Library collections around the world.

ROBERT MCNEIL: WITNESS

Mary Mary ALAN REID

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 25 JAN AND 15 MAR, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

The contemporary New Yorkbased artist – best known for his delicately-colored pencil images of heiresses, bored fashionistas and aquiline beauties – displays an allnew batch of paintings alongside a 20-metre bas-relief mural.

Street Level Photoworks

JILL TODD PHOTOGRAPHIC AWARD 2013 VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 23 NOV AND 2 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Annual exhibition celebrating the work of talented photographers from major Photography and Arts Degree programmes in Scotland in the last three years, displaying a selection of the finalists work.

SYLVIA GRACE BORDA: CAMERA HISTORIES

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 23 NOV AND 2 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Four new bodies of work by the Canadian and UK visual artist, in which the apparatus becomes the central subject of her digital compositions – with found and staged photographs of cameras manipulated and montaged to create unconventional portraits.

The Briggait

FRASER TAYLOR: FIGURE/GROUND

17–31 JAN, WEEKDAYS ONLY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Following time spent at Wasps’ Live-Work Spaces in Shetland, Fife, and Glasgow, artist Fraser Taylor exhibits an extended series of mixed media on paper drawings which focus on both the landscape and figure as subject.

The Hidden Lane Gallery MARGARET WATKINS: ART AND ADVERTISING

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 9 NOV AND 28 FEB, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Intriguing body of work from the celebrated Canadian-born photographer who lived in obscurity in Glasgow for the last 40 years of her life – exploring, for the time, her innovative approach to photography for advertising.

24 JAN – 15 FEB, NOT 26 JAN, 2 FEB, 9 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Produced over a period of three years, in direct response to his forensic science work in numerous war zones, artist Robert McNeil explores various means by which to express his experience – laden with symbolism in a contemporary iconography.

The Modern Institute TOBY PATERSON

25 JAN – 21 FEB, NOT 26 JAN, 2 FEB, 9 FEB, 16 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Glasgow-based artist showcases a collection of new works, best known for his preoccupation with urban landscapes and architectural structure.

The Modern Institute @ Airds Lane

MARTINO GAMPER: TU CASA, MI CASA

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 9 NOV AND 25 JAN, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Showcase of new work by the London-based Italian designer, perhaps best known for his 100 Chairs in 100 Days project – for which he made 100 chairs in, yes, 10 days.

Tramway HOUSE STYLE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 25 OCT AND 19 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Series of new commissions in response to, and alongside, a specially selected film programme from the British Film Institute archive – combining new work and historic material, re-interpreting and expanding narratives of taste and cultural identity.

Edinburgh City Art Centre WALTER GEIKIE

19 OCT – 2 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Retrospective exhibition of 19th century artist Walter Geikie (1795-1837), concentrating on his figurative imagery – taking in the etchings for which he is best known, alongside a selection of drawings and paintings.

CITIZEN CURATOR

26 OCT – 23 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Special exhibition exploring and celebrating Leith’s fascinating and varied heritage, taking in works by well known Leithers such as Eduardo Paolozzi, and depictions of the local area by artists including Alexander Nasmyth, Jock McFadyen and Kate Downie.

EXPLORING THE LION KING 28 OCT – 12 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition revealing the inspiration behind Disney’s award-winning musical (currently running at Edinburgh’s Playhouse), incorporating many of the now iconic costumes, masks and puppets, alongside sketches, original models, film and photography.

Collective Gallery

GOLDIN+SENNEBY: ANTI-VWAP

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 6 DEC AND 26 JAN, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

First exhibition proper for Collective in their new setting, presenting the Anti-VWAP project – featuring a speculative theatrical script (with Rob Drummond), and the development of an algorithmic trading model to be tested in the financial markets.

Dovecot

BROAD HORIZONS: DOVECOT POLYMATHS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 24 JAN AND 22 MAR, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Exhibition of works – both past and present – from a selection of some of the most influential and multi-talented artists to have worked with Dovecot Studios in recent years.

Edinburgh Printmakers

MARY MODEEN: THE ABSOLUTELY OTHER

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 JAN AND 15 MAR, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Installation of prints examining representations of metaphysical states of cognitive awareness, including overlays of visual memory, including new work commissioned and published especially

by Edinburgh Printmakers.

Embassy Gallery SALONY: EMBASSY MEMBERS’ SHOW 2014

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 25 JAN AND 2 FEB, 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.

Forest Centre Plus DISCARDBOARD

17–25 JAN, NOT 19, 20, 21, TIMES VARY, FREE

Week-long exhibition celebration of all things cardboard, taking in furniture, animation, art installations and more, running concurrently with a series of workshops including how to build a cardboard city.

Inverleith House ALEX DORDOY: PERSISTENCEBEATSRESISTANCE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 JAN AND 30 MAR, 10:00AM – 5:30PM, FREE

First UK public exhibition by Glasgow School of Art graduate, featuring new work made for Inverleith House – including two large paintings and decorative plinths which visually overpower the objects they are designed to support.

Open Eye Gallery

WILLIAM NICHOLSON: AN ALPHABET

10–29 JAN, NOT 12, 19, 26, TIMES VARY, FREE

Special showcase of the full set of lithographs from William Nicholson’s An Alphabet collection from 1897 – a speciallycommissioned set of work going from A-Z, including ‘A is for Artist’ in which Nicholson appears in a self-portrait.

ABECEDARIUM

10–29 JAN, NOT 12, 19, 26, TIMES VARY, FREE

To coincide with the Print Room exhibition of William Nicholson’s An Alphabet series, a collective of 26 Open Eye artists showcase their interpretation/depiction of a letter of the alphabet.

Royal Botanic Garden SEA CHANGE

6 DEC – 26 JAN, 10:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

Collective exhibition bringing together the work of 28 artists/ makers who have sailed on the 2011 and 2013 expeditions and undertaken residencies on Mull, Canna, Barra, North Uist, St Kilda, Lewis, Orkney and Shetland.

Royal Overseas League TRACES

11 OCT – 19 JAN, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Group exhibition by Leigh Chorlton, Tim Le Breuilly and Robin Wu, taking their inspiration from the writings of W.G. Sebald – each with their own personal interpretation of his writing, which in turn is imbued in their drawing, painting and printmaking.

Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) RSA OPEN 2013

23 NOV – 26 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition of small works sourced by open submission from artists across Scotland, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints and photographs – all available to buy – with this year again seeing the addition of a room dedicated to architecture.

Scottish National Gallery TURNER IN JANUARY

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 1 JAN AND 31 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Annual January showcase of watercolour works from JMW Turner, spanning his career from early topographical wash drawings to his series of atmospheric sketches of continental Europe from in the 1830s and 40s.

ALLAN RAMSAY AT 300

19 OCT – 9 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase of the Scottish National Gallery’s unrivalled holdings of drawings by Allan Ramsay (1713-1784), to mark the 300th anniversary of his birth. Coinciding with the major exhibition at the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow.

PICTURE HOOKS

1 NOV – 16 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition featuring work by ten illustrators of books for children, with participants and mentors paired together for a year – with the very first The New Scottish Illustrator Award awarded to one of the artists on show. In the IT Gallery.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art LOUISE BOURGEOIS: A WOMAN WITHOUT SECRETS

28 OCT – 18 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Major presentation of works by the late French-American artist, highlighting a selection of her late work – revealing how Bourgeois, working in a variety of materials and scales, deftly explores the mystery and beauty of human emotions.

THE SCOTTISH COLOURISTS SERIES: JD FERGUSSON

7 DEC – 15 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £7 (£5)

The National Galleries of Scotland draw to a close their Scottish Colourist Series, culminating with a retrospective of the work of Edinburgh-born JD Fergusson – taking in more than 100 paintings, sculptures, works on paper and items of archival material.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery MINETTE: THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF A STUART PRINCESS

19–5 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

The youngest sister of Charles II comes under the spotlight, with a mini exhibition centred around a full-length portrait of Henriette Anne (aka Minette) by the French artist Jean Nocret.

VIVIAN SASSEN: IN AND OUT OF FASHION 19 OCT – 9 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

First retrospective of Dutch-born contemproary fashion photographer Viviane Sassenand - taking to the Portrait Gallery from Huis Marseille Museum, Amsterdam – displaying her trademark flamboyant, formally inventive and occasionally surreal imagery.

WORK, UNION, CIVIL WAR, FAITH, ROOTS

5 OCT – 6 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Group exhibition created during five community outreach projects investigating the contemporary relevance of major transformations in Scottish history – inspired by portraits and personalities from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery collection.

MAKING HISTORY

12 OCT – 28 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

Solo exhibition of recent work

by Sandy Stoddart (Sculptor In Ordinary to The Queen of Scotland), of which the main focus will be the creation of a new figurative statue of William Birnie Rhind commissioned by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

JAMES LEE BYARS 7 DEC – 24 JAN, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Retrospective of work from the late ‘romantic minimalist’, known for creating editions, books and unique works often on extreme scales – with all works on show taken from the Heart Fine Art Archive based at Summerhall.

Talbot Rice Gallery

EVER/PRESENT/PAST: MARK DION + CLAIRE BARCLAY

16 NOV – 15 FEB, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The programme of events exploring the history of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital throughout 2013 – its bi-centenary year – culminates with Talbot Rice’s double-header exhibition, featuring new commissions from Mark Dion and Claire Barclay.

The Fruitmarket Gallery LOUISE BOURGEOIS: I GIVE EVERYTHING AWAY

26 OCT – 23 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Major exhibition of renowned French-American artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois, taking in a MODERN PORTRAITS selection of works on paper cen16 NOV – 11 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE tered on her Insomnia Drawings – a Collective exhibition bringing suite of 220 drawings and writings together a varied series of 20th made between 1994 and June 1995 and 21st century works of portrai- to combat her insomnia. ture, including Stanley Curister, Robert Heriot Westwater, Victoria The Queen’s Crowe, Maggi Hambling and William Gallery McCance.

Stills

WORK IN PROGRESS 2: CONSTRUCTIONS OF LANDSCAPE

THOMAS ROWLANDSON: HIGH SPIRITS

22 NOV – 2 MAR, 9:30AM – 4:30PM, £6.25 (£5.70)

Special display of around 100 works by one of the popular Annual series, this time with caricaturist of Georgian Britain, Massimiliano Gatti, David with the absurdities of fashion, the Grinly, Daniele Sambo exploring perils of love, political machinathe constructed landscapes that surround us everyday – presenting tions and royal intrigue all part of the photography of artists working his daily subject matter. with Stills’ production facilities The Scottish and residency programmes.

9 NOV – 19 JAN, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Summerhall THE DARK WOULD

7 DEC – 24 JAN, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

A selection of world-leading poets and text artists exhibit an thought-provoking collection of works that cross the boundary of living and dying, asking us to consider what it is to have a body and to lose it.

JERRY GRETZINGER: JERRY’S MAP

7 DEC – 24 JAN, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Extensive and evolving map artwork in creation for some 50 years, which viewers are invited to navigate over a transparent walkway – with the artist on site during part of the exhibition continuing his work modifying and altering the map.

DEIRDRE NICHOLLS

BOYS KEEP SWINGING

7 DEC – 24 JAN, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Group show featuring the works of artists from Manchester, London and New York, looking specifically at aspects of contemporary society from the male perspective.

SALLY WEBBER: AN INEXACT SCIENCE

7 DEC – 24 JAN, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

New collection of work resulting from ongoing experiments with found materials, including some pieces which originated during six months spent working at Summerhall in 2013.

JULIA HOWDEN: THE THROWBACKS

7 DEC – 24 JAN, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Photographic documentation of the phenomenon of Scottish sub-cultures and recently, in particular, the resurgence in the clothes, culture and sounds of the 1950s when teddy boys, teddy girls and the emergence of rock’n’roll dominated.

NAIZA KHAN: DISRUPTING THE ALIGNMENT

17 JAN – 15 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Installation of film works and watercolours by Naiza Khan, a leading figure of Contemporary Art in Pakistan recently awarded the prestigious Prince Claus Award, which supports freedom of cultural expression.

Generator Projects

GENERATOR PROJECTS’ ANNUAL MEMBERS SHOW

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 31 JAN AND 23 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Generator Projects pitch up for their Annual Members Show – an eclectic mix of work from their diverse membership, building on conversations from the previous year and igniting action and dialogues that will follow in the 2014 programme.

BRING YOUR OWN BLANKET

11 JAN, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, FREE

One-off screening of three new films by a collection of artist/ filmmakers: taking in Rose Hendry and Ian Forbes’ Stovies; Andy D. Smith, Ian Forbes and Matt Cameron’s A Stately Suicide, and Alan McIlrath and Jeppe Rohde Nielsen’s Game. Bring a blanket!

Nomas* Projects LIE DOWN

14 NOV – 15 JAN, 9:00AM – 9:00PM, FREE

Window display of paintings from Lucinda Metcalfe reflecting the mundanity of the modern office block, alongside images which provoke wonder and longing – suggesting the futility of dreams, whilst stimulating a desire for the sublime.

Parliament

The McManus

15 OCT – 25 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

23 AUG – 1 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

ANDREW CARNEGIE: THE LEGACY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

Showcase of work from the legacy of the Scots born philanthropist, including an Andy Warhol painting of Carnegie, a bagpipe-playing robot, six Sesame Tree puppets and a replica bone from a dinosaur named Diplodocus Carnegii.

Whitespace

CHRISTOPHER FERNANDEZ: O’DEA

25–30 JAN, NOT 26, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Christopher Fernandez unveils his Holywood every-man parodying action adventure based photography narrative, with an unlikely leading male looking to uncover the identity of his pursuers.

RE:NEW: CONTEMPORARY ART FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION

Pieces selected from Dundee Art Galleries and Museums most recent art acquisitions go on display in a temporary exhibition that offers opportunities to engage with a selection of contemporary work from both Scottish and European artists.

A SILVERED LIGHT

6 DEC – 30 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition of Scottish art photography selected from Dundee City’s permanent collection, showcasing images from over 50 photographers collected in the 28 years following the purchase of two important early photographs

by Thomas Joshua Cooper in 1985.

SAFE HAVENS

7 DEC – 24 JAN, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Selection of work from the Summerhall Studio of figurative sculptor, showing two aspects of the artist’s work: contemporary portrait heads in bronze and plaster, plus a selection of pieces inspired by the work of Amnesty International.

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design

15 NOV – 12 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Dundee DCA

HIRAKI SAWA: LENTICULAR

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 5 OCT AND 5 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Solo exhibition of animated and video works from the Japan-born, London-based artist – adept at captivating audiences with his captivating video animations, imbued with a haunting dream-like quality via surreal imagery and atmospheric sounds.

DCA WINTER PRINT EXHIBITION

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 26 NOV AND 19 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Special festive exhibition of work by registered users of the DCA Print Studio, encompassing a whole range of printmaking specialities including screenprinting, etching, collagraph and litho.

THOMSON & CRAIGHEAD: MAPS DNA AND SPAM

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 JAN AND 16 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Largest solo show in Scotland to date of the work of Thomson & Craighead, commemorating 20 years working together as collaborative artists – featuring new work and a selection of the duo’s best-regarded installations.

Reflective exhibition of paintings and prints selected from the collection of James Guthrie Orchar, celebrating his love of coastal life.

University of Dundee DARKEST DREAMS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 14 NOV AND 11 JAN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition of selected works from the University of Dundee’s Fine Art Collections, inspired by our darkest dreams and nightmares – taking in a collection of surreal images and strange visions. In the Lamb Gallery.

ADVENTURE IN SPACE AND TIME

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 3 DEC AND 1 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Celebration of science fiction comic art, with focus on those with a Dundee connection – including Dan Dare artwork by Dundee legend Ian Kennedy, and artwork for Doctor Who magazine by Dundee-based artists Dan McDaid. In Tower Foyer Gallery.

SAUL ROBERTSON: FROM HERE TO HERE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 JAN AND 8 MAR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase of work from the 2000 DJCAD graduate, presenting an opportunity to see some of his earliest work alongside other significant works from throughout his career so far. In the Lamb Gallery.

THE SKINNY

Win membership to The Stand

The Stand Comedy Club began with a simple manifesto which included creating a list of genuine comedy fans and making sure that they do their best to always charge them a fair price, to see some of the finest comedy acts around, in the best comedy venues in the country.

The Stand Together annual membership offers a range of benefits to the Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle clubs including: Entry for £1 most Sundays. Half price every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Advance ticket allocation for big name shows. Special members' previews of Fringe shows (usually all £1).

We’re offering three lucky people the chance to win a pair of Stand Together memberships, plus a free pair of tickets to a show of your choosing (subject to availability). To enter simply head over to theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and correctly answer the following question:

Win classes at Dance Base

In what year did The Stand open its Glasgow club?

Dance Base's famous venue in the Grassmarket is home to a fantastic programme of dance classes.

Kick start 2014 as you mean to go on – all classes A) 1998 are fun, social events designed for everyone, B) 2000 whatever your age or ability.

C) 2002 Whether you want to find your inner 80s icon D) 2004 by learning routines to the hits of the decade, bangra your way to a more Bollylicious you, or pirouette through 2014 with a classic ballet class, Competition is open to over 18s only. Proof of age may be required. Competition closes midnight Sun 2 Feb. Winners dance this way! will be notified via email within two working days of closing There's tango, salsa, contemporary, tap, and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Full terms and conditions aerial skills, dance workout and all the jazz you can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms. could wish for – and many more. Term starts on 6 January – but you can enrol until 18 January – For more information about The Stand Comedy Club, show listings and Stand Together membership visit the website at so visit the website now to find your style, meet www.thestand.co.uk new people, and get fit while having a blast!

To help you get started, The Skinny and Dance Base have teamed up to offer you a chance to win a 13-week dance course of your choice (worth £82) and a Dance Base merchandise

goodie bag. An ideal way to dip your toe into dance! To enter, just go to www.theskinny.co.uk/ about/competitions and answer this question: Where does Flamenco originate?

A) Italy B) France C) Spain Competition closes midnight Wed 15 Jan and the winner will be notified by phone within 24 hours. Please include your phone number on your entry form. Winners must respond within 24 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Courses are subject to availability and must be taken in the spring 2014 term. Full terms and conditions can be found at www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms.

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January 2014

COMPETITIONS

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